Big Notre Dame rally downs
St. Patrick in Irish Cup battle
Host Dons retain prize for 3rd-straight year with 3-2 win
By Mike Garofola
NILES -- Notre Dame kept the coveted Irish Cup for a third-consecutive season after its three goals in a 17-minute second half recovery helped the Dons defeat St. Patrick in a five-goal thriller Wednesday night before an ear-piercing crowd of close to 200 at Legends Field.
The Dons comeback helped Mike Smith’s club earn a hard-fought 3-2 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory and hold the travelling trophy which had been played for for several decades.
"We've come a long way as a team since our opening night loss at Loyola (a 2-0 loss). Even though there's a lot of ahead us, this win says so much about this team. It's just an amazing night," beamed Dons veteran and captain Danny Deano, who along with his teammates lifted Cup and in record time raced to lift it in front of their crowd to a loud appreciative roar.
"I told the guys before game night, this is the reason you play high school soccer," began Smith.
"It's a great weather night, great atmosphere and great crowd filled with fans for both teams. It doesn't get better than this, and tonight for us, it couldn't get better than this."
It took only 13 minutes for St. Patrick to go ahead when an uncharacteristic mistake from Notre Dame keeper Luca Lobianco was taken full advantage of by Rafael Rios.
Lobianco, an athletic, active and fearless keeper, found himself out on an island when a counter quickly developed for the Shamrocks.
Caught far off his line, Lobianco watched an alert and all-alone Rios roar up the right side lift his head and, to his surprise, see an open net 40 yards away.
Lobianco's retreat proved futile as Rios' well-paced effort found its way into the back of the net, much to the delight of the Shamrocks faithful.
"Luca just never makes a mistake back there for us, and I am sure he would have like that entire sequence back," said Smith.
"(However) as you saw, he came back to play superb the rest of the way to help us get this victory."
St. Patrick was off to the start it wanted.
"It was the perfect way for us to start this game," said Shamrocks manager Kyle McClure. “We got the early lead we talked about getting and immediately put them on their heels.
"What you saw tonight is kind of what our season has been like thus far.
"(It) has become a mental thing for us. We certainly played well enough to win, especially in the first half, but we didn't keep the pedal down and finish our chances. We let the game slip away from us."
The visitors, long before the opener, through Nicolas Leon and his midfield mate Jorge Parra enjoyed releasing Rios, and Chris Perez with early balls or in the counter. Despite all the pressure heaped upon them, the Dons backline trio, plus Ryan Shanahan, and Max Stalencyck stayed organized and won their fair share of challenges and tackles to keep their guests from adding to the score line.
"We knew in advance we had to do our best to shut down nos. 10, 14 and 15 (Rios, Leon, Parra),” said Smith. “Stalencyck at the six had his best game of the year. Shanahan was just a monster for us in the back."
The opening quarter hour was a back-and-forth affair. St. Patrick showed more purpose and bite in its attack. Sergio Barron and Rios each had half-chances on frame during this time.
The home side slowly came into the game with Francesco Difilippo, sophomore Sebastian Dzierzanowski, Deano and Joey Sorce, all making a difference in the Dons attack.
"We didn't panic after going down a goal, and we knew if we kept working hard, we could get back into the game by just getting back even," said Sorce, who shared the Chicagoland Man of the Match honor with St. Patrick’s Leon.
Shanahan redirected a lovely free kick from Deano at Shamrocks keeper Michael Ceron in the 21st minute. An inward-swinging corner from Sorce that forced Ceron to push it wide moments later.
Dzierzanowski was allowed to tee-up a long-range cracker that went wide at 26 minutes. Leon having the same opportunity on the other end from 25 yards.
The final stages of the first half ended with a flurry of chances from both sides. A 25-yard Notre Dame blast from Deano was saved with confidence by Ceron, who is just a freshman.
