After a tough, two-win 2024 campaign, threes were wild for the Fenwick boys soccer team start this season.
The Friars won their first three games in the Jim Bruckner Classic and scored three goals in each. That included a 3-2 win over Cristo Rey, which played for the IHSA Class 1A state title a year ago, and identical 3-1 victories over University High and Latin School.
Thus, heading into Tuesday’s Chicago Catholic League crossover showdown at De La Salle, Fenwick sat at 3-0-0.
“Three is a lucky number, a magic number,” said first-year coach Shannon Seymour, who finds his team at No. 25 in the ChicagolandSoccer.org rankings.
“The boys have had some different hunger for this season,” Seymour said. “They have accepted the challenge, and we’ve talked about every day getting one percent better.”
Hear, hear said senior right-wing Matt Simon.
“I feel like for us, especially starting the season, it’s been new things,” Simon said. “Last year we came off of those two wins, and this year we’re one-upping each game and improving on what we did last year.”
Winning goes a long way to change mindsets, but in this case, coaching is key.
A bit about Seymour: He’s the head coach of Chicago House AC’s Men’s First Team, where he started as a player and transitioned into coaching a year ago. His pedigree is resonating with his new charges.
“It’s all confidence,” said junior center-midfielder Luke Menacho. “Last year, we had the players, but not the mindset. He and his team bring the mindset to win and beat every team.”
Seymour isn’t one to take credit for much, instead giving the credit to his assistants, Jay Millitello, David Hartsfield, Dan Hussey, Ryan Grady and John Makowiecki.
Millitello in particular has been a big help because he’s a Fenwick alumnus “and he’s been crucial in setting the culture and maintaining the culture that has been embedded in the program so long.”
Seymour also brought some guys from Chicago House AC to help out, including Grady, the goalkeeping coach, and Makowiecki, who played professionally in Poland and was a collegiate Division I player at St. Louis University.
“Honestly, it’s been great,” senior defender Truman Sabatino said of the coaching staff. “In practices we’ve been getting pushed with fitness and touches. We put a lot of work in.”
Of course, even the best coach can’t win without talent, and Seymour seems to have that in abundance, especially in the senior class.
The back line, in particular, has been solid, led by Sabatino and bolstered by senior goalkeeper Dominik Ballarin.
“He leads by example,” Seymour said of Ballarin. “He pushes the group to maintain and hold a high standard and he’s continuously organizing the back line. It’s good to have that senior voice with the younger players and the senior players who have been crucial to the success we’ve been having.”
Simon said defensively, the Friars aren’t letting much get through the center of the field. Menacho said he and his mates have been able to shut down teams and clear the ball out of the box.
You have to be able to score, too, and Sabatino’s twin, Nate, has been scoring goals in bunches – five of those nine goals have come off of his foot. Offensive support has also come from junior center-mid Beckett Javell and freshman Oscar Velasquez-Medina.
Fenwick’s schedule will once again be tough. After De La Salle early week is a home game Thursday against Loyola. From there, CCL divisional play ensues with the likes of St. Rita, Montini, Providence and St. Francis.
Seymour’s goal, then, is simple.
“First and foremost, I want to make sure that Fenwick is respected, and a little bit feared,” he said. “Above .500 on the season is always our goal, but winning the CCL and making a deep run in state is what a program wants to do.”