Resounding rally rockets
Saint Viator past Saint Ignatius
Lions give coach winning sendoff with 5-1 win
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — Nobody shouts “pressure” louder than Mike Taylor does in games.
The Saint Viator coach and native of Zimbabwe bellowed the word constantly to his Lions throughout the Class AA third place game against St. Ignatius at Fremd on Saturday afternoon.
At about 1:12 p.m. local time, somebody walking with a friend downtown in his former state capitol of Harare at 8:12 p.m. must have turned and asked, “Did you hear that?”
“I yell that word to remind my players to make it difficult for opponents with the ball,” Taylor said after his club scored five unanswered goals in its 5-1 defeat of the Wolfpack in sunny, steamy conditions.
“No free outs,” he added. “No freedom to move the ball easily, anywhere.”
What was hard for Taylor on Saturday took place after the final horn blared. That sound signaled the end of his 11-year tenure as girls coach at the Arlington Heights school.
Taylor finished with a 149-79-18 career mark and guided the program to four state trophies, including Saturday’s bronze. His 2010 and ’ 18 squads finished second, and his ’12 edition placed third.
“I’ll miss the kids,” Taylor admitted 20 minutes after the awards presentation in front of the home-side bleachers. “I didn’t have a kid of my own playing for me on this team, but I considered all of them my kids.
“I gave each player a hug afterward.”
Had Taylor embraced every Lion after each successful Viator corner kick on Saturday, his arms would be sore until Labor Day, maybe Thanksgiving. The Lions (14-5-1) notched their first three goals (headers, all of them) via the corner boot.
Saint Viator senior forward Caroline Sexton scored twice off corners from junior midfielder Emilie Doersching, and completed a hat-trick in the 54th minute. She delivered the corner kick assist on senior midfielder Gabby Brown’s goal in the 30th minute.
Her performance made history and punched her ticket as the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. Sexton's hat-trick tied the Class AA state finals record for goals in a game
“We practiced corners 20-30 minutes at every practice,” Sexton said after improving her season totals to 24 goals and seven assists. “Emilie is so good at them, because she practices them so often.
“Today we went out there and wanted to have fun.”
“We wanted to play hard for coach Taylor and see him finish his time at Saint Viator with a win,” Doersching said.
First-time state finals qualifier Saint Ignatius (15-7-1), which lost 7-1 to Joliet Catholic in a state semifinal Friday night, struck first in the battle for third place, getting a close-range goal from senior midfielder Lauren Tiemann off a deft head pass from reserve junior forward Mia Cadichon in the 28th minute.
“We felt like we were dominating at the time of our goal,” Tiemann said. “I thought we’d keep scoring.”
But Viator’s first goal — two minutes after the Wolfpack’s lone goal — triggered nothing but Lions tallies from there.
Lions senior keeper Lilly Collins started in goal, competed as a field player for a brief stretch in the second half and then capped her prep career by subbing late for backup sophomore keeper Reanne Valera.
A couple of her teammates confirmed that Collins had lobbied to log meaningful minutes without wearing gloves and a colorful top.
“For me it’s definitely going to be hard to say good-bye to our seniors,” Doersching said. “I know I’m not the only one who thinks that. I plan to stay in touch with them after they head to college. This team was super close all season, with fun and funny players. The funniest of them all, though, is (sophomore back) Molly Craig.
“She makes everybody laugh all the time.”
The Wolfpack and coach Caroline Zadina knew they’d be in a for a serious battle against Taylor and his crew.
“We expected to face a good side, and that’s we got from Saint Viator,” Zadina said. “It’s a privilege to play a team like that; it’s always a privilege to take on strong opponents at any point in a season. Yes, we lost a couple of games this weekend, but I’m proud of what we accomplished this season.”
