By Larry Moko
It was a heady victory in senior boys' high school soccer for the Bishop Ryan Celtics.
Coach Joe Cvitak's Celtics travelled to St. John Henry Newman's field Tuesday and scored an impressive 2-0 decision over the league-leading Cardinals.
The loss was the first for Newman in its six Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic Athletic Association starts thus far.
In addition, the Cardinals have a solid group of returnees from their squads of 2023 and '24 which captured back-to-back AAA silver medals at OFSAA championships.
"You've got to get up for every game," Newman coach Gerry Moretuzzo said. "You can't rest on your 5-0 record.
"There are three or four teams in this league that could win the championship this year. I think we're one of them. So are they."
The Cardinals finish their regular schedule Thursday with a key contest against the Bishop Tonnos Titans (4-1-1) while the Celtics (4-1) still have games remaining versus the fifth-place Cathedral Gaels and the eighth-place ACMT Jaguars.
"(Wednesday's) practice will tell me a lot about how our team feels about this game," Moretuzzo added.
BR opened the scoring in the final minute of the first half. Just after a BR corner kick, Max Palisak gained possession of a loose ball, cut in to the top of the box and fired a shot to the far post that found the top corner.
"Last year we played them twice and didn't beat them," Palisak said. "This is a sweet victory.
"It's always fun to play against Newman. It was definitely nice to come in today and do what we did."
The visitors then added an insurance marker in the 64th minute by Gabby Nazy.
Grade 10 student Santiago Ortega was in goal for the shutout.
The year before Newman advanced through the Hamilton Catholic and Golden Horseshoe Athletic Conference playoffs in consecutive seasons, Bishop Ryan won the league title -- defeating the Cardinals in the final.
"I'm not surprised," Moretuzzo said of BR's latest win. "They're well coached and organized. I thought they played hungry today.
"We had some chances early that could have changed the game. They controlled the middle and they finished. We didn't finish."
According to the BR coach, four or five of the Celtics play "high end" soccer in League 1, 2 or Reserves.
"We've got a very strong midfield," Cvitak said. "Lucas Spinosa is a key playmaker. We knew this would be a tough game."
A Grade 12 student, Palisak also plays for Oakville-based Rush Canada.
"He's got options for next year," Cvitak said. "He's got some contacts from Croatia to play and some schools in the States are looking at him, too."
Palisak says his goal is collegiate soccer.
"I'm trying to find the right team for me and the right environment," he said.
The league's quarter-final playoffs begin May 13.
"We lost a big game against a top team on our home field," Moretuzzo said. "We'll learn from this. We can only improve.
"There's always a silver lining. We lost a couple of years ago to Bishop Tonnos and that's when we made our run to OFSAA."
In other games Tuesday, Tonnos edged the St. Mary Crusaders, 1-0, Cathedral topped ACMT, 2-1, and the St. Jean de Brebeuf Braves defeated the St. Thomas More Knights, 2-1.
Photos by Richard Andoga
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