Offensive onslaught powers
Joliet Catholic past Saint Ignatius
Furmaniak scores hat-trick in Angels' 7-1 semifinal win
By Michael Wojtychiw
PALATINE - Many soccer players dream of scoring a hat-trick at the state finals, but very few ever get the opportunity to fulfill that dream.
Count Joliet Catholic’s Morgan Furmaniak as someone who saw that wish come true Friday in the first Class AA state semifinal at Fremd.
The Weber State-bound forward notched her 37th, 38th and 39th goals in the Angels' 7-1 win over Saint Ignatius.
"It's not as expected in a state semifinal, but to go out there and win a 7-1 game and play like we should be, it's an amazing feeling to score three goals and keep moving on," she said.
The Angels (16-1-1) earned their first Final Four win after taking fourth in 2019. That earlier state experience, even if a number of players were watching from the stands, was something that helped motivate the team to get back to the final weekend.
"In 2019, we made it to the third place match and knew we wanted to do better this year," Joliet Catholic's Breanna Ciemny said. "This year was super important, especially since last year we didn't get our chance. We knew this year we had to step it up."
"I feel like we proved something today," Furmaniak said. "Playing in the third/fourth-place game brought us down, and not having a season last year when it woulda been one of our best chances really brought us down. So to be bouncing back like we are, that's something we wanted to achieve and we are."
Saint Ignatius (15-6-1) made the program's third trip to the state tournament but first since 2008.
Because of the format change from playing quarterfinals, semifinals and place games all in the same weekend to just the semifinals and place games, this trip to state guaranteed the Wolfpack their first state trophy.
The 2021 season also marked the debut of new coach Caroline Zadina. The former Loyola Academy standout had quite the debut, leading the team to a 15 wins, including a six-game winning streak stretching back to May 29.
"I think we always knew we were capable of winning," St. Ignatius' Mia Cadichon said. "We were here from the beginning as a team and as long as we kept working together, we'd eventually get here.
"Each time, we brought something new and that kept us going."
"I was very excited," Zadina said. "There were years of hard work put in and years of coaching to get us to this point. It's definitely a privilege to be here. There was so much excitement."
Joliet Catholic let the Wolfpack know they meant business early. Ciemny scored after a Kendall McLeod assist in the eighth minute.
About nine minutes later, Furmaniak scored her first of the day. After that marker, the Angels were off to the races.
Ciemny, who only had five goals coming into the match, added her second off an assist from Alaina Wildenradt with 2 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the half, and Emma Gruber added one off of a pass from Furmaniak 26 seconds later.
"The balls that were sent to me were really good today," Ciemny said. "I really wanted to score today, because I really wanted us to make it to the championship.
"My first goal, I wasn't really thinking about it. It came to me, and I just tried to get a touch and not mess up and just shot it. It was really exciting."
Down 4-0 at the half, it would have been easy for Saint Ignatius to get discouraged, but they didn't. And that's something Zadina really liked about her squad Friday afternoon.
"If you're a competitor in any sport, you know that it's supposed to be a challenge, supposed to be a fight, be hard" she said. "Some days it doesn't absolutely go your way. Today didn't go as we'd hoped, but there's no option other that continuing to play.
"They're a family,” she said of her players. “They know how to play soccer. In the second half, we came out a bit stronger, simplified a bit and that's all I can ask. Some days you get outplayed, and you learn from that. We'll take a lot of lessons that will hopefully help us get back here next year."
The second half started with St. Ignatius' best scoring opportunity to that point. Eloise Barnett's header hit the post before bouncing away.
Unfortunately the Wolfpack couldn't take advantage of that slight momentum swing and saw the Angels impose their will. Joliet Catholic put two quick shots on Saint Ignatius keeper Darcy Schoen before Wildenradt converted just past the seven-minute mark of the second half.
Furmaniak added her second goal 10 minutes later when she slotted a breakaway past Schoen for a 6-0 lead.
Despite the margin, Schoen did her part in goal. She won several 1-v-1 opportunities with Furmaniak and Gruber.
The Wolfpack's persistence paid off with just under 11 minutes remaining when junior forward Cadichon cashed in on a rebound off of Joliet Catholic keeper Abby Pasternak.
"It's happened before where the goalie doesn't catch it, she kind of puts it out,” said Cadichon. “So I knew that was going to happen, and I knew I needed to get to the box. And that's exactly what I did."
