St. Francis gets untracked,
distances itself from Elmwood Park
Spartans answer 1-goal deficit with 4-spot in Metro Blue win
By Curt Herron
ELMWOOD PARK -- It says a lot about a team when playing conditions are lousy and they still are able to put together a good performance and a convincing victory.
And that's just what happened for St. Francis on Tuesday when it had to contend not only with strong, cold north winds but also a steady light rain that seemed to be more horizontal than vertical in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division match against Elmwood Park.
After falling behind by a goal in the early going while attacking into the challenging conditions, the Spartans responded with four scores in just over 15 minutes to establish firm control the rest of the way as they claimed their third win in a row with a 4-1 victory over the Tigers.
The win keeps St. Francis' hopes for a share of the MSC Blue title alive. The Spartans are 3-1-x with two matches remaining. They meet Bishop McNamara on Thursday and then host league leader Wheaton Academy on May 13.
The front-running Warriors host Elmwood Park on Thursday while 3-1-x Riverside-Brookfield plays at St. Edward on Thursday. There and no ties in the Metro Suburban – all tie games are settled with shootouts.
Senior Lauren Bruce scored the first and last of the goals for the St. Francis (5-7-1 overall). Sophomore Sophia Roszkowski had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Paige Chrustowski scored in her return to action, and sophomore Ellie Bielenda handed out an assist on the final goal.
After playing a ridiculously tough early schedule against four top-10 ranked teams -- no. 1 Naperville North, no. 4 Naperville Central, no. 6 Evanston and no. 8 Libertyville earlier this season, St. Francis should be prepared for the competitive Class AA Wheaton Academy Sectional. The 10th-seed opens with fifth-seed Wheaton Academy in the first round of the Nazareth Regional.
Third-seed Nazareth Academy hopes to advance to its own regional final. Benet Academy is the top-seed, Lemont is the second-seed and Joliet Catholic Academy is no. 4.
"In all of my life, this is in the top five for bad nights in soccer," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "What's the wind, 30 miles an hour? And it's misting rain, but I was really proud of how we responded. We gave up that one goal when they had the wind and we picked up our level of play. We responded within three or four minutes and then we got three more after that.
“I told them before the game started that playing with the wind was going to be a lot harder than playing into it. As you saw in the second half, we got in constantly but when you'd serve a ball, it would get blown right off the field. There's nothing that they could about that stuff.
"I was very proud of how they played. They did a very nice job of playing winning balls, and more importantly, we kept connecting and connecting.
“I don't think in the second half that they (Elmwood Park) had a shot on goal. They had the one in the first half and maybe two and that was it. We took our lumps when we were playing in the New Trier tournament (Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic), and unfortunately being in that tournament, we also were losing a kid a game. That impacted us greatly, but now we're getting everybody back, and it shows.
"Hopefully we're kind of done with it (the injuries). But when you get to this point in the season, everybody is kind of banged up. If you lose a key player it's going to impact you. I haven't seen Benet. In our sectional, that, I believe, is the one team that has been most consistent.
“This is probably the toughest that I've ever seen the regional. We have to play Wheaton Academy again and then on the back end we might have to play Nazareth. None of those games are going to be easy."
Elmwood Park (9-6-1,1-3-x) had gone 3-0-1 in its previous four matches. The Tigers had the first good scoring opportunity when Mia Ramirez sent in a shot that was halted by Spartans sophomore goalie Kennedy Karl.
St. Francis followed with good attempts from Chrustowski and Bruce but both tries were hauled in by goalie Victoria Vojtech.
Elmwood Park grabbed the lead in the 12th minute when Briza Ocampo put in a liner from about 10 yards.
But after Roszkowski was stopped on a shot a short time later, the host's momentum seemed to slow when Megan Nettlehorst suffered an injury. She remained on the field for several minutes before being assisted to her team's bench.
