St. Patrick, Benet meet in big, early test
By Mike Garofola
Nobody was talking about St. Patrick soccer during the past four seasons - certainly not when it came to the final standings in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
That has already started to change, and the chatter may increase after Benet (1-5-1, 0-0-0) hosts the Shamrocks (7-2-2, 0-0-1) at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
During the past four seasons, St. Patrick was a combined 8-25-2. At the same time, perennial league power Benet Academy won or shared three league trophies with an incredible overall record of 31-3-2.
But now the times they are changing for the St. Patrick faithful.
They have watched their young and talented bunch get out to a quick start. It's included three consecutive clean-sheet victories to march them into the final of the Lurie Childrens Hospital Bracket of the PepsiCo Showdown next Sunday.
"Right now it's good to be a Shamrock," said a proud Kyle McClure.
The Shamrocks are on a six-game unbeaten streak. In their last five matches they have beaten four Class 3A opponents, plus tied Saint Viator, one of the most prestigious programs in ESCC history. During this stretch, St. Patrick has not conceded a single goal and shows seven clean-sheets so far this season.
"That game with Saint Viator was well played and hard fought by both sides," McClure said. "We have a lot of respect for teams like Saint Viator and Benet for playing high-profile schedules and with the way they are coached and led.
"The records of both do not indicate just how strong each team is. And we know in order to win this conference, we likely will need to beat both Benet and Carmel.
"It's a lofty pursuit, but if we play well, we're capable of beating anyone on any given day."
This week will be the biggest test of the season for McClures' young club with three matches on the road including Carmel on Wednesday and Nazareth on Saturday before taking on Lincoln-Way West in the aforementioned PepsiCo Showdown bracket championship match.
There are numerous reasons for St. Patrick's success thus far.
One of its few seniors, midfielder Chris Modrzejewski, leads the club with 10 goals to go along with five assists. His significance is also demonstrated in the Shamrocks' losses to Glenbrook South and Wheeling -- both came when Modrzejewski was out due to illness.
"Chris is a difference-maker who was all-conference and all-sectional last season, and, who I fully expect to score 30 goals this year to get a shot at being all-state," said McClure.
Sophomore Luis Saucedo is second on the club in scoring with seven goals, and junior Herbert Carrera is next at six.
The dynamic duo of freshman Joshua Torres and sophomore Jonathan Rodriguez have shown to be the creative force in the Shamrocks attack as they have combined for 16 assists.
Perhaps the level of high expectations placed upon the club is centered around the defense for the Shamrocks. The adage goals win games, but defense wins championships, has been acknowledged in this program.
"That's been the surprise thus far," said McClure.
"We knew we had goal scorers, and wouldn't have trouble creating chances, but to be honest, we thought our defense might be a liability."
Stingy is the best way to describe the Shamrocks heading into today's contest -- with center backs Nate Anderson and Sebastian Modrzejewski key figures in St. Patrick's defensive posture.
Outside backs Rodriguez (all-ESCC last year as a freshman), Finn Elsmo and and Richie Hernandez help hold the backline in place.
McClure says Christopher Troyke has shown tremendous improvement since last season between the sticks, while his freshmen backup, Jorge Carrera gives the club much needed depth.
"So it's four games in seven days for us (we'll) find out a lot about this team this week," said McClure. "This will be a season defining week for us, but I know the boys are ready, and it should be fun."
Defending conference champion Benet opens its ESCC schedule in an unfamiliar place.
For a variety of reasons, Sean Wesley's club is not a clear favorite to win it all.
The Redwings were victims of a serious graduation hit, in particular in the loss of its attack. The strike-force duo of Benjamin Kelly and Connor Mote accounted for more than 40 percent of the 90 goals club scored last season on its way to a third place finish at the Class AA state tournament.
"Our biggest problem -- we're just not scoring," said Wesley.
"We've been searching for answers while having four freshmen and two sophomores getting plenty of playing time. So it's still a work in progress."
Senior Nicholas Trakszelis, one of the key holdovers from last years state team agrees with his manager's assessment.
"We are really young this year, and after losing so much of our offense from a year ago, we've had to play possession soccer after being able to play direct and let Kelly, Mote and others just run onto the ball and score."
Trakszelis, who in leaning towards playing the 2018 fall season at Carthage College in Kenosha, says Wesley has switched up formations from time-to-time hoping to find the right system that will fit the Redwings talent.
"We've played some 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and even a 4-2-3-1, but for me, it's all about just playing whatever is best for the team so we can get the results we want."
The 4-2-3-1, used by Juventus recently, is designed to work best for a team looking to defend more since it basically deploys six along the back.
"We need to embrace our roles within the team, play together, take advantage of the chances we are creating in the final third, plus win 50-50 balls in our defense third (and) play to the standard that is Benet soccer," says Wesley.
The Redwings manager says Nick Renfro has been the team's Mr. Consistent whether playing in the middle of the park, up-top, or even as a center back, while the aforementioned Trakszelis has been his most dangerous weapon in the Benet attack.
First-year starter, Kyle Kohlsaat has surprised Wesley and his staff as a center back in his first 11.
Both Wesley and Trakszelis have had an eye on St. Patrick, both know the task ahead will be challenging.
"You could see last year how technical and talented they were with their young players. So one year later, they will an even tougher opponent for us," offered Trakszelis.
Added Wesley: "This is the most talented Pat's team in the past 15 years - very skilled, and a great attacking team."
