First-year head coach William Honan addressed his team after its dominating 8-0 victory over the Kellenberg Firebirds on Saturday afternoon at Gold Star Stadium, a victory which sent his squad to the final round of the playoffs, where they will face St. Anthony's (who swept the regular season series against the Flyers):

"They could beat us once; they could beat us twice, but there is no way they are beating us three times!" he exclaimed.

Paramount to the Flyers' semifinal victory were the team's cohesiveness and a pair of two-goal performances by Yiannis Mountrakis and Alexander Nunez. 

Leading into the match, Chaminade knew that they needed to play at their own pace.

"We need to move quickly, up the tempo, and create as many chances as possible on the offensive end," said Coach Honan before the game.

The Flyers did exactly that.

The Firebirds' Robert Grand-Pierre kicked off the first round of the postseason in Mineola. The match's first five minutes featured back-and-forth action, as neither team could establish much, but that all changed at the six-minute mark. 

Off a through ball from Kellenberg, Daniel Quinn of the Firebirds raced to the box in pursuit. He got position on his defender and was one-on-one with Flyers goalie Connor Gawlik, who dove for the ball, as did Quinn. The two collided as Gawlik made the save, but Gawlik was injured on the play and was replaced by keeper Hunter Chilelli. 

Kellenberg found a flurry of opportunities in the ensuing moments, two of them off free kicks. Both from the right foot of Kenneth Castro, the free kicks traveled to the far post, waiting for the Firebirds' David DelCastillo Diaz. He had space to shoot each time, but both efforts went wide. 

The script flipped in favor of Chaminade with 30 minutes to play in the first half as Mountrakis created various chances for the Flyers. First, a through ball was placed in the attacking third of Chaminade. The ball trickled in the direction of both Nunez and Mountrakis, and Nunez accelerated up the gut, but was tugged from behind. This yank of the jersey allowed Mountrakis to free up space with a shot in on net. He stepped into the attempt, but the shot slid wide right of the net.

Mountrakis found another chance to start the scoring three minutes later. After Nunez found a cutting James Palazzo up the left wing, Chaminade was positioned nicely in the box. Palazzo circled around Connor Lane of Kellenberg and found room to make a play. He had a one-on-one chance to put the Flyers on the board, but decided to dump it off to a knifing Mountrakis, who was looking at a wide-open cage in front. Mountrakis put his shot into the left corner of the net as Kellenberg goalie David Creagh dove to the right, breaking the ice for Chaminade and giving them a 1-0 lead.

The next five minutes featured two more Mountrakis opportunities, the first from just outside the box. First, the ball bounced near the left wing as Mountrakis gained position against his defender to shield the ball. As he scooped it up with his right foot and swept his leg towards the net, the ball caromed off the crossbar and rolled dangerously near the goal line. Just before Chaminade took a two-goal advantage, Creagh reacted, quickly snatching the ball to keep the score 1-0.

Shortly thereafter, Nunez headed a ball high into the air up the middle of the pitch to the feet of Mountrakis, who was 15 yards out. He lobbed a shot on net, putting it just high as Chaminade failed to extend the lead.

The Flyers were finally able to add another tally with 18:21 to play in the first frame. With a two-on-one, Sean Gallagher crossed it to the middle of the box for Nunez, who nailed it home to double Chaminade's advantage.

The most spectacular play of the game came with 15 minutes left in the first half. After the ball bounced just inside the 18, James Palazzo picked it up. He was crowded by four Firebird defenders who had made it their mission to keep the Chaminade lead at two.

Palazzo decided to go deep into his bag of tricks on this play. First, he spun through two defenders to shake his way closer to the net. Immediately, with two more defensemen to take on, Palazzo made a sharp cut to his left and powered the ball on net with his left foot. The shot accelerated into the right side of the net, giving the Flyers a 3-0 lead.

"That was the greatest play I have ever seen a Chaminade freshman make!" exclaimed a fan in attendance.

"World-class from James Palazzo!" announced Roman Brunetti '26 of the Chaminade sports media team.

"I am really proud of James!" said Coach Honan after the game. "He has been a chance creator all season for us, whether it is for himself or others."

As exciting as the moment was for the Flyers, it devastated the Firebirds.

In the 29th minute, Sean Gallagher curled to the middle of the pitch. With velocity on his pass, he dished it off to a cutting Nunez. From 15 yards out, Nunez uncorked a shot on net with his left foot and put it in the back, giving him his second goal of the game and his squad a 4-0 advantage.

Coach Honan has loved what he has seen from Nunez, both in this game and all year:

"Alex hasn't played in a lot of matches for us because of injuries and sickness, but when has been in there for us, he has been special," remarked Honan. "He is hard to stop because he's so quick, explosive, and dangerous." 

Chaminade ended the half with more opportunities, as Palazzo had two more long shots on net. Both of them were cleared by Creagh and company, and the score remained 4-0 at intermission.

It was smooth sailing for the Flyers thereafter. 

Eight minutes into the second frame, Chaminade found another goal. Yanni Gordon had a corner-kick from the near side, which he sent to the far post, where it bounced near the goal line. The ball once again found Mountrakis, who put it in for his second goal of the game to push the score to 5-0. 

"We started off slow early in the game, but Yiannis was the spark plug that we needed," said Coach Honan. "He gave us the energy and effort that we needed to pull through in this one." 

Four minutes later, a penalty was called on Kellenberg during a Chaminade transition attack. Kaden Gallagher took the penalty kick and knocked it through to make it 6-0.

With 26 minutes to play, Chaminade made magic again. From 43 yards out, Matthew Foraker launched a missile on net. The ball was just out of the reach of the outstretched arms of Creagh and just shy of the crossbar, as Foraker's perfect placement pushed the tally to 7-0.

To end the scoring for Chaminade, Dylan Thelian converted from inside the box. He had a one-on-one shot against the keeper, and he converted to the left side of the net.

The Flyers' focus now shifts to the last game of the season. Chaminade lost twice to St. Anthony's in their two regular-season matchups, but both games were highly competitive - each decided by a single goal. Coach Honan was clear on the team's mindset:

 "It is about us. We must have confidence on Wednesday like we did today."