Loyola flips its script against Fenwick
This time Ramblers score late for 2-1 CCL Blue victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
RIVER FOREST — The Nobel laureate and great Chicago writer Saul Bellow called one of his late period achievements “More Die of Heartbreak.”
Loyola knows that sensation all too well.
“Pretty much every loss we’ve had this year — Libertyville, New Trier, Mount Carmel — we either had the lead late or we gave up a late goal,” coach Baer Fisher said.
Four of the team’s five losses have been by a single goal, and one of those came on penalty kicks. Only Mount Carmel has beaten the Ramblers by a two-goal margin.
“The difference between us being undefeated or what we are comes down to about five to seven minutes of the second half each game,” Fisher said.
One more time that chapter again played out for Loyola after an anguished and all-too familiar form as Fenwick’s Daniel Bellarin smashed home a header in the 73rd minute for a backbreaking tie.
However the Ramblers have Austin Agyemang, who is the kind of player every team needs. The high energy and situational talent has the ability to change the pace and momentum of the game.
The senior forward did just that.
“I trust my teammates, and they trust me, so I have to do whatever I have to do in order to make sure the whole team could get the victory,” Agyemang said.
Just moments after seeing Fenwick create the late equalizer, Agyemang worked deep into the Friars’ final third for the game-changer.
He adroitly used his body as a shield in order to create contact from behind that resulted in a foul inside the box against Fenwick.
Tommy Zipprich drilled home the 74th minute penalty kick as the Ramblers toppled no. 23 Fenwick 2-1 in the Catholic Blue season finale here Tuesday afternoon.
This time, Loyola (12-5-2, 2-3-2) found a way.
Agyemang worked the dividing line between performance art and actual contact. The play is certainly is the eye of the beholder, and he did just that.
“I had to sell it a little bit,” he said. “We had to outwork them. We had to come here for a fire, and get a win before the start of the playoffs.
“It was a good win overall.”
The game was also deeply meaningful on a number of personal and professional levels. Loyola’s Oscar Blazer, a versatile and heady talent, is a three-year varsity talent and one of the key figures in the Ramblers’ superb junior class.
His father, Craig Blazer, a longtime former coach at DePaul University, is the first-year coach of the Friars who has resurrected the program.
That relationship only spiked the dynamics of the game.
“Fenwick is a completely different program this year,” Fisher said. “Last year we beat them 5-0, and it wasn’t very competitive.
“You see what Craig has done in his first year. I don’t think I have ever seen such a turnaround.”
Craig Blazer has also spent time as a club coach with FC United. His son, Zipprich and Michael Sullivan also played for him.
“I think we come into every game looking for a win,” Zipprich said. “This was a big game, especially for Oscar, bot for a lot of us: Mario [Hrjevoic], me, Sullivan. He is our club coach.
“This was a big rivalry, and I think we pumped ourselves up in that sense.”
Fenwick (13-5-1, 3-3-1) had made tremendous strides since the start of the year, assimilating the style and manner of play Craig Blazer had instituted.
The Friars entered the game off a signature 2-1 victory over then no. 7 Mount Carmel.
“This was a great opportunity,” Craig Blazer said. “Fenwick is a great institution, great kids, and I really thought it would be a wonderful place to teach, coach and educate.
“We are trying to play. The guys want to try and play, also being dynamic and direct. Playing on turf helps that. The guys are willing to listen.
“We’ve got some players. Give credit to the guys. I am proud of them for their effort. They come to training with the attitude of wanting to get better.”
The first half was largely ritualistic with each team was sizing up the other, looking for places to build the attack or locate defensive vulnerabilities to exploit.
After the break, Loyola made the excellent first action.
In the 49th minute, Hrvojevic, another of those creative and dynamic Ramblers juniors, blasted home a ball from midfielder Joe Roscoe to conclude a sequence or brilliant pressure with a wave of bodies thrown forward.
Fenwick responded in kind and influenced much of the action over the next 20 minutes.
The top of the Friars attack — forwards Velliotis, Narayan Sharma and David Capron — pushed ahead and created a series of difficult assignments for Loyola to diffuse.
Velliotis proved especially dangerous on free kicks. His accuracy put the Ramblers on notice.
“We have a formula of competing and defending and trying to keep the zero,” Craig Blazer said. “Playing simple and playing within ourselves, we can attack. We have some attacking players and try to adjust and be mature.”
The difference for Loyola this time was rather than come undone by the late switch in momentum, the Rambers found a way to transcend the adversity.
