There is plenty to celebrate at St. Anthony’s High School.
The Don Corrao-coached Friars boys soccer team is enjoying one of the finest seasons in program history. St. Anthony’s enters the playoffs Tuesday as the No. 1 seed with a 15-0-1 record and a No. 9 national ranking.
“We look forward to coming to work every day because of their work ethic,” Corrao told The Post. “They want to come to work every day.”
The Friars opened the season with a scoreless draw against New Jersey powerhouse Bergen Catholic, which is 13-0-2, and have won every match since. They will close the regular season Thursday evening against archrival Chaminade.
Corrao suspected early on that this could be a special group, particularly after his players began asking about the program’s greatest teams.
“We actually went into his office one time; we asked him before the season started, ‘What is the best team in [school] history?’” senior co-captain and striker Jayden Crespi said. “Because we want to be better than them.”
Good habits
Corrao pointed to two teams: the 2008 state champions, who finished 20-0-1 and were ranked No. 2 and No. 6 nationally in separate polls, and the 2013 squad, also 20-0-1, which won the state title and was ranked sixth in the country.
“I said, ‘In order to get to those heights, it would take a lot of hard work,’” Corrao recalled. “Fortunately, they listened.”
The players embraced that challenge, bringing maximum effort to every practice at Cy Donnelly Field. That commitment was on full display during a recent 6:30 a.m. session, held before the school’s open house later that day.
“Lights off, pitch black, freezing cold. But that’s what it is,” senior co-captain and center defensive midfielder James Kelly said. “We had the biggest smiles on our faces.”
The scene left a lasting impression on Corrao and increased his confidence that the Friars could finish the season in style.
“Without a doubt, our best training session of the year,” the coach said. “They were flying — the energy, the work rate was just a joy to behold. We left here on Cloud 9.”
Sizzling Friars
For St. Anthony’s, maintaining the winning streak is serious business, but the team also believes joy and camaraderie are essential parts of its success.
The fun-loving Friars have even developed an unusual game-day tradition that has quickly become a good-luck ritual.
“Every halftime, no matter what the score is, no matter if we’re down or happy, we go into the corner, and we just have the speaker on, and we just start dancing around,” Kelly said.
During the break, the players dance to a rotating playlist, although Kelly insists Crespi is the best dancer on the team. Their favorite selection is “Swag Surfin’” by Fast Life Yungstaz.
“We took some [pointers] from the kickline team,” Crespi said of the soccer squad’s sideline routine.
That sense of togetherness has also helped fuel junior midfielder Nicholas Gentile as the Friars prepare for the most important part of the season.
“If you don’t love what you’re doing, why do it at all?” Gentile said. “You’ve got to be positive, even if you’re having an off day; off days are gonna happen. You just have to enjoy the moment.”
Despite the national attention, the Friars remain grounded. They understand that, from this point forward, one poor performance could outweigh all the confidence earned through 15 victories.
“There’s still a very long way to go,†Corrao said.
As if the team wasn’t motivated enough for a historic finish, they’ve tacked on a little extra motivation from their respected Chaminade adversaries, who have won the league for the past two seasons.
“Chaminade had us the last two years now, and winning it back is just everything to us this year,†Kelly said. “We didn’t want it as much last year. I think this year it’s very clear how much we want it.â€
