Shepard’s Gannon Marin is at his most comfortable in the toughest situations.
The senior goalkeeper has been through it all as a third-year varsity starter, so something like a penalty kick shootout that went nine rounds Tuesday night is not about to rattle him.
“I’ve been there a few times,” Marin said. “When it comes to penalty kicks, I have a lot of confidence in myself. I’ve been doing it for three years now, in the playoffs and everything, where I’ve dealt with penalties.
“I think the adrenaline helps, for sure. Just being in there one-on-one, it’s the best feeling in the world for me.”
Marin made the clinching save in the ninth round as the Astros outlasted Lincoln-Way Central 8-7 in the shootout for a 2-1 win in a Windy City Ram Classic first-round game in Plainfield.
Shepard (1-1) will take on Thornton co-op — a 4-0 winner over Plainfield South — at 6 p.m. Thursday in the second round of the 32-team tournament.
Marin stymied Lincoln-Way Central (0-1) throughout the game, making 10 saves in regulation.
“It’s never a concern with Gannon,” Shepard coach Zeno Toscas said. “We always know that’s one of our strengths, and it’s not something we worry about much. Gannon’s like that leader that nobody knows about.”
Marin finally ended the marathon shootout when he got low to get his knees on Connor Pate’s shot in the ninth round and knock it wide.
“I just tell myself that one save is all I need,” Marin said. “I say, ‘Just get one.’ It’s exciting. It really gets you going.
“It was back and forth the whole time. Thankfully we came out with the win.”
Junior midfielder Chris Fernandez, who also scored in regulation for the Astros, converted his penalty kick in the ninth round to put Shepard ahead for good.
“I was nervous at first,” Fernandez said. “I had no confidence in myself. But I talked to my coaches and they had confidence in me because I had a good game.
“I went up there with that confidence, shot it and made it.”
Filip Zawodniak, Aidan Breslin, Damyan Villanueva, Zaid Jaber, Ryan Plowman, Carlos Martinez and Dimitri Latka also scored in the shootout for Shepard.
Eddie Rafacz, Johnny Roussakis, Nico Espinosa, Dylan Maksa, Luca Rotondi, Roman Klozik and Dale Hauser converted penalty kicks for the Knights.
Fernandez gave Shepard the lead off an assist from Breslin in the third minute, and the Astros made that hold up until Espinosa tied it for Lincoln-Way Central with 10:40 to go.
That was the only shot the Knights could get by Marin, who found his calling as a soccer goalkeeper after his first love was hockey.
“The weird thing is I didn’t play goalie in hockey,” Marin said. “In fifth grade, a bunch of my friends were in soccer and I was like the odd man out, so I tried it.
“I hopped in net one day and they said I was good enough. I was like, ‘OK, I’ll try it in a game.’ I’ve been there ever since and I haven’t turned away.”
Ryan Marszalek made six saves for Lincoln-Way Central. Coming off a 17-2-2 season in 2021, the Knights will deal with some early adversity.
“It was the definition of a first game,” Lincoln-Way Central coach Dave Brown said. “We certainly have some veteran players, but we have some youth and some inexperienced guys. I think that showed, for sure.
“The new guys felt the speed of the varsity level against a solid opponent, and now we have to figure out who we are and build an identity for our team.”
Steve Millar is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
