Spartans top Elmwood Park, rematch with WA set
By Dave Miller

 

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 St. Francis eventually made up for lost time in the Class 2A Elmwood Park sectional semifinals.

After arriving to the stadium shortly before the start of their match, the Spartans fell behind the host 1-0. However, the No. 1 seed responded with three goals in the first half and added two more in the second to handle Elmwood Park 5-1 Tuesday.

Sophomore Andrea Ravlin led the way with two goals for St. Francis (20-3), which set a program record for most victories in a season.

The afternoon did not start well for St. Francis. A long bus ride in traffic was made longer by a closed ramp, a backtracking route and a freight train. The Spartans pulled up to the field just 17 minutes before the 4:30 p.m. match. Their request for additional time to warm up was denied.

“That definitely had an effect,” Ravlin said. “We really didn’t get a good enough warmup. They didn’t give us any extra time so we did our best to get our heads into the game and to warm up as well as we could. You need a good warmup to have a good start, and we were all still a little not exactly in it yet. The first few minutes were rough.”

“It was one of those things,” St. Francis coach Jim Winslow said of his team’s later-than-usual arrival. “We were tense. Instead of getting into a rhythm, we were tense, and it showed. And then they scored and we got more tense. The good thing about it is we started playing with a lot more urgency.”

St. Francis controlled the ball for much of the time in the opening minutes, but got burned when fourth-seeded Elmwood Park (13-7) advanced the ball. Ade Maron passed it from the right side to Sydney Pesko near the top of the box, and Pesko scored from there, putting the Tigers ahead 1-0 in the ninth minute.

It was a wakeup call for the Spartans.

“It definitely was,” Ravlin said. “That pushed us and motivated us to come back.”

Less than three minutes later, St. Francis tied the score on Ravlin’s first goal. Kaitlin Bucaro triggered the score with a shot from the right side. Elmwood Park goalkeeper Jasmine Moctezuma stopped the shot, but the ball got loose from her in front of the net. Ravlin battled defender Monika Pszczola for the ball and muscled it into the right side of the goal.

“You have to scrap it out sometimes,” Ravlin said. “I was hoping and anticipating for the goalie to drop it, and that’s what she did. That’s how I got both of my goals. I’m glad because I really helped our team come back from the first goal.” 

Pinball action in front of the net turned out to be a running theme in St. Francis’ goals.

In the 21st minute, Courtenay Hart’s shot deflected off the leg of Pszczola in front of the goal and nearby Taylor Van Thournout kicked the ball in tight quarters into the net to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

“I didn’t want it to get to them being able to bunker,” Winslow said of the Tigers. “The first two goals were key. If they had to keep coming out with our team, then they were in trouble.”

That proved correct. In the 28th minute, Sydney Fox spun from 25 yards in front of the net and booted the ball over the goalkeeper and under the crossbar to extend St. Francis’ lead to 3-1.

The Spartans put 10 shots on goal to Elmwood Park’s two in the first half.

The top seed kept the pressure on in the second half. Less than two minutes into it, St. Francis stretched its advantage to 4-1 when Ravlin put home a rebound for her second goal of the contest.

Amanda Gaggioli’s goal off a feed from Taylor Bucaro in the 79th minute completed the scoring.

The winners finished with 21 shots on goal. Jenna DiTusa earned the victory in goal after facing just three Elmwood Park shots on target.
 
St. Francis advances to Friday’s 4:30 p.m. sectional final against nemesis Wheaton Academy (15-8-1). The third-seeded Warriors edged second-seeded Payton 3-2 in four overtimes in the other semifinal.

Last year, Wheaton Academy beat St. Francis 2-0 in supersectionals. This season, the Warriors tipped the Spartans 2-1 on May 2 at Wheaton Academy.

“Last time we played we were all over them and lost 2-1,” Winslow said. “Do I think the game will be the same this time? I doubt it, so how are we going to handle it this time?”