Olson stikes again for St. Charles North
Junior continues scoring spree with game-winner against Bartlett
ST. CHARLES – Anyone who has ever kicked a soccer ball has longed to score a goal.
If they say they haven’t, then they’re undoubtedly lying.
Baseball players want to hit home runs, basketball players want to dunk the ball and soccer players want to score goals. That’s the name of the game -- it’s as simple as that.
That attitude toward scoring might change if the player becomes a goalkeeper or a defender, when their focus changes to stopping goals. But, even then they still might be used in set pieces or the dreaded penalty kick situation that pops up in certain tournaments and, of course, the state series with the season on the line.
St. Charles North’s Ryan Olson doesn’t have to dream of scoring goals, he’s doing it in real life. And if he keeps scoring at his current pace then the North Stars will certainly improve on last year’s 11-win season.
Olson has found the back of the net repeatedly the past two days, including the game-winner on Tuesday night to lead the North Stars to a 2-1 win over Bartlett. For his offensive prowess, he was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
It’s hard to believe - especially since it’s not even September yet - that Olson has already scored six goals.
Not that he’d be the one telling you that he’s scoring goals at such a ridiculous rate. He’s more inclined to tell you how much he loves playing soccer with his teammates, including many guys who he’s known for most of his life. He’d also tell you how happy he is with how the North Stars have started their season, especially after playing back-to-back nights.
“We couldn’t lose on our home turf,” he said. “That was something we talked about, because we didn’t want to disappoint ourselves or our fans. So it was nice to come back and win.”
St. Charles North (2-0-0) fell behind 1-0 after one half, but responded with the equalizer as well as the go-ahead goal in the opening eight minutes of the second half.
“The adjustments that we tried to make were definitely in what we saw in the midfield,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “I felt like the center of the midfield was Bartlett’s in the first half, and that they had too much time on the ball and were able to make us vulnerable to a lot of their attack. We had a little more effort in the middle then which helped us force some turnovers and get some chances off of that.”
Olson and the North Stars dominated Rockford East 10-0 Monday. Olson tallied all of his goals in the first half in the easy win. Beating Bartlet on Tuesday was far more difficult.
“At halftime our coach talked about how we weren’t doing that well so we tried to motivate each other,” Olson said. “He told us to make sure we mark our guys in the middle and to have better pace. I thought we had much better pace in the second half, and we really showed a lot of discipline and dedication to come back like we did.”
Olson scored in the 48th minute when he was able to find a free kick from Alex Amro.
“I didn’t feel good about how I played," Amro said. "But I did end up getting that assist which reassured me that I have something to look up to. It was good to finish like that, but I still think we can improve.”
The North Stars were in the position to go ahead thanks to Garrett Morgando.
Soccer players aren’t expected to barrel their way through a crowd like a football fullback, but that’s pretty much what Morgando did.
While somehow maintaining possession, Morgando went straight toward the goal, beating numerous defenders before firing the equalizer into the back of the net.
“We were down after the first half which is always tough, but then from the sheer power from our guy Garrett we got motivated,” Olson said. “He came out and literally trucked through six or seven guys and that got us going.”
Bartlett (0-1-0) was probably kicking itself because of failed chances. While the Hawks did take a 1-0 lead on a Tim Riordan goal late in the first half, they missed out on a handful of chances in the first half, which could have allowed them to seize control much earlier.
Venici Leone, Rudy Reyes and Riordan all had solid scoring chances in the opening half that they failed to finish.
“I thought we were playing well, and I told the boys to keep playing like they were playing,” Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “I thought it was attractive soccer, and it was fun to watch those boys in the first half. We were playing well, and we had control of the game and five scoring opportunities. We finished one. It’s a game of opportunities, and we didn’t finish our opportunities.”
DiNuzzo, who played goalie for the Hawks as recently as in 2007, made his head coaching debut at his alma mater. While he was disappointed in coming up short, he felt his team outperformed the North Stars.
“We looked like the better team for I want to say was 65-of-the-80 minutes,” he said. “I felt like we deserved a better result then what we got, but we also didn’t finish our chances.”
Their inability to come up with key stops during set pieces proved key.
“I thought (St. Charles North) played very direct the entire game,” DiNuzzo said. “They got forward though, which caused us some problems in the second half, primarily because of the pace. They got a couple free kicks, and they finished. That’s something we’ve got to clean up.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK: Jake Hasenstein
D: Joshua Merkel
D: Joseph Mirsky
D: Bryan Recinos
D: Joshua White
MF: Rudy Reyes
MF: Tim Riordan
MF: Oliver Saile
MF: Ryan Stratton
F: Venici Leone
F: Anthony Santori
St. Charles North
GK: Zack Norton
D: Hanson Hagemann
D: Brandon Stricker
D: Garrett Morgando
D: Sean O’Leary
MF: Luke Denson
MF: Ryan Olson
MF: Alex Amro
F: Dylan Mientus
F: Peter Willis
F: Jake Persenico
Man of the Match: Ryan Olson, MF, St. Charles North
Junior continues scoring spree with game-winner against Bartlett
ST. CHARLES – Anyone who has ever kicked a soccer ball has longed to score a goal.
