Marmion goal surge shocks St. Ignatius
Two Cadets score five goals in 14 minutes for comeback win
By A.J. Schmitz
CHICAGO - The best part of the night for St. Ignatius was the beginning. It was Senior Night on Monday, a night that saw the Wolfpack’s seniors take the field with their parents to be recognized by teammates and fans for the hard work they’ve put into the program over the years.
“This is always our biggest show-out,” said senior forward Michael Crannell. “Parents come, you get signs with pictures of you. It’s just a really special moment.”
“[This program] is about the friendships you make,” said senior midfielder Aidan Hurst. “A lot of the guys I hang out with outside of soccer and school are from the soccer team. It’s always been that way since my freshman year.”
Senior midfielder Jaden Rice is in step with his classmates.
“Building trust with all these kids, [...] they really turn into a family almost. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned: being able to trust other people and having a good time with them,” he said.
St. Ignatius spent the last two weeks unable to play their regularly scheduled games due to COVID-19 protocols. Upon their return they beat St. Patrick 2-1 on April 8 and lost to Mount Carmel by the same score Saturday.
The Wolfpack aimed to get back on the right track, but their visitors had a different idea. After trailing 2-0 in the second half, Marmion (2-2-1) roared back to take a 5-2 win over St. Ignatius in the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division game.
“We never quit, even when we were down 2-0,” said Marmion coach Gerardo Alvarez. “It seemed like from the run of play that we weren’t in the game. Then, we got a goal and just kept it going.”
The first half was commanded by St. Ignatius, which consistently maintained possession, created opportunities and played lights-out defense.
In the eighth minute, it looked like Marmion was going to get its first real chance on goal. As Cadet sophomore forward Harley Karner made his way into dangerous goal-scoring territory, St. Ignatius’ defensive midfielder Mark Tomassini came flying in to disrupt the play. He executed a perfect, albeit risky, slide tackle which knocked the ball out of play and saved senior goalkeeper Nick Barkidjija from being tested.
The next few minutes saw senior defender Gavin Troy try his hand at offense. In the 11th minute, Troy struck a laser into the hands of Marmion’s senior goalkeeper Emilio Filippo. In the 12th minute, Troy chipped the Cadets defense and found senior midfielder Jaden Rice, who was unable to convert due to defensive pressure. Perhaps the most notable play from Troy occurred before these two chances.
In the tenth minute, Troy met a ball with his head inside Marmion’s box that went wide past the near post. Appeals to the referee ensued, as it looked like Marmion’s keeper got a hand to it before the ball went out of bounds but were denied.
Both sides questioned calls. Fouls sometimes seemed to go unpunished, and clean tackles were mistaken for bad challenges. Deflections out of bounds were missed, and offside calls were doled out liberally. Yet, both teams maintained a professional attitude and kept up their intensity.
As Marmion began to threaten the Wolfpack with repeated long balls, St. Ignatius maintained a calm and collected style of play that slowed the game down and sought to break up any momentum the opposition built.
St. Ignatius broke through in the 35th minute. Hurst sent a beautiful cross to junior forward Isaac Rice, who lightly redirected the ball into the back of the net.
At halftime, the two coaches had different messages for their teams.
“I didn’t think we played that bad in the first half,” said Alvarez. “I told the boys, ‘If we play the way we did in the first half but finish our opportunities in the second half, then we have the opportunity to win.’”
“‘Do not take them for granted,'” St. Ignatius head coach Matt Miller told his team. “‘Marmion has a good squad, some good players. They’ve had some good results this season, close games.’ I told them not to take their foot off the gas.”
The Wolfpack heeded those words right out of the gate. Hurst and Rice once again strung together another goal in a similar style as the first, this time in the 48th minute or a 2-0 lead.
In the 60th minute, Barkidjija made a ridiculous diving save on a point-blank head ball.
In the same minute, the tide started to turn. The ball came back into the St. Ignatius box, this time on the ground.
Marmion’s sophomore midfielder Barry O’Neill wiggled the ball through the defensive congestion, and slotted it into the back of the net.
He converted once again three minutes later on a fast break made possible by a through-ball sent by senior forward James Lawinger. The game was at an even 2-2.
To bring in some fresh boots and energy on the offensive end, Alvarez installed defender Drew Noecker at forward. The senior made it an effective strategy with a brace.
The first came in the 66th minute off a long solo run from the backfield. Noecker took the ball to the corner flag, cut it past the defender, and dribbled it into the box for a wide-open shot.
