Larkin's early goal enough vs. Ramblers

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It took Mike Gloss only 10 minutes to score his team’s only goal in the Pepsi Showdown’s championship game Sunday at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, and it was all Larkin needed as the Royals shut out Loyola 1-0.

Gloss scored at the 30:48 mark of the first half off an assist from Fernando Alvarez. It was his first goal of the season.

“I saw the ball and I chested it and took a shot,” Gloss said. “It wasn’t that good of a shot. The field was wet and the ball slipped. When we got that goal, I knew it was going to be a close game.”

Loyola coach Rob Etheridge was pleased, though, with the Ramblers’ defense and how they seemed to dominate in the second half.

“We stopped their game,” Etheridge said. “They got a freak goal, that’s what it was, but it was the goal that won the game.”

After Gloss’ goal, Loyola (10-3-1) fell on some hard luck when senior goalie Neal Manahan went down with a sore left hamstring and left the game.

Manahan collided with Larkin forward Raul Sandoval in the goal box with about five minutes to go in the first half. Junior Thomas Feifar took over and finished the game.

“It was hard to see our senior keeper go out, but we had confidence in Tommy and we didn’t change our game plan,” Loyola midfielder Dylan Remick said.

Larkin (13-1) had a stellar performance from goalie Raziel Somarriba, who recorded his seventh shutout and had six saves.

“We have great defense and I had a lot of confidence in my defenders because they have my back on every play,” Somarriba said. “[Loyola] has a lot of tall players and they’re good at corner kicks.”

Loyola’s defense keyed on Larkin’s Sandoval and double teamed him down the lines. But that freed up the Royals’ midfielders, who had more room up the middle to drive toward Loyola’s goal.

Larkin coach Ken Hall said his program tries to treat the Showdown like the state tournament, in terms of its format and the quality of teams they play. So winning the tournament means everything.

“Our school can get a bad reputation from the outside, so this shows a lot,” Hall said.