Plainfield Central's early goals
hold up against St. Ignatius
Wolfpack falls short despite reversing Wildcats' momentum
By Dave Owen
LA GRANGE -- St. Ignatius couldn’t overcome its latest sluggish start.
Plainfield Central scored twice in the first 9:05 of Saturday’s first round game of the PepsiCo Showdown at Lyons Soccer Complex. And while the Wolfpack turned up the heat with a goal seven minutes later, that would be as close they came in a 2-1 loss.
“We lost it in the first eight minutes,” St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said.
“We possessed well, we got opportunities but we didn’t finish the opportunities. I want these guys to start to finish on set pieces and corner kicks. We’re not consistent at all on those. And that’s the difference between a win and a loss.”
The backbreaking difference Saturday was the opening minutes of play.
A foul in the box 5:36 into the match gave Plainfield Central (5-2-2) a penalty kick, which senior Jarod Petrovic converted for a 1-0 lead.
The slippery grass field then did literal damage to the Wolfpack’s shaky early footing.
With 30:55 left in the first half, a St. Ignatius defender slipped to help set up a Plainfield Central odd-man rush. Goalkeeper Bryant Hales nicely stopped the first 6-yard shot, but Joel Sanchez put away the rebound to make the score 2-0.
“I saw the rebound, and the first reaction is to go to the ball and shoot it in,” said Sanchez, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his role in the win.
With one exception (a loss to state power Morton), St. Ignatius’ reaction to adversity all year has been to quickly rally. And Saturday was no different.
“It’s nothing new for us,” Wolfpack co-captain Ian Waller said. “We started against Geneva down 2-0 in the first 10 minutes and bounced back to tie them 2-2 and had a chance to win it at the end.
“Today I felt like we could do that again. We got a quick goal, and I was sure we’d put one in the back of the net in the second half, but we just couldn’t get it done.”
Waller played a big part in cutting the deficit in half. With 23:20 left in the first half, he fielded a deflected Pat Breslin cross in the left side of the box and lined a 12-yard shot inside the left post to make the score 2-1.
“It was great pressure by Eduardo (Lopez) and Pat Breslin on the outside,” Waller said. “They did great work to win the ball back from their defense and put a cross in. It went off one of the defenders, and I was right there and I was able to put it in. It was set up by my teammates, a great cross by Pat Breslin. I thought that would get us started.”
What kept the Wolfpack going quite often was another sensational match for goalkeeper Bryant Hales.
Just before Waller’s strike, Hales had stifled the Wildcats’ momentum at the 24:50 mark with a low block save of a Max Woodward 8-yard shot.
“I thought Bryant in goal had a great game,” Kearns said. “That game could have gotten away from us early even more than it was. I thought he was probably the Man of the Match for us.”
Hales came up with big saves on point-blank shots three more times the rest of the way.
“Their keeper made a couple of nice saves,” Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “It was probably a combo on a few of them. Either we should have scored or he made a nice save. We need to finish off our chances a little better.”
The Wolfpack defense also settled in after the rough opening minutes.
“Once we gave up that second goal, we started to figure it out a little bit,” Kearns said.
“Our center back A.J. Capitanini had a good game. Sometimes he was out of position, but he made some good recovery saves when he was getting back.
“Ian Waller was our holding mid most of the game, and he does a good job organizing. I give a lot of credit to him.”
Hales noted another teammate worthy of praise in turning the tide.
“I thought Ethan McManus worked really hard up top to win balls,” Hales said. "A problem of ours is that we don’t possess really well out of the back, and we just send it forward. He was winning a lot of the balls and giving us time for our midfield to come up as a unit.”
A rare game on natural grass was a factor Hales discounted in the rough start.
“Giving up two early is always a struggle, but just like all season we bounced back well,” Hales said. “The finishing just wasn’t there, and at times I think things were getting to us. The grass or something made us lackadaisical, but in the end we can’t make excuses. That’s on us. That’s a game we should win or at least tie.”
After Hales smothered a Woodward shot right of the net 12:40 before the half, his long outlet throw started a Wolfpack counterattack that nearly tied the game.
After passes by Lopez and McManus, Breslin lined a 15-yard shot that was stopped at the left post. Then 4:10 before the half, McManus burst in left for a 10-yard shot that was denied on a low block save.
In a scoreless second half, officials instead of goal scorers took center stage. Hales’ diving block of a Woodward shot with 20:10 was the best scoring chance, but a bevy of yellow cards handed out to both sides was especially costly for the Wolfpack.
In the final three minutes, Waller left with a yellow card and a teammate’s second yellow card of the match resulted in St. Ignatius playing one man short for the final 1:25.
“Myself included, we lost our heads a little bit, and that hindered our ability to put another one in,” Waller said.
