Cougars rally a man down to tie Marmion

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By Chris Walker

There was no shortage of cards on Monday at St. Charles East's Dunham Field.

With the frequency that they were being handed out, it almost appeared as if a poker game was in progress.

In a match that left both teams disappointed, Plainfield South earned a draw against Marmion in a 1-1 deadlock during an opening match of the St. Charles East Tournament.

Marmion coach Kevin O'Connor was baffled by his team's play late in the match.

"What team was out there for the last 15 minutes," O'Connor said. "We stopped playing possession ball which made no sense. I didn't recognize the team that was out there. We were out there chasing which is not the way we play, but we played that way in the second half."

Marmion (6-3-3) took a 1-0 lead very late in the first half when senior forward Joe Romanos played the ball back to Mike Frasca. It left Frasca with an open look and the opportunity to get a good foot on it. He delivered a shot high into the far side of the net.

"It was very good, but we left four others on the field in the second half," O'Connor said. "It was just a disastrous outcome."

O'Connor wouldn't have been as displeased if the Cadets could've held on for a 1-0 victory, but Plainfield South kept the pressure on even though they nearly ran out of time before scoring the equalizer.

Fortunately for the Cougars, they once again found enough time to rally.

South’s Jeff Bond ran down a loose ball on the sideline and crossed it into a crowd in front of the goal. The Cadets couldn't safely kick it out of harm's way and Plainfield South's Adam Rodriguez pounced on it, blasting a shot past goalkeeper Brad White to make it 1-all with only a couple minutes remaining.

"That was huge," Rodriguez said. "Bond got the ball and sent a great cross. We needed that."

It was a bit of deja vu for Rodriguez, and both teams for that matter, as last year the Cougars rallied from a 2-0 second half deficit to tie the Cadets. In that match, it was Rodriguez who pulled the Cougars to within 2-1.

"The goal is always to win he first match in a tournament," he said. "It's always crucial to start strong so it feels good to come back and pull this one out."

Surviving with a draw was just what the doctor ordered for a Cougars team that will be far from 100 percent, beginning on Tuesday night against Oswego.

Two Cougars were red-carded on Monday and Jake Fitzgerald suffered a broken nose midway through the first half.

"I wish I could be happy with how we finished," Plainfield South coach Dave Brown said. "I should be happy with the fight we had but I know we're going to suffer tomorrow."

Monday was the beginning of an intense stretch of matches for the Cougars as they'll play five games in six days.

While Tuesday absences will now hurt the Cougars, one could argue that one of those red cards on Monday helped propel the team to the draw, as they seemingly played inspired from that point forward.

"As soon as we got the red we figured we had nothing to lose," Brown said. "We moved center mids up into the attack and we're able to force some things with a great effort. Our effort in the last 20 to 25 minutes was probably the best we've had all season."

Like his coach, Cadets captain Mick Maley was less than pleased with his side’s effort.

"We need the whole team, one through 18, to work harder and come in day in and day out," Maley said. "I blame this loss on our leadership and inability to finish games. This falls on our captains and we need to pull the team together."

O'Connor was beside himself over the Cadets struggles in the second half.

"We had been possessing like crazy in the first half with a lot of connects," he said. "We go up a man in the second half and possession became non-existent."

After Oswego on Tuesday, the Cougars return to tournament action on Wednesday against St. Charles East. Marmion will face Burlington Central on Wednesday.