Gulf Island’s tradition in excellence continues
February 25, 2015If LSU gets in, look out!
March 3, 2015
Vandebilt Catholic goalie Charles Doskey may or may not be Superman – his performances throughout the playoffs have certainly caused many to wonder.
While that debate continues, one thing that cannot be debated anymore is this: both Doskey and his teammates are now state champions.
The Terriers broke through the ice and overcame the playoff heartbreak of years past on Friday night, scoring a 1-0 victory over Ben Franklin in the Finals of the Division II State Soccer Playoffs – the same Ben Franklin team that trumped Vandebilt in overtime of the state finals exactly one year ago.
This year’s championship match was an epic battle – 110 minutes of scoreless soccer (80 minutes of regulation, 20 minutes of overtime and 10 minutes of sudden death) that was finally decided when the teams went to penalty kicks.
While there, Doskey orchestrated arguably his most brilliant masterpiece in a postseason filled with plenty. He saved three of the eight penalty kicks that he faced, including the last kick of the match – a strike off the foot of Ben Franklin’s Edward Wax with the Terriers ahead 6-5 in the PK session.
Wax struck it flush – the ball was heading toward the back of the net, if unattended. Doskey lunged left and intercepted the ball in its path, caressing the sphered object in his belly with one hand as he landed to the turf.
Next came a split second of silence – the ball stopped firm in the goalie’s possession.
Then chaos erupted as everyone realized what happened – the Terriers were champions.
Doskey hopped up into the air and flipped the ball behind his back while pumping his fists in jubilation. His teammates were next in line to mob the young sophomore goalie who was named the MVP of the match for his defensive dominance throughout the two-plus hours of action.
“What can you say? He’s absolutely incredible,” Vandebilt Catholic soccer coach Paul Shenton said of his goalie’s performance in the finals. “It was fitting for the match to end with him making the final save to win it. … They hit the ball, we made the save, and I just couldn’t do anything except yell, ‘Yes!’ off the top of my lungs. I am so happy for these boys. I am so proud of them for everything that they’ve done.”
“Give credit to Ben Franklin. They played a hell of a match,” Doskey added, still exhausted after the finals. “But tonight was our night. We weren’t going to be let down again. I’m so happy for our team, because we all did this together. It was just a great and amazing performance from everyone involved.”
The entire match was a classic.
The first half between Vandebilt and Ben Franklin was reminiscent of a prized heavyweight bout with the two teams feeling out one another for positioning.
Ben Franklin had a few chances early, but Doskey and the Terriers’ defense kept the Falcons’ high-powered offense smothered for the better part of the match. The Falcons’ best chance came with about five minutes on the clock when a Ben Franklin striker lured Doskey out of the net and fired a shot that appeared headed to splash the back of the net.
But Vandebilt defender Matthew Rotolo made an unbelievable play on the ball, using his feet to stop the ball before it crossed the goalline, deflecting the ball out of the goal and backward back into the box. Another Falcons’ striker possessed it and fired a strike at the net, but Doskey had then gathered his wits and made a kick save, before exploding in celebration to show appreciation to his defense for the game-changing play.
Ben Franklin beat the Terriers 4-1 during the season, but every attempt at a goal on this night was met with suffocating defense and a brick wall in the net.
“The first time we played them, it was the same sort of match, believe it or not,” Ben Franklin coach Jose Ferrand said. “We had trouble scoring early and then had a flurry to take control in the end. Tonight, they did a great job defensively and never allowed us to get going. They had an answer for everything we threw at them. The goalie was incredible. His defense did him proud, as well.”
In the second half, the action picked up, and a lot of it favored Vandebilt.
But every time it felt like the Terriers had momentum on their side, the team would shoot itself in the foot with offsides penalties. Vandebilt was flagged for the infraction several times throughout the match – including twice on plays that negated goals.
The most impactful whistle of the match came in sudden death when Terriers’ striker Mitch Gautreaux blasted the ball into the back of the net on a goal that he thought had won his team the championship. But what he didn’t know is that the offsides flag was up – a call that drew the ire of the several hundred Terriers’ fans in attendance.
“The first half was 50-50,” Shenton said. “But I think the second half, we really had established ourselves. We had some chances. We just couldn’t put them in. Take nothing away from Ben Franklin. They are a great team, and they might see it the other way. But we feel like we were the better team. We feel like the outcome and result was the right one in terms of who played the best and who did the most in the action.”
In penalty kicks, Mason Arnette, Zachary Breaux, Jonah Pitre, Jason Gautreaux and Clinton Erny all scored putting the Terriers in position to head to the eighth round with the score tied five-all.
In that eighth round, Brennan Rogers splashed home his PK to give the Terriers that one-goal advantage that set up the shot that will live in the annals of Vandebilt history for decades – the last save of the team’s now-title winning season.
Arnette was the team’s only senior in 2015. Shenton said he’s so happy to send him home a champion after some of the postseason disappointments of the past.
“These boys had had it taken from them before. We didn’t want that to happen again,” the coach said. “I am so happy for my senior, and I’m so happy for the guys around him. … I was never nervous. I was calm the whole match. I knew our potential. I knew we could do it and we had it in us.
“Then it all comes down to one kick, and we make the save and it’s like all of the emotions and work of the past five months of hard work come out all at once. It’s an incredible feeling, and it’s something that I don’t think I, or my players, will forget this anytime soon.”
Members of the Vandebilt Catholic soccer team mob goalie Charles Doskey (yellow jersey) after Doskey saved the penalty kick to clinch the Division II State Championship for the Terriers. Doskey was huge in the Terriers’ win, saving three of the eight penalty kicks he faced in the final session of the match. For his efforts, he was named the match’s MVP.
