Timothy on shootout roll,
edges St. Francis in defensive clash
Trojans win 5-4 in PKs in 2nd-straight MSC Blue match
By Curt Herron
WHEATON -- It's not often that a team opens conference play with two-straight matches that require 100 minutes of play before being determined by penalties. Most squads don’t have that in a season.
But that's what happened to Timothy on Thursday when it played at St. Francis in a clash between teams with eyes on the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division title.
After prevailing 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 match two days earlier at Ridgewood, the Trojans pulled off the same shootout feat against the Spartans. This time a scoreless draw preceeded the shootout, which was determined again by a 5-4 margin.
Timothy secured the win when keeper Kyle Steiner dove to stop a shot by senior Ben Fasana on the 10th shot.
"They (St. Francis) played a very defensive game, and we played defensive," Steiner said. "No one could really get opportunities in the box. We had one or maybe two in the whole game. We love to see that we can rely on our defense early on in the year and that just sort of solidifies our faith in our team.
"This game had gone on too long so I wanted to get it over with. This is like my favorite part of soccer. We have faith in our kickers for the penalty kicks, for sure. I definitely like the team chemistry that we build every year. It's fantastic.
“We have a huge tradition here at Timothy and have always been really good at soccer. When I came in as a freshman, I could see early on that soccer is big here. So, we just want to influence the younger grades, because we're K through 12."
Both teams recorded one previous shutout this season. Timothy (3-3-0, 2-0-x) scored three times in their season-opening clean-sheet at Lisle. St. Francis (1-3-1, 1-1-x) stopped St. Edward 1-0 Tuesday in Elgin.
For the rest of the season, boths teams have allowed multiple goals in their matches.
While few teams are satisfied with a match where they are unable to score, these two sides had a lot to be upbeat about after both defenses rose to the occasion and frustrated the opposition.
Timothy placed fourth in Class A a year ago and has 19 players back from that 18-4-3 group. The Trojans figure to be a force in the small-school division again. If they make the Final Four in 2022, it would be the third time the program has made consecutive state trips. It last time it accomplished that feat was when the Trojans placed second in 2014 and won their second state championship in 2015.
"We know that every conference match is going to be a tough one, and we've had some battles over the years against St. Francis," Trojans coach Joel Zielke said. "We knew coming in that it was going to be going to the wire again.
“They have a good program and kids who are really resilient, and we knew that our kids were going to have to step up to the challenge. We've really talked hard on defense the last couple of days, because we've given up quite a few goals in our last matches, including three against Ridgewood and three against Latin (a 3-2 loss).
“We really wanted to kind of hunker down and see a clean-sheet. So I'm really proud of how our backline and goalie played tonight. They did well.
"Offensively early in the game, we had a couple of chances, and there was a sequence when we hit a crossbar and the post. The tempo was up for the whole game, and there weren't any down minutes. Both teams were battling really hard.
“We went through a lot last year with some tight games down the stretch. So these young kids have gained a lot of experience. Now they're a year older, and we're starting to see some of that play out in real time. It's nice to see them maturing on the field right before our eyes.
“There are definitely things that we need to polish, especially in our final offensive third, like creating some better movements and scoring opportunities. But I'm definitely very proud of our effort and to come out two games in a row where we've gone a full 100 and to win both matches in penalty kicks says a lot."
Although they came up short, St. Francis was definitely encouraged about shutting out a team for the second match in a row.
The Spartans scored goals in their previous two matches before Thursday, after getting shut out three-straight games to start the season against tough Class 3A opposition in Lake Park's Hillner Classic. They were disappointed with the goose egg against Timothy.
"We played so much better, and we've played better in every game," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "We had some chances and didn't put them away. They're always going to outshoot us, because they shoot more than we do; and they're probably a little farther ahead of us right now. But it wasn't like they had any more good opportunities than we had.
"It would have been interesting had a goal been scored early, say at the end of the first half or early second half. I think the level of the game would have ratcheted up another step until somebody kind of ran out of gas.
“We played well enough to win … but it didn't go our way. It was uglier at times than we wanted it to be, and I'm sure that they feel the same way. Overall, we're pleased as punch with how the kids played. We're coming along, we're one tick off here or one there, but we're coming."
Timothy's defense was led by seniors Ethan Munk, Jake Firnsin and Carter Day, and freshman Wesley Hueber.
"We worked well," Munk said. "We were tired coming off of two days ago with another PK game, so we just stayed back and trusted our shape, made good clears and trusted Kyle, who made a couple of big saves.
