Marsico lifts St. Francis past Oswego East
Spartans win 2-1 in Plainfield Classic opener
By Matt Le Cren
PLAINFIELD – If ESPN had a highlight reel for high school soccer goals, St. Francis senior Frank Marsico’s game-winning strike Saturday might be on it.
While not as spectacular or as rare as a bicycle kick, the perfectly placed 20-yard rocket Marsico struck with 9:21 remaining in his team’s opening-round game of the Plainfield Classic was a thing of beauty.
It was Marsico’s second goal of the match and fifth in two games, and it ultimately provided the margin of victory in the Spartans’ 2-1 triumph over Oswego East at Plainfield Central.
“That was a great shot,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said. “That was a great shot. It was a great turn and great left foot.
“Gosh, I will take that all the time. I was really pleased to see that happen.”
The play began when Marsico led a counterattack and sent a pass to fellow forward Nico Lajewski on the right wing.
Lajewski, who earlier had assisted on Marsico’s first goal, carried the ball into the box and could have put a shot on frame. Instead, he passed it back to Marsico at the top of the 18.
Marsico received the pass, turned to his left and ripped a shot into a tight window between the left post and the outstretched fingers of Oswego East goalie Owen Kiilsgaard.
For Lajewski, passing up a good shot to give a teammate a better one was a no-brainer, especially considering Marsico recorded a hat-trick in Thursday’s 5-0 win over Ridgewood.
“He’s capable of a lot,” Lajewski said. “He played me through.
“I saw him (open). I didn’t want to be selfish.
“I saw he had a better opportunity, so I just put it on his feet, and we got the goal. We just put our trust in each other up-top and good results will come.”
Good results took a while to come for the Spartans (2-4-1), who began the season by going 0-4-1 at the Hillner Classic, all against Class 3A schools.
But they now are on a three-game unbeaten streak, including the win over 3A Oswego East.
“We started off against all these 3A teams, but I think our results are starting to show now,” Marsico said. “We’re playing teams of similar size, and we’re getting the results.”
Why is that?
“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing, but I think just overall a lot of our players are really stepping things up,” Marsico said. “I’m proud of everyone who is playing new positions, and it took time to kind of get to the level that we needed to be.
“We didn’t have any games before the Hillner Classic, so we kind of just jumped right into it. I think our improvement has shown a lot these past couple games.”
The Spartans will face at least a couple more 3A opponents next week in the Plainfield Classic. Ward hope that stiffens them to make some noise in the Class AA state playoffs next month and said beating the Wolves is a good start.
“It’s a great hurdle to jump over,” Ward said. “It’s hard to tell what we’re facing.
“We’re in the Hillner Classic, and we were close a couple times. I thought we could have won a game or two there, but we were a little short.
“But my guys need these kinds of contests right now if we’re going to get ready for the year. I think the exciting thing right now is to see who is able to step up.
Plenty of Spartans stepped up against the Wolves. Goalie Cameron Crawford made two great diving saves in the first half to stop sharp headers off the pates of Ythan Houston and Kellen Klosterman.
The defense came up big as well, especially senior Jack Hartle, who cleared back-to-back shots off the line following a scramble off a corner kick in the 52nd minute. Those plays came just two minutes after Andre Casas bagged the equalizer for the Wolves.
“Can we continue that?” Ward said. “There’s also tough teams in this tournament, too. So it’s like we stepped in the fire at the Hillner, and we’re stepping in the fire now.
“I’m encouraged by a lot of what I’m seeing right now. Hopefully we can stay on track.”
After a scoreless first half, Marsico got the Spartans on track four minutes into the second half with a little help from Lajewski, who lofted the ball over a defender in the right side of the box to a spot just outside the 6.
Marsico and Kiilsgaard both went up for it, but Marsico got his head on it and the ball rolled across the line and inside the right post just before a defender could clear it.
But the Wolves (2-5-0) tied it six minutes later when Casas raced into the box and slotted a shot between Crawford and the right post. Oswego East had the better of the run of play for a while after that, but the Spartans held and eventually summoned some extra energy.
