Brice Wyderski was already one of Marist’s top offensive weapons, but the senior forward wanted to add another dimension to his game this season.
“We’ve played against teams over the years that were really dangerous on long throws,” Wyderski said. “I tried to really work on that in the offseason. I figured if I could get that done, it’d make us more dangerous. It’s been effective.”
Wyderski’s throw-ins wreaked havoc on the Notre Dame defense throughout Monday’s game and led to an own goal by the Dons.
He also used his feet to score two goals the conventional way as the host RedHawks rolled to a 3-1 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory.
“Brice probably played his best game of the season,” Marist coach Sean Maxwell said. “The throws work really well here because it’s a bit more narrow of a field. He did a lot of things all over the field, too.”
The Dons (3-3, 1-2) grabbed a 1-0 lead when Nick Feeney scored on a free kick in the fourth minute, but Marist (9-5, 3-0) answered two minutes later.
Wyderski finished after a nice combination play from the RedHawks as David Regan passed ahead to David Rafacz, who found John Ciszewski on the outside, where he crossed it to Wyderski.
“It was a really nice ball from John,” Wyderski said. “It was huge for us to get that goal back so quick after they scored. It took the wind out of their sails.”
Nine minutes later, Wyderski took a throw-in and fired a fastball toward the near post. An attempted clear from a Notre Dame defender ended up in the back of the net.
Wyderski added insurance, drawing a penalty and converting the penalty kick with 13:48 left in the game.
The Marist defense, meanwhile, responded well to giving up the early goal, allowing just one more shot on goal the rest of the way.
Senior Mike Martino was especially effective at center defender, a position he’s recently taken over after Regan was moved to the midfield.
Martino came off the bench early in the season. Now, Maxwell barely takes him off the field.
“Coach gave me a shot and I really played good, so he’s kept giving me shots and I’ve kept producing,” Martino said. “It’s awesome. I’ve gave it my best and I put in a lot of hard work. When I was sitting on the bench, I wanted to be in.”
Lincoln-Way Central 3, Illiana Christian 0: Sean Curran and Brad Podobnik were among the goal scorers for Central (2-4).
Oak Lawn 4, Kennedy 1: Matt Barrera contributed a goal for Oak Lawn (12-0).
Boys Golf
Andrew 169, Marian Catholic 182: Andrew’s Billy Nagel posted a 40 to capture medalist honors at Lincoln Oaks.
Illiana Christian 167, Riverside-Brookfield 188: Medalist Lawton Bouwer carded a 41 to guide Illiana (10-0, 4-0 MSC Blue) at Carriage Greens in Darien.
Lincoln-Way East 182, T.F. South 222: Kevin Bullington, of East (5-6), paced all golfers with a 43 at Lansing Country Club.
Girls Golf
Lincoln-Way East 159, Bradley-Bourbonnais 197: Medalist Claire Moutvic shot a 39 to lead East (5-3, 5-3 SWSC Red) at Green Garden.
Lockport 188, Stagg 234: Lockport’s Rachel Kuzel (45) was the medalist at Broken Arrow.
Girls Tennis
Eisenhower 3, Morgan Park Academy 2: Yvette Ibarra and Valeria Salgado (No. 2 doubles) prevailed in three sets for Eisenhower (10-0).
Awards and honors
Jackson truly ‘special’: St. Francis wide receiver/kick returner Lexus Jackson was named Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday by the MSFA Midwest League.
Kudos to Schneider: Lewis middle hitter Aly Schneider was chosen GLVC Women’s Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week.
Steve Millar is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown. Freelance writer Josh Krockey contributed to this story.
