Clinical Carmel shuts down Saint Viator
4-0 victory all but seals share of ESCC title for Corsairs
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Two first half goals and another pair after the break allowed Carmel to post a definitive 4-0 win over host Saint Viator in an impactful East Suburban Catholic Conference game Wednesday afternoon.
The Corsairs produced a performance of mastery and power in their attack, which was led by Rob Rao, Henry Barnes and Austin Ehren. Together the trio has scored 41-of-51 goals the club has collected.
With the win, Ray Krawzak's men moved one step closer to at least a share of the ESCC crown as they now go to 7-1-0 with just the Marian game Saturday remaining on their league docket. Rival Benet (7-6-1 overall) is the only team left in the Corsairs way. The Redwings stand at 6-1-0 in the league with games against Marian Central (Oct. 9) and Saint Viator (Oct. 13).
"I know that Saint Viator has been a little up and down this season, but we knew coming here they would be way up there -- ready for us from the start," said Krawzak, who played for manager Mike Taylor during the 2003 championship season along with Lions' assistant T.J. King.
"There's a lot of tradition long before I was at (Viator), and both sides are always thrilled to beat the other (and) with each of us still in the race, it meant this game was really important for the both of us.
"We weathered an early storm and got ourselves over a case of nerves at the start to turn things around. We got our attack up and running which turned into two first half goals and a couple of other great chances to add more."
Entering this Wednesday afternoon contest, the Corsairs had beaten their hosts the last two seasons, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the Lions manager Taylor, who thought his club's chances were 50-50 before the game.
"If the Saint Viator team that crushed Marist (6-1 Sept. 25) comes out here today, we'll give (Carmel) an 80-minute battle, with the prediction of one-goal victory," began Taylor. "But if that team doesn't show up here, we could be in for a long afternoon against Ray's ball club."
The Lions (5-11-0, 4-1-2) came out as strong as strong could be during the early exchanges. They immediately put their guests under pressure with the darting runs of brothers Jack and Will Hartman leading the way from their spots up-top, plus the pace and industry from Zaul Perez, whom Taylor said would be a key figure for the Lions.
The Hartman brothers were the center of a flurry activity in the Corsairs end, which included their club going much harder into 50-50 balls than the visitors, and an attempt or two on frame, the best coming from Zaul Perez.
But chances proved few and far between for the home side after its early dominance when the Corsairs' aforementioned attacking trio along with outside back Michael Handel began to take charge.
"Those first 5-6 minutes we struggled with their energy and pressure, which gave them a couple of good chances. But we managed to deal with all of that really well by staying calm until we found our game," said Rao, who leads the club with 17 goals after his opener in the 21st minute.
"Saint Viator gave us a lot of space and time in the midfield, and I thought we took advantage of it very well, especially in the first half."
The hosts plan was to allow Carmel free reign in the center third.
"We were fine allowing them to possess the ball all they wanted in the middle of the park." said Taylor. "(What) happened to us is we did not control nos. 7 (Barnes) and no. 12 (Michael Handel) on the outside. They just ripped us apart out on the wing, and in fact, that's where three of their four goals came from."
Krawzak didn't argue with his old coach's assessment.
"(Henry) Barnes is just Barnes on the outside for us -- flying up and down the wing, creating, and providing some very good crosses and serves into the box," he said. "But Handel has been working very hard to improve his game, and today, along with Barnes, they just worked over Saint Viator on that side of the field."
Moments after Krawzak brought Barnes back on after a brief respite, the senior initiated a sequence in which Brett Cloe, from out of his spot as the Corsairs center back, and Ehren came close to breaking a goal-less deadlock.
Then Barnes whipped in a well-paced ball on the ground from the left side along the top of the box. Ehren perfectly executed a dummy buy that forced the Lions toward in anticipation of the senior having a go on frame.
But when the ball went through Ehren's legs it freed up time and space for Rao to unload an unstoppable drive into the back of the net with 19 minutes left before halftime.
The hopes of a quick fight-back by the home side were dashed a few minutes later when a sensational reaction save by Kyle Knauer stopped William Hartman and a well-positioned post turned away a rebound strike by Jack Hartman to keep the Corsairs one-goal advantage safe.
The Corsairs good fortune seemed to inspire their attack which went full speed ahead after the Hartmans were denied.