“It’s tough, especially when it’s a hot day,” Marsico said. “Everyone is tired.
“You score a goal, it’s really easy to kind of lay off the gas a little bit, and I think we did just a little bit. But their goal was a wakeup call for us, and I think we responded really well and we stepped it up.”
Marsico’s second strike seemed to deflate the Wolves and ignite the Spartans, who did not allow a shot the rest of the way.
“(Marsico) had a lot of space, good opportunity to turn and hit it,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “He did a good job of putting it in the back of the net, so credit to him.
“I thought both teams played really hard. They finished more opportunities than we did today.”
That’s been a theme for the Wolves, who have looked listless at times on offense.
“Unfortunately, we’re just not getting good quality opportunities,” Szymanski said. “I thought we had the better of the play for about 30 minutes there.
“They were literally exhausted, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Even so, Szymanski was pleased with his squad’s effort, noting the Wolves scored an important Southwest Prairie Conference win with Thursday’s 2-1 overtime defeat of Plainfield South.
“We’re starting to play better,” Szymanski said. “Today, I thought we played a lot better. We played harder.
“That was the thing we were struggling with earlier. We weren’t playing that hard, and we weren’t playing with a lot of energy.
“Today, I thought we left it out on the field, which is good to see.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Cameron Crawford
D Nathan Corrigan
D Jimmy Ma
D Jack Hartle
D Brendan Yarusso
M Sam Premak
M Guy DeFeo
M Michael Fasana
F Frank Marsico
F Nico Lajewski
F Trey Gora
Oswego East
GK Owen Kiilsgaard
D Cael Cummings
D Nathan Czepiel
D Ryan D’Adamo
D Jack Conway
M Grant Glorioso
M Kellen Klosterman
M Sahil Sehti
F Dimitri Huitron
F Dacarlos Parodis-Yu
F Andre Casas
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Frank Marsico, sr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
St. Francis – Frank Marsico (Nico Lajewski) 36:11
Oswego East – Andre Casas 30:06
St. Francis – Marsico (Lajewski) 9:21
Spartans win 2-1 in Plainfield Classic opener
By Matt Le Cren
PLAINFIELD – If ESPN had a highlight reel for high school soccer goals, St. Francis senior Frank Marsico’s game-winning strike Saturday might be on it.
While not as spectacular or as rare as a bicycle kick, the perfectly placed 20-yard rocket Marsico struck with 9:21 remaining in his team’s opening-round game of the Plainfield Classic was a thing of beauty.
It was Marsico’s second goal of the match and fifth in two games, and it ultimately provided the margin of victory in the Spartans’ 2-1 triumph over Oswego East at Plainfield Central.
“That was a great shot,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said. “That was a great shot. It was a great turn and great left foot.
“Gosh, I will take that all the time. I was really pleased to see that happen.”
The play began when Marsico led a counterattack and sent a pass to fellow forward Nico Lajewski on the right wing.
Lajewski, who earlier had assisted on Marsico’s first goal, carried the ball into the box and could have put a shot on frame. Instead, he passed it back to Marsico at the top of the 18.
Marsico received the pass, turned to his left and ripped a shot into a tight window between the left post and the outstretched fingers of Oswego East goalie Owen Kiilsgaard.
For Lajewski, passing up a good shot to give a teammate a better one was a no-brainer, especially considering Marsico recorded a hat-trick in Thursday’s 5-0 win over Ridgewood.
“He’s capable of a lot,” Lajewski said. “He played me through.
“I saw him (open). I didn’t want to be selfish.
“I saw he had a better opportunity, so I just put it on his feet, and we got the goal. We just put our trust in each other up-top and good results will come.”
Good results took a while to come for the Spartans (2-4-1), who began the season by going 0-4-1 at the Hillner Classic, all against Class 3A schools.
But they now are on a three-game unbeaten streak, including the win over 3A Oswego East.
“We started off against all these 3A teams, but I think our results are starting to show now,” Marsico said. “We’re playing teams of similar size, and we’re getting the results.”
Why is that?
