Ranked Fenwick, Loyola ready to rumble
By Bill Stone
With five games already postponed or being rescheduled this season, Loyola finally caught a break Saturday.
Looking to play somebody, anybody, once they learned about being unable to play De La Salle, the Ramblers not only received a response Saturday morning but one from friendly neighborhood rival New Trier, which had a game canceled that morning.
“New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft called me and said, ‘If you haven’t practiced yet, do you want to play?’” Loyola coach Baer Fisher said. “It was literally four-hours notice for our guys.”
The Ramblers fell 2-0 to the team that 32-hours later became the no. 1 team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, and allowed their first goals of the season. Despite suffering their first loss of the season, the then-no. 4 Ramblers couldn’t have been much happier for the impromptu 2 p.m. top-level game played in great spring weather.
Fenwick has endured the same scheduling challenges and that’s why both coaches remain cautiously optimistic that their Chicago Catholic League Blue Division meeting 5 p.m. Tuesday in River Forest still will take place.
Loyola (4-1, 1-0 in CCL Blue) stands at no. 6 in the Top 25 rankings after losing to the undefeated Trevians (8-0-0).
Fenwick (2-0-0, 1-0-0 in CCL Blue) sits at nio. 11 and the only ranked team having played only two games. With their second varsity postponement coming Thursday with Brother Rice, the Friars haven’t played since a 2-1 conference home victory over St. Ignatius Tuesday.
“It’s the whole year of dealing with schools and athletes and COVID-related issues that is challenging on all officials and families and student-athletes,” Fenwick coach Craig Blazer said. “We’re just trying to do our best to keep everybody safe and put student-athletes in a good position to be as normal as possible.
“There continues to be challenges, but at the same time we’re grateful for the limited opportunities we have right now. Every time we get together, it’s a blessing.”
Both teams so far have handled the challenges on the field of play.
This season, the Ramblers outscored their first four opponents 17-0 (Taft, St. Rita, Providence and Marmion). That stretch concluded with the 1-0 victory over the Cadets on March 24.
Fenwick opened its season by blanking Nazareth Academy 5-0 March 13.
Loyola has beaten Fenwick in their last four annual conference meetings, the last 2-1 during the 2019 season on a goal in the final three minutes.
“We have the utmost respect for Fenwick. They pushed us to the brink (in 2019), and they’re, without a doubt, the most improved program in our conference,” Fisher said. “We know it’s going to be a battle, like most of our CCL games are, and we’re excited.”
That was Blazer’s first season as the Friars’ head coach. With 17 seniors in the program, he has added a junior varsity schedule this season.
There also are the additional connections between Blazer and the Ramblers.
Blazer has coached several Loyola players in the FC United club. He joked while watching a recent Loyola game that he had some club connection with practically the entire starting lineup.
And Blazer’s son Oscar plays for Loyola. The young Blazer was just medically cleared from a long-term injury, so his playing any minutes Tuesday remains questionable.
“Loyola has an outstanding program and good coaching and a lot of talented student-athletes,” Blazer said. “(In 2019 we) had a really good game, and our guys are just excited about playing a really good team like Loyola.”
Five Loyola seniors already plan to play collegiately -- midfielders Tommy Zipprich (Lehigh) and Michael Sullivan (Denison), Oscar Blazer (Duquesne) and defender Mario Hrvojevic (defense) and forward Dylan Gripman (school pending).
Junior center forward Frank Miedema has five goals, including a first-half hat-trick in the 5-0 opener against Taft. Zipprich (three goals) and Gripman (two goals) had two first half goals in victories over Providence (5-0) and St. Rita (6-0), respectively. Hrvojevic also has scored twice.
Junior Joey Roscoe scored the lone goal against Marmion roughly midway through the second half.
Senior Colin Redmond and junior Ryan Leider also have played well.
After battling injury interruptions, the defensive line has been stable the last two matches with Redmond, Hrvojevic, junior John Phillips and sophomore Andrew Newton.
Junior captain and goalie Alex Ainsworth, a third-year starter, has played a role in the four shutouts, sharing the St. Rita shutout with junior Tommy Albrighton.
On Saturday, New Trier scored in the 11th and 14th minutes. The teams will meet again as originally scheduled April 10 in Northfield.
“We had our chances (Saturday). We just didn’t put them away. They had two clear-cut chances, and they put them away. It was a really good test for us, and we learned a lot,” Fisher said.
"I've been pleased with both the attacking and defensive side of the game. Even in the loss, we had really two breakdowns all game and they made us pay on both.”
Fenwick's offense is led by senior Ari Vellilotis, its leading scorer in 2019 who earned All-CCL and honorable mention all-sectional honors.
Senior Anders Luthringhausen has been part of the strong defensive effort after previously playing left midfielder. Against St. Ignatius, he returned to his former position and scored both goals, one assisted by Vellilotis.
Seniors Joey Karris and Brent Bergnach on defense and versatile senior attacker Narayan Sharma also have contributed. Against Nazareth, junior Jack Powers scored twice and junior Ryan Bero had a goal and three assists.
"For us, (the key is) keeping Loyola in front of us. And playing quick and getting into the final third and getting quality shots on frame," Blazer said. "Overall, I think our team chemistry is coming together and myself and the other coaches are encouraged with the progress that they're making.”
