Loyola's OT score stuns Marmion
Ramblers sophomore Sullivan delivers 1-0 victory
By Chris Walker
AURORA – Loyola may not have cared for Marmion’s Fichel Field.
But the Ramblers certainly loved how they finished playing there.
Sophomore Michael Sullivan scored with 20.6 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Ramblers to a 1-0 victory in Thursday’s Chicago Catholic League Blue Division game.
“I thought the guys battled really hard against an organized team and a good team,” Loyola coach Baer Fisher said. “Obviously the field was not what we’re used to. We’re used to playing on a big turf field, and this is a smaller grass field so we had to adjust. The guys adjusted, and they battled. And when it mattered most they put the game away.”
Collin Leider, who assisted on the goal, said the Ramblers weren’t content with the faux tie after regulation and said a little confrontation with the Cadets at the end of the second half, inspired them to win even more.
“We had a little tussle there, and it got everyone riled up,” he said. “We wanted to play, and we thought we were ending with a draw so we weren’t happy with that.”
Leider said the Ramblers noticed the attention that teammate David Gripman was garnering, and adjusting to that ultimately paid dividends when he found Sullivan with time running down in overtime.
“Everyone was all swamped around David, so at halftime we talked about cutting the ball back,” Leider said. “And then (Sullivan) had a great, great finish.”
Sullivan saw an incredible opportunity that he couldn’t afford to miss, and he didn’t.
“Collin took the ball down the line, and I decided that this was the one to get,” Sullivan said. “I wanted to get the winner here, so I dug deep and put it away.”
It certainly felt long overdue to Sullivan, especially since he felt the Ramblers had controlled most of the game.
“I felt like we were really dominating in the first half,” he said. “The field helped them, because we’re used to our extra wide turf field that’s like cement. So it’s like playing on the polar opposite of this. But we still figured out how to play on it.”
Getting a real feel of the field was arguably Loyola’s biggest challenge, but they didn’t use that as an excuse.
“We had a lot of chances off dead balls in the first half, and then in the second half we started playing in the run of play,” Loyola sophomore Oscar Blazer said. “Overall we had a lot more chances than they did. They had the one-on-one when (James) Serrano missed it wide, but other than that, they didn’t do much.”
Stopping Serrano also was a crucial challenge that Loyola was able to meet.
“The main thing he tried to do was flicks,” Blazer said. “Me and John Wilson, the other center back, we just tried sitting back and forcing him to his left foot. And he’s a very quick player and his touches would be mainly to the right, and we just kept him to his left, which he didn’t like. He was uncomfortable there.”
Despite the first half being scoreless, it was anything but boring, especially the final two minutes when both teams pressed hard and nearly were rewarded for their respective efforts.
Blazer had a long free kick that Marmion goalkeeper Nathaniel Gelsomino leaped to knock away. On the Ramblers ensuing corner kicker, Blazer was ale to find Wilson just beyond the far post, but Wilson was unable to do enough with it. Still, the Ramblers were awarded another corner kick.
The Cadets cleared the latter corner quickly and with time running out in the half, sped the other way with Serrano nearly edging free for a breakaway before a couple Loyola defenders were able to subdue him. Still, there was enough time for Marmion to create one more scoring chance as the ball ultimately bounded to Sebastian Gutierrez. But he got too far under his attempt from just outside the 18 and sailed his shot well over the net seconds before time expired.
“I’m not mad at the guys. Our guys fought well,” Marmion coach Jimmy Romano said. “The game could’ve gone either way. We had our chances, and they had their chances. It’s not that either team played badly. I thought we played well, but that’s soccer.”
Loyola took a quick corner kick early in the second half as Marmion players appeared confused that the possession was given to the Ramblers. Their slow reaction time nearly cost them, but the Cadets were able to react in enough time to snuff out the scoring threat.
Marmion had its best scoring chance in the game with 26:53 remaining when Serrano was able to break free and create a one-on-one chance with Loyola goalkeeper Marco Troiano, but his shot skidded just wide right.
“(Serrano) is a good player, and as a whole I think we did well against him,” Fisher said. “We got numbers around him and didn’t give him a lot of space to create.
Gripman was at his most dangerous with 7:45 left as he escaped a pack of four Marmion players to create a shot, but Gelsomino came out to their aid and was able to knock Gripman’s shot out of bounds.
