ROCHESTER HILLS – Toledo St. Francis De Sales came into Thursday’s Catholic League Bishop Division title game having allowed just four goals this season, a number that Orchard Lake St. Mary’s found itself unable to add to.
The Eaglets gave up a goal just before halftime, then another early into the second half, falling 2-0 to the Knights at Oakland University.
“They’re a very quality team,” St. Mary’s head coach Keith Jeffery said. “They’re very organized, they’ve got the size and physicality, they’re smart. They’re definitely a hard team to beat.”
Both team’s goalkeepers parried powerful strikes over the crossbar in the first few minutes to set the action ablaze. Then, eight minutes in, De Sales senior Gavin Trent got 1-on-1 with Eaglets keeper Mason Lanfear and chipped a shot that went off the crossbar, but then was cleared away from danger.
Opportunities slowed down as each team grew into the game in the opening 40 minutes, and it looked like it would be a scoreless affair at the interval. But St. Mary’s fouled to set up a free kick, and despite erecting a five-man wall to make it a difficult angle for Cayden Gordy, he was able to bend it around the handful of Eaglets and into the net with 25 seconds on the clock for a 1-0 Knights’ lead at intermission, changing the complexity of the match.
“It was definitely a momentum shift right there,” De Sales head coach Michael Kern said. “We work on our set pieces a lot, and Kaden, he deserved it. It probably couldn’t have gone any better than that.”
The Knights added to the difficulty of the Eaglets’ task when Gavin Trent squeezed through several OLSM defenders, and after getting onto a bouncing ball, sliced one past the opposing keeper to make it 2-0 with 33:57 remaining.
“I thought we matched up, we did what we could, but it hurt giving up that set piece (goal when we did),” Jeffery said. “Going down 2-nil, our boys fought. You take away the result, we got better from it. So it’s a good test going into the stte playoffs.”
Jeffery didn’t hesitate in calling De Sales the best team St. Mary’s (No. 8 in D2) has faced all year. “They’re legit,” he said. “There’s a reason why they’re undefeated, right? But that’s what this game’s about, two good teams battling. We knew we had to minimize our mistakes and it was going to take all 80 minutes, but I’m proud of my boys.”
Eaglets sophomore Elvis Caushaj (12) works on the ball in the opposing half in the first half of Thursday’s Catholic League title game at Oakland University. OLSM fell 2-0 to Toledo St. Francis De Sales. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group)
St. Mary’s looked to have a goal from a free kick of its own with 24 minutes to go, but it was ruled offside. The Eaglets tried to thread balls through to runners over the course of the night, but Lanfear’s counterpart, Joel Neary, came up to sweep up danger outside of the 18-yard box on several occasions, requiring the timing and the runs to be nearly perfect to threaten the Knights.
In addition to calling Neary “a generational talent,” when asked what makes his team so tough to break down — half the goals the Knights (10-0-4) have allowed all year came in a 2-2 draw with Detroit Catholic Central on Sept. 22 — Kern replied, “These guys have been together for 10-plus years playing club. It’s a heavy senior class. We do a lot of tactical work in terms of our positioning and where to stay. It’s just a physical, very mature group of guys that love the game.”
With the Eaglets forced to sell out late, it led to some prime chances for the Knights to add a third goal, but their back line held up and Lanfear did well to keep the score what it was, too, finishing with five saves.
“Mason’s a heckuva goalkeeper, man,” Jeffery said. “And he’s only a junior.”
It’s a good mix of youth and experience that allowed OLSM (9-4-2) to go on a nine-game unbeaten run that was just ended by Brother Rice on Tuesday. Charlie Bear and Miller Burrows, both seniors, are captains alongside Lanfear, then the Eaglets also start two freshmen.
In addition, they added a special talent a handful of games into the season with sophomore midfielder Elvis Caushaj. Prior to joining up with St. Mary’s, he had played in the youth system of MLS club Columbus Crew and was called into a U.S. Under-15 Boys’ National Team camp earlier this year.
“He’s lethal,” Jeffery said of Caushaj, who has 13 goals and five assists so far. “He’s dynamic. When he can play off the ball, too, with Charlie in the middle, it’s special. When they’re clicking, it’s hard to defend. But Elvis is very impressive. I think what makes him great is he makes the players around him better.”
The Eaglets will get a tune-up Monday at Notre Dame Prep (No. 3 in D3) before embarking on their playoff run. They’ve got a first-round bye and will face either Avondale or Holly in a district semifinal at Waterford Mott.