St. Francis keeper holds edge over Timothy
Simon Hartle comes up with the answers to keep Spartans undefeated
By Patrick Z. McGavin
ELMHURST — Simon Hartle is as much a student of psychology as a skilled young keeper.
“Whenever you make a save in a shootout, I think it messes with the minds of the rest of the team,” he said.
“It also gives our team more confidence and less fear of missing our own shots.”
His ability to read the situation proved illuminating.
The sophomore made a momentum-swinging stop on the first Timothy shooter during the penalty kick phase.
St, Francis, ranked no. 23 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, connected on all four of its penalty kicks to edge the 24th-ranked Trojans in the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division and move one step closer to a perfect season.
St. Francis (9-0-0, 9-0-0) took the shootout 4-2 in the shootout portion after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions.
“Anytime you save the first one, it’s already a win in a way,” Simon Hartle said.
Simon Hartle’s older brother Jack Hartle started out the Spartans right by going into the right corner.
Nick Madden, Guy DeFeo and Nico Lajewski also converted for the Spartans.
Lajewski is formally credited for the game-winning goal.
Christian Cruz and Cameron Baker converted their attempts for Timothy.
The finish was just a perfect end note to a spectacular start.
Hartle made several jaw dropping stops that thwarted the Trojans, who dominated the run of play.
Timothy suffered its second-consecutive conference defeat on penalty kicks.
The Crusaders lost by an identical 4-2 score against Riverside-Brookfield on Saturday after being shut out for the first time this season.
“The game today was the same story as the R-B game, and we talked about how we didn’t want to put ourselves in that situation again,” Timothy coach Joel Zielke said.
“You dominate most of the game, you create good scoring opportunities, but are unable to finish. We let teams hang around and bad things tend to happen.”
Simon Hartle made a series of spectacular stops, including a diving left-handed stab.
Timothy also was just unlucky with bounces or weird turns.
On the ensuing corner, Hendrik DeVries had a header bounce off the post.
It was that kind of night for the Trojans, who celebrated Senior Night.
But the evening’s spotlight was stolen by a St. Francis sophomore.
“I don’t know how I’d describe my style,” Simon Hartle said. “It’s mainly just instinct. I’ve been playing keeper for a while.
“If I see a shot, I go for it and do everything I can and use my athleticism and let it happen.”
His older brother Jack Hartle heads an athletic and gritty backline.
Despite permitting multiple opportunities for Timothy, St. Francis compensated by jamming the final third with bodies and making it tough for the Trojans to find open spaces.
St. Francis created numerous deflections and blocks that helped protect its keeper.
“We’ve had great defense the entire year,” Simon Hartle said. “We’ve had great leadership with our captains. We’ve had seniors who keep us going.
“We have been relentless.”
Another significant underlying question was how much the emotional weight of the Saturday result impacted Timothy.
“I am not sure the game on Saturday really affected us that much,” senior midfielder Jalen Wallace said.
“Regardless this game never should have gone to penalty kicks.”
Timothy had the Spartans on their heels from the start. The Trojans generated a corner kick in the first minute.
Senior forward Josh Bode played with particular energy and edge, advancing the ball forward and forcing the Spartans to continuously react to the home team’s actions.
For the most part, Timothy did everything right—except the final necessary scoring action.
The scoreless streak ended when Wallace finally broke through in the 46th minute by using his lean 6-foot-3 size to elevate and smash home a header.
The Trojans inability to finish their other chances came back to haunt them after St. Francis freshman Cooper Winslow got loose for a nine-yard blast off a cross from Lajewski in the 64th minute.
“I got nervous because I thought it was going to hit the crossbar and bounce back,” Winslow said.
His father, Jim Winslow, has coached the Spartans’ girls program to two state championships.
“I’ve been playing pretty much since I could walk,” he said. “It was a great feeling to tie the game, stay in it and then win on penalty kicks.”
Zielke said the equalizer was a gut punch.
“You could see halfway through the second half, our intensity level had a big drop,” he said.
“We weren’t working off the ball hard. We were losing marks and not communicating well.
“We had to wake back up and fight.”
Hartle made another great stop in the 77th minute on a ball from Josh Kiefer.