On the game-winner, Zipprich drew on recent play as well.
“We watched Fenwick play Brother Rice in penalty kicks, and I saw their goalie dove every time,” he said. “I knew if I just put it slowly down the middle, I’d put it away.”
For their achievements, Tommy Zipprich and Austin Agyemang shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
“I think as a team, we have been putting in 75 or 80 percent effort against teams like New Trier, Mount Carmel,” Zipprich said. “We’ve had the games in our hands, and then we’ve fallen apart at the end.
“I think we have closed that gap, and we are ready for the playoffs.”
Fisher was exhilarated at how the team converted talk into action and consequence. The Ramblers fought back.
“We’ve been talking about making plays in the stretch,” he said. “The quality of soccer has been there. We are creating good chances. We are playing well, but the little things at both ends of the field we have not finished well with.”
Oscar Blazer, whose younger brother Julian is on the Ramblers’ sophomore team, got the last word. He has been excited at seeing his father’s accomplishments at Fenwick.
However on this day, the son had the upper hand.
“It was a very fun experience overall,” Oscar Blazer said. “It was a very fun experience playing against my dad, the first time ever.
“They’ve definitely taken big strides, and my dad has had a fun time with this team this year. It was pretty cool to see that.
“I just had a fun time with it.”
Starting lineups
Loyola
GK: Frank Baio
D: Oscar Blazer
D: Niko Douvalakis
D: John Wilson
D: Ryan Leider
MF: Dylan Gripman
MF: Michael Sullivan
MF: Nick Roscoe
MF: Colin Redmond
MF: Andrew Hoepfner
F: Tommy Zipprich
Fenwick
GK: Marko Brajkovic
D: Joe Zawacki
D: Joe Sedlacek
D: Teddy Hernandez
D: Ryan Bero
MF: Joey Karris
MF: Luigi Mollo
MF: Brent Bergnach
F: Ari Velliotis
F: Narayan Sharma
F: David Capron
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Tommy Zipprich, jr., F, Loyola
Austin Agyemang, sr., F, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Loyola—Mario Hrvojevic (Joe Roscoe), 49th minute
Fenwick—Daniel Bellarin (Ari Velliotis), 73rd minute
Loyola—Tommy Zipprich (penalty kick), 74th minute
This time Ramblers score late for 2-1 CCL Blue victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
RIVER FOREST — The Nobel laureate and great Chicago writer Saul Bellow called one of his late period achievements “More Die of Heartbreak.”
Loyola knows that sensation all too well.
“Pretty much every loss we’ve had this year — Libertyville, New Trier, Mount Carmel — we either had the lead late or we gave up a late goal,” coach Baer Fisher said.
Four of the team’s five losses have been by a single goal, and one of those came on penalty kicks. Only Mount Carmel has beaten the Ramblers by a two-goal margin.
“The difference between us being undefeated or what we are comes down to about five to seven minutes of the second half each game,” Fisher said.
One more time that chapter again played out for Loyola after an anguished and all-too familiar form as Fenwick’s Daniel Bellarin smashed home a header in the 73rd minute for a backbreaking tie.
However the Ramblers have Austin Agyemang, who is the kind of player every team needs. The high energy and situational talent has the ability to change the pace and momentum of the game.
The senior forward did just that.
“I trust my teammates, and they trust me, so I have to do whatever I have to do in order to make sure the whole team could get the victory,” Agyemang said.
Just moments after seeing Fenwick create the late equalizer, Agyemang worked deep into the Friars’ final third for the game-changer.
He adroitly used his body as a shield in order to create contact from behind that resulted in a foul inside the box against Fenwick.
Tommy Zipprich drilled home the 74th minute penalty kick as the Ramblers toppled no. 23 Fenwick 2-1 in the Catholic Blue season finale here Tuesday afternoon.
This time, Loyola (12-5-2, 2-3-2) found a way.
Agyemang worked the dividing line between performance art and actual contact. The play is certainly is the eye of the beholder, and he did just that.
“I had to sell it a little bit,” he said. “We had to outwork them. We had to come here for a fire, and get a win before the start of the playoffs.
“It was a good win overall.”
The game was also deeply meaningful on a number of personal and professional levels. Loyola’s Oscar Blazer, a versatile and heady talent, is a three-year varsity talent and one of the key figures in the Ramblers’ superb junior class.
His father, Craig Blazer, a longtime former coach at DePaul University, is the first-year coach of the Friars who has resurrected the program.
That relationship only spiked the dynamics of the game.
