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Valiant Crete-Moneecan't handle RocketsJeff PonczakThere’s no truth to the rumor that from now on one regional in the state soccer tournament will be renamed The Rich East Invitational.But after Tuesday afternoon in Park Forest, there would be good reason for it. The Rockets (18-2) beat Crete-Monee, 4-2, for their fourth-straight regional crown.Rich East had beaten the Warriors twice before, both by lopsided margins, but Crete-Monee was up to the task this time, making the Rockets earn the four-peat.“This is the hardest regional championship win we’ve ever had,” said Rocket Coach Mark Zaban. “Ciete-Monee deserves a tremendous amount of credit. (Coach) Steve (Rockrohr) hadthem ready, and we took them too lightly.The Warriors actually drew first blood on a first-half goal by Ryan Franklin, but the Rockets got two goals from Chris Bartley and two from Rico Quintanilla to escape with the win.“I knew they would not blow us out,” said Rockrohr, a Rich East graduate and former Rockets player. “From the bottom of my heart, I thought we could beat them. We played the game we needed to play, but the problems 1 had all year continued today.” Franklin’s goal came as the Warriors had the benefit of the wind the first half. After the Rockets’ failed to clear, Franklin sent a high, arching shot toward the goal.Rich East goalie Frank Burnett had come all the way to the front of the crease, and by the time he reached the goal line, the ball was in the back of the net for a 1-0 lead with 25:30 gone.The Rockets had plenty of chances in the first 40 minutes, but uncharacteristically failed to finish on any of them. A strong defensive effort by Tom Kenyon, Craig Bova and Nick Natale made sure of that. However, Rich East finally broke the ice near halftime.Brian Thompson took a pass from Chris Cartwright and sent it downfield toward the Crete-Monee goal. Warrior goalie Jeremy Huisman came out for the ball, and defender Tom Kenyon ran with Rich East forwardRico Quintanilla.Quintanilla beat both Warriors to the ball, and put it in the back of the net with 2:00 left until intermission.On the play, Kenyon badly bruised his shin and left the field in an ambulance. He was sorely missed by Crete-Monee in the second half.“He’s been a two-year varsity player,” Rockrohr said. “We really missed him. The penalty kick happened right where he would have been.”It was a penalty kick by Bartley 16:30 in that gave the Rockets a 2-1 lead. However, less than a minute later, a great run by Franklin produced a shot that goalie Frank Burnett turned away. But Craig Bova was there to put in the rebound for a 2-2 tie.Midway through the half, though, Ken Mihalyov and Jason Shore assisted on a Bartley goal, and Quintanilla tailed with 9:00 left to ice the win.“We didn’t play our game in the first half,” Zaban said. “But our goal-scoring leadership took over in the second half.“But maybe this is exactly what we needed. This proves we can win this type of game. We beat a good team. This was a good win for us.”Staked to a lead for a second time, the Rich East defense stepped things up. With an ailing Nick Viramontes playing only sparingly in the second half, it was Ryan Anthony, Nick Jones, Jason Hlavacs and Burnett taking care of business.“Frank made a huge save when the score was still 3-2,” Rockrohr said. “The kids were still talking about it after the game. It really took the wind out of our sails.“But this was a good way for our seniors to go out. We played very well.”Besides winning the regional again, Zaban received additional good news earlier in the week when he was voted Section Coach of the Year by fellow coaches.In earning the well-deserved award, Zaban led the Rockets to an 16-2 regular-season record, the best record in Rich East soccer history. The Rockets also w-on the SICA South title, the first-ever soccer crown for the Park Forest school.Steelmen shoots down Rich South title hopesBy Sherman WhiteIn a game that everyone in attendance knew was going to go down to the wire, Joliet toppedRich South 2-1 in a sudden-deathshootout after double-overtime to advance to the final four of theRich South Sectional.“We were so evenly-matched,” stated a jubilant Joliet coach Jose Salinas, whose team will play top-seeded Lincoln-Way today. “We knew it was going to come down to something like this.”Earlier this year, these two teams squared off in the championship game of the Stardom Cup. Joliet won that game as well.There was splendid goalie play on both sides of the playing field as Rich South’s Rob Leverence, a freshman, and Joliet’s Joe Wendell, a gritty sophomore, repelled shot after shot. At the 16:52mark in the second half, Joliet’s Brad Marshall couldn’t have picked a better time to score his first goal of the season as he put the Steelmen up 1-0. Sophomore Dan Riley assisted on the play.This goal punctuated a flurry of wild, intense play as both teams played hard and played on.