St. Francis chases down Storm for draw
Spartans rally against South Elgin to end losing streak
By Bill McLean
ROSELLE — He shot. He scored.
That was what South Elgin senior midfielder Anthony Sisler did in the first half of the Storm’s final Hillner Classic match at Lake Park’s Krupke Memorial Field on Saturday morning.
But Storm first-year soccer coach Jerzy Skowron never saw it, having turned his back to the action on the pitch to coach up and encourage a player on his bench.
“We scored?” an exasperated Skowron asked shortly after Sisler started to celebrate his first tally of the season with teammates.
“That’s about the fifth goal I’ve missed this year,” the former Streamwood assistant added.
After St. Francis senior forward/midfielder Frank Marsico struck for a goal (his first of the 2019 season, too) in the second half, the Spartans got to enjoy their first positive result after four losses to start the season.
“We’re the little guys on the block trying to play with the big boys,” coach Kevin Ward said minutes before kickoff.
South Elgin (2-4-1), a Class 3A school, possessed the ball for a significant majority of the first 40 minutes against Class AA St. Francis. Storm junior forward Nick Flores booted several lengthy services to comfortably open mates. The trio of Flores, junior Danny Quintana and sophomore Ryan Doherty executed well-constructed scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes.
But St. Francis junior back Henry Engelmann imposed his speed and will a couple of times to disrupt South Elgin’s sequences in front of senior goalkeeper Adam Thill.
“We’re starting to understand our roles,” Ward said afterward. “We’re settling in, playing better as a team.”
About that Marsico goal, which followed a pass from senior Jack Hartle?
“Good goal,” Ward said of the 16-yarder. “Any goal is a good goal, right? Frank played very well against a very good South Elgin team. Frank played very well in other aspects, too, like possession and the way he handled other responsibilities.”
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound Marsico wore his captain’s mantle quite well — during and after the match.
“I’ve had to step us a leader,” Marsico said. “And a lot of my teammates had to shift to new positions this year. That’s not easy. It’s also not easy going up against the bigger schools we’ve played early in the season. We’ll take this tie, oh yeah. South Elgin moves the ball well, plays hard. It’s a team with great athletes.”
Marsico was asked to pick an unsung Spartan after the match. He politely declined.
“Everybody was, because each player did his part,” said Marsico, adding the team would congregate at a park district later in the afternoon to inhale fare from a taco truck.
“Steak and cheese,” Marsico said. “That’s my favorite kind of taco.”
Saturday’s stalemate was a tough result to swallow for Skowron, particularly after what he’d heard one of his players share with the team at halftime.
“The player,” Skowron recalled, “mentioned all the things we did right in the first half. Then we didn’t do any of those things in the second half.”
South Elgin’s Sisler, a former striker, has transitioned well to the holding midfield position. He demonstrated consistent patience with the ball at his feet, as well as a focus on simplicity, versus St. Francis. Sisler has no problem being asked to fulfill that all-important role of distributing the ball.
A goal here and there?
Gravy.
“I like assists,” said Sisler, whose left-footed goal Saturday traveled approximately 20 yards.
With only two minutes left, South Elgin engineered an impressive scoring chance before a shot from Storm sophomore Ryan Doherty sailed over the crossbar.
“Thank you!” a pleased Skowron shouted.
“I strongly believe you need to encourage good habits,” Skowron said afterward.
South Elgin finished with a 2-2-1 record at the six-team Hillner Classic, while St. Francis went 0-4-1. South Elgin tied Hoffman Estates and Lake Park for third place, with all three netting 10 total goals; Lake Park allowed a combined 10 goals in five matches, compared to Hoffman Estates’ 12 and South Elgin’s 19.
York (4-1-0) and Wheaton North (3-2-0) wound up as the tourney’s top two teams after York’s 5-1 defeat of Wheaton North in Saturday's breakfast special championship match at 9 a.m. at Lake Park. York’s lone loss was a 1-0 setback vs. Hoffman Estates on Aug. 27, the first day of the tournament.
South Elgin hosts Bartlett in an Upstate Eight match at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; St. Francis welcomes Ridgewood at 7 p.m. Friday for its home and Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division opener.
