St. Ignatius breaks out
of the gate quickly, outpaces Loyola
Wolfpack only needs a minute to score, goes on to 3-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
GLENVIEW — Every coach's mantra is the first start. It is naturally easier said than done as both teams seek to impose their will on the other.
St. Ignatius has witnessed a clear correlation between strong starts and success. They are, after all, elating and everything naturally falls into rhythm by the ability to start with a clean and sharp purpose.
Patrick Breslin saw his chance and seized the moment. "We we have developed early in our offensive game was attacking down the wingers," the St. Ignatius midfielder said. Catch the other team off balance and come out ready to make a statement.
Breslin accomplished just that by scoring in the opening moments and adding a critical assist that facilitated a vital second score as the Wolfpack continued its strong play with the impressive 3-0 victory over rival Loyola here at the Munz Athletic complex Thursday afternoon.
As the only two Jesuit schools in the Catholic League, St. Ignatius and Loyola form a natural and intense rivalry. "I love playing Loyola," St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said. "I've been doing this for 10 years, and it's one of the games I still get anxious about."
The early prowess of the Wolfpack eased that uncertainty and propelled the Wolfpack (6-2-3, 2-0 Catholic North) to their second-consecutive conference shutout. St. Ignatius beat De La Salle 5-0 earlier in the week.
A lanky and talented midfielder, the 6-foot-3 Breslin ignited the attack. The Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match caught the Ramblers' off guard by drilling a deflected cross in the second minute into the top upper corner. Just 1:01 of elapsed time, with players on both sides just getting unwinded and into a good running motion.
"This is our fifth win where we came out strong and scored the first goal," Breslin said. "That's always important because it sets the tone right away, and you get inside the other team's head straight away."
Everything coalesced in the direction of the Wolfpack. They shaped the direction of the game and used a dominant possessive attack to deny Loyola significant counters and established an aggressive mentality they waged throughout the game.
If anything, the Wolfpack almost became too hyper after the quick start. St. Ignatius built other strong scoring sequences only to struggle finishing inside the box. Midfielder Eduardo Lopez smashed a header off the crossbar and forward Ethan McManus watched his best first half scoring chance, another header, sail high over the bar.
As such the Wolfpack led only 1-0 at the break. Loyola had its best scoring chance at the end of the first half as freshman midfielder David Gripman made a strong foray down the left edge until Wolfpack keeper Bryant Hales made an alert deflection to maintain the Wolfpack's edge.
"That early goal really hurt us," Loyola coach Baer Fisher said. "It hurt because we're playing a team that's big, strong, physical and athletic. Anytime you go down early like that it's a challenge.
"That definitely set the tone for the game. Still, we had some good opportunities late in the half and if any of those shots go in, it's a different game."
Kearns loved the early energy but also wanted the skill level to match the furious activity. "It was a quick start, and I thought the kids were using their adrenaline appropriately," Kearns said. "I think after that we started to show that anxiety, and we panicked some. We needed to get that second and third goal, and we had to execute.
"I said we had the tools, and we have to play patient, calm and composed soccer and stop letting the ball hit the turf."
Breslin again delivered at the opening of the second half as he drove the left wing and served a ball that McManus elevated five yards outside the goal and pushed home with a clean and sharp header. "After I missed that one in the first half, I talked with one of my friends, Conner Hatzopoulos at halftime and he told me just to visualize, and I'd get it next time," McManus said.
"So when the ball came in I just got it," he said.
McManus punched home his header in the 44th minute. That separation was just as crucial as the early goal in maintaining the psychological edge. "Loyola is our rival and we always want to beat them as badly as we can," McManus said. "We're always going to try and keep scoring. Last year when we won, it was only 2-1 on a late goal."
Breslin said the team began the second half anew. That attitude kicked in and helped the team deliver on its larger objectives. "The second goal was as important as the first because we couldn't afford to sag off after we scored first," Breslin said. "We had to play as though it were still scoreless and try get three or four goals and not let them get back into the game."
Junior midfielder Berhane Berhane put the game out of reach when he broke free in the middle, drove the center and registered his first goal with a vicious curving ball that cut inside the near post in the 56th minute.
The goal enabled Kearns to play his bench the final 20 minutes. Loyola created a couple of decent scoring threats, including a free kick by Matt Salter that proved dangerous when it dropped in front Hales. The ball was loose in front of the goal though no Rambler was close enough for the rebound.
Hales vanquished the threat. Gripman played another ball in the closing seconds that was just wide.
The Wolfpack have now gone 365 minutes since conceding their last goal against Lane in a PepsiCo Showdown game more than a week ago. "Our goal from the beginning was to win the Catholic League," Breslin said. "That's always our top priority. After the PepsiCo Showdown didn't quite turn out as well as we liked when we lost our first game there, we took that anger and we've put it back into the Catholic League."
The team is getting better each day and moving in the right direction. "This is where I want to be," Kearns said. "Things are really starting to come together for us. We still have three more games before we have to finalize seeding [for the state tournament]. If we can keep scoring and not be scored upon we're in great shape."
Starting lineup
St. Ignatius
GK: Bryant Hales
D: Alex Collins
D: AJ Capitanini
D: Carlos Sierra
M: Patrick Breslin
M: Max Taylor
M: Diego Vazquez
M: Eduardo Lopez
M: Ian Waller
F: Lucas Kotlowitz
F: Owen Allen
Loyola
GK: Nick Troiano
D: Sean Leider
D: William Franke
D: Daniel Vargas
D: Matt Brennan
M: David Gripman
M: Julian Hilpusch
M: Collin Leider
M: Daniel Montaquila
M: Nick Lew
F: Christian Jimenez
Man of the Match: Patrick Breslin, MF, St. Ignatius
of the gate quickly, outpaces Loyola
Wolfpack only needs a minute to score, goes on to 3-0 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
GLENVIEW — Every coach's mantra is the first start. It is naturally easier said than done as both teams seek to impose their will on the other.