“We just couldn't get anything started, which happens sometimes. Wes on my right played a great game and locked it down. They had some speed on the right side. He blocked everything and had some good slides.
“I had Jake on my left, and he had some good headers and good clears. And Carter locked it down on the right side, so that was huge for us.
"We have good senior leaders, so I think we're able to trust each other. This team is a family, and we've been playing for four years now. Even when it's not going our way or times when we thought we should get a call or could have made a better play, we just stick with it.
“Coming into our second conference game, we didn't want to lose because we knew how tough this conference is. So this is a huge win against a rival, and I'm very happy with the outcome. We obviously want to get back to where we were last year and get to the Final Four. I feel like this team is so tight we'll push and work together to create opportunities and ultimately win matches."
Leading St. Francis' defense were seniors Sam Wessel, Matthew Marsico and Fasana and juniors Justin Klein and Aaron Cook.
"It's tough, and it was a long game, but we were there," said Wessel, one of his team's captains along with senior goaltender Simon Hartle. "It was definitely a defensive game. Aaron, Justin, Ben and Matt are just a bunch of guys who work really hard. We've made big steps, for sure.
“I think we all get mad when we don't win. And we really try to fight to the end, and that showed in this game. We just don’t want to lose, and that mentality is a good one to have."
In the penalties, the Trojans started the competition and connected on each of their five attempts. Converting penalties in order were sophomore Owen Wise, Firnsin, senior captain Cameron Baker, freshman Marc Gamble Jr. and sophomore Timothy Nulty.
Scoring on attempts for the Spartans in order were junior Cooper Winslow, Klein, senior Mason Karch and junior Nick Madden. Firnsin bounced one off of the crossbar that went in while Karch sent in a shot that Steiner got a hand on but couldn't halt.
In the first overtime, the Spartans threatened with tries by junior Luc Swiatek, senior Nico Posada and Fasana. In the second, Marsico sent in a header, and Madden was stopped from close range. Timothy reeived one of its best chances from Gamble Jr.
Some of the best opportunities in the second half for St. Francis were turned in by junior Patrick Spahn, Madden and Marsico. The Trojan’s Wise was thwarted by Hartle, and Cook headed away attempts from sophomore Cooper Rainone and junior Hendrik DeVries.
"I just felt that our whole defense had a killer instinct to go get the ball and to keep it away from our goalie and to just play together," Cook said. "We have a great bond, and we really encourage each other and help each other to get through these types of games that go long.
“I think playing against those better teams in the tournament really helped us, and it was a good learning experience for us to play well in our own conference.
"Sam and I played with each other most of last year, so we really learned to have good chemistry and to play off of each other. And our two outside backs, Justin and Ben, they really work super hard and are always there.
“I like our team bond. Whenever someone makes a mistake, someone is there to pick them up. We definitely have made a lot of progress, and I assume that we'll make more toward the end of the year to really prepare us for state."
There were fewer good chances in the opening half. One of the best saw Gamble Jr. hitting the post, and DeVries being denied by Hartle on the same early sequence.
Others who applied pressure included junior Caleb Bode and Baker for the Trojans. Freshman J.R. Diaz and Fasana were among the Spartans who threatened Steiner.
Timothy competes Saturday and Sunday in a BodyArmor bracket before returning to league action against St. Edward on Tuesday and Wheaton Academy on Thursday.
St. Francis has a conference match at Riverside-Brookfield on Tuesday before playing a league cross-over match against IC Catholic Prep on Thursday.
Starting lineups
Timothy
GK: Kyle Steiner
D: Carter Day
D: Ethan Munk
D: Jake Firnsin
D: Wesley Hueber
MF: Cameron Baker
MF: Owen Wise
MF: Caleb Bode
MF: Cooper Rainone
F: Hendrik DeVries
F: Marc Gamble, Jr.
St. Francis
GK: Simon Hartle
D: Justin Klein
D: Aaron Cook
D: Sam Wessel
D: Ben Fasana
MF: Luc Swiatek
MF: Nick Madden
MF: J.R. Diaz
MF: John Coco
F: Cooper Winslow
F: Mason Karch
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Defenses for Timothy and St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
Penalties
Timothy: Owen Wise (good); Jake Firnsin (good); Cameron Baker (good); Marc Gamble, Jr. (good); Timothy Nulty (good)
St. Francis: Cooper Winslow (good); Justin Klein (good); Mason Karch (good); Nick Madden (good); Ben Fasana (saved)
edges St. Francis in defensive clash
Trojans win 5-4 in PKs in 2nd-straight MSC Blue match
By Curt Herron
WHEATON -- It's not often that a team opens conference play with two-straight matches that require 100 minutes of play before being determined by penalties. Most squads don’t have that in a season.
