BARTLETT -- St. Francis coach Kevin Ward wanted to strike the perfect balance between complimenting the Class 2A Spartans' latest achievement and guarding against overconfidence.
"The season and our level of play is like a huge mountain. I caught a glimpse of a snow-tipped peak, but I'm a long way from planting a flag," Ward said.
St. Francis – ranked No. 24 in the latest Chicagoland Soccer poll – upset Bartlett 1-0 and made the no. 17 Hawks the fifth Class 3A program unable to defeat the Spartans.
It's a style of play predicated on ball possession, focus and composure regardless of the opponent. It's what enabled the Spartans to take first place in Lake Park's Hillner Classic. That's where St. Francis (3-1-2) defeated Wheaton North (1-0) and York (2-1), with 0-0 deadlocks against Lake Park and Conant.
The final score Saturday was not an indication that Bartlett failed to play well. Instead it spotlighted the Hawks' struggles with consistency, which contributed to the third 1-0 loss in the last four games for Bartlett (4-4).
In a back-and-forth game, which seemed to escalate in intensity, a particular series of events became magnified.
First-year Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo and his players were convinced they should have received a penalty kick opportunity. However, the continuation of play produced a breakaway opportunity for St. Francis. Zach Crescenzo raced toward a 1-v.-1 with Hawk goalie Jake Hasenstein. The collision resulted in Hasenstein being issued a yellow card and a penalty kick being awarded to the Spartans.
With Hasenstein forced to the sideline, teammate Igor Zwada donned the keeper jersey and gloves. But he was unable to deny the first goal of the season of David Gianos, whose pivotal success earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match accolade.
"The key to PKs is to commit to your shot and not overthink it," Gianos said.
The 1-0 margin came with 10:33 left in regulation, which meant the remainder of the game featured a variety of defensive clearances by St. Francis in response to every Bartlett attack.
Depending on the offensive or defensive view, both sides had their share of miscues throughout the opening half.
Zwada had a shot from distance snared by Spartan goalie Jonathan Burke before the headers from the Hawks' Zwada and T.J. Ivkovich sailed wide right and left, respectively.
goal. Hasenstein made a solid save on a Nicholas Roehl right-side laser prior to halftime.
Bartlett's Oliver Saile opened the second half with a cannon volley that went wide right. After dual yellow cards, Gianos put a free kick from distance on target, but Hasenstein made the sure-handed catch. At the opposite end, Burke did the same on a Vince Leone left-footed rocket.
Then came the end-to-end sequence that left the Hawks displeased. St. Francis almost got an insurance goal due to Bartlett's lack of attention when Roehl had a drive carom off the right post with 9:19 still to be played.
Burke went high in the air with 4:21 left to grab a long bomb from Leone. The clean sheet was the fourth of the year for Burke and St. Francis.
"Maybe the soccer gods smiled on us, but I also believe our ball possession, focus and composure put us in a position to win," Ward said. "Our defensive shape today was also very good, as was our ball possession. And we were stellar down the middle. It's those little things that add up big in a close game.
As a veteran of the program, Gianos insisted much of the credit belonged at the top.
"It's all about being one as a team, believing and not wanting to back down from anyone. Coach has turned our attitude around," Gianos said of the Spartans yielding just the lone goal to the quartet of 3A foes in the Lake Park tourney.
Next up for St. Francis is a long-awaited home debut Tuesday when Montini visits Kuhn Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. contest. That'll be the first of eight home dates over the course of the last 11 games of a regular season designed to prepare the Spartans for a lengthy 2A postseason run.
For Bartlett, the focus shifts back to the opportunity to build upon a 1-0-0 record within the Upstate Eight Conference's Valley Division with a Tuesday visit to Glenbard East.
Understandably disappointed to see his team's recent struggles, Zwada skipped analogies for some honest but blunt assessment.
"We need to get on the same page with the same work ethic," he said. "Everyone is either trying to do too little or too much. We have to get in sync and finish our chances.
"Everyone underestimates us based on the past. For my three previous years, I think people looked down on us, marked a 'W' on their schedule. Earlier this year we were (playing) smarter, making people pay for not respecting us.