“We came out strong and kept the pressure on. . . we just couldn’t put the ball in,” Rich South’s coach Tony Marturano said.It appeared as though Marshall’s score was going to stand, but the Rich South players hadsomething else in mind.With 1:23 to play in the gameand perhaps Rich South’s season, sophomore midfielder Chris Reed kicked it in from the side and senior Brett Bash placed it just outside of the outstretched hands of Wendell for the tying goal.“Our seniors did a nice job in the second half (of providing leadership),” Marturano assessed.Regulation play ended with the teams tied at 1-1 In the first overtime, neither*Star photo by Mary ComptonMarian Catholic’s Levi Gathlng (front) and Illiana Christian’s Brian Busker battle for control Tuesday evening in Chicago Heights. The Spartans got a goal from Brian Franczak to earn a 1-0 win and their first regional championship since 1992. Marian advances to tonight’s semifinals of the Eisenhower Sectional against the host Cardinals.Team-oriented Vikings look for strong showingBy Kevin KellyWith a handful of previous state qualifiers on the starting blocks, Homewood-Flossmoor figures to be the favorite in the SICA East girls swimming meet this Saturday in Flossmoor.Even with some standout individuals, however, H-F coach Tim Caldwell knows there’s no “I” in team.team scored. Ditto the secondOT.The fans who battled the fierce north wind and the bone-chilling cold were being treated to a wonderfully played match as it entered “sudden-death”shootout.Manning the goal for the Stars in the sudden death period was senior Josh Holston.Holston fended off shots in every way imaginable until Joliet’s freshman midfielder Tom Mravle kicked one into the upper right-hand corner, just out of the reach of a diving Holston.Giving it all that they had, the teams traded goals the remainder of the first sudden-death period. Junior Dustin Paulsen scored to tie the score for Rich South, only to see his point matched on Joliet’s next attempt by Aaron Aguirre.The resilient Stars bounced right back with a score by Reed, a talented sophomore midfielder.After two halves of play, two 10-minute overtime periods, Joliet’s Alex Suchini ended the five-on-five shootout to force sudden-death.“The pressure on the kids was tough. . . lesser teams would have folded,” Marturano proudly assessed. “. . . they didn’t crack,” he continued.Each team scored another goal in the second sudden-death period, and it looked as though the faithful would be at Stardom Field all night.But Joliet freshman Jorge Arroyo was ready to hegin the long bus ride back home and took action to do something about it, scoring just beyond the grasp of the Rich South goalie for the deciding shootout goal.“Give Joliet credit . . . they played well,” Marturano said at the conclusion of his team’s 2-1 loss.Joliet wasn’t the only team on the field that played well. As Marturano so accurately put it himself, “our kids acquitted themselves well tonight.”v BJAAl Swimming“All 16 people we swim will have to hold up their end of the deal,” explained Caldwell, whose school will host Bloom, Thorn-wood, Shepard, Reavis and Richards Saturday for diving (8:30 a.m.) and swimming (11:30 a.m.).“We have some kids that have been our top people, but we can’t just count on them. You can’t rely on one or two people to do it all. Everybody’s gotta pitch in to be successful in the conference meet.”The Vikings have won every SICA conference meet sinceCaldwell’s arrival in 1989. Theconference title is just one stepping stone along H-F’s post-season goals, but it’s certainly not one the Vikings want to seek escape.“You don’t race the clock in this meet, you have to race the opponent,” Caldwell explained. “I think most of the coaches would say we’re the team to beat. But we haven’t seen a whole lot ofthese teams with the alignment, so things could happen.”Why is H-F considered the favorite? Here are seven good reasons.Amanda Chan, Gina Kim, Lauren Pocock, Carrie Byron, Jill Magsam, Danielle Bernier and Katie Wray.Caldwell won’t reveal all his relays and entry combinations until the seeding meeting, but H-F figures to have one of the deepest squads in the field.The Viking boss has also been impressed by the outstanding improvement of Kathy Newman and Renata Napoleon.In a competitive schedule, theVikings have posted a 5-3-1 dualmeet record.The schedule Caldwell is most concerned with, however, is the progression schedule.