St. Francis evened things at 1-1 in the 15th minute when Bruce got free on the side and placed in a shot from about 10 yards. Exactly a minute later, the Spartans moved in front for good when Roszkowski sent a pass across the box, and Chrustowski signaled she was back following her early-season injury when she connected from about 10 yards for what proved to be the eventual match-winner.
"Obviously the conditions did not work with us at all. The ball moved a lot faster than we expected coming into the game," Chrustowski said. "I've been out basically the whole season, so it was a very good first game back. I only played the first two games and then I was out after fracturing my ankle.
“It went pretty good. This team is very family-based, and we all get along very well. We're all friends, so even if we're having a bad game, no one is on each other, we just kind of all work together.
"I feel like we had a lot of good connections up top, me and Sophia. We were able to work together really nicely. I feel like we were really able to communicate today, and I think that's been getting better throughout the season.
“At the beginning of the season we were very young, and we didn't expect to be so young. I I think the more the season has gone on and we've played hard teams, it's been easier to figure out how each of us play and who likes to do what."
After Roszkowski was denied on two tries and Bruce was thwarted on another, Roszkowski got past defenders and bounced an attempt past the Tigers goalie to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage in the 28th minute.
It didn't take long for St. Francis to add the match capper. In the 30th minute, Bielenda sent a pass to Bruce, who collected her second goal of the match.
"The weather definitely was not great tonight," Bruce said. "We were down 1-0, and that didn't stop us from pushing; so, it was definitely a team win. Our team is very young, so we've been improving over the past weeks of our season.
“I'm really proud of our team, because we all work together; and we didn't get down on each other or ourselves, which really pushed us to get the win tonight.
"Playing harder teams in tournaments really helped us as a team because we're very young. And going into playoffs, it's really important because the teams that we are going to play are going to get harder from here on out.
“I really like how everyone is positive and outgoing and talks to each other. And everyone works hard and gives all of their effort all of the time, which is really good."
The final half was dominated by the Spartans, Despite a dozen good opportunities and their best intentions, they were unable to add to their three-goal advantage against the Tigers, who are the fourth-seed in the Class AA Fenwick Sectional and will host a regional in that competition.
St. Francis sophomore Olivia Basel had two good attempts in the first 20 minutes of the final half while Roszkowski, Bruce and Bielenda also sent in threatening shots that were halted.
It was more of the same during the match's final quarter hour as Bruce was turned away two more times. Senior Sara Dziengel, freshman Nella Ksiag, Basel, Bielenda and Roszkowski all put shots on goal but St. Francis was unable to connect again.
As the result of their latest victory, the Spartans have won three in a row and four of their last five, outscoring their opponents 23-1 during the current win streak and 33-3 in their last five matches.
"The conditions were not very good but as a team we all continued to push through it, and we all gave it our all in the end," Spartans junior Adriana Suriano said. "And even though the ball was slipping everywhere, we still learned how to control it. We just kept it going, and we never gave up. Everyone decides to keep pushing and everyone gets along. No one works just for themselves; they work for the team."
Starting lineups
St. Francis
G Kennedy Karl
D Shannon Brown
D Adriana Suriano
D Ella Schroeder
D Sara Dziengel
M Ellie Bielenda
M Sophia Roszkowski
M Elle Wainscott
M Ella Wozniak
F Lauren Bruce
F Paige Chrustowski
Elmwood Park
G Victoria Vojtech
D Allison Scheidt
D Zyana Turcios
D Megan Nettelhorst
D Lauren Olson
M Jocelyn Mendoza
M Alyssa Andersen
M Mia Ramirez
M Briza Ocampo
F Olivia Dombek
F Lauren Scheidt
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Lauren Bruce, sr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
EP: Briza Ocampo, 12th minute
SF: Lauren Bruce, 15th minute
SF: Paige Chrustowski (Sophia Roszkowski), 16th minute
SF: Sophia Roszkowski, 28th minute
SF: Lauren Bruce (Ellie Bielenda), 30th minute
Second half
No scoring
distances itself from Elmwood Park
Spartans answer 1-goal deficit with 4-spot in Metro Blue win
By Curt Herron
ELMWOOD PARK -- It says a lot about a team when playing conditions are lousy and they still are able to put together a good performance and a convincing victory.
