Swanson’s 2 goals help Roman Catholic hold off Lansdale Catholic
HORSHAM >> Surrounded by a trio of defenders, Chris Swanson still found a clear path to make a run towards the net.
“Won the ball, I saw there was an open lane down the middle so I just took it,” the Roman Catholic freshman said. “And I had a wide-open shot so I took it.”
Driving into the right side of the box, Swanson knocked a shot past the goalkeeper and into the far left corner to break a 3-3 tie in the second half against Lansdale Catholic.
Three previous times during a rainy Philadelphia Catholic League boys soccer battle at the Ukrainian American Sports Center, the Crusaders rallied to pull even but Swanson’s second goal Tuesday afternoon ended up providing the Cahillites the win as they held off LC 4-3.
“Every time we scored we were trying to not have them score again,” Swanson said. “We just kept pushing and pushing and we finally just put them away.”
Swanson collected the opening tally but a Patrick Cole strike in the box had the game level 1-1 at halftime. Roman twice took leads but only for the Crusaders to respond with goals off restarts – Nico Jagielnicki after a corner kick to knot things at two while Kam Schmidt’s header off a free kick made it 3-3.
“When the ball’s in the box we know how dangerous it is,” Lansdale Catholic’s Patrick Cole said. “And guys are just throwing their bodies around – you don’t know where the ball’s going to go.”
And while Lansdale Catholic showed their resolve and gave the Catholic League’s first-place side all it could handle, Swanson’s strike off his run ultimately kept Roman (9-2-3, 7-0-1 PCL) unbeaten in league play and handed the Crusaders (5-6-0, 4-4-0) another frustrating result.
“I’m not taking anything away from Roman – credit where credit’s due, every time we tied it up, they went right back up and that’s what good teams do and that’s what undefeated teams know how to do and all that kind of stuff,” LC coach Casey Farrell said. “But this is just another instance where we feel like Lansdale Catholic’s walking off the field having not won and we were the better team.
“It’s getting frustrating because we feel all these close losses are ‘We’re better and they just capitalize on a couple mistakes we make and we don’t capitalize on theirs.’ And again, if they know how to capitalize on mistakes, credit to them, they should’ve won that game.”
Early in the second half, Lansdale Catholic made a quality push to grab a goal and take the lead. And while the Crusaders came up empty – Roman eventually going up on an unlucky bounce for LC – Farrell thought the effort laid the groundwork for LC rallying twice later in the contest.
“We came out with our hair on fire, which is exactly what we wanted to do,” Farrell said. “And I think that’s why we felt like we were the better team and we felt if we just kept knocking, it was going to come for us.
“To go down one and then tie it and then go down one and tie it, it shows resilience which is a great attribute. Now it’s just got to fix our own mistakes and not let them capitalize on ours.”
Roman went ahead 2-1 as an LC attempt to clear the ball instead deflected off the left post and in.
“It happens,” Cole said. “You can’t really control that stuff, it’s a wet field, it’s going to take a weird bounce so it’s just unlucky but it’s all right.”
The Crusaders, however, answered on a corner, the ball punched away by the keeper but went to Jagielnicki, who put a shot through a crowded box and in for his first varsity goal.
“He’s one of our swing players,” said Farrell of Jagielnicki “We have a lot of really promising sophomores. He’s had nine goals in seven games at JV so it’s one of those things where if you can score there’s a place for you on varsity. Came in, five minutes later he scored.”
Ben Macleod put the Cahillites back in the lead 3-2 scoring front in front of the net but LC netted another equalizer on a free kick – Gianluca D’Alterio lofting a ball into the right side of the box where Schmidt jumped up and directed his header into the goal.
“It was beautiful,” said Farrell of Schmidt’s goal that made it 3-3. “He usually plays in our center back spot, he’s been a center midfielder his entire life so I thought you know what we need some offensive energy, he knows what he’s doing put him up, he scores a goal.
But Swanson – who is from Abington – gave Roman the lead for good, eluding a pack of defenders to run in the box before finding the far left corner for his brace and a 4-3 advantage.
“We changed our formation,” Swanson said. “We had two midfielders out wide, they put me out wide and then they put me back in the center mid and that’s where I just started killing them.”
Roman and LC, which both lost in last season’s PCL semifinals, each have three league games remaining. Top eight teams qualify for the league tournament
“Obviously we’re disappointed that we lost but it’s good to know that we’re up there with the top teams,” Cole said. “And we feel like we gave Roman a good battle and they’re undefeated. Obviously I’m disappointed we lost but I’m happy we were able to compete with the top teams in this league.”
Lansdale Catholic, tied for sixth with St. Joseph’s Prep at 12 points, visits George School Thursday for a nonleague matchup at 4 p.m. then returns to PCL play Saturday hosting Cardinal O’Hara at 2 p.m.
Roman visits Father Judge 3:30 p.m. in a contest between the PCL’s top two squads – the Cahillites sitting first in the standings with 22 points with Judge a point behind at 7-1-0 after edging Conwell-Egan 1-0 in double overtime Tuesday.
Swanson put Roman up 1-0 in the first half, getting a ball in the box and creating enough of an opening to rip a shot past the goalie and in.
“I kind of tried to one-touch it but it hit my shin,” Swanson said. “And I brang it down to my feet and beat one kid and then just shot it.”
Cole made it 1-1 after the ball found its way to him in the box after Schmidt sent it in from the right side.
“I had the ball, Kam was screaming for it so I gave it to him and then he played it in,” Cole said. “I think (Matthew) Schaefer got a little touch on it and I was just right in front of the goalie for an easy tap-in.”
Roman Catholic 4, Lansdale Catholic 3
Roman Catholic 1 3 – 4
Lansdale Catholic 1 2 – 3
Scoring: First Half-Chris Swanson (RC); Patrick Cole (LC); Second Half-Own Goal (RC); Nico Jagielnicki (LC); Ben Macleod (RC); Kam Schmidt (LC); Swanson (RC).