St. Ignatius has witnessed a clear correlation between strong starts and success. They are, after all, elating and everything naturally falls into rhythm by the ability to start with a clean and sharp purpose.
Patrick Breslin saw his chance and seized the moment. "We we have developed early in our offensive game was attacking down the wingers," the St. Ignatius midfielder said. Catch the other team off balance and come out ready to make a statement.
Breslin accomplished just that by scoring in the opening moments and adding a critical assist that facilitated a vital second score as the Wolfpack continued its strong play with the impressive 3-0 victory over rival Loyola here at the Munz Athletic complex Thursday afternoon.
As the only two Jesuit schools in the Catholic League, St. Ignatius and Loyola form a natural and intense rivalry. "I love playing Loyola," St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said. "I've been doing this for 10 years, and it's one of the games I still get anxious about."
The early prowess of the Wolfpack eased that uncertainty and propelled the Wolfpack (6-2-3, 2-0 Catholic North) to their second-consecutive conference shutout. St. Ignatius beat De La Salle 5-0 earlier in the week.
A lanky and talented midfielder, the 6-foot-3 Breslin ignited the attack. The Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match caught the Ramblers' off guard by drilling a deflected cross in the second minute into the top upper corner. Just 1:01 of elapsed time, with players on both sides just getting unwinded and into a good running motion.
"This is our fifth win where we came out strong and scored the first goal," Breslin said. "That's always important because it sets the tone right away, and you get inside the other team's head straight away."
Everything coalesced in the direction of the Wolfpack. They shaped the direction of the game and used a dominant possessive attack to deny Loyola significant counters and established an aggressive mentality they waged throughout the game.
If anything, the Wolfpack almost became too hyper after the quick start. St. Ignatius built other strong scoring sequences only to struggle finishing inside the box. Midfielder Eduardo Lopez smashed a header off the crossbar and forward Ethan McManus watched his best first half scoring chance, another header, sail high over the bar.
As such the Wolfpack led only 1-0 at the break. Loyola had its best scoring chance at the end of the first half as freshman midfielder David Gripman made a strong foray down the left edge until Wolfpack keeper Bryant Hales made an alert deflection to maintain the Wolfpack's edge.
"That early goal really hurt us," Loyola coach Baer Fisher said. "It hurt because we're playing a team that's big, strong, physical and athletic. Anytime you go down early like that it's a challenge.
"That definitely set the tone for the game. Still, we had some good opportunities late in the half and if any of those shots go in, it's a different game."
Kearns loved the early energy but also wanted the skill level to match the furious activity. "It was a quick start, and I thought the kids were using their adrenaline appropriately," Kearns said. "I think after that we started to show that anxiety, and we panicked some. We needed to get that second and third goal, and we had to execute.
"I said we had the tools, and we have to play patient, calm and composed soccer and stop letting the ball hit the turf."
Breslin again delivered at the opening of the second half as he drove the left wing and served a ball that McManus elevated five yards outside the goal and pushed home with a clean and sharp header. "After I missed that one in the first half, I talked with one of my friends, Conner Hatzopoulos at halftime and he told me just to visualize, and I'd get it next time," McManus said.
"So when the ball came in I just got it," he said.
McManus punched home his header in the 44th minute. That separation was just as crucial as the early goal in maintaining the psychological edge. "Loyola is our rival and we always want to beat them as badly as we can," McManus said. "We're always going to try and keep scoring. Last year when we won, it was only 2-1 on a late goal."
Breslin said the team began the second half anew. That attitude kicked in and helped the team deliver on its larger objectives. "The second goal was as important as the first because we couldn't afford to sag off after we scored first," Breslin said. "We had to play as though it were still scoreless and try get three or four goals and not let them get back into the game."
Junior midfielder Berhane Berhane put the game out of reach when he broke free in the middle, drove the center and registered his first goal with a vicious curving ball that cut inside the near post in the 56th minute.
The goal enabled Kearns to play his bench the final 20 minutes. Loyola created a couple of decent scoring threats, including a free kick by Matt Salter that proved dangerous when it dropped in front Hales. The ball was loose in front of the goal though no Rambler was close enough for the rebound.
Hales vanquished the threat. Gripman played another ball in the closing seconds that was just wide.
The Wolfpack have now gone 365 minutes since conceding their last goal against Lane in a PepsiCo Showdown game more than a week ago. "Our goal from the beginning was to win the Catholic League," Breslin said. "That's always our top priority. After the PepsiCo Showdown didn't quite turn out as well as we liked when we lost our first game there, we took that anger and we've put it back into the Catholic League."
The team is getting better each day and moving in the right direction. "This is where I want to be," Kearns said. "Things are really starting to come together for us. We still have three more games before we have to finalize seeding [for the state tournament]. If we can keep scoring and not be scored upon we're in great shape."
Starting lineup
St. Ignatius
GK: Bryant Hales
D: Alex Collins
D: AJ Capitanini
D: Carlos Sierra
M: Patrick Breslin
M: Max Taylor
M: Diego Vazquez
M: Eduardo Lopez
M: Ian Waller
F: Lucas Kotlowitz
F: Owen Allen
Loyola
GK: Nick Troiano
D: Sean Leider
D: William Franke
D: Daniel Vargas
D: Matt Brennan
M: David Gripman
M: Julian Hilpusch
M: Collin Leider
M: Daniel Montaquila
M: Nick Lew
F: Christian Jimenez
Man of the Match: Patrick Breslin, MF, St. Ignatius