St. Rita finds composure, rallies past ICCP
3 goals in last 17 minutes produce 4-2 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The best players always think ahead, imagining a scenario they can take advantage of. Chuy Flores saw a ripe opportunity.
With St. Rita locked in a physical and emotional game against IC Catholic Prep, Flores knew the moment was right. Knights’ starting keeper Thomas Mandra was ejected after receiving a red card in the 63rd minute.
“I definitely wanted to take advantage of the situation,” Flores said. “The replacement keeper came into the game, and I don’t think he was prepared for it.”
Lined up on left flank 28 yards out, Flores drilled a free kick inside the far post in the 76th minute that catapulted the Mustangs’ to 4-2 victory Wednesday night on the South Side.
“I saw the new keeper on near post lined up as well. I asked for 10 [yards], and I just went ahead and hit it,” Flores said. “We know how to keep our heads cool and stay in the game.”
Senior forward Juan Carlos Sanchez punctuated the wild closing moments by finishing in the 80th minute off an initial ball played by junior midfielder Julio Walton.
The game featured two ties, two lead changes and a lot of charged emotions. Mantra was issued a red card for allegedly swearing at the center official.
Flores is one of nine returning starters from a team that won the Chicago Catholic League Green Division last year and finished 16-5-1. Senior forward Langston Bedgood is one of the best players in the league. He scored a team-best 23 goals last year.
“We have to keep working hard,” said Flores, whose given name is Jesus. “We have a lot of players back, but we also have new additions to the team, especially on the bench. We can come off the bench strong and play the same way as we do with our starters on the field.”
St. Rita (2-0-0) also has a team tradition of naming a player of the match with a wresting-style championship belt. Junior midfielder Logan Corum earned the honors in the Mustangs’ season-opening 3-2 victory over Richards on Monday.
Flores and Walton turned the game for the Mustangs, who were reeling and a bit out of sorts after the Knights (0-2-0) took the surprising 2-1 lead in the 54th minute on a volley inside the box by defender Saul Trejo.
Midfielder Brendan Breslin converted a penalty kick in the 63rd minute that created the 2-2 deadlock. Mandra was issued his card following that sequence.
Walton’s creativity and playmaking set up the game-winner. He broke through the Knights’ defensive interior on the left wing and was fouled from behind.
That created Flores’s free kick.
Chuy Flores and Julio Walton shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for their superb play.
“I don’t like to shoot,” Walton said. “I am going to be honest. That is not my forte. I like to pass and watch other people score. That makes me happy. I like dribbling down the field and making that next pass and making the next opportunity, for the next chance to score.”
With the Knights down a field player for the final 17 minutes, St. Rita took advantage of the open seams. Walton’s late run sealed the deal.
“We stayed calm on the field,” Walton said. “We were getting all of these chances, and we knew we had to put one of them away. We had full possession. We had so much courage and hope that we were going to score again.
“We were hoping for that finishing touch.”
St. Rita monopolized possession. The game had some berserk turns and crazy momentum swings. Bedgood was credited with the first goal off a deflection in the 11th minute.
After getting shut out in its Windy City Ram Classic season-opener against Hinsdale South on Tuesday, IC Catholic Prep struck back moments later. Midfielder Braiden Borninkhof scored on a free kick from 22 yards in the 14th minute.
“They followed my instructions,” IC Catholic Prep coach Miguel Garcia said. “We played defensively. If we play in the order and structure I want them to play, we are going to be successful. There were some factors we could not control, and we worried too much about the other factors, and it hurt us in the end.”
Borninkhof said the team is young and inexperienced. The raw emotions displayed are a function of a team learning about the game on the run.
“A lot of our guys are not soccer players, like one of our players showed,” Borningkhof said. “He kicked the ball out of bounds and and did not know what had happened. These guys’ main sports are in other sports, and for us to almost beat a team of this caliber was pretty big.”
St. Rita coach Bob Kellam said the game echoed the Monday game against Richards. St. Rita once occupied a similar identity to where the Knights are now, a football-primary school building a program.
