Saint Viator exacts revenge, sweeps into Final Four

By Mike Garofola

A virtuoso performance in the second-half, inspired by 2 goals from Billy Hamilton and a late strike from Kevin Cavers, put an emphatic finish on the final quarter hour to help Saint Viator (22-4-1) do away with ESCC rival St. Joseph 3-1 on Tuesday.

The Lions’ win at the Benedictine Super-Sectional Tuesday night advanced them into Friday's semi-final of the 2A state tournament at North Central College in Naperville.  

The Lions will face Triad (15-9-2) of downstate Illinois after the Knights defeated Champaign Centennial in OT 3-2.

"We put ourselves in a bit of a tight spot after giving up that goal just before the half, and with the way their keeper (Jovani Castanon) was playing, it could have been one of those nights if we weren't able to get that first goal," said a relieved Saint Viator head coach Mike Taylor.

"But this team has been very resilient this year, and before the night I made a prediction that we would come away with a 3-1 victory ... and obviously I am thrilled that I was right."

The Lions’ success on this night was due in part to its ability to confound and slow the Chargers (20-4-1) 2-time all-state striker, Marco Gutierrez. St. Joseph’s Rolando Zuniga, John Porvanik and sophomore Jose Carrera were running hard going forward in an attempt to create opportunities for its club and second-year head coach Stan  Niemiec.

"We put some pressure on (Saint Viator) but not enough when we got in close, and they put a lot more pressure on us, which eventually was the difference in the match tonight," said Niemiec, who in his first season last fall helped guide the Chargers to a 3rd-place finish in the 2A tournament.

Taylor’s club had the run of play in the first 40 minutes but was unable to create many scoring chances thanks to some less than sparkling play. Inaccurate passing and lackluster runs failed to help open space up top for its leading scorer, Alan Aboona (35 goals). Aboona had a go at 30 minutes, but that was all for the big senior.

"We opened pretty well, but didn't take advantage of a couple of early chances, then our play just fell off," admitted tri-captain Trevor Wheeler.

In their eagerness to put additional pressure on the Chargers higher up the pitch, the Lions backline would see its shape come apart just long enough to allow Carrera to break free up the left side and collect a ball sent over the top.

Once in control, the speedy midfielder would send his shot from 30 yards into an empty net, vacated when Scott Faul sensed trouble on the horizon and came far off his line.

In terms of the spectacular, Jovani Castanon was just that just seconds after the Chargers would take the lead.

The junior, who would earn co-MVP honors in the ESCC after the 2008 season, would stay airborne for an eternity while turning away a point-blank blast from Wheeler in the 40th minute to keep the Chargers ahead at the break.

"Scoring a goal right at the end always gives a team momentum, but it also works the other way, and we saw it tonight when Saint Viator came out strong, and ready to get back even in this match," said a disappointed Niemiec.

"We talked about playing wide more, and letting the ball do the work, and not to panic if we didn't score right away," Cavers said of Taylor's hafltime.

Taylor and his staff had to be encouraged to see the second-half open in much livelier fashion. With Wheeler, Cavers, and Hamilton in the center of the park creating, and Jack Horvath providing pace which had been missing on the outside, the Lions would come close until Hamilton brought his club even at 53 minutes.

Aboona and Cavers would be the architects before Hamilton would strike a low drive into the right corner to warm the hearts of the Lions faithful on a cold night.

"We knew from scouting (St. Joseph) that their keeper would chase everything down and go into the air fearlessly, we also knew that if we shot low, it would give us the best chance to score," Taylor said of Hamilton's turf-riding shot.

10 minutes later, the senior midfielder would strike the eventual game-winner with the helper going to Cavers, who minutes earlier would watch Castanon continue his brilliant play in stopping a wicked drive from Aboona.

"Getting that second goal really opened things up for us," offered Hamilton.

"I knew if we could get even before the 55th minute, we would be in good shape," admitted Taylor.

"However, if (it) was still 1-0 at 60 minutes plus, then maybe we would have to go to 3 (up top) to try to generate more chances."

The Lions’ head coach thought the work rate given from Horvath on the right side and Tim Hogaboom and freshmen Michael Decker on the left helped a rampant Lions attack to keep coming after going up for good at 65 minutes.

Cavers would be denied once again by Castanon, easily the Chargers man-of-the-match on this night, setting up a key save by Faul who would stop Gutierrez after a ball sent through by Ruben Estrada.

Shortly afterwards, in the 77th minute, Cavers would rip the Chargers defense wide-open with a devastating run to swerve past a trio of markers before cutting a shot back and past a helpless Castanon.

"Their keeper did a great job of keeping them in this game with some amazing saves," Cavers would say.

"But we knew if we could get one (goal) then it would be 1 or 2 more."

"It was the seniors, who have been a major part of whatever has happened to this team during (their) past 3 years (here) who came through, to get us into the final weekend of the season, and with a chance (now) to play for a state title, if we can get past our first opponent on Friday afternoon," said Taylor.

The Lions last appearance at North Central was in 2004 when it defeated this same St. Joseph side to capture a (1A) 3rd place trophy in what was then a 2-class system.

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