"It really was a pretty good first half of soccer from us," said Melchor Castro, who splits the manager position with McClure. “We possessed the ball well through the middle. Our backline led by Daniel Carrera, won balls and tackled well. But I wish we could have finished our chances to get ourselves another goal or two before the half.”
Sorce and Jake Schmucker provided enough electricity to power the entire city of Niles when the Dons dynamic duo struck four minutes apart just after intermission.
Deano supplied a brilliant, threaded ball to split open the Shamrocks. That allowed Sorce to collect the ball on the left side and fire in the equalizer just under Ceron with a sublime touch.
Schmucker stunned the big contingent of Shamrocks fans with a slick 30-yard half-volley one-timer in the 47th minute.
"Deano gave me just a great ball for my goal, and Jake's goal to give us the lead was just amazing," began Sorce.
"I thought St. Patrick kind of hung their heads after we scored our first, but after we took the lead they started to get on each other a little bit. I knew we had to keep working to get another one."
"We have just 2-3 seniors in our starting eleven," began Castro.
“And sometimes all of that inexperience and enthusiasm is a great thing to have and watch/
"(Other) times like tonight, when we give up two quick goals, and have to chase a game we thought we should have been leading, you saw our lack of maturity and composure.”
The Schmucker go-ahead goal increased the game’s intensity tenfold; each side knew how important the next goal could be.
St. Patrick could have drawn even at 50 minutes if not for a brave, late save from Lobianco on Leon, that was followed by a Chris Perez try.
A well-struck corner from Leon to Jason Torres brought another fine save from the senior Lobianco.
With a lead to hold onto, the Dons searched to increase their advantage with its well-executed, transition-based approach.
Sorce’s double began with a long, diagonal ball from Ian Martinez to the back post.
Sorce remained cool, and calm before driving his effort high into the right corner to make it a 3-1 contest just after the hour.
"Ian gave me a great ball, and I just hit (it) the other way," said Sorce, who ran to the corner flag to celebrate.
"Three great goals in 18 minutes, just amazing," said Smith.
The Dons manager brought on Dzierzanowski, and deployed the sophomore at outside midfielder. He later dropped him back to add another defender when the Shamrocks went from possession soccer to direct soccer with the hope of creating dead ball opportunities for Leon, who is an accomplished free kick specialist.
St. Patrick was thrown a potential life line when the referee sent off the Dons terrific central defender and captain Jack Plovanich, which forced the Dons to play a man down for the final 17 minutes.
"The referee said Jack 'impeded' the progress of their attacking player on his way to goal. While we acknowledge he fouled their guy and maybe warranted a yellow card, I thought the (red) was a little harsh," said Smith.
The Dons block their third shot of the evening in the 71st minute, then applauded another strong save from their keeper moments later on a 20-yard free kick from Leon.
The visitors would earned a consolation goal in the 80th minute when the Dons failed to clear the area and the always opportunistic Rios bagged his second of the night just ahead of the final whistle.
"We've been involved in a lot of games like this of late,” said McClure. “I guess the thing this team needs to learn is they have to play a full 80 minutes, and not just 15 minutes, here and there.
"There's a lot of things we did well tonight, and that's something we'll take going forward. Notre Dame, they played hard. No. 10 (Deano) was very good in the middle, and their keeper really made the difference for them in the second half."
"Technically, this team can play, but we need to get tougher, both mentally, and physically,” said Castro. “With a team as young and inexperienced as this one, (it's) going to take a little time to be at the level we want them to be."
"We showed a lot of heart out there tonight, with so many unsung heroes coming through for us in this win," said Deano.
"Both teams played hard for 80 minutes,” said Smith. “We have a lot of respect for Kyle, Melchor, and the St. Patrick program. It took an incredible second half from our guys to come back and win.
"We came back to beat Saint Viator (2-1 in double overtime Sept. 7), then again tonight, which says plenty about a team that has 11 sophomores, many of whom start. We'll keep working at getting better each time out.
"I am very proud of the guys, and the effort they gave tonight."
After a tie and win in tournament action in southern Indiana, St. Patrick travels back home for a BodyArmor bracket final against Larkin at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Lyons Soccer Complex.