And that's just what happened for St. Francis on Tuesday when it had to contend not only with strong, cold north winds but also a steady light rain that seemed to be more horizontal than vertical in a Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division match against Elmwood Park.
After falling behind by a goal in the early going while attacking into the challenging conditions, the Spartans responded with four scores in just over 15 minutes to establish firm control the rest of the way as they claimed their third win in a row with a 4-1 victory over the Tigers.
The win keeps St. Francis' hopes for a share of the MSC Blue title alive. The Spartans are 3-1-x with two matches remaining. They meet Bishop McNamara on Thursday and then host league leader Wheaton Academy on May 13.
The front-running Warriors host Elmwood Park on Thursday while 3-1-x Riverside-Brookfield plays at St. Edward on Thursday. There and no ties in the Metro Suburban – all tie games are settled with shootouts.
Senior Lauren Bruce scored the first and last of the goals for the St. Francis (5-7-1 overall). Sophomore Sophia Roszkowski had a goal and an assist. Sophomore Paige Chrustowski scored in her return to action, and sophomore Ellie Bielenda handed out an assist on the final goal.
After playing a ridiculously tough early schedule against four top-10 ranked teams -- no. 1 Naperville North, no. 4 Naperville Central, no. 6 Evanston and no. 8 Libertyville earlier this season, St. Francis should be prepared for the competitive Class AA Wheaton Academy Sectional. The 10th-seed opens with fifth-seed Wheaton Academy in the first round of the Nazareth Regional.
Third-seed Nazareth Academy hopes to advance to its own regional final. Benet Academy is the top-seed, Lemont is the second-seed and Joliet Catholic Academy is no. 4.
"In all of my life, this is in the top five for bad nights in soccer," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "What's the wind, 30 miles an hour? And it's misting rain, but I was really proud of how we responded. We gave up that one goal when they had the wind and we picked up our level of play. We responded within three or four minutes and then we got three more after that.
“I told them before the game started that playing with the wind was going to be a lot harder than playing into it. As you saw in the second half, we got in constantly but when you'd serve a ball, it would get blown right off the field. There's nothing that they could about that stuff.
"I was very proud of how they played. They did a very nice job of playing winning balls, and more importantly, we kept connecting and connecting.
“I don't think in the second half that they (Elmwood Park) had a shot on goal. They had the one in the first half and maybe two and that was it. We took our lumps when we were playing in the New Trier tournament (Lou Malnati’s Deep Dish Classic), and unfortunately being in that tournament, we also were losing a kid a game. That impacted us greatly, but now we're getting everybody back, and it shows.
"Hopefully we're kind of done with it (the injuries). But when you get to this point in the season, everybody is kind of banged up. If you lose a key player it's going to impact you. I haven't seen Benet. In our sectional, that, I believe, is the one team that has been most consistent.
“This is probably the toughest that I've ever seen the regional. We have to play Wheaton Academy again and then on the back end we might have to play Nazareth. None of those games are going to be easy."
Elmwood Park (9-6-1,1-3-x) had gone 3-0-1 in its previous four matches. The Tigers had the first good scoring opportunity when Mia Ramirez sent in a shot that was halted by Spartans sophomore goalie Kennedy Karl.
St. Francis followed with good attempts from Chrustowski and Bruce but both tries were hauled in by goalie Victoria Vojtech.
Elmwood Park grabbed the lead in the 12th minute when Briza Ocampo put in a liner from about 10 yards.
But after Roszkowski was stopped on a shot a short time later, the host's momentum seemed to slow when Megan Nettlehorst suffered an injury. She remained on the field for several minutes before being assisted to her team's bench.
