Marmion still respects
St. Francis after 2-1 win
Spartans keep it close, but Cadets close the deal
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – St. Francis was looking to earn a little respect, while Marmion was trying to put together a complete performance.
Both teams got what they wanted Thursday at Fichtel Field, as host Marmion edged the Spartans 2-1 in Chicago Catholic League South action.
“We got by a strong team in the conference today, and it sets us up for a chance to win it,” Marmion coach Ricky Del Toro said. “This is the performance I’ve been expecting from the beginning, and I’m glad we’re not peaking yet.
“I’m hoping that we can do a little bit better, but the end of the season is coming up and this is where we should start playing our best soccer. But this is a great performance.”
The Cadets (8-8, 3-1) controlled much of the possession but took a long time to figure out how to beat the high line defense of St. Francis.
Much of the action was focused at midfield until Sean Miller broke the ice with 13:41 left in the first half. A long punt from Marmion goalie Matt Fletcher bounced innocently behind the St. Francis defense.
A St. Francis defender headed the ball back toward Spartans goalie Jonathan Burke, but a hustling Miller beat him to the ball and knocked it into the goal before anyone else could catch up to it.
“[The defender] was trying to head it back to his goalie. I just tried to get in to win it and I got a touch on it,” said Miller, who was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
“It was a mistake in the back,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said. “We misplayed it.
“We gave away two goals tonight with mistakes in the back. But that’s soccer.”
It was still anyone’s game when the Cadets struck again with 31:14 to go in the second half. This time Gavin Sanchez stole the ball in right side of the St. Francis penalty area and sent a pass out to Nick Grant on the right wing.
Grant wasted no time in lofting a cross into the middle to Tim Wheeler, who ripped a one-timer from 17 yards out through traffic and inside the left post for a 2-0 Marmion lead.
“We’re trying to work on quick counterattacks,” Wheeler said. “I think that’s what it comes from -- getting those good crosses in from our outsides, especially Nick Grant. He is doing a really good job of crossing it in, and he got it right to my foot so I could just hit it one time.”
The two-goal deficit forced the Spartans (5-6-3, 2-1-1) to open up their game more, which allowed the Cadets to get more chances. Chances were hard to come by in the first half because of the offsides trap.
Marmion had only one scoring chance before Miller’s goal, that coming three minutes in on a point-black shot from Grant that was rejected by Burke. But patience won out in the end.
“You’ve just got to get through balls through and try to take that space that they’re leaving behind with their high line,” Miller said of beating the trap.
“I think the boys were very focused today, very disciplined,” Del Toro said. “We were patient, and I think our first touch was great today. But everything was all [the] mental aspect. We prepped them up pretty good and they were ready.”
First-year St. Francis coach Kevin Ward felt his team was ready to make a statement, and in a way it did.
The Spartans haven’t beaten Marmion in years, and most of the games have not been close. Over the past four seasons, the Cadets have won the annual meeting by scores of 4-0, 2-0, 4-1 and 2-0.
“The focus has been what it’s been all year: to bring respect back to St. Francis,” Ward said. “I think no one would think we could come in here [and lose] 2-1 against these guys. It’s been kind of a tough season but we’re not giving up.
“I think you can see that we don’t give up, that we’re flexible and tenacious. We’re doing it with a lot of the same kids we had last year.”
Indeed, the Spartans made the Cadets sweat a bit by getting on the board with 4:39 left. Nicholas Roehl sent a low cross from the right wing, which Fletcher cut off and appeared to have control of. But the ball squirted out, and Jose Zepeda pounced on the rebound to make it 2-1.
Fletcher earlier had made three saves, including two tough ones, to keep his team in front.
The first came at the 6:15 mark of the first half ,when he stuck his right arm out and deflected David Gianos’ shot from point-blank range wide of the left post. Fletcher also stopped Ian Hart’s liner from 10 yards out with 22:00 to play in the second half.
Burke played well for the Spartans, finishing with six saves, but it went for naught in their second straight one-goal loss.
“It’s been the story of our year,” Ward said. “I’ve got five or six losses on that board that could be turned around the other way. If we limit our mistakes, it’s going to be a whole different story. I hope we can do that the back half of our season.”
Ward said a tough schedule will pay dividends for the Spartans down the road. At the same time, Wheeler said the Cadets felt good about turning away the challenge.
“I think we had them for the most part in the first half,” Wheeler said. “We just weren’t putting away our chances. I think we could have had at least a couple more goals, but we possessed pretty well in the first half.
“They came out a lot stronger in the second half, obviously, and I think we just had to deal with it. I think we did pretty well.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Jonathan Burke
D Brian Cochrane
D David Johnson
D Matthew Martin
D Colin Scharf
M Nicholas Roehl
M Joey Wood
M Carney Herard
M Ian Hart
M Keenan Corrigan
F David Gianos
Marmion
GK Matt Fletcher
D Dolan Hunt
D Joe Duffield
D Blake Turcich
D Matt Lagman
M Sean Dickerson
M Quinn Turcich
M Tim Wheeler
F Landon Meyer
F Gavin Sanchez
F Nick Grant
Man of the Match: Sean Miller, Marmion
St. Francis after 2-1 win
Spartans keep it close, but Cadets close the deal
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – St. Francis was looking to earn a little respect, while Marmion was trying to put together a complete performance.
