Lions improve to 3-0 in ESCC with win over Nazareth

 

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By Dan Santaromita

Saint Viator ran over Nazareth Academy Wednesday in Arlington Heights, but it wasn’t the Roadrunners the Lions were focused on.

The Lions feel that if they play their game it doesn’t matter who they play. That’s why the Viator coaching staff wasn’t thrilled despite a 5-1 win on a sloppy field.

Viator scored early and put up four goals in the first half, but tied 1-1 in the second leading to questions about effort down the stretch.

“If you’re going to beat some really good teams you’re going to have to step up your game for 80 minutes, not just for part of the game,” Viator assistant coach Mike Manno said.

That said it was a comfortable East Suburban Catholic win for the Lions. With three decisive wins in three ESCC games, all 5-1 scores, the Lions have to look within to evaluate their play.

“We have to play our game,” sophomore Mateo Leudo said. “We don’t care about the other teams. If we do what we have to do, we can beat any team.”

Viator got the scoring started soon after the opening whistle off a corner kick. Ryan Henry was in the mix on the play, but ultimately the Nazareth keeper inadvertently knocked it into the net for an own goal.

Adam Fetter doubled the lead before the midway point of the half on a penalty kick. Andrew Ferrante was tripped up in the box to set up Fetter’s spot kick.

Fetter was in on the next goal, another corner kick. This time Leudo volleyed in Fetter’s in swinger to make it 3-0 about 20 minutes in.

Leudo notched his second tally five minutes later. Michael Decker made a centering pass that Leudo redirected into the net.

“When he makes his runs he’s definitely dangerous when he’s around the box,” Manno said of Leudo. “He’s got a lot of composure. He had a nice game today.”

The Roadrunners played even in the second half and even scored first. Philip Lombardo did well to head in a free kick service from Nicholas Haraus at about 52 minutes.

Jackson Owens matched the second half goal on a driven shot inside the box with about 15 minutes remaining.

The Lions (7-3-4) improved to 3-0 in ESCC play and have won each game 5-1. The win was never in doubt, but Viator wasn’t going to take the Roadrunners for granted.

“They’ve played some of the teams in our conference pretty tough so we didn’t know what to expect coming in,” Manno said of the Roadrunners. “I thought we played pretty well in the first half. We’re still working out some things in terms of our system and we still got some guys hurt. We’re coming along.”

Owens said the Lions need to play more consistently in order to win conference and make a run in the postseason.

“One game we play amazing, the next game we don’t play good, then we play ok,” Owens said. “We gotta keep the ball under control.

“I think we should stop playing the ball in the air so much because we’re not a tall team and we can’t win the balls in the air. We pretty much controlled it today, but it could be a problem in the future if we keep playing it in the air. Play it short and fast.”

Viator travels down state to Springfield this weekend for the Mid-State Classic. After that they finish the regular season with a run of four ESCC matches.

“I think Carmel will be a challenge, but everything else as long as we keep playing good we’ll be fine,” Owens said.