05/11 – 05/12/13
sports | 31
THE NORTH SHORE WEEKEND
Loyola Academy’s Brittany San Roman gobbles up a shot during her team’s recent shutout against Lake Forest High School.
photography by joel lerner
IIII Returning to center stage IIII Severe injury can’t keep Loyola’s San Roman from having another stellar season
■ by bill mclean
sports@northshoreweekend.com Brittany San Roman heard the snap late last spring. It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t the kind of sound that some cheery cereals make after getting doused with milk. “My (right) knee had turned in,” Loyola Academy’s senior soccer goalkeeper recalled last weekend. “I didn’t want to believe I was injured.” San Roman hobbled off the field in the Class 3A sectional final match against New Trier. But the undefeated goalie returned shortly thereafter. She lasted about 10 more painful minutes, before exiting for good with the score knotted at 0-0. A brave San Roman had returned to action — with a torn right ACL and torn right meniscus. Loyola’s Ramblers would end up losing 1-0 without their all-state keeper. “My dad (Frank) knew what had happened to my knee,” San Roman said. “He knew because he suffered three ACL
Standout Efforts on the Shore
injures. But he didn’t want to tell me what he knew the day of the injury.” San Roman underwent surgery two weeks later. Reality hit her hard when she watched her soccer club team, FC United, compete without her. “That drove me. That motivated me. That made me want to come back as quickly as possible,” she said. “That position was mine. I pushed myself during rehab. My mom (Audrey) and dad pushed me and encouraged me throughout the whole process.” The Glenview resident was good to go — and good to play goalie again — seven months after the injury. The 5-foot-6 San Roman has protected the nets this spring for the 18-2-1 Ramblers, who defeated visiting Edgewood (Wis.) 4-0 on May 4. Other recent results include a 0-0 stalemate with Fenwick, a 3-0 win over New Trier and a 2-0 defeat of Lake Forest. “Brittany takes care of business back there,” Loyola coach Craig Snower said. “She’s allowed something like 10 goals in two seasons. Only 10. She’s aggressive back there, On May 2, Drew Fischer allowed only five hits and one earned run in a 7-1 victory over visiting Maine South. Frank Nicholas had two hits. On May 6, in an 11-6 loss to Lake Forest, Adam Kost and Logan Wible had two hits apiece. Jack Cloud had a two-run triple, while Klenovich doubled and scored.
Drew Kirby
Charlie Sullivan
New Trier
Lake Forest
Baseball: The senior right-hander struck out 10 and tossed a one-hitter in NT’s 11-1 victory over visiting Maine East on May 4. The offense was led by Grant Klenovich (2 hits, 4 RBI), Nolan Stojentin (2 hits, 2 runs) and Ernie Roth (2 hits). The Trevians (11-11-1) also put 11 runs on the board on May 3, when they defeated host Notre Dame 11-1. Matt Blanchard, Matt McCaffrey, Josh Katz, Roth and Stojentin had two hits each. Grant Stern was the winning pitcher.
Baseball: The sophomore had a three-hit outing on May 6, when the host Scouts defeated New Trier 11-6. The Scouts banged out 16 hits in the win. Hub Cirame ripped a pair of long doubles. JR Reimer, Connor Hanrahan and Liam Howe also had two hits each. Robert Kesman had a two-run single to cap off a six-run third inning. On May 1, the Scouts allowed three runs in the bottom of the seventh and dropped a 5-4 decision to Stevenson. Sam
with a strong personality. You need that kind of personality from your goalie. It’s a unique position.” The talkative keepers are the most effective keepers. In matches, the Indiana State-bound San Roman talks to her defenders, orders them around, alerts them and shouts compliments. It’s a perfect blend of intensity and reinforcement. A sampling, heard on May 4: “Clean it up, clean it up!” “Careful!” “Push up! Stay with her, come on!” “Good, good, good!” “Win this.” San Roman’s Match Day voice is comforting — an audible security blanket, in a way — to her line of defenders in front of her. Action in soccer can get chaotic at times. It’s not easy to see the big picture in a busy sequence when you’re a defender and a dribbling forward is to your immediate right and another forward is hustling to your left. A keeper in soccer is like a catcher in baseball. Both see everything. Both see things unfold better than anybody else on the field does. “I like hearing instructions from Brittany,” Ramblers sophomore center-back Katie Taylor said. “They’re always helpful. I can count on her. “Brittany,” she added, “is quite good with her feet, too. She’s a very good all-around goalie.” She’s not a bad theater crew member, either. San Roman has a knack for making stages look attractive for productions at Loyola. Last fall, she and her crew cohorts traveled to the University of Illinois in Champaign, were they were recognized for the outstanding work they did before the staging of plays and musicals at LA. San Roman’s boyfriend, Michael Calk, is “a sound guy in theater,” she said. They hit it off in October, while she was rehabbing her knee and strengthening a right quad that had atrophied. “I had a lot of time to do other things after my injury,” she said. “I met Michael, for one. I also went on a religious retreat, where I made a lot of new friends. I will always be thankful for that opportunity. “You could say a lot of good came from the injury,” she added. A healthy San Roman is what’s good in soccer circles these days. She’s poised and eager to survive an entire postseason this spring. “My dad likes to say to me, ‘Live in the moment,’ ” San Roman said. “Making a save — that’s a moment, and it’s a moment I love, a moment I live for. There’s nothing like the adrenaline rush I get from stopping somebody from scoring.” San Roman also credited her father for making a critical suggestion on the eve of Loyola’s soccer tryouts in 2010, her freshman season. “He said, ‘Raise your hand,’ if coaches ask who would like to play goalkeeper,” recalled Frank’s daughter, an experienced field player as a grade-schooler. San Roman raised her hand that day. She’s been using both of her trusty hands for the Ramblers ever since. Notable: Loyola freshman forward Devin Burns scored a goal in last weekend’s 4-0 defeat of Edgewood (Wis.), upping her season total to 28. The program record for goals in a season is 29, set by Allison Suhey in 2009. Burns scored two goals in each of LA’s recent wins over New Trier and Lake Forest HS. Her sister, senior Corey Burns, tallied the other goal against NT. … Sophomore forward Kathryn Cichon and senior midfielders Emily Affinito and Colleen McClintic netted the Ramblers’ other three goals against Edgewood. … LA went 7-0 in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference to win its fifth straight conference title. ■ Templeman, Peter Gruenes and Hanrahan had two hits each. Sullivan had a double. On April 30, LF lost 12-6 to visiting Stevenson despite getting two hits each from Luke Johnson, Reimer, Hanrahan, Gruenes, and Templeman. On April 29, the team fell to Zion-Benton 5-1. Henry Erzinger had a double and a single. And in non-league action on May 4, the Scouts topped Kenosha St. Joseph 9-1. Kesman had a single, triple and three RBI. Howe had a double and drove in two runs. David Keaton was the winning pitcher. Matt Lowy Highland Park Baseball: The junior outfielder had three hits in HP’s 15-3 win over visiting Niles North on May 2. Teammate Taylor Smetana headliners >> page 37