November 4, 2024

Pope Francis Prep Soccer Teams Reign Supreme in Western Mass Tournament

REGIONAL
By Steve Kiltonic

WEST SPRINGFIELD – It was an historic moment on November 2 when the Pope Francis Prep girls and boys soccer teams competed for the first time in the championship games of the Western Massachusetts Tournament at Clark Field. That moment was even more meaningful when both teams won, the girls beating Longmeadow in a thriller, 1-0, and the boys dominating Chicopee High, 4-1.

To reach the Class A final, the 14-3 Cardinal girls, seeded No. 1, shut out West Springfield, 1-0 and Minnechaug, 1-0 in penalty kicks. In 2023, Pope Francis went undefeated during the regular season and won the Class B crown and in 2022, won the Class C title. This year, they moved up to Class A. No. 6 Longmeadow made it to the finals by upsetting Northampton and Westfield.
 
In the title game, the Cardinals maintained possession throughout much of the first half and had a chance to get on the board when junior Maeve Turmel’s shot was saved by the Lancer goalie with a sliding kick. Pope Francis took several penalty kicks and had a great opportunity thwarted when senior Jordyn Balint’s header was deflected by two defenders and cleared.

The game’s only goal and eventual game-winner was scored by sophomore Mila Dillard, the team’s top scorer during the regular season. 40 minutes into the first half, Dillard took a pass from freshman Alexandra Soja and hit a high, arching shot over the goalie’s reach into the back of the net to give the Cardinals the lead.

“I know that I’ve taken corners before so I was like, you know what? Instead of trying to cross it, I’m going to just shoot it and I was fortunate enough to have it go in,” said Dillard.

In the second half, the Lancers continued to attack the Cardinal defense and had several scoring opportunities, but junior Pope goalie, Eden Kornacki, made several spectacular saves to seal the victory and earn the Cardinals their third straight sectional title.
“Longmeadow, in the second half, attacked us, went at us and found some spaces. I’m just glad our girls had grit. They had determination and they never stopped working for eighty minutes,” said second-year coach, Brent Dillard.

Dillard credited his defense and goalkeeper for shutting down the three opponents during the tourney run and added that the competition earlier against two out-of-state teams, both losses, helped prepare his girls for the tough road to the finals.

“The girls, after going down to New Jersey, playing two top Catholic schools, Depaul Catholic and Immaculate heart, sets us up for games like this when you could actually rise to the occasion or not rise to where you need to be and through those games and what we’ve been through the last couple weeks, the girls never give up and it’s awesome to see,” added Dillard.

“The key to winning this game was just working as a unit. There was team camaraderie and just knowing we all had each other’s backs, you know, that’s what had us going. That and just our faith. I think knowing that God was on our side as we were on each other’s side,” commented Mila. “It’s even better to know that we did it in Class B, moved up and proved ourselves in Class A.”

The boys Class B final was a battle of the unbeatens with Pope Francis 15-0-3 and Chicopee High 16-0-2.  A high scoring game was expected and Pope Francis didn’t disappoint as the game turned out to be the Ryan Vendovelli show.

He drilled home a high penalty shot for the Cardinals first goal which set the tone for the remainder of the game.

Seven minutes later, senior forward Sam Graham scored Pope’s second goal just after subbing in and less than a minute later, Vendovelli scored his second goal. He added the hat trick at 29 minutes when Ryan took a pass from Graham and converted his fourth goal to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead at the half.

Pope Francis came out strong in the second half and kept the pressure on the vaunted Chicopee offense and although the Pacers had scoring chances, every time an attack was launched, the Cardinal defense swarmed around the ball. 

The Chicopee did score a meaningless goal late in the second half but it was too little, too late and Pope Francis earned their first Class B crown.

Fourth-year coach Mark Richards said the quick start took some pressure off his team and praised his talented group of seniors for their leadership.  “I was expecting a more stressful final. Chicopee is a very talented team. They score as many goals as we do. I just think that we have a very experienced group of guys and they were really hungry,” said Richards who praised the defense led by senior captain Andy Ferreira for shutting down Chicopee’s top scorers. 

Vendovelli said the team was confident heading into the title game. “I think our energy. We came out really strong. We were just dominating them on offense. We were getting out wide, that’s where we’re best. We got some good crosses in and we were able to finish them,” commented Vendovelli.

Richards has coached Vendovelli for the past four years. “He’s an animal. Nobody can stop him when he’s flying. I couldn’t be more prouder or happier for Ryan,” added Richards.   

After Western Mass tournament, both teams have little time to rest as the state MIAA Division 3 tournament begins this week.
The Division 3 power rankings has the girls seeded eighth and the boys as the top-ranked team. Coaches and players are looking forward to the upcoming state’s and are confident of making a deep run in the tournament.

The girls made it to the round of eight last year losing a heartbreaker to Norwell on penalty kicks and are determined to go further.
“I think we can win it all. If we just keep working as a team, as a unit. Believing in each other and pushing each other to be absolute best, I think we could lift the state championship,” added Mila.

The boys exited the state’s early last year, losing in the Round of 32. “If we believe in ourselves and we keep winning the way we are and playing hard every single day. Practicing. Getting better. I think we got a real good chance,” said Vendovelli.

The girls play the winner of the No. 25 Apponequet Regional vs. No. 40 Norfolk County Agricultural while the boys play the winner of No. 32 Nauset Regional and No. 33 Tantasqua Regional.

(Editor’s Note Real to Reel will have a story on this historic joint victories- Sunday morning atv6:30am on WWLP 22News an on our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/diocesespringfieldma )