Nicole Gordon, St. Anthony's make statement early, win CHSAA final

The St. Anthony’s girls soccer team refused to leave anything to chance. The players wanted to make a statement and in Friday’s championship, it didn’t take the Friars long to do just that.

No. 1 St. Anthony’s scored three goals in the opening 20 minutes in its 5-1 victory over No. 2 Sacred Heart in the CHSAA title game Friday night at the RVC Athletic Complex, starting with Nicole Gordon’s goal off Brianna Jablonowski’s assist less than six minutes into the match.

And Gordon was just getting started, as the junior finished with her hand — or foot — in every goal, finishing with two goals and three assists to lead the Friars to their second-straight league title.   

“It’s a feeling of ‘You did it, you finally made it,’ ” Gordon, from Amityville, said. “And when you set the tone for the rest of the game by scoring early on and working your butt off to do what you have to do, it’s easier for the rest of the game.”

St. Anthony’s (15-0) advances to play Christ the King in the state CHSAA semifinals at 1 p.m. next Saturday at the College of Staten Island. With a win, the Friars play for the state championship at 1 p.m. the following day at the same location.

But the Friars knew just one goal wasn’t going to cut it. Keeping the pressure on, Brianna Passaro scored off Gordon’s assist with 28:50 left in the first half. Gordon scored the third goal off a penalty kick after drawing the foul eight minutes later.

“When you have that 3-0 lead at halftime, it’s a relief,” Gordon said. “The job’s done basically, but the work and effort still has to be there.”

And after Sacred Heart (12-3) scored off Caitlin Kennedy crashing the net with 32:27 remaining in the game to cut St. Anthony’s lead to 3-1, Passaro added her second goal, beating a defender and the goalkeeper after a touch pass from Gordon with 19:29 remaining in the game.

“It’s amazing, especially because it’s our senior year, we wanted to go out with the win,” Passaro, from Commack, who was named the game’s most valuable player said. “I’ve lost and I’ve won, and I did not want to end on a loss.”

The Friars’ final goal came with 48.9 seconds left, when Victoria Mule scored following a shot from Gordon.

The St. Anthony’s backline, featuring Christine Fabrizi, Sophia Iaccino, Emily Sanders and Alexandra Milano with Lauren Haggerty at defensive center-midfield and Kaitlyn Mahoney with eight saves played a strong game to battle Sacred Heart’s offensive push.

“The most important thing out on the field is being able to trust your teammates,” Fabrizi, from Fort Salonga, said. “If you mess up, you know they have your back to fix it and help you up when you fall down.”

St. Anthony’s coach Sue Alber was happy with her team’s aggression, and credited Sacred Heart for a strong game.

“They’re always a tough team to play against,” Alber said. “They’ve got talent, they’re always fired up to play us, so overall extremely proud of the team.”

But the season isn’t over yet for the Friars, which are two wins away from winning a second straight state championship.

“Back-to-back state champs,” Fabrizi said. “That’s our goal.”