Marmion pulls out all stops,
but Naperville North pulls out win
Huskies' two late goals thwart Cadets' best-laid plans
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Marmion Academy’s defensive strategy was so shrewd, and its execution so skillful, that cracking it had to seem like solving a jigsaw puzzle blindfolded.
The Cadets held host Naperville North scoreless for more than 45 minutes in Tuesday night’s Class 3A Naperville North Regional semifinal, making fans of the favored Huskies a little nervous.
But Chris Sullivan finally figured out the key, assisting on one goal and scoring the other as Naperville North, the No. 4 seed at the Bolingbrook Sectional, advanced with a 2-0 victory over 13th-seeded Marmion.
The game winner came with 34:18 left in the second half. Sullivan was the trigger man, sending a pass up the right wing to Chris Ensign, who took the ball into the box and crossed to Brandon Hipp in front.
Hipp poked an eight-yard shot off the inside of the left post to give the Huskies (13-4-3) a 1-0 lead and some much-needed breathing room after a grueling yet scoreless first half.
“They certainly battled,” said Sullivan, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “They were physical and tough, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But we knew if we put our minds to it we could do it.
“At halftime we talked about always switching the ball, and I saw Chris make that run. It took a lucky deflection, and Chris was in and found Hipp with a great pass.”
Hipp’s finish, his team-leading 13th of the season, wasn’t a thing of beauty but ultimately was enough to extend Naperville North’s unbeaten streak to 11 games.
“I feel there was a lot of tension building up, and we just needed that first goal to ease our spirits and settle into the game a little more,” Hipp said. “I found myself in front of the goal with the ball at my feet, and I tried to find the corner. I didn’t really hit it with the right part of my foot, but it went where I wanted it to go.”
It was one of the few shots that did. Though the Huskies outshot the Cadets 17-3, only five of the attempts were on frame, the result of a defensive effort that denied the favorites any room to maneuver in the middle of the field.
Naperville North had a huge edge in possession but nothing to show for it at halftime.
“We had Naperville Central last week,” said Marmion Academy goalie Matt Fletcher, referring to a 4-0 loss in the regular-season finale. “That was a great, great prep game, so we knew coming into this that [the Huskies] were going to be just as physical, just as strong, just as big.
“I thought coach [Ricky] Del Toro put in a great game plan for us. We low pressed for most of the game, and that helped us get our chances on the counterattack. Naperville North had a ton of possession and wanted to play a lot of balls over the top, but they weren’t able to do that against us. Taking away those opportunities got them frustrated, and it gave us our chances.”
The Cadets (12-11) did have their fair share of counterattacks and even earned three corner kicks in the second half, but they were unable to put any shots on frame. Naperville North defenders Wesley Wong, Matty Sylvester, Kevin Keane and Nick Carballo made sure there would be no upset.
“We used the whole week to prepare,” Del Toro said. “We prepared them mentally. We prepared them physically. We had our assistant coaches in the practices pushing them around, and so we really prepared them for that.
“I loved how the ref let the boys play tonight, which helped. It was just like the St. Charles East game. According to their coach, we bullied them in the first half. and we wanted to keep that same type of mentality with these guys, and it worked for the first half.
“Unfortunately they finished their chances. They were able to move the ball around and make us shift, and they beat us.”
If Hipp’s goal was slow-motion heartbreak for the Cadets, Sullivan’s was a dagger.
It came on an 18-yard free kick from just outside the top of the Marmion penalty area. Sullivan fired the ball past a six-man wall and inside the left post to make it 2-0 with 24:16 to go. It was the eighth goal of the season for the junior playmaker, who also has 11 assists.
“It’s always a dangerous [opportunity] when we get a free kick that close, and I saw the wall was lined up all on the back post,” Sullivan said. “As I was approaching it, I saw the goalie go behind the wall, so that side was wide open. That’s one of the most important [goals in his life], that’s for sure.”
Fletcher, a junior who made three saves, including a point-blank denial on Hipp’s breakaway in the 24th minute, took responsibility for the goal.
“I thought my wall had the near post covered, but with a shot so close you can never know how covered it is,” Fletcher said. “I tend to cheat a little bit near post, and I left it a little bit open, so that one was on me.”
