By Sheldon Shealer

COLLINSVILLE, Mo. Kyle Schraier let his play do the talking Friday afternoon at the Gateway City Soccer Classic. 

The Christian Brothers (Mo.) senior assisted the game-winning goal and scored the clincher as CBC handed St. John the Baptist (N.Y.) a 3-1 defeat to advance to Saturday's Victor Arbelaez Bracket final. CBC's championship match opponent will be determined in a Saturday morning semifinal between Milwaukee Marquette (Wis.) and Neuqua Valley (Ill.).

Twenty-eight boys teams spread among three brackets and one showcase event participated in Friday's first full day of action. All but four matches were played at the Metro United Complex in Collinsville. The Showcase matches featuring Chaminade (Mo.), Providence Day (N.C.), Davis (Calif.) and Grandview (Colo.) were played at SIU-Edwardsville.

In key matches Friday, Mike Gauvain collected career win No. 399 with Chaminade's 2-0 victory over Providence Day. Gauvain will go for No. 400 Saturday night against Davis. Neuqua Valley and Marquette posted comfortable victories over Cathedral Prep (Pa.) and Bishop Gorman (Nev.), respectively, to reinforce their national ranking. Davis, playing outside of California for the first time in the school's storied history, defeated Grandview 3-1. Morton (Ill.), which entered the event with an undefeated record, lost in a first-round shootout.

The match receiving the most attention - from media and college coaches - was the CBC-SJB contest. St. John the Baptist was coming off a surprising 3-2 win over Rockhurst Jesuit (Mo.) in one of three Gateway contests played Thursday. CBC, formerly No. 2 in the FAB 50, had just ended a two-game losing streak with a Thursday victory over Cherry Creek (Colo.) and had something to prove.

With the match tied at 1 and 20 minutes left, Schraier slid a thru-ball between a pair of St. John defenders and onto the foot of Hutt Hutchison, who finished for a 2-1 lead and in the process atoned for an earlier miss. Less than five minutes later, Schraier flicked a header over the St. John keeper for the final score.

"He's a senior with a lot of experience," Christian Brothers coach Terry Michler said of Schraier.

"But he's struggled to get into the lineup. He's quiet, and he plays quiet. I told him he has to have personality when he gets on the field.

Schraier, even quiet in the post-match interviews, summed up his assist as, "it gave us a boost."

Hutchison added, "I looked up, saw the ball get through and hit it. I needed to redeem myself."

CBC, 4-1 all-time in the classic, now gets a chance to win its first Gateway Classic title Saturday.

The SJB forward combo of Adriano Gabriele and Michael Rovnyak gave the New York Catholic school a couple of chances in the first five minutes that went unfinished.  CBC appeared to get the first break 10 minutes in when the official awarded the team an indirect kick inside on the goal line, next to the

St. John goal. The attempt led to a shot over the bar, but since it was played before the whistle, CBC got a second chance. This time, after a flurry in front of the net, a St. John defender was called for a foul, giving CBC a penalty kick. Austin Tierney's low PK attempt to the right side had the keeper beat but hit squarely off the post. It bounced back to Tierney, whose next touch resulted in a whistle because the ball needed to be touched by another player before the PK-taker can touch the ball a second time.

CBC broke through at the 20-minute mark when Sam Carenza volleyed a cross from Joe Barron from 10 yards out. St. John the Baptist evened the contest 15 minutes into the second half when Gabriele, one of New York's best-kept secrets, drilled a direct kick from 35 yards out into the upper right corner.

"I'm glad we won. I'm glad to have seen it. ... but I'm even happier that it didn't beat us,"Michler said, paying tribute to Gabriel' strike, which he said was one of the best goals he's seen in a while.

In other matches ...

Bishop Gorman struck first against Marquette, getting a goal by Austin Cain two minutes into the match.  

"We had a slow start and that first goal woke us up," Marquette coach Steve Lawrence said. "I thought we put them under a lot of pressure. It came down to we finished our chances in front of the goal."

Marquette drew even with a controversial score just minutes later. Dorian O'Lochlayne beat his defender and was in on a breakaway while the side judge held up an offsides flag. Play continued and O'Lochlayne slipped a nifty ball into the near post after many of the Gorman players had stopped pursuing. The center official waved off the side judge and the score stood.

The Wisconsin power then took control, getting a goal by Bryan Wright (assisted by Stephen Pentler), a penalty kick score by UC-Santa Barbara commit Robbie Boyd, then a final tally by Mike Fiejsierowicz.

Neuqua Valley got goals from Pat Doody, Bryan Ciesiulka, Ian Krol and Bill Uniacke to put away Cathedral Prep.

Jack Russell, Austin Trees and Bryan Jantsch scored for Rockhurst in a 3-1 victory over Cherry Creek.

James Meyerkord, one of the impressive underclass forwards at the event, scored twice in Chaminade's victory.

Kyle West scored twice as Davis defeated Grandview in a battle of western powers.

Gateway City Soccer Classic

Friday Results

Showcase Games
Chaminade (Mo.) 2, Providence Day (N.C.) 0
Davis (Calif.) 3, Grandview (Colo.) 1 

Victor Arbelaez Memorial Bracket
First Round
Marquette (Wis.) 4, Bishop Gorman (Nev.) 0
Neuqua Valley (Ill.) 4, Cathedral Prep (Pa.) 0
Semifinals
Christian Brothers (Mo.) 3, St. John the Baptist (N.Y.) 1
Consolation
Rockhurst Jesuit (Mo.) 3, Cherry Creek (Colo.) 1 

Taigen Rose Finley Memorial Bracket
First Round
Hudson (Wis.) 2, Quincy (Ill.) 1 (PK)
St. Thomas Aquinas (Kan.) O'Fallon (Mo.) 0
Glendale (Mo.) 2, Morton (Ill.) 1 (PK)
Dunbar (Ky.) 3, Glenbrook North (Ill.) 0 

John Strodtman Memorial Bracket
First Round
St. Vincent/St. Mary (Ohio) def. Granite City (Ill.)
Brother Rice (Ill.) 2, Middletown (Wis.) 0
Reitz Memorial (Ind.) 5, Hickman (Mo.) 1
Cape Central (Mo.) 3, Dunlap (Ky.) 1