“It’s a game we definitely dominated,” Kellam said. “They’re young, impressionable kids, and sometimes the kids get caught in the flow of their emotions. These guys are a senior group, and they find a way to win.
“We definitely dominated the possession, and sometimes what happens when you possess a lot is that you open yourself up to the counterattack. It’s something we have to lock down on.”
The activity and pressure eventually yielded results, in the form of the penalty kick, Flores’s game-winning free kick and Walton’s final run.
“The way we are able to possess the ball at times, connect, and we could really control the ball and control the game,” Kellam said. “As it got a little wild and a little unhinged, guys were not pressing right away and were more worried about dropping into a defensive position. I think winning the ball back and getting after it, we found a way to win.
“In both games so far, we had to find a way to win. We worked our way out of it tonight.”
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep
GK: Thomas Mandra
D: Saul Trejo
D: Carlo Arenas
D: Jake LaSpisa
D: William Russ
D: Marc Shuflit, Jr.
MF: Braiden Borninkhof
MF: Antonio Serrano
MF: David Perez
F: Elian Cardenas
F: Thomas Sloan
St. Rita
GK: Luke Manning
D: Brendan Gleeson
D: Luis Salgado
D: Tyler Padilla
MF: Brendan Breslin
MF: Logan Corum
MF: Kenya Sumpter
MF: Julio Walton
MF: George Herman
MF: Chuy Flores
F: Langston Bedgood
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Chuy Flores, jr., MF, St. Rita
Julio Walton, jr., MF, St. Rita
Scoring summary
First half
St. Rita—Langston Bedgood, 11th minute
IC Catholic Prep—Braiden Borningkhof (free kick), 14th minute
Second half
IC Catholic Prep—Saul Trejo (unassisted), 54th minute
St. Rita—Brendan Breslin (penalty kick), 63rd minute
St. Rita—Chuy Flores (free kick), 76th minute
St. Rita—Juan Carlos Sanchez (Julio Walton), 80th minute
3 goals in last 17 minutes produce 4-2 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The best players always think ahead, imagining a scenario they can take advantage of. Chuy Flores saw a ripe opportunity.
With St. Rita locked in a physical and emotional game against IC Catholic Prep, Flores knew the moment was right. Knights’ starting keeper Thomas Mandra was ejected after receiving a red card in the 63rd minute.
“I definitely wanted to take advantage of the situation,” Flores said. “The replacement keeper came into the game, and I don’t think he was prepared for it.”
Lined up on left flank 28 yards out, Flores drilled a free kick inside the far post in the 76th minute that catapulted the Mustangs’ to 4-2 victory Wednesday night on the South Side.
“I saw the new keeper on near post lined up as well. I asked for 10 [yards], and I just went ahead and hit it,” Flores said. “We know how to keep our heads cool and stay in the game.”
Senior forward Juan Carlos Sanchez punctuated the wild closing moments by finishing in the 80th minute off an initial ball played by junior midfielder Julio Walton.
The game featured two ties, two lead changes and a lot of charged emotions. Mantra was issued a red card for allegedly swearing at the center official.
Flores is one of nine returning starters from a team that won the Chicago Catholic League Green Division last year and finished 16-5-1. Senior forward Langston Bedgood is one of the best players in the league. He scored a team-best 23 goals last year.
“We have to keep working hard,” said Flores, whose given name is Jesus. “We have a lot of players back, but we also have new additions to the team, especially on the bench. We can come off the bench strong and play the same way as we do with our starters on the field.”
St. Rita (2-0-0) also has a team tradition of naming a player of the match with a wresting-style championship belt. Junior midfielder Logan Corum earned the honors in the Mustangs’ season-opening 3-2 victory over Richards on Monday.
Flores and Walton turned the game for the Mustangs, who were reeling and a bit out of sorts after the Knights (0-2-0) took the surprising 2-1 lead in the 54th minute on a volley inside the box by defender Saul Trejo.
