Chaminade Defeats Iona 1-0 to Play for State Championship

Tom Roulis wears number 24. He might want to consider switching to Michael Jordan's 23.

's senior captain and two-time league MVP deflected a point-blank shot from his own goal line, then took a direct kick from midfield seconds later and put it right in the box, where Kory Seibt got control of the ball and slammed it home in the 78th minute to give Chaminade a 1-0 win over defending state champions Iona Prep (New Rochelle, NY) in the NSCHSAA state semifinals at St. Johns University in Jamaica, Queens Thursday night.

Chaminade's heroics against the Gaels were not without controversy. Iona Head Coach Marcos Monteagudo and the entire Iona squad cried foul on the decisive play, claiming that while Seibt might have been on-sides, two other Chaminade players camped on the goal line ahead of Roulis' bomb were not.

The call never came. The goal stood. Chaminade will play for the state championship.

"Not easy to swallow," Monteagudo said. "A flag's got to up there. But we said that if we were going to lose the state championship, someone was going to have to pry it from our hands. Hats off to Chaminade."

Hats off to Roulis. For the , Chaminade's leader came up big in a big spot, displaying a wizardry in the playoffs that was Jordan-esque.

"There's less than two minutes left in the game," said Roulis of the direct kick that lead to the score. "I was just aiming for the center-back's head, he put it across the box and Kory put it right in."

But the play of the game came 30 seconds before that. Roulis found himself defending the Flyer goal when goalkeeper Ricky Berotti came off his line to hunt down a loose ball that eluded him in traffic. In the right place at the right time, Roulis deflected a point blank shot, saved Berotti's neck - and Chaminade's season.

"That's why he's the league M.V.P. two years in a row," said Chaminade head coach Mike Gallagher. "It's just amazing."

For Seibt, the goal was a shot of redemption. The senior forward had off-sides struggles of his own early in the game, drawing Gallagher's wrath towards the end of the first half. But Seibt kept his head up and kept playing hard.

"He was right on me," said Seibt of Gallagher. "I knew I had to redeem myself. I was just trying my hardest out there. All we want is to be state champions."

On Saturday at 3 p.m., in what will amount to a home game for St. Francis Prep of Fresh Meadows, Chaminade will get their chance.