“Fenwick is a completely different program this year,” Fisher said. “Last year we beat them 5-0, and it wasn’t very competitive.
“You see what Craig has done in his first year. I don’t think I have ever seen such a turnaround.”
Craig Blazer has also spent time as a club coach with FC United. His son, Zipprich and Michael Sullivan also played for him.
“I think we come into every game looking for a win,” Zipprich said. “This was a big game, especially for Oscar, bot for a lot of us: Mario [Hrjevoic], me, Sullivan. He is our club coach.
“This was a big rivalry, and I think we pumped ourselves up in that sense.”
Fenwick (13-5-1, 3-3-1) had made tremendous strides since the start of the year, assimilating the style and manner of play Craig Blazer had instituted.
The Friars entered the game off a signature 2-1 victory over then no. 7 Mount Carmel.
“This was a great opportunity,” Craig Blazer said. “Fenwick is a great institution, great kids, and I really thought it would be a wonderful place to teach, coach and educate.
“We are trying to play. The guys want to try and play, also being dynamic and direct. Playing on turf helps that. The guys are willing to listen.
“We’ve got some players. Give credit to the guys. I am proud of them for their effort. They come to training with the attitude of wanting to get better.”
The first half was largely ritualistic with each team was sizing up the other, looking for places to build the attack or locate defensive vulnerabilities to exploit.
After the break, Loyola made the excellent first action.
In the 49th minute, Hrvojevic, another of those creative and dynamic Ramblers juniors, blasted home a ball from midfielder Joe Roscoe to conclude a sequence or brilliant pressure with a wave of bodies thrown forward.
Fenwick responded in kind and influenced much of the action over the next 20 minutes.
The top of the Friars attack — forwards Velliotis, Narayan Sharma and David Capron — pushed ahead and created a series of difficult assignments for Loyola to diffuse.
Velliotis proved especially dangerous on free kicks. His accuracy put the Ramblers on notice.
“We have a formula of competing and defending and trying to keep the zero,” Craig Blazer said. “Playing simple and playing within ourselves, we can attack. We have some attacking players and try to adjust and be mature.”
The difference for Loyola this time was rather than come undone by the late switch in momentum, the Rambers found a way to transcend the adversity.
On the game-winner, Zipprich drew on recent play as well.
“We watched Fenwick play Brother Rice in penalty kicks, and I saw their goalie dove every time,” he said. “I knew if I just put it slowly down the middle, I’d put it away.”
For their achievements, Tommy Zipprich and Austin Agyemang shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
“I think as a team, we have been putting in 75 or 80 percent effort against teams like New Trier, Mount Carmel,” Zipprich said. “We’ve had the games in our hands, and then we’ve fallen apart at the end.
“I think we have closed that gap, and we are ready for the playoffs.”
Fisher was exhilarated at how the team converted talk into action and consequence. The Ramblers fought back.
“We’ve been talking about making plays in the stretch,” he said. “The quality of soccer has been there. We are creating good chances. We are playing well, but the little things at both ends of the field we have not finished well with.”
Oscar Blazer, whose younger brother Julian is on the Ramblers’ sophomore team, got the last word. He has been excited at seeing his father’s accomplishments at Fenwick.
However on this day, the son had the upper hand.
“It was a very fun experience overall,” Oscar Blazer said. “It was a very fun experience playing against my dad, the first time ever.
“They’ve definitely taken big strides, and my dad has had a fun time with this team this year. It was pretty cool to see that.
“I just had a fun time with it.”
Starting lineups
Loyola
GK: Frank Baio
D: Oscar Blazer
D: Niko Douvalakis
D: John Wilson
D: Ryan Leider
MF: Dylan Gripman
MF: Michael Sullivan
MF: Nick Roscoe
MF: Colin Redmond
MF: Andrew Hoepfner
F: Tommy Zipprich
Fenwick
GK: Marko Brajkovic
D: Joe Zawacki
D: Joe Sedlacek
D: Teddy Hernandez
D: Ryan Bero
MF: Joey Karris
MF: Luigi Mollo
MF: Brent Bergnach
F: Ari Velliotis
F: Narayan Sharma
F: David Capron
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Tommy Zipprich, jr., F, Loyola
Austin Agyemang, sr., F, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Loyola—Mario Hrvojevic (Joe Roscoe), 49th minute
Fenwick—Daniel Bellarin (Ari Velliotis), 73rd minute
Loyola—Tommy Zipprich (penalty kick), 74th minute