Footnotes
Saint Ignatius was a Honorable Mention team in Chicagoland Soccer’s Top 25 rankings before the start of the postseason. … St. Ignatius’ Tiemann works at a Dairy Queen this summer. Her favorite treat at the soft serve shop? “Oreo blizzard, all the way,” she said after the Class AA third place game Saturday afternoon. It took her a half-second, maybe less, to reply to that inquiry. … Saint Ignatius’ most significant win in program history was its 2-0 defeat of Payton for the Class AA St. Francis Sectional title on June 14. It secured the Wolfpack’s first state finals berth in girls soccer. “Pure celebration when we won,” Zadina recalled. “Getting a win like that, in a supersectional, was a breakthrough for us.” … Viator’s Doersching finished with 14 goals and a team-high 24 assists after her one-goal, two-assist effort vs. St. Ignatius. … Junior midfielder Shannon Rydz ended up as the Wolfpack’s leading goal scorer, with 17, five more than Tiemann’s no. 2 total. … Tiemann, senior midfielder Adrian Williams, senior defender Kate Abdo, junior midfielder Eloise Bennett and senior back Cameron Shutt served as St. Ignatius captains in ’21. … Saint Viator outscored its final eight foes by a combined margin of 25-4.
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
GK Lilly Collins
D Emily Rasher
D Jordan Imhoff
D Emma Ziebka
D Laila Azari
M Emilie Doersching
M Callie Mulligan
M Zophie Perez
M Sydney Grant
M Gabby Brown
F Caroline Sexton
Saint Ignatius
GK Darcy Schoen
D Kate Abdo
D Elizabeth Doherty
D Cameron Shutt
D Santana Berhalter
M Shannon Rydz
M Claire Radecki
M Maeve O’Meara
M Eloise Barnett
M Adrian Williams
F Lauren Tiemann
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Caroline Sexton, sr., F, Saint Viator
Scoring summary
First half
Saint Ignatius — Tiemann (Mia Cadichon), 28’
Saint Viator — Brown (Sexton), 30’
Saint Viator — Sexton (Doersching), 39’
Second half
Saint Viator — Sexton (Doersching), 43’
Saint Viator — Sexton, 54’
Saint Viator — Doersching (Brown), 38’
Saint Viator past Saint Ignatius
Lions give coach winning sendoff with 5-1 win
By Bill McLean
PALATINE — Nobody shouts “pressure” louder than Mike Taylor does in games.
The Saint Viator coach and native of Zimbabwe bellowed the word constantly to his Lions throughout the Class AA third place game against St. Ignatius at Fremd on Saturday afternoon.
At about 1:12 p.m. local time, somebody walking with a friend downtown in his former state capitol of Harare at 8:12 p.m. must have turned and asked, “Did you hear that?”
“I yell that word to remind my players to make it difficult for opponents with the ball,” Taylor said after his club scored five unanswered goals in its 5-1 defeat of the Wolfpack in sunny, steamy conditions.
“No free outs,” he added. “No freedom to move the ball easily, anywhere.”
What was hard for Taylor on Saturday took place after the final horn blared. That sound signaled the end of his 11-year tenure as girls coach at the Arlington Heights school.
Taylor finished with a 149-79-18 career mark and guided the program to four state trophies, including Saturday’s bronze. His 2010 and ’ 18 squads finished second, and his ’12 edition placed third.
“I’ll miss the kids,” Taylor admitted 20 minutes after the awards presentation in front of the home-side bleachers. “I didn’t have a kid of my own playing for me on this team, but I considered all of them my kids.
“I gave each player a hug afterward.”
Had Taylor embraced every Lion after each successful Viator corner kick on Saturday, his arms would be sore until Labor Day, maybe Thanksgiving. The Lions (14-5-1) notched their first three goals (headers, all of them) via the corner boot.
Saint Viator senior forward Caroline Sexton scored twice off corners from junior midfielder Emilie Doersching, and completed a hat-trick in the 54th minute. She delivered the corner kick assist on senior midfielder Gabby Brown’s goal in the 30th minute.
Her performance made history and punched her ticket as the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. Sexton's hat-trick tied the Class AA state finals record for goals in a game
“We practiced corners 20-30 minutes at every practice,” Sexton said after improving her season totals to 24 goals and seven assists. “Emilie is so good at them, because she practices them so often.
