St. Ignatius squanders wealth
of opportunities vs. De La Salle
Wolfpack dominates early but loses 4-3
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — It is one of the most celebrated literary exchanges of its time. In Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” the question of squandered wealth goes like this: “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asks. “Two ways,” Mike replies. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
St. Ignatius knows the feeling. Down to the bone. Soccer often involves one team exerting its will on the other. They play the game at their speed, at their rhythm and they hold the cards. The game is reduced to its essence.
In its Catholic South matchup with De La Salle Tuesday afternoon, the Wolfpack played with a controlled abandon throughout the first half. They were sharper and quicker to balls. They strung passes together. They found each other in space.
The only downside to the first half display was the score remained tight, the Wolfpack up just 1-0 off an early goal by junior midfielder Diego Vazquez. The worrisome signs were a team dominating in every facet of the game except where it really mattered — the scoreboard. There, the sign stayed the same, the home team 1, visitors 0.
Then a series of moves, a misplayed ball, a corner for the Meteors and a free kick serviced inside the box with less than a minute to go in the first half. Sophomore defender Jorge Garcia cut between two Wolfpack defenders and managed to get a final touch in the equalizer.
Suddenly everything was back to square one. It was a tied game. Just 40 minutes of action to go. Except with one difference. The Meteors had all the momentum. The Wolfpack was deflated.
“You never want to give up a goal at either the end or beginning of halves because that can really shift the tempo,” St. Ignatius senior midfielder Taylor Reifert said.
Seizing the moment, De La Salle exploded for four goals in less than 11 minutes from the end of the first half to the early stretches of the second half. The Meteors rode the explosion to a stunning 4-3 victory over the Wolfpack here.
Reifert, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, scored two goals to lead the Wolfpack (3-4-3, 1-1). It was all for naught.
“We did a great job of coming out and scoring early and having the tempo we wanted but we didn’t take advantage,” Reifert said. “After they scored their first goal at the end of the first half, it really switched the momentum.They came out after halftime much stronger and we got punished.”
In a seven-minute flurry, the Meteors (4-8-2, 1-1) registered three goals — a rebound ball by Kyle Robinson and short volleys by Sal Garcia and David Dominguez that created some breathing space. The Dominguez goal was particularly important because it followed a 35-yard rocket ball that Reifert converted from a free kick to pull the Wolfpack within 3-2.
“In that second half, that was all from what we learn in practice,” Robinson said. “Our coach [Francisco Martinez] tells us just to keep running, and that’s what you saw out there tonight, everybody just giving it their all.
“Other games this year we’d lose because after halftime the other team would come back on us. We decided to do the same thing. We had the teamwork and everybody playing together.”
Psychologically St. Ignatius could never relax. No matter how hard they tried once that momentum vanished it was virtually impossible to conjure it back. “You never want to play from behind,” Reifert said. “We need to work on getting our momentum sliding forward instead of letting teams get back in against us.”
New voices
This is a new era at St. Ignatius. The legendary James Lutz, the only coach in the 44-year history of the Wolfpack program, retired after last year’s magical run ended with a state runner-up finish in the Class 2A state title game. Nine of the 11 starters from that team are gone. “We just don’t have a lot of guys with experience,” Reifert said.
Ryan Kearns spent five years as Lutz’s top lieutenant and has now taken over the program. Lutz is still helping out, coaching as an assistant. The mantle has been passed.
“This program won 39 games and lost maybe 10 the last two years, so the bar is very high," Kearns said. "This year’s group is bearing the brunt of those expectations."
St. Ignatius lost Tuesday to a team it has dominated in the past. The Wolfpack had beaten De La Salle in every meeting for the past 17 years.
“We allowed them back in the game in the final five minutes of the first half, with a pass that should have gone to feet and instead becomes a turnover," Kearns said. "On [their first goal] our keeper should have come out and challenged that, but he’s young, just a sophomore and still learning about the varsity game, so it’s the mental aspect.
“It’s good to see us scoring because we went through a scoring drought earlier this year, and we can make excuses, but the bottom line is that we have to be able to go out and finish games. We should have had two or three goals in the first 15 minutes, and instead we end up chasing them.
“These guys have to get over the mental hump.”
Starting lineups
De La Salle
G: Nestor Carbajal
D: Samuel Herrera
D: Alex DeLeon
M: Uriel Cortez
M: Jorge Garcia
M: David Dominguez
M: Silvio Lopez
F: Gabino Coss
F: Kyle Robinson
F: Sal Garcia
F: Hernan Tellies
St. Ignatius
G: Bryant Hales
D: Chauncey Flowers
D: Connor Hatzapoulos
D: Alex Collins
D: Kevin Dingens
M: Woo Sung Jung
M: Max Taylor
M: Randy Martinez
M: Ian Walker
F: Diego Vazquez
F: Taylor Reifert
Man of the Match: Taylor Reifert, St. Ignatius
of opportunities vs. De La Salle
Wolfpack dominates early but loses 4-3
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — It is one of the most celebrated literary exchanges of its time. In Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises,” the question of squandered wealth goes like this: “How did you go bankrupt?” Bill asks. “Two ways,” Mike replies. “Gradually and then suddenly.”
