St. Francis, Wheaton Academy
ready for quick rematch
By Bobby Narang
Two days short of summer last season, Wheaton Academy fell just short of the ultimate prize.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020-21 high school sports calendar was altered into shortened and delayed sports seasons.
On a very late date for high school sports, the Warriors beat Notre Dame (Quincy) 6-1 in the Class A third place game on June 19.
Wheaton Academy has the same goal as last time, but the new chance comes lower on the June calendar and higher on the IHSA rating system.
After being pushed upward by the IHSA’s success formula, Wheaton Academy’s target is the Class AA championship game at North Central College on June 4.
That’s where it’s hoped for journey would end. But now the Warriors, the no. 5 seed in their own sectional, start the trek when they play 10th-seeded St. Francis at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the second Class AA Nazareth Regional semifinal. The winner plays Nazareth at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Wheaton Academy coach Maria Selvaggio said her team is excited for the second season. The Warriors (12-6-2) played a difficult schedule to prepare for the rigors of the playoffs, which included a 2-1 loss to the Spartans in their final regular-season game on May 13. The result created a three-way tie for Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division honors with Riverside-Brookfield.
“From day one, the bigger picture is how we like to see growth over the course of the season, to see development and see that the trajectory is in the right direction in terms of building chemistry,” she said. “It should peak during the playoffs. It’s a new opportunity to play for something bigger than the game in front of us. We’ve set goals for conference play, the regular-season play and ultimately, all of that is to push us into the playoffs.
“Our program has had state success, with seven trophies from fourth to first, so we know how sweet and special that it is. We want to be there at the end of the year, where the best teams are playing. That’s the philosophy we push for, even in preseason, because we want to be among the best in the state. We ultimately use the season to prepare for the bigger goal — to get to that final weekend.”
St. Francis (7-7-2) also has a solid success rate in the playoffs. The Spartans won Class AA state titles under the direction of Jim Winslow in 2012 and 2018. Winslow said injuries, illness and a few position changes coupled with a difficult schedule led to a rare no. 10 seed for the program.
“I feel like we’ve definitely figured ourselves out now,” Winslow said. “It’s been a long season with highs and lows ultimately to prepare us for the postseason. I’m thankful to have some tough matches, some adversity, which ultimately is what you face in the playoffs. We feel prepared and confident. We are way more assured who we are as a team based on our abilities and strengths.”
Selvaggio echoed the same words, noting her team opened up the season with an eye-opening 4-0 loss to top-seed Benet.
“The first month we were trying to figure ourselves out,” she said. “Just thinking back to the Benet and Timothy Christian games, it feels like a completely different team. I know our players are excited to be in this position after last year’s run. They know how much fun it can be. It takes a lot of work and discipline required to continue to win and beat good teams.
“St. Francis is always a good matchup for our school. We played them a few days ago, and took that as a good preparation to try and figure out more about them.”
In 2020, St. Francis missed a great opportunity to add to its state trophy collection. The Spartans had a talented team capable of another title run, but it never got the chance due to the pandemic-scuttled season.
Winslow said his Class of ‘22 — Claire Reinke, Lauren Bruce, Mia Hass and Sara Dziengel — aim to spend more games together in May.
“I think our seniors are very motivated to leave their mark on their season and program,” Winslow said. “All the seniors don’t want to be finished.
“It’s weird to play them (Wheaton Academy) again (so soon). It’s hard to beat a good team twice, especially in a row. For us, I just try and compartmentalize it. They also have a young group, but my group, I think, is even younger.
“It will be an interesting game to see. I expect a good game. I’m hoping we play well. With this group, they’ve come a very long way in a month. We got finally healthy two weeks ago. When you have a mature team, you have a pretty good idea how they will respond to things. This team’s confidence is growing.”
Selvaggio said her team is building toward a strong finish, but scoring could be an issue. The Warriors have only put two in the net in their last two games.
“We’re not lacking motivation to play them again,” she said. “It should be a super, fun matchup, always high-energy and high-level soccer. I think we’re really starting to get creative and dynamic in our attack.
“We’re building on being more difficult to defend, more unpredictable and improvisational and be able to confuse our opponents. I think we’re starting to roll offensively, but the question is if he can get that will translate into goals. Hopefully with the motivation of the postseason and excitement of the possibilities, we will be able to channel all of that into finishing and translate that into wins.”
Winslow said he made a few lineup changes, mainly revolving around the players who have sparked his team in the final half of the regular-season.
“About two and a half weeks ago, we started to get our kids back and got healthy,” he said. “Every game we’ve started to play better and better, but we will see what that leads into Wednesday. Hopefully, they will play well, but if told me three weeks ago that we would end the regular-season with a 7-7-2 record and a share of the conference championship, I would take it.”
ready for quick rematch
By Bobby Narang
Two days short of summer last season, Wheaton Academy fell just short of the ultimate prize.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020-21 high school sports calendar was altered into shortened and delayed sports seasons.
