Cadets see hopes dashed by Glenwood in Class 2A semifinals

Marmion plays Peoria Notre Dame in Saturday's third place match

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By Curt Herron

Marmion Academy set its sights high before the state tournament even got underway.

Kevin O'Connor's Cadets felt like they had what it took to be able to compete for a state championship.

It was a great story line, considering that O'Connor, the only coach to lead the program, was retiring at the end of the season.

After surviving 2-1 overtime thrillers over Sterling in the sectional final and Lakes in the super-sectional, Marmion qualified for the state finals for the first time.

But the dream of playing for a state championship was dashed on Friday when the Cadets were unable to overcome a Glenwood program that had previous state experience.

Jay Lipe's Titans, 2005 Class AA champs who were making their third state trip, got off to a fast start in the Class 2A semifinals and limited Marmion's chances throughout.

Although the Cadets managed to force a 1-1 draw at the break, Glenwood moved ahead a short time later and went on to claim a 2-1 victory at Lincoln-Way North in Frankfort.

As a result, the Titans (17-5-2) earned a spot in Saturday's 1 p.m. championship match against Mather (20-3-1), which beat Peoria Notre Dame 3-0 in the other semifinal.

The defeat sends the Cadets (19-7-3) into today's 11 a.m. third place match with the Irish (20-6), who were hoping to capture a third state title in four years.

Marmion was credited with only five shots on goal during the match, with four of those coming from Mike Frasca, who collected his team's lone goal.

O'Connor knew that his team's six total attempts wasn't enough against a Glenwood squad which had 15 overall shots, with seven of those being on goal.

But the numbers that bothered him even more was the disparity in fouls, with his squad being whistled 22 times, compared to just six for the bigger Titans.

"This is certainly not the result that we wanted, but we didn't have our best game today," O'Connor said. "We had a hard time getting touches on the ball on a consistent basis. We didn't create enough possession and didn't challenge hard enough for balls all over the field.

"There was a nearly three-to-one discrepancy in fouls that were called, including two of them were in the box. Our guys were getting frustrated, and when you get frustrated, you tense up a little bit.

"We played hard, which is part of our game, but we didn't have particularly good touch today. And when we needed the touches and the space, we just didn't have it. Even when we went to 3-5-2 and had more possession in the midfield we still didn't connect to feet enough."

Although disappointed that his squad won't be playing for a title, the Cadet coach is still proud that they will walk away with the program's first state trophy.

"Our guys in the back did yeoman's work to keep them at bay," O'Connor said. "On the game-winning goal, we turned the ball over deep in our end when there was no pressure on us.

"We talked about how we had to win the details if we were going to be successful today, and they got away from us. As a result, we got the result that we probably deserved.

"If we came here and won the state championship or finished fourth, that doesn't define our program and our season. It's not about me going out as a winner, it's about the fact that we got to the state finals, and that's what we're going to take out of this."

Glenwood struck first, connecting in the 16th minute when Brock Tober put in a short header, following a corner kick from Connor Carnduff.

Marmion drew even in the 27th minute when Frasca got clear in front and fired in a line drive for his 42nd goal of the season.

Shortly after Frasca was denied on a shot by keeper Brayton Haack early in the final half, the squad from Chatham moved in front for good.

In the 48th minute, Andrew Watters sent a pass to Jordan Fields, who put in a header to give the Titans a 2-0 advantage.

Glenwood had most of the good chances after that, with keeper Brad White stopping a free kick from Carnduff and a liner by Watters.

The Cadet goalie later deflected away a corner kick from Carnduff and also stopped a header by Watters on another Carnduff corner.

Marmion played the final 7:32 a man down after drawing a red card. The Cadets also received five yellow cards while Glenwood got one.

"We knew that it was going to be sad whenever we lost and unfortunately we have to play for third or fourth place," Frasca said. "At the beginning of the season we set our goals to come to state and we accomplished that by getting here.

"On their first goal, #19 (Tober) just ran through our mark and headed it into the back of the net. My goal was one of the biggest of my high school career since it came at a time when we really needed it. Unfortunately we couldn't get another one.

"We came out very slow since we were all nervous with this being our first time down state. We have a lot of young kids starting and I think the nerves got to all of us. Glenwood came out and wanted to win and they were all over us in the first 30 minutes.

"Of course we wanted to get a win so we could play in the finals and send coach off with a state championship. Unfortunately, it didn't come out that way but I'm still proud of every single person on this team.