Footnotes
Lake Park soccer coach Sean Crosby served as a ball boy along the teams’ sideline in the first half of the St. Francis-South Elgin match Saturday morning at the Hillner Classic. … Skowron celebrated his 37th birthday last week. … South Elgin battled St. Francis Saturday morning without its leading scorer, senior Lucas Reuttiman (3 goals, 1 assist). The forward had a family commitment. … South Elgin topped visiting Hoffman Estates 5-3 in a Hillner Classic game Sept. 5. Remember the date. The Storm’s players and coaches certainly will, since it was the program’s first home night match. … Nobody is as hard on South Elgin’s Flores as Flores is. After serving a ball in the first half that missed its mark, Flores yelled, “Just sub me out!” toward his bench. Skowron kept him in. “Nick is the ultimate competitor,” Skowron said. “He has high expectations for himself.” … St. Francis keeper Thill made one of the best saves of the tie with South Elgin, diving to his left and using both fists to parry a hard shot off the foot of Doherty in the first half. A slick pass from senior forward Jose Rangel had set up the shot on goal. … South Elgin’s Sisler, scary-good at times on soccer pitches, planned to see the horror flick “IT Chapter 2” with his girlfriend Saturday night.
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Adam Thill
D: Jack Hartle
D: Brendan Yarusso
D: Henry Engelmann
D: Sam Premak
MF: Trey Gora
MF: James Carani
MF: Nathan Corrigan
F: Frank Marsico
F: Michael Fasana
F: Nico Lajewski
South Elgin
GK: Zachary Juszko
D: Alex Wano
D: Edwin Ayala
D: Ryan Doherty
D: Victor Chagoya
MF: Danny Quintana
MF: Anthony Sisler
MF: Grayson Downing
F: Nick Flores
F: Angel Garcia-Resendiz
F: Jose Rangel
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Frank Marsico, sr., MF, St. Francis
Anthony Sisler, sr., MF, South Elgin
Referee: Chuck Raksinh
Scoring summary
First half
South Elgin — Sisler (UA), 19’
Second half
St. Francis — Marsico, 57’
Spartans rally against South Elgin to end losing streak
By Bill McLean
ROSELLE — He shot. He scored.
That was what South Elgin senior midfielder Anthony Sisler did in the first half of the Storm’s final Hillner Classic match at Lake Park’s Krupke Memorial Field on Saturday morning.
But Storm first-year soccer coach Jerzy Skowron never saw it, having turned his back to the action on the pitch to coach up and encourage a player on his bench.
“We scored?” an exasperated Skowron asked shortly after Sisler started to celebrate his first tally of the season with teammates.
“That’s about the fifth goal I’ve missed this year,” the former Streamwood assistant added.
After St. Francis senior forward/midfielder Frank Marsico struck for a goal (his first of the 2019 season, too) in the second half, the Spartans got to enjoy their first positive result after four losses to start the season.
“We’re the little guys on the block trying to play with the big boys,” coach Kevin Ward said minutes before kickoff.
South Elgin (2-4-1), a Class 3A school, possessed the ball for a significant majority of the first 40 minutes against Class AA St. Francis. Storm junior forward Nick Flores booted several lengthy services to comfortably open mates. The trio of Flores, junior Danny Quintana and sophomore Ryan Doherty executed well-constructed scoring opportunities in the first 10 minutes.
But St. Francis junior back Henry Engelmann imposed his speed and will a couple of times to disrupt South Elgin’s sequences in front of senior goalkeeper Adam Thill.
“We’re starting to understand our roles,” Ward said afterward. “We’re settling in, playing better as a team.”
About that Marsico goal, which followed a pass from senior Jack Hartle?
“Good goal,” Ward said of the 16-yarder. “Any goal is a good goal, right? Frank played very well against a very good South Elgin team. Frank played very well in other aspects, too, like possession and the way he handled other responsibilities.”
The 5-foot-7, 140-pound Marsico wore his captain’s mantle quite well — during and after the match.
“I’ve had to step us a leader,” Marsico said. “And a lot of my teammates had to shift to new positions this year. That’s not easy. It’s also not easy going up against the bigger schools we’ve played early in the season. We’ll take this tie, oh yeah. South Elgin moves the ball well, plays hard. It’s a team with great athletes.”