“It’s still too early to peak,” he explained. “For some, this is the time because they won’t all compete in the sectional. But for the most part, we want to save our best for sectionals and state.“We just want to start to become cohesive as a team this weekend. We need to get through this and have some fun.“We’d like to finish strong going into the sectional. Then we’ll look to qualify as many bodies for state as possible. 1 think we have a good chance for three relays and three or four other swimmers.“This is the start; then we’d like to go to state and do some damage.”Prep ScoreboardBoys soccerRICH SOUTH SECTIONAL Today's semifinalsLinco!n*Way vs. Joliet, 5 p.m.Rich East (18-2) vs. Bradley, 7 p.m.Saturday s championship Winners of today’s matches, 7 p.mTuesday's regional finals Lincoln-Way 6. Providence 0 Joliet 2, Rich South 1 (sudden-death shootout)Rich East 4, Crete-Monee 2 Bradley 3, Joliet Catholic 1First-round results Lincoln-Way 8. Coal City 0 Providence Catholic 6. Manteno 1 Rich South 4. Minooka 0 Joliet 9, Rich Central 1 Rich East 11, Peotone 0 Crete-Monee 3, Kankakee McNamara 1 Bradley 7, Beecher 0 Joliet Catholic beat HerscherEISENHOWER SECTIONAL Today's semifinals Brother Rice vs. Oak Forest, 5 p.m.Eisenhower vs. Marian Catholic (14-6-3), 7 p.m.Saturday's championship Winners of today’s matches, 2 p.m.Tuesday's regional finals Brother Rice 1, Marist 0 (ot)Oak Forest 2, Homewood-Flossmoor 1 (shootout) Eisenhower 2, St. Laurence 0 Marian Catholic 1, Illiana Christian 0First-round results Marist 1, Bloom 0Homewood-Flossmoor 1, Reavis 0 Marian Catholic 7, St. Rita 0 Illiana Christian 2, Richards 1 (ot)SwimmingFirst-half Franczak tally all Spartans need vs. ICBy |eff PonczakBrianfollowTuesday 's resuits H-F 107, Bloom 57200 medley relay— 1. Bloom (Shannon Get-temans, Marissa Wilson, Sara Cowger, Megan Klootwyk) 2:06.93, 2. H-F 2:07.79. 3. H-F 2:12.06 200 freestyle— 1. Sarah Colonnelli (B) 2:16.97, 2. Sam Niesen (HF) 2 34.54, 3. Jaclyn Kerstin (HF) 2:45.26200 IM- 1. Jill Magsam (HF) 2 38.49, 2. Get-temans (B) 2:43.91, 3. Wilson (B) 2:45.1150 freestyle- 1. Jean Kim (HF) 28.32, 2. Klootwyk (B) 28 92, 3. Dana Injerd (HF) 28.93100 butterfly— 1. Amanda Chan (HF) 1:04.03, 2. Cowger (B) 1:12 03, 2. Julie Kluck (B) 1:40.77100 freestyle— 1. Renata Napoleon (HF) 1:01.99, 2. Klootwyk (B) 1:04 17, 3. Jamie Eisenstein (HF) 1:05,50500 freestyle— 1. Magsam (HF) 5:53.53, 2. Cathy Newman (HF) 5:55.70, 3 Colonnelli (B) 6:09.31 200 freestyle relay— 1. H-F (Raquel Pedric, Chan, Kim, Carrie Byron) 1:55.02, 2. H-F 1:58.27, 3. Bloom 1:59.17100 backstroke— 1. Byron (HF) 1:08.93, 2. Katy Pokorny (HF) 1:11.68, 3. Gettemans (B) 1:13.33 100 breathstroke— 1. Gina Kim (HF) 1:13.22, 2. Wilson (B) 1:17.82, 3. Eisenstein (HF) 1:25.94400 freestyle relay— 1. H-F (Niesen, Chan, Byron, Pedric) 4:17.23, 2. H-F 4:27.99. 3. Bloom 4:29.34 H-F finishes 6-3-1.$ 59“' Fall Furnace Tune-Up IOur Quality Tune-Up Includes:• FREE universal thermocouple - it needed• Check burners, pilot, controls, blower (or boiler pump) and heat exchangers• Check air filter• Adjust controls for peak performance, energy efficiency and safetyMlt;nterCard•t. f 1.1 Cr*il itiBe Beady for WinterSchedule your $59 Fell Tune-Up with a Carrier Leadership Dealer now...a a •• Avoid Emergency Service• Extend Furnace Life• Applicable to Maintenance Agreement or ServiceReplacement pats 8i repar labor not Included Offer-m lieu of all other offers.Limited one per family Expires 11/30795.CHICAGOMATTES0NWantuck Htg A/C Sun Ray Heating(708)788-8890 (708)481-9150Marian Catholic’s Franczak knows how to up.And as a result, the Spartans are following a path they haven’t been on since 1992— a soccer regional championship.Friday night in Chicago Heights against Illiana Christian, Franczak’s rebound goal off a Levi Gathing miss proved to be the lone tally in a 1-0 victory forMarian (14-6-3) over the Vikings (13-6-3) in a regional championship of the EisenhowerSectional.The Spartans play Eisenhower tonight in Blue Island.Gathing’s shot hit the top of the crossbar. But Franczak corailed it and stuffed it in the back of the net with 6:11 to play until half-time.“Levi took a shot from about the 18 (yard-line), and I’ve always been told to follow up on a shot,” said Franczak, who as a junior is in his third year on the varsity. “I was just there at the right time.”The Spartans parlayed Franczak’s goal with tight defense and goalie Justin Guler’s second-straight, post-season shutout in winning only the second regional championship in school history.“It was the entire defense,” Marian Coach Dan Radz said. “I’m not going to single out any one player.