Bremen's Avalos let's his play
do the talking vs. Cristo Rey
Junior's hat trick includes 2 goals while
a man down in Braves' Windy City title game win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BRIDGEVIEW — Athletes almost always navigate between two modes of existence. Call it the public and private. The interesting part is always finding a way to reconcile the two.
Take Ricardo Avalos. The Bremen junior forward, has an open face, bright features and a sly, inquisitive smile. He just is not very talkative. His game is something else entirely. He plays with composure and under control, but he knows when to throw down the hammer.
Avalos scored three goals as the No. 15 Braves jumped out to a commanding lead and withstood Cristo Rey's spirited play in claiming a 5-2 victory in the title game of the Windy City Ram Classic on Monday afternoon at Toyota Park.
Bremen's second championship in the 14-year-old event came 10 years after its first.
In person Avalos is reticent. He seems bothered by the recognition. He was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
"That No. 13 [Avalos] he got the MVP for a reason," Cristo Rey coach Manuel Chavez said. "Three goals in one game, that's pretty good."
Avalos increased his team-high to six goals on the year. It was his first hat trick of the season.
"It's a great experience," he said softly.
It was also the manner and timing of the goals that proved the difference of the game.
Avalos claimed the first goal, which swung the momentum decisively in the favor of the Braves, and scored the fourth goal after the Cristeros cut the deficit to two scores. He punctuated the victory with a rebound shot in the 68th minute (the championship was played under the modified tournament rules of two 35-minute halves.)
The game was much tighter than the final score suggests. Sure, Bremen jumped out to an apparently commanding 3-0 lead late in the first half. But a nearly surreal chain of events at the close of the half altered the dynamics considerably. Bremen keeper Jose Chavez was also called on to make some difficult, high-grade saves to secure the victory.
Avalos started the scoring when he controlled a ball sent by sophomore forward Jorge Gomez on the right flank. Despite the seemingly impossible angle, Avalos created both power and accuracy and drilled it inside the far post for the 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.
"It was a shot on goal," he said, his response as direct as his game.
Bremen (5-0-0) expanded its margin to 2-0 in the 16th minute on a beautiful sequence initiated by junior midfielder Fernando Bravo. He advanced the ball down the left side and slotted a perfectly played ball before sophomore reserve midfielder Juan Batrez juked out Cristo Rey's excellent keeper Tony Vazquez for the second goal.
"I saw the goalie coming out so I tried to shoot toward the side," he said.
The rout appeared on in the 33rd minute as the Braves' elite midfielder Cristian Lopez disrupted the Cristeros' attack, stole a ball near the center of the field and wove his way in front of two defenders as he struck a pure and clean ball that curved perfectly beyond the reach of Vazquez.
"The defenders were pushing back, so I saw the shot and I took it," Lopez said.
Cristo Rey (4-2-1) appeared disoriented. But the private Jesuit school from Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood had not backed down from a challenge the entire tournament. Though a bit dazed, the Cristeros refused to yield and turned the closing seconds of the first half into a delirious sequence.
Bremen reserve midfielder Jose Meza was issued a red card with five seconds remaining for his hard tackle from behind of a Cristo Rey player. The Cristeros responded with a perfect free kick as Andres Vazquez ran through the play and junior midfielder Osbaldo Garcia smashed a ball from just inside 30 yards out into the upper right corner for a stunning late score.
The Bremen bench did not agree with the booking.
"It was a questionable call," Braves coach Steve Granat said. "As you saw I didn't go crazy over it. It changed the whole complexion of the game. And they scored a goal on top of [that]. It was a completely different halftime speech.
"Now it was about playing within yourself and being more defensive. We only had one forward now, but it was not so much of changing the game-plan but just staying more defensive in the second half."
By contrast, the Cristeros had a ray of hope.
"If I were a fan watching the game, at that point I'd have thought we still had a chance to come back," Garcia said. "There's always a chance for anybody to make a difference in the game. I made that goal, and I tried to help our my team with the excitement and the motivation."
The newly energized Cristeros showed great flair and moxie at the start of the second half. Midfielder Alex Garcia blasted two hard and low left-footed balls that Jose Chavez made excellent saves on.