Marsico was asked to pick an unsung Spartan after the match. He politely declined.
“Everybody was, because each player did his part,” said Marsico, adding the team would congregate at a park district later in the afternoon to inhale fare from a taco truck.
“Steak and cheese,” Marsico said. “That’s my favorite kind of taco.”
Saturday’s stalemate was a tough result to swallow for Skowron, particularly after what he’d heard one of his players share with the team at halftime.
“The player,” Skowron recalled, “mentioned all the things we did right in the first half. Then we didn’t do any of those things in the second half.”
South Elgin’s Sisler, a former striker, has transitioned well to the holding midfield position. He demonstrated consistent patience with the ball at his feet, as well as a focus on simplicity, versus St. Francis. Sisler has no problem being asked to fulfill that all-important role of distributing the ball.
A goal here and there?
Gravy.
“I like assists,” said Sisler, whose left-footed goal Saturday traveled approximately 20 yards.
With only two minutes left, South Elgin engineered an impressive scoring chance before a shot from Storm sophomore Ryan Doherty sailed over the crossbar.
“Thank you!” a pleased Skowron shouted.
“I strongly believe you need to encourage good habits,” Skowron said afterward.
South Elgin finished with a 2-2-1 record at the six-team Hillner Classic, while St. Francis went 0-4-1. South Elgin tied Hoffman Estates and Lake Park for third place, with all three netting 10 total goals; Lake Park allowed a combined 10 goals in five matches, compared to Hoffman Estates’ 12 and South Elgin’s 19.
York (4-1-0) and Wheaton North (3-2-0) wound up as the tourney’s top two teams after York’s 5-1 defeat of Wheaton North in Saturday's breakfast special championship match at 9 a.m. at Lake Park. York’s lone loss was a 1-0 setback vs. Hoffman Estates on Aug. 27, the first day of the tournament.
South Elgin hosts Bartlett in an Upstate Eight match at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday; St. Francis welcomes Ridgewood at 7 p.m. Friday for its home and Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division opener.
Footnotes
Lake Park soccer coach Sean Crosby served as a ball boy along the teams’ sideline in the first half of the St. Francis-South Elgin match Saturday morning at the Hillner Classic. … Skowron celebrated his 37th birthday last week. … South Elgin battled St. Francis Saturday morning without its leading scorer, senior Lucas Reuttiman (3 goals, 1 assist). The forward had a family commitment. … South Elgin topped visiting Hoffman Estates 5-3 in a Hillner Classic game Sept. 5. Remember the date. The Storm’s players and coaches certainly will, since it was the program’s first home night match. … Nobody is as hard on South Elgin’s Flores as Flores is. After serving a ball in the first half that missed its mark, Flores yelled, “Just sub me out!” toward his bench. Skowron kept him in. “Nick is the ultimate competitor,” Skowron said. “He has high expectations for himself.” … St. Francis keeper Thill made one of the best saves of the tie with South Elgin, diving to his left and using both fists to parry a hard shot off the foot of Doherty in the first half. A slick pass from senior forward Jose Rangel had set up the shot on goal. … South Elgin’s Sisler, scary-good at times on soccer pitches, planned to see the horror flick “IT Chapter 2” with his girlfriend Saturday night.
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Adam Thill
D: Jack Hartle
D: Brendan Yarusso
D: Henry Engelmann
D: Sam Premak
MF: Trey Gora
MF: James Carani
MF: Nathan Corrigan
F: Frank Marsico
F: Michael Fasana
F: Nico Lajewski
South Elgin
GK: Zachary Juszko
D: Alex Wano
D: Edwin Ayala
D: Ryan Doherty
D: Victor Chagoya
MF: Danny Quintana
MF: Anthony Sisler
MF: Grayson Downing
F: Nick Flores
F: Angel Garcia-Resendiz
F: Jose Rangel
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Frank Marsico, sr., MF, St. Francis
Anthony Sisler, sr., MF, South Elgin
Referee: Chuck Raksinh
Scoring summary
First half
South Elgin — Sisler (UA), 19’
Second half
St. Francis — Marsico, 57’