Saint Viator pops again
in Pepsi, tops WWS for 3rd win
Close loss to top seed Morton is lone tourney blemish
By Derek Wolff
LA GRANGE — Earlier in the season, one-goal leads proved problematic for Saint Viator. Enter the Pepsi Showcase.
The Lions (5-6-0) finished out the tournament on a high note, downing Wheaton Warrenville South 1-0 Saturday morning.
It was the third victory in four tries throughout the event for Saint Viator, whose lone loss came against Morton, 2-1.
“At the beginning we struggled,” said Lions coach Mike Taylor. “We struggled because we had to put a whole new defense together, we had to put some things together and we’ve played a tough schedule.”
Taylor cited losses earlier in the season after leading by a goal late against both Lake Zurich and Carmel and said his team, which has now won five-of-its-last six matches, have done a better job of closing out games.
“They’re progressing, and that’s all I look for," he said. "I look for 'What are we like at the end of the season?' So I knew it was going to be rough at the beginning, and now we start taking a step forward.”
With the teams playing in the consolation pool, each half was shortened to 35 minutes.
Patrick Hickey scored the lone goal of the match in the 43rd minute on a beautiful flying header that rocketed past Tigers goalkeeper Nathan Friedle.
Just prior to the score, Tony Pineda streaked up the right side of the field before lobbing across the accurately-timed cross that connected with the speeding Hickey.
“Perfect ball,” Hickey said. “They all lost their marks, and Tony heard me and found me on the back post. I just tried to keep my head on.”
Pineda, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, presented matchup problems for the Tigers back line throughout the game and routinely found space to make attacking runs.
“Their defense was peeling off,” Pineda said. “My coach said to play within the system the first few times until they peel off and you’ll find space, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Wheaton Warrenville South had some early chances but couldn’t put anything together to get on the board.
Tigers coach Guy Callipari said his side struggled to work as a unit throughout the match.
“We were a little lethargic early on,” Callipari said. “We started to find some legs, but we weren’t very intelligent today. We were very undisciplined in our method of getting through the thirds. When you kind of go rogue and you want to do what you want to do, it’s not in sync with what everyone else is trying to do.”
After a feeling-out process, each side found several opportunities toward the end of the first half.
Wheaton Warrenville South's Mark Chrisotomo put a shot on net in the 29th minute that was stuffed by a diving save from Lions goalkeeper Kevin Napoleon.
A pair of corner kicks in the 33rd and 34th from Saint Viator went searching as the sides went into the halftime tied 0-0.
Wheaton Warrenville started started the new half with a surge.
In the 38th, senior forward Danny Jimenez streaked into the 18 and made a move around a defender. He fired towards the near post on the right side but narrowly missing.
Hickey’s goal came as a result of a good counterattack after the Lions failed to convert a corner in the 42nd.
The Tiger backline successfully cleared a headed ball out of the box and got it back to midfield, but a steal led to Pineda’s cross for the assist.
Taylor praised Pineda’s leadership and soccer smarts, valuable assets in a team that lost some speed up-front from a season ago.
“He holds the ball up front,” Taylor said. “He gives us time for our people to move up and support him as opposed to just turning and going at people.”
The Lions kept the pressure up but yielded several chances as the time wore down.
Napoleon had to tip a ball over the bar in the 54th to deny Tigers’ midfielder Jose Alfaro the equalizer.
Tigers midfielder Anthony Berardi drew a corner kick in the 65th, knocking a ball out of play off of Lions defender Miles McDonnell.
The ensuing corner was knocked out by the Lions backline.
Berardi’s space was limited throughout the game, keeping the dangerous midfielder off the score sheet.
Callipari spoke about Berardi’s strengths but also said the team as a whole need to be better as the Tigers return to conference play.
“He’s keeping the game close and giving us an opportunity to try and be in games and try to win against very good competition,” Callipari said.
“When we’re down and stretched a little bit, he’s also capable and has the versatility to move forward. He’s strong enough to play balls at his feet, and he’s smart enough to know when to play off or take somebody on. That gave us a little bit of a hope at the end. But it can’t just be one guy; everyone else has to step up and play around him.”
Saint Viator hopes to continue its newfound success, Hickey said.
“It was very important to finish out the game and the tournament strong -- 3-1 in the Pepsi’s not bad so we really wanted to close out the game.”
“We’re halfway through the season and we definitely weren’t where we wanted. We want to get back to where we were last year and put our best foot forward as we move towards the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
GK Kevin Napoleon
D Tom Scully
D Justin Cruz
D Sean Lonigro
D Patrick Hickey
M Miles McConnell
M Alberto Kovacevic
M Michael Tangredi
M Patrick Bottcher
F Tony Pineda
F Will Hartman
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Nathan Friedle
D Ethan Weseman
D Jackson Keske
D Jon Suh
D Cesar Bucio
M Anthony Berardi
M Jose Alfaro
M Carlos Moyoti-Rosas
M Mark Chrisotomo
F Felipe Speraggi
F Danny Jiminez
Man of the Match: Tony Pineda, F, Saint Viator
in Pepsi, tops WWS for 3rd win
Close loss to top seed Morton is lone tourney blemish
By Derek Wolff
LA GRANGE — Earlier in the season, one-goal leads proved problematic for Saint Viator. Enter the Pepsi Showcase.
