St. Patrick finally finds energy vs. Marian
Shamrocks' 5-0 win comes with a lesson
By Gary Larsen
RIVER GROVE -- A brief history lesson, from St. Patrick senior captain Finn Elsmo:
“My freshman year we had two wins and I think we had four wins my sophomore year, and one was a forfeit,” Elsmo said. “Then we got a good group of freshmen last year and that gave us everything we were lacking.”
One of last year’s watershed moments came against Marian Central.
“They beat us something like 5-0 or 7-0 my sophomore year and last year they scheduled us for their Senior Night, which is kind of like saying they thought they’d we’d be an easy win for their seniors,” Elsmo said.
“We went out and beat them 2-1. Last year I think we got a lot of our wins because teams were looking past us.”
St. Patrick went on to win its first regional title in 10 years last season and entered this season carrying high expectations.
The Shamrocks improved to 11-4-2 overall and 4-1-1 in East Suburban Catholic Conference play with Saturday’s 5-0 win over Marian. The Shamrocks also earned the top seed at this year’s Class 2A Fenton Sectional, so coach Kyle McClure has overseen a program that has risen from the ashes of a two-win season suffered three years ago.
One sure sign of how high expectations have expanded at St. Patrick came after the Shamrocks' win over Marian at Triton College.
Five minutes after the final buzzer sounded, the Shamrocks weren’t gathering their gear from the bench and joking around in celebration of a 5-0 win. Instead, they were running wind sprints back and forth across the field. Assistant coach Melchor Castro lined them up each time while lecturing them about the value of hard work.
McClure made his boys run sprints because they didn’t meet the standard that now clearly exists for the program.
“They know either they work during the game, or they’ll have to work after the game,” McClure said. “The score shouldn’t dictate how hard we play.”
“I was very disappointed with the first half. It’s the same thing we always talk to them about. I think sometimes we get a little overconfident and feel like we don’t always have to work hard. That has come back to bite us a few times this season. Sometimes with a young team like we have, it takes some time to learn that.”
One of the Shamrocks' best young players is sophomore forward Luis Saucedo, who McClure credited as one of his only players who met the team's criteria in Saturday’s win. Saucedo, one of St. Patrick’s core of quality varsity freshmen last season, was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match after he scored twice and had an assist in the win as one of the few Shamrocks players who displayed high energy from the opening whistle.
The prospect of a Saturday morning game against a Marian team that has struggled for wins may have gotten inside the Shamrocks’ heads.
“I think we thought it would be a little easier today, and we can’t think that way,” said Saucedo, after scoring his ninth and tenth goals of the season. “It was an unfortunate first half. But the second half was better.”
Saucedo scored the lone goal of the first half. He ran onto a through-ball sent behind the Marian defense by Aaron Moreno-Lopez and finished the breakaway at eight minutes. St. Patrick continued to carry the attack to halftime but chances created flew wide or into the hands of Marian keeper Kyle Rusin.
While McClure was disappointed in the Shamrocks' effort through 40 minutes, Marian coach Nasser Shahtaji had reason to be pleased from a team depleted by injury and assorted absences.
“I thought our goalkeeper did a fantastic job,” Shahtaji said. “He never gave up, maintained his composure, and was able to come up with some big saves. He’s been very consistent for us.
“I told them at halftime that I was very proud of them, against a good team like that, to keep their composure and make it difficult for them to score. I had to bring up some JV players today, and the pace at JV is not the same as varsity. I knew eventually that the pace of the game, with us forced to chase so much, would lead to some mistakes by some young guys. And (St. Patrick) was able to capitalize."
St. Patrick played the second half more with energy and made it 2-0 at 46 minutes when Josh Torres sprung Saucedo for a second run behind the Marian backline. Saucedo took a touch around a charging Rusin and calmly tapped in his second goal.
Five minutes later, senior forward Christopher Modrzejewski ran onto a Saucedo through-ball and went in alone on Rusin. The Shamrocks went up 4-0 when Dominic Michi fired from the left side and Rusin’s deflection flew towards the far post, where Modrzejewski buried a head shot at 64 minutes.
