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22 - The Canadian Champion, Tuesday, May 21, 2002 M SPO] S Photos by GRAHAM PAINE Bishop Reding goalkeeper Allen Lourenco blocks a final shoot-out shot and then (at right) celebrates his efforts in a 1-0 victory over Loyola Wednesday afternoon at BR, while (inset) Hawks counterpart Hermes Juarez surrenders the winning goal by Jason Ferreira. Reding seniors eclipse Loyola in shoot-out By STEVE LeBLANC The Champion All Bishop Reding needed was a little pressure. Halton's defending senior boys soccer champs struggled to find the back of the net throughout regular-season play, and that lack of finish resurfaced during an opening round scoreless stalemate with arch-rival Loyola Wednesday afternoon at BR. But when it came time for a do-or-die shoot-out to decide who would advance, the Royals capitalized on every opportunity to nip the Hawks 1-0 (4-3). Goaltender Allen Lourenco - who back- stopped last year's squad ta the provincials - denied the visitors' second and fourth strikers, robbing the latter on a bottom-shelf attempt to seal the deal, and scored himself with a top left corner depasit. "Allen came up big for us," said co-coach Fernando Costa. "I'd bet my last dollar on him." Also denting the twine were Matt Stockton, Mario Sabatini and Jason Ferreira - who blasted one in just over opposing cager Hermes Juarez after his three team- mates went top shelf. BR's shoot-out victory - arguably the most excit- ing home-field soccer fin- ish in school history -fol- lowed an offensively punchless performance that included a handful of botched scoring chances in the first half alone. i Hindering the locals' - efforts up front was theabsence of top marks- man Connor Sweeney - who was deemed ineligible la campete because of his forearm casl, which hadn't been an issue during the regular season when he led with four goals. The Royals held a distinct edge in play early on and were by far the greater threat ta score. on and were by far the greater threat to score. But two free kicks went unconverted, as did a few close-range opportunities. Meanwhile, Loyola had just only three legit- imate scoring chances, but had the best one of the day - a wide-angle blast that missed by less than two feet and no doubt marked the most nerve-wracking moment of the afternoon. "If that had gone in it just would have solidi- fied what I'd said all year about our lack of scor- ing," said Costa. "We dominated them the whole game but just could bury it." Frank Fazio and Peter Schultz offered a sta- bilizing presence in the back field, while up front Paul Szafer and Ryan Taylor delivered spirited play. Sweeney got his cast off Friday and should be back in action this afternoon when the sen- iors travel to Oakville to face the top ranked Q.E. Park Eagles in the quarterfinals. BR lost its regular-season game with Q.E. Park 3-1, but was missing Sweeney at the time. BR's junior boys were also successful in their first-round clash at Q.E. Park Wednesday. Simon Sharples scored early in the second haîf and Mike Adcock connected with 15 minutes remaining to trim the Eagles 2-1. Adcock's winning goal was the resuit of an impressive solo effort to beat both a stay-at- home defender and the hometown cager. Counterpart Robbie Wilson was strong between the pipes for BR. The win was the first for the juniors thisyear after a disappointing 0-6 regular season. Il was also the first time the younger Royals scored more than one goal in a game. They'll look to make it two in a row this afternoon during quarterfinal play at Loyola.