With more urgency in its purpose, plus almost 90% of the possession, the Corsairs pourrd forward in search of a second goal.
"Saint Viator gave us so much space once we got into their end, and we moved the ball around freely on them with by using width and quick passes, which helped keep them under while we went after another goal or two before the break," said Rao.
Cartsten Murgas forced a near-post brilliant save by Saint Viator keeper David Petrovic, who went airborne horizontally to turn around the shot which was initiated by Handel.
A quality service from Barnes into the box was flicked on towards Ehren, who watched his attempt saved by Petrovic in the 36th minute.
The pressure mounted against the home side which needed a sharp tackle and clearing effort from its backline in order to stop Ehren, who brought down a long throw from Nate Passarelli before advancing near the six-yard box.
There would be nothing Petrovic could do but keep his fingers crossed when Ian McKernan came forward to meet a perfectly placed ball to the spot from Barnes but his one-timer sailed over the bar.
However, in the 38th minute, Murgas doubled the Corsairs advantage when the ball broke to Handel in the back. He slotted nicely past an advancing opponent to Barnes up the left side.
The senior played a near perfect ball to Murgas who shot across the face of the goal and past a diving Petrovic.
"Henry gave me a great ball, there's no way I could miss from there," said Murgas with a smile.
The goal's impace was indisputable.
"That first goal, then Carsten's (Murgas) scoring before the half ended was big for us, especially that second one because it can be a real killer for your opponent, while giving (your) team a lot of momentum heading into the second half," said Rao.
Taylor added: "If we finish one of those early chances we had, maybe it's a different story at the half. But their second goal broke us. And the third one just minutes into the second half just about finished us off."
Two minutes into the second half, the Lions failure to clear a Rao free kick from out of the area spilled back and onto the foot of the ever-present Rao. He used trickery and patience to give him enough time to wait for Matt Fix to get deep into his run.
Once free of his defender, Fix was sent through by Rao, and the senior did the rest with a low drive smashed beyond the reach of Petrovic.
"Matt is sometimes overlooked because of all the talent he's surrounded by, but he's been terrific as a defensive mid for us, and that goal he scored was a real nice one. It shows what he can do with the ball for us in our attack," said Krawzak.
Barnes collected a turnover by the Lions, and seconds later, he celebrated the fourth and final goal on the day. Ehren made the Lions pay dearly for the miscue with his 46th-minute finish.
For his three-assist afternoon and quality effort, Barnes was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
Carmel generated a few more quality chances before the final whistle. Petrovic made fine efforts to stop Ben Packer and Shane Farrell, who were among the reserves brought on by Krawzak in order to rest some of his first 11 prior to the Thursday game against Lake Zurich tonight and the Corsairs conference closer against Marian on Saturday.
Junior Ricardo Murua take over between the sticks for Knauer in the 73rd minute to complete the shutout -- the Corsairs second in the last three games and fifth of the season.
"That loss to Benet (1-0 Sept. 22) hurt a lot; it was probably the low point of the year," said Murgas. "But we've responded really well since then with four-straight wins to get us back to where we were before that loss."
Added Rao, "Today was a good win for us, but it's over now. We've got to turn our focus towards Lake Zurich, and not Marian on Saturday."
Earlier in the week, Carmel was awarded the no. 7 seed in the high-profile Fremd Sectional, which includes powerhouses Libertyville and Waukegan at nos. 1 and 2 respectively, as well as 2016 3A state runner up Barrington, which grabbed the No. 3 seed in front of reigning MSL champion Wheeling.
Starting lineups
Carmel (4-5-1 starting formation)
GK- Kyle Knauer
D- Nate Passarelli
D- Eli Larson
D- Brett Cloe
D- Michael Handel
M- Henry Barnes
M- Matt Fix
M- Rob Rao
M- Carsten Murgas
M- Ian McKernan
F- Austin Ehren
St. Viator (4-4-2)
GK- David Petrovic
D- Michael Tangredi
D- Francisco Campos
D- Nick DiMarco
D- Patrick Hammarlund
M- Brady Mulligan
M- David Stahl
M- Zaul Perez
M- Christian Castro
F- Jack Hartman
F- Will Hartman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Henry Barnes, sr., MF, Carmel
Referee: Ninos Alexander
Scoring summary
Carmel
Rao (Barnes) 21'
Murgas (Barnes) 38'
Fix (Rao) 42'
Ehren (Barnes) 46'
4-0 victory all but seals share of ESCC title for Corsairs
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Two first half goals and another pair after the break allowed Carmel to post a definitive 4-0 win over host Saint Viator in an impactful East Suburban Catholic Conference game Wednesday afternoon.