Modrzejewski completed a hat-trick at 68 minutes, taking a feed from Herbert Carrera and again finding himself isolated on Rusin.
McClure liked what he got from Modrzejewski, Michi, and Saucedo in the second half to lead a more energetic team effort.
“The second half we picked it up and that’s how we should have started the game,” McClure said. “We’re working on our consistency. Our effort tends to change based on who we’re playing, what the score is, and who’s watching the game, so it’s a work-in-progress.
“With a number one sectional seed, we try to impress on them that it will just make things more difficult because other teams will now be targeting us, to beat the number one seed. The expectation is there now, and we can’t underperform.”
The Shamrocks know they’ll need 80 minutes of soccer in every postseason game if they want to win the first sectional title in program history. But they're also proud of the long distance they’ve traveled in a short amount of time under McClure.
“It truly is amazing. I hear the seniors talk about how, three years ago, no one would have believed we’d be a top seed,” Saucedo said. “No one would have guessed this would happen. But it’s great. It’s great competing. It’s great being the underdog but hopefully now we’ll be a good, strong program every year.”
Starting lineups
St. Patrick
GK Christopher Troyke
D Finn Elsmo
D Sebastian Modrzejewski
D Diego Rivera
D Juan Leon
M Angel Adame
M Josh Torres
M Herbert Carrera
M Malcolm McGee
F Christopher Modrzejewski
F Luis Saucedo
Marian
G Kyle Rusin
D Joseph Rosales
D John Malloy
D Jacob Nieto
D Jonathan Avendano
M Brian Mendez
M John Ringo
M Mario Prancevic
M Ryan Echols
F Cruz Arteaga
F Jasper Waddington
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Luis Saucedo, so., F, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
St. Patrick: Saucedo (Moreno-Lopez)
Second half
St. Patrick: Saucedo (Torres); C. Modrzejewski (Saucedo); C. Modrzejewski (Michi); C. Modrzejewski (Carrera)
Shamrocks' 5-0 win comes with a lesson
By Gary Larsen
RIVER GROVE -- A brief history lesson, from St. Patrick senior captain Finn Elsmo:
“My freshman year we had two wins and I think we had four wins my sophomore year, and one was a forfeit,” Elsmo said. “Then we got a good group of freshmen last year and that gave us everything we were lacking.”
One of last year’s watershed moments came against Marian Central.
“They beat us something like 5-0 or 7-0 my sophomore year and last year they scheduled us for their Senior Night, which is kind of like saying they thought they’d we’d be an easy win for their seniors,” Elsmo said.
“We went out and beat them 2-1. Last year I think we got a lot of our wins because teams were looking past us.”
St. Patrick went on to win its first regional title in 10 years last season and entered this season carrying high expectations.
The Shamrocks improved to 11-4-2 overall and 4-1-1 in East Suburban Catholic Conference play with Saturday’s 5-0 win over Marian. The Shamrocks also earned the top seed at this year’s Class 2A Fenton Sectional, so coach Kyle McClure has overseen a program that has risen from the ashes of a two-win season suffered three years ago.
One sure sign of how high expectations have expanded at St. Patrick came after the Shamrocks' win over Marian at Triton College.
Five minutes after the final buzzer sounded, the Shamrocks weren’t gathering their gear from the bench and joking around in celebration of a 5-0 win. Instead, they were running wind sprints back and forth across the field. Assistant coach Melchor Castro lined them up each time while lecturing them about the value of hard work.
McClure made his boys run sprints because they didn’t meet the standard that now clearly exists for the program.
“They know either they work during the game, or they’ll have to work after the game,” McClure said. “The score shouldn’t dictate how hard we play.”
“I was very disappointed with the first half. It’s the same thing we always talk to them about. I think sometimes we get a little overconfident and feel like we don’t always have to work hard. That has come back to bite us a few times this season. Sometimes with a young team like we have, it takes some time to learn that.”
