UP NEXT FOR THE WILDCATS IS A DISTRICT-SEMIFINAL MATCH UP WITH A VERY CAPABLE LAKEWOOD TEAM ON MONDAY NIGHT AT WASMER FIELD.


BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT OCTOBER 2011


With just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half of Thursday night’s sectional final game against Midpark, Saint Ignatius’ gifted junior midfielder Tyler Sanda returned to the lineup.


Sanda, overcoming a knee injury that sidelined him for two weeks and three games, made an appearance that was brief, but oh, so effective.


“We scored four goals while he was on the field,” said Wildcats’ head soccer coach Mike McLaughlin ’85 after his team overpowered the Meteors, 8-0, in a cold and swirling rain that swept across Wasmer Field. The score could have been even more lopsided had it not been for some outstanding goal keeping by Midpark junior Chris Telep and his double-digit saves.


Saint Ignatius (16-1), the defending Division I state champion, took a 2-0 lead on a goal by senior midfielder/forward Preston Spurrier with the game not 11 minutes old, and an authoritative shot into the back of the net by senior forward Noah Toumert with 23:04 remaining in the first 40 minutes.


Spurrier, who assisted on Toumert’s goal, now has eight goals on the season and Toumert has solved the defense 14 times.


Sanda, a player who has the uncanny ability to make everyone around him more effective, was part of a barrage that settled the issue by halftime.


“I feel good, just back to playing again and getting some touches on the ball,” said Sanda, who assisted on the second of two first-half goals by Wildcats standout senior midfielder/forward Matt Foldesy. “It’s good to be back.”


Foldesy, who has committed to the national championship program at the University of Akron, scored off a big-time spin move and then, taking one of Sanda’s familiar assists, made the score 4-0 with six minutes left in the first half. Foldesy now has a team-leading 15 goals on the season, 14 assists and 101 career points.


The Wildcats, winners of 39 of their past 40 games, pushed their lead to 6-0 by halftime, as versatile junior midfielder Nate Fahey tallied his seventh goal of 2011 off a pass from Foldesy and senior midfielder Nick Shreve beat the defense after taking the ball across from the left corner.


Saint Ignatius, with Coach McLaughlin clearing his bench, scored twice in the second half on a powerful left-footed drive by senior defender Connor Drake off a penalty kick and a nice rebound effort in front of the box by junior defender Jacob Roth.


“It took us awhile to get started, to get some energy going, probably because we were expected to win,” said Sanda.


Sanda emphasized that he knows a couple of the players from Lakewood (9-2-6), Saint Ignatius’ opponent in Monday’s district semifinal game on Wasmer Field. “They’ll be tough,” he said.


Foldesy concurs with his teammate.


“It will probably be our toughest second-round game in some time,” said the co-captain. “We’re the defending state champions, but that doesn’t mean we can’t lose. So we just look at Lakewood. We don’t look past them.”


As for the rain that has soaked the Cleveland area this year, Coach McLaughlin almost welcomed it.


“These are playoff conditions that we have to get used to playing in,” said the man who has guided the Wildcats to four state championships and two national titles.