Gilman blanks Calvert Hall

The Calvert Hall (8-4-1, 7-4-1) soccer team was riding a three game winning streak on the road, while No. 3 Gilman (13-2-3, 8-2-2) was coming off a tough 3-2 loss to Mount St. Joseph on Tuesday, when the Greyhounds hosted the Hall in Roland Park on Thursday.  A Cardinal win would have vaulted coach Andy Moore’s team into second place in the MIAA A Conference, but the Greyhounds and goalie Andrew Harris stopped the tenth-ranked Cardinals in their tracks with a 3-0 win in blustery conditions.  It was the tenth shutout of the season for Harris.

“We moved the ball well on the ground, and that’s what you have to do in the wind,” said the junior keeper, who many describe as one of the best in the country.

The Gilman win sets the stage for a showdown at Gilman on Tuesday against McDonogh (15-3-1, 9-2-1) in a battle for the top seed in the conference playoffs, which commence on November 2nd.

In other action on Thursday, the Eagles held on to first place with a 3-1 win over John Carroll and St. Joe (10-3-1, 7-3-1) edged Archbishop Curley 1-0 to maintain third place in the conference.  In addition, Loyola pulled even with Curley in fifth place with a 5-0 win over Archbishop Spalding.

At Gilman on Thursday, Joey Cahalan put the Greyhounds on top with two minutes left in the first half, and Cahalan assisted on Gilman’s second goal when Ryan Tucker scored with twenty minutes to go in the second half.  Riley DeSmit made it 3-0 with two minutes left in the game to ice the win for coach Jon Seal.

Seal said finishing first or second is important, because the top two teams get a first round bye in the playoffs.  

Cahalan said that Thursday’s win was important, because the Greyhounds were coming off a tough loss to Saint Joe, and Calvert Hall was coming in hot.

“Today we came back, and put together a good effort, both offensively and defensively,” said Cahalan. “We got on them early.”

The battle for the final two playoff spots is raging,  Loyola and Curley will play head-to-head on Friday and Tuesday.  The sixth seed plays the third seed in the quarterfinals of the playoffs, and the fifth seed plays #4. Higher seeds have the home field advantage.

Calvert Hall will host Mount Saint Joe next Thursday under the lights, in the last regular season game for both squads in a game that will undoubtedly have major seeding ramifications.

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