Spartans shine on Senior Night at College of DuPage

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By Gary Larsen

The wolf was at the door all night and in the end he didn’t go home hungry.

After St. Francis attacked with diversity and energy for 74 minutes, the Spartans were finally rewarded when Drew Mascari’s penalty kick blistered the back netting to give his side a 1-0 win over Glenbard South.

Friday’s Senior Night game for St. Francis (9-9-4) at the College of DuPage brought students and parents out in droves, and their Spartans came through for them.

And if she had one wish for the rest of the season, St. Francis coach Kristin Keigley knows what it would be.

“Every night should be Senior Night,” she said. “That’s the way I’d like to see us play every game. All of the things that we work on materialized tonight.

“Halftime was maybe a minute and a half talk. We held possession, we were talking more, we were taking fewer touches, less dribbling – I couldn’t be happier.”

It was fitting that Mascari netted the game’s lone goal. The senior was a street fighter at midfield all night on the wide expanse of COD’s artificial pitch -- sideline-to-sideline, 18-to-18 -- relentlessly challenging for every ball he could get to.

And once he won a challenge, Mascari consistently sent accurate balls with purpose ahead, to the likes of forwards Patrick Holman and Remmy Mifsud.

“It’s definitely more tiring than playing forward, especially on this big field,” Mascari said. “And we’d been playing the same formation for the past two years, but coach decided to mix a couple of things up. But I like playing midfield. You get the ball a lot more.”

Mascari spent the first 20 games of the season as a striker before moving back to the central midfield role he played his freshman and sophomore seasons. Game No. 21 saw Kiegley move Mascari back to the midfield, and saw Class 2A St. Francis tie 2-2 with a highly-touted 3A team in Larkin.

“He was up top because we were struggling to score goals,” Holman said of Mascari. “We just felt that we were wasting our best player because we weren’t getting him the ball that much. Putting him at midfield keeps him active on offense and defense.”

The two teams traded attacking punches early on, without either goalkeeper being too severely tested. The Spartans began to take control of the midfield behind Mascari’s hustle roughly 15 minutes in.

With veteran Ryan Suerte in net, center backs Perry Poulos and David Kaminky, center mids Matt Bonner and Mascari, and Holman and Remmy Mifsud up top, the Spartans established dominance from front to back up the middle of the pitch.

“Drew definitely played well. Matt Bonner is just a nice, methodical player who doesn’t get rushed, and David Kaminky is just a hustler,” Keigley said. “Andy Wood played well, too, and we can ask Jake Miller to play anywhere for us and he’ll do it.”

Outside responsibilities from back to front fell largely to Anthony Farace, Chris Thomason, Keegan Miulli, and Mitch McShane on Friday.

The Spartans’ possession game carried the day, with Suerte and his back line charged mainly with staying mindful of Glenbard South’s counterattack.

Mascari sent a through-ball that Holman nearly reached behind the defense at 23 minutes, then sprang Miller at 31 minutes with Miller not getting quite enough foot on a dangerous scoring chance. The Spartans nearly got on the end of a Mifsud free kick at 35 minutes and Mascari sent a shot from distance in on net one minute later.

St. Francis came out with even more attacking intensity after the halftime break. Through-balls, balls played wide to the endline, balls sent over the top, shots taken from distance, corner kicks earned – the Spartans combined diversity and pressure to great effect after halftime.

Getting a goal was another matter, however.

“It was getting frustrating,” Holman said. “This is the biggest crowd we’ve had all season, probably in four years, and we wanted to get (a win) for them. We’ve been talking about this game at school for a week or so.”

There was a McShane serve saved at the near post at 48 minutes, and Mifsud running onto a serve but hitting it wide at the far post at 52 minutes. Holman nearly got on the end of a serve to the goalmouth at 55 minutes, Mifsud hit a hard serve to the near post that was cleared at 60 minutes, and a Mifsud free kick from the right side whipped past the far post with Holman running on at 69 minutes.

An infraction in the box at 72 minutes set up Mascari’s PK, which finally got the Spartans off the schneid. Mifsud crossed a ball in the waning moments that Holman touched to Bonner, who fired one final good scoring chance into the hands of the Raiders’ keeper.

“It’s just more balanced now with four in the midfield instead of three up top. We’re possessing more and I think we’re ready for playoffs,” Holman said.

The Spartans went into Friday’s game on the heels of a tie with Larkin, which has been ranked among the state’s top 3A teams this season.

“That was our first game playing a new formation so we didn’t know how things would be,” Holman said. “That day, (Larkin) had an article written about them in the Daily Herald so we knew they were good. We just came out, played hard, and got a good draw against them. They moved and passed really well but we just contained and got a few goals.”
 
The Spartans honored departing seniors Suerte, McShane, Kaminky, Holman, Mascari, Poulos, Farace, Miulli, and Thomason on Friday. But before they depart, there’s still a Suburban Christian Conference finale against Marian Central to be played on Saturday, and then a regional opener against De La Salle on Tuesday at Wheaton Academy.

The Spartans are the No. 9 seed of the Riverside-Brookfield sectional, while De La Salle is the No. 8 seed. Regional host Wheaton Academy earned the No. 1 seed.

“If we get past De La Salle, we know Wheaton Academy very well. They’re a good team,” Holman said. “We’ll just have to play like we did tonight, and like we did against Larkin, and keep doing what we’re doing.

“You never know what can happen. It’s playoff soccer.”