Loyola boys’ soccer beats rival Cathedral in ‘Downtown World Cup’

When Catholic school powerhouses Loyola and Cathedral meet in their annual early season soccer showdown, the energy is palpable and tensions are high. The playoffs are still months away, yet both sides treat the game as if a title is on the line.

In Tuesday’s clash the visiting Cubs prevailed 2-0 on a pair of goals by striker Josh Gallagher.

Gallagher’s first tally came in the 15th minute after he slipped past the back line and fired a low drive that skipped between the legs of goalkeeper Maizcer Villalobos. That allowed Loyola to be aggressive for the remainder of the half knowing it had a lead.

“It was a great team effort,” said Gallagher, whose team avenged a 4-1 loss to the Phantoms last December.

Loyola’s Luke Stenberg tries to steal the ball from Cathedral’s Jonathan Villamontes on Tuesday.

(Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)

Cathedral pressed hard for an equalizer in the final 40 minutes, but senior goalkeeper Chris Stillwell stood tall for the visitors, denying several quality chances from close range.

After Cathedral forward Jonathan Villamontes’ high-arching shot hit the crossbar with 15 minutes to go, Loyola tightened its defense and ultimately capitalized on a set piece to score an insurance goal when Gallagher headed home a throw-in from Jack Nixon past Cathedral’s other keeper, Gael Bustos, with less than five minutes left.

“It feels really good — it’s been awhile since we beat them,” Loyola coach Chris Walter said. “We have a lot of room to get better, but that’s a good team and we did a good job shutting them out.”

Cathedral beat its Los Angeles neighbor 4-1 in the championship game of the Southern California Division I regional in 2020. In recent years the rivalry has been dubbed the “Downtown World Cup.”

Loyola improved to 2-0-1, while host Cathedral dropped to 1-1, and both teams know they could see each other again in the postseason.