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad, though, said the goal was a reflection of Sullivan’s intelligence.
“He’s good,” Konrad said. “He’s a very smart kid. He knows when something’s on, and he’s good enough to tuck it in the corner.”
In the end, the Huskies were good enough to defeat a determined, defensive-minded opponent in one of the tougher playoff openers in the Chicago area.
“We knew they were a good team,” Konrad said. “If you look at their results this year, they’ve played a lot of good teams very well. They’re physical; they play hard. They were super organized, obviously well coached.
“They did not give us much. The only space we had was on the outside, and it took us a while to kind of get used to looking to play the ball wider. Then Hipp comes through for us and gets a goal and then Sully a clever little restart.”
That’s all it took to end a Marmion season that began with a 1-5 start but saw the Cadets rebound to win nine of 12 games at one point.
“We started off a little rocky going up to [the] Barrington [tournament],” Fletcher said. “Every year we do that because that shows us where we’re going to be for the season. [We went] 0-4 against the big schools, but every game was a one-goal game, so we knew that we were going to compete with the big schools and that we were going to put up a fight.
“Our goal every season is to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, because ever since our state run a couple of years ago in 2A, being moved up to 3A, we keep playing the bigger schools. We try to play with a chip on our shoulders so we can get out of the first round.”
The Cadets weren’t able to do that, but Del Toro had no regrets.
“I’m very proud of the work the boys put in this week to prepare for this game,” Del Toro said. “We gave them a good battle. We walk away with our heads held high.”
Starting lineups
Marmion Academy
GK Matt Fletcher
Brian Miller
Quinn Turcich
Timothy Wheeler
Landon Meyer
Nicholas Grant
Quinn Gratz
Trevor Jones
Joseph Duffield
Blake Turcich
Sean Miller
Naperville North
GK Christian Robert
D Matty Sylvester
D Kevin Keane
D Nick Carballo
D Wesley Wong
M Chris Sullivan
M Connor McBride
M Grant Borg
F Chris Ensign
F Brandon Hipp
F Adam Helf
Man of the Match: Chris Sullivan, Naperville North
Officials: Andrew Sok, Tom Guidara, Kevin Parker
but Naperville North pulls out win
Huskies' two late goals thwart Cadets' best-laid plans
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Marmion Academy’s defensive strategy was so shrewd, and its execution so skillful, that cracking it had to seem like solving a jigsaw puzzle blindfolded.
The Cadets held host Naperville North scoreless for more than 45 minutes in Tuesday night’s Class 3A Naperville North Regional semifinal, making fans of the favored Huskies a little nervous.
But Chris Sullivan finally figured out the key, assisting on one goal and scoring the other as Naperville North, the No. 4 seed at the Bolingbrook Sectional, advanced with a 2-0 victory over 13th-seeded Marmion.
The game winner came with 34:18 left in the second half. Sullivan was the trigger man, sending a pass up the right wing to Chris Ensign, who took the ball into the box and crossed to Brandon Hipp in front.
Hipp poked an eight-yard shot off the inside of the left post to give the Huskies (13-4-3) a 1-0 lead and some much-needed breathing room after a grueling yet scoreless first half.
“They certainly battled,” said Sullivan, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “They were physical and tough, and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But we knew if we put our minds to it we could do it.
“At halftime we talked about always switching the ball, and I saw Chris make that run. It took a lucky deflection, and Chris was in and found Hipp with a great pass.”
Hipp’s finish, his team-leading 13th of the season, wasn’t a thing of beauty but ultimately was enough to extend Naperville North’s unbeaten streak to 11 games.
“I feel there was a lot of tension building up, and we just needed that first goal to ease our spirits and settle into the game a little more,” Hipp said. “I found myself in front of the goal with the ball at my feet, and I tried to find the corner. I didn’t really hit it with the right part of my foot, but it went where I wanted it to go.”
It was one of the few shots that did. Though the Huskies outshot the Cadets 17-3, only five of the attempts were on frame, the result of a defensive effort that denied the favorites any room to maneuver in the middle of the field.
Naperville North had a huge edge in possession but nothing to show for it at halftime.
“We had Naperville Central last week,” said Marmion Academy goalie Matt Fletcher, referring to a 4-0 loss in the regular-season finale. “That was a great, great prep game, so we knew coming into this that [the Huskies] were going to be just as physical, just as strong, just as big.
