Wheaton Academy limits St. Francis
Warriors close in on another league after 4-1 win
By Bill McLean
WEST CHICAGO — Kevin Ward gets it.
The St. Francis coach knows the key to good living is balance. He showed intensity one moment and lightheartedness the next in his Spartans’ road battle with Wheaton Academy’s Warriors on Thursday night.
Not long after barking a dead-serious order to one of his booters late in the first half, Ward noticed a ball boy had dribbled a ball in the field of play near a sideline.
“You know, that’ll get you a yellow card,” the coach, now smiling, cracked to the youngster.
But the color of the night was maroon — Wheaton Academy’s main school color. The Warriors, running around in a full kit featuring the color, struck for two goals in each half en route to a 4-1 victory on their Senior Night.
“Very pleased,” Warriors first-year coach Cody Snouffer said of his club’s showing, which left the hosts with an 8-3-1 overall mark and a 5-0 record in the Metro Suburban. “Special night, and we played everybody. I coached these seniors when they were freshmen [and when he was the program’s JV coach].
“It was good to see four guys with a goal on our score sheet,” added the native of Columbus, Ohio, and Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) University product.
Wheaton Academy sophomore midfielder/defender Giovanni Rios — who did not start because Snouffer deployed nothing but seniors for the kickoff — headed a pass from senior Sam Froslid past St. Francis goalkeeper Adam Thill in the 10th minute. Froslid was in a giving mood again some three minutes later, providing the assist on senior defender Jack Leichty’s goal.
Ward’s boys halted their opponent’s momentum about five minutes later, cutting the deficit in half via the potent tandem of senior midfielder/forward Frank Marsico and junior midfielder/defender Trey Gora.
“I saw Frank out of the corner of my eye,” Gora said of the moment he dished the ball 10 yards to his mate.
Marsico beat senior keeper Andrew Hoekstra from about nine yards and — just like that — the contest went from this-might-turn-into-a-rout kind of game to a tight one.
“It did change, right away,” Gora said, referring to the conference game’s tenor.
Wheaton Academy regained a two-goal advantage 15 minutes after the start of the second half. The Warriors’ uber-dangerous senior forward Logan Finnegan sent a corner kick toward the vicinity of junior midfielder Solomon Pitts, who popped to head the ball to senior forward Allen Rodriguez.
This A-Rod (minus a bat, minus a glove, minus the ESPN salary) then netted his squad’s third goal.
The final tally of the night was a beaut, initiated by a majestic service from sophomore midfielder Haetham Nasr a few yards from his side’s bench. Senior forward Daniel Rychenkov got under the 35-yard pass and made it a 4-1 match.
“I like how we can score multiple ways, and we did that tonight — from a flank, down the middle, set pieces,” Leichty said.
St. Francis (4-7-1, 2-1) entered Thursday’s tilt feeling positive, having edged Oswego East and Lincoln-Way East 2-1 on consecutive Saturdays this month in the Plainfield Classic. Ward’s crew went 4-3-1 after getting off to an 0-4-0 start.
“Good wins against Oswego East and Lincoln-Way East,” Ward said after the Warriors’ seniors were recognized before the kickoff Thursday. “We’re finding our way right now.
“Playing against highly competitive teams has helped us.”
Wheaton Academy’s possession skills, among countless other assets, proved too formidable against St. Francis on a windless, pleasant night. The Warriors’ crafty, speedy group thrilled the home fans.
It’s an exciting sight to see Finnegan, with a soccer ball at his feet, mad-dashing down a sideline, pausing to create space, then resuming turbo mode?
“Logan, he’s our best player,” Rychenkov said. “We know that. What’s also nice is, this is now the perfect time of year to rely on each other and to trust each other, and we’re doing that.”
Ward, a straight-shooter, began his post-match reflections by saying, “There’s not much to say.” But he went on to share some thoughts.
“[Wheaton Academy] is always good,” Ward said. “It would have been nice had we scored on the good chances we had; we certainly had them. But you’re wishing. You don’t want to wish; you want to make things happen.
“There were a couple of balls, here and there … we just need to finish those. On a couple of their goals we made misplays, mistakes, letting them get in [areas for scoring chances].”
The teams are back at it Saturday. Wheaton Academy hosts St. Charles East — ranked no. 22 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 — in a big nonconference match at 2 p.m. St. Francis hosts Metro Suburban Blue foe Elmwood Park at 7 p.m. at Graf Park in Wheaton.
