Andrean rolls past Wheeler

Updated: September 20, 2011 10:22PM

MERRILLVILLE — There’s plenty of soccer left to get there, but Monday night’s Wheeler-Andrean match could be a preview of a Class 1A regional game.

And if that’s the case, give Andrean the early edge as the 59ers notched an easy 4-1 win over the Bearcats.

Andrean (10-2) will be competing in the Bishop Noll Sectional, while Wheeler will be at Rensselaer. Judging by the performance of their sectional opponents to date, the Bearcats could be considered favorites. Andrean, on the other hand, will first have to deal with a tough Noll squad on the Warriors’ home turf.

“We might have to both forget that we’re Catholic that night and just draw the swords and go at it,” said Andrean coach Pete Reist of a potential sectional match with Bishop Noll.

Andrean opened the scoring in the 12th minute on a goal by Tom Cappas. The 59ers’ Mike Gore emerged with the ball from a scrum on the left side and centered a pass across the goal mouth.

Wheeler keeper David Wozniak hesitated on making a play at the ball, allowing Cappas to swoop in and finish it off.

Gore secured his second assist of the game in the 24th minute on a goal by Dean Ricciardi. Controlling the ball in the midfield, Gore lofted a ball over the Bearcats’ defense to a streaking Ricciardi.

The senior took the ball in mid-stride and blasted a shot past Wozniak from point-blank range.

“(Gore) had a nice game,” Reist said. “He was pretty active on the field and he did tonight what we ask him to do, which is to keep working harder.”

Wheeler (8-4) got rejuvenated with an unassisted goal from Gavin Voss in the match’s 42 minute.

The senior striker maneuvered a free kick around the wall and just past the reach of the diving Andrean keeper. The goal cut Andrean’s lead in half, but that was as close as the Bearcats could get.

“Andrean is very fast and they move the ball well,” said Wheeler coach Ben Elvira.

“We made some mistakes that we have to work on.”

Andrean got a late goal from Gore and then a goal from Max Passo less than a minute later to round out the scoring.

Wozniak finished with 11 saves on the evening while Mike Croux had five saves for Andrean.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.