Calvert Hall reclaims the Reif Cup from Curley

by Nelson Coffin

Calvert Hall traveled to Archbishop Curley early last week with high hopes of taking back the coveted Bernie Reif Alumni Cup.

Early in the 24th edition of the annual showdown, that outcome didn’t appear likely because the Friars were thriving.

“They had the better of play in the first 20-25 minutes,” Calvert Hall coach Rich Zinkand said. 

Things changed quickly, though, when senior Zach Tamanini scored in the 35th minute to give the Cardinals all the scoring they would need to remain unbeaten in the A Conference. Even so, Zachanini notched his eighth goal of the season in the second half after junior Trey Sloan came off the bench to score in a solid 3-0 victory.

“Our back line played much better in the second half,” Zinkand added, lauding the center-back tandem of senior Fred Harris and junior Chris Molina, and a trio of wing backs, senior Harry Vaslios and juniors Caleb Beatson and Alex Los, stationed in front of sophomore keeper Enrico DiCocco (6 saves).

Things did not go as well for Calvert Hall (7-1-1, 6-1-1 league) on Friday night against cross-Towson archival Loyola Blakefield, which vaulted into a tie for second place with McDonogh by beating the Cardinals, 2-1, at Paul Angelo Russo Stadium.

All the goals came in an explosive final 11 minutes, with Michael Lemming scoring both times. His first score was assisted by senior George Forakis and his second tally gave the Dons (6-2, 5-2) a substantial cushion until Los halved the deficit after a free kick by Tamanini a minute later.

“The boys were great on Friday,” Loyola coach Lucas Winters said about his team’s pivotal triumph. 

Winters said that the second goal came on an “an unfortunate mistake with the Calvert Hall defender and the Calvert Hall goalkeeper," and was part of what he called. “a crazy last 11 minutes.

“It was a great game that had potential to go either way,” he added. “I’ve said this from the beginning of the year; the MIAA is one of the best leagues in the nation. We have had the opportunity to play two top-20 teams in the nation; there aren't many other leagues that are able to produce that level of soccer.”

The Dons are hoping the win gives them a good runway for success, starting with a key match at Gilman on Tuesday.

“I think we are right where we need to be at this time in the season,” Winters concluded. “We haven't reached our full potential yet. The entire team is excited to put in the work to get us to where we need to be, come playoff time.”

The Greyhounds (4-3-2, 4-1-2) went 2-0 last week, edging John Carroll on senior forward Bashir Abou’s clutch goal in the 78th minute before beating Concordia Prep, 5-0. The win elevated Gilman to sole possession of third place, just a point shy of McDonogh and Loyola.

The Eagles (9-2, 5-2) came through with flying colors in their only game last week, topping Curley, 4-3, on goals by Ryan Broome, Drew Goodrich, Val Quaranta, and Mason Manankil.

McDonogh will travel to Calvert Hall for another key battle on Tuesday.

“We have a lot of respect for Calvert Hall and the season they have put together so far in the first half,” McDonogh coach Brandon Quaranta said. “We know how difficult it is to play there and are looking forward to a tough test to see where we are at this point in the year. We believe we are starting to hit our stride as a team and hopefully that shows up Tuesday.”

Curley (4-4-2, 3-3-1) hosts Mount St. Joseph and Archbishop Spalding this week while hoping to rebound from last week’s setbacks.

Although B Conference contenders Annapolis Area Christian School (4-0-3, 1-0-1) and Boys’ Latin (3-3-1, 0-0-1) were unable to dent each other’s defense, both coaches praised the game for its level of play.

“Honestly, it was one of those exciting 0-0 matches,” AACS coach Vaughn Ridings said. “Soccer can do that.”

“It was a battle,” BL coach Jon Becker said.

Naturally. Ridings was hoping for a better result, despite the Eagles remaining undefeated.
  
“At the end of the day, we saw it more as two points dropped instead of one point gained, such was the value of our play throughout the contest,” he said. 

Jaden Adeduwon came closest to scoring a few times, Ridings said, while noting that Seth Vander Wall was responsible for “preventing a lot of their counterattacks and recycling us into the attack”

The coach admitted that the Lakers had better of the play in the second half until Jaden Adeduwon forced a red card on a breakaway midway through the period. 

“We had a couple more gilded chances in the second half, which we rue for not putting away,” Ridings added. “Very pleased with the performance, just need to improve the conversion.”

Becker was bullish on his back line — Brody Urban, Harry Connelly, Colton Wagner, and Nate Praay — for its stellar play.

After a couple injuries and the aforementioned red card, Becker said that freshmen Luke Lazenby and sophomore Aidan Ray joined sophomore Liam Waire to help BL maintain its defensive structure. On the other end of the field, Alex Barczak did what he could to create goal-scoring opportunities from the midfield.