St. Ignatius seniors get due
in win over Fenwick
Wolfpack take over in 2nd half for 3-0 Senior Night victory
By Michael Wojtychiw
CHICAGO -- Senior Night is one of the most emotional nights of the season for prep sports teams. It's usually the culmination of a player's home career.
St. Ignatius celebrated its seniors Tuesday night when it welcomed Fenwick to the Near West Side for an evening matchup between Chicago Catholic League Blue Division rivals.
After a scoreless first half, the Wolfpack exploded for three second half goals for a shutout win that ended a three-game winless streak.
"We just needed the guys to make the best decisions for the play, it was all about figuring out the opponent's positioning, their runs," St. Ignatius manager Matt Miller said. "This win was really big because a couple of the ties we've had could have been wins. We just haven't been able to convert chances this year."
"We've had a number of disappointing results of late. We didn’t finish our chances," St. Ignatius junior midfielder Colin Chough said. "But to get wins like this ... Fenwick's basically our arch enemy. To beat them 3-0 in conference is huge, not only for the program, but these seniors as well."
The Wolfpack got off to a slow start but that all changed after the halftime break.
Junior midfielder Chough got loose 30 seconds into the half and tapped a rebound past the Fenwick keeper for a 1-0 lead before the Friars were able to regain their bearings.
"I'm usually a central midfielder and am coming back after being sick for the last couple days. They put me on the wing in the second half to give me some more minutes," he said. "I don't usually play on the wing, but I saw Alexis (Pallares) making a run and the goalie pushed upward. The ball hit off the bar and I was in the right place at the right time. I was a yard or two outside the goal, and I couldn't miss.
"That really inspired us to go out and score two more. A goal that early is huge for momentum."
"The way the second half started ... that was tough," Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said. "That first goal was too hard to overcome. And then it was two goals."
The Friars entered the match after playing what Blazer considered to possibly be his squad's best week this season. They posted a 1-0 win over DeLaSalle on Sept. 27 that ended a four-game losing streak and tied undefeated Blue Division foe St. Laurence on Sept. 29.
Tuesday, the visitors hit the ground running at the opening whistle.
The Friars got deep into the Wolfpack's zone and forced St. Ignatius keeper Liam McConnell to make a handful of early saves and help alter other possessions.
In the game's first 13 minutes the Friars had three shots that went either just over the crossbar or just wide of a goal post.
Blazer knew if one of those went in, it was a different game.
"It was a great first half with lots of opportunities," he said. "We tried some corner kicks we've been working on, good deliveries. Maybe subconsciously when you don't score those, they come back to haunt you.
"A couple plays here, a couple plays there, it's a different story. At halftime, we talked about how we'd played five-consecutive scoreless halves and were just trying to build on that."
That streak ended quickly thereafter when the Wolfpack (7-4-3, 2-1-2) got their feet under them and settled into the game.
A halftime talk from its coach and seniors also helped.
"The main takeaway was to keep up how we were playing and keep up the high energy," St. Ignatius senior Callahan Kelly said.
"We really just talked about how we wanted to play offensively, penetrate by switching field, penetrate the wings, that's where the space was," Miller said. "Get the ball to our key men, and it worked."
Oscar Quinn Pasin added the second goal 17 minutes after Chough's tally. He took a pass from Roman Marsh and drove down the pitch.
While the offense exploded in the second half, the defense stood strong and minimized any work McConnell had to do in net.
Fenwick (6-8-2, 0-4-2) managed just two shots on goal in the second half.
On the special night, Miller brought up a number of seniors who play on the program's junior varsity squad to get a chance to play in the bright lights.
One of those players, Kelly, had an immediate impact.
Kelly assisted on the game's third goal with a pass to fellow senior midfielder Patricio Iturralde, who buried his shot with just under three minutes to go for the game's final tally.
"It was open in the middle, and that's where I ended up getting the ball," Kelly said. "There was a lot of space and time. I saw one of my teammates near the goal and, I knew he'd make the shot."
Playing in the Wolfpack's program has been a great experience for Kelly. Playing on Senior Night with his fellow classmates made the experience even more special.
