PATRICK BASCO secures a loose ball during SPSV’s boys soccer home opener against St. Joe’s.

The St. Patrick-St. Vincent High boys varsity soccer team didn’t win last Thursday against visiting St. Joe’s, but they didn’t lose, either – and that’s just fine with the Bruins.

SPSV played the Pilots to a scoreless tie on Dante Magnani Field. It was the first home game for the Bruins all season and only the second time in the past four years they didn’t come away with a defeat. The Bruins (1-6-1, 1-4-1 TCAL) have four points in their past four games.

“Our kids played their hearts out and this felt like a win for us,” said SPSV junior varsity coach Mike Carvalho, who filled for Greg Coan while the varsity head coach was away on a business trip. “We had some really good possessions and some good scoring opportunities. A couple of better finishes and I think we would have scored.”

“I’m happy with a tie but a win would have been nice,” said junior midfielder Justin Coan. “It’s improvement. We got a shutout, so I’m happy. I felt like we played good team defense and that everyone did their part. We just couldn’t execute on offense.”

The Bruins opened the season with a 1-0 loss at St. Joe’s on Dec. 9 but played the Pilots straight up Thursday. Zack Richards had a great scoring opportunity late in the game but got tangled up with the Pilots’ goalkeeper.

All six of SPSV’s remaining games this season are at home.

“We’re undefeated at home and all of the rest of our games are at home, so that’s good,” Coan said.

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