Cervelli aims Plainfield S. to tourney Final 4
Senior nets 2d-straight game-winner in 2-1 win over St. Laurence
By Steve Millar
BURBANK -- Plainfield South senior Anthony Cervelli has a knack for producing in big moments.
Just three games into the season, the forward has already scored two game-winning goals.
After coming through in overtime against Oak Lawn, Cervelli found the back of the net in the 61st minute Saturday to lift the Cougars to a 2-1 win over St. Laurence in a Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinal at Reavis.
Plainfield South (3-0-0) will meet 2015 tourney champion Bremen in a semifinal set for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re showing that we’re a good team to watch for,” Cervelli said. “We’re playing really well as a team, and it’s exciting.”
Cervelli, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, also assisted on Ramon Ochoa’s first half goal.
His brilliance in the box proved to be the difference in a physical, back-and-forth contest between two evenly-matched teams.
St. Laurence (2-1-0), a veteran-laden squad with high hopes in Class 2A, provided Plainfield South it’s toughest test yet. The Vikings nearly went ahead on a few occasions early in the second half.
The Cougars, though, took command over the final 20 minutes.
“We came out in the second half, and I think we were still trying to find ourselves a bit,” Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams said. “We might have been a little bit shell-shocked from the goal they scored late in the first half. The final 20 minutes, though, was exactly what I wanted to see.”
On the game-winner, senior Dominick Skrip made a strong run down the left side and sent a well-placed cross toward the far post, where Cervelli calmly headed it in.
“It was an amazing play,” Cervelli said. “Once I saw the ball coming over, I knew it was going in.”
Williams was thrilled to see his veterans coming through.
“That was two of our captains connecting, and Ramon Ochoa scored the first one and he’s a captain,” Williams said. “Our leadership is huge, and that really helps us a lot.
“(Cervelli) is a big kid, and he’s really come into his own this year. Not only am I happy we won, but I’m happy for Tony.”
Ochoa’s goal came off a beautiful combination play in the 18th minute. Anthony Marmolejo took the ball wide and sent a cross toward Cervelli at the far post. Cervelli flicked a header toward the middle of the box where Ochoa buried it on a volley.
St. Laurence fought back.
In the 26th minute, Luis Mendoza blew past two defenders down the middle of the field, drew more defenders his way then slipped a pass to a wide open Juan Guzman, who sprinted down the left side of the box and hammered a shot past goalkeeper Quinton Rose.
With 19:30 left in the 70-minute match, the Vikings’ Gilberto Arreola banged a shot off the crossbar.
Rose then had to make a pair of nice plays, stopping an Arreola bouncing shot and coming out to smother the ball when Danny Garcia got open on the doorstep.
“I think we created enough chances,” St. Laurence coach Matt Prunckle said. “We had one off the crossbar and out. We had some moments here and there. Plainfield South took their chances.
“We told the boys it’s up to us to defend. We know we can get exploited a bit with our lack of height, but we should be able to get the job done in those moments.”
Arreola, a member of Chicagoland Soccer’s 2016 All-State Watch List, shared similar sentiments, and wasn’t disappointed with the Vikings’ effort.
“I thought we played good,” he said. “We just had some chances that we didn’t finish. Plainfield South is a good team. They outworked us in some moments, and they put two balls in the back of the net.”
St. Laurence reached the quarterfinals in impressive fashion, with a 4-0 win over Marist and a 2-0 defeat of Lincoln-Way East.
“I think we’re playing good soccer,” Prunckle said. “I told the boys before the game that I was really confident in them, and I still am. We had the championship of this tournament as a goal, but it’s not the main goal. We have to get back to work and get better.”
Brendan McLaughlin made four saves for St. Laurence. Rose made three for Plainfield South.
It was an eventful day for Rose, who took a blow to the head in a collision with a St. Laurence player just five minutes into the game, and spent nearly 10 minutes on the bench.