Notre Dame took another league win Saturday, this time a 2-0 decision at Nazareth. The Dons lace up the boots next for a nonconference match at Class A Marine Leadership on Monday.
Starting lineups
St. Patrick (3-5-2)
G- Michael Ceron
D- Rafael Ramirez
D- Daniel Carrera
D- Gael Quinonez
MF- Jesus Sanchez
MF- Jorge Parra
MF- Nicolas Leon
MF- Sergio Barron
MF- Christian Medina
F- Rafael Rios
F- Chris Perez
Notre Dame (3-5-2)
G- Luca Lobianco
D- Andrew Nika
D- Jack Plovanich
D- Ante Basan
MF- Ian Martinez
MF- Ryan Shanahan
MF- Danny Deano
MF- Max Stalencyzk
MF- Francesco Difilippo
F- Joey Sorce
F- Jake Schmucker
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Joey Sorce, so., F, Notre Dame
Nicolas Leon, sr., MF, St. Patrick
Officials
Mike Moore (referee); Kevin Parker (AR 1); Hannah Shehaiber (AR 2)
Scoring summary
First half
St. Patrick: Rios (Perez) 13'
Second half
Notre Dame: Sorce (Deano) 44'
Notre Dame: Schmucker (Dzierzanowski) 47'
Notre Dame: Sorce (Martinez) 61'
St. Patrick: Rios (Perez) 80'
Statistics
Shots on goal
St. Patrick: 9
Notre Dame: 7
Shots off
St. Patrick: 12
Notre Dame: 4
Blocked shots
St. Patrick: 2
Notre Dame: 3
Offsides
St. Patrick: 3
Notre Dame: 1
Corner kicks
St. Patrick: 9
Notre Dame: 3
Fouls
St. Patrick: 11
Notre Dame: 13
Yellow cards
St. Patrick: 3
Notre Dame: 2
Red cards
St. Patrick: 0
Notre Dame: 1
St. Patrick in Irish Cup battle
Host Dons retain prize for 3rd-straight year with 3-2 win
By Mike Garofola
NILES -- Notre Dame kept the coveted Irish Cup for a third-consecutive season after its three goals in a 17-minute second half recovery helped the Dons defeat St. Patrick in a five-goal thriller Wednesday night before an ear-piercing crowd of close to 200 at Legends Field.
The Dons comeback helped Mike Smith’s club earn a hard-fought 3-2 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory and hold the travelling trophy which had been played for for several decades.
"We've come a long way as a team since our opening night loss at Loyola (a 2-0 loss). Even though there's a lot of ahead us, this win says so much about this team. It's just an amazing night," beamed Dons veteran and captain Danny Deano, who along with his teammates lifted Cup and in record time raced to lift it in front of their crowd to a loud appreciative roar.
"I told the guys before game night, this is the reason you play high school soccer," began Smith.
"It's a great weather night, great atmosphere and great crowd filled with fans for both teams. It doesn't get better than this, and tonight for us, it couldn't get better than this."
It took only 13 minutes for St. Patrick to go ahead when an uncharacteristic mistake from Notre Dame keeper Luca Lobianco was taken full advantage of by Rafael Rios.
Lobianco, an athletic, active and fearless keeper, found himself out on an island when a counter quickly developed for the Shamrocks.
Caught far off his line, Lobianco watched an alert and all-alone Rios roar up the right side lift his head and, to his surprise, see an open net 40 yards away.
Lobianco's retreat proved futile as Rios' well-paced effort found its way into the back of the net, much to the delight of the Shamrocks faithful.
"Luca just never makes a mistake back there for us, and I am sure he would have like that entire sequence back," said Smith.
"(However) as you saw, he came back to play superb the rest of the way to help us get this victory."
St. Patrick was off to the start it wanted.
"It was the perfect way for us to start this game," said Shamrocks manager Kyle McClure. “We got the early lead we talked about getting and immediately put them on their heels.
