St. Rita's new attitude delivers win
Assured Mustangs close out Oak Forest in 3-2 victory
By Steve Millar
CHICAGO – Oak Forest came out for the second half of Saturday’s game against St. Rita with a strong surge, scoring the tying goal and threatening to take the lead.
According to St. Rita co-head coach Tim McCarthy, a past Mustangs team may not have responded well to such a push from the opposition.
This year’s St. Rita squad, though, is different.
“We’ve had times this year where we’ve gotten behind and the kids have played with a lot of character,” McCarthy said. “They’re confident, because they know they can do what it takes to come back.
“They knew how to battle back after that tying goal (Saturday). They know how to go win the ball and win the game.”
St. Rita’s leading scorer, junior forward Langston Bedgood, struck for two goals in the final eight minutes to lift the host Mustangs to a 3-2 win in a tightly-contested nonconference tilt.
It’s the seventh-straight win for St. Rita (11-4-1), which could see Oak Forest (8-6-2) again in the postseason.
The Mustangs are seeded fourth and the Bengals fifth in the Class AA St. Laurence Sectional. The teams would meet in the Oak Forest Regional final if both survive the opening round.
“It’s great to see how we can stick together and stay cool,” St. Rita midfielder Ryan Dangles said. “If we get scored on, OK, no big deal, now it’s our turn to go after it and get our goal back.
“We were able to see some of Oak Forest’s mannerisms, some of their plays, see who some of their go-to guys are. That can definitely help us if we see them in the playoffs.”
Bedgood, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, scored the go-ahead goal with 8:24 left on a seemingly-impossible header from a tough angle.
It was set up by a nice combination play from the Mustangs. Carlos Sanchez played a pass to Logan Corum near the end line to the left of the goal.
Corum played a cross toward the far post. With the pass curving away from him, Bedgood straddled the end line and got his head on it, sending the ball upward.
After arching into the air for what seemed like an eternity, the ball settled inside the far post just under the crossbar.
“Honestly, I really didn’t think it was going in,” Bedgood said. “I just knew I had to get my head on it and get it on frame. If (Oak Forest goalkeeper Carter Hamrin) saved it, so be it, but I didn’t want to miss the net.
“I hit it pretty high, and then I was just thinking ‘Please go in. Hit the back of the net.’”
When it did, some on the St. Rita bench were stunned.
“We thought it was going over,” McCarthy said. “A few of us were like, ‘Aww.’ There was that groan from the bench like we just missed, and then we all realized it was in. It was a great goal.”
Less than four minutes later, Bedgood gave his team some insurance when he took a pass from Sanchez, split a pair of defenders down the middle of the field and buried his 15th goal of the season.
“It was big to get that goal,” Bedgood said. “It made our team more comfortable. We still had to keep fighting, though, but it helped to be up two goals.”
It proved to be vital as Oak Forest closed within one when Bruno Carrillo took a pass from Omar Plancarte, carried the ball down the left side and scored from 30 yards with 1:50 to go.
The Bengals, though, could not get off another shot as St. Rita did a good job possessing and killing the remaining time off the clock.
Carrillo also figured into Oak Forest’s first goal, which made it a 1-1 game with 36:17 to go.
After a Bengals’ corner kick was broken up, Carrillo tracked the ball down outside the box and rushed back toward the net. His shot was saved by St. Rita goalkeeper David Bauer, but Alejandro Rodriguez was there to poke in the rebound.
Oak Forest threatened for the go-ahead goal a few times over the next 10 minutes. Bauer, who finished with four saves, stopped Plancarte’s shot from 25 yards and came out of the net to cut off the angle and save Gavin Gilman’s shot from in-tight.
While the Bengals built momentum, St. Rita didn’t panic.
“We just had to stay confident and keep playing our game,” Bedgood said. “We couldn’t stray away from that.”
Despite Bedgood’s heroics, it was a solid second half performance for Oak Forest. Bengals coach Kieran Byrne, however, was not happy with the way his team played in the opening 40 minutes.
St. Rita's Chuy Flores scored the lone goal of the first half on a terrific individual effort in the 13th minute. He dribbled past two defenders, lost the ball momentarily in the box but got it back and finished.
Oak Forest never threatened to tie the game in the first half.
