Boys soccer: Mater Dei-Servite ends dramatically ... in a tie
January 9th, 2009, 6:46 pm · 34 Comments · posted by Damian Dottore, OCVarsity
ANAHEIM -- The ball came screaming out of a pack of players on the final play of the game, headed on a path that looked destined to put Servite on top in its Trinity League opener against Mater Dei.
But at the very last moment, Monarchs goalie Paul Elias stretched out as far as he could while diving to the right, and just like that, the ball fell to the ground with a thud. Just a few inches were standing between the ball and a Friars victory.
Instead, No. 3 Servite (8-2-2) had to settle for a scoreless tie in its boys soccer clash with No. 7 Mater Dei (7-1-4).
That was the second game-saving play the junior goalie made for the Monarchs in the closing minutes at Servite High.
Mater Dei coach Andy Thomas called it the “best game that he (Elias) has played.” Even the Friars’ coach, Mike Lussier, was impressed, saying, “He made a great save. I though the ball was going in."
“The last one was reaction," Elias said after making five stops for the Monarchs. “I saw the ball coming at my face, and I tried to get a hand on it. I really tried to step it up today as far as my punts and my kicking because I was lacking in that. I was really concentrating.”
The Friars have one of the most potent offenses in the county, having outscored their opponents, 27-4, in their past eight games. But their midfielders didn’t seem to show any real organization until the last 10 minutes or so of the game.
Lussier blamed part of that on the wind, which was gusting across Servite’s campus for most of the game, blowing the ball wildly around the field.
“Wind is the toughest weather for any soccer match to be played in, and the quality of the game suffered,” Lussier said. “In my opinion, the game becomes more of a set-piece match … it is just so hard to execute in the wind. But in the last 10 minutes it seemed like they (the Friars) finally woke up and got hungry.”
The Friars really seemed to come alive off a long throw-in from Stephen Donnelly in the 67th minute. The Monarchs defenders knocked Servite's first shot away, but the Friars' Andre Spencer took control of the rebound, flicking the ball deep into the box. Elias came up big for the Monarchs, punching the ball to safety.
Not too long after that, the Friars had another long throw in, and Nick Echeverry fired a point-blank shot at Elias, who then made his first game-saving stop.
The Monarchs had to step it up on the defensive end because their star forward, Chris Zamarippa, was watching from the bench with a big red cast wrapped around his broken left ankle. He suffered the injury in the championship game of the Marina Tournament last week.
Scott Robertson, who recently moved up from JV, got the start in Zamarippa's absence.
"He is an impact player, and he has been banging the goals in for us," Thomas said of Zamarippa, who scored three goals in the Monarchs' semifinals victory against San Clemente at the Marina Tournament.
"With him out, we are a different team. "
Dottore's Three Stars of the Game:
1. Paul Elias, Mater Dei, goalie
2. Stephen Donnelly, Servite midfield
2. Dan Coates, Servite defender
34 Comments
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Mr. Dottore,
I was at this game, and I think your article is accurate. The Mater Dei goalie was superb. 2-3 beautiful saves. My top players for the match were Servite's #6 Eric Brunter, #9 Tyler Cook, and Mater Dei's goalkeeper Paul Elias. Brunter was great in the centerback position for the Friars. Cook was all over the midfield cleaning up the mess mother nature threw out there. Mater Dei's goalkeeper saved the day at least twice. Interesting note, two outstanding forwards didnt play (not just one) MD's Zamarippa and Servite's Garrett Bradbury. I also wonder what impact that would have had. I hope for the sake of all of us there will be no more wind in the Trinity league.
not accurate at all...made it seem like servite dominated the game
also missing was MF Charlie Miller for the Friars. he went out early after aggravating a leg injury. also coates played rather sloppily with several of his passes intercepted in the back end. didn't merit a star imo. he's a better player than what he showed today.
So why is it everytime Servite doesn't win, their fans/players have to make some kind of excuse, such as injury or the weather? It's pathetic. Mater
So why is it everytime Servite doesn't win, their fans/players have to make some kind of excuse, such as injury or the weather? It's pathetic. Mater dei loses the top forward, and you don;t hear them complaining, they get on with the game. I am a player in the Sunset league, and every other league is tired of Servite's excuses, maybe if they went to a CIF final for once, people would have respect for them.
Concerned, what are you talking about. Last year when Servite lost their best forward for the whole season due to a car accident in October no one said one word about it. All the haters came out and bashed Servite. Said they were full of excuses, blah blah. However, not once was Garrett Bradburys name brought up. Instead all the haters just call them chokers. Servite won over 20 games last year. Wonder what they would have done if GB played. Lets get real. It is fact that wind does ruin a good soccer match, and it always favors the weaker team. Who that is, is strictly up to your opinion. How about next time you just say you are from Esperanza instead of putting your lame comment onto the whole Sunset league. Lastly, If going to a CIF Final is your only measure of success then there are going to be alot of very good teams who have an unsuccessful year.
