Martyrs – Collegio Sant’Anselmo
In its final contest before the Easter break, the Martyrs defeated Collegio Sant’Anselmo a 1-0 slugfest. No stranger to hard-fought, physical play, the American squad engaged an opponent willing to match its aggression. The clash of force led to a stuttering gameplay, as the familiar whistle of referee D’Arienzo halted play for free kicks forty-four times in the sixty-minute match. While the flow was marked by sharp edges, the consistent performance by the Martyrs earned it a well-deserved victory.
Playing once again on the diminutive Field B, the Martyrs had its share of chances and challenges in the early going. With free kicks aplenty, the attacking zone became all the more dangerous. Neither side, however, could offer a true threat until player/coach David Santos ’12 (Newark) found midfielder John Gibson ’13 (Milwaukee) in the 19th minute. Gibson, who has shown an ability to deliver on scoring opportunities in his first Clericus Cup campaign, saw his header lurch wide of the goal.
The 0-0 tie was challenged ten minutes later in the 29th minute, as another free kick from Santos created problems for Sant’Anselmo. The low attempt found its way under a defenseman and onto the foot of right-winger Nick Nelson ’13 (Duluth). Cutting his way from the goal, Nelson’s strike emerged from under the opposing goal keeper’s legs, only to be kicked out of bounds as it neared the goal line. Later in the action, after Martyrs keeper Dan Gallagher ’13 (Pittsburgh) skillfully punched away a crossing corner, the first half concluded, with both teams scoreless.
Known as a team with skill at the striker position, Sant’Anselmo nearly converted the first opportunity of the second half, as a free kick from just outside of the box narrowly missed both the top post and Gallagher’s hands. With sustained offense nearly impossible due to the regular stoppages of play, the Martyrs began to revert to the offense of its past: a long kick followed by a scramble to the ball. In the 39th minute veteran Deacon Daniel O’Mullane ’10 (Patterson) corralled such a kick, discovering a sliver of daylight between two defenders. After sending a shot off the mark to the right, O’Mullane was sandwiched by the defending teammates. Though D’Arienzo uncharacteristically kept his whistle in his pocket, the exchange was a precursor to the offensive attack to come.
Before the Martyrs had another significant offensive attempt, however, the match was thrown into added controversy. In the 42nd minute, as Sant’Anselmo sent a corner kick into the goalie box, Sašo Celeski reached up and grabbed the high attempt with his hand. Normally such an intended act would merit a red card – and expulsion from the match. Showing remarkable charity, D’Arienzo decided a yellow card was the appropriate penalty, meaning Celeski could remain in the match unless he received a second yellow card later.
Gallagher’s kick following the penalty once again found O’Mullane on the other end of the field. As the Martyrs forward gathered the ball, he moved across the field to his left, spinning to free himself from a defender. Taking advantage of his newly created lane, O’Mullane fired low and hard, with the sprawling keeper reacting just quickly enough to save the attempt. As the ball rolled free in the box, Deacon James Morrison ’10 (Mobile) moved to score on the rebound. Sant’Anselmo was a step closer, however, clearing the ball as Morrison approached to strike it.
The next attempt of the “punt-and-run” offense proved pivotal. In the 46th minute, Gallagher and O’Mullane again connected deep in Sant’Anselmo territory. Unlike his previous attempts, O’Mullane found himself with only one defender – the yellow card-carrying Celeski – assigned to him. Gaining the slimmest of steps on Celeski, O’Mullane appeared to have a free attempt on the goal, until the defender’s challenge from behind brought O’Mullane to the turf. D’Arienzo removed another yellow card from his pocket, forcing Celeski to depart from the contest and Sant’Anselmo to play down a man for the remainder of the match.
The breakthrough would come in the 52nd minute, as O’Mullane definitively stamped his image on the match. With a member of Sant’Anselmo’s back line being harassed by an energetic Morrison, O’Mullane retrieved an errant pass not far from the goalie box. Using his now-patented spin move to create the necessary space, the forward placed his curving shot in the far corner of the goal. The goal was O’Mullane’s second in as many games and gave the Martyrs its long-sought advantage.
With eight minutes and stoppage time to play, Sant’Anselmo fought to find an equalizer. Thanks in large part to the tough play of keeper Gallagher and the stout back line in front of him, the Martyrs would hold on to the 1-0 margin, earning its 12th point of the Clericus Cup season in five matches.
The first game following the Easter recess will pit the Martyrs against Redemptoris Mater, the Neo-Catechumenal Seminary in Rome. The familiar foe has escorted the Martyrs to the offseason in each year of competition, including a 1-0 defeat of the the Americans in last year’s final. In addition, the victor will move into 1st place in Group A, controlling its playoff seeding (something fairly significant given Oratorio di San Pietro’s drastically different fields). The match will take place on Saturday, 17 April at 10 a.m. on Field A.
