The No. 3 St. John’s Prep soccer team had a chance to accomplish something they haven’t been able to do for 15 years: clinching a spot into the division 1 state finals. Wednesday night at Woburn, the Eagles punched their ticket to the finals as they defeated No. 2 Saint John’s Shrewsbury 1-0.
St. John’s Prep Head Coach David Crowell was excited after the historic win.
“This was a back and forth game that could have gone either way,” Crowell said. “This was the third time we played Saint John’s this season, two of the games ended with us winning 1-0, and one ended in a 1-1 tie. Thankfully for us, we were able to be the victor in these encounters.”
Crowell made a change to his team’s formation. The Eagles usually set up in a 3-5-2 formation, but changed to a 4-5-1 formation which Crowell said paid off.
“Saint John’s has given us a lot of trouble in every single game we played against them, so we thought making this change would help out our defense,” Crowell said.
Thirteen minutes into the first half, the Eagles created a fantastic chance to score the first goal of the game off a corner kick, but the opportunity resulted in a shot clanging off the crossbar.
In the 27th minute, the Eagles cashed in on another scoring chance. Senior Jake Vana fired a shot on net after a nice set up by junior Graham Kramer. Vana’s shot was blocked by the Saint John’s goalie, but Vana corralled the rebound and his next shot ricocheted off a Pioneer defender into the net, putting the Eagles on top for what turned out to be for good, 1-0.
St. John’s controlled play for most of the first half, but the score remained 1-0 at halftime. The second half was a different story as Saint John’s controlled the play throughout. Eleven minutes into the half, the Pioneers had their best scoring chance of the game, but the shot glanced off the crossbar. Despite Saint John’s controlling the time of possession in the half, the Eagles’ defense was up to the task, limiting Saint John’s scoring chances to preserve the shutout.
“The difference in the game was our defense,” Crowell said. “Our defense played fantastic all game long, which was needed as Saint John’s played really well. That team on the other side is a very good team, and it was great to see our defense be able to shut them out.”
The Prep has been accustomed to shutting teams out, as this one marked its 15th shutout of the season. Anchoring the Eagles’ stellar defense was senior goalie Ioannis Andrikoploulos.
“Ioannis has had such an amazing year, and there is a reason why he is an All-New England player,” Crowell said.
The senior trio of Will Minor (captain), Benjamin Bailey, and Jeffrey Lopez, along with junior Ross O’Brien, all had strong performances on the defensive end as well.
