CHICAGO — To say that Fenwick and Saint Ignatius have quite the rivalry might be an understatement. Since the 2016 season, the teams have either tied or been involved in one-goal affairs and records can be thrown out the window when the two meet.

Coming into Tuesday’s Chicago Catholic League Blue Division matchup at Fornelli Field, the recent stretch of both teams’ play wasn’t bound to play a role in the match’s result — another classic seemed to be on deck on the Wolfpack’s Senior Night Sept. 28.

And a great game was what the crowd got as the two battled out to a 0-0 tie.

“We created opportunities and had opportunities to score,” Saint Ignatius manager Matt Miller said. “We didn’t give away scoring opportunities defensively, which was good. We played through to the last minute, just couldn’t put the ball in the net.”

“We’ll be able to build on this,” Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said. “We had less mistakes in the back and had great goalkeeping from Greg Price.”

The night belonged to the Saint Ignatius’ Class of ’22 as they celebrated Senior Night in their final conference home match.

This year’s squad includes 15 seniors, many of whom were making their first varsity appearances this season after being part of the program during their four years at the school.

“These guys have been the epitome of the program,” Miller said. “They’ve served the program well, their effort, their attitude. They have been supportive, even those that played on the JV team last year and progressed to the varsity this year.

“The majority of these guys are first-year varsity players, so they’re good examples to the younger players who are out here tonight to feel this vibe and atmosphere.”

The match started in favor of Fenwick (6-5-3, 1-2-1). The visitors took advantage of their hosts emotions and excitement of the night and pressured the home squad’s defense early.

A couple shots and a corner just minutes into the game made it look like the visitors would get on the board early, but both shots were high and the corner cleared, nullifying the Friars’ chances.

Then the Wolfpack (4-3-4, 2-1-2) took control. They earned three corners in the half’s final 26 minutes and forced Fenwick keeper Greg Price to come off his line and make four saves to keep the game scoreless.

“Over the whole season, once we wake up and start focusing and we want it, our game changes automatically,” Saint Ignatius’ Isaac Rice said. “We’ll change from Arsenal to Man United.”

After coming out of halftime tied 0-0, the second half began much like the first. The Friars pressed and put two shots on frame and sailed two others just high or wide in the half’s first 11 minutes.

But, again like the first half, once the Wolfpack got going with 25 minutes remaining, it was consistent pressure on their part. They wanted to win the match for the seniors.

Starting out slow has been something that’s haunted the Wolfpack in a number of matches this season.

“It’s actually gotten better since the beginning of the season, but it seems like it takes us a few challenges, a few tackles, a few collisions to have that fire in the belly,” Miller said.

On the other bench, having his team’s offense disappear so quickly after fast starts disappointed Blazer, but he is encouraged, because he knows their time is coming.

“We’ve got to identify who we are,” Blazer said. “We’ve got a number of sophomores who are playing and doing a good job. 

“However, when you’ve got a number of younger players playing, sometimes things happen, where it may be focus or maintaining that concentration.

“But it also then challenges our seniors and upperclassmen to make plays. Now that we’re playing tough teams every game, it’s challenging. I think we’ll be able to grow on the experience.”

Saint Ignatius had an extreme amount of chances to get on the board, including possessions where it had the ball in point-blank range of the goal before it was cleared, saved by the Price or hit the post or crossbar.

With just over 12 minutes remaining, Oscar Quinn-Pasin raced out in front of the Friars defense with what looked like a one-on-one opportunity with Price. But defender Ian Martinello came from the right side with a slide tackle to end the threat and clear the ball out of bounds.

The Wolfpack’s next best chance came with just under eight minutes remaining off a corner kick by Tyler Masseur. The serve came into the box, hit Price, then hit the far post before rolling in front of the net. It was eventually cleared by the defense after a scrum in front of the net.

“The team has to have confidence,” Miller said about what’s needed to finish. “We tell them ‘If you lack in confidence, make sure to play the next two or three simple passes to get that confidence back.’ 

“It’s really just putting our boys in the best positions on the field to succeed with their shot.

Fenwick held off the ravenous Wolfpack seniors.

“My defense had a spectacular game today,” Price said. “They were able to really just make it so they (Saint Ignatius) would take shots I could save.

“My problem used to be coming out for crosses, but once I was able to fix that, it helped me to gain more confidence. That leads to making better saves, having better control of your box, communicating with your defenders. That was the breaking point, and now the sky’s the limit.”

Fenwick’s best opportunity came in the closing minute. Jack Powers feigned a free kick to the right and cut the ball left to an advancing Ryan Bero on the left side of the box. The senior rolled the ball across the front of the net to the far post, but nobody got on the receiving end.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win the game,” Blazer said. “The final play between our two seniors, Jack Powers and Ryan Bero, and our player on the back end. It was a situation we’ve gone over and have been able to score on. The guys were almost able to pull it off, which was great to see.

“Hopefully we’re able to take this into our next game.”

Both teams have a number of nonconference games to close out the regular season before looking ahead to the playoffs. The Friars have two conference matches remaining, while Saint Ignatius has one.

As they close out their seasons, both teams know what they need to do if they want to be successful and make deep runs into the playoffs.

“We’ve just really got to work hard in training and stay focused,” Saint Ignatius’ Quinn-Pasin said. “Going into the postseason, I just want to see improvement with the team.”

“We just have to want it,” Rice said. “We’ve seen our highs, we’ve seen our lows. I want to see us polish our game so we see more of the highs and no lows.”

Fenwick left the field with a point and pointed to the positives. 

“It’s a lot easier to win as a team, but I like the fact these guys are able to stick together, play through it,” Price said. “It’s down to the mental toughness of our whole team. We’ve got a good core of seniors and really good leaders. The state tournament…it doesn’t matter what your original record was, you’ve just got to keep pushing.”

Starting lineups

Fenwick
GK: Greg Price
D: Will Hancewitz
D: Max Ballarin
D: Ian MacKinnon
D: Zack Hernandez
MF: Matthew Bero
MF: Frank Felice
MF: Luigi Mollo
MF: Ian Martinelli
MF: Jack Powers
F: Ryan Bero

Saint Ignatius
GK: Andrew Krayer
D: Brody Hanlon
D: Nick Williamson
D: Ryan Fassnacht
D: Mateo Cubas
D: Billy Thompson
MF: Jack Regan
MF: Jack Lowe
MF: Tyler Masseur
F: Isaac Rice
F: Adam Akan

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Greg Price, sr. GK, Fenwick

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
No scoring

Story link: https://www.chicagolandsoccer.org/gs-fenwick-at-si-9-28-21.html