Crescenzo brace trumps Wheaton N.
buzz, leads St. Francis to win
Spartans open Hillner Classic with come-from-behind 3-1 victory
By Matt Le Cren
ROSELLE – Wheaton North senior Aniel Patel’s first half buzzer-beater was the goal of the game.
But St. Francis senior Zach Crescenzo was Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
Crescenzo scored twice after intermission as the Spartans overcame a halftime deficit to knock off Wheaton North 3-1 on Thursday in the nightcap of the opening day of play in the Hillner Classic at Lake Park.
But even after the game, the buzz was all about Patel’s rare feat.
As the final seconds of the first half ticked down, Patel received a long pass from Jorge Petino and launched a rocket from just inside the 18 that sailed into the net just before the horn sounded, giving the Falcons (0-1-1) a 1-0 halftime lead.
“What a shot that was,” Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen said. “Aniel ripped his hips around that thing. I can’t wait to see the tape on it because that was unbelievable.”
Patel’s strike, and the Falcons’ play in general, had Stassen smiling even after his team’s late collapse, which was brought on in no small part by Crescenzo’s magnificent hustle.
Patel, too, was grinning as he explained he had no idea time was running out.
“I forgot that we were low on time,” Patel said. “I just hit it. I was kind of in the moment.
“It’s a great feeling. I can’t even explain it. It was like that rush.”
Luckily for the Spartans (1-0-0), Crescenzo provided a rush of a different kind. Make that two rushes.
The first came with 25:49 remaining when he got a pass from junior midfielder Henry Roback, split two defenders and tied the game with a 10-yard shot.
The second was even better.
Wheaton North trailed 2-1 with three minutes left and had a free-kick on the right side of the final third.
But the Spartans stole the ball and 10 seconds later it was in the back of the Wheaton North net.
Crescenzo got it just over midfield, sprinted up the right side around the Falcons’ defender and beat goalkeeper Harrison Thompson but his shot rolled into the left post.
Crescenzo raced after the ball and beat two Falcon defenders to it before poking the carom into the net to finish the scoring with 2:46 to go. It was the Spartans’ second goal in a span of 66 seconds.
“He is lightning quick; but not only does he have speed, he has power,” Stassen said. “He pushed past our center back, which is not an easy thing to do, and he just made him look like a school kid. He just lit him up and then to get the rebound…”
“It is always important to follow your shot,” Crescenzo noted.
So, too, is staying composed after going down a goal. The Spartans reacted well to Patel’s score.
“We didn’t finish the half strong, which is not what we’re going to want to do this year,” Crescenzo said. “But we came right back at it the second half.”
The Spartans knew they had no choice.
“It was kind of disheartening but we obviously had to come back strong in the second half,” St. Francis senior Zach Zygmunt said.
Seeing as how St. Francis has only four seniors back from last year’s supersectional team, it was an open question as to whether the team would bounce back. But Spartans coach Kevin Ward wasn’t surprised by the comeback.
“I thought we were having the better of the game, as far as possession-wise and moving the ball around,” Ward said. “(The advice was) just don’t give up, keep doing what we’re doing and execute a little better.
“We had two or three shots in the first half, but our execution and technique was not very good. So we just stayed with our plan.”
It worked. Wheaton North put only one shot on frame after intermission, that being a 25-yard drive by Alex Beausoleil with 9:50 to go. Ryan Scharf made a diving stop to record the last of his four saves.
Meanwhile, St. Francis slowly started to swing the momentum their way. But they didn’t take the lead until 3:52 remained.
That’s when Zygmunt launched a 25-yard attempt that went through the legs of Thompson, who was otherwise solid in turning in a six-save effort.
“I got lucky,” Zygmunt said. “It wasn’t that strong of a hit.
“When the ground is wet and you keep the ball on frame, you never know what happens.”
The irony of it was Thompson had just made a great effort to punch Carney Herard’s 50-yard free-kick out of the box.
“I feel like we played pretty well overall, but St. Francis is a really good team,” Patel said. “It was a good battle all the way through.
“It’s just that we kind of gave up toward the end. We had the 1-0 lead, and we thought that was enough, but it turned out to not be true.”
Stassen said that is one mark of an inexperienced team.
“I thought we played a better, complete game, just still couldn’t get past that 80 minutes,” Stassen said. “Once the head went down with the ball that went through the keeper’s legs, yeah, there was still time left.
“But when you’re talking to a young team, what they see is game over.”
St. Francis graduated the bulk of the lineup that put together a 16-2-4 record last season, but the Spartans are determined to make sure that success is not over.
“We’re kind of rebuilding,” Ward said. “We’ve got a saying: ‘We’re just trying to keep the tradition going right now.’ So I think the nice thing I liked today was these guys didn’t give up. It wasn’t pretty all the time, but they came out here and they fought.”
That’s the plan for every match.
“Last year when we were making that run we kept talking about a team a few years back made a run just like ours and, we kind of looked up to them,” Crescenzo said. “We want to be just like them, so we’re hoping we can do the same thing for the younger guys.
“We lost a lot of talent from last year, but we’ve got a lot of young talent. The seniors that we do have are good leaders, and I think we can do something.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Harrison Thompson
D Michael Pfaff
D Jack Tegart
D Carlos Saavedra
D Jake Dzarnowski
D Nathan Heyen
M Jack Prendiville
M Konrad Rozanski
M Jorge Petino
F Alex Beausoleil
F Aniel Patel
St. Francis
GK Ryan Scharf
D Samuel Audy
D Josh Baker
D Ethan Grosam
D Nicholas Gulli
D Carney Herard
D Jacob Power
M Henry Roback
M Sean Conley
F Zach Crescenzo
F Leo Herard
Man of the Match: Zach Crescenzo, F, St. Francis
buzz, leads St. Francis to win
Spartans open Hillner Classic with come-from-behind 3-1 victory
By Matt Le Cren
ROSELLE – Wheaton North senior Aniel Patel’s first half buzzer-beater was the goal of the game.