The Corsairs produced a performance of mastery and power in their attack, which was led by Rob Rao, Henry Barnes and Austin Ehren. Together the trio has scored 41-of-51 goals the club has collected.
With the win, Ray Krawzak's men moved one step closer to at least a share of the ESCC crown as they now go to 7-1-0 with just the Marian game Saturday remaining on their league docket. Rival Benet (7-6-1 overall) is the only team left in the Corsairs way. The Redwings stand at 6-1-0 in the league with games against Marian Central (Oct. 9) and Saint Viator (Oct. 13).
"I know that Saint Viator has been a little up and down this season, but we knew coming here they would be way up there -- ready for us from the start," said Krawzak, who played for manager Mike Taylor during the 2003 championship season along with Lions' assistant T.J. King.
"There's a lot of tradition long before I was at (Viator), and both sides are always thrilled to beat the other (and) with each of us still in the race, it meant this game was really important for the both of us.
"We weathered an early storm and got ourselves over a case of nerves at the start to turn things around. We got our attack up and running which turned into two first half goals and a couple of other great chances to add more."
Entering this Wednesday afternoon contest, the Corsairs had beaten their hosts the last two seasons, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the Lions manager Taylor, who thought his club's chances were 50-50 before the game.
"If the Saint Viator team that crushed Marist (6-1 Sept. 25) comes out here today, we'll give (Carmel) an 80-minute battle, with the prediction of one-goal victory," began Taylor. "But if that team doesn't show up here, we could be in for a long afternoon against Ray's ball club."
The Lions (5-11-0, 4-1-2) came out as strong as strong could be during the early exchanges. They immediately put their guests under pressure with the darting runs of brothers Jack and Will Hartman leading the way from their spots up-top, plus the pace and industry from Zaul Perez, whom Taylor said would be a key figure for the Lions.
The Hartman brothers were the center of a flurry activity in the Corsairs end, which included their club going much harder into 50-50 balls than the visitors, and an attempt or two on frame, the best coming from Zaul Perez.
But chances proved few and far between for the home side after its early dominance when the Corsairs' aforementioned attacking trio along with outside back Michael Handel began to take charge.
"Those first 5-6 minutes we struggled with their energy and pressure, which gave them a couple of good chances. But we managed to deal with all of that really well by staying calm until we found our game," said Rao, who leads the club with 17 goals after his opener in the 21st minute.
"Saint Viator gave us a lot of space and time in the midfield, and I thought we took advantage of it very well, especially in the first half."
The hosts plan was to allow Carmel free reign in the center third.
"We were fine allowing them to possess the ball all they wanted in the middle of the park." said Taylor. "(What) happened to us is we did not control nos. 7 (Barnes) and no. 12 (Michael Handel) on the outside. They just ripped us apart out on the wing, and in fact, that's where three of their four goals came from."
Krawzak didn't argue with his old coach's assessment.
"(Henry) Barnes is just Barnes on the outside for us -- flying up and down the wing, creating, and providing some very good crosses and serves into the box," he said. "But Handel has been working very hard to improve his game, and today, along with Barnes, they just worked over Saint Viator on that side of the field."
Moments after Krawzak brought Barnes back on after a brief respite, the senior initiated a sequence in which Brett Cloe, from out of his spot as the Corsairs center back, and Ehren came close to breaking a goal-less deadlock.
Then Barnes whipped in a well-paced ball on the ground from the left side along the top of the box. Ehren perfectly executed a dummy buy that forced the Lions toward in anticipation of the senior having a go on frame.
But when the ball went through Ehren's legs it freed up time and space for Rao to unload an unstoppable drive into the back of the net with 19 minutes left before halftime.
The hopes of a quick fight-back by the home side were dashed a few minutes later when a sensational reaction save by Kyle Knauer stopped William Hartman and a well-positioned post turned away a rebound strike by Jack Hartman to keep the Corsairs one-goal advantage safe.
The Corsairs good fortune seemed to inspire their attack which went full speed ahead after the Hartmans were denied.
With more urgency in its purpose, plus almost 90% of the possession, the Corsairs pourrd forward in search of a second goal.
