Saint Joseph’s wins Philly Soccer 6 Cup on penalties

Coming off the bench cold is never an easy task for a backup goalkeeper, especially when it’s in the middle of a penalty shootout but that’s the scenario Carter Fitzgerald faced in the Philly Soccer 6 Cup semifinal last Sunday when he came in to secure a shootout win and lead Saint Joseph’s to Saturday’s final.

The Harrisburg native played all 90 minutes of regulation in Saturday’s final but was called upon once again to lead his team to victory, this time on penalties after a 1-1 draw with La Salle.

“We’ve worked so hard for this, and it feels so deserving,” said Fitzgerald, who was doused with ice water and picked up by a mob of teammates after the shootout win. “Every day we come in, train extremely hard, raise the standards ourselves every day, we’re really excited for what we’re gonna do in the fall.”

The trophy comes just three months into the tenure of new head coach Tim Mulqueen, a St. Joe’s alum with a celebrated professional coaching pedigree.

“I think we’ve learned that we have a good team, and that if we stick to keeping our principles of working together, discipline and possession, good things can happen,” Mulqueen said. “I’m just really proud of our guys’ fight and the way they stuck to the course.”

The match – one of three played simultaneously at WSFS Bank Sportsplex – was scoreless for much of the evening before a slip from a St. Joe’s defender opened up a chance for La Salle to take a lead. After the goal, Fitzgerald called his team over for a brief huddle and they regrouped quickly, finding an equalizer through Tommaso Rossetto minutes later to send the game to penalty kicks.

Fitzgerald, who made three appearances last fall, made a big stop in the fourth round of kicks after an attempt was sent over the bar in the third round. Patrick Vani then calmly converted for the 4-2 shootout win. The Hawks were clinical with their four kicks and Fitzgerald’s save – similar to one he made against Drexel – propelled them to the shootout win in four rounds.

“He made big saves, good decisions, and then obviously in the penalties we asked him to make one and he made the big one,” Mulqueen said of Fitzgerald. “I couldn’t be happier for him, but that’s a team and that’s what we preach to the guys. It could be anybody’s day on any given game so you got to be ready for your opportunity.”