“We felt like our work rate wasn’t where we needed it to be, so we talked about that at halftime,” Byrne said. “Everything starts with hard work. We’ve got to win 50/50 balls -- all the key mental aspects of the game where we show character, desire and work ethic.
“If we can do that, that gives us a platform to allow us to play our soccer.”
While it was easy to see Saturday’s game as a prequel to a potential playoff match, Byrne wanted to see his team show more energy in this meeting with the Mustangs.
“We have to focus on one game at a time,” he said. “If we’re going to make the mistake of looking ahead, we’re not going to get better. Our performance in the first half wasn’t where it needs to be. We’ve got to give ourselves a foundation to build upon going into regionals.”
McCarthy knows his team will be in for another battle if the Mustangs and Bengals meet again.
“We’re always nervous playing Oak Forest, and we will be again next time,” McCarthy said. “There’s a mutual respect between our teams, a lot of character on both sides.
“They’re always well-coached, and they’re a really good team. We’ve got to come to play because we know they will. This gave us an idea of what to expect, but in a game like this, we know both teams aren’t going to show everything they’ve got.”
Starting lineups
Oak Forest
GK: Carter Hamrin
D: Michael Porco
D: Gavin Collery
D: Nathan Gron
D: Luke Englund
M: Declan Collery
M: Mo Jodeh
M: Alejandro Rodriguez
M: Jake Phillips
F: Jonathan Landa
F: Omar Plancarte
St. Rita
GK: David Bauer
D: Brendan Gleeson
D: Tyler Padilla
D: Jack Carey
M: Brendan Breslin
M: Ryan Dangles
M: Chuy Flores
M: Logan Corum
M: Jose Alencastro
F: Carlos Sanchez
F: Langston Bedgood
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Langston Bedgood, jr. F, St. Rita
Scoring summary
First half
St. Rita: Chuy Flores (unassisted), 13th minute
Second half
Oak Forest: Alejandro Rodriguez (Bruno Carrillo), 44th minute
St. Rita: Langston Bedgood (Logan Corum), 72nd minute
St. Rita: Bedgood (Carlos Sanchez), 76th minute
Oak Forest: Carrillo (Omar Plancarte), 79th minute
Assured Mustangs close out Oak Forest in 3-2 victory
By Steve Millar
CHICAGO – Oak Forest came out for the second half of Saturday’s game against St. Rita with a strong surge, scoring the tying goal and threatening to take the lead.
According to St. Rita co-head coach Tim McCarthy, a past Mustangs team may not have responded well to such a push from the opposition.
This year’s St. Rita squad, though, is different.
“We’ve had times this year where we’ve gotten behind and the kids have played with a lot of character,” McCarthy said. “They’re confident, because they know they can do what it takes to come back.
“They knew how to battle back after that tying goal (Saturday). They know how to go win the ball and win the game.”
St. Rita’s leading scorer, junior forward Langston Bedgood, struck for two goals in the final eight minutes to lift the host Mustangs to a 3-2 win in a tightly-contested nonconference tilt.
It’s the seventh-straight win for St. Rita (11-4-1), which could see Oak Forest (8-6-2) again in the postseason.
The Mustangs are seeded fourth and the Bengals fifth in the Class AA St. Laurence Sectional. The teams would meet in the Oak Forest Regional final if both survive the opening round.
“It’s great to see how we can stick together and stay cool,” St. Rita midfielder Ryan Dangles said. “If we get scored on, OK, no big deal, now it’s our turn to go after it and get our goal back.
“We were able to see some of Oak Forest’s mannerisms, some of their plays, see who some of their go-to guys are. That can definitely help us if we see them in the playoffs.”
Bedgood, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, scored the go-ahead goal with 8:24 left on a seemingly-impossible header from a tough angle.
It was set up by a nice combination play from the Mustangs. Carlos Sanchez played a pass to Logan Corum near the end line to the left of the goal.
Corum played a cross toward the far post. With the pass curving away from him, Bedgood straddled the end line and got his head on it, sending the ball upward.
After arching into the air for what seemed like an eternity, the ball settled inside the far post just under the crossbar.
“Honestly, I really didn’t think it was going in,” Bedgood said. “I just knew I had to get my head on it and get it on frame. If (Oak Forest goalkeeper Carter Hamrin) saved it, so be it, but I didn’t want to miss the net.
