St. Patrick's next hurdle is Saint Viator
By Mike Garofola
St. Patrick is the new no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, but the Shamrocks have more they want to accomplish.
Tonight at 6 p.m. in their new Reed-Dunning Soccer Park on the northwest side of Chicago, Kyle McClure's club will host rival Saint Viator (8-5-1, 5-0-0) in a key East Suburban Catholic Conference contest that will go a long way toward deciding who lifts the league trophy next week.
"Saint Viator always plays us tough," began McClure, whose men defeated the Lions 2-1 last season in Arlington Heights to all but insure the school's first ESCC title.
"It's difficult playing them on their small, long-grass field, so to have them come here on our big, new and beautiful turf stadium will help give us a boost this time around.
"Mike (Taylor) is one of the most successful soccer coaches in the state, so we won't take them lightly at all tonight."
Taylor, now in his 40th year of coaching, has done well piecing together a young and inexperienced club that at the start of the season carried few expectations of challenging league giants Benet and Saint Patrick.
"I told you at the start that I did not know what to expect," said Taylor. "(We) were young, had some talent, but as always, it depends on how quickly we can put together a good group along the back, while we sort out the rest of the lineup."
After a few bumps and bruises along the way, the Lions find themselves undefeated in the league, but still have St. Patrick and Benet to contend with.
"We've been very good in the back with a couple of our mistakes coming from our youth, but we have a very good keeper with Matt Marhiori," Taylor said. "He's kept us in games throughout the season."
The Lions are back from a two-day visit to the Go 4 the Goal Fall Classic in Burlington, Iowa. They won two games with their sole defeat coming at the hands of University (Normal).
"That game was a real learning lesson for us," Taylor said. "We got beat pretty bad, but hopefully we'll be better for it."
The Lions were paced at the Classic by Conrad Glodz, who scored one and assisted on two others, and J.C. Thomas, who bagged two goals.
A boost in the confidence of the high-flying Shamrocks (18-0-2, 5-0-1) is something any visiting club should hope to avoid. However St. Patrick remains red hot and took its second-consecutive championship Sept. 27 and 28 at the River Rumble in Kentucky.
"Juniors Josh Torres and Jaden Buelvas both had outstanding weekends in Kentucky at the Rumble, as did senior defender Sebastian 'Bash' Modrzejewski, who played very well," said McClure.
The plan going into the Rumble was to perhaps play just two games in order to give his lads additional rest after coming off another busy week, and in anticipation of playing state power Morton for a PepsiCo Showdown crown on Sept. 29.
"When the Pepsi was postponed due to poor weather and field conditions, we stayed and played the final in Kentucky. Obviously it all worked out for us," McClure said.
The Shamrocks play Morton at 4:10 p.m. Sunday at Lyons Soccer Complex in the rescheduled game that now pits the top two teams in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Torres leads the club in scoring with 26 goals and eight assists. Buelvas is second with nine goals and four helpers.
Four-year veteran Aaron Moreno-Lopez, and junior Sebastian Estrada each have collected 15 helpers.
On the season, the Shamrocks have outscored opponents 84-17, including a 29-2 goal differencial in league play thus far.
McClure has put together a demanding schedule for his lads, with most weeks having three matches or more, topped by the five the club played during its championship run in Kentucky.
"For the first time ever, we expect to play the full 'maxed' out 25-game regular season schedule, which is allowed by the IHSA," says McClure.
"However, we've been diligent in the way we're resting players when we can.
"For example, we kept Torres and our starting center back Adam Przytula out against Nazareth, and others here and there along the way."
McClure's plan is to be as close to 100 percent as possible in advance of its regional opener.
"We did well last year at peaking at the right time, and we hope to do so this time around."
By Mike Garofola
St. Patrick is the new no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, but the Shamrocks have more they want to accomplish.
Tonight at 6 p.m. in their new Reed-Dunning Soccer Park on the northwest side of Chicago, Kyle McClure's club will host rival Saint Viator (8-5-1, 5-0-0) in a key East Suburban Catholic Conference contest that will go a long way toward deciding who lifts the league trophy next week.
"Saint Viator always plays us tough," began McClure, whose men defeated the Lions 2-1 last season in Arlington Heights to all but insure the school's first ESCC title.
"It's difficult playing them on their small, long-grass field, so to have them come here on our big, new and beautiful turf stadium will help give us a boost this time around.
"Mike (Taylor) is one of the most successful soccer coaches in the state, so we won't take them lightly at all tonight."
Taylor, now in his 40th year of coaching, has done well piecing together a young and inexperienced club that at the start of the season carried few expectations of challenging league giants Benet and Saint Patrick.
"I told you at the start that I did not know what to expect," said Taylor. "(We) were young, had some talent, but as always, it depends on how quickly we can put together a good group along the back, while we sort out the rest of the lineup."
After a few bumps and bruises along the way, the Lions find themselves undefeated in the league, but still have St. Patrick and Benet to contend with.
"We've been very good in the back with a couple of our mistakes coming from our youth, but we have a very good keeper with Matt Marhiori," Taylor said. "He's kept us in games throughout the season."
The Lions are back from a two-day visit to the Go 4 the Goal Fall Classic in Burlington, Iowa. They won two games with their sole defeat coming at the hands of University (Normal).
"That game was a real learning lesson for us," Taylor said. "We got beat pretty bad, but hopefully we'll be better for it."
The Lions were paced at the Classic by Conrad Glodz, who scored one and assisted on two others, and J.C. Thomas, who bagged two goals.
A boost in the confidence of the high-flying Shamrocks (18-0-2, 5-0-1) is something any visiting club should hope to avoid. However St. Patrick remains red hot and took its second-consecutive championship Sept. 27 and 28 at the River Rumble in Kentucky.
"Juniors Josh Torres and Jaden Buelvas both had outstanding weekends in Kentucky at the Rumble, as did senior defender Sebastian 'Bash' Modrzejewski, who played very well," said McClure.
The plan going into the Rumble was to perhaps play just two games in order to give his lads additional rest after coming off another busy week, and in anticipation of playing state power Morton for a PepsiCo Showdown crown on Sept. 29.
"When the Pepsi was postponed due to poor weather and field conditions, we stayed and played the final in Kentucky. Obviously it all worked out for us," McClure said.
The Shamrocks play Morton at 4:10 p.m. Sunday at Lyons Soccer Complex in the rescheduled game that now pits the top two teams in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Torres leads the club in scoring with 26 goals and eight assists. Buelvas is second with nine goals and four helpers.
Four-year veteran Aaron Moreno-Lopez, and junior Sebastian Estrada each have collected 15 helpers.
On the season, the Shamrocks have outscored opponents 84-17, including a 29-2 goal differencial in league play thus far.
McClure has put together a demanding schedule for his lads, with most weeks having three matches or more, topped by the five the club played during its championship run in Kentucky.
"For the first time ever, we expect to play the full 'maxed' out 25-game regular season schedule, which is allowed by the IHSA," says McClure.
"However, we've been diligent in the way we're resting players when we can.
"For example, we kept Torres and our starting center back Adam Przytula out against Nazareth, and others here and there along the way."
McClure's plan is to be as close to 100 percent as possible in advance of its regional opener.
"We did well last year at peaking at the right time, and we hope to do so this time around."