WILDCATS DISCOURAGE LAKEWOOD’S EARLY AGGRESSIVENESS WITH A LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE AND POSSESSION TIME. MATT FOLDESY TACKS ON HIS SECOND CONSECUTIVE TWO-BAGGER OFF PRESTON SPURRIER’S ASSISTS AND FOLDESY FINDS NATE FAHEY IN WHAT IS ANOTHER SHUTOUT FOR THE DEFENDING STATE CHAMPS.

****SEE ITEM ABOUT THE ST. EDWARD RIVALRY AND A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISH AFTER THE SOCCER STORY.

BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT OCTOBER 2011

Saint Ignatius’ varsity soccer team has shut out 23 of its last 41 opponents and has limited 13 of those 41 teams to one goal.


The result has been 40 victories in the past 41 games, with No. 40 coming Monday night in a 3-0 district-semifinal victory over Lakewood on Wasmer Field.


Under the direction of veteran Coach Mike McLaughlin ’85, the Wildcats (17-1), the defending Division I state champions, will face long-time rival St. Edward (13-3-2) in a district championship game on Thursday night at 7 on Wasmer Field. Saint Ignatius defeated the Eagles, 2-0, on Sept. 21 at Wasmer.


The Wildcats, who have captured four state titles and two national championships under Coach McLaughlin, will be seeking their fifth consecutive district crown.


“We came out and got on top of them,” said Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior defender and Co-Captain Zach Martin of Monday night’s triumph. “The defense was solid. We were winning challenges and connecting passes. We got on top, but then we kept on going. That’s the key. The last couple of games we laid off a bit, and that’s not a championship team.”


Lakewood, which lost for only the third time in 18 games this fall (the Rangers have six ties), came out with a spirited and aggressive approach that helped keep the game scoreless for the first 26 minutes.


Saint Ignatius, answering Lakewood’s spirits with a savvy defensive scheme that always seems to lead to time-consuming possessions, took a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute. Standout senior forward/midfielder and co-captain Matt Foldesy fired the ball into left corner of the Carroll Avenue goal off what was another picture-perfect and clever foot-work assist by versatile senior forward/midfielder Preston Spurrier.


After Martin came up with an outstanding defensive play, a flying effort against the Rangers’ speedy senior defender Thomas Salukombo, the Wildcats pushed their lead to 2-0 on a left-footer by Foldesy that resulted off a smooth touch pass from Spurrier. Foldesy now has a team-leading 17 goals on the season and 106 career points.


“To win at this level you have to play great defense,” Coach McLaughlin said. “And not just one man, but the whole team. And Zach Martin is the anchor. He is the guy who organizes everybody and he is one of the best defenders that we’ve ever had in this program.”


Lakewood made one last charge in the first 40 minutes, again courtesy of Salukombo. But in what was a perfect example of team defense, Saint Ignatius powered the ball out and away from its goal.


“Everyone put the work in until the game was over and that was nice,” said Martin, who has committed to the Indiana Hoosiers’ soccer program. “We come in strong and go into every tackle hard. It’s a very aggressive defense and we work on that in practice. And we communicate well. We have good chemistry right now.”


That chemistry played a big role in enabling the Wildcats to dominate the possession time, especially in the second half.


Saint Ignatius, again ranked among the nation’s best by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the ESPN RISE POWERADE 50, tallied the game’s final goal when Foldesy found the always hustling junior forward Nate Fahey with 22:51 remaining on the scoreboard clock. Foldesy, who has 15 assists this season, is bound for the national championship program at the University of Akron.


“Everything is different once you get into the playoffs,” said Coach McLaughlin. “You try to mimic that energy and intensity during the regular season, but as hard as you try, it’s just not the same. Now we’re fully in it. This is what it is all about.


“They were good, they were really good,” McLaughlin said of the Rangers. “They were an emotional team and they had some dangerous players. But I think once we locked down their better players, we took control of the game and got a lot of extra chances.”

EAGLES AND 'CATS, OH MY!

Never mind those traditional late October colors of orange and black. This Halloween weekend is going to be dominated by blue, white, green and gold.

The Saint Ignatius-St. Edward rivalry, which has been well-documented by yours truly and others over the years, begins its 2011 chapter with a freshman football game at St. Edward on Thursday night at 6, a major state-wide interest district championship soccer game on Thursday night at 7 on Wasmer Field and a much-anticipated junior varsity football game at St. Edward on Friday night at 6. The highlighted paragraph will be the 48th meeting of the 'Cats and the Eagles in varsity football on Saturday night at 7 in tradition-rich Lakewood Stadium or, as us old-timers loved to refer to it in the '80s and '90s - the "Madhouse on Madison."

Sorry, but we can't mix in a basketball game between Flannery's and O'Toole's men. You will have to wait until the blue-gray skies turn completely gray for that traditonal hardwood series.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ONE OF SAINT IGNATIUS' AND ST. THOMAS MORE'S FINEST!

Lewis Backus '12, the play-by-play voice of Saint Ignatius soccer and basketball, turns 18 today (Oct. 25). Lewis, who also competes in crew for the Wildcats, will enjoy his birthday and be back behind the microphone in the luxurious Wasmer Field press box on Thursday night for the Wildcats-Eagles soccer showdown. Again, Happy Birthday to a true man for others.