Late goal lifts Carmel over St. Viator
Rolando Colin's late second-half goal earned head coach Rob Etheridge and his squad from Carmel Catholic a 2-1 victory over rival St. Viator on Wednesday night in an East Suburban Catholic Conference game at Baker Stadium in Mundelein.
Nikita Glokke's smart finish equalized for the Corsairs (5-4-1, 2-2-0) after Taylor Petrillo bagged the opener in the 53rd minute, but it was Colin who steered in the eventual game winner 10 minutes from time to erase a bitter defeat on Monday to Marist on the road.
We were all disappointed we lost to a team that was 0-9-0 at the time, so to come back tonight and beat our biggest rival is a really important win for this team," said Colin.
"Max (Marrocco) hit the ball off one of their defenders, and the ball just fell right to (me), so when I saw that I had a shot, I just put it in under their keeper," he added.
It was Etheridge's first coaching victory over St. Viator.
"It was a good effort by the lads tonight and, I thought, a well-deserved win," said Etheridge, who took over as Carmel coach from former St. Viator star Ray Krawzak, who stepped down after 11 seasons and a trio of league championships.
"We've lacked consistency this season, much of that due to a very inexperienced team after graduating (12) players, (but) the boys played with a lot of heart, had a lot of the play, and possession, and defended well in our end, especially against their No. 17 (Jack Glasstetter), who we knew was dangerous (so) we put Sondro Pineda on him, and he did a wonderful job all night long," Etheridge said.
The Lions (6-4-0, 2-2-0) started well, keeping the home side in its own end during most of the first quarter hour.
"We had a decent start, but we just didn't come to play - it was that simple," said Lions head coach Byron DeLeon.
Carmel "came out in the second half with more energy and urgency than we did," he added, "so in my mind, it was a fair result. We'll just have to get back to work and get ready for our next game."
The Lions next play on Saturday in LaGrange against Nazareth Academy, while the Corsairs will travel to reigning league champion and current ESCC leader Benet Academy (8-3-0, 3-0-0) in Lisle on Saturday.