A few final kicks

The St. Maria Goretti Lambs, all decked out in red and white, gather at midfield as soccer coach Jim Gallagher snaps some pictures.

These photos will be keepers. That’s because the game the athletes are about to participate in isn’t just any regular-season opener against West Catholic — it’s their last.

Well, sort of. Goretti will be merging with St. John Neumann High next September to form Ss. John Neumann and Maria Goretti Catholic High School. The players’ red and white uniforms will be traded in for black, white and gold, and their team name will change from the Lambs to the Saints.

As they prepare for the final chapter in Goretti Lambs athletics, the girls — especially the seven seniors — would like to score one for history.

"It’s exciting, but it’ll be sad when it’s over," said senior co-captain Natalie Seal. "It’s going to motivate us because we want to make it special."

That would mean finishing with a championship, or at least a winning season. Since Goretti joined the Catholic League in 1996, victories haven’t come easy. The 1998 season, which ended with a 3-7-1 record, remains the best in program history. Last season, the Lambs managed just two wins and a tie.

Despite their past struggles, the players believe this year will be different.

"We are going to win a championship because this team is basically made up of seniors who are used to playing with each other," said senior co-captain Angela Vitale. "We all have one common goal — to win."

Vitale’s sister Adria, a 1999 Goretti grad, played on the Lambs’ first soccer team, and set a school record for goals.

This year’s team is not at all discouraged by opening the season Monday with a 2-1 loss to West Catholic, who had just enough players to field a starting team. Senior Kim Jannelli scored the Lambs’ only goal.

The athletes still believe teamwork will carry them far.

"We have to work together," senior Marcella Garcia said. "We have to depend on other people because one person can’t do it by themselves."

Normally at this point in the season, the Lambs would have played a few regular-season games, but the Catholic high-school teachers’ strike and Hurricane Isabel combined for three postponements. All three games will be made up over the course of the next few weeks.

Most damaging to the teams was the postponement of practice until Sept. 12, when the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the teachers’ union reached a tentative agreement. The athletic schedules resumed last week.

"We could’ve used the practices to improve our skills," Seal said.

When the Lambs returned to practice last week, coach Jim Gallagher said he wasn’t overly concerned because all the teams were facing similar situations.

"I have confidence that they were doing running on their own," the coach said of his players. "They held up in the drills."

The Goretti players are likely to pick up a few pointers by watching the 2003 FIFA Women’s World Cup. The competitions are going on at several venues across the country, including today’s double-header at Lincoln Financial Field. Tonight, the United States faces Nigeria at 7:30 p.m. Vitale said she was hoping to attend the game with her older sister so she could see her favorite American player, Mia Hamm.

"She has exceptional skills and is a great team player," Vitale said.

The Lambs possess some of those same qualities, plus an optimism that could help them go out with a bang, not a "bah."

"The fact that we are going to merge next year is a pretty good incentive for them to make some sort of mark," Gallagher said. "It would be great to go out in a blaze."

Rather than regret an opportunity to share her school with boys, senior Jackie Turchi said she’ll treasure the memories she shared with her teammates and coaches at Goretti. She added the players would like to make sure the coaches know they appreciate their guidance.

"We will probably do something special for the coaches because they pushed us to do our best," Turchi said.

Back in the games

The St. John Neumann Pirates ended their two-week hiatus from the football field on Saturday. Unfortunately, their return was marked by a 34-21 loss to Conwell-Egan.

The Pirates were held to under 100 yards rushing, 87 of which belonged to senior fullback Frank Baldino, who scored two touchdowns. The local squad dropped to 1-1 in Blue Division play.

Even though the Pirates officially resumed practicing Sept. 12 after the Catholic high-school teachers’ strike was settled, coach Ed DiCamillo expressed concern about his players’ condition heading into Saturday’s game.

"There has been such a long layoff since we’ve been out there," he said. "We’ve been practicing, but everybody is a little stale."

The Pirates will make up their postponed game against Bishop McDevitt the weekend of Nov. 7-9. Neumann’s non-league game against Episcopal will not be made up.

Another revision to come out of Thursday’s Catholic League athletic directors’ meeting was that the fifth- and sixth-place teams will be eliminated from the Blue Division playoff field. That will shorten the postseason to two rounds with the semifinals taking place Nov. 21-22 and the championship games following on Dec. 5-6. All Thanksgiving Day games will still be played.

DiCamillo, also Neumann’s athletic director, voted for the revised playoff format.

St. Maria Goretti athletic director George Bain didn’t have as much reshuffling to do.

"The other fall sports were able to continue their regular schedules and make up the games during the week," he explained.

The volleyball team lost a couple of non-league games, while the soccer team had three contests rescheduled. Instead of playing two games a week, Goretti will play three until the games are made up. Bain said his biggest concern was not scheduling games on back-to-back days.

–by Bill Gelman

New 2003 Neumann football schedule

Saturday Open date

Nov. 8 Bishop McDevitt (make-up) Away 1 p.m.

Nov. 15 Bye week

Nov. 21-22 Semifinals

Nov. 27 Southern Away 10:30 a.m.

Dec. 5-6 Championship