St. Francis evened things at 1-1 in the 15th minute when Bruce got free on the side and placed in a shot from about 10 yards. Exactly a minute later, the Spartans moved in front for good when Roszkowski sent a pass across the box, and Chrustowski signaled she was back following her early-season injury when she connected from about 10 yards for what proved to be the eventual match-winner.
"Obviously the conditions did not work with us at all. The ball moved a lot faster than we expected coming into the game," Chrustowski said. "I've been out basically the whole season, so it was a very good first game back. I only played the first two games and then I was out after fracturing my ankle.
“It went pretty good. This team is very family-based, and we all get along very well. We're all friends, so even if we're having a bad game, no one is on each other, we just kind of all work together.
"I feel like we had a lot of good connections up top, me and Sophia. We were able to work together really nicely. I feel like we were really able to communicate today, and I think that's been getting better throughout the season.
“At the beginning of the season we were very young, and we didn't expect to be so young. I I think the more the season has gone on and we've played hard teams, it's been easier to figure out how each of us play and who likes to do what."
After Roszkowski was denied on two tries and Bruce was thwarted on another, Roszkowski got past defenders and bounced an attempt past the Tigers goalie to give the visitors a 3-1 advantage in the 28th minute.
It didn't take long for St. Francis to add the match capper. In the 30th minute, Bielenda sent a pass to Bruce, who collected her second goal of the match.
"The weather definitely was not great tonight," Bruce said. "We were down 1-0, and that didn't stop us from pushing; so, it was definitely a team win. Our team is very young, so we've been improving over the past weeks of our season.
“I'm really proud of our team, because we all work together; and we didn't get down on each other or ourselves, which really pushed us to get the win tonight.
"Playing harder teams in tournaments really helped us as a team because we're very young. And going into playoffs, it's really important because the teams that we are going to play are going to get harder from here on out.
“I really like how everyone is positive and outgoing and talks to each other. And everyone works hard and gives all of their effort all of the time, which is really good."
The final half was dominated by the Spartans, Despite a dozen good opportunities and their best intentions, they were unable to add to their three-goal advantage against the Tigers, who are the fourth-seed in the Class AA Fenwick Sectional and will host a regional in that competition.
St. Francis sophomore Olivia Basel had two good attempts in the first 20 minutes of the final half while Roszkowski, Bruce and Bielenda also sent in threatening shots that were halted.
It was more of the same during the match's final quarter hour as Bruce was turned away two more times. Senior Sara Dziengel, freshman Nella Ksiag, Basel, Bielenda and Roszkowski all put shots on goal but St. Francis was unable to connect again.
As the result of their latest victory, the Spartans have won three in a row and four of their last five, outscoring their opponents 23-1 during the current win streak and 33-3 in their last five matches.
"The conditions were not very good but as a team we all continued to push through it, and we all gave it our all in the end," Spartans junior Adriana Suriano said. "And even though the ball was slipping everywhere, we still learned how to control it. We just kept it going, and we never gave up. Everyone decides to keep pushing and everyone gets along. No one works just for themselves; they work for the team."
Starting lineups
St. Francis
G Kennedy Karl
D Shannon Brown
D Adriana Suriano
D Ella Schroeder
D Sara Dziengel
M Ellie Bielenda
M Sophia Roszkowski
M Elle Wainscott
M Ella Wozniak
F Lauren Bruce
F Paige Chrustowski
Elmwood Park
G Victoria Vojtech
D Allison Scheidt
D Zyana Turcios
D Megan Nettelhorst
D Lauren Olson
M Jocelyn Mendoza
M Alyssa Andersen
M Mia Ramirez
M Briza Ocampo
F Olivia Dombek
F Lauren Scheidt
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Lauren Bruce, sr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
EP: Briza Ocampo, 12th minute
SF: Lauren Bruce, 15th minute
SF: Paige Chrustowski (Sophia Roszkowski), 16th minute
SF: Sophia Roszkowski, 28th minute
SF: Lauren Bruce (Ellie Bielenda), 30th minute
Second half
No scoring