"What you saw tonight is kind of what our season has been like thus far.
"(It) has become a mental thing for us. We certainly played well enough to win, especially in the first half, but we didn't keep the pedal down and finish our chances. We let the game slip away from us."
The visitors, long before the opener, through Nicolas Leon and his midfield mate Jorge Parra enjoyed releasing Rios, and Chris Perez with early balls or in the counter. Despite all the pressure heaped upon them, the Dons backline trio, plus Ryan Shanahan, and Max Stalencyck stayed organized and won their fair share of challenges and tackles to keep their guests from adding to the score line.
"We knew in advance we had to do our best to shut down nos. 10, 14 and 15 (Rios, Leon, Parra),” said Smith. “Stalencyck at the six had his best game of the year. Shanahan was just a monster for us in the back."
The opening quarter hour was a back-and-forth affair. St. Patrick showed more purpose and bite in its attack. Sergio Barron and Rios each had half-chances on frame during this time.
The home side slowly came into the game with Francesco Difilippo, sophomore Sebastian Dzierzanowski, Deano and Joey Sorce, all making a difference in the Dons attack.
"We didn't panic after going down a goal, and we knew if we kept working hard, we could get back into the game by just getting back even," said Sorce, who shared the Chicagoland Man of the Match honor with St. Patrick’s Leon.
Shanahan redirected a lovely free kick from Deano at Shamrocks keeper Michael Ceron in the 21st minute. An inward-swinging corner from Sorce that forced Ceron to push it wide moments later.
Dzierzanowski was allowed to tee-up a long-range cracker that went wide at 26 minutes. Leon having the same opportunity on the other end from 25 yards.
The final stages of the first half ended with a flurry of chances from both sides. A 25-yard Notre Dame blast from Deano was saved with confidence by Ceron, who is just a freshman.
"It really was a pretty good first half of soccer from us," said Melchor Castro, who splits the manager position with McClure. “We possessed the ball well through the middle. Our backline led by Daniel Carrera, won balls and tackled well. But I wish we could have finished our chances to get ourselves another goal or two before the half.”
Sorce and Jake Schmucker provided enough electricity to power the entire city of Niles when the Dons dynamic duo struck four minutes apart just after intermission.
Deano supplied a brilliant, threaded ball to split open the Shamrocks. That allowed Sorce to collect the ball on the left side and fire in the equalizer just under Ceron with a sublime touch.
Schmucker stunned the big contingent of Shamrocks fans with a slick 30-yard half-volley one-timer in the 47th minute.
"Deano gave me just a great ball for my goal, and Jake's goal to give us the lead was just amazing," began Sorce.
"I thought St. Patrick kind of hung their heads after we scored our first, but after we took the lead they started to get on each other a little bit. I knew we had to keep working to get another one."
"We have just 2-3 seniors in our starting eleven," began Castro.
“And sometimes all of that inexperience and enthusiasm is a great thing to have and watch/
"(Other) times like tonight, when we give up two quick goals, and have to chase a game we thought we should have been leading, you saw our lack of maturity and composure.”
The Schmucker go-ahead goal increased the game’s intensity tenfold; each side knew how important the next goal could be.
St. Patrick could have drawn even at 50 minutes if not for a brave, late save from Lobianco on Leon, that was followed by a Chris Perez try.
A well-struck corner from Leon to Jason Torres brought another fine save from the senior Lobianco.
With a lead to hold onto, the Dons searched to increase their advantage with its well-executed, transition-based approach.
Sorce’s double began with a long, diagonal ball from Ian Martinez to the back post.
Sorce remained cool, and calm before driving his effort high into the right corner to make it a 3-1 contest just after the hour.
"Ian gave me a great ball, and I just hit (it) the other way," said Sorce, who ran to the corner flag to celebrate.
"Three great goals in 18 minutes, just amazing," said Smith.