“I think with the way they defended us we couldn’t get a straight shot through,” Marmion junior Cristian Cardenas said. “We needed to move around more, but they really stuck with us. We haven’t seen as much of that. That was the big difference.”
Cardenas almost shocked the Ramblers when he let a shot sail from just beyond 30 yards midway through the second half. It forced Toriano to leap and punch it away, resulting in a corner kick, but the Cadets were unable to do anything with that either.
“I mean, every chance you get, you have to take it,” Cardenas said. “One goal can set the whole match so you need to capitalize on every chance. We tried to do that. We tried to be as aggressive as we could.”
He acknowledged that the Ramblers were a mystery, other than that they would be a tough opponent, and they certainly lived up to that assessment.
“We didn’t know much about them,” he said. “We went in there just knowing we were going to play our hardest and see what happened.”
As for Loyola, it was a big victory on the road.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Leider said. “Four of us have been on the team for four years so our seniors have been big and there are four freshmen that started last year and three have come back. Those two classes have made a big impact.”
The loss snapped Marmion’s four-game winning streak. Now the Cadets will have the regroup and try to start another.
“They’re down, and they feel it,” Romano said. “But they have good character and will look forward to getting started on a new winning streak, so this is OK.”
Starting lineups
Loyola
GK: Marco Troiano
D: Mario Hrvojevic
D: Daniel Montaquila
D: Brady Reichert
D: John Wilson
MF: Oscar Blazer
MF: Christian Jimenez
MF: Collin Leider
MF: Nick Roscoe
MF: Michael Sullivan
MF: Tommy Ziprich
Marmion
GK: Nathaniel Gelsomino
D: Cristian Cardenas
D: Andre Cerda
D: Sebastian Gutierrez
D: Joseph Lagman
D: Michael Murray
MF: Jack Kavanaugh
MF: Tyler Laurich
MF: Christopher Sowers
F: James Lawinger
F: James Serrano
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Sullivan, so., MF, Loyola
Scoring Summary
First half
None
Second half
None
Overtime
Loyola – Michael Sullivan (Collin Leider), 0:20 left
Ramblers sophomore Sullivan delivers 1-0 victory
By Chris Walker
AURORA – Loyola may not have cared for Marmion’s Fichel Field.
But the Ramblers certainly loved how they finished playing there.
Sophomore Michael Sullivan scored with 20.6 seconds remaining in overtime to lift the Ramblers to a 1-0 victory in Thursday’s Chicago Catholic League Blue Division game.
“I thought the guys battled really hard against an organized team and a good team,” Loyola coach Baer Fisher said. “Obviously the field was not what we’re used to. We’re used to playing on a big turf field, and this is a smaller grass field so we had to adjust. The guys adjusted, and they battled. And when it mattered most they put the game away.”
Collin Leider, who assisted on the goal, said the Ramblers weren’t content with the faux tie after regulation and said a little confrontation with the Cadets at the end of the second half, inspired them to win even more.
“We had a little tussle there, and it got everyone riled up,” he said. “We wanted to play, and we thought we were ending with a draw so we weren’t happy with that.”
Leider said the Ramblers noticed the attention that teammate David Gripman was garnering, and adjusting to that ultimately paid dividends when he found Sullivan with time running down in overtime.
“Everyone was all swamped around David, so at halftime we talked about cutting the ball back,” Leider said. “And then (Sullivan) had a great, great finish.”
Sullivan saw an incredible opportunity that he couldn’t afford to miss, and he didn’t.
“Collin took the ball down the line, and I decided that this was the one to get,” Sullivan said. “I wanted to get the winner here, so I dug deep and put it away.”
It certainly felt long overdue to Sullivan, especially since he felt the Ramblers had controlled most of the game.
“I felt like we were really dominating in the first half,” he said. “The field helped them, because we’re used to our extra wide turf field that’s like cement. So it’s like playing on the polar opposite of this. But we still figured out how to play on it.”
Getting a real feel of the field was arguably Loyola’s biggest challenge, but they didn’t use that as an excuse.
“We had a lot of chances off dead balls in the first half, and then in the second half we started playing in the run of play,” Loyola sophomore Oscar Blazer said. “Overall we had a lot more chances than they did. They had the one-on-one when (James) Serrano missed it wide, but other than that, they didn’t do much.”
