High school boys soccer: St. Francis' strong season ends in supersectional

PEORIA – The team strength all season for St. Francis boys soccer was defense.

That didn’t change against state powerhouse Peoria Notre Dame.

The Spartans kept the Irish’s prolific offense in check before falling 1-0 in a penalty kick shootout in a Class 2A supersectional game Nov. 3 at Notre Dame.

“All things considered, with what we were up against, it was a good night,” St. Francis head coach Kevin Ward said.

Notre Dame had scored 104 goals and had been shut out just once this season entering the game.

St. Francis (16-2-4) held the Irish scoreless through 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime before losing the penalty kick shootout 4-2.

It was the 16th time the Spartans held an opponent scoreless this season and was the first loss since Sept. 10 in a regular season game against Mt. Carmel.

“The big thing for us, especially toward the end of the year, was our defense,” Ward said. “And it wasn’t just our back line or our keeper, it was everybody working together as a unit, the entire team.”

Goal keeper Jonathan Burke was his typical solid self as he kept the Irish off the scoreboard while defenders like Nick Gulli, Tim Pisarski and Ethan Grosam played their part.

“He had a heck of a night,” Ward said of Burke. “He was tremendous, maybe one of the best games he’s ever played.”

Nick Roehl, Keenan Corrigan, Jacob Power and Gulli were the four penalty shooters for St. Francis.

Several seniors, including Burke, Corrigan, Pisarski, Roehl and Matt Martin Patrick will be missed next season, but the Spartans are in good shape to build on the success of this season.

“In many ways this was a historic season for the school with 16 shutouts, and we have good talent working its way up,” Ward said.

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Senior roll call

Patrick Bagnuolo, Alex Bonner, Jonathan Burke, Keenan Corrigan, David Gianos, Matt Martin, Alejandro Monzon, Tim Pisarski, Nick Roehl, Chris Thoms