Marmion’s state tourney bid comes to an end

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BARRINGTON – The Marmion boys soccer team’s thrilling postseason has come to an end.

The Cadets dropped their IHSA Class 2A Barrington SuperSectional match with Freeport on Tuesday evening, losing 2-1 in double overtime. The defeat ended both Marmion’s 15-game win streak and its hopes of advancing to the state semifinals.

Marmion handcuffed Freeport’s offense with stingy ball control, and had stellar performances from both Sam Duffield and Max Rosenfelder. However, the Cadets were unable to pull away from the Pretzels, who received an exceptional outing from goalkeeper Scott Kesler.

Deadlocked at 1-1 halfway through the second overtime, the Cadets narrowly missed a scoring opportunity from the side of the box. Freeport then immediately lobbed the ball deep downfield, which led to an odd-man rush for the Pretzels.

Marmion goalkeeper Brad White made an acrobatic save on a shot from the left side of the box but gave up a rebound, which was pounded into the back of the net to give Freeport (21-2-4) the victory with two minutes and 21 seconds remaining in the period.

Marmion coach Kevin O’Connor said the Pretzels should have been called for an offside.

“I’ll give credit to Freeport for the style they play, but this is a game where we did everything we wanted to do except a couple of times where we didn’t connect at the end,” O’Connor said. “They got some divine help, as far as I am concerned. I don’t think I’ve seen a guy so clearly offside in my life.”

The game was scoreless through most of the first half until Rosenfelder greeted a high pass from Duffield with a bicycle kick that easily beat Kesler. Freeport answered a few minutes later with a Nick Dace penalty kick that gently drifted past White.

“It’s very unfortunate to have the referee give that penalty,” Duffield said. “I thought we came out and played a good game. We dominated possession, but they had some good plays. Their game is their counter-attack and that’s what ended up hurting us.”

Duffield and Rosenfelder were their usual selves, creating plays in front of the net and controlling the ball in traffic with ease.

“We played well as a team. We set the pace of the game. We possessed the ball really well,” Rosenfelder said. “Overall, we just played really great.”

The loss closes the book on a season that saw the Cadets finish 21-6-1, the talented duo of Duffield and Rosenfelder and 15 straight victories.

The loss, however, will sting after being in position to win the game and earn a bid into the Class AA state tournament.

“We possessed. We transitioned. I don’t think they had five shots (on goal) the entire game, including overtime,” O’Connor said. “But that’s the nature of this game.”

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