Saint Viator keeper saves
the day against Washington
Napoleon turns tide in Lions' upset shootout victory
By Derek Wolff
LA GRANGE — Generally, you’re lucky if your goalkeeper makes one save in a penalty kick shootout. It’s the nature of the spectacle: The percentages favor the shooters, never the goalkeeper.
Saint Viator’s Kevin Napoleon refused to think about any of that.
The senior goalkeeper made three-consecutives saves with his side down 2-1 in a penalty shootout with 16th-seeded Washington on Saturday afternoon to deliver a 1-1 (3-2 on penalties) win for the Lions (2-5) in the opening round of the Pepsi Showcase.
With coach Mike Taylor giving advice from the sidelines, Napoleon, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, found himself in uncharted territory.
“I was a bit nervous,” Napoleon said. “This was my first ever time doing PKs after a game. I was nervous but trusted my coach, dove the right way. I knew I had the ability to make the saves.”
With the Lions shooting first, they trailed 2-1 heading into the third round of the shootout.
Midfielder Jonathon Moyo converted to level it at 2-2 before Napoleon stoned Washington’s Rogelio Catalan.
In the fourth round, Washington goalkeeper Jose Felipe Soto stopped Miles McDonnell, bringing Angel Rodriguez up for the Patriots. Rodriguez had scored the lone goal for Washington in the 74th minute on a penalty kick.
Needing to hold serve, Napoleon dove to his left and knocked Rodriguez’s shot away.
“Yeah, for sure,” Napoleon said, when asked if he felt confident the second time around against Rodriguez. “I think I knew which way he was going just from the way he ran up. Seeing him twice definitely helped.”
Freshmen Michael Tangredi and Will Hartman were called up to the team before Friday’s 3-0 win over Nazareth, in which Hartman scored all three goals.
On Saturday, it was Tangredi’s turn to shine, burying the fifth penalty kick for the Lions, who celebrated moments later when Napoleon turned aside Washington’s Luis Hernandez to end it.
The decision to have a freshman callup shoot fifth in a shootout may have seemed odd to some, but it made perfect sense to Taylor.
“I made him No. 5 and said ‘Hey, there it is,’ ” Taylor said of Tangredi. “You get to No. 5, you put it away. You get to that thing and he’s not going to overthink it. He’s just going to put the ball down and hit it.
“You get to one of your seniors and they’ve been there before and they’re like, ‘OK, I better make this one.’ The kid’s already thinking too much.”
It isn’t a coincidence that both freshmen have immediately made an impact in Viator’s back-to-back wins after dropping the first five games of the season.
“We looked at it. Sometimes you look to see, and we went five games and we didn’t have any results in those five games, so then you shuffle things up a little bit and you look down to see if you’ve got some kids who can help you. Sometimes their energy and their excitement come up,” Taylor said. “They just do the basic things well, because they’re too scared to do anything else, so that’s what we find with them.”
Saint Viator went up 1-0 in the 15th minute when Patrick Hickey flicked one into the box toward the back post, connecting with a waiting Patrick Bottcher.
“I was there to just tap it in,” Bottcher said. “It was basically my coaches’ goal because we practice that nonstop. I have to give him the credit, because he trains us for it so well.”
The goal set the Lions up nicely, and they played with confidence for the rest of the first half.
“We got the momentum going, and it gave the defense comfortability with each other back there,” Bottcher said. “They got to open up and push the ball up, and we got to push balls over the top through the middle.”
It was a different story in the second half.
Washington’s equalizer in the 74th minute came after the Patriots almost exclusively held ownership papers on the ball, pressing forward time after time before Rodriguez finally made it 1-1.
“We gave up a stupid PK today, which is my fault,” Taylor said. “I subbed in a fifth defender at that time, and I shouldn’t have. I should have just had faith in my four defenders and left them the way they were. And they just got confused with our fifth defender. So I’ll take the blame on that one.”
Saint Viator responded immediately and earned a corner kick in the 76th minute but were unable to do anything with it. Then the sides headed to overtime.
Two five-minute periods of golden goal produced a few chances for each side, but nothing went in, sending the teams to the shootout.
“I’m proud because the kids are building off what we’ve gone through this week to sort of regroup some different things and put it together,” Taylor said. “It’s not through fancy play; it’s just us doing things right.”
The Lions will meet top-seeded Morton on Tuesday in the second round, feeling optimistic.
“We had a rough start, so winning two in a row definitely helps us,” Napoleon said. “Morton is obviously a great team, but we’re looking forward to playing them on Tuesday.”
Starting lineups
Washington
GK Jose Felipe Soto
D Leonardo Carrillo
D Rogelio Catalan
D Josue Navarro
D Eduardo Alfaro
M Luis Hernandez
M Carlos Martinez
M Raul Garcia
M Lorenzo Mendoza
F Angel Rodriguez
F Felipe Ramirez
Saint Viator
GK Kevin Napoleon
D Tom Scully
D Patrick Hickey
D Kyle Borst
D Justin Cruz
M Miles McDonnell
M Patrick Bottcher
M Michael Tangredi
M Zaul Perez
F Anthony Pineda
F Will Hartman
Man of the Match: Kevin Napoleon, GK, Saint Viator
the day against Washington
Napoleon turns tide in Lions' upset shootout victory
By Derek Wolff
LA GRANGE — Generally, you’re lucky if your goalkeeper makes one save in a penalty kick shootout. It’s the nature of the spectacle: The percentages favor the shooters, never the goalkeeper.