“I think the kids had it in the back of their minds that they were going to win the regionalchampionship.”The Vikings were also the benefactor of a superb defensive effort, as goalie Conan Wiersema got plenty of help from Mike Bultema, Steve Johnson, Brian Busker, Allen Stienstra and John Terpstra. However, IC once again fell victim to being a Class A school in a one-class system.“That’s soccer,” Vikings Coach Roger King said. “The kids left their hearts on the field and played their guts out for 80 minutes. There’s no shame in losing to a team like Marian.“I told the kids they won’t find too many Class A schools in the regional finals when they look at the scores tomorrow.”The Vikings’ best chances came early in the game, as fullback Jeff Pintar stopped a Doug Vander Molen shot from going into a wide-open net just 2:30 into the contest, and the Spartan defense made another non-goalie save later in the period.But staked to a one-goal lead in the second half, the Marian defense allowed very few chances by Illiana. The best of theVikings’ few opportunites came late in the contest on a direct kick from John Terpstra and a throw-in from Carl Gabrielse. But Guler turned away both chances.“We wanted to play them man-to-man in the midfield and try to shoot it up the wing,” King said. “But their defense did a good job on our wings, and we couldn’t cash in when we had the chances.”Bizzare overtime loss ends season for VikingsBy Dan RusnakThere were a lot of “what ifs” after Oak Forest defeated Homewood-Flossmoor, 2-1, in a shootout Tuesday evening at H-F in the regional finals of Eisenhower Sectional competition.What if the game that was scheduled to be played on the Vikings’ lighted football field at 6 p.m. was not moved last-minute to the Vikings’ soccer field and started at 4 p.m.? The game was moved because of the football field being unplayable because of excessive damage during the H-F football games.What if the game was started earlier? The game should have started at the normal 3 p.m. reserved for most day soccer games, instead of the game starting later in the evening.What if the officials did not stop the game because of darkness? Officials suspended play with six minutes left in the second overtime.What if Homewood-Flossmoor Coach Dennis Fink did not mention that the football field may be playable? In the end, the Bengals earned their first regional crown in a shoot-out on the original field of play under the lights!After a discussion with both teams, it was decided to look at the football field, finish the game on that field if it was playable or go into a shootout on the lighted field. The officials decided the field was unplayable.Fink was not in favor of a shootout. However, Oak Forest Coach Craig Beatty was in favorof a shootout, which left the decision in the hands of the officials who ruled to finish the contest with a shootout.“We would have liked to have played the last six minutes,” said Fink, whose team dominated the entire game and the overtime. “(The officials) decided the field was unplayable.“We won everything except the game. We dominated the game and played well.”After Oak Forest had scored on its first two attempts in the shootout and H-F had scored on one, the Vikings missed the goal, hit the top post and shot over the goal on their last three attempts, handing the victory to the Bengals, who had registered three goals in its first three attempts.Oak Forest’s Dave Patterson was able to take advantage of an early first-half mistake by the Vikings, scoring the first goal of the game on a free kick, but H-F controlled play the rest of the way.The Vikings finally were able to take advantage of their dominance with two minutes remaining in the contest. Adrian Ban-tied the contest off a Jason Starr cross pass, which forced sudden-death overtime.“We made one mistake early and they scored on a nice free kick and we dominated the rest of the way,” Fink said. “We couldn’t put the ball away and that has been the story of our season. A shootout is a toss-up and they got the breaks and we didn’t.”We service all brands We recommendIntroducing the Best Way To Sell Anything From FidoTo a FordWe were not sure you knew that your community newspaper sells more newspapers in the 52 south and southwest suburbs than anyone else. But we are so sure that your next ad in The Star Classifieds will bring results, that we’re willing to put our moneywhere our mouth isSo call in and ask tor The Sure Thing.3 LINES-4 TIMES-*19“If, after the fourth ad you don't sell the item, call us and we'll run it 2 more times forThe Star CLASSIFIED755-3993Available to private parties only Item price must appear in ad Not available for real estate ads
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Chicago Heights Star
Chicago Heights, Illinois, US
Thu, Oct 26, 1995
Page 51
Full Page
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