On a very late date for high school sports, the Warriors beat Notre Dame (Quincy) 6-1 in the Class A third place game on June 19.
Wheaton Academy has the same goal as last time, but the new chance comes lower on the June calendar and higher on the IHSA rating system.
After being pushed upward by the IHSA’s success formula, Wheaton Academy’s target is the Class AA championship game at North Central College on June 4.
That’s where it’s hoped for journey would end. But now the Warriors, the no. 5 seed in their own sectional, start the trek when they play 10th-seeded St. Francis at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the second Class AA Nazareth Regional semifinal. The winner plays Nazareth at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
Wheaton Academy coach Maria Selvaggio said her team is excited for the second season. The Warriors (12-6-2) played a difficult schedule to prepare for the rigors of the playoffs, which included a 2-1 loss to the Spartans in their final regular-season game on May 13. The result created a three-way tie for Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division honors with Riverside-Brookfield.
“From day one, the bigger picture is how we like to see growth over the course of the season, to see development and see that the trajectory is in the right direction in terms of building chemistry,” she said. “It should peak during the playoffs. It’s a new opportunity to play for something bigger than the game in front of us. We’ve set goals for conference play, the regular-season play and ultimately, all of that is to push us into the playoffs.
“Our program has had state success, with seven trophies from fourth to first, so we know how sweet and special that it is. We want to be there at the end of the year, where the best teams are playing. That’s the philosophy we push for, even in preseason, because we want to be among the best in the state. We ultimately use the season to prepare for the bigger goal — to get to that final weekend.”
St. Francis (7-7-2) also has a solid success rate in the playoffs. The Spartans won Class AA state titles under the direction of Jim Winslow in 2012 and 2018. Winslow said injuries, illness and a few position changes coupled with a difficult schedule led to a rare no. 10 seed for the program.
“I feel like we’ve definitely figured ourselves out now,” Winslow said. “It’s been a long season with highs and lows ultimately to prepare us for the postseason. I’m thankful to have some tough matches, some adversity, which ultimately is what you face in the playoffs. We feel prepared and confident. We are way more assured who we are as a team based on our abilities and strengths.”
Selvaggio echoed the same words, noting her team opened up the season with an eye-opening 4-0 loss to top-seed Benet.
“The first month we were trying to figure ourselves out,” she said. “Just thinking back to the Benet and Timothy Christian games, it feels like a completely different team. I know our players are excited to be in this position after last year’s run. They know how much fun it can be. It takes a lot of work and discipline required to continue to win and beat good teams.
“St. Francis is always a good matchup for our school. We played them a few days ago, and took that as a good preparation to try and figure out more about them.”
In 2020, St. Francis missed a great opportunity to add to its state trophy collection. The Spartans had a talented team capable of another title run, but it never got the chance due to the pandemic-scuttled season.
Winslow said his Class of ‘22 — Claire Reinke, Lauren Bruce, Mia Hass and Sara Dziengel — aim to spend more games together in May.
“I think our seniors are very motivated to leave their mark on their season and program,” Winslow said. “All the seniors don’t want to be finished.
“It’s weird to play them (Wheaton Academy) again (so soon). It’s hard to beat a good team twice, especially in a row. For us, I just try and compartmentalize it. They also have a young group, but my group, I think, is even younger.
“It will be an interesting game to see. I expect a good game. I’m hoping we play well. With this group, they’ve come a very long way in a month. We got finally healthy two weeks ago. When you have a mature team, you have a pretty good idea how they will respond to things. This team’s confidence is growing.”
Selvaggio said her team is building toward a strong finish, but scoring could be an issue. The Warriors have only put two in the net in their last two games.
“We’re not lacking motivation to play them again,” she said. “It should be a super, fun matchup, always high-energy and high-level soccer. I think we’re really starting to get creative and dynamic in our attack.
“We’re building on being more difficult to defend, more unpredictable and improvisational and be able to confuse our opponents. I think we’re starting to roll offensively, but the question is if he can get that will translate into goals. Hopefully with the motivation of the postseason and excitement of the possibilities, we will be able to channel all of that into finishing and translate that into wins.”
Winslow said he made a few lineup changes, mainly revolving around the players who have sparked his team in the final half of the regular-season.
“About two and a half weeks ago, we started to get our kids back and got healthy,” he said. “Every game we’ve started to play better and better, but we will see what that leads into Wednesday. Hopefully, they will play well, but if told me three weeks ago that we would end the regular-season with a 7-7-2 record and a share of the conference championship, I would take it.”