The Dons manager brought on Dzierzanowski, and deployed the sophomore at outside midfielder. He later dropped him back to add another defender when the Shamrocks went from possession soccer to direct soccer with the hope of creating dead ball opportunities for Leon, who is an accomplished free kick specialist.
St. Patrick was thrown a potential life line when the referee sent off the Dons terrific central defender and captain Jack Plovanich, which forced the Dons to play a man down for the final 17 minutes.
"The referee said Jack 'impeded' the progress of their attacking player on his way to goal. While we acknowledge he fouled their guy and maybe warranted a yellow card, I thought the (red) was a little harsh," said Smith.
The Dons block their third shot of the evening in the 71st minute, then applauded another strong save from their keeper moments later on a 20-yard free kick from Leon.
The visitors would earned a consolation goal in the 80th minute when the Dons failed to clear the area and the always opportunistic Rios bagged his second of the night just ahead of the final whistle.
"We've been involved in a lot of games like this of late,” said McClure. “I guess the thing this team needs to learn is they have to play a full 80 minutes, and not just 15 minutes, here and there.
"There's a lot of things we did well tonight, and that's something we'll take going forward. Notre Dame, they played hard. No. 10 (Deano) was very good in the middle, and their keeper really made the difference for them in the second half."
"Technically, this team can play, but we need to get tougher, both mentally, and physically,” said Castro. “With a team as young and inexperienced as this one, (it's) going to take a little time to be at the level we want them to be."
"We showed a lot of heart out there tonight, with so many unsung heroes coming through for us in this win," said Deano.
"Both teams played hard for 80 minutes,” said Smith. “We have a lot of respect for Kyle, Melchor, and the St. Patrick program. It took an incredible second half from our guys to come back and win.
"We came back to beat Saint Viator (2-1 in double overtime Sept. 7), then again tonight, which says plenty about a team that has 11 sophomores, many of whom start. We'll keep working at getting better each time out.
"I am very proud of the guys, and the effort they gave tonight."
After a tie and win in tournament action in southern Indiana, St. Patrick travels back home for a BodyArmor bracket final against Larkin at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Lyons Soccer Complex.
Notre Dame took another league win Saturday, this time a 2-0 decision at Nazareth. The Dons lace up the boots next for a nonconference match at Class A Marine Leadership on Monday.
Starting lineups
St. Patrick (3-5-2)
G- Michael Ceron
D- Rafael Ramirez
D- Daniel Carrera
D- Gael Quinonez
MF- Jesus Sanchez
MF- Jorge Parra
MF- Nicolas Leon
MF- Sergio Barron
MF- Christian Medina
F- Rafael Rios
F- Chris Perez
Notre Dame (3-5-2)
G- Luca Lobianco
D- Andrew Nika
D- Jack Plovanich
D- Ante Basan
MF- Ian Martinez
MF- Ryan Shanahan
MF- Danny Deano
MF- Max Stalencyzk
MF- Francesco Difilippo
F- Joey Sorce
F- Jake Schmucker
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Joey Sorce, so., F, Notre Dame
Nicolas Leon, sr., MF, St. Patrick
Officials
Mike Moore (referee); Kevin Parker (AR 1); Hannah Shehaiber (AR 2)
Scoring summary
First half
St. Patrick: Rios (Perez) 13'
Second half
Notre Dame: Sorce (Deano) 44'
Notre Dame: Schmucker (Dzierzanowski) 47'
Notre Dame: Sorce (Martinez) 61'
St. Patrick: Rios (Perez) 80'
Statistics
Shots on goal
St. Patrick: 9
Notre Dame: 7
Shots off
St. Patrick: 12
Notre Dame: 4
Blocked shots
St. Patrick: 2
Notre Dame: 3
Offsides
St. Patrick: 3
Notre Dame: 1
Corner kicks
St. Patrick: 9
Notre Dame: 3
Fouls
St. Patrick: 11
Notre Dame: 13
Yellow cards
St. Patrick: 3
Notre Dame: 2
Red cards
St. Patrick: 0
Notre Dame: 1