O’Neil lifts Marist in double OT

Updated: August 26, 2011 1:59PM

Coming off a seven-goal shutout win Tuesday over Richards, Marist’s boys soccer team learned Thursday that one goal also can be enough.

Tom O’Neil scored with 1:36 left in the second overtime to lift Marist to a 1-0 double-overtime win over St. Laurence and a berth in the Windy City Ram Classic quarterfinals.

“It was incredible,” O’Neil said after beating two Vikings defenders for the goal. “We were toe to toe the whole time and we just kept fighting. We knew that we were eventually going to get (a goal) because we have faith in everyone on our team. We have everything there; it’s just a matter of when it comes together, I guess.”

There were a few close calls for Marist, including a corner kick turned triple-header pass off Mike Collevy, Patrick Hehir, and Roger Ciszewski, flying just above the goal.

Konor Tempel made 10 saves for the Vikings (1-1). The RedHawks outshot the Vikings 16-13.

“He saw a lot of shots today and kept us in the game,” St. Laurence coach Nate Grosse said of Tempel. “The team tries to build off his emotion and use that on the other end of the field to put the ball in the net.”

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle,” Grosse said. “It was a lot of back-and-forth and high intensity. It was hard for either team to get a real good rhythm. That’s kind of what I expected.”

O’Neil know what he and his teammates are eyeing in the Ram Classic.

“Our goal is to win it this year,” O’Neil said. “Hopefully, we can keep making steps toward it.”

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