Before the card games broke out, strong plays on the field included defender Conner Hatzopoulos’ nice defensive denial in the box of a Woodward threat with 6:20 to go.
Offensively, passes from Owen Allen and McManus set up a Max Taylor drive just wide of the net. The Wolfpack’s best late threat was a Lucas Kotlowitz corner kick with 6:55 left, which Phil Garcia cleared from danger.
“It was kind of a tough second half,” Plainfield Central’s Sanchez said, “but I felt like we did pretty good and we held them off pretty good.”
His coach agreed.
“We’ve started off fast before and given up leads, so it was nice to hold them off because they’re very good,” Fitzgerald said. “We knew they were good based on their results, and in this tournament there are only good teams. That’s what makes it fun and exciting.
“I thought we defended better as the game went on and we adjusted to finding marks too, which was a good sign because Lyons will present quite the challenge (Tuesday) on that side of the field.”
For St. Ignatius, its return to the elite PepsiCo field should pay off down the road.
“We were in it I think in 2006,” second-year coach Kearns said. “I wanted back in this right away because every team in here is competitive. It’s good for us.
“But we need to play a full 80 minutes. We’re not coming out ready in the first half. We’re complacent, we look scared and nervous. It’s normal to be nervous, but use that as energy, not to hold you back.”
Still a work in progress, the Wolfpack expects to see just that – progress.
“With our young defensive line, we have two sophomore center backs and a junior outside back,” Waller said, “so for them especially to get this preparation against big, strong, fast forwards and get that communication connected, it’s definitely going to help us a lot against Catholic League teams.
“We just have to keep working. A little tough start to the season, but once we get to Catholic League play we’re definitely well prepared from the competition we’ve played so far. I’d rather have this record and these opponents we’ve faced already than play some easier games.”
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK- Bryant Hales
D- Connor Shutt
D- AJ Capitanini
D- Conner Hatzopoulos
D- Carlos Sierra
M- Alex Collins
M- Ian Waller
M- Max Taylor
M- Diego Vazquez
F- Pat Breslin
F- Lucas Kotlowitz
Plainfield Central
GK- Shane Badertscher
D- Gustavo Sanchez
D- Ish Contreras
D- Phil Garcia
D- Ricky Garcia
M- Jarod Petrovic
M- Josh De Avila
M- Joel Sanchez
M- Matt Geib
F- Max Woodward
F- Edgar Cardenas
MVP of the Match: Joel Sanchez, MF, Plainfield Central
hold up against St. Ignatius
Wolfpack falls short despite reversing Wildcats' momentum
By Dave Owen
LA GRANGE -- St. Ignatius couldn’t overcome its latest sluggish start.
Plainfield Central scored twice in the first 9:05 of Saturday’s first round game of the PepsiCo Showdown at Lyons Soccer Complex. And while the Wolfpack turned up the heat with a goal seven minutes later, that would be as close they came in a 2-1 loss.
“We lost it in the first eight minutes,” St. Ignatius coach Ryan Kearns said.
“We possessed well, we got opportunities but we didn’t finish the opportunities. I want these guys to start to finish on set pieces and corner kicks. We’re not consistent at all on those. And that’s the difference between a win and a loss.”
The backbreaking difference Saturday was the opening minutes of play.
A foul in the box 5:36 into the match gave Plainfield Central (5-2-2) a penalty kick, which senior Jarod Petrovic converted for a 1-0 lead.
The slippery grass field then did literal damage to the Wolfpack’s shaky early footing.
With 30:55 left in the first half, a St. Ignatius defender slipped to help set up a Plainfield Central odd-man rush. Goalkeeper Bryant Hales nicely stopped the first 6-yard shot, but Joel Sanchez put away the rebound to make the score 2-0.
“I saw the rebound, and the first reaction is to go to the ball and shoot it in,” said Sanchez, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his role in the win.
With one exception (a loss to state power Morton), St. Ignatius’ reaction to adversity all year has been to quickly rally. And Saturday was no different.
“It’s nothing new for us,” Wolfpack co-captain Ian Waller said. “We started against Geneva down 2-0 in the first 10 minutes and bounced back to tie them 2-2 and had a chance to win it at the end.
“Today I felt like we could do that again. We got a quick goal, and I was sure we’d put one in the back of the net in the second half, but we just couldn’t get it done.”
Waller played a big part in cutting the deficit in half. With 23:20 left in the first half, he fielded a deflected Pat Breslin cross in the left side of the box and lined a 12-yard shot inside the left post to make the score 2-1.
“It was great pressure by Eduardo (Lopez) and Pat Breslin on the outside,” Waller said. “They did great work to win the ball back from their defense and put a cross in. It went off one of the defenders, and I was right there and I was able to put it in. It was set up by my teammates, a great cross by Pat Breslin. I thought that would get us started.”
What kept the Wolfpack going quite often was another sensational match for goalkeeper Bryant Hales.
