LOMBARD -- Restarting the competitive fire after Homecoming weekend can sometimes be like putting a torch to water.

St. Francis endured such a challenge Tuesday at Montini.

Facing a team they defeated 4-0 Aug. 29 in the Glenbard South Invitational, the Spartans (4-7-0, 3-2-0) were stung early by a trio of highlight film goals by the Broncos (1-14-0, 1-4-0) and trailed 3-2 at halftime in the Chicago Catholic League White Division match.

But the second half found St. Francis’ fluctuating 2024 fortunes back on the upswing. Goals by Michael Hutchens and Will Esser over a 15-minute span midway through the stanza powered the Spartans to a 4-3 win, their second in the last three games.

“This was the first game I felt like we mailed it in a little in the first half,” Spartans coach Jim Winslow said.

“We've struggled this season, there's no other way to look at it. We've done some really good things, but come out on the wrong end of games. So, I got on them at halftime and challenged them to step it up and play.

“I just told them, ‘You guys have to pick it up.’ It was Homecoming weekend, and my assistant Misael (Diaz) said it best: ‘If this isn't the first half of a Homecoming weekend game, I don't know what is.’

“Warmup was a lollygag. Yesterday in practice was blah. Everything was blah.”

But blah turned into hoorah with 29:20 left in regulation. That’s when Junior Diaz sent a great pass upfield toward Michael Hutchens. Outrunning two defenders to the ball, he raced into the box and sent a liner inside the left post to tie the game 3-3.

“It was a nice ball from Junior,” Hutchens said. “I just tried to place (the shot) well.”

That finish followed a St. Francis flurry three minutes earlier, which began with a Johnny Coco 20-yard rocket shot denied on a nice two-handed block by Montini goalkeeper Ryan Rucinski. Brady Hamann’s rebound try right of the net was also denied.

“It (the second half difference) was probably our intensity,” Hutchens said. “We just picked it up. The first half we weren't really playing our hardest or being effective.”

The Spartans’ effective push continued with 22:30 left, when Nicholas Tsiljar followed Coco’s blocked shot-attempt with an angled, well-struck 20-yard shot right of the net just wide of the left post.

Then with 15:52 to go, St. Francis grabbed the most important lead of the night to begin a frenetic and decisive 57-second span of soccer.

After the Spartans earned a corner kick, Hamann’s well-placed, left-side send found Will Esser in front of the net for a six-yard, headed game-winner.

“I saw the two guys around the post, and I was like 'I can just walk forward,’” Esser said. “I had a smaller kid on me, so I just walked forward. I just jumped over him and hit it in.

“It was a perfect pass by Brady. He's been very good at getting the ball down the field. He's a really strong dribbler and stuff like that. We've had a lot of great crosses from him and scored a lot off of his assists.”

Esser’s decisive put-away earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor in a field of candidates that included Hamann, Coco, Hutchens and one more impressive late entry into the race.

Less than a minute after Esser’s goal, Montini standout Julian Beahan had a golden chance to tie the match and record a hat-trick when a foul in the box earned him a penalty kick.

But his low liner from the spot was swatted aside at the right post by Spartans goalkeeper Nathan Magnuszewski, who played the second half.

“Nathan was really sick yesterday,” Winslow said, “and another one of our starters is home sick now.

“Nathan's very good. The DePaul game he kept us in there with big saves. He was all over the place.

“DePaul is probably the best team we've played all season: they just peppered us and peppered us. They were so good. They would press and counter-press.”

The DePaul barrage became too much to overcome, but Magnuszewski’s acrobatics saved the day Tuesday.

From there, St. Francis barely allowed Montini an offensive possession inside their half of the field.

With 5:45 to go, a Tsiljar low shot off a Luke Argamasilla pass was saved by Rucinski. The Spartans drained several more minutes with
extended corner possessions (leading to one corner kick).

In the final 30 seconds, an Argamasilla send to the end line from 35 yards and an ensuing Coco clear out on the side took the clock to zero.

“We definitely came here expecting to win,” Hutchens said. “We're happy how we played the second half.”

On a night of multiple Spartans standouts, Winslow added three more contributors.

“As much as we struggled in the midfield at times, I thought Junior Diaz played a really complete game,” Winslow said.

“Luke (Argamasilla) was much better in the second half, and Johnny (Coco) is Johnny. The hard part for Johnny is that I've had to bounce him around. One day he's playing on the wing, the next time in the middle.

“He's probably a center-mid but he just goes out and plays. He had a nice PK (in the first half) and buried the shot, and he created some other things.”

Coco’s penalty kick goal in the 32nd minute after a Montini hand ball in the box was an early Spartans highlight that briefly tied the game 2-2 during a stretch that the Broncos impressed offensively.

Montini speedster Beahan made an immediate impact, dribbling across the middle to the right side and sending a low 22-yard rocket inside the left post to give his team a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.

