However, questionable officiating allowed O’Connell to salvage a 2-2 tie.

During a scoring chance for the Cardinals, a Boilermaker defender brutally tackled freshman forward Anthony Clay while dribbling inside the penalty box, but the referees refused to blow the whistle. Later in the game, O’Connell was attacking deep in Cardinal territory when freshman goalkeeper Shane McCarthy was plowed over by an attacking Boilermaker. As the ball fell from McCarthy’s grips, the O’Connell forward scored a goal.

“Horrible refs,” junior forward Matteo DiGiulio said. “They were on a first name basis with the players on the other team.”

The Cardinals look to continue their 8-1-1 record this season after a 5-0 shellacking of Wallenberg on Oct. 10 and the controversial tie against O’Connell.

The already formidable Cardinals might become downright unbeatable if they can continue to utilize newfound offensive weapon, DiGiulio. One bright spot in the match came when DiGiulio scored yet another goal for the Cardinals. DiGiulio’s goal tallied his third in league and his tenth overall this season.

DiGiulio’s scoring prowess came as a welcomed surprise to a Cardinals squad in need of scoring after the loss of graduated seniors decimated their offense. Where ’06 alum Rigo Canchola left off, DiGiulio picked up, becoming a feared scoring threat throughout the AAA.

Why the sudden transformation into this goal-creating monster? Digiulio credits his summer trip to Italy.

DiGiulio jaunted to Italy on June 23 and began an amazing two-month retreat at a campsite south of Rome. Everyday he “went to the beach, ate and played soccer,” usually four hours a day on a dirt field.

DiGiulio felt his game become gradually better while competing with the talented Italian players. “Playing helped me develop skill, because people in Italy are a lot better at soccer than people here,” he said.

However, DiGiulio’s trip not only fostered skill in his game, it also fostered a love for international “calcio” (soccer).

He said that “words couldn’t describe” the feeling of being in Italy during the 2006 World Cup. The scene after the victorious final that DiGuilio witnessed can be explained as nothing more than perfect riotous mayhem. The streets were overflowing with flag-waving faithfuls, chanting and singing until four in the morning. Heat emanated from every living being, as each overjoyed fanatic perspired the sweat of ecstasy and accomplishment. Citizens young and old swarmed the unfortunate automobiles that had driven into the mob, and rocked them to and fro to the cultish beat of the chants.

After his trip to Italy, DiGiulio tries to watch every Italian League game that he can, always rooting for Rome’s team. But this soccer fanatic still steers clear of any Major League Soccer match, the American knock-off of true European soccer. “I don’t like the way they play,” he explained.

Much of the reason that MLS players are inferior to those of international leagues is that without interest from the America public, MLS teams cannot offer the same contracts that European leagues do. As this destructive circle continues to spin, both MLS quality and Americans interest decline.

Though many Americans play soccer from a young age, without a compelling national league, many teenagers quit. This lack of interest in the game causes Americans to become uneducated viewers of a basic match.

DiGiulio explained that “Americans have shorter attention spans” and their unfamiliarity with the sport causes them to miss many compelling intricacies. “If you don’t understand the game, you might think it’s boring because there is not constant scoring,” he said.

Whatever the reason, soccer remains a non-entity at the professional level in the American psyche. Still, high school soccer allows for higher scoring and more intimate matches.

Come watch the exciting brand of AAA soccer, as the Cardinals square off against June Jordan at 3:45 on Tuesday at Lowell’s Feibusch Field.