“I hit it pretty high, and then I was just thinking ‘Please go in. Hit the back of the net.’”
When it did, some on the St. Rita bench were stunned.
“We thought it was going over,” McCarthy said. “A few of us were like, ‘Aww.’ There was that groan from the bench like we just missed, and then we all realized it was in. It was a great goal.”
Less than four minutes later, Bedgood gave his team some insurance when he took a pass from Sanchez, split a pair of defenders down the middle of the field and buried his 15th goal of the season.
“It was big to get that goal,” Bedgood said. “It made our team more comfortable. We still had to keep fighting, though, but it helped to be up two goals.”
It proved to be vital as Oak Forest closed within one when Bruno Carrillo took a pass from Omar Plancarte, carried the ball down the left side and scored from 30 yards with 1:50 to go.
The Bengals, though, could not get off another shot as St. Rita did a good job possessing and killing the remaining time off the clock.
Carrillo also figured into Oak Forest’s first goal, which made it a 1-1 game with 36:17 to go.
After a Bengals’ corner kick was broken up, Carrillo tracked the ball down outside the box and rushed back toward the net. His shot was saved by St. Rita goalkeeper David Bauer, but Alejandro Rodriguez was there to poke in the rebound.
Oak Forest threatened for the go-ahead goal a few times over the next 10 minutes. Bauer, who finished with four saves, stopped Plancarte’s shot from 25 yards and came out of the net to cut off the angle and save Gavin Gilman’s shot from in-tight.
While the Bengals built momentum, St. Rita didn’t panic.
“We just had to stay confident and keep playing our game,” Bedgood said. “We couldn’t stray away from that.”
Despite Bedgood’s heroics, it was a solid second half performance for Oak Forest. Bengals coach Kieran Byrne, however, was not happy with the way his team played in the opening 40 minutes.
St. Rita's Chuy Flores scored the lone goal of the first half on a terrific individual effort in the 13th minute. He dribbled past two defenders, lost the ball momentarily in the box but got it back and finished.
Oak Forest never threatened to tie the game in the first half.
“We felt like our work rate wasn’t where we needed it to be, so we talked about that at halftime,” Byrne said. “Everything starts with hard work. We’ve got to win 50/50 balls -- all the key mental aspects of the game where we show character, desire and work ethic.
“If we can do that, that gives us a platform to allow us to play our soccer.”
While it was easy to see Saturday’s game as a prequel to a potential playoff match, Byrne wanted to see his team show more energy in this meeting with the Mustangs.
“We have to focus on one game at a time,” he said. “If we’re going to make the mistake of looking ahead, we’re not going to get better. Our performance in the first half wasn’t where it needs to be. We’ve got to give ourselves a foundation to build upon going into regionals.”
McCarthy knows his team will be in for another battle if the Mustangs and Bengals meet again.
“We’re always nervous playing Oak Forest, and we will be again next time,” McCarthy said. “There’s a mutual respect between our teams, a lot of character on both sides.
“They’re always well-coached, and they’re a really good team. We’ve got to come to play because we know they will. This gave us an idea of what to expect, but in a game like this, we know both teams aren’t going to show everything they’ve got.”
Starting lineups
Oak Forest
GK: Carter Hamrin
D: Michael Porco
D: Gavin Collery
D: Nathan Gron
D: Luke Englund
M: Declan Collery
M: Mo Jodeh
M: Alejandro Rodriguez
M: Jake Phillips
F: Jonathan Landa
F: Omar Plancarte
St. Rita
GK: David Bauer
D: Brendan Gleeson
D: Tyler Padilla
D: Jack Carey
M: Brendan Breslin
M: Ryan Dangles
M: Chuy Flores
M: Logan Corum
M: Jose Alencastro
F: Carlos Sanchez
F: Langston Bedgood
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Langston Bedgood, jr. F, St. Rita
Scoring summary
First half
St. Rita: Chuy Flores (unassisted), 13th minute
Second half
Oak Forest: Alejandro Rodriguez (Bruno Carrillo), 44th minute
St. Rita: Langston Bedgood (Logan Corum), 72nd minute
St. Rita: Bedgood (Carlos Sanchez), 76th minute
Oak Forest: Carrillo (Omar Plancarte), 79th minute