"concerned" it 100 percent correct, when was the last time servite won a cif ring? or even go to a final? never
Keepin it wrong -
As usual you are wrong. Servite has played in the CIF Finals losing to Nogales 2-0. Maybe you could just stick to criticizing 16 and 17 year olds....you're pretty good at that.
How's that HaterAide taste?
Thats funny,
The wind doesn't favor either team. One half you play with it in your face. The next you have the wind in your direction. Servite coach needs to stop looking for excuses and accept that it was a well played game for both teams.
What year was this exactly eh? hahaha
I am not taking sides here or showing any favoritism (Servite and Mater Dei are both great schools with great soccer traditions). But Lussier did raise a valid point. I could see how the wind was blowing the ball wildly anytime it got in the air. Servite is not a tall team, when it comes to their forwards, and the ball is flying all over the place, the game becomes tougher for them.
But weather aside, it was a great game between two great teams played in one of the best atmosphere's the you will see in high school soccer.
Here's a hint - the more skillful teams play the ball on the ground negating or at a minimum, minimizing the effect of the wind.
When the ball is kicked in the air ad nauseum, with little in the way of purposeful play, as it is in high school soccer, it ain't just the dust, but rather the excuses that come a flying!!
Pundit..
You obviously have not seen Servite, Saddleback or El Toro play because they keep the ball on the ground when they pass.
And one more thing Pundit. This is HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS! Not the MLS, NFL, MLB, so please keep that in mind with your posts please. Your constant negativity, in my, opinion doesn't belong in this arena. These kids work hard and deserve some respect.
Actually I have seen each of these teams play Mr. Dottore.
And it wasn't a kid making the excuse about the wind. It was a coach.
If I am coaching, I tell my kids to keep the ball on the ground. Especially in these conditions.
And yes, both teams played with the same wind.
Fred, calm your "arse" down.
Hahaha
And Damien, I think Pundit it trying to say that the wind doesn't favor any team who plays majority longball soccer, such as Servite, so of course the wind killed them, they couldn't just boot and chase as usual.
If you read the quote from the Servite coach, it doesn't say it hurt his team more than Mater Dei. In fact, his quote was,
“Wind is the toughest weather for any soccer match to be played in, and the quality of the game suffered,”
Not the quality of "our" game, or it made it tough for "us" to play, but it made it tough for everyone.
I realize some of you have nothing better to do with your time than to pick on High School students who represent their school, which is obvious by the fact you are posting your messages at 1:30 in the morning, but can we try to take this all for what it is? A high school soccer game. No need for name calling, especially by people who have nothing to do with high school sports(Pundit).
I have seen Servite play, 3 times this year, and they almost never play the ball in the air, so don't speak about what you don't know about.
Lots of comments in here with the MD-Servite game. Can hardly wait for the Santa Margarity game!!!
With all due respect having seen most of the top 10 teams play to date. Saddleback and La Habra are a step above the Trinity league teams this year. They simply have more individual quality players on the team and haven't been hurt be losing out on players to the Academy Club season. Can my words be put to the test? No. The coaching is a wash since all these teams seem organized and prepared to play (when I've seen them. Their strong record every year is a clear indicator as well.
Lots of good games this week to watch. Good luck to all and remember the rankings mean little at this point. Come playoff time the last one standing will be #1. My yearly predictions will be out for the postseason shortly.
Keepin it Wrong wrote:
>>And Damien, I think Pundit it trying to say that the wind doesn’t favor any team who plays majority longball soccer, such as Servite, so of course the wind killed them, they couldn’t just boot and chase as usual.>>
As usual you are wrong. I have seen nearly every Servite varsity game in the last 6 years. I can't think of a single game where longball and boot and chase was the majority of attacking effort. I have two questions for you - why all the negativity, and do you ever get tired of being wrong all the time?
FreeKick: if they never play like that, why has servite's game of "boot and chase" have been commented/talked about/ been written about for the last few years? I don't know if you have been watching the same Servite that the other 99 percent of people are watching, but the Servite WE are talking about is the Servite who has been hyped and hyped every year but NEVER win the big game.
Malkovich- can you cite any articles referring to a boot and chase offense? I don't recall reading any. If you want to call setting teams off balance and beating their backline with a well played through ball a "boot and chase" offense I guess you would be correct. Taking advantage of good team speed is smart tactical play.
My experience has been that Servite mixes it up, often building their attacks through the midfield in addition to playing over the top or through on the wide sides. The majority of their goals last year came from set piece play - hardly a boot and chase attack.