Saint Viator’s Kevin Napoleon refused to think about any of that.
The senior goalkeeper made three-consecutives saves with his side down 2-1 in a penalty shootout with 16th-seeded Washington on Saturday afternoon to deliver a 1-1 (3-2 on penalties) win for the Lions (2-5) in the opening round of the Pepsi Showcase.
With coach Mike Taylor giving advice from the sidelines, Napoleon, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, found himself in uncharted territory.
“I was a bit nervous,” Napoleon said. “This was my first ever time doing PKs after a game. I was nervous but trusted my coach, dove the right way. I knew I had the ability to make the saves.”
With the Lions shooting first, they trailed 2-1 heading into the third round of the shootout.
Midfielder Jonathon Moyo converted to level it at 2-2 before Napoleon stoned Washington’s Rogelio Catalan.
In the fourth round, Washington goalkeeper Jose Felipe Soto stopped Miles McDonnell, bringing Angel Rodriguez up for the Patriots. Rodriguez had scored the lone goal for Washington in the 74th minute on a penalty kick.
Needing to hold serve, Napoleon dove to his left and knocked Rodriguez’s shot away.
“Yeah, for sure,” Napoleon said, when asked if he felt confident the second time around against Rodriguez. “I think I knew which way he was going just from the way he ran up. Seeing him twice definitely helped.”
Freshmen Michael Tangredi and Will Hartman were called up to the team before Friday’s 3-0 win over Nazareth, in which Hartman scored all three goals.
On Saturday, it was Tangredi’s turn to shine, burying the fifth penalty kick for the Lions, who celebrated moments later when Napoleon turned aside Washington’s Luis Hernandez to end it.
The decision to have a freshman callup shoot fifth in a shootout may have seemed odd to some, but it made perfect sense to Taylor.
“I made him No. 5 and said ‘Hey, there it is,’ ” Taylor said of Tangredi. “You get to No. 5, you put it away. You get to that thing and he’s not going to overthink it. He’s just going to put the ball down and hit it.
“You get to one of your seniors and they’ve been there before and they’re like, ‘OK, I better make this one.’ The kid’s already thinking too much.”
It isn’t a coincidence that both freshmen have immediately made an impact in Viator’s back-to-back wins after dropping the first five games of the season.
“We looked at it. Sometimes you look to see, and we went five games and we didn’t have any results in those five games, so then you shuffle things up a little bit and you look down to see if you’ve got some kids who can help you. Sometimes their energy and their excitement come up,” Taylor said. “They just do the basic things well, because they’re too scared to do anything else, so that’s what we find with them.”
Saint Viator went up 1-0 in the 15th minute when Patrick Hickey flicked one into the box toward the back post, connecting with a waiting Patrick Bottcher.
“I was there to just tap it in,” Bottcher said. “It was basically my coaches’ goal because we practice that nonstop. I have to give him the credit, because he trains us for it so well.”
The goal set the Lions up nicely, and they played with confidence for the rest of the first half.
“We got the momentum going, and it gave the defense comfortability with each other back there,” Bottcher said. “They got to open up and push the ball up, and we got to push balls over the top through the middle.”
It was a different story in the second half.
Washington’s equalizer in the 74th minute came after the Patriots almost exclusively held ownership papers on the ball, pressing forward time after time before Rodriguez finally made it 1-1.
“We gave up a stupid PK today, which is my fault,” Taylor said. “I subbed in a fifth defender at that time, and I shouldn’t have. I should have just had faith in my four defenders and left them the way they were. And they just got confused with our fifth defender. So I’ll take the blame on that one.”
Saint Viator responded immediately and earned a corner kick in the 76th minute but were unable to do anything with it. Then the sides headed to overtime.
Two five-minute periods of golden goal produced a few chances for each side, but nothing went in, sending the teams to the shootout.
“I’m proud because the kids are building off what we’ve gone through this week to sort of regroup some different things and put it together,” Taylor said. “It’s not through fancy play; it’s just us doing things right.”
The Lions will meet top-seeded Morton on Tuesday in the second round, feeling optimistic.
“We had a rough start, so winning two in a row definitely helps us,” Napoleon said. “Morton is obviously a great team, but we’re looking forward to playing them on Tuesday.”
Starting lineups
Washington
GK Jose Felipe Soto
D Leonardo Carrillo
D Rogelio Catalan
D Josue Navarro
D Eduardo Alfaro
M Luis Hernandez
M Carlos Martinez
M Raul Garcia
M Lorenzo Mendoza
F Angel Rodriguez
F Felipe Ramirez
Saint Viator
GK Kevin Napoleon
D Tom Scully
D Patrick Hickey
D Kyle Borst
D Justin Cruz
M Miles McDonnell
M Patrick Bottcher
M Michael Tangredi
M Zaul Perez
F Anthony Pineda
F Will Hartman
Man of the Match: Kevin Napoleon, GK, Saint Viator