Boys soccer: Oliver Longosz scores 2 goals to help St. Charles North defeat Marmion 3-0

ST. CHARLES – After a loss to West Chicago on Sept. 4, St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said a lot of his players were eager to get the ball rolling offensively.

Forward Oliver Longosz apparently overheard his coach’s statement and decided to act on it.

In the North Stars’ final game in the St. Charles Invitational, the sophomore scored twice in the first half to lead St. Charles North to a 3-0 victory at home over Marmion on Sept. 7.

“It was great to get those two goals,” Longosz said. “The team played really well and we were getting balls into scoring position.”

Longosz scored his first goal with 17:39 remaining in the first half. After getting a pass from Isaac Piper in the box, Longosz sent the ball toward the center of the goal and underneath the goalkeeper.

Eleven minutes later, Longosz found a similar result after Piper’s shot went off the goalkeeper. Longosz stuck a shin out to deflect the ball into the net.

“It was just about being in the right place at the right time,” Longosz said.

Piper added an insurance goal with 7:42 left in the game after sending a pass from Henry Dodd into the far-right corner to make it 3-0.

Marmion had scoring opportunities, but couldn’t find the right touch. Cadets coach Gerardo Alvarez said while the second half showed a lot of promise with younger players getting minutes, it was just too little, too late.

“Our defense and our organization has been hitting [in] spurts, but when we were trying to build out of the pack, we just made too many critical mistakes that ended in goals,” Alvarez said. “We play ourselves out of games that way and it’s something we need to improve.”

The North Stars got a clean sheet from sophomore Kale Syzdek, who was making his first start in goal for the varsity team. He finished the game with two diving saves on shots from Marmion’s Giovanni Magana.

The sophomore, who found out he would be starting in goal the day before the match, said he had been ready both physically and mentally.

“It was a great confidence booster. The first save is definitely the most important one because it gets your confidence up,” Syzdek said. “But all the credit to my defense. They put them off and fought off the pressure. They put them into a bad angle and it made the saves easier for me.”

Both teams ended the tournament with 2-2 records.

Alvarez said while the Cadets still have room to grow as a team, the early season tournament showed where they stand.

“In a tough tournament like this, I think we did OK overall,” Alvarez said. “We got some results and I think we proved to ourselves that we can play with anybody, including some of the better teams in the state.”