Milardo, Xavier topple Hand

MADISON — Xavier’s John Milardo had a golden opportunity to score the go-ahead goal late in the second half Wednesday night, but he lined a shot over the crossbar.

Who knew Milardo would get another chance just 4 minutes later. But this time, he made sure he was on the mark.

Milardo beat Hand goalkeeper Tim Perez to a ball, then deposited it into a wide open net. That gave Xavier a 2-1 win over Hand at the Surf Club.

“I saw him (Perez) running toward me, but I couldn’t react. He was coming out right away so I had to flock it over and I got through,” Milardo said. “It feels great to be able to put that in and get the edge over Hand. It feels great to get the win on the road.”

Milardo’s goal came with 4:29 left in the game.

It’s the first loss for Hand (11-1-2) since the 2019 SCC tournament final and first defeat during the regular season since Oct. 5, 2019.

“All season long, we’ve been waiting for that test to see if we could overcome adversity,” Xavier coach

Brian Fitzgerald said. “We knew it was going to be a tournament game. … They kicked it into another gear when they fell behind 1-0.”

Xavier (11-0-2) came into Wednesday’s pivotal showdown ranked second in the latest Class LL/L state coaches poll. Hand is fourth. Both teams are receiving first-place votes.

Both teams played to a scoreless tie on Sept. 25. It was looking like the same result at halftime and well into the second half

Then the last 17 minutes turned a snoozer into high drama. Ben Agerbaek broke the scoreless tie for Hand with 16:51 remaining, hitting his shot off the restart over the outstretched arms of Xavier goalkeeper Spencer Misenti.

Xavier answered a little more than 4 minutes later. Jack Polke’s initial shot was blocked by Hand’s wall of defenders. The ball came back to him and he leftfooted it past Hand keeper Tim Perez.

“We work on weak foot dribbling, shooting and passing all the time in practice. It’s great to see those little things pay off,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s the little things that will win you close games.”

Hand coach Neil Phillips politely discussed a possible offsides violation on Xavier on that goal with the officials — whether or not Perez’s view was blocked on the second shot.

“I’ve told my players, ‘That’s the game. You’re going to get some decisions.’ The main points is we gave that free kick away in the first place,” Phillips said. “I don’t agree with (the noncall), but I respect it.”

It was Polke who slid the ball to Milardo for the deciding goal.

“It was just a beautiful setup,” Fitzgerald said.

Said Phillips: “The second one was our fault. I thought we gave (the ball) away. They finished it off really, really well.”

Both teams are jockeying for position in the SCC tournament, which begins Oct. 30. Hand and Xavier can still claim high seeds and resulting home games in the quarterfinals. Xavier is the only team to beat Fairfield Prep. The rematch is Friday in Middletown.

How will Hand react off the loss?

“A week before tournament play, it’s a kind reminder that we are not invincible,” Phillips said. “Now they have this feeling they probably don’t want again so we will see.”