Cadets get better in a 1-1 tie with Barrington

By Gary Larsen

All any coach ever really wants to see is incremental forward progress during a soccer season. Marmion coach Kevin O’Connor saw a good leap forward from his boys on Tuesday.

“Tonight we found a mentality where we weren’t content with a tie. Last night I think we were content with a tie,” O’Connor said, referencing Tuesday’s 1-1 stalemate with St. Charles North.

Wednesday’s contest against host Barrington ultimately did end in a tie, but the Cadets (3-0-3) stayed aggressive and tough to the final buzzer.

“Tonight we weren’t content, and I think that’s a huge step forward for this team. You’re seeing players like (Mick) Maley, (Mike) Frasca, and (Juan Pablo) Jasso that are willing this team to fight to the end, and that’s a beautiful thing,” O’Connor said.

“I thought our effort was great tonight.”

Frasca was again a creative force in the middle for Marmion, setting up a goal before halftime. The junior drove up the right side and crossed a ball that ultimately fell to the feet of Joe Romanos, who calmly settled and buried it to give his side a 1-0 halftime lead.

Barrington’s team speed gave the Cadets fits for much of the night, but a Marmion team utilizing a defense-first mentality as the attack develops kept the Broncos out of net for 71 minutes.

“Our defense is unbelievable. Juan Pablo Jasso is a great player, and Mick Maley is just a complete stud,” said Marmion keeper Evan Lefelstein, who was steady in net throughout. “He works his butt off, every game.”

We have a lot of strong returning players, but probably our strongest players besides Frasca are all in the back,” “We’re going to be a good defensive team. The thing we need to develop is our mental toughness and that’s just going to come with experience.”

Maley indeed seemed to have a foot in every play in Marmion’s defensive third on Wednesday, on a night when fellow starting defender and captain Alex Ruble sat out due to injury.

“I don’t know how anybody could play any better than Maley did tonight, and he does that every game,” O’Connor said.

It wasn’t until the final 10 minutes that Barrington’s pressure resulted in goal, off the foot of David Pacheco near the post.

“We have to find a way to close games out. But their speed is exceptional and speed hurts us because we’re not a fast team,” O’Connor said. “Speed gives us fits and it gave us fits tonight. It finally put so much pressure on our backs that we broke down.”
Marmion lifted its attacking play after Barrington tied the game, and Frasca would have scored the game-winner in the waning moments if not for a goal-line clear by Barrington’s Nikko Maher

Maley, Frasca, (Matt) Switzer, and Jasso – I thought the four of them were outstanding tonight,” O’Connor said. “We played better tonight. We played to feet much better, and possessed much better.”

Romanos centered a pass that Frasca sent just wide from 18 yards out in the 10th minute. One minute later, Maley dispossessed a Bronco at the Marmion 18 and sent a ball forward into an attacking rush that went for naught.

Frasca sent a shot wide in the 50th minute on a rush up the right side, and hit a hard shot from distance on frame in the 62nd minute, saved by Broncos keeper Will Cotopolis.

“We have some guys that have never played soccer before,” Lefelstein said. “We have guys like Matt Beach and Cory Fitzgerald that have never played soccer before. Matt Beach is a basketball player and he’s out here playing for us. With this type of a team we’re going to have to rely on our defense.”