Carmel uses its head, prevails vs. St. Patrick

In the past, Carmel's boys soccer team has had a tough time going on the road against St. Patrick.

That's partly because the field is fairly small, quite unlike the Corsairs' home field.

Carmel lost its bid for an East Suburban Catholic Conference title a couple of years ago because it ended up in a tie with the Shamrocks.

But on Tuesday, Carmel made sure there was no letdown.

The Corsairs took care of business by scoring a pair of goals off corner kicks and posting a 2-0 triumph at Resurrection High School in Park Ridge.

"This is not any easy place to win a game," Carmel coach John Halloran said. "I told the kids it might come down to deadballs or corner kicks.

"I think they took that to heart, and I'm proud with the way they played. They scraped out a win."

Carmel (8-3-2) improved its league mark to 2-0 and St. Patrick dropped to 5-7-1 overall and 0-3 in the league.

The Corsairs' senior Scott Bierman set up both goals. The first one came in the sixth minute, when senior Joe Gibson knocked in a header.

Senior John Zeffrey headed in the other goal, going sky-high over the Shamrocks' defense in the 64th minute.

"Getting into the air is one of my strong points," said Zeffrey, who got his third goal of the season.

"Bierman sent in a perfect ball, I went after it and put it in. Basically, it comes down to who really wants it the most. You jump the highest you can and put it on net."

Corsairs senior keeper Joe Ferrari picked up his third straight shutout, making 2 saves against St. Patrick.

"Carmel is always a good team," St. Patrick coach Dave Nowak said. "It was a good game both ways. We just defended the corner kicks lazily and didn't keep our marks. In high school you get burned by that stuff."