But that's what happened to Timothy on Thursday when it played at St. Francis in a clash between teams with eyes on the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division title.
After prevailing 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 match two days earlier at Ridgewood, the Trojans pulled off the same shootout feat against the Spartans. This time a scoreless draw preceeded the shootout, which was determined again by a 5-4 margin.
Timothy secured the win when keeper Kyle Steiner dove to stop a shot by senior Ben Fasana on the 10th shot.
"They (St. Francis) played a very defensive game, and we played defensive," Steiner said. "No one could really get opportunities in the box. We had one or maybe two in the whole game. We love to see that we can rely on our defense early on in the year and that just sort of solidifies our faith in our team.
"This game had gone on too long so I wanted to get it over with. This is like my favorite part of soccer. We have faith in our kickers for the penalty kicks, for sure. I definitely like the team chemistry that we build every year. It's fantastic.
“We have a huge tradition here at Timothy and have always been really good at soccer. When I came in as a freshman, I could see early on that soccer is big here. So, we just want to influence the younger grades, because we're K through 12."
Both teams recorded one previous shutout this season. Timothy (3-3-0, 2-0-x) scored three times in their season-opening clean-sheet at Lisle. St. Francis (1-3-1, 1-1-x) stopped St. Edward 1-0 Tuesday in Elgin.
For the rest of the season, boths teams have allowed multiple goals in their matches.
While few teams are satisfied with a match where they are unable to score, these two sides had a lot to be upbeat about after both defenses rose to the occasion and frustrated the opposition.
Timothy placed fourth in Class A a year ago and has 19 players back from that 18-4-3 group. The Trojans figure to be a force in the small-school division again. If they make the Final Four in 2022, it would be the third time the program has made consecutive state trips. It last time it accomplished that feat was when the Trojans placed second in 2014 and won their second state championship in 2015.
"We know that every conference match is going to be a tough one, and we've had some battles over the years against St. Francis," Trojans coach Joel Zielke said. "We knew coming in that it was going to be going to the wire again.
“They have a good program and kids who are really resilient, and we knew that our kids were going to have to step up to the challenge. We've really talked hard on defense the last couple of days, because we've given up quite a few goals in our last matches, including three against Ridgewood and three against Latin (a 3-2 loss).
“We really wanted to kind of hunker down and see a clean-sheet. So I'm really proud of how our backline and goalie played tonight. They did well.
"Offensively early in the game, we had a couple of chances, and there was a sequence when we hit a crossbar and the post. The tempo was up for the whole game, and there weren't any down minutes. Both teams were battling really hard.
“We went through a lot last year with some tight games down the stretch. So these young kids have gained a lot of experience. Now they're a year older, and we're starting to see some of that play out in real time. It's nice to see them maturing on the field right before our eyes.
“There are definitely things that we need to polish, especially in our final offensive third, like creating some better movements and scoring opportunities. But I'm definitely very proud of our effort and to come out two games in a row where we've gone a full 100 and to win both matches in penalty kicks says a lot."
Although they came up short, St. Francis was definitely encouraged about shutting out a team for the second match in a row.
The Spartans scored goals in their previous two matches before Thursday, after getting shut out three-straight games to start the season against tough Class 3A opposition in Lake Park's Hillner Classic. They were disappointed with the goose egg against Timothy.
"We played so much better, and we've played better in every game," St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said. "We had some chances and didn't put them away. They're always going to outshoot us, because they shoot more than we do; and they're probably a little farther ahead of us right now. But it wasn't like they had any more good opportunities than we had.
"It would have been interesting had a goal been scored early, say at the end of the first half or early second half. I think the level of the game would have ratcheted up another step until somebody kind of ran out of gas.
“We played well enough to win … but it didn't go our way. It was uglier at times than we wanted it to be, and I'm sure that they feel the same way. Overall, we're pleased as punch with how the kids played. We're coming along, we're one tick off here or one there, but we're coming."
Timothy's defense was led by seniors Ethan Munk, Jake Firnsin and Carter Day, and freshman Wesley Hueber.
"We worked well," Munk said. "We were tired coming off of two days ago with another PK game, so we just stayed back and trusted our shape, made good clears and trusted Kyle, who made a couple of big saves.
