St. Rita sees historic season end
Goals in last 17 minutes not enough, Mustangs fall to Oak Forest
By Tim O’Brien
KANKAKEE – Brendan Breslin remembered the feeling from last year’s defeat in a regional championship game all too clearly.
The St. Rita senior and his teammates wanted to take that next step, to burst through into the sectional.
So while a tough, season-ending 3-2 loss on Oct. 29 to Oak Forest in a Class AA Kankakee Sectional semifinal was difficult to handle, Breslin hopes the returning Mustangs can take another step next year.
“We said last year when we lost in the regional final that we could build off this,” Breslin, a senior midfielder, said. “We ended up winning a regional. Hopefully, we can build on this moment and get to our end goal [next year] which was a sectional final.”
Oak Forest improved to 16-7-2 and advances to play top-seeded St. Laurence in the sectional championship game at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 2.
Setting a new program mark for wins in a season, St. Rita finished 17-5-1. The loss ened a 13-game unbeaten streak. The Mustangs last non-result was a Sept. 16 defeat to St. Ignatius.
Coach Bob Kellam’s squad fell behind 2-0 at halftime and 3-0 early in the second half but mounted a furious rally over the game’s final 18 minutes before ultimately running out of time.
“We’re a resilient team. I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve come back as a team to win games,” Kellam said. “We get back into them, and it was starting to look like that. It would have been tougher if we lost 3-0. We came back and pinned them in there. We had the momentum late, but we ran out of time.”
Working out of a 3-0 hole in the game’s final 20 minutes, St. Rita turned to senior midfielder Kenya Sumpter to jumpstart the comeback.
Making a drive up the right end line, Sumpter fired a shot from five yards. Oak Forest senior goalkeeper Tommy Roche deflected the shot, but the ball ricocheted into the net for St. Rita’s first goal.
After missing much of his junior season with a knee injury, including not playing in the state playoffs in 2018, Sumpter savored the chance to contribute to the team on such a big stage.
“It was nagging me last year, I couldn’t be part of that team,” Sumpter said. “I wanted to make my mark and do something this year as best I can. I’m not at 100 percent, but I was going to try as hard as I can. That goal meant a lot to me. A lot.”
Continuing to put pressure on the Bengals defense, junior midfielder Julio Walton scored on a beautiful shot with 6:04 left in the game.
Gaining possession just outside the goalie box, Walton fired a laser shot straight on from 25 yards to the left post to bring St. Rita to within a goal at 3-2.
With 1:20 remaining, Walton had a chance for the equalizer, ripping another shot from almost the exact same place.
The junior’s shot snaked through the defense but hit the post and ricocheted back into the field of play.
“I couldn’t believe that post shot didn’t go in,” Walton said. “It happens for a reason. I’m thankful to play with these seniors on an amazing year. I hope we continue winning next year.”
Junior midfielder Logan Corum had one last chance to send the game into overtime with a shot from the right side 15 yards out that went high over the crossbar with 40 seconds left on the clock as Oak Forest held on to win the thriller.
Oak Forest's Roche and St. Rita freshman goalkeeper Kyler Sumpter finished with 10 saves apiece as both teams pushed the pace offensively.
Sophomore Bruno Carrillo and seniors Jonathan Landa and Gavin Gilman scored a goal apiece for Oak Forest.
Shaking off the team’s sluggish start against a fast-attacking Oak Forest squad that scored less than 4 minutes into the game, Breslin loved the Mustangs’ effort in the near-comeback.
“We started off rough conceding a goal within the first 3 minutes. We never fully recovered, but it hits you. This is our season,” Breslin said. “It might end here. When we played to our full capabilities, we were dominating the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t start that soon enough.”
For St. Rita, it was a tough end to a banner year.
The Mustangs won the program’s first regional title since 1990 (Kellam was a junior on the ’90 team).
Senior forward Langston Bedgood was awarded the Chicago Catholic League’s Lawless award for the Green Division, an honor given to the league’s top senior.
Bedgood, Breslin, Walton, senior defender Tyler Padilla and junior midfielder Chuy Flores were also named All-Conference in the Catholic League.
Watching the program build into a consistent winner over his time at St. Rita, Sumpter loved his senior year experience.
“We were horrible freshman year and won maybe two games, but we improved each year,” Sumpter said. “For me, it’s something to be proud of to say I was on one of the best St. Rita teams ever. It’s been a blessing to be a part of something.”