Furmaniak completed her hat-trick a minute later, securing her squad's first trip to the state title game in its program history. The Angels will take on undefeated Triad, which has won 23 straight games after taking down Saint Viator 1-0 in the second semifinal.
Even though the team won't be playing for a state title, the Wolfpack is excited for the opportunity to play on the last day of the season. They face Saint Viator on Saturday afternoon at Fremd.
"We see (Saturday’s) game just as important as today's game," Wolfpack junior Barrett said. "It's a big deal just to get here, but I think it'd be nice to say we won a game.
"We want it as bad (Saturday) as we did today's game, despite what happened. We're going to go out there and play our best game."
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK: Darcy Schoen
D: Santana Berhalter
D: Elizabeth Doherty
D: Kate Abdo
D: Cameron Shutt
MF: Shannon Rydz
MF: Eloise Barnett
MF: Adrian Williams
F: Maeve O'Meara
F: Claire Radecki
F: Lauren Tiemann
Joliet Catholic
GK: Abby Pasternak
D: Natalie D'Andrea
D: Kate Gerdes
D: Emy Diaz
MF: Kailyn Terry
MF: Brynn Higgins
MF: Kendall McLeod
MF: Alaina Wildenradt
MF: Breanna Ciemny
F: Emma Gruber
F: Morgan Furmaniak
Chicagoland Soccer MFP of the Match: Morgan Furmaniak, sr., F, Joliet Catholic
Scoring summary
First half
Joliet Catholic - Breanna Ciemny (Kendall McLeod), eighth minute
Joliet Catholic - Morgan Furmaniak (unassisted), 17th minute
Joliet Catholic - Ciemny (Alaina Wildenradt), 37th minute
Joliet Catholic - Emma Gruber (Furmaniak), 38th minute
Second half
Joliet Catholic - Wildenradt (unassisted), 47th minute
Joliet Catholic - Furmaniak (Gruber), 59th minute
Saint Ignatius - Mia Cadichon (unassisted), 69th minute
Joliet Catholic - Furmaniak (unassisted), 71st minute
Joliet Catholic past Saint Ignatius
Furmaniak scores hat-trick in Angels' 7-1 semifinal win
By Michael Wojtychiw
PALATINE - Many soccer players dream of scoring a hat-trick at the state finals, but very few ever get the opportunity to fulfill that dream.
Count Joliet Catholic’s Morgan Furmaniak as someone who saw that wish come true Friday in the first Class AA state semifinal at Fremd.
The Weber State-bound forward notched her 37th, 38th and 39th goals in the Angels' 7-1 win over Saint Ignatius.
"It's not as expected in a state semifinal, but to go out there and win a 7-1 game and play like we should be, it's an amazing feeling to score three goals and keep moving on," she said.
The Angels (16-1-1) earned their first Final Four win after taking fourth in 2019. That earlier state experience, even if a number of players were watching from the stands, was something that helped motivate the team to get back to the final weekend.
"In 2019, we made it to the third place match and knew we wanted to do better this year," Joliet Catholic's Breanna Ciemny said. "This year was super important, especially since last year we didn't get our chance. We knew this year we had to step it up."
"I feel like we proved something today," Furmaniak said. "Playing in the third/fourth-place game brought us down, and not having a season last year when it woulda been one of our best chances really brought us down. So to be bouncing back like we are, that's something we wanted to achieve and we are."
Saint Ignatius (15-6-1) made the program's third trip to the state tournament but first since 2008.
Because of the format change from playing quarterfinals, semifinals and place games all in the same weekend to just the semifinals and place games, this trip to state guaranteed the Wolfpack their first state trophy.
The 2021 season also marked the debut of new coach Caroline Zadina. The former Loyola Academy standout had quite the debut, leading the team to a 15 wins, including a six-game winning streak stretching back to May 29.
"I think we always knew we were capable of winning," St. Ignatius' Mia Cadichon said. "We were here from the beginning as a team and as long as we kept working together, we'd eventually get here.
"Each time, we brought something new and that kept us going."
"I was very excited," Zadina said. "There were years of hard work put in and years of coaching to get us to this point. It's definitely a privilege to be here. There was so much excitement."
