Warriors dominate in 3-0 win at Mid-State Classic

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By Gary Larsen

Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke walked up to his goalkeeper and shook the hand that preserved the shutout on Friday night.

Late in the Warriors’ 3-0 win over Quincy Notre Dame, Warriors’ goalkeeper Jesse Carmody dove to his left and swatted a penalty kick attempt over the end line, helping his side to its 7th shutout of the season.

“Jesse Carmody has been fantastic,” Brooke said. “He stepped up in a huge way this year. He’s got a great goal-against average and if we can clean up our set pieces, defensively, it reflects a pretty good year for him.”

The way Carmody tells it, being a goalkeeper facing a penalty kick is like competing in the World Series of Poker.

“He didn’t give me any hints with his eyes. He disguised it well,” Carmody said. “It was as close to reaction as it gets. Sometimes you can tell early, but that was a reaction. I had to wait until the last possible second.”

With Friday’s win, Wheaton Academy (10-4-1) advanced to Saturday’s semi-final round of this year’s Mid-State Classic, hosted by Saint Viator. The Warriors will face the host Lions (10-4-2) at 9 AM at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.

“We want to compete against the top-notch schools and show some things. That’s why I’m glad we got into this tournament,” Brooke said. “We’ve got Saint Viator tomorrow and we’ve got incredible respect for them. We’ll be excited to see how we perform when the pace increases a couple notches.”

Wheaton Academy kept steady pressure on the Raiders (8-6-2) throughout Friday’s contest, with Notre Dame’s best chances coming on the counterattack.

Stephen Fernandes got the Warriors on the board in before the 10-minute mark, hammering a shot from a tough angle deep on the right side. Fernandes keyed the game’s second goal, late in the half, sending a ball ahead that put Frank Dell Torre in alone on net.

“I could talk about Stephen Fernandes after every game,” Brook said. “He has stepped up in a big way, playing a new position.” Fernandes has been a defender by trade for the Warriors throughout his career and moved to an attacking role after the early-season loss to injury of forward Tim Daniels.

With Fernandes gone from the back line, Wheaton Academy has relied on a defensive unit that has only given up 14 goals in 15 games.

“About three weeks into the season, our right back broke his big toe, and Blake McNamara stepped up,” Brooke said. “Will West and Trevor Adams have been stellar players for the program, and I liked what we did today in terms of preserving space.”

Carmody was pleased with the play of his back line throughout Friday’s game.

“Our defense looked very good tonight,” Carmody said. “They let minimal chances in. We gave up a couple fouls at midfield but we recovered well from that, and we stepped it up on our set pieces today. We won all of our headers and I only had to come out and get one or two. We were very solid today.”

Playing one of the unsung positions on the field, defensive stopper Brian McLean has also stepped up his game. “He rarely gets in the stat column but just does his job, every day,” Brooke said of McLean.

“Me and Devin (Moore) work great together, and Trevor (Adams) is always talking,” McLean said. “We have great communication. We take it upon ourselves to make sure that no one scores.”

In the second half against Notre Dame, a Wheaton Academy junior took his turn in the spotlight.

“We have a guy named (Mark) Rougas and he’s grown in the last year. Technically he’s a stellar player, and we’re excited about what he can do,” Brooke said.

What Rougas did in the second half for his side was take a feed from Della Torre to the end line on the right side, and then hammer a bullet to the near post. The Warriors’ Josh Urban converged at the post with the Raiders’ goalkeeper and Urban won the battle, bodying the ball over the line.

With a 3-0 lead, Brooke moved Rougas from the outside to the middle, and liked what he saws. “He knocks the ball, takes guys on one-vee-one, and it’s fun to watch him,” Brooke said. “He knocked the ball brilliantly today.”

“We were committed to possession today, and not just in negative situations. We got the ball into our targets and our attacking players, and knocked the ball well in the attacking third, which is something we’ve been working on for a couple of weeks.”

Midfield workhorse Moore was prominent yet again this season, throughout Friday’s win. “He’s stepping up and winning everything,” Carmody said. “Devin Moore’s work ethic is off the charts.”