Both teams got what they wanted Thursday at Fichtel Field, as host Marmion edged the Spartans 2-1 in Chicago Catholic League South action.
“We got by a strong team in the conference today, and it sets us up for a chance to win it,” Marmion coach Ricky Del Toro said. “This is the performance I’ve been expecting from the beginning, and I’m glad we’re not peaking yet.
“I’m hoping that we can do a little bit better, but the end of the season is coming up and this is where we should start playing our best soccer. But this is a great performance.”
The Cadets (8-8, 3-1) controlled much of the possession but took a long time to figure out how to beat the high line defense of St. Francis.
Much of the action was focused at midfield until Sean Miller broke the ice with 13:41 left in the first half. A long punt from Marmion goalie Matt Fletcher bounced innocently behind the St. Francis defense.
A St. Francis defender headed the ball back toward Spartans goalie Jonathan Burke, but a hustling Miller beat him to the ball and knocked it into the goal before anyone else could catch up to it.
“[The defender] was trying to head it back to his goalie. I just tried to get in to win it and I got a touch on it,” said Miller, who was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
“It was a mistake in the back,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said. “We misplayed it.
“We gave away two goals tonight with mistakes in the back. But that’s soccer.”
It was still anyone’s game when the Cadets struck again with 31:14 to go in the second half. This time Gavin Sanchez stole the ball in right side of the St. Francis penalty area and sent a pass out to Nick Grant on the right wing.
Grant wasted no time in lofting a cross into the middle to Tim Wheeler, who ripped a one-timer from 17 yards out through traffic and inside the left post for a 2-0 Marmion lead.
“We’re trying to work on quick counterattacks,” Wheeler said. “I think that’s what it comes from -- getting those good crosses in from our outsides, especially Nick Grant. He is doing a really good job of crossing it in, and he got it right to my foot so I could just hit it one time.”
The two-goal deficit forced the Spartans (5-6-3, 2-1-1) to open up their game more, which allowed the Cadets to get more chances. Chances were hard to come by in the first half because of the offsides trap.
Marmion had only one scoring chance before Miller’s goal, that coming three minutes in on a point-black shot from Grant that was rejected by Burke. But patience won out in the end.
“You’ve just got to get through balls through and try to take that space that they’re leaving behind with their high line,” Miller said of beating the trap.
“I think the boys were very focused today, very disciplined,” Del Toro said. “We were patient, and I think our first touch was great today. But everything was all [the] mental aspect. We prepped them up pretty good and they were ready.”
First-year St. Francis coach Kevin Ward felt his team was ready to make a statement, and in a way it did.
The Spartans haven’t beaten Marmion in years, and most of the games have not been close. Over the past four seasons, the Cadets have won the annual meeting by scores of 4-0, 2-0, 4-1 and 2-0.
“The focus has been what it’s been all year: to bring respect back to St. Francis,” Ward said. “I think no one would think we could come in here [and lose] 2-1 against these guys. It’s been kind of a tough season but we’re not giving up.
“I think you can see that we don’t give up, that we’re flexible and tenacious. We’re doing it with a lot of the same kids we had last year.”
Indeed, the Spartans made the Cadets sweat a bit by getting on the board with 4:39 left. Nicholas Roehl sent a low cross from the right wing, which Fletcher cut off and appeared to have control of. But the ball squirted out, and Jose Zepeda pounced on the rebound to make it 2-1.
Fletcher earlier had made three saves, including two tough ones, to keep his team in front.
The first came at the 6:15 mark of the first half ,when he stuck his right arm out and deflected David Gianos’ shot from point-blank range wide of the left post. Fletcher also stopped Ian Hart’s liner from 10 yards out with 22:00 to play in the second half.
Burke played well for the Spartans, finishing with six saves, but it went for naught in their second straight one-goal loss.
“It’s been the story of our year,” Ward said. “I’ve got five or six losses on that board that could be turned around the other way. If we limit our mistakes, it’s going to be a whole different story. I hope we can do that the back half of our season.”
Ward said a tough schedule will pay dividends for the Spartans down the road. At the same time, Wheeler said the Cadets felt good about turning away the challenge.
“I think we had them for the most part in the first half,” Wheeler said. “We just weren’t putting away our chances. I think we could have had at least a couple more goals, but we possessed pretty well in the first half.
“They came out a lot stronger in the second half, obviously, and I think we just had to deal with it. I think we did pretty well.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Jonathan Burke
D Brian Cochrane
D David Johnson
D Matthew Martin
D Colin Scharf
M Nicholas Roehl
M Joey Wood
M Carney Herard
M Ian Hart
M Keenan Corrigan
F David Gianos
Marmion
GK Matt Fletcher
D Dolan Hunt
D Joe Duffield
D Blake Turcich
D Matt Lagman
M Sean Dickerson
M Quinn Turcich
M Tim Wheeler
F Landon Meyer
F Gavin Sanchez
F Nick Grant
Man of the Match: Sean Miller, Marmion