"Saint Viator gave us so much space once we got into their end, and we moved the ball around freely on them with by using width and quick passes, which helped keep them under while we went after another goal or two before the break," said Rao.
Cartsten Murgas forced a near-post brilliant save by Saint Viator keeper David Petrovic, who went airborne horizontally to turn around the shot which was initiated by Handel.
A quality service from Barnes into the box was flicked on towards Ehren, who watched his attempt saved by Petrovic in the 36th minute.
The pressure mounted against the home side which needed a sharp tackle and clearing effort from its backline in order to stop Ehren, who brought down a long throw from Nate Passarelli before advancing near the six-yard box.
There would be nothing Petrovic could do but keep his fingers crossed when Ian McKernan came forward to meet a perfectly placed ball to the spot from Barnes but his one-timer sailed over the bar.
However, in the 38th minute, Murgas doubled the Corsairs advantage when the ball broke to Handel in the back. He slotted nicely past an advancing opponent to Barnes up the left side.
The senior played a near perfect ball to Murgas who shot across the face of the goal and past a diving Petrovic.
"Henry gave me a great ball, there's no way I could miss from there," said Murgas with a smile.
The goal's impace was indisputable.
"That first goal, then Carsten's (Murgas) scoring before the half ended was big for us, especially that second one because it can be a real killer for your opponent, while giving (your) team a lot of momentum heading into the second half," said Rao.
Taylor added: "If we finish one of those early chances we had, maybe it's a different story at the half. But their second goal broke us. And the third one just minutes into the second half just about finished us off."
Two minutes into the second half, the Lions failure to clear a Rao free kick from out of the area spilled back and onto the foot of the ever-present Rao. He used trickery and patience to give him enough time to wait for Matt Fix to get deep into his run.
Once free of his defender, Fix was sent through by Rao, and the senior did the rest with a low drive smashed beyond the reach of Petrovic.
"Matt is sometimes overlooked because of all the talent he's surrounded by, but he's been terrific as a defensive mid for us, and that goal he scored was a real nice one. It shows what he can do with the ball for us in our attack," said Krawzak.
Barnes collected a turnover by the Lions, and seconds later, he celebrated the fourth and final goal on the day. Ehren made the Lions pay dearly for the miscue with his 46th-minute finish.
For his three-assist afternoon and quality effort, Barnes was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
Carmel generated a few more quality chances before the final whistle. Petrovic made fine efforts to stop Ben Packer and Shane Farrell, who were among the reserves brought on by Krawzak in order to rest some of his first 11 prior to the Thursday game against Lake Zurich tonight and the Corsairs conference closer against Marian on Saturday.
Junior Ricardo Murua take over between the sticks for Knauer in the 73rd minute to complete the shutout -- the Corsairs second in the last three games and fifth of the season.
"That loss to Benet (1-0 Sept. 22) hurt a lot; it was probably the low point of the year," said Murgas. "But we've responded really well since then with four-straight wins to get us back to where we were before that loss."
Added Rao, "Today was a good win for us, but it's over now. We've got to turn our focus towards Lake Zurich, and not Marian on Saturday."
Earlier in the week, Carmel was awarded the no. 7 seed in the high-profile Fremd Sectional, which includes powerhouses Libertyville and Waukegan at nos. 1 and 2 respectively, as well as 2016 3A state runner up Barrington, which grabbed the No. 3 seed in front of reigning MSL champion Wheeling.
Starting lineups
Carmel (4-5-1 starting formation)
GK- Kyle Knauer
D- Nate Passarelli
D- Eli Larson
D- Brett Cloe
D- Michael Handel
M- Henry Barnes
M- Matt Fix
M- Rob Rao
M- Carsten Murgas
M- Ian McKernan
F- Austin Ehren
St. Viator (4-4-2)
GK- David Petrovic
D- Michael Tangredi
D- Francisco Campos
D- Nick DiMarco
D- Patrick Hammarlund
M- Brady Mulligan
M- David Stahl
M- Zaul Perez
M- Christian Castro
F- Jack Hartman
F- Will Hartman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Henry Barnes, sr., MF, Carmel
Referee: Ninos Alexander
Scoring summary
Carmel
Rao (Barnes) 21'
Murgas (Barnes) 38'
Fix (Rao) 42'
Ehren (Barnes) 46'