His second came off a headed deflection from Karner that went over the heads of the St. Ignatius defense. Noecker found himself alone in front of goal, and put it neatly into the bottom right corner in the 70th minute.
In the 74th minute, O’Neill finished his hat-trick when he once again fought through defensive congestion in the box. Taking advantage of the confusion on both sides, O’Neill met the ball and tapped it into the back of the net.
“We came into the second half with composure, and we did what we needed to do,” said Noecker. “I was giving my coach the eye to put me up since I saw the forwards getting pretty tired. I was hungry for those goals, honestly.”
O’Neill attributed his hat-trick to staying composed and finding the gaps in St. Ignatius’ defense.
It left the Wolfpack shaking their heads.
“They kept hustling just like we kept hustling,” Tomassini said of the game. “Once a couple cracks formed, we probably didn’t do the best job staying together and staying tight.”
“What made it tough was they kept together. They kept strong even though they were down 2-0,” said senior defenseman Adam Ciecierski. “Like Mark said, we left some cracks open, and unfortunately they used every single one.
“Despite the loss today, I still feel happy that I was able to spend this moment with these guys.”
Starting lineups
Marmion
GK: Emilio Filippo
D: Drew Noecker
D: Lucas Brummel
D: Joey Lagman
D: Nathan Sowers
M: Ricardo Saucedo
M: Barry O’Neill
M: Mactzil Lopez
M: Alvaro Alanis
F: Harley Karner
F: James Lawinger
St. Ignatius
GK: Nick Barkidjija
D: Adam Ciecierski
D: Gavin Troy
D: George Barkidjija
D: Luke Hogan
M: Aidan Hurst
M: Jaden Rice
M: Mark Tomassini
M: Sean Kelly
M: Jacob Tan
F: Michael Crannell
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Barry O’Neill, so., MF, Marmion
Scoring summary
First half
St. Ignatius: I. Rice (Hurst) 35th minute
Second half
St. Ignatius: I. Rice (Hurst) 48th minute
Marmion: O’Neill (UA) 60th minute
Marmion: O’Neill (Lawinger) 63rd minute
Marmion: Noecker (UA) 66th minute
Marmion: Noecker (Karner) 70th minute
Marmion: O’Neill (UA) 74th minute
Two Cadets score five goals in 14 minutes for comeback win
By A.J. Schmitz
CHICAGO - The best part of the night for St. Ignatius was the beginning. It was Senior Night on Monday, a night that saw the Wolfpack’s seniors take the field with their parents to be recognized by teammates and fans for the hard work they’ve put into the program over the years.
“This is always our biggest show-out,” said senior forward Michael Crannell. “Parents come, you get signs with pictures of you. It’s just a really special moment.”
“[This program] is about the friendships you make,” said senior midfielder Aidan Hurst. “A lot of the guys I hang out with outside of soccer and school are from the soccer team. It’s always been that way since my freshman year.”
Senior midfielder Jaden Rice is in step with his classmates.
“Building trust with all these kids, [...] they really turn into a family almost. I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve learned: being able to trust other people and having a good time with them,” he said.
St. Ignatius spent the last two weeks unable to play their regularly scheduled games due to COVID-19 protocols. Upon their return they beat St. Patrick 2-1 on April 8 and lost to Mount Carmel by the same score Saturday.
The Wolfpack aimed to get back on the right track, but their visitors had a different idea. After trailing 2-0 in the second half, Marmion (2-2-1) roared back to take a 5-2 win over St. Ignatius in the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division game.
“We never quit, even when we were down 2-0,” said Marmion coach Gerardo Alvarez. “It seemed like from the run of play that we weren’t in the game. Then, we got a goal and just kept it going.”
The first half was commanded by St. Ignatius, which consistently maintained possession, created opportunities and played lights-out defense.
In the eighth minute, it looked like Marmion was going to get its first real chance on goal. As Cadet sophomore forward Harley Karner made his way into dangerous goal-scoring territory, St. Ignatius’ defensive midfielder Mark Tomassini came flying in to disrupt the play. He executed a perfect, albeit risky, slide tackle which knocked the ball out of play and saved senior goalkeeper Nick Barkidjija from being tested.
The next few minutes saw senior defender Gavin Troy try his hand at offense. In the 11th minute, Troy struck a laser into the hands of Marmion’s senior goalkeeper Emilio Filippo. In the 12th minute, Troy chipped the Cadets defense and found senior midfielder Jaden Rice, who was unable to convert due to defensive pressure. Perhaps the most notable play from Troy occurred before these two chances.