That score held up for 13 minutes, before Hamann won a clearing attempt left of the net and sent a nice cross to Peter Williams back
post for a powerful put-away to draw St. Francis even at 1-1.

But the first half theme was a Montini answer for every Spartans’ action.

In the 26th minute, Beahan blocked a clearing attempt 20 yards out and sped into the box between defenders. He tipped his close-in shot just inside the post.

“Julian has come a long way,” Montini coach Mark Kalal said. “But it's important to preface that everyone had a good game. We've had games all season were a few guys or a single guy played well.

“But it was really important that everyone played well today, and that's what gave us a fighting opportunity. Even though Julian had a stellar game, he wouldn't be able to do it without his teammates.”

Down 2-1, St. Francis waged a relentless three-minute push that produced a Hamann throw-in from eight yards, then a cross to the left post where Rucinski outfought two St. Francis players to break up a chance.

The Spartans pressure paid off with a Montini hand ball violation in the box, and Coco’s PK goal.

After clearing a Jonathan Yarusso header try off a Hamann corner kick in the 33rd minute, Montini again showed its resiliency. Christian Aguilera lofted a left-side shot just inside the upper right corner to close the freewheeling offensive first half at 3-2 Montini.

“It takes us a little bit too long to get going in our seasons,” Kalal said of his side’s record. “We're still trying to make some tweaks.

“But we were ready to fight today. Maybe losing that last game (vs. St. Francis in Glen Ellyn) gave us a little extra oomph to give us some energy. I think we just had a bad game the first time around.”

St. Francis goalkeeper Carter Clark was forced into first half duty due to Magnuszewski’s illness and had to face an array of creative offensive threats by the inspired Broncos.

“Their first goal by Julian was fantastic,” Winslow said. “He cracked that thing. And then the second one we went in for the tackle, it bounces, and I don't know if Julian could have passed it any better to himself. He almost ends up with a breakaway.

“Then the third one the kid hit a nice ball upper 90 on the back post.”

Winslow was a junior high classmate of Montini football and wrestling coach Mike Bukovsky, who has won state titles in three sports at Montini: as a football assistant coach; and Broncos head coach in wrestling and softball.

Winslow’s old acquaintance’s football field provided a challenge.

“One of the things playing here (at Montini) is it's a little and narrow field,” Winslow said, “so certain things we can do at our field you can't do here.”

But St. Francis adjusted, and a vastly improved second half produced a winning result.

“I thought the first half we had the intensity and the composure,” Kalal said. “Then they came out in the second half with a little bit of 'hoorah' attitude, willing to fight back. They (St. Francis) had a little bit more energy than we did to finish the game.”

The hard-fought win was a lesson learned for the Spartans.

“I feel like we have to keep the intensity up from the beginning,” Hutchens said. “We can't play like half speed in the first half, and then the second half come out and try to pick it up.”

Wild ups and downs have been nothing new this year for St. Francis.

“We don't have a lot of room for error,” Winslow said. “We've got to play at a pretty high-level all the time.

“The hard part is, our record’s not great so we're going to end up seeded vs. somebody really good in the playoffs. That's the reality of it.

“We skewed younger than I thought we would, starting two sophomores and a freshman. But a couple of the juniors have come on as the season’s gone on, and the senior class of kids has been pretty steady all along.

“I've been really pleased that the younger kids have gotten better,” Winslow added. “Brady our freshman is super-skilled, but it's also a
different game. You're going to get beat on.”

Whatever lumps the young Spartans have taken at times this fall, they hope to continue to build up from. Comeback wins and solid second halves surely help. 

“I'm really feeling the motivation,” Esser said. “I want to improve, have our team grow and do better over the rest of the season.”

Starting lineups

St. Francis
GK: Carter Clark
D: Ryan Callender
D: Jonathan Yarusso
D: Luke Pounders
M: Nicholas Tisljar
M: Junior Diaz
M: Brady Hamann
M: Luke Argamasilla
M: Peter Williams
F: John Coco
F: Michael Hutchens

Montini
GK: Ryan Rucinski
D: Johnny Kosinsky
D: Robert Gutierrez
D: Austin Nelson
D: Brayden Curran
D: Owen Farris
M: Julian Beahan
M: Christian Aguilera
M: Colin Miner
M: Lukas Cepinskas
F: Aiden Alonzo

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Will Esser, jr., D, St. Francis

Scoring summary

First half
M: Julian Beahan (unassisted), 10’
SF: Peter Williams (Brady Hamman), 23’
M: Beahan (unassisted), 26’
SF: John Coco (PK), 32’
M: Christian Aguilera (unassisted), 37’

Second half
SF: Michael Hutchens (Junior Diaz), 51’
SF: Will Esser (Hamman), 65’