Wolfpack fall in 2 OT to CCL champ Caravan in home finale

 

 

CLICK TO SEE MATCH PHOTO GALLERY

CLICK HERE FOR SAINT IGNATIUS' TEAM PAGE

 

By Curt Herron

Senior day and its final home match of the season stretched out over the course of two days for Saint Ignatius College Prep.

While that wasn't the worst news for the Wolfpack, the extra day provided some nervous moments for their opponent, Mount Carmel.

That's because the Caravan were trying to put the finishing touches on a worst to first turnaround in the Chicago Catholic League's Blue Division.

One year after going 0-6 in league play, coach Tom Schergen's squad entered Wednesday's scheduled match on Chicago's Near West Side with a 4-0-1 mark.

With Fenwick in the books at 4-0-2, Mount Carmel needed a win to claim the outright title and a draw in order to settle for a tie with the Friars.

Saint Ignatius was quite willing to spoil the Caravan party, as was evidenced by delaying the outcome following 80 minutes of scoreless play.

That forced a pair of 10-minute, no golden goal extra sessions to be played on Thursday in order to determine who would emerge as Blue champions.

Coach James Luzzi's Wolfpack looked like they were on the verge of forcing a divisional tie when Mount Carmel finally struck in the late going.

Hrvoje Juric scored the match's only goal with less than a minute remaining in the final overtime to give the Caravan the outright championship.

"It was a great two-day event with two talented teams battling it out," Schergen said. "Saint Ignatius is a very good team and they played with everything they had throughout the game.

"Our team set out early in the year to win the Catholic League after going winless in the conference last year. This group of student athletes is one of the hardest working and resilient teams I have ever coached."

Keeper Rob Sandoval deserves much of the credit for keeping Mount Carmel (16-5-2, 5-0-1) in the match, thanks to his stellar play in the net.

"I thought we came out well the first 20 minutes of the game, controlling play and getting our share of opportunities," Schergen said. "However, as Saint Ignatius settled into the game, we felt their pressure as they began to control the game and create quality opportunities.

"In the second half, our goalkeeper (Rob Sandoval) came up with two game-changing saves to get us into the overtime period. His played definitely inspired his teammates in the overtime periods."

Colin Marz assisted Juric on the decisive goal during the 100th minute with just 31 seconds remaining before the match would have concluded.

The one-goal defeat marked the seventh time that the Wolfpack (11-10-1, 2-4) had fallen by that margin, and also snapped a three-match winning streak.

"We seem to have been in too many games of this type where we play really well and lose in the waning minutes of critical time," Luzzi said. "We're hoping that this experience will pay off in the tournament.

"We felt that we had nothing to lose by being aggressive. We made a change in our formation so that we could control the midfield a little better and create more scoring opportunities.

"With time running down, we made the only mistake of the overtime periods and that cost us."

Both teams now set their focus on the postseason, with the Wolfpack meeting up with Proviso East on Wednesday in the Morton Regional.

Meanwhile, Mount Carmel takes part in Tuesday's York Regional, where it runs into Downers Grove North in an opening-round match.

If the squads win their regional openers, they'll advance to tough finals on Saturday afternoon, with both matches set for 3:00 p.m.

The Wolfpack would meet up with either Morton or Hinsdale South while the Caravan would run into either Lyons Township or York.

As for Wednesday's part of the SICP-MC match, both squads had their share of good chances to conclude things in regulation play.

In the final 10 minutes of the opening half, SICP's Brandon Medina was fouled and then lined a free kick that Sandoval punched away.

On the subsequent corner kick from Medina, Dan McIlhattan got his head on the ball but sent an attempt wide of the mark.

Just before the first half whistle blew, Mount Carmel's Luciano Arceo fired ion a short try that Wolfpack keeper Zak Allen halted.

Following the break, McIlhattan, Medina and Sterling Yates were all denied by Sandoval and Sean Kampe's free kick was cleared away.

In the final 20 minutes, Gonzalo Martinez had a free kick stopped by Allen and a Yates header off a Medina free kick was deflected.

Medina nearly connected in the 64th minute but his header glanced off of a defender and then just sailed over the top of the frame.

Shortly after that, Allen hauled in a corner kick from Fernando Castenada while Sandoval stopped a short attempt by Tom Frazel.

The Wolfpack had one more good chance in the final 10 seconds when Sanchez found Medina, but his try was deflected away by Sandoval.

At halftime of Wednesday's play, Luzzi and his program honored the 11 seniors who are on this year's squad, as well as their parents.

They include Albert Alfaro, Zak Allen, Erick Eklin, Tom Frazel, Dan Ibarra, Sean McDonald, Dan and Luke McIlhattan, Bobby Nolan, Marco Sanchez, Charlie White and Sterling Yates.