By Stephen Zitolo
Monsignor McClancy boys’ soccer entered uncharted and historic territory by winning its fourth straight CHSAA Class A championship.
The Crusaders are the first team to win four consecutive crowns and did so in unbeaten fashion It didn’t come easy for McClancy. Their opponent in the final was Staten Island’s St. Joseph by the Sea and they wanted to end the Crusaders’ historic run. But a late goal from defender Roko Basic in regulation tied the score at 1-1 and five straight penalty shootout goals earned the Crusaders the crown on Nov. 9 at SUNY Maritime.
McClancy’s group of six seniors has never ended a season with a loss. They will walk away from high school winning a championship in every single season they played.
“My five senior teammates and me have a relationship where being related by blood wouldn’t make us any closer,” Basic said. “We have been through everything together these past four years.”
Crusaders coach Mike Sylvester couldn’t have been more pleased with and for this group.
“They worked so hard every season and we sent them out the right way,” he said.
McClancy had to fight from start to finish to capture the city title. Sea scored in the game’s eighth minute when Paul Lewis found Christian Puccio waiting in the box. Puccio fired a strike past McClancy goalie Damien Kusznierczuk for a 1-0 lead.
The Crusaders couldn’t get any offense going in the first half as their defense had to defend against 14 shots on goal. The game went to halftime with the Vikings up 1-0.
The second half was filled with spectacular defensive play for both teams as both offenses couldn’t get any balls into the back of the net. Then Basic stepped up on a corner kick with four minutes to go in the game with McClancy’s championship dreams on the line.
“It was getting late in the game,” Sylvester said. “I sent everyone forward trying to make something happen.”
The corner was shot into the box and somehow found the foot of Basic. He squared the ball up and scored to knot things at 1-1
“I saw my coach and he said ‘Come on this is you,’” Basic said. “It was a free kick that deflected off one of my teammates and it somehow found me.”
Neither team was able to score in overtime. McClancy converted all five of its penalty kicks. Sea missed only one, but that’s all McClancy needed to claim the title.
McClancy has tried to move up to the AA division after its years of success, but CHSAA rules state that a school must have a junior varsity team to make the jump, according to Sylvester. The Crusaders do not have one. Having all of his players on varsity has been a key to the program’s success in Sylvester’s mind.
“The good thing about not having a JV team is all the guys have seen what it takes to win,” Sylvester said. “Hopefully that will allow us to keep competing at a high level.
