Marmion back in the win column vs. Mount Carmel
Frasca goal gives Cadets a 4-3 victory

By Darryl Mellema

After five matches in which leads disappeared, matches that seemed to be won ended as losses or ties and in which Marmion's soccer-playing horseshoe appeared stuck in an upside down position, the Cadets were due a bit of good fortune.

And so it was with three minutes to go when a Mount Carmel defensive clearance hit Mike Frasca in the face, fell kindly into the Marmion junior's path and set the blue-shirted midfielder on a pathway toward the Caravan's goal. Frasca did the rest by dribbling in and rolling the ball into the net for a 4-3 Marmion victory.

“It was just hard work,” Frasca said. “We were tied again and if you've seen our record, we've tied a lot. We were all pushing for it and we caught a break.”

The nonconference result ended an 0-3-2 run for the Cadets and improved their record to 8-4-6. There were few things Marmion coach Kevin O'Connor found pleasing about the performance, however.

Although they never trailed, the Cadets had leads of 2-0, 3-1 and were ahead 3-2 with a quarter-hour to play but still needed Frasca's heroics to seal the victory.

“It was very ugly,” Marmion coach Kevin O'Connor said. “It was one of our poorest games we've played. The first half, we didn't have a lot of possession. There was a lot of kick ball, and I don't know why. I really didn't recognize the team on the field in the first half.”

Whether still suffering the after-effects of throwing away a two-goal lead on Tuesday before losing on penalty kicks to Marian Catholic or just overall sluggishness, Marmion did not play its preferred ball possession style in the first half.

“When you're playing kick ball, you're chasing,” O'Connor said. “We're a possession team. We play to feet, and it's easy to play. We didn't play to feet in the first half. To play like this in our 18th game is out of character. But I'll take the victory because, for the last two weeks, they've been hard to come by.”

On one of their few quick-moving attacks, the Cadets took the lead. Frasca brought the ball up the left wing, beating players as he ran. Frasca's low, driven cross found Joe Romanos at the right post, and Romanos hit the short shot into the net.

“All 18 guys put their entire heart for this entire game,” Frasca said.

The lead doubled four minutes into the second half when Marmion, playing its most fluid soccer in the disjointed match, got a right-sided corner kick. Frasca sent the ball on the ground to Mick Maley, whose thunderous 30-yard blast tore into the net.

But from that 2-0 deficit, Mount Carmel (2-11) began to rally. Colin Marz headed in a Gonzalo Martinez cross 15 minutes into the half to end Marmion's shutout bid.

Wen Juan Pablo Jasso sent a right-sided corner kick that Matt Switzer flicked into the side netting with 18:48 to play, Marmion had a 3-1 cushion and seemed set toward victory once again.

But Mount Carmel's comeback wasn't finished. Marz passed to Ante Markotic for the Caravan's second goal. With less than five minutes to play, Matthew Kellman conjured an equalizing goal from a crowded penalty area.

“We really didn't come out to play today,” Frasca said. “They won everything in the air. But a win's a win and in the end, we just ground it out today.”

O'Connor said the issues with his team's defense aren't tactical.

“It's entirely mental,” O'Connor said. “We've done a variety of things. We've stayed in the 3-5-2. We've gone to four guys in the back. Tonight when we got the lead, we went to a 4-5-1. We shouldn't have had any problem whatsoever with the 4-5-1, and we struggled mightily and got scored upon.”

Marmion kicked off, sent the ball into Mount Carmel's defensive half of play – and then got the clearance that hit Frasca and ended up starting the move through which the Cadets got the game-winning goal.

“The second half, we finally got back to playing some soccer and had some possession, and then we had breakdowns in the back,” O'Connor said. “For us to give up three goals in a game like this is completely unacceptable.”

O'Connor said he didn't question his team's desire to win nor its application on the field. But he said his squad's decision-making took away from an otherwise passionate performance.

“We weren't making good decisions,” O'Connor said. “As a result, there was not rhythm to it, no flow to it. To me, it was winning ugly. I'll take it, but it was winning ugly.”