The Mustangs lose a strong senior class going forward but with a solid core. With Kyler Sumpter, Corum, junior defender Brendan Gleeson, Walton, Flores and Salgado, all expected back, the potential is there for the team to continue its recent run of success.
“We had a great experience here, and we will keep moving forward,” Walton said. “We’ll really miss this seniors. They have done so much for us and helped us out throughout the year and pushed us forward.”
The sectional semifinal was a rematch of last season's Class AA regional final with host Oak Forest claiming a 1-0 victory over St. Rita a year ago. The teams were supposed to meet Oct. 5 but the game was canceled due to the weather.
St. Laurence 2, Bremen 0: Sophomore forward Andres Lemus and junior midfielder Ruben Perez scored a goal apiece for top-seeded St. Laurence (16-4-1) in the other sectional semifinal at Kankakee.
Senior goalkeeper Fernando Cervantez finished with five saves for the Vikings.
As St. Laurence chases the first sectional title in program history, the team will be without Cervantez and senior midfielder Luke Arthurs (assist) for Saturday’s sectional championship game. Both players were awarded red cards late in the semifinal when a scuffle broke out.
Two Bremen players were also issued red cards.
Starting lineups
St. Rita
GK: Kyler Sumpter
D: Brendan Gleeson
D: Tyler Padilla
D: Luis Salgado
M: Julio Walton
M: Brendan Breslin
M: Logan Corum
M: Kenya Sumpter
M: Chuy Flores
F: Carlos Sanchez
F: Langston Bedgood
Oak Forest
GK: Tommy Roche
D: Declan Collery
D: Gavin Collery
M: Gavin Gilman
M: Jake Phillips
M: Luis Rosales
M: Jackson Flores
M: Dorian Perez
F: Bruno Carillo
F: Omar Plancarte
F: Jonathan Landa
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Tommy Roche, sr., GK, Oak Forest
Scoring summary
First half
Oak Forest – Bruno Carillo, 37:17
Oak Forest – Jonathan Landa, 17:03
Second half
Oak Forest – Gavin Gilman, 27:34
St. Rita – Kenya Sumpter, 17:58
St. Rita – Julio Walton, 6:04
Goals in last 17 minutes not enough, Mustangs fall to Oak Forest
By Tim O’Brien
KANKAKEE – Brendan Breslin remembered the feeling from last year’s defeat in a regional championship game all too clearly.
The St. Rita senior and his teammates wanted to take that next step, to burst through into the sectional.
So while a tough, season-ending 3-2 loss on Oct. 29 to Oak Forest in a Class AA Kankakee Sectional semifinal was difficult to handle, Breslin hopes the returning Mustangs can take another step next year.
“We said last year when we lost in the regional final that we could build off this,” Breslin, a senior midfielder, said. “We ended up winning a regional. Hopefully, we can build on this moment and get to our end goal [next year] which was a sectional final.”
Oak Forest improved to 16-7-2 and advances to play top-seeded St. Laurence in the sectional championship game at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 2.
Setting a new program mark for wins in a season, St. Rita finished 17-5-1. The loss ened a 13-game unbeaten streak. The Mustangs last non-result was a Sept. 16 defeat to St. Ignatius.
Coach Bob Kellam’s squad fell behind 2-0 at halftime and 3-0 early in the second half but mounted a furious rally over the game’s final 18 minutes before ultimately running out of time.
“We’re a resilient team. I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve come back as a team to win games,” Kellam said. “We get back into them, and it was starting to look like that. It would have been tougher if we lost 3-0. We came back and pinned them in there. We had the momentum late, but we ran out of time.”
Working out of a 3-0 hole in the game’s final 20 minutes, St. Rita turned to senior midfielder Kenya Sumpter to jumpstart the comeback.
Making a drive up the right end line, Sumpter fired a shot from five yards. Oak Forest senior goalkeeper Tommy Roche deflected the shot, but the ball ricocheted into the net for St. Rita’s first goal.
After missing much of his junior season with a knee injury, including not playing in the state playoffs in 2018, Sumpter savored the chance to contribute to the team on such a big stage.
“It was nagging me last year, I couldn’t be part of that team,” Sumpter said. “I wanted to make my mark and do something this year as best I can. I’m not at 100 percent, but I was going to try as hard as I can. That goal meant a lot to me. A lot.”