"I loved every second of it," he said. "It was a big opportunity. I don't know if I've ever seen so many fans here for a varsity soccer game, but that was amazing. I only got about 15 minutes, but I'll treasure those 15 minutes and getting to play with my friends.
"Being a part of this program is amazing. People are always pushing you to be the best. This is a tight-knit group, everyone is just amazing."
Fenwick plays its final regular-season game ragainst St. Patrick on Thursday, before it turns its complete focus on the Class AA state playoffs. The Friars are a sectional third-seed and open what they hope will be a deep playoff run on Oct. 18 against the winner of the Northtown-Early College play-in match. A win sets up a title match with either Senn or regional host Schurz on Oct. 21.
"We've got St. Pat and then a week of training," Blazer said. "We just have to keep playing. We'll see what we can do, get some good exercises and practices in."
St. Ignatius is the third seed in the Class AA St. Laurence Sectional. The squad starts its playoff run on Oct. 18 in the University (Chicago) Regional against Lake View. The hosts or Westinghouse will await in the title game Oct. 21.
"If we can come together and play well, we've got a chance to go far in the playoffs," Chough said.
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK: Liam McConnell
D: Adan Delgadillo
D: Lucas Hanna
D: Brock Richards
D: Patrick Crilly
MF: Patricio Iturralde
MF: David Jacobo
MF: Alexis Pallares
RW: Grant Byrd
LW: Jordan Atuobi
F: Jack Greenwalt
Fenwick
GK: Dominick Ballarin
D: John Ballarin
D: Evan Hickman
D: Max Ballarin
D: Ian MacKinnon
MF: Frank Felice
MF: James Zimmer
MF: Matt Bero
MF: Lucas Garcia
F: Jake Brecknock
F: Ian Martinello
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Colin Chough, jr., MF, St. Ignatius
Scoring summary
First half
No Scoring
Second half
SI: Chough, 41st minute
SI: Quinn Pasin (Roman Marsh), 58th
minute
SI: Iturralde (Callahan Kelly), 78th minute
in win over Fenwick
Wolfpack take over in 2nd half for 3-0 Senior Night victory
By Michael Wojtychiw
CHICAGO -- Senior Night is one of the most emotional nights of the season for prep sports teams. It's usually the culmination of a player's home career.
St. Ignatius celebrated its seniors Tuesday night when it welcomed Fenwick to the Near West Side for an evening matchup between Chicago Catholic League Blue Division rivals.
After a scoreless first half, the Wolfpack exploded for three second half goals for a shutout win that ended a three-game winless streak.
"We just needed the guys to make the best decisions for the play, it was all about figuring out the opponent's positioning, their runs," St. Ignatius manager Matt Miller said. "This win was really big because a couple of the ties we've had could have been wins. We just haven't been able to convert chances this year."
"We've had a number of disappointing results of late. We didn’t finish our chances," St. Ignatius junior midfielder Colin Chough said. "But to get wins like this ... Fenwick's basically our arch enemy. To beat them 3-0 in conference is huge, not only for the program, but these seniors as well."
The Wolfpack got off to a slow start but that all changed after the halftime break.
Junior midfielder Chough got loose 30 seconds into the half and tapped a rebound past the Fenwick keeper for a 1-0 lead before the Friars were able to regain their bearings.
"I'm usually a central midfielder and am coming back after being sick for the last couple days. They put me on the wing in the second half to give me some more minutes," he said. "I don't usually play on the wing, but I saw Alexis (Pallares) making a run and the goalie pushed upward. The ball hit off the bar and I was in the right place at the right time. I was a yard or two outside the goal, and I couldn't miss.
"That really inspired us to go out and score two more. A goal that early is huge for momentum."
"The way the second half started ... that was tough," Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said. "That first goal was too hard to overcome. And then it was two goals."
The Friars entered the match after playing what Blazer considered to possibly be his squad's best week this season. They posted a 1-0 win over DeLaSalle on Sept. 27 that ended a four-game losing streak and tied undefeated Blue Division foe St. Laurence on Sept. 29.
