Chris Pietrow and Colin Cleary help jump-start the offense and the "Cub," Hayden Parente, sends home his first varsity career goal with authority as the Wildcats improve to 3-1-1.

Ohio City - Saint Ignatius' tireless senior midfielder Chris Pietrow said the 2013 Soccer Wildcats have had games this young season when they started slow and then had a better second half.

After that tendency to start slow hurt the Wildcats in their one-goal loss to Toledo St. John's Jesuit and tie with Walsh Jesuit during last weekend's annual Jesuit Cup Tournament, Saint Ignatius found itself in a scoreless tie with Padua after the first 40 minutes of Wednesday night's match up with the Bruins on Wasmer Field.

"You're playing too fast, too frantic," said Wildcats highly successful head coach Mike McLaughlin '85 in his halftime message to the 'Cats. "The ball is moving too fast. You have to dictate the pace."

As Peitrow emphasized, "We listened to Coach."

Saint Ignatius, moving the ball with smart, on the money passes and finding the holes in Padua's defense, struck for two goals with the second half not six minutes old and wore down the game Bruins, 4-0.

The Wildcats (3-1-1), whose ultimate goal this season is a record sixth Division I state championship, employed an offensive strategy in the second half that was reminiscent of their previous five state-championship teams.

And in the middle of all of it was Pietrow.

First it was Pietrow with a smooth and crisp crossing pass to senior midfielder and Co-Captain Colin Cleary, who sent home the ice breaker off Pietrow's assist at the 38:58 mark of the second half.

Then Pietrow, who gave everyone else the credit for his major contributions, made it a 2-0 game with a sizzling shot from the left side with just over 34 minutes remaining in the game.

Creating the pace that Coach McLaughlin covets and keeping the Bruins' offense in check, Saint Ignatius pushed its lead to 3-0 off an authoritative PK by Pietrow at 23:41.

With Coach McLaughlin rotating his bench, the Wildcats' diminutive, but gifted sophomore midfielder Hayden Parente closed out the scoring by firing home a kick from a healthy distance. It was Hayden's first career goal on the varsity level and drew several hugs of congratulations from his teammates.

Saint Ignatius, whose next challenge is a trip to Hudson on Sept. 3, also benefited from another solid performance in goal from junior Mikal Outcalt.

"We're a young team, we're still figuring things out," said Pietrow. "But it was a good rebound from the weekend. It's all about starting off hard for us. We just need to stay disciplined and wake up in the first half."

Coach McLaughlin emphasized that Coach Roman Hubach's Padua Bruins are going to be "a real dangerous team" in the state tournament in Division II. Coach Hubach is a former Saint Ignatius assistant.

"They're going to make some noise," Coach McLaughlin said of the Bruins. "Their defense is really organized and they have a quick counter-attack offense. And they run it really well."

And how about the way the Wildcats applied the message they received at halftime?

"Soccer is different from football," Coach McLaughlin said. "In football you want to be hyped up and it is all about speed. Soccer is more of a controlled, patient game. You have to have composure and we had that composure in the second half. We picked up our head a bit, looked around and found open people."

One of the referees on Wasmer Field Wednesday night was Chris Penso, who Coach McLaughlin described as one of the top seven referees in America. Penso, who is from Dover, Ohio, has been qualified to referee on the World level and is also one of the top referees in the MISL.

SOME SOCCER TIBITS TO CHEW ON: Padua is the only team that has played Saint Ignatius in soccer every season during the 38 years of the Wildcats' program.

During last weekend's Ohio Jesuit Cup Tournament at Cincinnati St. Xavier, Toledo St. John's Jesuit became the first Ohio team since Walsh Jesuit in 2008 to defeat the Wildcats in the regular season. And we emphasize regular season. The Titans prevailed, 2-1.

AND LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST: Congratulations go out to coach Jim Brennan's junior varsity Wildcats, who improved to 5-0 on the season by defeating Padua's jayvees, 9-0, on Wasmer Field Wednesday night.

Providing the offense were Nick Malik (1 goal), Riley Houde ( 2 goals), Hayden Parente (1 goal), Richie Holzheimer (1 goal), Scott Rolko (1 goal and 3 assists), Zach Rohr (1 goal), John Duldner (1 goal) and Jack Michals (1 goal).