Chicagoland Soccer

Marmion keeps playing above its sectional seed
By Steve Nemeth

CLICK HERE FOR GAME PHOTOS COURTESY OF ANNIE COLLINS

Depending on which route East Aurora traveled toward Marmion for Thursday’s non-conference tangle, the Tomcats may have passed Aurora Fire Station No. 1 which reminded everyone that Oct. 7-13 is National Fire Prevention Week.

The Tomcats probably needed that warning weeks ago when coaches convened for the IHSA seeding meeting. That’s when Marmion found the spark to fuel a 2-0 victory.

The Cadets learned that East Aurora was one of two programs to rate Marmion 17th among the 18 schools within the West Chicago Class 3A Sectional, which is why the host school jubilantly celebrated the latest addition to a 12-match unbeaten streak (10-0-2) that bumped the season record to 12-5-2.

Despite the visiting Tomcats’ domination in the opening half, Marmion used consecutive Eddie Graham goals during the final seven-plus minutes to post a win which snapped a six-match unbeaten streak (3-0-0) for East Aurora.

“When we heard we had been rated second to last by a couple schools at the sectional meeting, we really wanted to send a message,” explained Graham, who conceded that the Cadets realized finishing fourth in last year’s 2A state finals couldn’t completely diminish the reality of being new to Class 3A for this season. “With all due to respect to the other teams in our sectional, we should not have been listed that low on anyone’s list.”

Ultimately, Marmion ended up being tabbed as the No. 10 seed – having to face No. 6 Wheaton Warrenville South in an Oct. 16 semifinal for the Naperville North Regional – but now boasts back-to-back shutout successes against two higher-rated programs.

East Aurora, which had its season record leveled to 6-6-5, is the No. 5 seed starting the post-season on Oct. 17 against No. 12 Plainfield Central. Last Saturday, Marmion was a 1-0 victor over an Oswego crew rated as the No. 9 seed.

“Every win feels good but defending our home field and beating a team seeded No. 5 is a big confidence booster. Coming after a win over another team seeded ahead of us, plus to shut them both out, that’s especially sweeter,” admitted Marmion boss Ricky Del Toro.

The contest did begin with East Aurora looking very much like a superior offense as the Tomcats dominated the action in building a 10-1 advantage for overall shots with a 6-0 edge when it came to on-frame attempts. In fact, Marmion’s initial and only first-half shot came just 6:32 prior to halftime. Despite East Aurora playing with a brisk wind, it was a case of the Cadet defense bending but never breaking.

While Marmion got the wind to its back after halftime, the majority of the second 40 minutes was made difficult for both sides as a steady rain turned into a driving downpour. The Cadets narrowed the gap just slightly from a statistical standpoint with East still finishing with a 20-6 edge for overall shots and a 10-3 lead in on-target tries.

There was 15:26 left in regulation when Tomcat standout Abraham Kanneh had a solid header off a corner kick go wide right. Two minutes later East Aurora had a direct free kick off a whistle that had the home fans raining displeasure on the call, but the Cadet defensive wall blocked that effort.

The visitors missed a golden opportunity with 12:11 to go when Frankie Ortis was open to the right of the goal but skied an 11-yarder over the crossbar. Danny Miranda tried threading a blast through defenders only to shoot wide of the left post.

Marmion finally capitalized on a corner kick as Gavin Sanchez’s set-up was headed sharply on goal by Matt Switzer only to have Tomcat goalie Oscar Calzada make a block, but that’s when Graham was in position to put the rebound home from three yards out.

“I figured with the rain and wind, the corner would go to the front post and either it would be sent out or wind up at the back post. That’s where I was and the ball just came to me,” Graham said. “The second one was another cross and this time Claudio (Jasso) headed on to the far post and I got just enough of a touch for the redirection.”

Sanchez also served up that corner to help bring his season tally for assists to a team-high 10 as part of a team-best 26 points. After Jasso’s role in the header, Graham tucked it past Calzada from six yards out in order to bump his goal total to five for the year.

Of course East Aurora wasn’t going down without a comeback effort as Omar Miranda had a direct free kick soar too high with three minutes still to play. Twenty seconds later, Marmion defender Mick Wangler made a stellar slide tackle to break up a pass that looked like a sure set-up for a Tomcat goal. After a re-start, the Tomcats attacked again only to have Wangler double back to deflect a cross into an East Aurora corner.

“I was simply trying to get it out or keep it from getting in front of our goal any way I could,” Wangler said. “Our defense didn’t care how, only to keep them from scoring.”
In addition to being a second straight shutout, it marked the ninth time this season that Marmion’s defense was able to produce a clean sheet. Keeper Brian Hymel chalked up his seventh solo shutout as East Aurora was kept goal-less for only the third time in 17 contests.

“Just like Oswego, beating a higher seed is a very good feeling,” Hymel said. “But as much as we like to win, for the defense, shutouts say that much more about the job we’re doing.”

Del Toro was also quick to compliment his defensive unit.

“Our back four, Luke (DeSimone), Mick (Wangler), Jake (Hutchinson) and Joe (Duffield), plus the keeper did a great job,” Del Toro said. “I also have to give a lot of props to Claudio (Jasso). He’s been playing great soccer lately. Playing a new position, he’s helped us a lot in possessing the ball and his height helps us win some 50-50 balls. It really showed versus Oswego and on the last goal.”

Although it was a non-conference clash, there were some subtle side stories at play with Marmion’s boss having to watch is cousin Alexis Del Toro as a starter for East Aurora. Cadet assistant coach Adrian Magana is an EAHS alum while Tomcat assistant Gibran Rodriguez is a long-time friend of the Marmion coach.

It was also the end of a long day for Graham, whose rain-soaked soccer uniform was dropped into the back of his car along with a sweat-soaked helmet and practice apparel which the Cadet kicker began using at 3:30 pm for football practice.

“Playing on such a rainy day is difficult because we’re such a finesse team, and it’s hard for us to do our thing passing,” East Aurora coach Javier Hernandez noted. “It ends up being a case of a mistake or two deciding the win. We made one in giving up a corner and they capitalized. As much as we were the dominate team throughout the first half, domination doesn’t win games, goals do. They got two and we didn’t get any.”

East Aurora has to regain its focus for a crucial Saturday road trip to South Elgin where a victory would make the Tomcats part of a three-way tie for first place in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division. East, which ruled the Valley in 2010 and shared the division last year, takes a 3-0-2 mark into Saturday with the hope of matching Lake Park and Neuqua Valley, both of whom have finished with 4-0-2 records.

Marmion has the same task of not losing its concentration prior to an equally crucial league outing. The Cadets take a 5-0 record to Wheaton St. Francis, which just came up short in a meeting of unbeatens with Wheaton Academy. A victory Saturday would then set up a title showdown of 6-0 squads for Marmion’s home finale against Wheaton Academy.