Fenwick 1
OPRF     0

It was played as part of the Pepsi Showdown, a premiere high school soccer tournament in the Chicagoland area, but last week’s game against rivals Fenwick and Oak Park at Oak Park Stadium had more at stake than just a consolation round victory. The teams were also vying for the Village Cup, or more specifically, bragging rights.

After a battle of strong defenses, the Friars (5-3-1) were awarded the right to brag away as they edged their public school counter-part 1-0. The victory and Saturday’s 1-1 tie against Lyons Township should help Fenwick’s chances in obtaining a top four seeding at tonight’s sectional meeting. Both Oak Park and Lyons are in the Friars’ sectional.

“As you’re aware, Oak Park and Fenwick are separated by just two blocks so this isn’t just your average regular season game,” said Fenwick head coach Robert Watson. “Oak Park is no easy task, I don’t care who you are. We were able to hang in there.”

Fenwick goalkeeper Pat McMahon racked up 15 saves in the win, and notched his fourth shutout of the season.

“Oak Park came on at the end, just pressuring us in the last 10 to 15 minutes of action,” said Watson. “Pat was our player of the game.”

The senior captain suffered a rib injury during Saturday’s tie with Lyons that sidelined him for just over a minute, but long enough for the Lions to scoring the tying goal.

“It’s unfortunate but everyone played well to keep Lyons at bay,” said Watson. “We’re fine walking away from that game with a tie.”

Killian Frailey scored both goals for the Friars in the two games, with the one against OPRF (4-4-1) coming with an assist by Mark Finan, one of three juniors who have Division-I potential. Along with Finan, juniors Matt Parilli and Will Rigali have impressed Watson this season.

“Frailey should be First Team All State at the end of this year, but we arte also getting a tremendous contribution from Finan, Parilli, and Rigali, who started for us last year as a sophomore,” said Watson. “These three juniors are really helping bring the team together.”

The Friars were scheduled to take on St. Ignatius, another team in their sectional, last night for the Chicago Catholic League opener (after deadline). Fenwick hosts Mt. Carmel on Thursday and travels to Brother Rice on Tuesday. Both games will begin at 4:30 p.m.