Lions defeat Marist to set up ESCC showdown with Benet

 

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By Dan Santaromita

Anyone that has a consistency potion should send it to Mike Taylor, or just about any other high school coach for that matter.

The inconsistency of Taylor’s Saint Viator team isn’t something rare to high school sports, but with a number of different players performing well and then struggling and plenty of slow starts, the Lions’ up and down play may be more confusing than most.

On Wednesday in Arlington Heights, the Lions overcome a sluggish start, though aided by not one, but two first half red cards, to beat Marist 4-1 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference match.

The win keeps Saint Viator (12-4-4, 6-1) alive in the ESCC title race with a do or die match against leaders Benet Academy (7-0) coming up on Friday.

Dan Grand shocked the hosts with a goal for the Redhawks in the first 10 minutes of the match.

However, Marist’s momentum was lost minutes later after a player swore at the ref to warrant a straight red. The Lions took advantage of the situation and equalized at the midway point of the half.

Troy Wheeler played a through ball to Kevin Patzke down the left sideline. Wheeler made a run to the middle and was able to receive a return cross in the box and then took a couple touches to win and control the ball before firing a half volley into the top of the net.

The Redhawks had more problems five minutes later when a second player was sent off. This time unnecessary contact after the whistle forced the ref to give out another red card.

Playing with just nine men, the hardworking Marist group had an uphill battle the rest of the match. A few minutes before half, Patzke headed in an Adam Fetter corner to give the Lions the lead for good.

“(Coach Taylor) said the last couple minutes before the half was crucial,” Patzke said. “I knew we had a good opportunity to score and I was just getting my head on the ball no matter what.”

In the second half, Patzke tallied his second goal on a nice assist from Spencer Moore. Two goals and an assist marked a good senior night for Patzke.

“I thought Kevin Patzke played well today,” Taylor said. “He doesn’t play a lot, but he’s a senior and when he does get on the field he plays hard. It was senior night so I tried to play the seniors as much as possible.”

Fetter, another senior, scored on a pearl of a shot from outside the box that found the upper 90 to close out the scoring.

Taylor is hoping his team can finally string good results together in the time of year that teams absolutely have to.

“We have a hard time sometimes putting two good games together and I don’t know why,” Taylor said. “I know part of it’s the field. We are a turf team and I hate to say that, but we are. When we get on turf we play so much better.”

Good thing for the Lions that the key Benet game will take place on the turf at Celtic Park in Palatine.

A Viator win could force a three-way tie in the ESCC (if Carmel beats Marian Catholic on Thursday), but anything less than that gives the outright title to the Redwings.

Even with the slow start, the Lions showed better communication on the field and need that to carry over.

“We need to work harder as a team and get more communication and let the ball do the work,” Patzke said. “They clearly still outworked us with only eight guys on the field. I just think we need to work harder as a team.”

“We have the skill,” sophomore Nick Winter added. “Like today we came out flat. We've just got to come out strong. We can be one of the best teams out here if we come to play.”