St. Viator takes Titans trophy home

By Mike Garofola

What a difference a week makes.

Seven days after its dreadful performance at Palatine in a 1-0 defeat, St. Viator bounced back in style with a 3-1 victory over tournament host Glenbrook South to capture its 3rd straight trophy at the 24th annual "Warm-Up" Soccer Tournament in Glenview.

The Lions (4-2-0) would reach its 11th Glenbrook South championship match when they went through clean in its pool play over a trio of opponents, including Chicago Mather via 3-1 victory last Tuesday afternoon.

"Maybe our best match of the season," offered senior Brendan King, who could only roll his eyes when reminded of the performance of his club against Palatine.

"We had some chemistry issues up until and after that match and after dealing with it the players and the coaching staff told us to put all of it behind us and just go and play the way we are capable of," said King, who wears the captain armband for Lions head coach Mike Taylor and is the lead voice for an all-rookie back line.

"We were very tough on those young guys in the back today," admitted Taylor, who spent much of the first half letting his youngsters know want he thought of their play during play or when he brought them off.

"We've seen enough of those boys during the offseason and training camp to know they can play their positions the way we know they can,” he said. “But given their inexperience it will be a constant work in progress in the early stages of the season."

It wasn't just the backline that disappointed Taylor and his staff as the Lions midfield and front-line failed to connect with any consistent passes, making possession impossible and much too easy for the homeside Titans (4-1-0) to defend under new head coach Paul Agombar.

"We did well to keep our shape and stay organized, and I believe we defended well against a very good side up until they drew even," said Agombar.

Without the injured Kevin Cavers in the middle of the park, the Lions began at full speed but for an hour or so they never achieved high quality.

One of several poorly played balls along the back caught up to the eventual champions when Titans senior Erick Melchor collected a loose ball and drove his shot low to the ground and into the back of the net from the top of the box, just minutes after intermission.

Just before the break, the Lions’ best build-up forward resulted in a Trevor Wheeler attempt cleared off the line by John Leigh, after keeper David Abiera wandered far off his line to challenge a 50-50 ball with Lions leading scorer Alan Aboona.
The Lions' comeback was hastened when a call to reserve Joe Schmidt, who entered midway through the second-half, sent Wheeler back into the middle to help direct a still sputtering attack.

"Trevor asked me if he could move back after playing up top with (Aboona) and it was his work in the middle as well as Smitty's (Joe Schmidt) that helped get us to begin playing soccer," Taylor would say.

Wheeler would place the ball on the boots of King, who came through the center channel and unloaded a close range blast at Abiera. Abiera was unable to hold on, sending the well-paced ball backwards and just over the endline.

Abiera and his backline mates argued that the ball stayed out of the back of the net but the assistant referee on the near side was in proper position to make the correct call.

The equalizer at 64 minutes would help unleash the Lions play, in what King called the best 20 minutes of soccer he has seen this year.

Aboona showed the finishing touch of a true striker when he carried to free himself of his defender and then bent his shot around a helpless Abiera, who had no chance to stop the eventual game-winner.

Schmidt would record the helper on the 72nd-minute goal, then would watch Aboona put the Titans away for good just 2 minutes later with both King and Jack Simpson initiating the strike.

"It was good to see a strong finish (today) to get the win, because we've begun to tell the team that after next week we will be one-third of the way through the season and we've got to begin moving forward and getting ready for what's ahead of us," Taylor said.

The Lions will open play in the ESCC this Thursday when they welcome Notre Dame in Arlington Heights at 4:30.

2009 Schedule