Just before Waller’s strike, Hales had stifled the Wildcats’ momentum at the 24:50 mark with a low block save of a Max Woodward 8-yard shot.
“I thought Bryant in goal had a great game,” Kearns said. “That game could have gotten away from us early even more than it was. I thought he was probably the Man of the Match for us.”
Hales came up with big saves on point-blank shots three more times the rest of the way.
“Their keeper made a couple of nice saves,” Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “It was probably a combo on a few of them. Either we should have scored or he made a nice save. We need to finish off our chances a little better.”
The Wolfpack defense also settled in after the rough opening minutes.
“Once we gave up that second goal, we started to figure it out a little bit,” Kearns said.
“Our center back A.J. Capitanini had a good game. Sometimes he was out of position, but he made some good recovery saves when he was getting back.
“Ian Waller was our holding mid most of the game, and he does a good job organizing. I give a lot of credit to him.”
Hales noted another teammate worthy of praise in turning the tide.
“I thought Ethan McManus worked really hard up top to win balls,” Hales said. "A problem of ours is that we don’t possess really well out of the back, and we just send it forward. He was winning a lot of the balls and giving us time for our midfield to come up as a unit.”
A rare game on natural grass was a factor Hales discounted in the rough start.
“Giving up two early is always a struggle, but just like all season we bounced back well,” Hales said. “The finishing just wasn’t there, and at times I think things were getting to us. The grass or something made us lackadaisical, but in the end we can’t make excuses. That’s on us. That’s a game we should win or at least tie.”
After Hales smothered a Woodward shot right of the net 12:40 before the half, his long outlet throw started a Wolfpack counterattack that nearly tied the game.
After passes by Lopez and McManus, Breslin lined a 15-yard shot that was stopped at the left post. Then 4:10 before the half, McManus burst in left for a 10-yard shot that was denied on a low block save.
In a scoreless second half, officials instead of goal scorers took center stage. Hales’ diving block of a Woodward shot with 20:10 was the best scoring chance, but a bevy of yellow cards handed out to both sides was especially costly for the Wolfpack.
In the final three minutes, Waller left with a yellow card and a teammate’s second yellow card of the match resulted in St. Ignatius playing one man short for the final 1:25.
“Myself included, we lost our heads a little bit, and that hindered our ability to put another one in,” Waller said.
Before the card games broke out, strong plays on the field included defender Conner Hatzopoulos’ nice defensive denial in the box of a Woodward threat with 6:20 to go.
Offensively, passes from Owen Allen and McManus set up a Max Taylor drive just wide of the net. The Wolfpack’s best late threat was a Lucas Kotlowitz corner kick with 6:55 left, which Phil Garcia cleared from danger.
“It was kind of a tough second half,” Plainfield Central’s Sanchez said, “but I felt like we did pretty good and we held them off pretty good.”
His coach agreed.
“We’ve started off fast before and given up leads, so it was nice to hold them off because they’re very good,” Fitzgerald said. “We knew they were good based on their results, and in this tournament there are only good teams. That’s what makes it fun and exciting.
“I thought we defended better as the game went on and we adjusted to finding marks too, which was a good sign because Lyons will present quite the challenge (Tuesday) on that side of the field.”
For St. Ignatius, its return to the elite PepsiCo field should pay off down the road.
“We were in it I think in 2006,” second-year coach Kearns said. “I wanted back in this right away because every team in here is competitive. It’s good for us.
“But we need to play a full 80 minutes. We’re not coming out ready in the first half. We’re complacent, we look scared and nervous. It’s normal to be nervous, but use that as energy, not to hold you back.”
Still a work in progress, the Wolfpack expects to see just that – progress.
“With our young defensive line, we have two sophomore center backs and a junior outside back,” Waller said, “so for them especially to get this preparation against big, strong, fast forwards and get that communication connected, it’s definitely going to help us a lot against Catholic League teams.
“We just have to keep working. A little tough start to the season, but once we get to Catholic League play we’re definitely well prepared from the competition we’ve played so far. I’d rather have this record and these opponents we’ve faced already than play some easier games.”
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK- Bryant Hales
D- Connor Shutt
D- AJ Capitanini
D- Conner Hatzopoulos
D- Carlos Sierra
M- Alex Collins
M- Ian Waller
M- Max Taylor
M- Diego Vazquez
F- Pat Breslin
F- Lucas Kotlowitz
Plainfield Central
GK- Shane Badertscher
D- Gustavo Sanchez
D- Ish Contreras
D- Phil Garcia
D- Ricky Garcia
M- Jarod Petrovic
M- Josh De Avila
M- Joel Sanchez
M- Matt Geib
F- Max Woodward
F- Edgar Cardenas
MVP of the Match: Joel Sanchez, MF, Plainfield Central