New St. Francis coach
generates optimistic 2014
Improvement under Ward is measured in wins, attitude
By Dave Owen
St. Francis is ending Year 1 under new head coach Kevin Ward and feeling good about it.
A 9-2 win Tuesday over Illinois Math and Science Academy gave the Spartans a final regular season record of 8-8-3, two wins above their 2013 total.
“Overall, especially with our new coach, we’re firing on all cylinders,” said St. Francis junior Nick Roehl, who netted two goals in Tuesday’s win. “We’ve improved everything on a full scale. We’ve scored more goals than we ever have, we won more games, and we’re looking forward to finishing on a good note too.”
Regionals provide likely good news (a 6:30 p.m. Friday rematch with IMSA in Round 1 at St. Francis) and a huge obstacle: the second round opponent would be defending Class 2A fourth place finisher Wheaton Academy, which is 17-1-1 this fall.
Whatever lies ahead, the season has been a success.
“A lot of it is our new coach,” said Joey Wood, who has five goals in his last three games, including a hat trick Tuesday against IMSA. “We have a new formation and a new strategy going on, and he’s a great coach. He’s changed a lot of people’s positions and things like that, and that’s helped us out.”
Ward has liked what he has seen, as the Spartans have come together over the course of the season.
“I’d like to think one key is attitude,” Ward said. “You have talent here, but it just hasn’t had time to mesh. So we’ve had a short time to come together with regards to our seniors, and the season is compressed quickly with three games a week. Sometimes it takes three years to get your system down.”
Ian Hart, Keenan Corrigan, Carney Herard and David Gianos scored one goal each Tuesday, and Jose Zepeda had two assists.
Class 2A St. Francis’ resume includes ties with Lake Park and Wheaton North, the No. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively, in the Class 3A Bartlett Sectional.
“We’re much better than we were last year,” Ward said. “Even if we ended the year now, thumbs are up at this point.”
The road ahead
Goalkeeper Jonathan Burke returned from injury Tuesday, splitting time in goal with Ryan Scharf in the win over IMSA.
That at least partially eases one area of concern Ward had entering the final stretch of the regular season.
“We have to get healthy,” Ward said after the 2-0 loss Oct. 11 (Saturday) at Glenbard South. “We have a couple of guys nicked up a little bit. And we have to get back to playing defense the way we played defense all year. That made us a viable competitor.”
generates optimistic 2014
Improvement under Ward is measured in wins, attitude
By Dave Owen
St. Francis is ending Year 1 under new head coach Kevin Ward and feeling good about it.
A 9-2 win Tuesday over Illinois Math and Science Academy gave the Spartans a final regular season record of 8-8-3, two wins above their 2013 total.
“Overall, especially with our new coach, we’re firing on all cylinders,” said St. Francis junior Nick Roehl, who netted two goals in Tuesday’s win. “We’ve improved everything on a full scale. We’ve scored more goals than we ever have, we won more games, and we’re looking forward to finishing on a good note too.”
Regionals provide likely good news (a 6:30 p.m. Friday rematch with IMSA in Round 1 at St. Francis) and a huge obstacle: the second round opponent would be defending Class 2A fourth place finisher Wheaton Academy, which is 17-1-1 this fall.
Whatever lies ahead, the season has been a success.
“A lot of it is our new coach,” said Joey Wood, who has five goals in his last three games, including a hat trick Tuesday against IMSA. “We have a new formation and a new strategy going on, and he’s a great coach. He’s changed a lot of people’s positions and things like that, and that’s helped us out.”
Ward has liked what he has seen, as the Spartans have come together over the course of the season.
“I’d like to think one key is attitude,” Ward said. “You have talent here, but it just hasn’t had time to mesh. So we’ve had a short time to come together with regards to our seniors, and the season is compressed quickly with three games a week. Sometimes it takes three years to get your system down.”
Ian Hart, Keenan Corrigan, Carney Herard and David Gianos scored one goal each Tuesday, and Jose Zepeda had two assists.
Class 2A St. Francis’ resume includes ties with Lake Park and Wheaton North, the No. 2 and 3 seeds, respectively, in the Class 3A Bartlett Sectional.
“We’re much better than we were last year,” Ward said. “Even if we ended the year now, thumbs are up at this point.”
The road ahead
Goalkeeper Jonathan Burke returned from injury Tuesday, splitting time in goal with Ryan Scharf in the win over IMSA.
That at least partially eases one area of concern Ward had entering the final stretch of the regular season.
“We have to get healthy,” Ward said after the 2-0 loss Oct. 11 (Saturday) at Glenbard South. “We have a couple of guys nicked up a little bit. And we have to get back to playing defense the way we played defense all year. That made us a viable competitor.”