Gaels

Saturday, September 8, 2012 BOYS CROSS COUNTRY BRUNSWICK, Md. - St. Maria Goretti's Luke Daigneault was the small-school champion at the Brunswick Invitational on Saturday, leading the Gaels to the team title. Daigneault covered the 3-mile course in 16:22.1, while three of his teammates also cracked the top 10. Mitch Swope was second (17:16.9), Kevin Proctor was sixth (17:45.7) and Patrick Jones was seventh (17:56.5) for the Gaels, who won with 36 points. Damatha was second (69)

St. Maria Goretti's boys basketball team looked much different on Saturday than the Gaels from a day before in an opening-round loss to Bishop Walsh in the 30th annual Mid-Atlantic Invitational Tournament. In fact, Goretti probably looked like the Gaels teams of the mid-1980s when Rodney Monroe played, as they rolled to a 75-42 victory over the SouthLake Christian Academy (N.C.) squad now coached by the former Goretti star. In the late game, Bishop Walsh became a first-time MAIT champion with a 58-51 victory over St. Mary's Ryken.

St. Maria Goretti's girls basketball team earned its 11th win in 12 games, 62-27 at Broadfording on Tuesday afternoon. “Most of all, I was pleased with our defense and our intensity on the defensive end,” said Goretti assistant coach Mike Murray, who is filling in for Todd Rideout while he's out with health issues. “That gave us a lot of fast-break opportunities and that led to a lot of layups. We did a good job controlling the boards. That was a big part of it as well by limiting them to one shot.” Sophomore guard Saverija Narkute poured in 22 points for the Gaels (15-5)

St. Maria Goretti's volleyball team played a cleaner match than Berkeley Springs through three games to take a 2-1 lead. But the Indians' superior firepower ultimately prevailed in a 26-28, 25-13, 18-25, 25-19, 15-3 victory Tuesday night at the Gael Center. "Our biggest problem was getting over the echo and how loud this gym is," Berkeley Springs coach Holli McCumbee said. "It was hard for them to hear each other. ... We went back to basics. They needed to hustle, talk to each other, trust each other and play as a team.

As the old adage goes, “it isn't how you start, it's how you finish.” Clear Spring's girls basketball team overcame a slow start to rumble past St. Maria Goretti 47-32 on Monday at the Gael Center. Both teams stumbled out of the gate, combining to shoot 11-for-47 in a first half that ended with Clear Spring nursing a 17-14 lead. However, the Blazers (4-5) came alive in the second half. Goretti (2-9) battled to a 20-20 tie to begin the third quarter, but buckets by Samantha Staley, Isabel Forsman and Kristen Mellott prompted a Gaels timeout.

St. Maria Goretti opened up its season with an 11-run first inning en route to a 22-2 smothering of Spencerville on Tuesday in a shortened five-inning game. The first 11 Goretti batters scored before Spencerville recorded an out. And after a 30-minute first inning, the game had been all but decided. “The team was excited to get (the season) started,” Goretti coach Duane Myers said. “We have a lot of talent on this team and this is what I expect.” Ryan Kinter was instrumental in the Gaels' victory as the starting pitcher and leadoff hitter.

WILLIAMSPORT -- Williamsport got the better of St. Maria Goretti in a pair of prep soccer games Wednesday night, winning the boys game 2-0 and the girls game 5-1. In the boys game, senior forward Jordan Payne scored both goals for the Wildcats (2-3). In the eighth minute, Payne scored on an unassisted run through the middle. In the 44th minute, Payne scored another goal through the middle on an assist from junior midfielder Brendon Colliflower. "We gave a hard effort," Payne said.

Severija Narkute scored a layup with 27 seconds left in the game to put St. Maria Goretti up by one, and T.J. Tillman sunk two free throws with 13.4 seconds left to ice the game as the Gaels defeated Preston (W.Va.) 46-43 on Saturday in the Lady Gael Classic championship game. Narkute, a sophomore, was named the tourney's most outstanding player, while Tillman earned most valuable player honors. Goretti (6-4) got quality minutes out of its underclassmen in crucial times. Freshman Ama Mitchual energized the Gaels late in the fourth quarter off the bench, hitting a clutch 3-pointer to keep Goretti within striking distance.

Friday, September 30, 2011 PREP VOLLEYBALL Alexa Mills had 20 digs to lead Clear Spring in a 25-13, 25-15, 25-14 sweep of St. Maria Goretti on Friday night. Sarah Blickenstaff had 15 digs, Sarah Elwood had 14 assists, Kristen Mellott had eight kills and Morgan Purdham added six kills for the Blazers (2-5). Abbey Eich had 18 digs, three kills and two blocks, while Erin Sempowski added eight digs and two aces for the Gaels (6-5). JV: Clear Spring, 2-0. North Hagerstown 3, Oakdale 0 Autumn Fisher and Peyton Wallech each had 10 kills in the Hubs' 25-23, 25-8, 25-17 sweep of Oakdale.

Click here for more photos of the game. Alexander Zoretich just reached out and touched something. The left-handed hitting Zoretich swung at an outside pitch to rip a game-winning, two-run triple to left field in the bottom of the seventh inning to help St. Maria Goretti squeeze out a come-from-behind 6-5 win over Avalon on Wednesday to win the Maryland Private Schools B Division state championship at Municipal Stadium. "I'm so happy right now," Zoretich said.