Oratory soccer was seeded #8 in the 2023 Non-Public A state tournament and were put up against the #9 seed Pope John High School. With the Rams getting the #8 seed this meant they had home field advantage, and faced the opponents with a fierce crowd of rowdies. Pope John struck first in the 8th minute thanks to a pass that just snuck by the defense, and ended with a tap in goal. The Rams had various chances in the first half as they dominated offensively, but were still not able to find the back of the net. The game was 1-0 in favor of Pope John after the first half, in which the Rams needed to not let in any goals and score fast. Pope John was able to score five minutes into the second half, and go up 2-0 with 30 minutes remaining. Henry Griffiths then provided some momentum for the Rams scoring with 30 minutes left of the game to cut Pope John’s lead in half. 22 minutes later, Griffiths would go onto tie the game with only 8 minutes left in the game. Pope John immediately after would take the lead with five minutes left in the game, as the hope for the Rams’ season to continue seemed slim.
With only two minutes left in the game the Rams were rewarded a corner kick, as Henry Griffiths was selected to take it. Griffiths struck the ball and found Sean Van Hoven on the other end for the tying goal. This would lead the Rams into overtime, with a chance to win the game. After the first period of OT, it would still remain scoreless with Pope John scoring two disallowed goals. In the second period Pope John did not threaten, as Oratory was on the offensive side for the majority. With five minutes left in the game, Max Cook threw it to Julian Stauffer as he turned, shot, and slotted the ball in the right hand corner of the goal to win it for the Rams. The Rams would win 4-3 in comeback fashion, and are now faced with NO. 1 team in the state, Delbarton, on Tuesday.
