When St. Viator’s Jack Horvath and his teammates watched the Chicago Fire play at Toyota Park on Sept. 25, they wondered why the Illinois High School Association state finals aren’t held at the state-of-the-art soccer stadium.
“We talked about that the entire game, because that’s where the IHSA finals should be,” Horvath said. “The field, the locker rooms and just everything would be perfect.”
Horvath and Co. will experience playing at Toyota Park on Wednesday night when the Lions take on Metea Valley in a Pepsi Showdown showcase match.
The teams earned the opportunity after winning a contest during the Pepsi Showdown last month.
“The kids are just ecstatic about the chance to play there,” said St. Viator coach Mike Taylor, whose team entered the week 12-4-2 and is unbeaten in its last seven matches. “The entire program and fan buses are coming to the game.
“It’s going to be a competitive game, but I’m going to play every player so everyone will have the chance to play on that field. My assistant coaches are actually just as excited as the kids. They can’t wait to get out there during pregame and knock the ball around a little.”
Did you know? The IHSA allows four overtimes to break a tie in its postseason tournament, but no more than two overtimes are allowed during the regular season.
Soccer is the only high school sport in Illinois with different overtime rules for the regular season and postseason.
Conference title in sight: Marist improved to 4-0 in East Suburban Catholic Conference play after rallying from an early 2-0 deficit in a 3-2 win over Benet last week.
“We have four conference games left, including St. Viator and Carmel the last week of the season,” Marist coach Sean Maxwell said. “These two teams have been the toughest in the conference for the last several years.”
Marist has been led by Jim Blisk, Kevin Szubrych, Dillon Olson and Kyle Woodworth.
“Dillon has 14 goals and 11 assists, while Jim, Kevin and Kyle have anchored our defense during this stretch,” Maxwell said.
Double take: No folks, that’s not a misprint. Wheaton Warrenville South is 6-8-2 and winless in DuPage Valley play. For a program that has been consistent year in and year out, it shows everyone has a down year.
Dangerous duo: If Fremd hopes to be playing in November, the 1-2 punch of Lorenzo Savino and Spencer Filosa will need to lead the way.
“Our game runs through Filosa and Savino,” said Fremd coach Steve Keller, whose team is unbeaten in 14 of its 16 games. “Filosa also plays a key role in our team defensively with his hustle, grit and intelligence.”
Goalie Scott Sutarik has six shutouts and just 11 goals against. Keller also praised the work of Brian Hindle and Jake Nedza in the midfield.
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“Defenders Al Bochat, Alex Prelipceanu and Eric Leonard have been solid, aggressive and given up very few scoring chances,” Keller added.
E-mail Joe Trost at [email protected]