Footnotes
Wheaton Academy senior forward Chris Eklund was introduced as a starter Thursday night but returned to the sideline seconds later. An injury, sustained earlier this fall, prevented him from seeing significant minutes; Snouffer started Eklund because it was his Senior Night. … Snouffer didn’t have to make any agonizing decisions before coming up with his seniors-only starting lineup for Senior Night. His roster features exactly 11 seniors. … Gora, on Wheaton Academy’s skills: “Their players move the ball well. They’re very technical.” … Snouffer, on his team’s date with visiting St. Charles East Saturday afternoon: “Big school. Good preparation [for the postseason]. And our guys will get to go up against a lot of their club mates.” … Leichty, on Rios: “His defense and work rate are incredible.” … Snouffer, on the state of his team before facing St. Francis: “The guys are working hard. We’re battling some injuries, like just about everybody else is. Other than that, we’re enjoying ourselves.” … Wheaton Academy’s win Thursday night was its seventh in nine matches since Aug. 31, when it lost 2-1 to visiting Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Ohio).
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Adam Thill
D: Nathan Corrigan
D: Trey Gora
MF: Brendan Yarusso
MF: Sam Premak
MF: Michael Fasana
MF: Guy DeFeo
MF: Henry Engelmann
F: Frank Marsico
F: Cameron Crawford
F: Nico Lajewski
Wheaton Academy
GK: Andrew Hoekstra
D: Soren Winquist-Bailey
D: Noah Szajkovics
D: Jack Leichty
MF: Alexander Howland
MF: Justin Riddle
MF: Sam Froslid
F: Logan Finnegan
F: Chris Eklund
F: Allen Rodriguez
F: Daniel Rychenkov
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Sam Froslid, sr., MF, Wheaton Academy
Jack Leichty, sr., D, Wheaton Academy
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Academy — Giovanni Rios (Froslid), 10’
Wheaton Academy — Leichty (Froslid), 13’
St. Francis — Marsico (Gora), 18’
Second half
Wheaton Academy — Rodriguez (Solomon Pitts, Finnegan), 55’
Wheaton Academy — Daniel Rychenkov (Haetham Nasr), 74
Warriors close in on another league after 4-1 win
By Bill McLean
WEST CHICAGO — Kevin Ward gets it.
The St. Francis coach knows the key to good living is balance. He showed intensity one moment and lightheartedness the next in his Spartans’ road battle with Wheaton Academy’s Warriors on Thursday night.
Not long after barking a dead-serious order to one of his booters late in the first half, Ward noticed a ball boy had dribbled a ball in the field of play near a sideline.
“You know, that’ll get you a yellow card,” the coach, now smiling, cracked to the youngster.
But the color of the night was maroon — Wheaton Academy’s main school color. The Warriors, running around in a full kit featuring the color, struck for two goals in each half en route to a 4-1 victory on their Senior Night.
“Very pleased,” Warriors first-year coach Cody Snouffer said of his club’s showing, which left the hosts with an 8-3-1 overall mark and a 5-0 record in the Metro Suburban. “Special night, and we played everybody. I coached these seniors when they were freshmen [and when he was the program’s JV coach].
“It was good to see four guys with a goal on our score sheet,” added the native of Columbus, Ohio, and Mount Vernon Nazarene (Ohio) University product.
Wheaton Academy sophomore midfielder/defender Giovanni Rios — who did not start because Snouffer deployed nothing but seniors for the kickoff — headed a pass from senior Sam Froslid past St. Francis goalkeeper Adam Thill in the 10th minute. Froslid was in a giving mood again some three minutes later, providing the assist on senior defender Jack Leichty’s goal.
Ward’s boys halted their opponent’s momentum about five minutes later, cutting the deficit in half via the potent tandem of senior midfielder/forward Frank Marsico and junior midfielder/defender Trey Gora.
“I saw Frank out of the corner of my eye,” Gora said of the moment he dished the ball 10 yards to his mate.
Marsico beat senior keeper Andrew Hoekstra from about nine yards and — just like that — the contest went from this-might-turn-into-a-rout kind of game to a tight one.
“It did change, right away,” Gora said, referring to the conference game’s tenor.
Wheaton Academy regained a two-goal advantage 15 minutes after the start of the second half. The Warriors’ uber-dangerous senior forward Logan Finnegan sent a corner kick toward the vicinity of junior midfielder Solomon Pitts, who popped to head the ball to senior forward Allen Rodriguez.