St. Ignatius knows the feeling. Down to the bone. Soccer often involves one team exerting its will on the other. They play the game at their speed, at their rhythm and they hold the cards. The game is reduced to its essence.
In its Catholic South matchup with De La Salle Tuesday afternoon, the Wolfpack played with a controlled abandon throughout the first half. They were sharper and quicker to balls. They strung passes together. They found each other in space.
The only downside to the first half display was the score remained tight, the Wolfpack up just 1-0 off an early goal by junior midfielder Diego Vazquez. The worrisome signs were a team dominating in every facet of the game except where it really mattered — the scoreboard. There, the sign stayed the same, the home team 1, visitors 0.
Then a series of moves, a misplayed ball, a corner for the Meteors and a free kick serviced inside the box with less than a minute to go in the first half. Sophomore defender Jorge Garcia cut between two Wolfpack defenders and managed to get a final touch in the equalizer.
Suddenly everything was back to square one. It was a tied game. Just 40 minutes of action to go. Except with one difference. The Meteors had all the momentum. The Wolfpack was deflated.
“You never want to give up a goal at either the end or beginning of halves because that can really shift the tempo,” St. Ignatius senior midfielder Taylor Reifert said.
Seizing the moment, De La Salle exploded for four goals in less than 11 minutes from the end of the first half to the early stretches of the second half. The Meteors rode the explosion to a stunning 4-3 victory over the Wolfpack here.
Reifert, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, scored two goals to lead the Wolfpack (3-4-3, 1-1). It was all for naught.
“We did a great job of coming out and scoring early and having the tempo we wanted but we didn’t take advantage,” Reifert said. “After they scored their first goal at the end of the first half, it really switched the momentum.They came out after halftime much stronger and we got punished.”
In a seven-minute flurry, the Meteors (4-8-2, 1-1) registered three goals — a rebound ball by Kyle Robinson and short volleys by Sal Garcia and David Dominguez that created some breathing space. The Dominguez goal was particularly important because it followed a 35-yard rocket ball that Reifert converted from a free kick to pull the Wolfpack within 3-2.
“In that second half, that was all from what we learn in practice,” Robinson said. “Our coach [Francisco Martinez] tells us just to keep running, and that’s what you saw out there tonight, everybody just giving it their all.
“Other games this year we’d lose because after halftime the other team would come back on us. We decided to do the same thing. We had the teamwork and everybody playing together.”
Psychologically St. Ignatius could never relax. No matter how hard they tried once that momentum vanished it was virtually impossible to conjure it back. “You never want to play from behind,” Reifert said. “We need to work on getting our momentum sliding forward instead of letting teams get back in against us.”
New voices
This is a new era at St. Ignatius. The legendary James Lutz, the only coach in the 44-year history of the Wolfpack program, retired after last year’s magical run ended with a state runner-up finish in the Class 2A state title game. Nine of the 11 starters from that team are gone. “We just don’t have a lot of guys with experience,” Reifert said.
Ryan Kearns spent five years as Lutz’s top lieutenant and has now taken over the program. Lutz is still helping out, coaching as an assistant. The mantle has been passed.
“This program won 39 games and lost maybe 10 the last two years, so the bar is very high," Kearns said. "This year’s group is bearing the brunt of those expectations."
St. Ignatius lost Tuesday to a team it has dominated in the past. The Wolfpack had beaten De La Salle in every meeting for the past 17 years.
“We allowed them back in the game in the final five minutes of the first half, with a pass that should have gone to feet and instead becomes a turnover," Kearns said. "On [their first goal] our keeper should have come out and challenged that, but he’s young, just a sophomore and still learning about the varsity game, so it’s the mental aspect.
“It’s good to see us scoring because we went through a scoring drought earlier this year, and we can make excuses, but the bottom line is that we have to be able to go out and finish games. We should have had two or three goals in the first 15 minutes, and instead we end up chasing them.
“These guys have to get over the mental hump.”
Starting lineups
De La Salle
G: Nestor Carbajal
D: Samuel Herrera
D: Alex DeLeon
M: Uriel Cortez
M: Jorge Garcia
M: David Dominguez
M: Silvio Lopez
F: Gabino Coss
F: Kyle Robinson
F: Sal Garcia
F: Hernan Tellies
St. Ignatius
G: Bryant Hales
D: Chauncey Flowers
D: Connor Hatzapoulos
D: Alex Collins
D: Kevin Dingens
M: Woo Sung Jung
M: Max Taylor
M: Randy Martinez
M: Ian Walker
F: Diego Vazquez
F: Taylor Reifert
Man of the Match: Taylor Reifert, St. Ignatius