By Bill Stone
With five games already postponed or being rescheduled this season, Loyola finally caught a break Saturday.
Looking to play somebody, anybody, once they learned about being unable to play De La Salle, the Ramblers not only received a response Saturday morning but one from friendly neighborhood rival New Trier, which had a game canceled that morning.
“New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft called me and said, ‘If you haven’t practiced yet, do you want to play?’” Loyola coach Baer Fisher said. “It was literally four-hours notice for our guys.”
The Ramblers fell 2-0 to the team that 32-hours later became the no. 1 team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, and allowed their first goals of the season. Despite suffering their first loss of the season, the then-no. 4 Ramblers couldn’t have been much happier for the impromptu 2 p.m. top-level game played in great spring weather.
Fenwick has endured the same scheduling challenges and that’s why both coaches remain cautiously optimistic that their Chicago Catholic League Blue Division meeting 5 p.m. Tuesday in River Forest still will take place.
Loyola (4-1, 1-0 in CCL Blue) stands at no. 6 in the Top 25 rankings after losing to the undefeated Trevians (8-0-0).
Fenwick (2-0-0, 1-0-0 in CCL Blue) sits at nio. 11 and the only ranked team having played only two games. With their second varsity postponement coming Thursday with Brother Rice, the Friars haven’t played since a 2-1 conference home victory over St. Ignatius Tuesday.
“It’s the whole year of dealing with schools and athletes and COVID-related issues that is challenging on all officials and families and student-athletes,” Fenwick coach Craig Blazer said. “We’re just trying to do our best to keep everybody safe and put student-athletes in a good position to be as normal as possible.
“There continues to be challenges, but at the same time we’re grateful for the limited opportunities we have right now. Every time we get together, it’s a blessing.”
Both teams so far have handled the challenges on the field of play.
This season, the Ramblers outscored their first four opponents 17-0 (Taft, St. Rita, Providence and Marmion). That stretch concluded with the 1-0 victory over the Cadets on March 24.
Fenwick opened its season by blanking Nazareth Academy 5-0 March 13.
Loyola has beaten Fenwick in their last four annual conference meetings, the last 2-1 during the 2019 season on a goal in the final three minutes.
“We have the utmost respect for Fenwick. They pushed us to the brink (in 2019), and they’re, without a doubt, the most improved program in our conference,” Fisher said. “We know it’s going to be a battle, like most of our CCL games are, and we’re excited.”
That was Blazer’s first season as the Friars’ head coach. With 17 seniors in the program, he has added a junior varsity schedule this season.
There also are the additional connections between Blazer and the Ramblers.
Blazer has coached several Loyola players in the FC United club. He joked while watching a recent Loyola game that he had some club connection with practically the entire starting lineup.
And Blazer’s son Oscar plays for Loyola. The young Blazer was just medically cleared from a long-term injury, so his playing any minutes Tuesday remains questionable.
“Loyola has an outstanding program and good coaching and a lot of talented student-athletes,” Blazer said. “(In 2019 we) had a really good game, and our guys are just excited about playing a really good team like Loyola.”
Five Loyola seniors already plan to play collegiately -- midfielders Tommy Zipprich (Lehigh) and Michael Sullivan (Denison), Oscar Blazer (Duquesne) and defender Mario Hrvojevic (defense) and forward Dylan Gripman (school pending).
Junior center forward Frank Miedema has five goals, including a first-half hat-trick in the 5-0 opener against Taft. Zipprich (three goals) and Gripman (two goals) had two first half goals in victories over Providence (5-0) and St. Rita (6-0), respectively. Hrvojevic also has scored twice.
Junior Joey Roscoe scored the lone goal against Marmion roughly midway through the second half.
Senior Colin Redmond and junior Ryan Leider also have played well.
After battling injury interruptions, the defensive line has been stable the last two matches with Redmond, Hrvojevic, junior John Phillips and sophomore Andrew Newton.
Junior captain and goalie Alex Ainsworth, a third-year starter, has played a role in the four shutouts, sharing the St. Rita shutout with junior Tommy Albrighton.
On Saturday, New Trier scored in the 11th and 14th minutes. The teams will meet again as originally scheduled April 10 in Northfield.
“We had our chances (Saturday). We just didn’t put them away. They had two clear-cut chances, and they put them away. It was a really good test for us, and we learned a lot,” Fisher said.
"I've been pleased with both the attacking and defensive side of the game. Even in the loss, we had really two breakdowns all game and they made us pay on both.”
Fenwick's offense is led by senior Ari Vellilotis, its leading scorer in 2019 who earned All-CCL and honorable mention all-sectional honors.
Senior Anders Luthringhausen has been part of the strong defensive effort after previously playing left midfielder. Against St. Ignatius, he returned to his former position and scored both goals, one assisted by Vellilotis.
Seniors Joey Karris and Brent Bergnach on defense and versatile senior attacker Narayan Sharma also have contributed. Against Nazareth, junior Jack Powers scored twice and junior Ryan Bero had a goal and three assists.
"For us, (the key is) keeping Loyola in front of us. And playing quick and getting into the final third and getting quality shots on frame," Blazer said. "Overall, I think our team chemistry is coming together and myself and the other coaches are encouraged with the progress that they're making.”