Marmion falls in state semifinals

Marmion still has an opportunity to finish the season with a victory, but it won’t be for a state championship.

Making their first appearance in the state finals in Friday afternoon’s Class 2A semifinal against downstate foe Chatham Glenwood, the Cadets lost for the first time since Oct. 6, dropping a 2-1 decision at Lincoln-Way North in Frankfort.

Marmion (19-7-3) can still get victory No. 20 on the season when it faces Peoria Notre Dame at 11 a.m. Saturday in the third-place match.

“We didn’t have our best game today,” Marmion coach Kevin O’Connor said. “We didn’t create enough possession and I didn’t think we challenged hard enough all over the field. (Mike) Frasca, (Mick) Maley and (Alex) Ruble, all the time, but on a consistent basis it wasn’t there.”

The Cadets went almost the entire first 30 minutes of the contest without a shot a goal, while surrendering the go-ahead goal at the 15:13 mark to Chatham Glenwood’s Brock Tober.

“They had very good conviction,” Frasca said. “(Tober) just ran right through our mark and headed it into the back of the net. You’re not going to get many chances in the state finals and with that he came out and finished.”

The sluggish start by the Cadets didn’t help their chances. Then again, since they were making their first state appearance, nervousness was also apparent.

“We have a lot of young kids starting with 6 or 7 underclassmen, so the nerves got to every one of us,” Frasca said. “(Chatham Glenwood) came out and wanted to win. They were all over us for the first 30 minutes and luckily we got that quick goal to kind of change the momentum on the run of play.”

Frasca scored the equalizer as he netted his 42nd goal of the season 26:31 into the contest. Securing possession off a throw-in, Frasca was given way too much time inside the penalty area where he wound his leg up high and booted the lone goal for the Cadets.

“It’s going to be one of the biggest goals of my high school career, coming at one of the biggest times we needed,” Frasca said. “We were putting a lot of pressure on them and needed a goal. Luckily the ball popped out to me and I finished it.”

Chatham Glenwood (17-5-2) outshot the Cadets, 15-6. Perhaps most significantly for the Titans, they escaped Friday’s victory without yielding a single corner kick to the Cadets. With the tandem of Frasca and Maley proving so dangerous on set pieces, the Titans were able to limit Marmion’s chances in that regard.

On the flip side, Chatham Glenwood had 8 corner kicks and also were only whistled for 6 fouls while the Cadets were tagged for 22. The Cadets also drew five yellow cards and Luke Elder received a red card.

“Glenwood did a great job of getting numbers back and really took away what little space was there,” O’Connor said. “That being said, there were a couple opportunities in the box where if they blow the whistle we’re probably still playing now.”

Andrew Walters assisted Jordan Fields on what would prove to be the game-winning goal in the 47th minute.

“We turned the ball over deep in our end with no pressure on us,” O’Connor said. “It was a lazy, sloppy ball that came in for the game-winning goal.”

While the dreams for a state title ended abruptly, the Cadets will try to refocus on Saturday’s third-place game.

“We wanted to come out and get the win and play for the finals and send coach off with a state championship,” Frasca said. “Unfortunately it didn’t come out that way.”