BOYS SOCCER TEAM WINS STATE CHAMPIONSHIP TO COMPLETE UNDEFEATED SEASON
The La Salle Boys Soccer team defeated South Kingstown High School 3-0 Saturday afternoon to win the 2015 RIIL/University Orthodpedics Boys Soccer State Championship. Coach Mario Pereira's team finished the season with a perfect 17-0 record. Senior Victor Rey was awarded the game's Most Valuable Player Award, but as he stated, it could have gone to a lot of people.
Rey put the Rams on the board with a goal on a penalty kick. Minutes later, he delivered a beautiful ball into the box on a corner kick that Jake Fitting headed into the back of the net. Fitting found the back of the net again minutes later on a long delivery from Alexander DaCosta. Fitting took the long, arching pass and deftly directed it in. Those three goals would be the difference.
South Kingstown came storming out in the second half, but the La Salle defense was up to the task. Senior keeper Tony Billeri made a couple of key saves early, and the boys withstood the early SK push and again controlled the action.
Senior Stavros Zarokostas, despite not scoring, was instrumental in helping La Salle control the tempo. He made several highlight reel plays to keep SK back.
Billeri and the defense made sure the offense's early work held up. Jake Gremza, Giovanni Ortiz, Matt Kane, Ricardo "Kiki" Burdiel, Jack Boyle, and Brett Emery made sure that La Salle stayed unscored upon in the playoffs. Billeri recorded the shutout in all three games, closing out his high school career in grand style.
La Salle Academy is a high school rich in history and grounded in the person and teachings of Jesus and the Catholic faith, which are core to the school's life and culture. The De La Salle Middle School provides a strong holistic foundation for students to transition into high school. The high school and middle school provide students of diverse ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds, a community to foster growth in the tradition of St. John Baptist de La Salle’s ideals of faith, service, and community.