Warren wins the race
and game against Marmion
Fuentes gets lone goal before storms end game
By Matt Misiak
GURNEE-- It’s not often that racing is involved in a soccer match, but Warren High School looked more like Daytona International Speedway Thursday night.
During the shaking of hands between captains, Warren head coach Jason Ahonen and Marmion head coach Ricky Del Toro agreed to “drop and go.” No World Cup style introductions as previously planned, just straight down to business with bad weather was on the horizon.
The Blue Devils and Cadets managed to squeeze in 45 minutes of fast-paced action before the ultimate caution flag, severe thunderstorms, brought an end of the festivities. The hosts came out victorious with a 1-0 nonconference victory.
“I am glad that as far as they (Marmion) had to travel, we were able to get a half in,” said Ahonen. “It was much better than having them to drive back home after the long commute.”
Marmion (2-4-3 overall, including a 3-0 victory in their last match over DeKalb) got the first chance of the night when junior striker Nicholas Grant tested Warren goalkeeper Blair McCormick in the fifth minute. The drive forced McCormick to make a fantastic tip over the bar.
After that chance, Warren (9-1-1) went to work on the Cadets defense with two quality chances. Alex Fratila drove a low shot that was held by keeper Daniel Galush. A minute later, Fratila launched a drive from the top left of the 18 that just sailed over the top left corner of the goal.
Ahonen liked what he saw early from his squad.
“We looked a lot more dangerous then we have in past games,” he said. “We changed the positioning of players within our system and we looked more dangerous which is
what we wanted to see.”
Continuing to be a difference-maker for the Blue Devils is freshman attacking midfielder Martin Fuentes.
In the limited amount of action, Fuentes owned the left side of the pitch early and often. Three minutes after McCormick made a big save off a Cadet corner met by
Quinn Turcich, Fuentes made a great run with fellow midfielder Ivan Esquivel, staying onside on a three-man attack. Esquivel caught up to Fratila’s through-ball along
the right wing and swung the ball across to Fuentes. The 14-year old took a touch in front of Galush and beat the keeper near post to give the Devils the lead 19 minutes in.
Ahonen was pleased that Fuentes, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, finished, but the praise was for the technique.
“He (Fuentes) did not one-time that ball,” he said. “He took that additional touch, composed himself, settled the ball and then drove it past the keeper. That was the keeper’s (Galush) only mistake in the first half. Their keeper played outstanding.”
This was also the first time all season that Fuentes was primarily on the outside, and the difference showed with the amount of space he had to create chances. Fuentes went close a minute later going over, then in the 31st minute, Fuentes made a great outside run and set up Fratila, who was bundled over in the 18 by a Cadet. No penalty was given because the ball was played first.
Despite the Warren chances, Marmion had standout performances on the backline from junior defender Benji Garcia and sophomore Johan Muscutt, who did their part in limiting the Blue Devils attacking options.
The Cadets, however, never really threatened for the rest of the match offensively, although they did spend extended time in their attacking third. A cross from the right by Sean Miller in the 34th minute was blocked away by Warren midfielder Jack Tully. Nicholas Grant almost had a clear look at goal a minute later but Tully was there once again, sticking his leg in and winning the ball.
Marmion did have one more chance a few minutes into the second half downpour, where Grant’s corner from the right fell to the feet of Miller but his shot from inside the 18 went wide. The final whistle blew shortly afterwards.
Ahonen has a message for the Blue Devils, who were ranked 10th in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
“We need to get back on track in conference play,” he stated. “We’ve played a lot of non-league games and we are 1-1 overall (in the North Suburban Conference Lake
Division). We still control our own destiny. A lot of the teams on the leaderboard we have yet to play. If we take care of our business, we still have a chance to win conference but it all starts on Saturday against Zion-Benton.”
Starting lineups
Marmion
GK Daniel Galush
D Benji Garcia
D Joseph Duffield
D Matthew Lagman
MF Quinn Turcich
MF Dolan Hunt
MF Ricardo Ruiz
MF Johan Muscutt
F Sean Miller
F Quinn Gratz
F Nicholas Grant
Warren
GK Blair McCormick
D Richie Flores
D Jack Tully
D Declan Porter
D Matt Haight
MF Alex Fratila
MF Niko Jokic
MF Ivan Esquivel
MF Hugo Flores
MF Kody Anderson
F Martin Fuentes
Officials: Rafal Zielinski (center); Mark Clark; Adrian Rosu.
