Cadets show off speed in opener

Marmion Academy's Alex Rindone (left) dribbles around an Aurora Central Catholic defender during Monday afternoon's soccer game.
CRAIG WATSON/Special to the Beacon News

August 26, 2008 By Paul Johnson Special to the Beacon News

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AURORA -- If the season opener for Marmion's soccer team is any indication, opponents better be prepared to run.

The Cadets showed off their considerable speed up top in a dominating, 7-0 Suburban Catholic Conference win over cross-town rival Aurora Central Catholic. All seven goals came in the first half, which saw ACC senior keeper Brian O'Donnell make 12 saves in addition to allowing seven goals.

"We have some serious speed," Marmion coach Kevin O'Connor said. "(Alex) Rindone set the school record in track in the 100 and 200 (meters), (Sam) Duffield is quick, (Ralph) Palmeri is quick. We have some quicks. I think we're pretty skilled. If we just play to feet and play to our strengths, we can play a little bit."

It was the speedy combo of Duffield and Rindone that set the tone for Marmion. Duffield started the scoring with 35 minutes, 36 seconds left in the first half. Rindone followed with a pair of goals, at the 22:59 and 19:26 marks, to open a 3-0 lead.

"We were just looking to come out and play well, so it was good to get off to a nice start to the season in the first half," Rindone said. "We know that a lot of teams can (be flat in the season opener), but we have a good coach that knows a lot about soccer and he basically told us that we can't do that."

Then the Cadets scored four times in the final 3:20 of the half to put the game away and force the second half to be cut from 40 to 20 minutes. Duffield, Beto Del Toro and Rindone scored and Rindone also fed Palmeri with a sweet cross to cap the scoring.

"Sam and I had a couple goals," Rindone said. "We showed that we were able to beat their defenders, so we were just trying to be a little bit more generous. I saw Ralph over the middle and I tapped it over to him for a volley. We're confident in all of our players, so I knew he would put it away."

The Chargers were only able to muster one shot on goal against Marmion goalkeeper Andrew Slade. O'Donnell stood tall against the relentless Marmion attack with 12 saves, but there was little he could do about many of the seven goals, which came on one-on-one plays.

"I give a lot of credit to our keeper," ACC coach Eric Cournaya said. "I think we have one of the best keepers in the area who saves us time and time again. If you look at the score, it's not very good. If you were actually here watching the game, you realize the goalie was pretty good. A lot of the goals weren't anything he could do about it. He comes up big for us."

Soccer: Marmion 7, Aurora Central 0