“I went out to get the ball, and he kind of caught the back of his foot on the back of my head,” Rose said. “It was a little knock. I had to come out and get it checked out, since it was a hit to the head.
“When I got back in there, we were a little shaky, and we gave up that goal. We had to pull together.”
Once the Cougars got the lead back, Rose was determined to make it hold up.
“I told my defense ‘We’re locking this down. We’re not getting scored on. We’ve worked too hard to earn this,’” he said.
Rose, who played high school ball his sophomore season, is back for his senior year after playing club last season.
Williams is thrilled to have him back.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the way Quinton plays in goal,” he said. “He’s one of the best high school goalkeepers I’ve ever seen, and we’re really fortunate to have him back there.”
The victory puts the Cougars one win away from playing at Toyota Park in the tournament’s championship game.
“That’d be huge for our program,” Williams said. “We’re still trying to build a legacy at Plainfield South. We’ve won one conference title. We’ve never won a regional and never won a major tournament. This would be huge for us.”
Rose is optimistic.
“I feel really good about this season,” he said. “I think we can do a lot of big things. The first goal is to get to Toyota Park and win it.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK: Quinton Rose
D: Xavier Ordaz
D: David Chavez
D: Ryan Kabaker
MF: Griffin Lapp
MF: Dominick Skrip
MF: Christian Gonzalez
MF: Lucas Heaton
F: Anthony Marmolejo
F: Ramon Ochoa
F: Anthony Cervelli
St. Laurence
GK: Brendan McLaughlin
D: Ronan Arthurs
D: Mario Carmona
D: Adrian Mora
MF: Jacob Suchecki
MF: Alex Diaz
MF: Luis Mendoza
MF: Juan Guzman
MF: Israel Contreras
F: Danny Garcia
F: Gilberto Arreola
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Anthony Cervelli, F, Plainfield South
Scoring summary
Plainfield South
Ochoa (Cervelli) 18’, Cervelli (Skrip) 61’
St. Laurence
Guzman (Mendoza) 26’
Senior nets 2d-straight game-winner in 2-1 win over St. Laurence
By Steve Millar
BURBANK -- Plainfield South senior Anthony Cervelli has a knack for producing in big moments.
Just three games into the season, the forward has already scored two game-winning goals.
After coming through in overtime against Oak Lawn, Cervelli found the back of the net in the 61st minute Saturday to lift the Cougars to a 2-1 win over St. Laurence in a Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinal at Reavis.
Plainfield South (3-0-0) will meet 2015 tourney champion Bremen in a semifinal set for 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“We’re showing that we’re a good team to watch for,” Cervelli said. “We’re playing really well as a team, and it’s exciting.”
Cervelli, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, also assisted on Ramon Ochoa’s first half goal.
His brilliance in the box proved to be the difference in a physical, back-and-forth contest between two evenly-matched teams.
St. Laurence (2-1-0), a veteran-laden squad with high hopes in Class 2A, provided Plainfield South it’s toughest test yet. The Vikings nearly went ahead on a few occasions early in the second half.
The Cougars, though, took command over the final 20 minutes.
“We came out in the second half, and I think we were still trying to find ourselves a bit,” Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams said. “We might have been a little bit shell-shocked from the goal they scored late in the first half. The final 20 minutes, though, was exactly what I wanted to see.”
On the game-winner, senior Dominick Skrip made a strong run down the left side and sent a well-placed cross toward the far post, where Cervelli calmly headed it in.
“It was an amazing play,” Cervelli said. “Once I saw the ball coming over, I knew it was going in.”
Williams was thrilled to see his veterans coming through.
“That was two of our captains connecting, and Ramon Ochoa scored the first one and he’s a captain,” Williams said. “Our leadership is huge, and that really helps us a lot.
“(Cervelli) is a big kid, and he’s really come into his own this year. Not only am I happy we won, but I’m happy for Tony.”