If they say they haven’t, then they’re undoubtedly lying.
Baseball players want to hit home runs, basketball players want to dunk the ball and soccer players want to score goals. That’s the name of the game -- it’s as simple as that.
That attitude toward scoring might change if the player becomes a goalkeeper or a defender, when their focus changes to stopping goals. But, even then they still might be used in set pieces or the dreaded penalty kick situation that pops up in certain tournaments and, of course, the state series with the season on the line.
St. Charles North’s Ryan Olson doesn’t have to dream of scoring goals, he’s doing it in real life. And if he keeps scoring at his current pace then the North Stars will certainly improve on last year’s 11-win season.
Olson has found the back of the net repeatedly the past two days, including the game-winner on Tuesday night to lead the North Stars to a 2-1 win over Bartlett. For his offensive prowess, he was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
It’s hard to believe - especially since it’s not even September yet - that Olson has already scored six goals.
Not that he’d be the one telling you that he’s scoring goals at such a ridiculous rate. He’s more inclined to tell you how much he loves playing soccer with his teammates, including many guys who he’s known for most of his life. He’d also tell you how happy he is with how the North Stars have started their season, especially after playing back-to-back nights.
“We couldn’t lose on our home turf,” he said. “That was something we talked about, because we didn’t want to disappoint ourselves or our fans. So it was nice to come back and win.”
St. Charles North (2-0-0) fell behind 1-0 after one half, but responded with the equalizer as well as the go-ahead goal in the opening eight minutes of the second half.
“The adjustments that we tried to make were definitely in what we saw in the midfield,” North Stars coach Eric Willson said. “I felt like the center of the midfield was Bartlett’s in the first half, and that they had too much time on the ball and were able to make us vulnerable to a lot of their attack. We had a little more effort in the middle then which helped us force some turnovers and get some chances off of that.”
Olson and the North Stars dominated Rockford East 10-0 Monday. Olson tallied all of his goals in the first half in the easy win. Beating Bartlet on Tuesday was far more difficult.
“At halftime our coach talked about how we weren’t doing that well so we tried to motivate each other,” Olson said. “He told us to make sure we mark our guys in the middle and to have better pace. I thought we had much better pace in the second half, and we really showed a lot of discipline and dedication to come back like we did.”
Olson scored in the 48th minute when he was able to find a free kick from Alex Amro.
“I didn’t feel good about how I played," Amro said. "But I did end up getting that assist which reassured me that I have something to look up to. It was good to finish like that, but I still think we can improve.”
The North Stars were in the position to go ahead thanks to Garrett Morgando.
Soccer players aren’t expected to barrel their way through a crowd like a football fullback, but that’s pretty much what Morgando did.
While somehow maintaining possession, Morgando went straight toward the goal, beating numerous defenders before firing the equalizer into the back of the net.
“We were down after the first half which is always tough, but then from the sheer power from our guy Garrett we got motivated,” Olson said. “He came out and literally trucked through six or seven guys and that got us going.”
Bartlett (0-1-0) was probably kicking itself because of failed chances. While the Hawks did take a 1-0 lead on a Tim Riordan goal late in the first half, they missed out on a handful of chances in the first half, which could have allowed them to seize control much earlier.
Venici Leone, Rudy Reyes and Riordan all had solid scoring chances in the opening half that they failed to finish.
“I thought we were playing well, and I told the boys to keep playing like they were playing,” Bartlett coach Vince DiNuzzo said. “I thought it was attractive soccer, and it was fun to watch those boys in the first half. We were playing well, and we had control of the game and five scoring opportunities. We finished one. It’s a game of opportunities, and we didn’t finish our opportunities.”
DiNuzzo, who played goalie for the Hawks as recently as in 2007, made his head coaching debut at his alma mater. While he was disappointed in coming up short, he felt his team outperformed the North Stars.
“We looked like the better team for I want to say was 65-of-the-80 minutes,” he said. “I felt like we deserved a better result then what we got, but we also didn’t finish our chances.”
Their inability to come up with key stops during set pieces proved key.
“I thought (St. Charles North) played very direct the entire game,” DiNuzzo said. “They got forward though, which caused us some problems in the second half, primarily because of the pace. They got a couple free kicks, and they finished. That’s something we’ve got to clean up.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK: Jake Hasenstein
D: Joshua Merkel
D: Joseph Mirsky
D: Bryan Recinos
D: Joshua White
MF: Rudy Reyes
MF: Tim Riordan
MF: Oliver Saile
MF: Ryan Stratton
F: Venici Leone
F: Anthony Santori
St. Charles North
GK: Zack Norton
D: Hanson Hagemann
D: Brandon Stricker
D: Garrett Morgando
D: Sean O’Leary
MF: Luke Denson
MF: Ryan Olson
MF: Alex Amro
F: Dylan Mientus
F: Peter Willis
F: Jake Persenico
Man of the Match: Ryan Olson, MF, St. Charles North