Timothy had everything but luck. Bode created several jaw-dropping passes the Trojans could not get on the end of.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Zielke said. “The effort was there. I thought we executed our game plan very well. For whatever reason, we couldn't find the net consistently.”
Twice in overtime Timothy, in its excitement, punched the ball over the top of an open net.
“We wanted to recognize the seniors for their contributions to the program,” Zielke said. “They’ve been a huge part of our program. I’d like a better result for them to remember, especially with the conference title at stake.”
The bitter truth is soccer is often a game about managing failure.
“Soccer is a game where funny things happen,” he said. “The better team on the field doesn’t always show up on the scoreboard.”
Timothy’s losing streak stretched to three games after a 2-0 defeat Wednesday at St. Edward. The Trojans (8-4-1, 8-3-0) close out their season against defending Class A state champion University (Chicago).
“There have been a ton of positives this year,” Zielke said. “We are a team that has shown we can play with anybody on any given night.
“Being a small school, I think we are often overlooked. I think we have opened a lot of people’s eyes. We are going to try and continue that moving forward.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Simon Hartle
D: Justin Klein
D: Jack Hartle
D: Nick Madden
MF: Guy DeFeo
MF: Mason Karch
MF: Matthew Marsico
MF: Cooper Winslow
MF: Brendan Yarusso
F: Nico Lajewski
F: Cameron Crawford
Timothy
GK: Jason Westra
D: Michael Vogt
D: Jake Alex
D: Josh Kiefer
MF: Eddie Favela
MF: Cameron Baker
MF: Ethan Lamkuil
MF: Christian Cruz
MF: Jalen Wallace
F: Jackson Day
F: Josh Bode
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Simon Hartle, so., GK, St. Francis;
Nico Lajewski, sr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Timothy—Jalen Wallace (Josh Kiefer), 46th minute
St. Francis—Cooper Winslow (Nico Lajewski), 64th minute
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
Shootout
St. Francis: Jack Hartle, Nick Madden, Guy DeFeo, Lajewski
Timothy: Christian Cruz, Cameron Baker
Simon Hartle comes up with the answers to keep Spartans undefeated
By Patrick Z. McGavin
ELMHURST — Simon Hartle is as much a student of psychology as a skilled young keeper.
“Whenever you make a save in a shootout, I think it messes with the minds of the rest of the team,” he said.
“It also gives our team more confidence and less fear of missing our own shots.”
His ability to read the situation proved illuminating.
The sophomore made a momentum-swinging stop on the first Timothy shooter during the penalty kick phase.
St, Francis, ranked no. 23 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, connected on all four of its penalty kicks to edge the 24th-ranked Trojans in the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division and move one step closer to a perfect season.
St. Francis (9-0-0, 9-0-0) took the shootout 4-2 in the shootout portion after the teams played to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two 10-minute overtime sessions.
“Anytime you save the first one, it’s already a win in a way,” Simon Hartle said.
Simon Hartle’s older brother Jack Hartle started out the Spartans right by going into the right corner.
Nick Madden, Guy DeFeo and Nico Lajewski also converted for the Spartans.
Lajewski is formally credited for the game-winning goal.
Christian Cruz and Cameron Baker converted their attempts for Timothy.
The finish was just a perfect end note to a spectacular start.
Hartle made several jaw dropping stops that thwarted the Trojans, who dominated the run of play.
Timothy suffered its second-consecutive conference defeat on penalty kicks.
The Crusaders lost by an identical 4-2 score against Riverside-Brookfield on Saturday after being shut out for the first time this season.
“The game today was the same story as the R-B game, and we talked about how we didn’t want to put ourselves in that situation again,” Timothy coach Joel Zielke said.
“You dominate most of the game, you create good scoring opportunities, but are unable to finish. We let teams hang around and bad things tend to happen.”
Simon Hartle made a series of spectacular stops, including a diving left-handed stab.
Timothy also was just unlucky with bounces or weird turns.
On the ensuing corner, Hendrik DeVries had a header bounce off the post.
It was that kind of night for the Trojans, who celebrated Senior Night.
But the evening’s spotlight was stolen by a St. Francis sophomore.