As far as winning the big game - I guess you're referring to a CIF title. In that you are correct. If big games includes tournament wins, or beating MD and Santa Margarita then I would disagree with you. They have notched plenty of tournament victories and had good success as of late with the Trinity opponents.
Wow, why all the vitriol? I love the game, and am amazed at the level of play we are witnessing at our local high schools. Apparently most of you have your favorite horse in this race, but applaud the schools who consistently play the game at a high level, and shake hands afterword. We are very lucky to be exposed to probably the best high school leagues in the U.S. here in O.C..
all in all it was a good game with both teams having stellar defenses..we all know both teams had injured players,,but the good teams must step up and play thru it...servite plays at Mater dei in a couple weeks,it will be interesting to see happens with no wind
Wow, I'm just surprised that they spelled Stephen Donnelly's name wrong, especially after they featured him in their top 11.
WOW.. My sincere apologies to STEPHEN Donnelly. The name has been corrected. I guess the wind that day affected my ability to read a roster
I like how I am a player at Mater Dei and everyone complains on this site. Yes it may have been a tie, but still it was a good game for both teams. Both teams struggled out there in my opinion, I will admit even I had trouble with the wind that game. The only people it seemed to favor that game was our keeper Paul Ellis. And for all the parents to fight about what school is better and who should have won the match, it makes me sick and feel like I don't want to play for any team in the Trinity League when it's always the parents complaining. Let us play our game and just be their to support us, not bash at the other team, my friend at Santa Margarita, his dad posted a comment on OCVarsity that I saw saying that Servite is nothing but a bunch of and I quote "Flamers." REALLY?!?! I would love to play for Servite and completely DESTROY SM just because their parents complain about everything, I give major props for Servite as they ARE a great squad of young men. And for all parents that post blogs and saying things like that, it makes me sick to my stomach, YES I go to the rival school of Servite, but it is just completely disgusting to see all the parents fighting over a high school game. No offense, and I mean no offense because I was raised as a person to respect my elders, but parents, HOW OLD ARE YOU??? ACT IT!!! and let us do our job.
Thank you.
P.S. if I offended anyone in this comment I apologize in advance, I just want all the parents to let their sons or daughters do their work in their sports.
Well stated Billy Joe Bob
Ya why is it trinity league parents "Uh huh servite.. uh hmm santa margarita, uhg hmm o lu" have to come to the internet and talk smack about how their child's team is the "super best" while their counterpart are "poor sports" or "arragont". I mean yes servite and sm parents BOTH are whiners, no one will disagree. But c'mon people, the trinity league parents have nothing else to do when they are rich and don't have to lift a finger all day so they have time to burn, why not go on ocvarsity and talk trash? hahaha
Billy joe is right, let the boys do the playing and talking with their game, and once the game is over, move on.
SERVITE PARENTS/ALUMNI listen up, the next game, try just sitting and watching a game, that's it, that is your job at a game.
But no, after everygame, Freekick and Servitehooligan ARE ON THESE BOARDS WITHEXCUSES ABOUT HOW SERVITE DIDN'T WIN by saying the weather played a part, or that they are missing players. It's getting old. Maybe when servite wins a cif ring, people will have respect for them. And yea, servite has not won a tournamnet yet this year (oh other than summer league against el dorado, who most people didn;t even know had a soccer program hahaha) and when they played in the Nautical tournament, they played in the 2nd division, not first, and they STILL DIDN'T WIN! haha they barely made it to semi's.
Chip Douglas has spoken. Billy joe, keep it real brotha.
Chip Douglas - "haha they (servite) barely made it to semi's" blowing teams out 5-0 then 6-0 isn't exactly considered "barely" making it
Hey Chip Off the Wrong Block-
Servite not only went undefeated in the OC Summer League against such teams as Fullerton and Sunny Hills, they also won the Arroyo Grande Tournament in Central California where they defeated the defending CIF Central Section Champions 5-1 in the final.
As far as the Nautical Cup, I said it before, entrants don't pick which bracket they play in at a tournament, the organizers do. Esperanza (who Servite beat 3-0 earlier this year) was placed in the Showcase bracket and finished last in their pool. Doh!
Maybe you could spare us the incorrect information reported as if it were fact and just plainly state "I hate Servite." At least that would be accurate.
Chip,
I know several familes who send their children to Catholic High Schools here in Orange County, and they are far from rich. They sacrifice a great deal of their income to give their children what they believe is the best learning environment . You may disagree, but you have no right to attack them on this basis.
Is 9-1-2 Servite's actual record, or are there some games missing?
Chip, did you even read my post or did you just throw my screen name on there because it has Servite's name in it? All I did was correct one of my best friend's name. I didn't say anything about the game because there was nothing to be said, MD came with their game and we came with ours and it ended in a tie.
Freekick: I think "I hate servite" is already taken, because everyone hates that rascist school hahaha