By Mike Garofola
Nobody was talking about St. Patrick soccer during the past four seasons - certainly not when it came to the final standings in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
That has already started to change, and the chatter may increase after Benet (1-5-1, 0-0-0) hosts the Shamrocks (7-2-2, 0-0-1) at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
During the past four seasons, St. Patrick was a combined 8-25-2. At the same time, perennial league power Benet Academy won or shared three league trophies with an incredible overall record of 31-3-2.
But now the times they are changing for the St. Patrick faithful.
They have watched their young and talented bunch get out to a quick start. It's included three consecutive clean-sheet victories to march them into the final of the Lurie Childrens Hospital Bracket of the PepsiCo Showdown next Sunday.
"Right now it's good to be a Shamrock," said a proud Kyle McClure.
The Shamrocks are on a six-game unbeaten streak. In their last five matches they have beaten four Class 3A opponents, plus tied Saint Viator, one of the most prestigious programs in ESCC history. During this stretch, St. Patrick has not conceded a single goal and shows seven clean-sheets so far this season.
"That game with Saint Viator was well played and hard fought by both sides," McClure said. "We have a lot of respect for teams like Saint Viator and Benet for playing high-profile schedules and with the way they are coached and led.
"The records of both do not indicate just how strong each team is. And we know in order to win this conference, we likely will need to beat both Benet and Carmel.
"It's a lofty pursuit, but if we play well, we're capable of beating anyone on any given day."
This week will be the biggest test of the season for McClures' young club with three matches on the road including Carmel on Wednesday and Nazareth on Saturday before taking on Lincoln-Way West in the aforementioned PepsiCo Showdown bracket championship match.
There are numerous reasons for St. Patrick's success thus far.
One of its few seniors, midfielder Chris Modrzejewski, leads the club with 10 goals to go along with five assists. His significance is also demonstrated in the Shamrocks' losses to Glenbrook South and Wheeling -- both came when Modrzejewski was out due to illness.
"Chris is a difference-maker who was all-conference and all-sectional last season, and, who I fully expect to score 30 goals this year to get a shot at being all-state," said McClure.
Sophomore Luis Saucedo is second on the club in scoring with seven goals, and junior Herbert Carrera is next at six.
The dynamic duo of freshman Joshua Torres and sophomore Jonathan Rodriguez have shown to be the creative force in the Shamrocks attack as they have combined for 16 assists.
Perhaps the level of high expectations placed upon the club is centered around the defense for the Shamrocks. The adage goals win games, but defense wins championships, has been acknowledged in this program.
"That's been the surprise thus far," said McClure.
"We knew we had goal scorers, and wouldn't have trouble creating chances, but to be honest, we thought our defense might be a liability."
Stingy is the best way to describe the Shamrocks heading into today's contest -- with center backs Nate Anderson and Sebastian Modrzejewski key figures in St. Patrick's defensive posture.
Outside backs Rodriguez (all-ESCC last year as a freshman), Finn Elsmo and and Richie Hernandez help hold the backline in place.
McClure says Christopher Troyke has shown tremendous improvement since last season between the sticks, while his freshmen backup, Jorge Carrera gives the club much needed depth.
"So it's four games in seven days for us (we'll) find out a lot about this team this week," said McClure. "This will be a season defining week for us, but I know the boys are ready, and it should be fun."
Defending conference champion Benet opens its ESCC schedule in an unfamiliar place.
For a variety of reasons, Sean Wesley's club is not a clear favorite to win it all.
The Redwings were victims of a serious graduation hit, in particular in the loss of its attack. The strike-force duo of Benjamin Kelly and Connor Mote accounted for more than 40 percent of the 90 goals club scored last season on its way to a third place finish at the Class AA state tournament.
"Our biggest problem -- we're just not scoring," said Wesley.
"We've been searching for answers while having four freshmen and two sophomores getting plenty of playing time. So it's still a work in progress."
Senior Nicholas Trakszelis, one of the key holdovers from last years state team agrees with his manager's assessment.
"We are really young this year, and after losing so much of our offense from a year ago, we've had to play possession soccer after being able to play direct and let Kelly, Mote and others just run onto the ball and score."
Trakszelis, who in leaning towards playing the 2018 fall season at Carthage College in Kenosha, says Wesley has switched up formations from time-to-time hoping to find the right system that will fit the Redwings talent.
"We've played some 4-4-2, 4-3-3 and even a 4-2-3-1, but for me, it's all about just playing whatever is best for the team so we can get the results we want."
The 4-2-3-1, used by Juventus recently, is designed to work best for a team looking to defend more since it basically deploys six along the back.
"We need to embrace our roles within the team, play together, take advantage of the chances we are creating in the final third, plus win 50-50 balls in our defense third (and) play to the standard that is Benet soccer," says Wesley.
The Redwings manager says Nick Renfro has been the team's Mr. Consistent whether playing in the middle of the park, up-top, or even as a center back, while the aforementioned Trakszelis has been his most dangerous weapon in the Benet attack.
First-year starter, Kyle Kohlsaat has surprised Wesley and his staff as a center back in his first 11.
Both Wesley and Trakszelis have had an eye on St. Patrick, both know the task ahead will be challenging.
"You could see last year how technical and talented they were with their young players. So one year later, they will an even tougher opponent for us," offered Trakszelis.
Added Wesley: "This is the most talented Pat's team in the past 15 years - very skilled, and a great attacking team."