North Catholic takes soccer title

Jerry Brindisi didn't run around like a wild man.

The North Catholic boys' soccer coach was too busy watching the screaming fans to celebrate much on his own.

His Falcons, however, did the celebrating for him seconds after securing their 22d Philadelphia Catholic League title with a 1-0 overtime victory against La Salle.

"This is awesome!," said North Catholic midfielder Carl Essenthier, who scored the game-winner in the 81st minute on a direct kick. "I wanted to cry. As soon as that goal went in, I wanted to cry."

The Falcons (15-1-3), ranked fifth in Southeastern Pennsylvania by The Inquirer, celebrated their first league title since 2002 in front of a large crowd. North Catholic fans, clad in red and white, made up a sizable portion of the crowd, vocally supporting their team.

Like the Falcons, they were cherishing the magnitude of this victory.

The win sent North Catholic into tomorrow's 6 p.m. District 12 Class AAA championship at Northeast High's Charles Martin Stadium. The Falcons will face Public League champion George Washington, a 3-1 winner over Fels yesterday.

The district final will be a renewal of the old City championship game between the Catholic League champ and Public League champ that was halted after the 1979 season when a Title IX lawsuit was filed.

It's only fitting that North Catholic and Washington will meet in the largest classification's city final.

The Falcons took identical 1-0 victories over the Eagles in the 1978 and 1979 championships.

"I just started thinking about that [yesterday]," Brindisi said. "A bunch of people called me and mentioned it. I was, like, 'You're right.' I was at every one of those games. They were fantastic."

The same can be said about yesterday's PCL final against the youthful Explorers (11-8).

Like it did throughout its postseason run, La Salle played superbly despite limited shot attempts.

North Catholic had a commanding 11-2 advantage on shots on goal. However, the Explorers didn't back down and were far from intimidated by their older, more experienced opponents. And there was the feeling that, given the right opportunity, La Salle was going to nab its third league title in four seasons.

"Like any other game, we are going to play hard," Explorers coach Bob Peffle said. "We are going to take opportunities as they come. But our first focus is to defend hard, and we did that."

The Falcons finally got a break when it was awarded a direct kick in the 81st minute.

Standing 22 yards out, Essenthier zipped the game-winning goal past the outstretched arm of goalkeeper Stephen Kelly.

"I've been waiting four years for this," the senior said. "I've been waiting four years. . . . This is great!"

La Salle 0 0 0 - 0

North Catholic 0 0 1 - 1

Goals: NC-Carl Essenthier.

Saves: L-John McCarthy 2; NC-Stephen Kelly 10.