Tigers top Marmion, play New Trier Saturday

By Gary Larsen

First Lake Zurich, and then Rockford-Boylan.

“I knew we’d be pretty good this year, but if you had told me we would have come here and beaten two of the top ten teams in the state, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Wheaton Warrenville South senior Drew Bellmer said.

After beating Lake Zurich Tuesday and Boylan Wednesday, the Tigers completed a trifecta on Thursday by winning 3-1 over Marmion.

The Tigers will play in the title game of this year’s Barrington Tournament, when they’ll take on defending state champion New Trier, a 4-0 winner over the host Broncos in Thursday’s nightcap.

Bellmer scored twice and assisted on a goal by Alden Marton. Tigers coach Guy Callipari could have rested his starters, since his squad had already earned a place in the title game.

No chance.

“You’re kind of between a rock and a hard place. You’d love to sit out and not give the game much thought win or lose,” Callipari said. “But then there’s the competitive side of you. We wanted to be the only team to come out of the bracket 3-0.”

“You want to carry momentum going into the championship, and you don’t want to play poorly because you don’t want to be playing from weaknesses and have to improve a great deal for the championship game.”

In Marmion (1-3), Wheaton Warrenville South (4-0) took on a team that has all the technical skill around the pitch it needs.

“In the first half they must have had seventy percent of the possession,” Callipari said. “It was fortunate for us that we got into striking range early.”

Bellmer lined up a free kick two minutes into the game, 22 yards straight out from goal. Bellmer teed off on quickly and the Tigers had a 1-0 lead after his shot frayed the back netting.

“The goalie was setting up the wall on the right side, but we hadn’t asked for ten yet,” Bellmer said. “It was free to go so I just went for it.”

The lead held to halftime, but Marmion knotted the score when Connor Lefelstein toe-poked a shot into net at the far post, set up by a free kick.

Callipari applauded the day’s work put in by central defender Will Huesing. He wanted to rest the sophomore but couldn’t take him off the field.

“Will has played every minute of the last three games,” Callipari said. “We just haven’t found a person yet to take his spot. I started with idea that I was going to substitute for him, but the game was 1-0 and then 1-1. We kept him in.”

Bellmer made it 2-1 not long thereafter, stepping on to an endline serve that got past the near post.

“Kevin Allingham just kind of swung one in, and I just trapped it and pulled it to the right a little bit,” Bellmer said.

Marmion continued to pressure into its final third but struggled to find dangerous space to launch a shot on net.

Bellmer sent a free kick towards the goalmouth from the right side late in the second half, and Marton finished on it to end the day’s scoring.

Callipari substituted liberally throughout the contest and the Tigers never got into a real flow, but they got solid individual performances put in on Thursday.

“When Collin (Fedor) came in he played well,” Callipari said. “He stepped up and handled the big guy (Marmion’s Sam Duffield) relatively well. He made a couple great tackles one-on-one.”

“Drew did a nice job underneath at midfield, and in finishing, and Andy (Guerrero) played every minute and went hard.

“We wanted to maintain some consistency but when you play twenty players, that’s kind of difficult. Nobody was able to get into a rhythm. That’s what we found to be true today.”

Man of the match: Drew Bellmer

By Gary Larsen

Drew Bellmer kicked off this year's Barrington tournament by scoring four goals against highly-touted Lake Zurich.

On Thursday, the WWSouth senior chipped in two more in a win over Marmion.

"Drew did a nice job underneath at midfield tonight, and he was involved in every goal," said Tigers coach Guy Callipari.

"He's certainly deserving of being called our player of the game."

Bellmer plays outside mid for his club team but finds himself in the middle of the field for this year's Tigers.

“It’s a different kind of running. It’s not north and south, it’s here and there. It’s a different look at the game and I’m definitely enjoying it.”

Bellmer quick-hit a free kick to put the Tigers up early, charged onto a serve and finished a second goal, and sent a free kick in that Alden Marton finished on at the goalmouth.

The Tigers have earned a 12 to 2 scoring edge through 4 games.

“I think we’re definitely dangerous this year. We’ve been solid in the back before, and we haven’t let up more than a goal so far,” Bellmer said. “But this year we’re finding seams and we’re just dangerous.”

2009 Schedule