SAN MATEO, Calif. — Despite absolutely dominating the flow of play against St. Ignatius, it would have been easy for the Serra Padres’ spirits to break on Wednesday afternoon.
Wildcats goalie Leo Priesman was absolutely locked in for the visitors, making seven saves and stuffing both a penalty kick and rebound in the 44th minute, but the Padres pressed on, finally breaking through on a Xavier Van Loben Sels penalty in the 65th minute for the only goal in a 1-0 win that completed a rivalry season sweep.
“We don’t let that get to us,” Van Loben Sels said. “We beat these guys before.”
St. Ignatius (12-6-2, 7-5-2 WCAL) couldn’t even gain momentum when Priesman stopped both Donovan Diago’s penalty kick and rebound in the 44th minute, with the Padres pressing on. A cross off a free kick went wide two minutes later, and Serra (14-5-1, 8-5-1) earned corners in both the 58th and 60th minutes before finally earning the decisive penalty off a blatant handball in the box. Priesman got a piece of Van Loben Sels’ attempt, but it slipped through to break the stalemate.
Serra held a 17-7 advantage in shots for the game, including 8-4 in shots on goal. Dylan Fleider made four saves to record a clean sheet for the hosts, making his toughest save on a Benjamin Boyden header in first half stoppage time. SI never mounted a substantial rush on goal after Van Loben Sels’ tally, getting three more quality looks in the final 15 minutes. All three missed the mark, but the constant pressure ensured the Wildcats never got a decent look to equalize.
On Thursday, Serra received the eighth seed in the CCS Open Division and will visit No. 1 Branham (16-1-3) on Saturday. St. Ignatius was seeded seventh in Division I and assigned a Saturday morning visit to North Salinas (12-4-2).