“It’s hard to pinpoint one thing, but I think just overall a lot of our players are really stepping things up,” Marsico said. “I’m proud of everyone who is playing new positions, and it took time to kind of get to the level that we needed to be.
“We didn’t have any games before the Hillner Classic, so we kind of just jumped right into it. I think our improvement has shown a lot these past couple games.”
The Spartans will face at least a couple more 3A opponents next week in the Plainfield Classic. Ward hope that stiffens them to make some noise in the Class AA state playoffs next month and said beating the Wolves is a good start.
“It’s a great hurdle to jump over,” Ward said. “It’s hard to tell what we’re facing.
“We’re in the Hillner Classic, and we were close a couple times. I thought we could have won a game or two there, but we were a little short.
“But my guys need these kinds of contests right now if we’re going to get ready for the year. I think the exciting thing right now is to see who is able to step up.
Plenty of Spartans stepped up against the Wolves. Goalie Cameron Crawford made two great diving saves in the first half to stop sharp headers off the pates of Ythan Houston and Kellen Klosterman.
The defense came up big as well, especially senior Jack Hartle, who cleared back-to-back shots off the line following a scramble off a corner kick in the 52nd minute. Those plays came just two minutes after Andre Casas bagged the equalizer for the Wolves.
“Can we continue that?” Ward said. “There’s also tough teams in this tournament, too. So it’s like we stepped in the fire at the Hillner, and we’re stepping in the fire now.
“I’m encouraged by a lot of what I’m seeing right now. Hopefully we can stay on track.”
After a scoreless first half, Marsico got the Spartans on track four minutes into the second half with a little help from Lajewski, who lofted the ball over a defender in the right side of the box to a spot just outside the 6.
Marsico and Kiilsgaard both went up for it, but Marsico got his head on it and the ball rolled across the line and inside the right post just before a defender could clear it.
But the Wolves (2-5-0) tied it six minutes later when Casas raced into the box and slotted a shot between Crawford and the right post. Oswego East had the better of the run of play for a while after that, but the Spartans held and eventually summoned some extra energy.
“It’s tough, especially when it’s a hot day,” Marsico said. “Everyone is tired.
“You score a goal, it’s really easy to kind of lay off the gas a little bit, and I think we did just a little bit. But their goal was a wakeup call for us, and I think we responded really well and we stepped it up.”
Marsico’s second strike seemed to deflate the Wolves and ignite the Spartans, who did not allow a shot the rest of the way.
“(Marsico) had a lot of space, good opportunity to turn and hit it,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “He did a good job of putting it in the back of the net, so credit to him.
“I thought both teams played really hard. They finished more opportunities than we did today.”
That’s been a theme for the Wolves, who have looked listless at times on offense.
“Unfortunately, we’re just not getting good quality opportunities,” Szymanski said. “I thought we had the better of the play for about 30 minutes there.
“They were literally exhausted, but we just couldn’t find the back of the net.”
Even so, Szymanski was pleased with his squad’s effort, noting the Wolves scored an important Southwest Prairie Conference win with Thursday’s 2-1 overtime defeat of Plainfield South.
“We’re starting to play better,” Szymanski said. “Today, I thought we played a lot better. We played harder.
“That was the thing we were struggling with earlier. We weren’t playing that hard, and we weren’t playing with a lot of energy.
“Today, I thought we left it out on the field, which is good to see.”
Starting lineups
St. Francis
GK Cameron Crawford
D Nathan Corrigan
D Jimmy Ma
D Jack Hartle
D Brendan Yarusso
M Sam Premak
M Guy DeFeo
M Michael Fasana
F Frank Marsico
F Nico Lajewski
F Trey Gora
Oswego East
GK Owen Kiilsgaard
D Cael Cummings
D Nathan Czepiel
D Ryan D’Adamo
D Jack Conway
M Grant Glorioso
M Kellen Klosterman
M Sahil Sehti
F Dimitri Huitron
F Dacarlos Parodis-Yu
F Andre Casas
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Frank Marsico, sr., F, St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
St. Francis – Frank Marsico (Nico Lajewski) 36:11
Oswego East – Andre Casas 30:06
St. Francis – Marsico (Lajewski) 9:21