St. Patrick stuns Evanston
with overtime win
Saucedo goal in 81st minute holds up for 2-1 win
By Hunter Tickel
EVANSTON -- Despite conceding the opening goal of the game, St. Patrick completed a come-from-behind upset win by scoring 24 seconds into the first overtime.
The no. 4-seeded Shamrocks won a second-straight sectional title and the school’s first in Class 3A with a 2-1 overtime win Saturday at Lazier Field in Evanston.
“It just tells us that with heart, nobody can beat us in this state,” said junior midfielder Aaron Moreno-Lopez, who scored the tying goal. “We can go all the way and win it all.”
No. 3 seed Evanston saw its streak of sectional titles end at three.
St. Patrick (24-3-0) kicked off the overtime session by not allowing Evanston to get a clean touch on the ball.
“We wanted to press high, and we wanted to press right away,” junior forward Luis Saucedo said. “(Sebastian Modrzejewski) took a really good touch out wide. Usually, it’s supposed to go to the corner, it went right (back) to him.
“He gave it to (junior midfielder Angel) Adame. They had a combination; then he gave it to me. I tried turning on it; (I had a) mistouch. I thought (teammate Joshua Torres) was going to score that one.”
The sequence concluded when the ball went to Torres, a sophomore forward, who turned and fired a shot. It deflected to Saucedo for a tap-in less than 30 seconds into the session.
Evanston turned on the pressure over the next 19 minutes in an effort to knot the game.
The Wildkits (16-6-1) had their best chance in the 97th minute. Senior forward Will Weinman had a point-blank chance in front of the net on a centering pass from senior defender Ben Sollinger but came away empty.
“That was a valiant effort,” Evanston coach Franz Calixte said. “Soccer is soccer. You've got to put away your chances. We came out a little flat in the second half. We weren’t as strong as we were in the first half. The boys never gave up to the very end.”
The Wildkits got on the board in the 21st minute when senior defender Reed Hurtig hit a one-time shot on a bouncing ball near the penalty spot.
“I’m just proud of all my teammates,” Hurtig said. “They worked hard throughout the season. I thought we deserved to win. I think next year’s team is going to be great as well. I’m looking forward to them being able to break the curse.”
Five minutes later, St. Patrick had its best chance of the early game when Moreno-Lopez played the ball to senior defender Diego Rivera on the right flank. A cross was dummied by sophomore midfielder Sebastian Estrada in the box, and then controlled by Saucedo who pushed his shot wide.
Three minutes later, Evanston senior defender Luke Agnew was given a verbal warning for a tackle from behind. The ensuing free kick from 48 yards from Moreno-Lopez sailed over Wildkits' senior keeper Ramin Abraham after he came five yards off his line to defend the shot. It dropped under the crossbar for the tying score.
“He came out a little bit too much,” Moreno-Lopez said. “We were hoping for a deflection or something like that, someone crashing on the keeper. That ended up happening, and it slipped in.”
Evanston had the bulk of possession and chances in the opening half. In the 35th minute St. Patrick keeper Jorge Cebrero was forced to make arguably his best save of the game when he stopped the rebound try of Wildkits sophomore midfielder Nduwayezu Nkurunziza.
“Because of the quality of both teams, I think there could have been a lot more goals,” Saucedo said. “If each team would have scored their chances, I think it could have been 5-4 or 5-5.”
The flow of the game evened out in the closing half of regulation. In the 47th minute, St. Patrick senior midfielder Herbert Carrera had a half-volley chance at the back post that was saved.
“We started getting more touches on the ball instead of just kicking it,” Moreno-Lopez said.
Torres, who was quiet in the first 40 minutes, moved into a deeper role under the front line in the second half. He got more active with more touches on the ball.
Evanston recognized the skill of St. Patrick.
“I thought they were a good team,” Hurtig said. “(Torres) is a great kid. He is one of the best players we have played against. He broke down our midfield and was the key to a lot of their success. We played alright. We could have played a lot better.”
The Shamrocks had the best final chance of regulation with four minutes left. Moreno-Lopez had a similar shot to his opening goal, sending it to the near post from 38 yards. It was tipped over the bar.
St. Patrick, ranked 15th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, advances to the Barrington Supersectional at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Shamrocks will face second-ranked and top-seeded Libertyville (19-0-0). The Wildcats are nationally ranked.
St. Patrick bids for its second-consecutive supersectional title. The first came last year in its run to a fourth place finish in Class AA.
“It’s been well over a decade since we’ve been in 3A. We’re the newbies,” St. Patrick assistant coach Melchor Castro said. “People, regardless of the success we had last year, questioned if we are a legit team. Little by little we are showing everybody that we are. It’s definitely huge; it’s good for the program. It’s good for the school. Our president is here supporting us almost every game.”
Starting Lineups
St. Patrick (24-3-0)
G Jorge Cebrero
D Juan Leon
D Brian Nunez
D Adam Przytula
D Collin Kroeger
M Angel Adame
M Herbert Carrera
M Sebastian Modrzejewski
M Aaron Moreno-Lopez
F Joshua Torres
F Luis Saucedo
Evanston (16-6-1)
G Ramin Abraham
D Ben Sollinger
D Luke Agnew
M Quinn Ackman
M Noah Greenberg
M Teo Cook
M Nick Marcotte
M Eric Cyiza
F Morais Lee
F Frank Berkely
F Dylan Taglang
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aaron Moreno-Lopez, junior, midfielder, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
Evanston: Reed Hurtig, 21’
St. Patrick: Aaron Moreno-Lopez, 29’
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
St. Patrick: Luis Saucedo, 81’
Second overtime
No scoring
with overtime win
Saucedo goal in 81st minute holds up for 2-1 win
By Hunter Tickel
EVANSTON -- Despite conceding the opening goal of the game, St. Patrick completed a come-from-behind upset win by scoring 24 seconds into the first overtime.
