Boys soccer: St. Viator rolls over Notre Dame
St. Viator's boys soccer team rebounded in sensational style after its disappointing shootout loss in the PepsiCo Showdown on Tuesday, scoring 4 second-half goals to overwhelm visiting Notre Dame 6-0 Wednesday in Arlington Heights.
With the victory, the Lions move to 8-3-1 overall, 4-0-0 in the ESCC to stay in front of league rival Benet Academy.
"We should have won our Pepsi quarterfinal against Lincoln-Way East," suggested Lions head coach Mike Taylor, whose club came back to equalize at 1-1, only to miss a chance late before falling in penalty kicks.
"We completed an amazing amount of passes (over 450) and had almost all of the run of play against Lincoln-Way but we just didn't finish the chances we created and it ended up costing us the game," began Will Hartman, whose pace and energy up top were much too much for the Dons (5-3-1, 1-1-0), who recently lifted the championship trophy of the Raider Invite at Guerin Prep.
"Once we knew we couldn't win our bracket at the Pepsi, we all turned our attention to winning an ESCC title so that what helped motivate us today," continued Hartman.
The Lions dominated the early exchanges and with Zaul Perez, David Stahl and Hartman swarming all over the Dons' end it wasn't long that the first goal would find its way onto the score line.
Stahl would rattle the post with his attempt in the 4th minute, then watch his well-aimed strike go into the back of the net.
One-half hour later, the home side doubled its advantage when Francisco Campos unloaded an unstoppable free kick blast from the edge.
"We've had our trouble finishing the entire season, so it was good to see us be better with that today," said Taylor.
The Dons looked weary as the second half wore on, and when Conrad Glotz made it 3-0 in the 59th minute, it would open the Lions would go on to pour three more in during the next quarter hour to put the finishing touches on the result.
Christian Castro ran onto a superb bending free kick from Campos to make it 4-0, and moments later Hartman bagged his with an extraordinary long-range attempt.
Joey Marchiori thumped in the sixth and final goal, thanks in part to a terrific helper from Trent Reyes.
"Right now, with so many new and inexperienced players on our roster, we're just looking for the guys to put together a complete 80 minutes of soccer, instead of 30 or 40 minutes, here and there," said Dons head coach Mike Smith.
Notre Dame completes its busy week with an ESCC game at home against Marian Catholic, while the Lions continue play in the PepsiCo Showdown by hosting Wheaton Warrenville South Thursday in a consolation game.