But St. Francis senior Zach Crescenzo was Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
Crescenzo scored twice after intermission as the Spartans overcame a halftime deficit to knock off Wheaton North 3-1 on Thursday in the nightcap of the opening day of play in the Hillner Classic at Lake Park.
But even after the game, the buzz was all about Patel’s rare feat.
As the final seconds of the first half ticked down, Patel received a long pass from Jorge Petino and launched a rocket from just inside the 18 that sailed into the net just before the horn sounded, giving the Falcons (0-1-1) a 1-0 halftime lead.
“What a shot that was,” Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen said. “Aniel ripped his hips around that thing. I can’t wait to see the tape on it because that was unbelievable.”
Patel’s strike, and the Falcons’ play in general, had Stassen smiling even after his team’s late collapse, which was brought on in no small part by Crescenzo’s magnificent hustle.
Patel, too, was grinning as he explained he had no idea time was running out.
“I forgot that we were low on time,” Patel said. “I just hit it. I was kind of in the moment.
“It’s a great feeling. I can’t even explain it. It was like that rush.”
Luckily for the Spartans (1-0-0), Crescenzo provided a rush of a different kind. Make that two rushes.
The first came with 25:49 remaining when he got a pass from junior midfielder Henry Roback, split two defenders and tied the game with a 10-yard shot.
The second was even better.
Wheaton North trailed 2-1 with three minutes left and had a free-kick on the right side of the final third.
But the Spartans stole the ball and 10 seconds later it was in the back of the Wheaton North net.
Crescenzo got it just over midfield, sprinted up the right side around the Falcons’ defender and beat goalkeeper Harrison Thompson but his shot rolled into the left post.
Crescenzo raced after the ball and beat two Falcon defenders to it before poking the carom into the net to finish the scoring with 2:46 to go. It was the Spartans’ second goal in a span of 66 seconds.
“He is lightning quick; but not only does he have speed, he has power,” Stassen said. “He pushed past our center back, which is not an easy thing to do, and he just made him look like a school kid. He just lit him up and then to get the rebound…”
“It is always important to follow your shot,” Crescenzo noted.
So, too, is staying composed after going down a goal. The Spartans reacted well to Patel’s score.
“We didn’t finish the half strong, which is not what we’re going to want to do this year,” Crescenzo said. “But we came right back at it the second half.”
The Spartans knew they had no choice.
“It was kind of disheartening but we obviously had to come back strong in the second half,” St. Francis senior Zach Zygmunt said.
Seeing as how St. Francis has only four seniors back from last year’s supersectional team, it was an open question as to whether the team would bounce back. But Spartans coach Kevin Ward wasn’t surprised by the comeback.
“I thought we were having the better of the game, as far as possession-wise and moving the ball around,” Ward said. “(The advice was) just don’t give up, keep doing what we’re doing and execute a little better.
“We had two or three shots in the first half, but our execution and technique was not very good. So we just stayed with our plan.”
It worked. Wheaton North put only one shot on frame after intermission, that being a 25-yard drive by Alex Beausoleil with 9:50 to go. Ryan Scharf made a diving stop to record the last of his four saves.
Meanwhile, St. Francis slowly started to swing the momentum their way. But they didn’t take the lead until 3:52 remained.
That’s when Zygmunt launched a 25-yard attempt that went through the legs of Thompson, who was otherwise solid in turning in a six-save effort.
“I got lucky,” Zygmunt said. “It wasn’t that strong of a hit.
“When the ground is wet and you keep the ball on frame, you never know what happens.”
The irony of it was Thompson had just made a great effort to punch Carney Herard’s 50-yard free-kick out of the box.
“I feel like we played pretty well overall, but St. Francis is a really good team,” Patel said. “It was a good battle all the way through.
“It’s just that we kind of gave up toward the end. We had the 1-0 lead, and we thought that was enough, but it turned out to not be true.”
Stassen said that is one mark of an inexperienced team.
“I thought we played a better, complete game, just still couldn’t get past that 80 minutes,” Stassen said. “Once the head went down with the ball that went through the keeper’s legs, yeah, there was still time left.
“But when you’re talking to a young team, what they see is game over.”
St. Francis graduated the bulk of the lineup that put together a 16-2-4 record last season, but the Spartans are determined to make sure that success is not over.
“We’re kind of rebuilding,” Ward said. “We’ve got a saying: ‘We’re just trying to keep the tradition going right now.’ So I think the nice thing I liked today was these guys didn’t give up. It wasn’t pretty all the time, but they came out here and they fought.”
That’s the plan for every match.
“Last year when we were making that run we kept talking about a team a few years back made a run just like ours and, we kind of looked up to them,” Crescenzo said. “We want to be just like them, so we’re hoping we can do the same thing for the younger guys.
“We lost a lot of talent from last year, but we’ve got a lot of young talent. The seniors that we do have are good leaders, and I think we can do something.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Harrison Thompson
D Michael Pfaff
D Jack Tegart
D Carlos Saavedra
D Jake Dzarnowski
D Nathan Heyen
M Jack Prendiville
M Konrad Rozanski
M Jorge Petino
F Alex Beausoleil
F Aniel Patel
St. Francis
GK Ryan Scharf
D Samuel Audy
D Josh Baker
D Ethan Grosam
D Nicholas Gulli
D Carney Herard
D Jacob Power
M Henry Roback
M Sean Conley
F Zach Crescenzo
F Leo Herard
Man of the Match: Zach Crescenzo, F, St. Francis