Bremen keeper turns back JCA

JCA's Mitch Cunnea (6) backs up Eric Brosell (4) as he heads the ball away from Bremen's Alejandro Garcia during the Hilltoppers' 2-0 sectional setback.
JOHN PATSCH/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

October 29, 2008 BY RANDY WHALEN Special to The Herald News

Font Size

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

Unlike the temperature, the Joliet Catholic Academy offense turned up the heat in the second half of its boys soccer sectional semifinal.

But in the end, it still wasn't enough as the Hilltoppers couldn't connect for a goal and fell to Bremen by the score of 2-0 in the semifinals of the Class 2A Lemont Sectional Tuesday night.

Top-seeded Bremen (18-3-2) will play Lemont, a 1-0 winner over Illiana Christian, at 11 a.m. on Saturday for the title. JCA, which was the No. 4 seed and was making its first appearance in a sectional semifinal round, finished the season at 10-9-3.

"At halftime we made some adjustments and moved some people around," JCA senior Vinnie Hughes said. "We really had an outstanding second half; the subs, everyone did. That goalie just had a great game. Otherwise we could have had a couple of goals, it's 2-2 and we're still playing."

"That goalie" was Bremen senior Mick Goulding, who came up big for the Braves when it counted in registering his second straight shutout -- following a 3-0 victory over Morris in the regional title game.

After hardly being tested in the first half -- during which the Braves jumped out to a 2-0 lead -- Goulding was forced to be alert just over 5 minutes into the second half. That's when the Hilltoppers started hammering some shots at him.

First, JCA senior Antonio Alvarez fired in a long shot that momentarily deflected off Goulding's gloved hands. But he was able to pick the ball up almost immediately and not give up another chance.

Just under 2 minutes later, the Hilltoppers were at it again as Ben McGillicuddy hit a shot from in front that was turned away. Then, senior David Greenway was there for a rebound touch, but his shot was saved by a diving Goulding.

"We came out fired up in the second half and left it on the field," Greenway said. "We had the wind at our backs in the second half, too. We weren't cold. If you were moving, it was pretty warm."

With about 26:30 left to play, JCA junior Brent Smith had an attempt that Goulding came out to save. Two minutes later, Alvarez went down with a leg injury as Bremen was whistled for a yellow card. But on the restart, the Hilltoppers couldn't get off an attempt.

Alvarez returned to action with 18:18 to play, but Bremen nearly extended its advantage when junior midfielder Jose Ortega had a shot go off the crossbar. JCA countered with another excellent chance off the foot of Greenway. However, Goulding was once again there, going down to his knees to catch the 20-yard laser shot.

Two final Hilltopper chances failed to connect. First, junior Joseph Whalen sent in a ball to Alvarez, who had his shot saved. Then, Smith had an attempt that was deflected out with 4:20 remaining.

"We were a little too pumped up in the first half," JCA coach Chuck Bernard said. "We made little adjustments, but really in the second half we played more relaxed. We went out and played soccer instead of just kicking the ball.

"Kudos to their keeper and also to their defense. They didn't give us space and wouldn't let us get anything off clean."

Bremen got on the board with 29:19 left in the first half. Senior midfielder Ruben Ortega blasted a ball into the top shelf after taking an assist from senior forward Josh Techeira. That same combination connected again later in the half, except it was the other way around.

Ortega was able to get a pass to Techeira and the all-stater took the ball down the left side and was able to cross it past JCA junior goalkeeper Mike Williams and into the right corner of the net for his 33rd goal of the season with 8:07 to play in the opening half.

The Hilltoppers were as cold as the weather as they only had one actual shot on goal in the first 40 minutes. That came from junior Jeremy Jamnik, but was caught on the fly by Goulding about 9:20 into the contest.

Hughes had a couple of crosses in the first half that failed to find the mark.

Still, with only six seniors on the team, including Eric Brosell, Casey Roth and Tommy Wooten, the Hilltoppers feel the regional winning season was a success.

"Yeah, it was our first sectional appearance," Greenway said. "So, I'm proud of what we did."

"Really, the second half was one of the strongest we played," Brosell said. "We just couldn't get in a shot, but it's our first time winning a regional."

"The juniors coming up are going to continue this," Hughes said. "It's just the start."

While Bernard is also looking forward to next year, he appreciated what this year's squad did in getting to this point.

"We had five teams from our (East Suburban Catholic) conference win regionals in Class 2A or 3A," Bernard said. "Tonight, there were times when we had two seniors and a sophomore out there.

"This group matured a lot this year. I'm proud of them. They grew up and it's been fun to watch it happen."