Spartans show well vs. Fenwick at Olympic Park
By Mike Garofola
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St. Francis took temporary control of Group A Tuesday morning as goals from the Ravlin pair of Andrea and Taylor ensured a 2-0 victory over a quality side from Fenwick, as Day Two of the St. Francis Springfest Classic at Olympic Park in Schaumburg continued.
Later on Tuesday, Cary-Grove would defeat Jim Winslow’s club 1-0 to jump to the top of the table and book its place in the finals today against Benet Academy.
The Spartans (4-3-1) warmed the hearts of their fans who braved another chilly day of soccer with some of their best play of the young season, according to Winslow, who leaned on a short roster to outplay a Fenwick ((5-2-1) team which recently defeated 2010 2A runner-up St. Viator.
"We're a little short for this tournament with two girls away, but we might have played our best match of the season from front-to-back, and more importantly, with some creative play in the attack where we took advantage of our opportunities to score two nice goals," said Winslow.
"Fenwick was a very fine team, and had some real talent up top, but we did well as a group (collectively) to defend, and got ourselves a real good victory this morning."
The Spartans' had to be wary of their opponent’s striker Clare Madden, who not only showed cleverness, boundless pace, and ability to create with and without the ball, but also plenty of toughness, witnessed by her playing in short sleeves, the only player on the pitch to do so on this day.
Madden was especially dangerous in the first quarter hour as her mates in the middle of the park were constantly winning balls, then quickly looking up top to their senior, who did well to stretch the Spartans' backline and cause more problems than St Francis would have liked.
"We probably defended a little more than we would have wanted in the first 10-12 minutes of the match, and again in the second half when Fenwick was looking to get even with us, but everyone in the back did a very good job of keeping their shape and staying composed, and it was one of the main reasons that we beat them," offered Kaity Bucaro, who added defensive stability in the midfield, and pressure on Fenwick when her club went forward.
The Spartans finally found their pace near the quarter-hour mark when Bucaro and Sarah Rahman began to get more touches in the middle, and a now confident backline would join in to give the team numbers in the attack.
Before too long the speed of play from both sides picked up noticeably, which seemed to work in the Spartans' favor, as they spent more time in the final third, which eventually led to the first goal of the match.
Terrific work beginning at the near flag from Rahman saw the midfielder break free of her mark, and her low pass to Andrea Ravlin allowed a nice one-timer to slash under Fenwick keeper Sydney Galvez-Daley, who seemed to be surprised the well-paced shot.
The final 10 minutes of the first-half were played mostly in the Spartans end, and that's when keeper Jenna Ditusa would make her mark on the match.
Ditusa stayed with a crazy- bouncing shot on frame from Mary Kate Hussey just after the Ravlin goal - and did not allow a rebound to the charging Madden near the 6.
Moments later Madden and Maddie Stupinski would initiate some trouble - but a well-timed tackle from Taylor Ravlin cleared a dangerous situation in close for a brief moment, as her clearing attempt fell to Madden, who watched Ditusa push her strike from 22 yards up and over the woodwork.
Just after the second-half began, Dana Dubois' tackle near the spot stopped Madden from setting Mom Chapa in on Ditusa - which began a five-minute spell in which Fenwick threw everything forward in search of the equalizer.
"We withstood that initial onslaught from Fenwick, then settled down and got back to playing, and knocking the ball around the way that we can," offered Winslow.
With the few reserves Winslow had he picked and chose who and where to rest players from the middle and up top, as this grueling 4 games in 2 day tournament, in the cold, began to take effect on both sides in part due to the non-stop, high energy play.
Andi Matichak and Sydney Fox nearly stunned Fenwick off of the counter, as the Spartans carefully attacked when the opportunity arose, while keeping its shape and balance from the middle on back to guard against Fenwick's attempt to draw even.
The Spartans doubled their lead in the closing moments and sealed the deal when Bucaro and Rahman presented Taylor Ravlin with an easy chance to finish under Galvez-Daley.
"I really wasn't sure if one goal was going to hold up today against Fenwick, so I felt really good when I crossed that ball at the end to help Taylor score (late) to put them away," said Bucaro.
"It was a really tough game, but Jenna (Ditusa) and our defense played very well all throughout to help us get an important win here in the tournament.”