Stopping Serrano also was a crucial challenge that Loyola was able to meet.
“The main thing he tried to do was flicks,” Blazer said. “Me and John Wilson, the other center back, we just tried sitting back and forcing him to his left foot. And he’s a very quick player and his touches would be mainly to the right, and we just kept him to his left, which he didn’t like. He was uncomfortable there.”
Despite the first half being scoreless, it was anything but boring, especially the final two minutes when both teams pressed hard and nearly were rewarded for their respective efforts.
Blazer had a long free kick that Marmion goalkeeper Nathaniel Gelsomino leaped to knock away. On the Ramblers ensuing corner kicker, Blazer was ale to find Wilson just beyond the far post, but Wilson was unable to do enough with it. Still, the Ramblers were awarded another corner kick.
The Cadets cleared the latter corner quickly and with time running out in the half, sped the other way with Serrano nearly edging free for a breakaway before a couple Loyola defenders were able to subdue him. Still, there was enough time for Marmion to create one more scoring chance as the ball ultimately bounded to Sebastian Gutierrez. But he got too far under his attempt from just outside the 18 and sailed his shot well over the net seconds before time expired.
“I’m not mad at the guys. Our guys fought well,” Marmion coach Jimmy Romano said. “The game could’ve gone either way. We had our chances, and they had their chances. It’s not that either team played badly. I thought we played well, but that’s soccer.”
Loyola took a quick corner kick early in the second half as Marmion players appeared confused that the possession was given to the Ramblers. Their slow reaction time nearly cost them, but the Cadets were able to react in enough time to snuff out the scoring threat.
Marmion had its best scoring chance in the game with 26:53 remaining when Serrano was able to break free and create a one-on-one chance with Loyola goalkeeper Marco Troiano, but his shot skidded just wide right.
“(Serrano) is a good player, and as a whole I think we did well against him,” Fisher said. “We got numbers around him and didn’t give him a lot of space to create.
Gripman was at his most dangerous with 7:45 left as he escaped a pack of four Marmion players to create a shot, but Gelsomino came out to their aid and was able to knock Gripman’s shot out of bounds.
“I think with the way they defended us we couldn’t get a straight shot through,” Marmion junior Cristian Cardenas said. “We needed to move around more, but they really stuck with us. We haven’t seen as much of that. That was the big difference.”
Cardenas almost shocked the Ramblers when he let a shot sail from just beyond 30 yards midway through the second half. It forced Toriano to leap and punch it away, resulting in a corner kick, but the Cadets were unable to do anything with that either.
“I mean, every chance you get, you have to take it,” Cardenas said. “One goal can set the whole match so you need to capitalize on every chance. We tried to do that. We tried to be as aggressive as we could.”
He acknowledged that the Ramblers were a mystery, other than that they would be a tough opponent, and they certainly lived up to that assessment.
“We didn’t know much about them,” he said. “We went in there just knowing we were going to play our hardest and see what happened.”
As for Loyola, it was a big victory on the road.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Leider said. “Four of us have been on the team for four years so our seniors have been big and there are four freshmen that started last year and three have come back. Those two classes have made a big impact.”
The loss snapped Marmion’s four-game winning streak. Now the Cadets will have the regroup and try to start another.
“They’re down, and they feel it,” Romano said. “But they have good character and will look forward to getting started on a new winning streak, so this is OK.”
Starting lineups
Loyola
GK: Marco Troiano
D: Mario Hrvojevic
D: Daniel Montaquila
D: Brady Reichert
D: John Wilson
MF: Oscar Blazer
MF: Christian Jimenez
MF: Collin Leider
MF: Nick Roscoe
MF: Michael Sullivan
MF: Tommy Ziprich
Marmion
GK: Nathaniel Gelsomino
D: Cristian Cardenas
D: Andre Cerda
D: Sebastian Gutierrez
D: Joseph Lagman
D: Michael Murray
MF: Jack Kavanaugh
MF: Tyler Laurich
MF: Christopher Sowers
F: James Lawinger
F: James Serrano
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Sullivan, so., MF, Loyola
Scoring Summary
First half
None
Second half
None
Overtime
Loyola – Michael Sullivan (Collin Leider), 0:20 left