Marmion blows by Burlington Central

Updated: September 21, 2011 9:06PM

As two of the four senior captains, Mike Frasca and Mick Maley wanted to make certain Marmion would not have a déjà vu experience at the St. Charles East Varsity Soccer Invitational.

The duo combined for two quick second-half goals to put the Cadets (7-3-4) up by three in what became a 3-1 victory over Burlington Central in Wednesday’s second round of group play matches.

Flashback to the 2010 tourney, Marmion is riding a four-match win streak and takes a 2-0 halftime lead over Plainfield South only to finish with a 2-2 draw. Then comes a Burlington Central late rally that produces another 2-2 deadlock followed by a loss to tourney host St. Charles East. Marmion would end the invitational with another tie and absorb another loss before getting its season back on track.

Now flash forward to 2011, the Cadets enter the tourney with a four-match win streak only to have Plainfield South score in the last half minute for a 1-1 draw. It’s halftime and Marmion is once again ahead of Burlington Central by a single goal on Wednesday. That’s the point at which Frasca, Maley and the rest of the squad said “No, no, no to any further déjà vu.

“It was unfortunate enough that we gave up a goal in the last 30 seconds to tie Plainfield again, there was no way we were going to have another tie with Burlington,” Frasca insisted.

In the 22nd minute of the first half, Frasca’s six-yard header from left of center off a corner kick by Matt Switzer marked the seventh consecutive match in which the senior has scored a goal.

“That first goal was completely Switzer,” Frasca said in deferring credit. “Back during two-a-days, we spent four days working on nothing but set pieces. Every time we didn’t finish, we had to run, so now it’s just a matter of continuing to go hard to net knowing Switzer will deliver.”

Frasca’s 21st goal of the season accounted for the 1-0 halftime advantage. His vision accounted for some much-needed breathing room as he found Maley just two minutes into the second half to double the Rockets’ deficit. Four minutes later, the same combination clicked again. The two assists enabled Frasca to match Maley for the team lead in assists with eight while the second-half strikes now give Maley 13 goals.

“I thought we finally got 80 minutes of intensity,” Marmion coach Kevin O’Connor said. “From start to finish, mentally we were very sharp. All of our guys in back were solid with (Alex) Ruble doing a great job organizing things back there while Switzer was just terrific in midfield. I also thought this was the best game of the year played by Joe Romanos and Luke Elder up top. Their work is what led to the second goal.”

Marmion finished group play Thursday against the tourney host Saints with the winners of the black and orange divisions meeting for first place on Saturday while the runner-ups meet to decide third-place overall, the number three teams tangle to determine fifth, and the group’s cellar teams meet for seventh.

Despite being a case of too little, too late, falling behind finally energized the Rockets who were sluggish throughout the opening half. With 14 minutes still to be played, Burlington Central’s awakened attack finally paid off. Paolo Sespena was able to cross the ball to Matt O’Connor, whose shot for the far post was slightly deflected by Marmion goalie Brad White, but not enough to prevent the goal.

“I know Paolo’s fast and good at beating people so I got into position and once I saw the cross coming my way, I just made up my mind to score,” O’Connor said in regard to his second goal of the season. “It’s always good to get a goal, but it’s never good to lose. The bottom line is that our team needs to work on playing better throughout the match.”

After having battled host St. Charles East to a scoreless opening half on Monday, Burlington Central dropped a 4-0 contest for the very first loss of the season. Now standing 7-2-4, the Rockets hope to avoid having a three-game losing streak on Thursday when they battle Plainfield South.

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