“I thought coach [Ricky] Del Toro put in a great game plan for us. We low pressed for most of the game, and that helped us get our chances on the counterattack. Naperville North had a ton of possession and wanted to play a lot of balls over the top, but they weren’t able to do that against us. Taking away those opportunities got them frustrated, and it gave us our chances.”
The Cadets (12-11) did have their fair share of counterattacks and even earned three corner kicks in the second half, but they were unable to put any shots on frame. Naperville North defenders Wesley Wong, Matty Sylvester, Kevin Keane and Nick Carballo made sure there would be no upset.
“We used the whole week to prepare,” Del Toro said. “We prepared them mentally. We prepared them physically. We had our assistant coaches in the practices pushing them around, and so we really prepared them for that.
“I loved how the ref let the boys play tonight, which helped. It was just like the St. Charles East game. According to their coach, we bullied them in the first half. and we wanted to keep that same type of mentality with these guys, and it worked for the first half.
“Unfortunately they finished their chances. They were able to move the ball around and make us shift, and they beat us.”
If Hipp’s goal was slow-motion heartbreak for the Cadets, Sullivan’s was a dagger.
It came on an 18-yard free kick from just outside the top of the Marmion penalty area. Sullivan fired the ball past a six-man wall and inside the left post to make it 2-0 with 24:16 to go. It was the eighth goal of the season for the junior playmaker, who also has 11 assists.
“It’s always a dangerous [opportunity] when we get a free kick that close, and I saw the wall was lined up all on the back post,” Sullivan said. “As I was approaching it, I saw the goalie go behind the wall, so that side was wide open. That’s one of the most important [goals in his life], that’s for sure.”
Fletcher, a junior who made three saves, including a point-blank denial on Hipp’s breakaway in the 24th minute, took responsibility for the goal.
“I thought my wall had the near post covered, but with a shot so close you can never know how covered it is,” Fletcher said. “I tend to cheat a little bit near post, and I left it a little bit open, so that one was on me.”
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad, though, said the goal was a reflection of Sullivan’s intelligence.
“He’s good,” Konrad said. “He’s a very smart kid. He knows when something’s on, and he’s good enough to tuck it in the corner.”
In the end, the Huskies were good enough to defeat a determined, defensive-minded opponent in one of the tougher playoff openers in the Chicago area.
“We knew they were a good team,” Konrad said. “If you look at their results this year, they’ve played a lot of good teams very well. They’re physical; they play hard. They were super organized, obviously well coached.
“They did not give us much. The only space we had was on the outside, and it took us a while to kind of get used to looking to play the ball wider. Then Hipp comes through for us and gets a goal and then Sully a clever little restart.”
That’s all it took to end a Marmion season that began with a 1-5 start but saw the Cadets rebound to win nine of 12 games at one point.
“We started off a little rocky going up to [the] Barrington [tournament],” Fletcher said. “Every year we do that because that shows us where we’re going to be for the season. [We went] 0-4 against the big schools, but every game was a one-goal game, so we knew that we were going to compete with the big schools and that we were going to put up a fight.
“Our goal every season is to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, because ever since our state run a couple of years ago in 2A, being moved up to 3A, we keep playing the bigger schools. We try to play with a chip on our shoulders so we can get out of the first round.”
The Cadets weren’t able to do that, but Del Toro had no regrets.
“I’m very proud of the work the boys put in this week to prepare for this game,” Del Toro said. “We gave them a good battle. We walk away with our heads held high.”
Starting lineups
Marmion Academy
GK Matt Fletcher
Brian Miller
Quinn Turcich
Timothy Wheeler
Landon Meyer
Nicholas Grant
Quinn Gratz
Trevor Jones
Joseph Duffield
Blake Turcich
Sean Miller
Naperville North
GK Christian Robert
D Matty Sylvester
D Kevin Keane
D Nick Carballo
D Wesley Wong
M Chris Sullivan
M Connor McBride
M Grant Borg
F Chris Ensign
F Brandon Hipp
F Adam Helf
Man of the Match: Chris Sullivan, Naperville North
Officials: Andrew Sok, Tom Guidara, Kevin Parker