At 6 feet 2, 170 pounds, Dave Arnold is an imposing forward for the third-ranked Mount St. Joseph boys soccer team because of his ability to keep his body between the defender and the ball.
Arnold's physical presence was the difference in Wednesday's showdown with No. 11 Archbishop Curley, as he scored three second-half goals and the host Gaels overcame a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 victory. The win allows Mount St. Joseph (5-1-1 overall, 3-1-1 league) to keep pace with McDonogh and Loyola near the top of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference standings. Meanwhile, the Friars (4-3-2, 1-3) are in the unfamiliar position of being near the bottom.
"We were a little lackadaisical in the first half," Arnold said. "Once we saw them put in two goals, it kind of fired us up a little bit. We started playing a lot harder. Our team is really good at coming back from adversity."
FOR THE RECORD - A photo caption in Thursday's Sports section misspelled the name of Mount St. Joseph soccer player Brett Smoot.
The Sun regrets the error.
After a scoreless first half, Mikias Teketele and Oumar Ballo scored less than five minutes apart to give Curley a 2-0 lead with 30:46 left in the game. Arnold then scored his first goal about a minute later, and Mount St. Joseph began to take control.
Colin Borum tied it for the Gaels with 21 minutes remaining when he flicked in a loose ball inside the penalty area. Curley thought it earned a penalty kick with 7:55 left when P.J. Koscher fell inside the box, but no foul was called. Arnold then gave Mount St. Joseph its first lead when he fired a shot off the far post and into the goal from 20 yards with 7:43 left.
"David is just a great finisher," Mount St. Joseph coach Mike St. Martin said. "We made some adjustments at halftime, but I think it was more about attitude and coming out and playing hard. Even though we went down two, we stayed together and got back some momentum."
Even with the lead, the Gaels pushed forward, and they were rewarded with 5:12 left when Arnold scored on a nice turn from atop the penalty area. Curley made some effective attacks but could not close the margin.
"You're not going to win many games giving up four goals," Curley coach Barry Stitz said.
Goals: C-Teketele, Ballo; M-Arnold 3, Borum. Assists: C-Beale; M-Caltabiano, Buric. Saves: C-Bechtel 5; M-Benzing 4. Half: 0-0
