St. Charles East starts fast, tops Marmion
It’s tough enough to play against St. Charles East, so having to fight back from an early deficit only makes it more difficult.
Marmion surrendered a goal in the first two minutes of Thursday’s St. Charles East Tournament contest in St. Charles and never recovered as the hosts prevailed, 4-1.
Senior forward Dan DiLeonardi was responsible for that early goal, eluding keeper Matthew Fletcher after only 1:44 had ticked off the clock.
“Tyler Robbins made a nice run down the line and got it behind the center backs and center mids,” DiLeonardi said. “I just peeled off, took a touch to control and slotted it to the far post.”
St. Charles East (10-0-2) added an insurance goal midway through the opening half as Andrew Shone found an opening and was able to go one-on-one against Fletcher, dribbling a bit before smacking it well out of his reach.
The remainder of the match was seemingly uneventful until Marmion senior forward Flynn Collins and Saints goalkeeper Mike Novotny were injured during a collision.
Both left the contest, with Collins departing via an ambulance with 21:45 remaining in the second half.
“From what I heard from the trainers and the guys in the ambulance, it’s something about his jaw,” Marmion coach Ricky Del Toro said. “Maybe a nose injury too. He lost teeth. I think he broke his jaw but I don’t know. You have to be careful with it and we’ll have to see what it is.”
Novotny’s injury appeared less serious.
“I think he got hit below the shin, but I’m not sure,” Saints coach Paul Jennison said. “I just hope for a speedy recovery for both. You never want to see anyone get hurt.”
Both teams seemed to be preoccupied with concerns over their fallen teammates, but it didn’t prohibit the Saints from doubling their lead to 4-0 on an Evan DiLeonardi tap-in with 18:42 remaining and Shone’s second goal of the night 41 seconds later.
“It’s always fun to score two goals,” Shone said. “But the important stat we look at is goals against, and our defense has been so good. It’s great to score those 4 or 5 goals a game, but if the other team can’t score, they can’t beat you.”
Marmion (6-6-1) avoided the shutout when junior Landon Meyer headed a shot beyond the grasp of backup keeper Chris Lucatorto with 8:45 remaining.
The Saints advance to Saturday’s championship where they’ll take on Streamwood. Interestingly, they’ll also face the Sabres next Thursday.