But Bremen's Avalos then demonstrated a natural affinity for exquisite timing. Just as the field was being drenched in a sudden thunderstorm, he scored the backbreaking fourth goal in the 42nd minute. Suddenly, Cristo Rey's edge had again vanished.
"That's how you play soccer," said Cristeros forward Andres Vazquez said. "You have opportunities but if you don't put them away the other team will, and it's hard to keep up at that point."
Still Cristo Rey fought. Forward Enrique Fonseca pulled his team within 4-2 in the 60th minute.
"Going forward with a 3-0 deficit is hard to get going again, but we had good teamwork and we had some nice chances and we put a couple in," Andres Vazquez said. "The problem was we were just chasing the whole game."
Added Bremen coach Granat: "That fourth goal was huge, and it took some steam out of them, and the fifth goal took even more out."
The capper for Bremen, and Avalos' hat trick, came on a left-footed volley in traffic in the 68th minute.
"Those [goals] were much needed," Granat said. "If we don't get that fourth goal when we did, it was going to be a battle.
"We have played with greater composure this year. We play a little more within ourselves. I wouldn't say we don't get frustrated, but we don't let it overtake our game."
Leave the last words for the quiet man, Ricardo Avalos.
"We had to come back even stronger with one [fewer] man out there," he said. "It feels great, or awesome."
Starting lineups
Bremen
GK: Jose Chavez
D: Felipe Lopez
D: Christian Alva
D: Jaret Ahern
D: Sam Grutzius
M: Fabian Lopez
M: Jorge Villanueva
M: Fernando Bravo
M: Cristian Lopez
F: Ricardo Avalos
F: Jorge Lopez
Cristo Rey
GK: Tony Vasquez
D: Ulysses Camarillo
D: Jose Nava
D: Jose Martinez
D: Ismael Lopez
M: Alexis Garcia
M: Osbaldo Garcia
M: Jesus Garibay
M: Eliseo Chavez
F: Enrique Fonseco
F: Andres Vazquez
Man of the Match: Ricardo Avalos, MF, Bremen
do the talking vs. Cristo Rey
Junior's hat trick includes 2 goals while
a man down in Braves' Windy City title game win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BRIDGEVIEW — Athletes almost always navigate between two modes of existence. Call it the public and private. The interesting part is always finding a way to reconcile the two.
Take Ricardo Avalos. The Bremen junior forward, has an open face, bright features and a sly, inquisitive smile. He just is not very talkative. His game is something else entirely. He plays with composure and under control, but he knows when to throw down the hammer.
Avalos scored three goals as the No. 15 Braves jumped out to a commanding lead and withstood Cristo Rey's spirited play in claiming a 5-2 victory in the title game of the Windy City Ram Classic on Monday afternoon at Toyota Park.
Bremen's second championship in the 14-year-old event came 10 years after its first.
In person Avalos is reticent. He seems bothered by the recognition. He was named the tournament Most Valuable Player and Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
"That No. 13 [Avalos] he got the MVP for a reason," Cristo Rey coach Manuel Chavez said. "Three goals in one game, that's pretty good."
Avalos increased his team-high to six goals on the year. It was his first hat trick of the season.
"It's a great experience," he said softly.
It was also the manner and timing of the goals that proved the difference of the game.
Avalos claimed the first goal, which swung the momentum decisively in the favor of the Braves, and scored the fourth goal after the Cristeros cut the deficit to two scores. He punctuated the victory with a rebound shot in the 68th minute (the championship was played under the modified tournament rules of two 35-minute halves.)
The game was much tighter than the final score suggests. Sure, Bremen jumped out to an apparently commanding 3-0 lead late in the first half. But a nearly surreal chain of events at the close of the half altered the dynamics considerably. Bremen keeper Jose Chavez was also called on to make some difficult, high-grade saves to secure the victory.
Avalos started the scoring when he controlled a ball sent by sophomore forward Jorge Gomez on the right flank. Despite the seemingly impossible angle, Avalos created both power and accuracy and drilled it inside the far post for the 1-0 lead in the 10th minute.
"It was a shot on goal," he said, his response as direct as his game.
