The Cardinals (24-5) defeated LaSalle (PA), 14-3, Haverford Prep (PA), 14-10, and host Lawrenceville, 10-6.

Senior
John Stedding and juniors Arny Warren and Dan Kaun were named to the
All-Tournament Team, along with junior Mike Helou, who was named
Tournament MVP.

Driven
by the haunts of unfulfilled past promise and drawn close by helping
each other pull through a series of personal tragedies, top-ranked
Archbishop Curley put it all together for a spectacular 2006 season
which was capped by a 1-0 victory over second-ranked McDonogh,
yesterday, in the MIAA A Conference Soccer Championship Game at Loyola
College.

The on-field script was similar to the one used by the
Friars throughout their 21-3 campaign, as the area’s leading scorer,
senior B.J. Quigley, scored the game’s only goal, midway through the
first half, and the Friar defense anchored by senior Vince Savarese and
freshman Oumar Ballo frustrated McDonogh’s talented front line at every
turn.  The real story of this team, however, took place off the field
as it found a way, through pain and sacrifice, to shed an underachiever
label and pull together to become champions.

During the season
two members of the coaching staff, including head coach Barry Stitz,
suffered the loss of family members and Quigley suffered through the
loss of his grandmother, who lived with his family.  Throughout those
difficult days, the team drew closer and rallied around each other,
creating a spirit of unity the team had not previously known. 
According to Savarese, a senior captain, it made all the difference.

“In
our pre-game huddle we got together and reminded ourselves about
everything we have overcome this year and how much we wanted to win for
each other,” said Savarese, who enjoyed winning the title on Loyola’s
Dianne Geppi-Aikens Field, which will be his home pitch next fall as he
begins his college career with the Greyhounds.  “We talked about all
the tragedies with Coach Pete (Eibner), Coach Stitz and B.J. and how
much it had pulled us all together.”

Stitz, who told his team
that he loved them and that he would never forget what they had
achieved together as they gathered in their post-game huddle, said he
knew his team had a chance to do something special when they accepted
accountability for past failures.

“It all started with our 12
seniors. The first step was realizing we did not do what we expected
last year and we were all accountable,” said Stitz.  “There were no
excuses and the guys decided to put the team first and, from that
point, we were able to play up to our ability.”

In the final,
Quigley came through in the clutch, as he netted his MIAA best 27th
goal of the year, in the 28th minute, to cap a senior season which may
very well conclude with Player of the Year honors.  Taking a feed from
freshman Bash Kamara, who also greatly impacted the Friar offense
throughout the year, Quigley made the most of some open space on the
left edge of the penalty box and hit a low burner in front of McDonogh
keeper Ben Bartlett into the right side of the goal.

McDonogh
played well in the middle of the field, but the Eagles never seriously
threatened Curley keeper John Connolly, who finished with seven fairly
routine saves in the shutout, because of the work of the Friar
defenders.

“Everyone knows we play an aggressive, attacking
style, but we didn’t become the team we are until we made the defensive
commitment,” said Stitz.  “Vince has given us that performance all year
and I cannot think of a single game where he did not step up to the
challenge of stopping an opponent’s top forwards, when we’ve given him
that assignment.

“And Oumar, you saw him.  He is so big and
strong.  He is just a freshman, but he played like a senior.  In fact,
he played like a college senior.”

High praise was also due
seniors Aaron Ligon and Brent Hooper.  Ligon clogged the passing lanes
and disrupted McDonogh’s sophisticated passing game and Hooper, who
will play at Virgina Tech next year, made plays up and down the field.

McDonogh
head coach Steve Nichols was disappointed with the loss, but not in the
effort of his young team, which he believes is ahead of schedule.

“We
are very talented, but we are very young,” said Nichols of his squad
which finished with a record of 15-4-1.  “We knew that next year would
be one of the better years we have had and the next two or three would
also be good.”

Nichols also had high praise for Curley and his
good friend Stitz, who was his teammate during their days in
professional soccer with the Baltimore Spirit.

“I knew Curley
was the most talented team at the beginning of the year, even though
they were not ranked very high, and I told everyone,” Nichols said. 
“They have explosiveness and Savarese is a great defender.  Everyone
knows we have two great forwards (Chris Agorsor and Andrew Bulls), but
when they don’t go, we don’t go.  They didn’t go today, but that had
more to do with the effort of Savarese then anything.

“Also, I
told my AD and headmaster that I wanted to win, but if I had to lose, I
didn’t mind losing to Barry.  We grew up playing together and we played
together with the Spirt.  He deserves this because he does things the
right way.”

Junior
midfielder Gray Gilmor, who led the Admirals in scoring this fall,
netted a goal and added an assist to lead yesterday’s effort, and
senior Chase Loetz set the tone with the game’s first goal, 20 minutes
in, on a perfect through pass from Gilmor.

Instead of retreating
into a defensive shell, Severn was energized by the lead and increased
its offense intensity.  With constant pressure on the BL cage, a second
score seemed inevitable and, it was.  In the game’s 54th minute, Gilmor
won a header, from a long entry pass, and promptly directed it on-goal
to virtually seal the outcome.