Tuesday, the visitors hit the ground running at the opening whistle.
The Friars got deep into the Wolfpack's zone and forced St. Ignatius keeper Liam McConnell to make a handful of early saves and help alter other possessions.
In the game's first 13 minutes the Friars had three shots that went either just over the crossbar or just wide of a goal post.
Blazer knew if one of those went in, it was a different game.
"It was a great first half with lots of opportunities," he said. "We tried some corner kicks we've been working on, good deliveries. Maybe subconsciously when you don't score those, they come back to haunt you.
"A couple plays here, a couple plays there, it's a different story. At halftime, we talked about how we'd played five-consecutive scoreless halves and were just trying to build on that."
That streak ended quickly thereafter when the Wolfpack (7-4-3, 2-1-2) got their feet under them and settled into the game.
A halftime talk from its coach and seniors also helped.
"The main takeaway was to keep up how we were playing and keep up the high energy," St. Ignatius senior Callahan Kelly said.
"We really just talked about how we wanted to play offensively, penetrate by switching field, penetrate the wings, that's where the space was," Miller said. "Get the ball to our key men, and it worked."
Oscar Quinn Pasin added the second goal 17 minutes after Chough's tally. He took a pass from Roman Marsh and drove down the pitch.
While the offense exploded in the second half, the defense stood strong and minimized any work McConnell had to do in net.
Fenwick (6-8-2, 0-4-2) managed just two shots on goal in the second half.
On the special night, Miller brought up a number of seniors who play on the program's junior varsity squad to get a chance to play in the bright lights.
One of those players, Kelly, had an immediate impact.
Kelly assisted on the game's third goal with a pass to fellow senior midfielder Patricio Iturralde, who buried his shot with just under three minutes to go for the game's final tally.
"It was open in the middle, and that's where I ended up getting the ball," Kelly said. "There was a lot of space and time. I saw one of my teammates near the goal and, I knew he'd make the shot."
Playing in the Wolfpack's program has been a great experience for Kelly. Playing on Senior Night with his fellow classmates made the experience even more special.
"I loved every second of it," he said. "It was a big opportunity. I don't know if I've ever seen so many fans here for a varsity soccer game, but that was amazing. I only got about 15 minutes, but I'll treasure those 15 minutes and getting to play with my friends.
"Being a part of this program is amazing. People are always pushing you to be the best. This is a tight-knit group, everyone is just amazing."
Fenwick plays its final regular-season game ragainst St. Patrick on Thursday, before it turns its complete focus on the Class AA state playoffs. The Friars are a sectional third-seed and open what they hope will be a deep playoff run on Oct. 18 against the winner of the Northtown-Early College play-in match. A win sets up a title match with either Senn or regional host Schurz on Oct. 21.
"We've got St. Pat and then a week of training," Blazer said. "We just have to keep playing. We'll see what we can do, get some good exercises and practices in."
St. Ignatius is the third seed in the Class AA St. Laurence Sectional. The squad starts its playoff run on Oct. 18 in the University (Chicago) Regional against Lake View. The hosts or Westinghouse will await in the title game Oct. 21.
"If we can come together and play well, we've got a chance to go far in the playoffs," Chough said.
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK: Liam McConnell
D: Adan Delgadillo
D: Lucas Hanna
D: Brock Richards
D: Patrick Crilly
MF: Patricio Iturralde
MF: David Jacobo
MF: Alexis Pallares
RW: Grant Byrd
LW: Jordan Atuobi
F: Jack Greenwalt
Fenwick
GK: Dominick Ballarin
D: John Ballarin
D: Evan Hickman
D: Max Ballarin
D: Ian MacKinnon
MF: Frank Felice
MF: James Zimmer
MF: Matt Bero
MF: Lucas Garcia
F: Jake Brecknock
F: Ian Martinello
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Colin Chough, jr., MF, St. Ignatius
Scoring summary
First half
No Scoring
Second half
SI: Chough, 41st minute
SI: Quinn Pasin (Roman Marsh), 58th
minute
SI: Iturralde (Callahan Kelly), 78th minute