“I don’t know how I’d describe my style,” Simon Hartle said. “It’s mainly just instinct. I’ve been playing keeper for a while.
“If I see a shot, I go for it and do everything I can and use my athleticism and let it happen.”
His older brother Jack Hartle heads an athletic and gritty backline.
Despite permitting multiple opportunities for Timothy, St. Francis compensated by jamming the final third with bodies and making it tough for the Trojans to find open spaces.
St. Francis created numerous deflections and blocks that helped protect its keeper.
“We’ve had great defense the entire year,” Simon Hartle said. “We’ve had great leadership with our captains. We’ve had seniors who keep us going.
“We have been relentless.”
Another significant underlying question was how much the emotional weight of the Saturday result impacted Timothy.
“I am not sure the game on Saturday really affected us that much,” senior midfielder Jalen Wallace said.
“Regardless this game never should have gone to penalty kicks.”
Timothy had the Spartans on their heels from the start. The Trojans generated a corner kick in the first minute.
Senior forward Josh Bode played with particular energy and edge, advancing the ball forward and forcing the Spartans to continuously react to the home team’s actions.
For the most part, Timothy did everything right—except the final necessary scoring action.
The scoreless streak ended when Wallace finally broke through in the 46th minute by using his lean 6-foot-3 size to elevate and smash home a header.
The Trojans inability to finish their other chances came back to haunt them after St. Francis freshman Cooper Winslow got loose for a nine-yard blast off a cross from Lajewski in the 64th minute.
“I got nervous because I thought it was going to hit the crossbar and bounce back,” Winslow said.
His father, Jim Winslow, has coached the Spartans’ girls program to two state championships.
“I’ve been playing pretty much since I could walk,” he said. “It was a great feeling to tie the game, stay in it and then win on penalty kicks.”
Zielke said the equalizer was a gut punch.
“You could see halfway through the second half, our intensity level had a big drop,” he said.
“We weren’t working off the ball hard. We were losing marks and not communicating well.
“We had to wake back up and fight.”
Hartle made another great stop in the 77th minute on a ball from Josh Kiefer.
Timothy had everything but luck. Bode created several jaw-dropping passes the Trojans could not get on the end of.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Zielke said. “The effort was there. I thought we executed our game plan very well. For whatever reason, we couldn't find the net consistently.”
Twice in overtime Timothy, in its excitement, punched the ball over the top of an open net.
“We wanted to recognize the seniors for their contributions to the program,” Zielke said. “They’ve been a huge part of our program. I’d like a better result for them to remember, especially with the conference title at stake.”
The bitter truth is soccer is often a game about managing failure.
“Soccer is a game where funny things happen,” he said. “The better team on the field doesn’t always show up on the scoreboard.”
Timothy’s losing streak stretched to three games after a 2-0 defeat Wednesday at St. Edward. The Trojans (8-4-1, 8-3-0) close out their season against defending Class A state champion University (Chicago).
“There have been a ton of positives this year,” Zielke said. “We are a team that has shown we can play with anybody on any given night.
“Being a small school, I think we are often overlooked. I think we have opened a lot of people’s eyes. We are going to try and continue that moving forward.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Simon Hartle
D: Justin Klein
D: Jack Hartle
D: Nick Madden
MF: Guy DeFeo
MF: Mason Karch
MF: Matthew Marsico
MF: Cooper Winslow
MF: Brendan Yarusso
F: Nico Lajewski
F: Cameron Crawford
Timothy
GK: Jason Westra
D: Michael Vogt
D: Jake Alex
D: Josh Kiefer
MF: Eddie Favela
MF: Cameron Baker
MF: Ethan Lamkuil
MF: Christian Cruz
MF: Jalen Wallace
F: Jackson Day
F: Josh Bode
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Simon Hartle, so., GK, St. Francis;
Nico Lajewski, sr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Timothy—Jalen Wallace (Josh Kiefer), 46th minute
St. Francis—Cooper Winslow (Nico Lajewski), 64th minute
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
Shootout
St. Francis: Jack Hartle, Nick Madden, Guy DeFeo, Lajewski
Timothy: Christian Cruz, Cameron Baker