Ochoa’s goal came off a beautiful combination play in the 18th minute. Anthony Marmolejo took the ball wide and sent a cross toward Cervelli at the far post. Cervelli flicked a header toward the middle of the box where Ochoa buried it on a volley.
St. Laurence fought back.
In the 26th minute, Luis Mendoza blew past two defenders down the middle of the field, drew more defenders his way then slipped a pass to a wide open Juan Guzman, who sprinted down the left side of the box and hammered a shot past goalkeeper Quinton Rose.
With 19:30 left in the 70-minute match, the Vikings’ Gilberto Arreola banged a shot off the crossbar.
Rose then had to make a pair of nice plays, stopping an Arreola bouncing shot and coming out to smother the ball when Danny Garcia got open on the doorstep.
“I think we created enough chances,” St. Laurence coach Matt Prunckle said. “We had one off the crossbar and out. We had some moments here and there. Plainfield South took their chances.
“We told the boys it’s up to us to defend. We know we can get exploited a bit with our lack of height, but we should be able to get the job done in those moments.”
Arreola, a member of Chicagoland Soccer’s 2016 All-State Watch List, shared similar sentiments, and wasn’t disappointed with the Vikings’ effort.
“I thought we played good,” he said. “We just had some chances that we didn’t finish. Plainfield South is a good team. They outworked us in some moments, and they put two balls in the back of the net.”
St. Laurence reached the quarterfinals in impressive fashion, with a 4-0 win over Marist and a 2-0 defeat of Lincoln-Way East.
“I think we’re playing good soccer,” Prunckle said. “I told the boys before the game that I was really confident in them, and I still am. We had the championship of this tournament as a goal, but it’s not the main goal. We have to get back to work and get better.”
Brendan McLaughlin made four saves for St. Laurence. Rose made three for Plainfield South.
It was an eventful day for Rose, who took a blow to the head in a collision with a St. Laurence player just five minutes into the game, and spent nearly 10 minutes on the bench.
“I went out to get the ball, and he kind of caught the back of his foot on the back of my head,” Rose said. “It was a little knock. I had to come out and get it checked out, since it was a hit to the head.
“When I got back in there, we were a little shaky, and we gave up that goal. We had to pull together.”
Once the Cougars got the lead back, Rose was determined to make it hold up.
“I told my defense ‘We’re locking this down. We’re not getting scored on. We’ve worked too hard to earn this,’” he said.
Rose, who played high school ball his sophomore season, is back for his senior year after playing club last season.
Williams is thrilled to have him back.
“I couldn’t be more happy with the way Quinton plays in goal,” he said. “He’s one of the best high school goalkeepers I’ve ever seen, and we’re really fortunate to have him back there.”
The victory puts the Cougars one win away from playing at Toyota Park in the tournament’s championship game.
“That’d be huge for our program,” Williams said. “We’re still trying to build a legacy at Plainfield South. We’ve won one conference title. We’ve never won a regional and never won a major tournament. This would be huge for us.”
Rose is optimistic.
“I feel really good about this season,” he said. “I think we can do a lot of big things. The first goal is to get to Toyota Park and win it.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK: Quinton Rose
D: Xavier Ordaz
D: David Chavez
D: Ryan Kabaker
MF: Griffin Lapp
MF: Dominick Skrip
MF: Christian Gonzalez
MF: Lucas Heaton
F: Anthony Marmolejo
F: Ramon Ochoa
F: Anthony Cervelli
St. Laurence
GK: Brendan McLaughlin
D: Ronan Arthurs
D: Mario Carmona
D: Adrian Mora
MF: Jacob Suchecki
MF: Alex Diaz
MF: Luis Mendoza
MF: Juan Guzman
MF: Israel Contreras
F: Danny Garcia
F: Gilberto Arreola
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Anthony Cervelli, F, Plainfield South
Scoring summary
Plainfield South
Ochoa (Cervelli) 18’, Cervelli (Skrip) 61’
St. Laurence
Guzman (Mendoza) 26’