STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.— A 0–0 draw isn’t usually a special result, but Monsignor Farrell had reason to celebrate it on Thursday evening, as the point earned against Xavier officially secured the Lions the CHSAA AA regular-season title — an accolade head coach Ed Hynes says his group fully deserves.

“They’ve been tremendous; it was really a team effort tonight like it’s been all season. They’ve worked their tails off, and I think we could have had two or three goals tonight, but all they needed was the point, and they earned it,” Hynes shared.

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Despite the added bonus a goal would have brought, Hynes said the clean sheet was a fitting reflection of the Lions’ defensively driven season, particularly praising center backs Ryan Dugan and Anthony Lenza for their consistent play throughout the campaign.

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Varsity Soccer: Xavier vs. Farrell

“They’re all-conference players; they don’t give many opportunities to the other team, and the way we played tonight was more or less the story of our season,” he shared.

Hynes also noted that Farrell’s goalie vs. the Knights, Jack Power, was called up on short notice from the JV team due to an injury to the Lions’ first-choice keeper — and still delivered an admirable performance.

“We’re very proud of him,” Hynes happily said.

“He showed a lot of composure back there. He didn’t make any mistakes and helped deliver a clean sheet,” he continued.

Given that Farrell allowed the fewest goals in the CHSAA AA this season, Hynes believes that if the defense maintains its current form and the attack becomes a bit more clinical, the Lions have a strong chance to make a title run in the playoffs.

“The defensive effort by the whole team — that’s going to win you games. We just have to finish better,” Hynes began.

“We create chances — they’re there — we’re just not putting them away. Playoff soccer is going to be scoreless games, 1–1 games, then overtime and penalty kicks. We don’t want to be in that situation; we’ve dominated games before where teams park the bus on us. We just have to find a way to get one or two goals, and the sky’s the limit for this group,” he concluded.

The Lions will now await final playoff seeding, but can certainly relish securing the No. 1 spot for the time being.

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