After scoring twice in last year's "Downtown World Cup" game, he scores the game's first goal Tuesday and helps the Cubs withstand late pressure for the win.
Josh Gallagher seems to get a little extra adrenaline playing against Cathedral.
After scoring both his team's goals in Loyola’s triumph over its inner-city rival last season, the senior captain tallied his team’s first goal Tuesday night and helped the Cubs withstand heavy pressure in the final moments of a 2-1 victory in the latest edition of a soccer matchup that has been dubbed the "Downtown World Cup."
“Just like last year … the keeper didn’t come off his line and I just went back post with it,” Gallagher said, describing his header off a throw-in only seven minutes into the contest. “We’re not as experienced, but we have a lot of depth. It’s a long and a short season. I don’t want to miss a game.”
Gallagher has scored in each of Loyola’s first three games.
Kian Benitez doubled Loyola’s lead with less than six minutes left in the first half, finishing a nifty feed in the box from fellow junior King Aberman.
“I took a touch around the defender and toe-poked it past the goalie,” Benitez said of his first varsity goal. “It feels surreal … a right moment, right time kind of thing. I knew I had to step up to the occasion when they put me in. It was a really big game and we persevered.”
Loyola graduated 14 players from last year’s veteran squad that lost to JSerra in the Southern Section Open Division finals and again one week later in the Southern California Regional finals.
“Already I can see this team has a lot of heart, from the starters to the bench,” Benitez added.
Goalkeeper Joseph Piscatella made several point-blank saves to keep his side on top. The Cubs (2-0-1) have won back-to-back games after eight losses and two draws in the schools’ previous 10 regular-season meetings.
The visiting Phantoms (0-2) cut their deficit in half in the 44th minute when senior midfielder Hector Gutierrez boomed his direct free kick from 30 yards off the far post and behind the diving Piscatello.
Loyola is chasing its sixth section title, having won four (2005, 2007, 2014, 2016) since coach Chris Walter took over the program 25 years ago.
Cathedral won consecutive Southern Section titles in 2014 and 2015 under Arturo Lopez and beat Loyola 4-1 in the Southern California Regional Division I finals in 2020.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Category: General Sports
