Until the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference tournament, Mount St. Joseph senior Dave Arnold hadn’t been a keeper since he was an 11-year-old playing for the Baltimore Bays club team.

And in a semifinal against Calvert Hall and in Monday's final against McDonogh, Arnold was in his customary striker position during regulation and the overtimes.

When it came to the shootout, though, St. Joe coach Mike St. Martin knew that Arnold was perfectly suited to handle the pressure-packed situation.

It worked like a charm against the Cardinals in the semifinal round, as Arnold made three straight saves to lift the Gaels (13-3-3) to a pulsating 3-2 victory last Friday.

He also worked his magic against nationally ranked McDonogh (20-3) Monday evening at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field when he stuffed three Eagle shooters from point-blank range to give St. Joe its first title since 2005.

St. Martin likes Arnold’s athletic ability and 6-foot-4 frame, saying he picked the stand-in goalie because he had the “hot hand.”

Still sizzling, Arnold rejected attempts from Mamadou Kansaye, Marquez Fernandez and Jeremy Kirkwood to lift the Gaels to the 1-0 triumph.

Zachary Modly, Joey Isaja and Tyler Door converted kicks — with Modly nailing the clincher — for the Gaels.

“I am kind of built like a freak of nature with these long arms,” said Arnold, whose team lost to McDonogh in 2008 final, 6-1, but split a pair of matches this fall. “I thought it was a good idea to put me in there, and I happened to guess the right way a couple of times.”

Starting goalie Brad Benzing did his part to help the Gaels, saving five shots in the last 20 minutes of regulation, including a diving save on Jake Weiner’s attempt.

“We had some chances,” McDonogh coach Steve Nichols said. “We should have buried them. We didn’t.”
McDonogh tested Benzing and defenders Brett Smoot, Jordan Manley, Jalen Robinson and Earl Kidwell in the first 10 minutes.

Fortunately for St. Joe, Robinson cleared a ball near the goal out of danger before Benzing saved Jacob McHugh's shot.

“When you are the better team and you should have won the game, it stings,” Nichols said. “We were 20-3. That is most people’s dream season. Anything less than a championship for this group is unacceptable.”

The Gaels' best first-half scoring chances came on Geaton Caltabiano's back-to-back direct kicks. McDonogh's Matt Sanchez saved the first one and the second one caught a piece of the post after eluding the freshman keeper.

In the second half, Isaja's rocket shot from the right wing sailed just over the goal.

“We had a good group of kids that all wanted to work really hard,” St. Martin said. “It wasn’t about themselves. It was all about the team and that was the deciding factor.”

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