The no. 4-seeded Shamrocks won a second-straight sectional title and the school’s first in Class 3A with a 2-1 overtime win Saturday at Lazier Field in Evanston.
“It just tells us that with heart, nobody can beat us in this state,” said junior midfielder Aaron Moreno-Lopez, who scored the tying goal. “We can go all the way and win it all.”
No. 3 seed Evanston saw its streak of sectional titles end at three.
St. Patrick (24-3-0) kicked off the overtime session by not allowing Evanston to get a clean touch on the ball.
“We wanted to press high, and we wanted to press right away,” junior forward Luis Saucedo said. “(Sebastian Modrzejewski) took a really good touch out wide. Usually, it’s supposed to go to the corner, it went right (back) to him.
“He gave it to (junior midfielder Angel) Adame. They had a combination; then he gave it to me. I tried turning on it; (I had a) mistouch. I thought (teammate Joshua Torres) was going to score that one.”
The sequence concluded when the ball went to Torres, a sophomore forward, who turned and fired a shot. It deflected to Saucedo for a tap-in less than 30 seconds into the session.
Evanston turned on the pressure over the next 19 minutes in an effort to knot the game.
The Wildkits (16-6-1) had their best chance in the 97th minute. Senior forward Will Weinman had a point-blank chance in front of the net on a centering pass from senior defender Ben Sollinger but came away empty.
“That was a valiant effort,” Evanston coach Franz Calixte said. “Soccer is soccer. You've got to put away your chances. We came out a little flat in the second half. We weren’t as strong as we were in the first half. The boys never gave up to the very end.”
The Wildkits got on the board in the 21st minute when senior defender Reed Hurtig hit a one-time shot on a bouncing ball near the penalty spot.
“I’m just proud of all my teammates,” Hurtig said. “They worked hard throughout the season. I thought we deserved to win. I think next year’s team is going to be great as well. I’m looking forward to them being able to break the curse.”
Five minutes later, St. Patrick had its best chance of the early game when Moreno-Lopez played the ball to senior defender Diego Rivera on the right flank. A cross was dummied by sophomore midfielder Sebastian Estrada in the box, and then controlled by Saucedo who pushed his shot wide.
Three minutes later, Evanston senior defender Luke Agnew was given a verbal warning for a tackle from behind. The ensuing free kick from 48 yards from Moreno-Lopez sailed over Wildkits' senior keeper Ramin Abraham after he came five yards off his line to defend the shot. It dropped under the crossbar for the tying score.
“He came out a little bit too much,” Moreno-Lopez said. “We were hoping for a deflection or something like that, someone crashing on the keeper. That ended up happening, and it slipped in.”
Evanston had the bulk of possession and chances in the opening half. In the 35th minute St. Patrick keeper Jorge Cebrero was forced to make arguably his best save of the game when he stopped the rebound try of Wildkits sophomore midfielder Nduwayezu Nkurunziza.
“Because of the quality of both teams, I think there could have been a lot more goals,” Saucedo said. “If each team would have scored their chances, I think it could have been 5-4 or 5-5.”
The flow of the game evened out in the closing half of regulation. In the 47th minute, St. Patrick senior midfielder Herbert Carrera had a half-volley chance at the back post that was saved.
“We started getting more touches on the ball instead of just kicking it,” Moreno-Lopez said.
Torres, who was quiet in the first 40 minutes, moved into a deeper role under the front line in the second half. He got more active with more touches on the ball.
Evanston recognized the skill of St. Patrick.
“I thought they were a good team,” Hurtig said. “(Torres) is a great kid. He is one of the best players we have played against. He broke down our midfield and was the key to a lot of their success. We played alright. We could have played a lot better.”
The Shamrocks had the best final chance of regulation with four minutes left. Moreno-Lopez had a similar shot to his opening goal, sending it to the near post from 38 yards. It was tipped over the bar.
St. Patrick, ranked 15th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, advances to the Barrington Supersectional at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Shamrocks will face second-ranked and top-seeded Libertyville (19-0-0). The Wildcats are nationally ranked.
St. Patrick bids for its second-consecutive supersectional title. The first came last year in its run to a fourth place finish in Class AA.
“It’s been well over a decade since we’ve been in 3A. We’re the newbies,” St. Patrick assistant coach Melchor Castro said. “People, regardless of the success we had last year, questioned if we are a legit team. Little by little we are showing everybody that we are. It’s definitely huge; it’s good for the program. It’s good for the school. Our president is here supporting us almost every game.”
Starting Lineups
St. Patrick (24-3-0)
G Jorge Cebrero
D Juan Leon
D Brian Nunez
D Adam Przytula
D Collin Kroeger
M Angel Adame
M Herbert Carrera
M Sebastian Modrzejewski
M Aaron Moreno-Lopez
F Joshua Torres
F Luis Saucedo
Evanston (16-6-1)
G Ramin Abraham
D Ben Sollinger
D Luke Agnew
M Quinn Ackman
M Noah Greenberg
M Teo Cook
M Nick Marcotte
M Eric Cyiza
F Morais Lee
F Frank Berkely
F Dylan Taglang
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aaron Moreno-Lopez, junior, midfielder, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
Evanston: Reed Hurtig, 21’
St. Patrick: Aaron Moreno-Lopez, 29’
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
St. Patrick: Luis Saucedo, 81’
Second overtime
No scoring