The defense also did a great job
in front of sophomore goalkeeper Phil Snyder, who needed just three
saves to record the shutout.  Sweeper Brian Distad quarterbacked the
effort in the back and sophomore defenders Taylor Stout and David Henry
did the bulk of the man-up marking.

Under first year head coach
John Brady, the Admirals gelled right out of the gate and won Division
I of the B Conference with a 13-0-1 record.  The tie came at BL, as the
teams played to a 2-2 deadlock, earlier this year.  The Admirals were
15-2-1 overall, losing only to Landon and Archbishop Spalding.

Boys’ Latin, which won the Division II title with an 11-2-2 mark, finished 12-5-3 overall.

The Lakers, who won the inaugural B
Conference title in 2004 before losing to Archbishop Spalding in last
year’s final, regained the championship with a 25-16, 14-25, 25-20 and
25-23, victory, last night at Villa Julie College.

Towson
Catholic came into the finals on a six-match win streak, including the
win over BL and the ousting  of defending champion Spalding in the
semi-finals.  

The Lakers depended on their teamâ??s character to
see them through. Their team was led by senior Matt Krastel and
according to head coach Drew Haugh, Krastel was a main contributor to
the teamâ??s overwhelming success.

In the B Conference opener, the
Lakers jumped out quick extending an early lead to 10-2 behind the
consistent serve of David Aiken.  But slowly, the Owls crept back
behind the presence of 6-foot-10 middle hitter, basketball phe-nom,
senior Donte Green.  

Greenâ??s sheer athleticism kept the Owls
close and by game two, Green was on a roll.  A dozen kills during game
two shifted the momentum toward the Owls, who took a 13-4 lead and held
on for the 25-14 win.

The Owls left the Lakers frozen for a time
but midway through Game 3, the Boys Latin squad, behind a vocal
cheering section, regained their composure and battled through six ties
throughout the game.  

Boys Latinâ??s, senior Alex Gaines was
stellar on serve as well as key defensive stops, but it was Krastel,
whose soft hands mixed with powerful spikes, who began to shift the
tide back toward the Lakers.  A number of unforced errors by Towson
Catholic, coupled with an offensive blitz from Krastel and sophomore
Tommy Bohn, gave BL a 2-1 lead going into the four game of the match.

A
well-played fourth game saw Towson Catholic keep the lead early on
behind solid play up front by Green, junior Tim Wiggins, senior setter
Tony Powell and junior Larry Batsfield.  In fact, The Owls led 18-10
before a BL timeout helped the Lakers regain focus.

Top-ranked
Loyola, which dominated during an undefeated regular season, narrowly
won the A Conference team title for a second straight year, as it edged
a rapidly improving Calvert Hall squad, 66-67.  In the B Conference,
St. Paul’s dominated the team competition and Grisha Iventichev won the
individual title for a second consecutive year.

Last year,
Wetzel and Anderson were among a group of pre-race favorites who were
upset by a stunning performance by Gilman’s Sam Jackson, who ran his
best race of the year in taking the 2005 title.  Both came back this
year with outstanding regular seasons and were at the top of their
games yesterday.

Wetzel went to the front early yesterday, but
Anderson made a move at the two mile mark and built a bit of a lead. 
Slowly, however, Wetzel closed the gap and kicked in front over the
final 1,200 meters to claim the title in 15:49.  Anderson finished in
15:53.

The difference between a second straight team title for
Loyola and a surprise win for Calvert Hall was less than a second as
the Dons’ Greg Jubb narrowly edged Calvert Hall’s Tony Rowe for
third-place, as both runners were credited with a time of 16:15.  A
fraction of a second the other way and Calvert Hall would have claimed
the team trophy.

Loyola’s other top runner, Ryan Stasiowski, was
also tightly in the mix for third place, as he ended up a few strides
behind Jubb and Rowe, placing fifth in 16:17.  Loyola’s other three
scorers were all in the top 22, led by Joe Orsulak, who ran very strong
and claimed 16th-place with a time of 17:17.  In addition, Kevin
Matusak (17:30) finished 20th and Matt Kaplan (17:35) crossed in 22nd
place.

After Rowe, Calvert Hall’s push was led by Jason Wilson
(9th-16:55) and Chris Swisko (10th-16:57).  Rounding out the A
Conference Top 10 were Anders Hulleberg (6th-16:29) of Park, Zack
Sullivan (7th-16:42) of Spalding and Josh Pickett (8th-16:49) of John
Carroll.

Iventichev’s B Conference crown was even more narrow
then Wetzel’s, as the Quaker star topped second-place Joel Armes
(17:04) of Baltimore Lutheran by just two seconds.

St. Paul’s
victory was keyed by putting all five of its runners near the top, led
by Brian Scarlett (18:20) and James Saylor (18:20), who finished fifth
and sixth, respectively.  The other three Crusaders also finished
together, as Brayden Cleary (18:32), Alex Murphy (18:37) and Will Gore
(18:38) took spots 10, 11 and 12.