In the tenth minute, Troy met a ball with his head inside Marmion’s box that went wide past the near post. Appeals to the referee ensued, as it looked like Marmion’s keeper got a hand to it before the ball went out of bounds but were denied.
Both sides questioned calls. Fouls sometimes seemed to go unpunished, and clean tackles were mistaken for bad challenges. Deflections out of bounds were missed, and offside calls were doled out liberally. Yet, both teams maintained a professional attitude and kept up their intensity.
As Marmion began to threaten the Wolfpack with repeated long balls, St. Ignatius maintained a calm and collected style of play that slowed the game down and sought to break up any momentum the opposition built.
St. Ignatius broke through in the 35th minute. Hurst sent a beautiful cross to junior forward Isaac Rice, who lightly redirected the ball into the back of the net.
At halftime, the two coaches had different messages for their teams.
“I didn’t think we played that bad in the first half,” said Alvarez. “I told the boys, ‘If we play the way we did in the first half but finish our opportunities in the second half, then we have the opportunity to win.’”
“‘Do not take them for granted,'” St. Ignatius head coach Matt Miller told his team. “‘Marmion has a good squad, some good players. They’ve had some good results this season, close games.’ I told them not to take their foot off the gas.”
The Wolfpack heeded those words right out of the gate. Hurst and Rice once again strung together another goal in a similar style as the first, this time in the 48th minute or a 2-0 lead.
In the 60th minute, Barkidjija made a ridiculous diving save on a point-blank head ball.
In the same minute, the tide started to turn. The ball came back into the St. Ignatius box, this time on the ground.
Marmion’s sophomore midfielder Barry O’Neill wiggled the ball through the defensive congestion, and slotted it into the back of the net.
He converted once again three minutes later on a fast break made possible by a through-ball sent by senior forward James Lawinger. The game was at an even 2-2.
To bring in some fresh boots and energy on the offensive end, Alvarez installed defender Drew Noecker at forward. The senior made it an effective strategy with a brace.
The first came in the 66th minute off a long solo run from the backfield. Noecker took the ball to the corner flag, cut it past the defender, and dribbled it into the box for a wide-open shot.
His second came off a headed deflection from Karner that went over the heads of the St. Ignatius defense. Noecker found himself alone in front of goal, and put it neatly into the bottom right corner in the 70th minute.
In the 74th minute, O’Neill finished his hat-trick when he once again fought through defensive congestion in the box. Taking advantage of the confusion on both sides, O’Neill met the ball and tapped it into the back of the net.
“We came into the second half with composure, and we did what we needed to do,” said Noecker. “I was giving my coach the eye to put me up since I saw the forwards getting pretty tired. I was hungry for those goals, honestly.”
O’Neill attributed his hat-trick to staying composed and finding the gaps in St. Ignatius’ defense.
It left the Wolfpack shaking their heads.
“They kept hustling just like we kept hustling,” Tomassini said of the game. “Once a couple cracks formed, we probably didn’t do the best job staying together and staying tight.”
“What made it tough was they kept together. They kept strong even though they were down 2-0,” said senior defenseman Adam Ciecierski. “Like Mark said, we left some cracks open, and unfortunately they used every single one.
“Despite the loss today, I still feel happy that I was able to spend this moment with these guys.”
Starting lineups
Marmion
GK: Emilio Filippo
D: Drew Noecker
D: Lucas Brummel
D: Joey Lagman
D: Nathan Sowers
M: Ricardo Saucedo
M: Barry O’Neill
M: Mactzil Lopez
M: Alvaro Alanis
F: Harley Karner
F: James Lawinger
St. Ignatius
GK: Nick Barkidjija
D: Adam Ciecierski
D: Gavin Troy
D: George Barkidjija
D: Luke Hogan
M: Aidan Hurst
M: Jaden Rice
M: Mark Tomassini
M: Sean Kelly
M: Jacob Tan
F: Michael Crannell
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Barry O’Neill, so., MF, Marmion
Scoring summary
First half
St. Ignatius: I. Rice (Hurst) 35th minute
Second half
St. Ignatius: I. Rice (Hurst) 48th minute
Marmion: O’Neill (UA) 60th minute
Marmion: O’Neill (Lawinger) 63rd minute
Marmion: Noecker (UA) 66th minute
Marmion: Noecker (Karner) 70th minute
Marmion: O’Neill (UA) 74th minute