Cadets' SCC hopes dashed in 2OT loss to Warriors

By Matt Le Cren

CLICK HERE FOR MARMION'S TEAM PAGE
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY COURTESY OF ANNIE COLLINS

 

After transferring from Burlington Central to Wheaton Academy last fall, Grant Stoneman had to sit and watch from the bench as Wheaton Academy edged Marmion on penalty kicks en route to tying for the Suburban Christian Conference championship with the Cadets.

This year the SCC race came down to the final day and this time Wheaton Academy was not in a sharing mood.

The Warriors knocked off host Marmion 2-1 in double overtime Wednesday night at Fichtel Field in Aurora as Stoneman scored the first goal and assisted Gareth Flynn on the game-winner to give Wheaton Academy the outright league title.

“I didn’t play last year, but I know just from [the] experience [of watching] that it’s great to win conference,” said Stoneman, a junior midfielder. “Marmion is [a] 3A [school] so it was a good win for us.”

It was a win that didn’t lack for drama or clutch plays from wounded warriors on both sides.

Stoneman left the game with 10:39 left in the second half after getting kicked in the shin, but he returned to the pitch a couple minutes later and was fouled in the Marmion penalty area with 2:42, resulting in a controversial penalty kick.

After a delay lasting several minutes following a red card issued to a Marmion player, Stoneman converted the penalty kick – though Marmion keeper Brian Hymel got both hands on before it went into the upper left corner – to put the Warriors ahead 1-0. It was Stoneman’s 24th goal of the season and probably the most important.

“I know for our team to succeed I have to be out there most of the time, so I just tried to suck it up as much as I could and get back out there,” Stoneman said. “Definitely for high school this is one of the biggest [goals] I’ve had. We practice PKs all the time. I’ve just got to do my thing.”

Marmion coach Ricky Del Toro protested the penalty kick call, but to no avail.

“The referee told me he saw one of our players pull down one of their players,” Del Toro said. “It took a lot of courage to do that with two minutes left. But those decisions are part of the game and you can’t overturn them.”

The ejection of Jake Hutchinson was costly in more ways than one. Not only did it force the Cadets to play the rest of the match with 10 men, but Hutchinson is suspended for Marmion’s playoff opener against Wheaton Warrenville South next Wednesday.

Marmion (14-6-2, 7-1) did not go down without a fight. Freshman Conor Morton, who twisted his ankle earlier in the match, tallied a great short-handed goal with 55.4 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime.

The goal, which came on a left-footed rocket into the upper right corner from 30 yards out, was Morton’s team-leading 13th of the season.

“That kid just hit a bomb,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said.” I went and shook his hand after and said, ‘Congrats, well done,’ but he beat three to do it. So the shot was fantastic, but his composure on the ball was really good.”

The play was an indication of how much fight the inexperienced Cadets, who start only three seniors, have shown this season.

“We’ve been training hard the whole year because our expectation was to win conference, and I don’t want to lower that expectation, ever,” Del Toro said. “We came into this part of the season with that chance, [but] we’re a young team, so you could tell first half they were scared out of their minds.

“Halftime we calmed them down and we started playing a bit better. Unfortunately we got that call for the PK. That deflates us a bit, but my guys came out on fire and my freshman got the tying goal.”

That set up an interesting overtime session, which consisted of two five-minute sudden death periods. Would the Cadets ride their momentum to victory, or would the Warriors seize the day thanks to their man-advantage?

Wheaton Academy (16-6, 8-0) had the better of the even strength play during the second half and missed four quality scoring chances. Hymel made two of his four saves after intermission and both Flynn and Stoneman failed to convert on breakaways.

“I really respect what they put together,” Brooke said. “They put together an interesting game plan. They played a low line against us in the first half, so we had to adjust.

“I applaud the patience of our guys as we tried to chip away at that. It was new for us. Guys did a great job to keep fighting and obviously we were able to break through a couple times in the second half.”

Flynn, a senior midfielder, wasn’t worried heading into overtime.

“We kind of talked and said, ‘hey, they’ve got 10 men, we’ve just got to play our style and it will come,’” Flynn said. “We knew it would.”

The winning goal didn’t come in the first overtime, but 53 seconds into the second overtime. The Warriors ended it when Stoneman drove into the right side of the box and slid a pass across to Flynn, whose 12-yarder beat Hymel.

“Great pass from ‘Stone,’” Flynn said. “It went through a couple legs, just right on the PK [spot], [I] took a touch and toed it in.

“It was a way to go out with a bang. It’s definitely great to win [the conference] outright this year because last year we shared it. It’s really good to beat Marmion on their home field on [their] Senior Night and in a dramatic way.”

With that, the Warriors ended the Cadets’ 14-game unbeaten streak, which was one shy of the school record. Marmion had gone 12-0-2 during that run and had been 8-0 at home this season.

“I thought we did a great job of creating that final goal,” Brooke said. “The ball goes wide, we play it back, a guy goes 1v1, slides it across and then a nice finish from Flynn, who has really stepped up in his whole career, but as a senior to put that ball away against Marmion, I know he’ll remember that for a long, long time.”

Brooke, too, won’t soon forget the match.

“We’re excited to continue the tradition we’ve had,” Brooke said. “We’ve always enjoyed the rivalry. I think it’s a healthy one. To have us both be 7-0 coming in, I don’t think it has ever happened for the final regular season game to be a true championship game, so that was a blast.”

The fun figures to continue for a while for Wheaton Academy, which is poised to make a long run in the Class 2A state tournament.

The Warriors have won five straight games and 10 of their last 11 and are the top seed at their own sectional. They kick off the postseason on Tuesday at the University of Chicago Lab Regional against the winner of Friday’s play-in game between No. 16 seed Jones and No. 17 Gage Park.

“We feel like we’re playing well at the right time,” Flynn said. “We’re fairly confident that we can make a run.”

Marmion, which has been bumped up to Class 3A this fall, faces a much tougher road, but Del Toro likes what he sees in the long-term picture.

“I told them I’m very proud of what we’ve done, and we’re not done yet,” Del Toro said. “We’ve still got the postseason, but we’ve got a bright future. I’m very excited for the future.”