Joliet Catholic let the Wolfpack know they meant business early. Ciemny scored after a Kendall McLeod assist in the eighth minute.
About nine minutes later, Furmaniak scored her first of the day. After that marker, the Angels were off to the races.
Ciemny, who only had five goals coming into the match, added her second off an assist from Alaina Wildenradt with 2 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the half, and Emma Gruber added one off of a pass from Furmaniak 26 seconds later.
"The balls that were sent to me were really good today," Ciemny said. "I really wanted to score today, because I really wanted us to make it to the championship.
"My first goal, I wasn't really thinking about it. It came to me, and I just tried to get a touch and not mess up and just shot it. It was really exciting."
Down 4-0 at the half, it would have been easy for Saint Ignatius to get discouraged, but they didn't. And that's something Zadina really liked about her squad Friday afternoon.
"If you're a competitor in any sport, you know that it's supposed to be a challenge, supposed to be a fight, be hard" she said. "Some days it doesn't absolutely go your way. Today didn't go as we'd hoped, but there's no option other that continuing to play.
"They're a family,” she said of her players. “They know how to play soccer. In the second half, we came out a bit stronger, simplified a bit and that's all I can ask. Some days you get outplayed, and you learn from that. We'll take a lot of lessons that will hopefully help us get back here next year."
The second half started with St. Ignatius' best scoring opportunity to that point. Eloise Barnett's header hit the post before bouncing away.
Unfortunately the Wolfpack couldn't take advantage of that slight momentum swing and saw the Angels impose their will. Joliet Catholic put two quick shots on Saint Ignatius keeper Darcy Schoen before Wildenradt converted just past the seven-minute mark of the second half.
Furmaniak added her second goal 10 minutes later when she slotted a breakaway past Schoen for a 6-0 lead.
Despite the margin, Schoen did her part in goal. She won several 1-v-1 opportunities with Furmaniak and Gruber.
The Wolfpack's persistence paid off with just under 11 minutes remaining when junior forward Cadichon cashed in on a rebound off of Joliet Catholic keeper Abby Pasternak.
"It's happened before where the goalie doesn't catch it, she kind of puts it out,” said Cadichon. “So I knew that was going to happen, and I knew I needed to get to the box. And that's exactly what I did."
Furmaniak completed her hat-trick a minute later, securing her squad's first trip to the state title game in its program history. The Angels will take on undefeated Triad, which has won 23 straight games after taking down Saint Viator 1-0 in the second semifinal.
Even though the team won't be playing for a state title, the Wolfpack is excited for the opportunity to play on the last day of the season. They face Saint Viator on Saturday afternoon at Fremd.
"We see (Saturday’s) game just as important as today's game," Wolfpack junior Barrett said. "It's a big deal just to get here, but I think it'd be nice to say we won a game.
"We want it as bad (Saturday) as we did today's game, despite what happened. We're going to go out there and play our best game."
Starting lineups
St. Ignatius
GK: Darcy Schoen
D: Santana Berhalter
D: Elizabeth Doherty
D: Kate Abdo
D: Cameron Shutt
MF: Shannon Rydz
MF: Eloise Barnett
MF: Adrian Williams
F: Maeve O'Meara
F: Claire Radecki
F: Lauren Tiemann
Joliet Catholic
GK: Abby Pasternak
D: Natalie D'Andrea
D: Kate Gerdes
D: Emy Diaz
MF: Kailyn Terry
MF: Brynn Higgins
MF: Kendall McLeod
MF: Alaina Wildenradt
MF: Breanna Ciemny
F: Emma Gruber
F: Morgan Furmaniak
Chicagoland Soccer MFP of the Match: Morgan Furmaniak, sr., F, Joliet Catholic
Scoring summary
First half
Joliet Catholic - Breanna Ciemny (Kendall McLeod), eighth minute
Joliet Catholic - Morgan Furmaniak (unassisted), 17th minute
Joliet Catholic - Ciemny (Alaina Wildenradt), 37th minute
Joliet Catholic - Emma Gruber (Furmaniak), 38th minute
Second half
Joliet Catholic - Wildenradt (unassisted), 47th minute
Joliet Catholic - Furmaniak (Gruber), 59th minute
Saint Ignatius - Mia Cadichon (unassisted), 69th minute
Joliet Catholic - Furmaniak (unassisted), 71st minute