KNOWING WHAT IS AT STAKE.
WILDCATS RIDE MATT FOLDESY'S EARLY CHARGE AND PLAY ANOTHER STRONG SECOND HALF IN PUTTING THE PHYSICAL POLAR BEARS ON ICE.
GREG KURTZ AND YIANNI SARRIS ALSO TALLY GOALS, AS THE 'CATS ADVANCE TO THE FINAL FOUR FOR THE EIGHTH TIME OVERALL AND THE SIXTH TIME SINCE 2000.
POSTED ON 11/06/10 AT 8:42 P.M.
By Eddie Dwyer
Copyright, November 2010
There was no need for any late heroics. Not this time.
The Saint Ignatius Wildcats, as veteran coach Mike McLaughlin '85 emphasized, played like a team knowing what is at stake and wore down the fiery and physical Polar Bears from Massillon Jackson, 4-0, late Saturday afternoon in a Division I regional championship game at Rocky River High School.
Ranked No.1 in the national and state polls, the Wildcats improved to 21-0-0 and advanced to Tuesday's state-semifinal match up with Toledo St. John's Jesuit (21-1-0). Game time will be 7 p.m. at a site to be determined. Saint Ignatius, which is seeking its fourth state championship since 2004, handed the Titans of St. John's their only setback this fall, 2-0, in the Jesuit Tournament in late August.
“We let them jump on us the last game, and we knew that couldn't happen today,” said Wildcats standout junior Matt Foldesy of the Sept. 25 regular-season encounter with Jackson in Massillon. It was a game that saw the Polar Bears leading at halftime before senior defender Greg Kurtz and Foldesy scored during the final eight minutes for a 2-1 victory.
“We had to come out flying," Foldesy continued. "We got the PK (penalty kick) in the box, finished it, kept on fighting, which we needed to do, and never let up, which was great.”
As the son of a Hall of Fame wrestler – St. Edward High School and Cleveland State University great Dan Foldesy – Foldesy has plenty of fight, and an abundance of skill to match it.
In fact, if Jackson never sees the talented forward again, it might be too soon.
Foldesy, who scored the game-winner in Massillon with 14 seconds left back in September, accounted for the only goal in the first half on Saturday, a 10-yard rocket past the goalie on a penalty kick at the 6:51 mark. The PK was awarded after a Jackson player dragged 'Cats senior co-captain Ryan Ivancic to the ground.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Foldesy struck again.
In a display of footwork, creativity and power, Foldesy fired home his team-leading 19th goal of the season from the right side and you could sense that the nation's No.1 program was about to take control.
“Once we start knocking the ball around, it's hard to play with us, it's fun,” Foldesy said.
Fun for the Wildcats and their faithful, but not for the Polar Bears, whose frustration in the second half led to those dreaded yellow cards.
Jackson, which is now 0-6 in all-time match ups with Saint Ignatius, couldn't mount an offensive attack. While Polar Bears senior goalie R.J. Ihrig did come up with some nice saves, he couldn't react to an authoritative turn-around blast into the net by Kurtz at 11:18 nor a perfect placement off a PK by senior co-captain and Florida Gulf Coast University recruit Yianni Sarris. It was Yianni's 16th net-finder of 2010.
'Cats' junior goal keeper Brendan Cash racked up his 12th shutout this fall and Saint Ignatius' defense did a rock-sold job marking Jackson's gifted senior Danny Baraldi. The Polar Bears wrapped up their season at 13-3-5.
“Coming into it today, we knew we had to start strong,” Coach McLaughlin said. “They have skill, they can play, but the characteristics that epitomize Massillon Jackson soccer are strength and energy. They run at people. From the get-go, we had to be ready for that.
“We were hungry tonight, and we're going to be hungry on Tuesday.”