Man of the Match: Martin Fuentes, F, Warren
and game against Marmion
Fuentes gets lone goal before storms end game
By Matt Misiak
GURNEE-- It’s not often that racing is involved in a soccer match, but Warren High School looked more like Daytona International Speedway Thursday night.
During the shaking of hands between captains, Warren head coach Jason Ahonen and Marmion head coach Ricky Del Toro agreed to “drop and go.” No World Cup style introductions as previously planned, just straight down to business with bad weather was on the horizon.
The Blue Devils and Cadets managed to squeeze in 45 minutes of fast-paced action before the ultimate caution flag, severe thunderstorms, brought an end of the festivities. The hosts came out victorious with a 1-0 nonconference victory.
“I am glad that as far as they (Marmion) had to travel, we were able to get a half in,” said Ahonen. “It was much better than having them to drive back home after the long commute.”
Marmion (2-4-3 overall, including a 3-0 victory in their last match over DeKalb) got the first chance of the night when junior striker Nicholas Grant tested Warren goalkeeper Blair McCormick in the fifth minute. The drive forced McCormick to make a fantastic tip over the bar.
After that chance, Warren (9-1-1) went to work on the Cadets defense with two quality chances. Alex Fratila drove a low shot that was held by keeper Daniel Galush. A minute later, Fratila launched a drive from the top left of the 18 that just sailed over the top left corner of the goal.
Ahonen liked what he saw early from his squad.
“We looked a lot more dangerous then we have in past games,” he said. “We changed the positioning of players within our system and we looked more dangerous which is
what we wanted to see.”
Continuing to be a difference-maker for the Blue Devils is freshman attacking midfielder Martin Fuentes.
In the limited amount of action, Fuentes owned the left side of the pitch early and often. Three minutes after McCormick made a big save off a Cadet corner met by
Quinn Turcich, Fuentes made a great run with fellow midfielder Ivan Esquivel, staying onside on a three-man attack. Esquivel caught up to Fratila’s through-ball along
the right wing and swung the ball across to Fuentes. The 14-year old took a touch in front of Galush and beat the keeper near post to give the Devils the lead 19 minutes in.
Ahonen was pleased that Fuentes, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, finished, but the praise was for the technique.
“He (Fuentes) did not one-time that ball,” he said. “He took that additional touch, composed himself, settled the ball and then drove it past the keeper. That was the keeper’s (Galush) only mistake in the first half. Their keeper played outstanding.”
This was also the first time all season that Fuentes was primarily on the outside, and the difference showed with the amount of space he had to create chances. Fuentes went close a minute later going over, then in the 31st minute, Fuentes made a great outside run and set up Fratila, who was bundled over in the 18 by a Cadet. No penalty was given because the ball was played first.
Despite the Warren chances, Marmion had standout performances on the backline from junior defender Benji Garcia and sophomore Johan Muscutt, who did their part in limiting the Blue Devils attacking options.
The Cadets, however, never really threatened for the rest of the match offensively, although they did spend extended time in their attacking third. A cross from the right by Sean Miller in the 34th minute was blocked away by Warren midfielder Jack Tully. Nicholas Grant almost had a clear look at goal a minute later but Tully was there once again, sticking his leg in and winning the ball.
Marmion did have one more chance a few minutes into the second half downpour, where Grant’s corner from the right fell to the feet of Miller but his shot from inside the 18 went wide. The final whistle blew shortly afterwards.
Ahonen has a message for the Blue Devils, who were ranked 10th in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
“We need to get back on track in conference play,” he stated. “We’ve played a lot of non-league games and we are 1-1 overall (in the North Suburban Conference Lake
Division). We still control our own destiny. A lot of the teams on the leaderboard we have yet to play. If we take care of our business, we still have a chance to win conference but it all starts on Saturday against Zion-Benton.”
Starting lineups
Marmion
GK Daniel Galush
D Benji Garcia
D Joseph Duffield
D Matthew Lagman
MF Quinn Turcich
MF Dolan Hunt
MF Ricardo Ruiz
MF Johan Muscutt
F Sean Miller
F Quinn Gratz
F Nicholas Grant
Warren
GK Blair McCormick
D Richie Flores
D Jack Tully
D Declan Porter
D Matt Haight
MF Alex Fratila
MF Niko Jokic
MF Ivan Esquivel
MF Hugo Flores
MF Kody Anderson
F Martin Fuentes
Officials: Rafal Zielinski (center); Mark Clark; Adrian Rosu.
Man of the Match: Martin Fuentes, F, Warren