It's on to the supersectional for St. Viator
One by one, St. Viator has sent home those with higher postseason seeds in the Grayslake Central sectional.
The trend continued Saturday morning, as the Lions met Marian Central Catholic - a club that had beaten St. Viator in conference play and thus earned a higher seed at No. 2.
The No. 5 seed Lions (20-5-1) taught the Hurricanes a harsh lesson in revenge, scoring twice after intermission, and dominating the proceedings on the turf at Eiserman Stadium in Grayslake to earn a 2-0 victory. That puts St. Viator in in Tuesday's Class 2A supersectional at Stevenson against Chicago Public League foe Foreman.
"Losing that 1-0 match to them early on was all the motivation we needed today," said St. Viator senior Chris Beiersdorf, who along with his back-line mates Javier Romero, Sean Lonigro and Brandon Braun conceded nothing in front of keeper Aaron Tres, who a third shutout in four tournament matches. "We all knew we didn't play our best that first time we met. They deserved to win that day, but we got a second chance and we took advantage of it,"
"We knew what to expect today, but we really couldn't get much going today, and the better team won today," said Marian Central coach Jim Colvin, who guided the Hurricanes to an impressive 15-4-1 season which included 11 shutouts.
The East Suburban Catholic Conference champion Lions didn't distinguish themselves in what coach Mike Taylor called a lackluster first half.
"Our big guys didn't play well in the first half, and we didn't play within our system much at all,"said Taylor. "But we came alive in the second half, put two in on them - had chances to add another two or three more, and got ourselves closer to the state finals next weekend."
The Hurricanes had to withstand some moderate pressure during several stretches of the first period, most of it coming from their inability to stay organized in the middle of the park.
"I thought our midfield outplayed Marian's, and that was the difference in the final outcome," said Romero.
The Lions went close on several occasions in the first 40 minutes, also creating five corners and a handful of deep long throws from Beiersdorf, but still found themselves in a goal-less match at the break.
The speed of leading scorers Zach Gyuricza and Aidan Williams was clear at the start of the second period, as each nearly solved standout Marian Central keeper Jake Higgins.
St. Viator broke through in the 51st minute when Gyuricza chased down an early ball, got to the end line and dropped the ball to Williams, who finished the chance.
Just after the hour mark, freshman Jack Hartman doubled the Lions' advantage on the tail-end of a nicely executed dead-ball sequence.
"Marian is a nice team, but we're playing at our best right now, and we hope to keep in going next Tuesday,and all the way through after that next weekend at the state tournament," said Taylor.
"I am very proud of my team, and program, as well as our conference, which still has Marian Catholic alive in the sectionals along with St. Viator," said Conlin. "It says a lot about soccer in the ESCC this year."
Lake Park 3, Rolling Meadows 2 (PKs): The Mustangs saw their season come to an end in the Class 3A Bartlett sectional final.
Both teams made four of their first five penalty kicks before Lake Park prevailed.
The Lancers will meet Streamwood in the 4:30 p.m. supersectional matchup Tuesday at Barrington.