One of the Shamrocks' best young players is sophomore forward Luis Saucedo, who McClure credited as one of his only players who met the team's criteria in Saturday’s win. Saucedo, one of St. Patrick’s core of quality varsity freshmen last season, was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match after he scored twice and had an assist in the win as one of the few Shamrocks players who displayed high energy from the opening whistle.
The prospect of a Saturday morning game against a Marian team that has struggled for wins may have gotten inside the Shamrocks’ heads.
“I think we thought it would be a little easier today, and we can’t think that way,” said Saucedo, after scoring his ninth and tenth goals of the season. “It was an unfortunate first half. But the second half was better.”
Saucedo scored the lone goal of the first half. He ran onto a through-ball sent behind the Marian defense by Aaron Moreno-Lopez and finished the breakaway at eight minutes. St. Patrick continued to carry the attack to halftime but chances created flew wide or into the hands of Marian keeper Kyle Rusin.
While McClure was disappointed in the Shamrocks' effort through 40 minutes, Marian coach Nasser Shahtaji had reason to be pleased from a team depleted by injury and assorted absences.
“I thought our goalkeeper did a fantastic job,” Shahtaji said. “He never gave up, maintained his composure, and was able to come up with some big saves. He’s been very consistent for us.
“I told them at halftime that I was very proud of them, against a good team like that, to keep their composure and make it difficult for them to score. I had to bring up some JV players today, and the pace at JV is not the same as varsity. I knew eventually that the pace of the game, with us forced to chase so much, would lead to some mistakes by some young guys. And (St. Patrick) was able to capitalize."
St. Patrick played the second half more with energy and made it 2-0 at 46 minutes when Josh Torres sprung Saucedo for a second run behind the Marian backline. Saucedo took a touch around a charging Rusin and calmly tapped in his second goal.
Five minutes later, senior forward Christopher Modrzejewski ran onto a Saucedo through-ball and went in alone on Rusin. The Shamrocks went up 4-0 when Dominic Michi fired from the left side and Rusin’s deflection flew towards the far post, where Modrzejewski buried a head shot at 64 minutes.
Modrzejewski completed a hat-trick at 68 minutes, taking a feed from Herbert Carrera and again finding himself isolated on Rusin.
McClure liked what he got from Modrzejewski, Michi, and Saucedo in the second half to lead a more energetic team effort.
“The second half we picked it up and that’s how we should have started the game,” McClure said. “We’re working on our consistency. Our effort tends to change based on who we’re playing, what the score is, and who’s watching the game, so it’s a work-in-progress.
“With a number one sectional seed, we try to impress on them that it will just make things more difficult because other teams will now be targeting us, to beat the number one seed. The expectation is there now, and we can’t underperform.”
The Shamrocks know they’ll need 80 minutes of soccer in every postseason game if they want to win the first sectional title in program history. But they're also proud of the long distance they’ve traveled in a short amount of time under McClure.
“It truly is amazing. I hear the seniors talk about how, three years ago, no one would have believed we’d be a top seed,” Saucedo said. “No one would have guessed this would happen. But it’s great. It’s great competing. It’s great being the underdog but hopefully now we’ll be a good, strong program every year.”
Starting lineups
St. Patrick
GK Christopher Troyke
D Finn Elsmo
D Sebastian Modrzejewski
D Diego Rivera
D Juan Leon
M Angel Adame
M Josh Torres
M Herbert Carrera
M Malcolm McGee
F Christopher Modrzejewski
F Luis Saucedo
Marian
G Kyle Rusin
D Joseph Rosales
D John Malloy
D Jacob Nieto
D Jonathan Avendano
M Brian Mendez
M John Ringo
M Mario Prancevic
M Ryan Echols
F Cruz Arteaga
F Jasper Waddington
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Luis Saucedo, so., F, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
St. Patrick: Saucedo (Moreno-Lopez)
Second half
St. Patrick: Saucedo (Torres); C. Modrzejewski (Saucedo); C. Modrzejewski (Michi); C. Modrzejewski (Carrera)