Midfielder Brendan Breslin converted a penalty kick in the 63rd minute that created the 2-2 deadlock. Mandra was issued his card following that sequence.
Walton’s creativity and playmaking set up the game-winner. He broke through the Knights’ defensive interior on the left wing and was fouled from behind.
That created Flores’s free kick.
Chuy Flores and Julio Walton shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for their superb play.
“I don’t like to shoot,” Walton said. “I am going to be honest. That is not my forte. I like to pass and watch other people score. That makes me happy. I like dribbling down the field and making that next pass and making the next opportunity, for the next chance to score.”
With the Knights down a field player for the final 17 minutes, St. Rita took advantage of the open seams. Walton’s late run sealed the deal.
“We stayed calm on the field,” Walton said. “We were getting all of these chances, and we knew we had to put one of them away. We had full possession. We had so much courage and hope that we were going to score again.
“We were hoping for that finishing touch.”
St. Rita monopolized possession. The game had some berserk turns and crazy momentum swings. Bedgood was credited with the first goal off a deflection in the 11th minute.
After getting shut out in its Windy City Ram Classic season-opener against Hinsdale South on Tuesday, IC Catholic Prep struck back moments later. Midfielder Braiden Borninkhof scored on a free kick from 22 yards in the 14th minute.
“They followed my instructions,” IC Catholic Prep coach Miguel Garcia said. “We played defensively. If we play in the order and structure I want them to play, we are going to be successful. There were some factors we could not control, and we worried too much about the other factors, and it hurt us in the end.”
Borninkhof said the team is young and inexperienced. The raw emotions displayed are a function of a team learning about the game on the run.
“A lot of our guys are not soccer players, like one of our players showed,” Borningkhof said. “He kicked the ball out of bounds and and did not know what had happened. These guys’ main sports are in other sports, and for us to almost beat a team of this caliber was pretty big.”
St. Rita coach Bob Kellam said the game echoed the Monday game against Richards. St. Rita once occupied a similar identity to where the Knights are now, a football-primary school building a program.
“It’s a game we definitely dominated,” Kellam said. “They’re young, impressionable kids, and sometimes the kids get caught in the flow of their emotions. These guys are a senior group, and they find a way to win.
“We definitely dominated the possession, and sometimes what happens when you possess a lot is that you open yourself up to the counterattack. It’s something we have to lock down on.”
The activity and pressure eventually yielded results, in the form of the penalty kick, Flores’s game-winning free kick and Walton’s final run.
“The way we are able to possess the ball at times, connect, and we could really control the ball and control the game,” Kellam said. “As it got a little wild and a little unhinged, guys were not pressing right away and were more worried about dropping into a defensive position. I think winning the ball back and getting after it, we found a way to win.
“In both games so far, we had to find a way to win. We worked our way out of it tonight.”
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep
GK: Thomas Mandra
D: Saul Trejo
D: Carlo Arenas
D: Jake LaSpisa
D: William Russ
D: Marc Shuflit, Jr.
MF: Braiden Borninkhof
MF: Antonio Serrano
MF: David Perez
F: Elian Cardenas
F: Thomas Sloan
St. Rita
GK: Luke Manning
D: Brendan Gleeson
D: Luis Salgado
D: Tyler Padilla
MF: Brendan Breslin
MF: Logan Corum
MF: Kenya Sumpter
MF: Julio Walton
MF: George Herman
MF: Chuy Flores
F: Langston Bedgood
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Chuy Flores, jr., MF, St. Rita
Julio Walton, jr., MF, St. Rita
Scoring summary
First half
St. Rita—Langston Bedgood, 11th minute
IC Catholic Prep—Braiden Borningkhof (free kick), 14th minute
Second half
IC Catholic Prep—Saul Trejo (unassisted), 54th minute
St. Rita—Brendan Breslin (penalty kick), 63rd minute
St. Rita—Chuy Flores (free kick), 76th minute
St. Rita—Juan Carlos Sanchez (Julio Walton), 80th minute