This A-Rod (minus a bat, minus a glove, minus the ESPN salary) then netted his squad’s third goal.
The final tally of the night was a beaut, initiated by a majestic service from sophomore midfielder Haetham Nasr a few yards from his side’s bench. Senior forward Daniel Rychenkov got under the 35-yard pass and made it a 4-1 match.
“I like how we can score multiple ways, and we did that tonight — from a flank, down the middle, set pieces,” Leichty said.
St. Francis (4-7-1, 2-1) entered Thursday’s tilt feeling positive, having edged Oswego East and Lincoln-Way East 2-1 on consecutive Saturdays this month in the Plainfield Classic. Ward’s crew went 4-3-1 after getting off to an 0-4-0 start.
“Good wins against Oswego East and Lincoln-Way East,” Ward said after the Warriors’ seniors were recognized before the kickoff Thursday. “We’re finding our way right now.
“Playing against highly competitive teams has helped us.”
Wheaton Academy’s possession skills, among countless other assets, proved too formidable against St. Francis on a windless, pleasant night. The Warriors’ crafty, speedy group thrilled the home fans.
It’s an exciting sight to see Finnegan, with a soccer ball at his feet, mad-dashing down a sideline, pausing to create space, then resuming turbo mode?
“Logan, he’s our best player,” Rychenkov said. “We know that. What’s also nice is, this is now the perfect time of year to rely on each other and to trust each other, and we’re doing that.”
Ward, a straight-shooter, began his post-match reflections by saying, “There’s not much to say.” But he went on to share some thoughts.
“[Wheaton Academy] is always good,” Ward said. “It would have been nice had we scored on the good chances we had; we certainly had them. But you’re wishing. You don’t want to wish; you want to make things happen.
“There were a couple of balls, here and there … we just need to finish those. On a couple of their goals we made misplays, mistakes, letting them get in [areas for scoring chances].”
The teams are back at it Saturday. Wheaton Academy hosts St. Charles East — ranked no. 22 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 — in a big nonconference match at 2 p.m. St. Francis hosts Metro Suburban Blue foe Elmwood Park at 7 p.m. at Graf Park in Wheaton.
Footnotes
Wheaton Academy senior forward Chris Eklund was introduced as a starter Thursday night but returned to the sideline seconds later. An injury, sustained earlier this fall, prevented him from seeing significant minutes; Snouffer started Eklund because it was his Senior Night. … Snouffer didn’t have to make any agonizing decisions before coming up with his seniors-only starting lineup for Senior Night. His roster features exactly 11 seniors. … Gora, on Wheaton Academy’s skills: “Their players move the ball well. They’re very technical.” … Snouffer, on his team’s date with visiting St. Charles East Saturday afternoon: “Big school. Good preparation [for the postseason]. And our guys will get to go up against a lot of their club mates.” … Leichty, on Rios: “His defense and work rate are incredible.” … Snouffer, on the state of his team before facing St. Francis: “The guys are working hard. We’re battling some injuries, like just about everybody else is. Other than that, we’re enjoying ourselves.” … Wheaton Academy’s win Thursday night was its seventh in nine matches since Aug. 31, when it lost 2-1 to visiting Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (Ohio).
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK: Adam Thill
D: Nathan Corrigan
D: Trey Gora
MF: Brendan Yarusso
MF: Sam Premak
MF: Michael Fasana
MF: Guy DeFeo
MF: Henry Engelmann
F: Frank Marsico
F: Cameron Crawford
F: Nico Lajewski
Wheaton Academy
GK: Andrew Hoekstra
D: Soren Winquist-Bailey
D: Noah Szajkovics
D: Jack Leichty
MF: Alexander Howland
MF: Justin Riddle
MF: Sam Froslid
F: Logan Finnegan
F: Chris Eklund
F: Allen Rodriguez
F: Daniel Rychenkov
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Sam Froslid, sr., MF, Wheaton Academy
Jack Leichty, sr., D, Wheaton Academy
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Academy — Giovanni Rios (Froslid), 10’
Wheaton Academy — Leichty (Froslid), 13’
St. Francis — Marsico (Gora), 18’
Second half
Wheaton Academy — Rodriguez (Solomon Pitts, Finnegan), 55’
Wheaton Academy — Daniel Rychenkov (Haetham Nasr), 74