“Today we went out there and wanted to have fun.”
“We wanted to play hard for coach Taylor and see him finish his time at Saint Viator with a win,” Doersching said.
First-time state finals qualifier Saint Ignatius (15-7-1), which lost 7-1 to Joliet Catholic in a state semifinal Friday night, struck first in the battle for third place, getting a close-range goal from senior midfielder Lauren Tiemann off a deft head pass from reserve junior forward Mia Cadichon in the 28th minute.
“We felt like we were dominating at the time of our goal,” Tiemann said. “I thought we’d keep scoring.”
But Viator’s first goal — two minutes after the Wolfpack’s lone goal — triggered nothing but Lions tallies from there.
Lions senior keeper Lilly Collins started in goal, competed as a field player for a brief stretch in the second half and then capped her prep career by subbing late for backup sophomore keeper Reanne Valera.
A couple of her teammates confirmed that Collins had lobbied to log meaningful minutes without wearing gloves and a colorful top.
“For me it’s definitely going to be hard to say good-bye to our seniors,” Doersching said. “I know I’m not the only one who thinks that. I plan to stay in touch with them after they head to college. This team was super close all season, with fun and funny players. The funniest of them all, though, is (sophomore back) Molly Craig.
“She makes everybody laugh all the time.”
The Wolfpack and coach Caroline Zadina knew they’d be in a for a serious battle against Taylor and his crew.
“We expected to face a good side, and that’s we got from Saint Viator,” Zadina said. “It’s a privilege to play a team like that; it’s always a privilege to take on strong opponents at any point in a season. Yes, we lost a couple of games this weekend, but I’m proud of what we accomplished this season.”
Footnotes
Saint Ignatius was a Honorable Mention team in Chicagoland Soccer’s Top 25 rankings before the start of the postseason. … St. Ignatius’ Tiemann works at a Dairy Queen this summer. Her favorite treat at the soft serve shop? “Oreo blizzard, all the way,” she said after the Class AA third place game Saturday afternoon. It took her a half-second, maybe less, to reply to that inquiry. … Saint Ignatius’ most significant win in program history was its 2-0 defeat of Payton for the Class AA St. Francis Sectional title on June 14. It secured the Wolfpack’s first state finals berth in girls soccer. “Pure celebration when we won,” Zadina recalled. “Getting a win like that, in a supersectional, was a breakthrough for us.” … Viator’s Doersching finished with 14 goals and a team-high 24 assists after her one-goal, two-assist effort vs. St. Ignatius. … Junior midfielder Shannon Rydz ended up as the Wolfpack’s leading goal scorer, with 17, five more than Tiemann’s no. 2 total. … Tiemann, senior midfielder Adrian Williams, senior defender Kate Abdo, junior midfielder Eloise Bennett and senior back Cameron Shutt served as St. Ignatius captains in ’21. … Saint Viator outscored its final eight foes by a combined margin of 25-4.
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
GK Lilly Collins
D Emily Rasher
D Jordan Imhoff
D Emma Ziebka
D Laila Azari
M Emilie Doersching
M Callie Mulligan
M Zophie Perez
M Sydney Grant
M Gabby Brown
F Caroline Sexton
Saint Ignatius
GK Darcy Schoen
D Kate Abdo
D Elizabeth Doherty
D Cameron Shutt
D Santana Berhalter
M Shannon Rydz
M Claire Radecki
M Maeve O’Meara
M Eloise Barnett
M Adrian Williams
F Lauren Tiemann
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Caroline Sexton, sr., F, Saint Viator
Scoring summary
First half
Saint Ignatius — Tiemann (Mia Cadichon), 28’
Saint Viator — Brown (Sexton), 30’
Saint Viator — Sexton (Doersching), 39’
Second half
Saint Viator — Sexton (Doersching), 43’
Saint Viator — Sexton, 54’
Saint Viator — Doersching (Brown), 38’