Continuing to put pressure on the Bengals defense, junior midfielder Julio Walton scored on a beautiful shot with 6:04 left in the game.
Gaining possession just outside the goalie box, Walton fired a laser shot straight on from 25 yards to the left post to bring St. Rita to within a goal at 3-2.
With 1:20 remaining, Walton had a chance for the equalizer, ripping another shot from almost the exact same place.
The junior’s shot snaked through the defense but hit the post and ricocheted back into the field of play.
“I couldn’t believe that post shot didn’t go in,” Walton said. “It happens for a reason. I’m thankful to play with these seniors on an amazing year. I hope we continue winning next year.”
Junior midfielder Logan Corum had one last chance to send the game into overtime with a shot from the right side 15 yards out that went high over the crossbar with 40 seconds left on the clock as Oak Forest held on to win the thriller.
Oak Forest's Roche and St. Rita freshman goalkeeper Kyler Sumpter finished with 10 saves apiece as both teams pushed the pace offensively.
Sophomore Bruno Carrillo and seniors Jonathan Landa and Gavin Gilman scored a goal apiece for Oak Forest.
Shaking off the team’s sluggish start against a fast-attacking Oak Forest squad that scored less than 4 minutes into the game, Breslin loved the Mustangs’ effort in the near-comeback.
“We started off rough conceding a goal within the first 3 minutes. We never fully recovered, but it hits you. This is our season,” Breslin said. “It might end here. When we played to our full capabilities, we were dominating the game. Unfortunately, we didn’t start that soon enough.”
For St. Rita, it was a tough end to a banner year.
The Mustangs won the program’s first regional title since 1990 (Kellam was a junior on the ’90 team).
Senior forward Langston Bedgood was awarded the Chicago Catholic League’s Lawless award for the Green Division, an honor given to the league’s top senior.
Bedgood, Breslin, Walton, senior defender Tyler Padilla and junior midfielder Chuy Flores were also named All-Conference in the Catholic League.
Watching the program build into a consistent winner over his time at St. Rita, Sumpter loved his senior year experience.
“We were horrible freshman year and won maybe two games, but we improved each year,” Sumpter said. “For me, it’s something to be proud of to say I was on one of the best St. Rita teams ever. It’s been a blessing to be a part of something.”
The Mustangs lose a strong senior class going forward but with a solid core. With Kyler Sumpter, Corum, junior defender Brendan Gleeson, Walton, Flores and Salgado, all expected back, the potential is there for the team to continue its recent run of success.
“We had a great experience here, and we will keep moving forward,” Walton said. “We’ll really miss this seniors. They have done so much for us and helped us out throughout the year and pushed us forward.”
The sectional semifinal was a rematch of last season's Class AA regional final with host Oak Forest claiming a 1-0 victory over St. Rita a year ago. The teams were supposed to meet Oct. 5 but the game was canceled due to the weather.
St. Laurence 2, Bremen 0: Sophomore forward Andres Lemus and junior midfielder Ruben Perez scored a goal apiece for top-seeded St. Laurence (16-4-1) in the other sectional semifinal at Kankakee.
Senior goalkeeper Fernando Cervantez finished with five saves for the Vikings.
As St. Laurence chases the first sectional title in program history, the team will be without Cervantez and senior midfielder Luke Arthurs (assist) for Saturday’s sectional championship game. Both players were awarded red cards late in the semifinal when a scuffle broke out.
Two Bremen players were also issued red cards.
Starting lineups
St. Rita
GK: Kyler Sumpter
D: Brendan Gleeson
D: Tyler Padilla
D: Luis Salgado
M: Julio Walton
M: Brendan Breslin
M: Logan Corum
M: Kenya Sumpter
M: Chuy Flores
F: Carlos Sanchez
F: Langston Bedgood
Oak Forest
GK: Tommy Roche
D: Declan Collery
D: Gavin Collery
M: Gavin Gilman
M: Jake Phillips
M: Luis Rosales
M: Jackson Flores
M: Dorian Perez
F: Bruno Carillo
F: Omar Plancarte
F: Jonathan Landa
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Tommy Roche, sr., GK, Oak Forest
Scoring summary
First half
Oak Forest – Bruno Carillo, 37:17
Oak Forest – Jonathan Landa, 17:03
Second half
Oak Forest – Gavin Gilman, 27:34
St. Rita – Kenya Sumpter, 17:58
St. Rita – Julio Walton, 6:04