St. Patrick stuns top-seeded New Trier
Late Torres brace puts game away in impressive 3-0 win
By Hunter Tickel
EVANSTON -- St. Patrick sent shock waves through the Class 3A Evanston Sectional when it knocked off no. 1 seed New Trier 3-0 on Tuesday night at Lazier Field.
The game ended in a flourish when Shamrocks sophomore forward Joshua Torres scored a late brace in a 37-second span that sealed and then put a bow on the win.
“I had to do it for the team,” Torres said. “I had to score two more to get to the (sectional) finals (for) my family, everyone, my whole team. I've been doing this, and this is not a new thing. I really surprised myself that I scored that chip.”
Torres, who is reported to be getting looks from Illinois-Chicago, punished New Trier (15-4-2) for a failed clearance. His simple finish in the middle of the box gave the fourth-seeded Shamrocks a 2-0 lead in the 75th minute.
“He's a special player,” St. Patrick coach Kyle McClure said. “I think what makes him even more special is that teams struggle to double-team him, because we have so many other guys that can attack. So it's kind of pick your poison.
“He can beat anyone 1-on-1, so if they don't game plan for him, he is going to score on you. But if they do, we have so many other guys on this team that can score.”
Next, in a seeming blink of an eye in soccer time, he was fed on the left flank from midfielder Malcolm McGee and calmly and coolly chipped Trevians keeper James McGranahan from inside the left of the box.
Torres had 21 assists as a freshman. This year he has 31 goals and is nearing the school record. The dangerous Shamrocks offense is the catalyst to his success.
“We like doing one-touch,” Torres said. “We are active. We like doing a lot of tricks. We like triangles and sending people to goal with long balls. We have fast strikers. We can outrun the defenders. We're still not cocky; we have more games to go to.”
In the first half the Shamrocks, who were ranked 15th in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, opened the scoring after a 46-yard free kick from the center from midfielder Aaron Moreno-Lopez. The ball found a bit of traffic in front of the goal and was bobbled by McGranahan. The loose ball was finished by forward Luis Saucedo in the 17th minute.
“They love to throw numbers forward,” New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft said. “They are very confident, and technically gifted.They look to create overloads all over the pitch.
“We were outnumbered 3-v.-2, 4-v.-2 at times when we didn’t shift. They look to exploit that. I thought for most of the game we were able to deal with that. Our guys worked extremely hard. It’s a talented team.”
The fourth-ranked Trevians' bid for an equalizer started with a bending shot from defender Daniel Gunther from 30 yards on the left that St. Patrick's keeper Jorge Cebrero saved. New Trier nearly tied the game when Logan Weaver hit a half-volley in the box over the bar a couple minutes later.
In the closing half, the Shamrocks (23-3-0) had a chance to go up 2-0 when Torres got behind the backline, but he pushed his effort over the bar.
The Trevians last solid chance to knot the game came in the 71st minute. Gunther ripped another 30-yard effort that was tipped over the bar.
The game was a battle of conference champions. St. Patrick posted a 9-0-0 season in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. New Trier did the same in the Central Suburban League with a 5-0-0 record in the South Division and a tiebreaker win over Highland Park in the CSL championship game.
“I’m proud of our team, senior midfielder Logan Weaver said. “Just the way we fight. We don’t give up. Hats off to St. Patrick, they were the better team today. They executed, and we didn’t. Soccer is cruel like that.”
Senior midfielder David Kugler added: “At the beginning of this season, we set a goal to play the best soccer we possibly could, keeping the ball. I couldn’t be prouder. We worked so hard at training every day. We played the way we wanted to. We achieved our goal. We made it this far playing the way we did.”
St. Patrick played the game with a sound rhythm and dominated possession at times. A lot of that has to do with the makeup and chemistry of the team.
“We have a nice mix,” McClure said.” We have a few Polish kids, several Mexican kids, (Carrera) is Guatemalan. It's a really good balance. You won't find a team that gets along and supports each other as well as we do. It's a great strength. Junior center back Adam (Przytula), who is Polish, likes to speak Spanish on the field, even though he doesn't really know Spanish.
“We knew they were a really good team. We knew what they were trying to do on corners and free kicks. They like to go short. I thought we defended that really well. We played our style, our game. Anyone that thinks soccer is boring, come watch (the) Shamrocks, we're fun to watch.”
In an unlikely setup for the Chicagoland area, the team has players from 15 different clubs, while nearly 90 percent of New Trier comes from FC United according to McClure.
St. Patrick advances to their second-straight sectional final but first in Class 3A. Last year the Shamrocks finished fourth in Class AA.
They will face the winner of Evanston/Glenbrook South match Wednesday. The tile match is at 6 p.m. Saturday in Evanston.
Starting lineups
St. Patrick
G Jorge Cebrero
D Adam Przytula
D Collin Kroeger
D Juan Leon
M Angel Adame
M Sebastian Modrzejewski
M Herbert Carrera
M Aaron Moreno-Lopez
F Luis Saucedo
F Joshua Torres
F Jonathan Rodriguez
New Trier
G James McGranahan
D Daniel Gunther
D Joshua Goldman
D Andrew Kuhn
M Charles Hoholik
M David Kugler
M Logan Weaver
M Dominic De Boer
M William Gerstein
F Colin Gorney
F Sean Gooze
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match: Joshua Torres, so., F, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
SP: Luis Saucedo (unassisted), 17th minute
Second half
SP: Joshua Torres (unassisted), 75th minute
SP: Joshua Torres (Malcolm McGee), 76th minute
Late Torres brace puts game away in impressive 3-0 win
By Hunter Tickel
EVANSTON -- St. Patrick sent shock waves through the Class 3A Evanston Sectional when it knocked off no. 1 seed New Trier 3-0 on Tuesday night at Lazier Field.
