Saturday Recap: 7th/8th grade soccer team clinches playoff spot

Quick Hit

The 7th/8th grade soccer team became the first St. Mary's soccer team in history to make the playoffs with an impressive 3-0 win in their final game of the year...The 5th/6th grade soccer team played a game representative of their entire year, scoring, a chance to win, and a brutal end as they lost 2-1 after leading 1-0 with about five minutes left in the game...Th 5th/6th grade volleyball team disposed of their opponent easily this morning with a straight set win, while the 7th/8th grade volleyball team was off, and will play back to backs next weekend.

Third straight win puts the 7th/8th grade soccer team in post-season

The 7th/8th grade soccer team punched their ticket to the playoffs with a 3-0 shutout win late Saturday afternoon.

Eloy scored minutes into the game and added an incredible laser beam shot from outside the box in the second half, leading the first St. Mary's soccer team to make the playoffs in school history. 

The same two teams will meet next week in the playoffs, with the winner advancing to the championship two weeks from today.

As impressive as the three goals on offense are the zero goals allowed by the defense. Daniel and Hunter played their best games of the year and were stellar from start to end. The other team did have a good scoring chance or two, but their kicks went wide of the net.

After a few rough games, Anthony has settled in at goalie and recorded his second straight shutout. If it wasn't for a mishap against Epiphany earlier, he'd have a three game shutout streak.

The game was played predominantly on the St. Mary's attack side with Eloy, Sebastian and Pablo trying to create scoring chances from the get go.

Sebastian set up Eloy's first goal when he lobbed a ball forward that Eloy tracked down. Using his speed, Eloy beat three defenders to the ball and skipped it past the goalie to make it 1-0.

Less than a minute into the third, Eloy scored his 12th goal of the season when he struck a ball outside of the box into the corner of the net. A professional goalie may not have been able to make that save.

They finished the scoring late in the fourth when Eloy centered a ball to a wide open Sebastian who easily tapped it into the net. A few minutes before that, in almost the exact same play, Sebastian tried to bump in a ball with his chest, but it hit the post. He finished the season second on the team with eight goals.

Next Saturday, the 7th/8th graders will make history and also look to add to it when they play in the first St. Mary's post-season soccer game in school history. 

Their wins and goals are already school records that may not be broken any time soon.

If they can play like they have the last three games, they are going to be tough to beat. The offense is scoring timely goals and the defense is really doing a great job of keeping other teams away. 

Julio, leading the defense, is as fast to the ball as they come, and the improved play of other defensemen Hunter, Daniel and Brendan have really made a huge difference.

When the defense is able to play solid, the forwards do not need to cheat back and therefore can get a headstart in generating offense.

The boys end the season with 14 points, (4-2-2).

5th/6th grade soccer team's last five minutes represented their season

Leading 1-0 with about five minutes left in their season, the 5th/6th grade soccer team was on the doorstep of winning their first game of the year.

But in all too familiar fashion, the 5th/6th graders broke down at the worst times, and the other team took advantage scoring two goals to hand the 5th/6th grade boys a 2-1 loss to end the season.

Three of the team's five losses have all been by a goal, and their two ties were also a result of breakdowns at the end.

This may be the best winless team in the history of CYO it seems.

Dante scored his third goal of the year in the second half to give the 5th/6th graders a 1-0 lead.

Even with the tough losses, the team should be proud of how they played, considering they were put together at the last minute. They had three new players and two players from NDV.

Team chemistry took a few games but once they starting getting used to play with each other, they had plenty of chances to win.

Raymond, Joseph and Garrick all scored goals for the first time this season, after playing on a team last season that scored one goal the entire year.

A lot of strides were made and we can only hope that this team stays with it and looks to break through next year.

Two set victory for the 5th/6th grade girls

The 5th/6th grade girls volleyball team can finish .500 on the season.

With a dominating 25-17, 25-13 win this morning, they already have three wins and can get a fourth next week against a team that they had already beaten earlier in the year.

The girls played a solid game this morning as they were able to serve consistently and return consistently.

When those elements work for the girls, they play with confidence and get positive results. 

The game was close in the first set until the girls pulled away towards the end. 

In the second set, it wasn't very close as Fiona served six balls over including an ace to end the match.

They are now (3-4) for the year.