“We just couldn't get anything started, which happens sometimes. Wes on my right played a great game and locked it down. They had some speed on the right side. He blocked everything and had some good slides.
“I had Jake on my left, and he had some good headers and good clears. And Carter locked it down on the right side, so that was huge for us.
"We have good senior leaders, so I think we're able to trust each other. This team is a family, and we've been playing for four years now. Even when it's not going our way or times when we thought we should get a call or could have made a better play, we just stick with it.
“Coming into our second conference game, we didn't want to lose because we knew how tough this conference is. So this is a huge win against a rival, and I'm very happy with the outcome. We obviously want to get back to where we were last year and get to the Final Four. I feel like this team is so tight we'll push and work together to create opportunities and ultimately win matches."
Leading St. Francis' defense were seniors Sam Wessel, Matthew Marsico and Fasana and juniors Justin Klein and Aaron Cook.
"It's tough, and it was a long game, but we were there," said Wessel, one of his team's captains along with senior goaltender Simon Hartle. "It was definitely a defensive game. Aaron, Justin, Ben and Matt are just a bunch of guys who work really hard. We've made big steps, for sure.
“I think we all get mad when we don't win. And we really try to fight to the end, and that showed in this game. We just don’t want to lose, and that mentality is a good one to have."
In the penalties, the Trojans started the competition and connected on each of their five attempts. Converting penalties in order were sophomore Owen Wise, Firnsin, senior captain Cameron Baker, freshman Marc Gamble Jr. and sophomore Timothy Nulty.
Scoring on attempts for the Spartans in order were junior Cooper Winslow, Klein, senior Mason Karch and junior Nick Madden. Firnsin bounced one off of the crossbar that went in while Karch sent in a shot that Steiner got a hand on but couldn't halt.
In the first overtime, the Spartans threatened with tries by junior Luc Swiatek, senior Nico Posada and Fasana. In the second, Marsico sent in a header, and Madden was stopped from close range. Timothy reeived one of its best chances from Gamble Jr.
Some of the best opportunities in the second half for St. Francis were turned in by junior Patrick Spahn, Madden and Marsico. The Trojan’s Wise was thwarted by Hartle, and Cook headed away attempts from sophomore Cooper Rainone and junior Hendrik DeVries.
"I just felt that our whole defense had a killer instinct to go get the ball and to keep it away from our goalie and to just play together," Cook said. "We have a great bond, and we really encourage each other and help each other to get through these types of games that go long.
“I think playing against those better teams in the tournament really helped us, and it was a good learning experience for us to play well in our own conference.
"Sam and I played with each other most of last year, so we really learned to have good chemistry and to play off of each other. And our two outside backs, Justin and Ben, they really work super hard and are always there.
“I like our team bond. Whenever someone makes a mistake, someone is there to pick them up. We definitely have made a lot of progress, and I assume that we'll make more toward the end of the year to really prepare us for state."
There were fewer good chances in the opening half. One of the best saw Gamble Jr. hitting the post, and DeVries being denied by Hartle on the same early sequence.
Others who applied pressure included junior Caleb Bode and Baker for the Trojans. Freshman J.R. Diaz and Fasana were among the Spartans who threatened Steiner.
Timothy competes Saturday and Sunday in a BodyArmor bracket before returning to league action against St. Edward on Tuesday and Wheaton Academy on Thursday.
St. Francis has a conference match at Riverside-Brookfield on Tuesday before playing a league cross-over match against IC Catholic Prep on Thursday.
Starting lineups
Timothy
GK: Kyle Steiner
D: Carter Day
D: Ethan Munk
D: Jake Firnsin
D: Wesley Hueber
MF: Cameron Baker
MF: Owen Wise
MF: Caleb Bode
MF: Cooper Rainone
F: Hendrik DeVries
F: Marc Gamble, Jr.
St. Francis
GK: Simon Hartle
D: Justin Klein
D: Aaron Cook
D: Sam Wessel
D: Ben Fasana
MF: Luc Swiatek
MF: Nick Madden
MF: J.R. Diaz
MF: John Coco
F: Cooper Winslow
F: Mason Karch
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Defenses for Timothy and St. Francis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
Penalties
Timothy: Owen Wise (good); Jake Firnsin (good); Cameron Baker (good); Marc Gamble, Jr. (good); Timothy Nulty (good)
St. Francis: Cooper Winslow (good); Justin Klein (good); Mason Karch (good); Nick Madden (good); Ben Fasana (saved)