The game ended in a flourish when Shamrocks sophomore forward Joshua Torres scored a late brace in a 37-second span that sealed and then put a bow on the win.
“I had to do it for the team,” Torres said. “I had to score two more to get to the (sectional) finals (for) my family, everyone, my whole team. I've been doing this, and this is not a new thing. I really surprised myself that I scored that chip.”
Torres, who is reported to be getting looks from Illinois-Chicago, punished New Trier (15-4-2) for a failed clearance. His simple finish in the middle of the box gave the fourth-seeded Shamrocks a 2-0 lead in the 75th minute.
“He's a special player,” St. Patrick coach Kyle McClure said. “I think what makes him even more special is that teams struggle to double-team him, because we have so many other guys that can attack. So it's kind of pick your poison.
“He can beat anyone 1-on-1, so if they don't game plan for him, he is going to score on you. But if they do, we have so many other guys on this team that can score.”
Next, in a seeming blink of an eye in soccer time, he was fed on the left flank from midfielder Malcolm McGee and calmly and coolly chipped Trevians keeper James McGranahan from inside the left of the box.
Torres had 21 assists as a freshman. This year he has 31 goals and is nearing the school record. The dangerous Shamrocks offense is the catalyst to his success.
“We like doing one-touch,” Torres said. “We are active. We like doing a lot of tricks. We like triangles and sending people to goal with long balls. We have fast strikers. We can outrun the defenders. We're still not cocky; we have more games to go to.”
In the first half the Shamrocks, who were ranked 15th in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, opened the scoring after a 46-yard free kick from the center from midfielder Aaron Moreno-Lopez. The ball found a bit of traffic in front of the goal and was bobbled by McGranahan. The loose ball was finished by forward Luis Saucedo in the 17th minute.
“They love to throw numbers forward,” New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft said. “They are very confident, and technically gifted.They look to create overloads all over the pitch.
“We were outnumbered 3-v.-2, 4-v.-2 at times when we didn’t shift. They look to exploit that. I thought for most of the game we were able to deal with that. Our guys worked extremely hard. It’s a talented team.”
The fourth-ranked Trevians' bid for an equalizer started with a bending shot from defender Daniel Gunther from 30 yards on the left that St. Patrick's keeper Jorge Cebrero saved. New Trier nearly tied the game when Logan Weaver hit a half-volley in the box over the bar a couple minutes later.
In the closing half, the Shamrocks (23-3-0) had a chance to go up 2-0 when Torres got behind the backline, but he pushed his effort over the bar.
The Trevians last solid chance to knot the game came in the 71st minute. Gunther ripped another 30-yard effort that was tipped over the bar.
The game was a battle of conference champions. St. Patrick posted a 9-0-0 season in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. New Trier did the same in the Central Suburban League with a 5-0-0 record in the South Division and a tiebreaker win over Highland Park in the CSL championship game.
“I’m proud of our team, senior midfielder Logan Weaver said. “Just the way we fight. We don’t give up. Hats off to St. Patrick, they were the better team today. They executed, and we didn’t. Soccer is cruel like that.”
Senior midfielder David Kugler added: “At the beginning of this season, we set a goal to play the best soccer we possibly could, keeping the ball. I couldn’t be prouder. We worked so hard at training every day. We played the way we wanted to. We achieved our goal. We made it this far playing the way we did.”
St. Patrick played the game with a sound rhythm and dominated possession at times. A lot of that has to do with the makeup and chemistry of the team.
“We have a nice mix,” McClure said.” We have a few Polish kids, several Mexican kids, (Carrera) is Guatemalan. It's a really good balance. You won't find a team that gets along and supports each other as well as we do. It's a great strength. Junior center back Adam (Przytula), who is Polish, likes to speak Spanish on the field, even though he doesn't really know Spanish.
“We knew they were a really good team. We knew what they were trying to do on corners and free kicks. They like to go short. I thought we defended that really well. We played our style, our game. Anyone that thinks soccer is boring, come watch (the) Shamrocks, we're fun to watch.”
In an unlikely setup for the Chicagoland area, the team has players from 15 different clubs, while nearly 90 percent of New Trier comes from FC United according to McClure.
St. Patrick advances to their second-straight sectional final but first in Class 3A. Last year the Shamrocks finished fourth in Class AA.
They will face the winner of Evanston/Glenbrook South match Wednesday. The tile match is at 6 p.m. Saturday in Evanston.
Starting lineups
St. Patrick
G Jorge Cebrero
D Adam Przytula
D Collin Kroeger
D Juan Leon
M Angel Adame
M Sebastian Modrzejewski
M Herbert Carrera
M Aaron Moreno-Lopez
F Luis Saucedo
F Joshua Torres
F Jonathan Rodriguez
New Trier
G James McGranahan
D Daniel Gunther
D Joshua Goldman
D Andrew Kuhn
M Charles Hoholik
M David Kugler
M Logan Weaver
M Dominic De Boer
M William Gerstein
F Colin Gorney
F Sean Gooze
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match: Joshua Torres, so., F, St. Patrick
Scoring summary
First half
SP: Luis Saucedo (unassisted), 17th minute
Second half
SP: Joshua Torres (unassisted), 75th minute
SP: Joshua Torres (Malcolm McGee), 76th minute