Bremen (5-0-0) expanded its margin to 2-0 in the 16th minute on a beautiful sequence initiated by junior midfielder Fernando Bravo. He advanced the ball down the left side and slotted a perfectly played ball before sophomore reserve midfielder Juan Batrez juked out Cristo Rey's excellent keeper Tony Vazquez for the second goal.
"I saw the goalie coming out so I tried to shoot toward the side," he said.
The rout appeared on in the 33rd minute as the Braves' elite midfielder Cristian Lopez disrupted the Cristeros' attack, stole a ball near the center of the field and wove his way in front of two defenders as he struck a pure and clean ball that curved perfectly beyond the reach of Vazquez.
"The defenders were pushing back, so I saw the shot and I took it," Lopez said.
Cristo Rey (4-2-1) appeared disoriented. But the private Jesuit school from Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood had not backed down from a challenge the entire tournament. Though a bit dazed, the Cristeros refused to yield and turned the closing seconds of the first half into a delirious sequence.
Bremen reserve midfielder Jose Meza was issued a red card with five seconds remaining for his hard tackle from behind of a Cristo Rey player. The Cristeros responded with a perfect free kick as Andres Vazquez ran through the play and junior midfielder Osbaldo Garcia smashed a ball from just inside 30 yards out into the upper right corner for a stunning late score.
The Bremen bench did not agree with the booking.
"It was a questionable call," Braves coach Steve Granat said. "As you saw I didn't go crazy over it. It changed the whole complexion of the game. And they scored a goal on top of [that]. It was a completely different halftime speech.
"Now it was about playing within yourself and being more defensive. We only had one forward now, but it was not so much of changing the game-plan but just staying more defensive in the second half."
By contrast, the Cristeros had a ray of hope.
"If I were a fan watching the game, at that point I'd have thought we still had a chance to come back," Garcia said. "There's always a chance for anybody to make a difference in the game. I made that goal, and I tried to help our my team with the excitement and the motivation."
The newly energized Cristeros showed great flair and moxie at the start of the second half. Midfielder Alex Garcia blasted two hard and low left-footed balls that Jose Chavez made excellent saves on.
But Bremen's Avalos then demonstrated a natural affinity for exquisite timing. Just as the field was being drenched in a sudden thunderstorm, he scored the backbreaking fourth goal in the 42nd minute. Suddenly, Cristo Rey's edge had again vanished.
"That's how you play soccer," said Cristeros forward Andres Vazquez said. "You have opportunities but if you don't put them away the other team will, and it's hard to keep up at that point."
Still Cristo Rey fought. Forward Enrique Fonseca pulled his team within 4-2 in the 60th minute.
"Going forward with a 3-0 deficit is hard to get going again, but we had good teamwork and we had some nice chances and we put a couple in," Andres Vazquez said. "The problem was we were just chasing the whole game."
Added Bremen coach Granat: "That fourth goal was huge, and it took some steam out of them, and the fifth goal took even more out."
The capper for Bremen, and Avalos' hat trick, came on a left-footed volley in traffic in the 68th minute.
"Those [goals] were much needed," Granat said. "If we don't get that fourth goal when we did, it was going to be a battle.
"We have played with greater composure this year. We play a little more within ourselves. I wouldn't say we don't get frustrated, but we don't let it overtake our game."
Leave the last words for the quiet man, Ricardo Avalos.
"We had to come back even stronger with one [fewer] man out there," he said. "It feels great, or awesome."
Starting lineups
Bremen
GK: Jose Chavez
D: Felipe Lopez
D: Christian Alva
D: Jaret Ahern
D: Sam Grutzius
M: Fabian Lopez
M: Jorge Villanueva
M: Fernando Bravo
M: Cristian Lopez
F: Ricardo Avalos
F: Jorge Lopez
Cristo Rey
GK: Tony Vasquez
D: Ulysses Camarillo
D: Jose Nava
D: Jose Martinez
D: Ismael Lopez
M: Alexis Garcia
M: Osbaldo Garcia
M: Jesus Garibay
M: Eliseo Chavez
F: Enrique Fonseco
F: Andres Vazquez
Man of the Match: Ricardo Avalos, MF, Bremen