The Lions (5-6-0) finished out the tournament on a high note, downing Wheaton Warrenville South 1-0 Saturday morning.
It was the third victory in four tries throughout the event for Saint Viator, whose lone loss came against Morton, 2-1.
“At the beginning we struggled,” said Lions coach Mike Taylor. “We struggled because we had to put a whole new defense together, we had to put some things together and we’ve played a tough schedule.”
Taylor cited losses earlier in the season after leading by a goal late against both Lake Zurich and Carmel and said his team, which has now won five-of-its-last six matches, have done a better job of closing out games.
“They’re progressing, and that’s all I look for," he said. "I look for 'What are we like at the end of the season?' So I knew it was going to be rough at the beginning, and now we start taking a step forward.”
With the teams playing in the consolation pool, each half was shortened to 35 minutes.
Patrick Hickey scored the lone goal of the match in the 43rd minute on a beautiful flying header that rocketed past Tigers goalkeeper Nathan Friedle.
Just prior to the score, Tony Pineda streaked up the right side of the field before lobbing across the accurately-timed cross that connected with the speeding Hickey.
“Perfect ball,” Hickey said. “They all lost their marks, and Tony heard me and found me on the back post. I just tried to keep my head on.”
Pineda, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, presented matchup problems for the Tigers back line throughout the game and routinely found space to make attacking runs.
“Their defense was peeling off,” Pineda said. “My coach said to play within the system the first few times until they peel off and you’ll find space, and that’s exactly what I did.”
Wheaton Warrenville South had some early chances but couldn’t put anything together to get on the board.
Tigers coach Guy Callipari said his side struggled to work as a unit throughout the match.
“We were a little lethargic early on,” Callipari said. “We started to find some legs, but we weren’t very intelligent today. We were very undisciplined in our method of getting through the thirds. When you kind of go rogue and you want to do what you want to do, it’s not in sync with what everyone else is trying to do.”
After a feeling-out process, each side found several opportunities toward the end of the first half.
Wheaton Warrenville South's Mark Chrisotomo put a shot on net in the 29th minute that was stuffed by a diving save from Lions goalkeeper Kevin Napoleon.
A pair of corner kicks in the 33rd and 34th from Saint Viator went searching as the sides went into the halftime tied 0-0.
Wheaton Warrenville started started the new half with a surge.
In the 38th, senior forward Danny Jimenez streaked into the 18 and made a move around a defender. He fired towards the near post on the right side but narrowly missing.
Hickey’s goal came as a result of a good counterattack after the Lions failed to convert a corner in the 42nd.
The Tiger backline successfully cleared a headed ball out of the box and got it back to midfield, but a steal led to Pineda’s cross for the assist.
Taylor praised Pineda’s leadership and soccer smarts, valuable assets in a team that lost some speed up-front from a season ago.
“He holds the ball up front,” Taylor said. “He gives us time for our people to move up and support him as opposed to just turning and going at people.”
The Lions kept the pressure up but yielded several chances as the time wore down.
Napoleon had to tip a ball over the bar in the 54th to deny Tigers’ midfielder Jose Alfaro the equalizer.
Tigers midfielder Anthony Berardi drew a corner kick in the 65th, knocking a ball out of play off of Lions defender Miles McDonnell.
The ensuing corner was knocked out by the Lions backline.
Berardi’s space was limited throughout the game, keeping the dangerous midfielder off the score sheet.
Callipari spoke about Berardi’s strengths but also said the team as a whole need to be better as the Tigers return to conference play.
“He’s keeping the game close and giving us an opportunity to try and be in games and try to win against very good competition,” Callipari said.
“When we’re down and stretched a little bit, he’s also capable and has the versatility to move forward. He’s strong enough to play balls at his feet, and he’s smart enough to know when to play off or take somebody on. That gave us a little bit of a hope at the end. But it can’t just be one guy; everyone else has to step up and play around him.”
Saint Viator hopes to continue its newfound success, Hickey said.
“It was very important to finish out the game and the tournament strong -- 3-1 in the Pepsi’s not bad so we really wanted to close out the game.”
“We’re halfway through the season and we definitely weren’t where we wanted. We want to get back to where we were last year and put our best foot forward as we move towards the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
GK Kevin Napoleon
D Tom Scully
D Justin Cruz
D Sean Lonigro
D Patrick Hickey
M Miles McConnell
M Alberto Kovacevic
M Michael Tangredi
M Patrick Bottcher
F Tony Pineda
F Will Hartman
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Nathan Friedle
D Ethan Weseman
D Jackson Keske
D Jon Suh
D Cesar Bucio
M Anthony Berardi
M Jose Alfaro
M Carlos Moyoti-Rosas
M Mark Chrisotomo
F Felipe Speraggi
F Danny Jiminez
Man of the Match: Tony Pineda, F, Saint Viator