Downers Grove North
bolts to Lemont Cup title
Electricity in the air as Trojans top Lincoln-Way West 4-1
By Steve Millar
LEMONT - If this keeps up, Downers Grove North will be hoping for lightning to interrupt every game it plays.
Trojans coach Mike Schmitt felt a lightning delay helped his team regroup for a 3-2 win Thursday over East Aurora.
In Saturday’s Lemont Cup championship, Downers Grove North didn’t have much clicking in the first 13 minutes against Lincoln-Way West.
Then lightning struck again.
After the delay, the Trojans got a goal from Noah Lesher and took total control of the game after that, claiming the tournament title with a 4-1 win.
“There’s something about lightning breaks,” Schmitt said. “They’ve really helped us both times. The first 13 minutes (Saturday), we were just a little anxious. We were just very excited to play. We were doing a lot of things very direct.
“We came together over that break and told them to settle down a little bit, be patient and let the plays build up and things would happen. We have a very strong midfield, and we just had to make sure the ball did the work. It paid off for us.”
Downers Grove North improved to 6-0. Senior defender Carter Tome, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“It’s a very special award here, but I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Tome said. “It’s a great group of guys. I’m really proud of our team. We’re 6-0 and we’re going to go far. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season brings.”
After the Trojans survived a strong start from the Lincoln-Way West (2-1-2), they grabbed the lead in the 23rd minute when Ronaldo Perez carried the ball into the corner and sent a cross into the box. West goalkeeper Gus Petrungaro tried to pick off the cross, but it slipped out of his hands and Lesher was there to poke it in.
“We were struggling to build stuff up those first 13 minutes, then the lightning delay happened,” Lesher said. “Right after that, we started getting it forward. I just kept running forward and the ball eventually came across, the goalie fumbled it and I was able to put it in. It was a good touch with my weak foot, so I’ll take it.”
Schmitt said Lesher was doing exactly what he was supposed to do on the play.
“It was just awareness in front of the goal,” he said. “Always being ready, on our toes and making sure that if anything does come popping out, we’re ready to take advantage of it.”
The Trojans spent the vast majority of the remainder of the first half on the attack, earning three corner kicks. They didn’t score again, but clearly had momentum as they took a 1-0 lead to halftime.
“We just had a lot of adrenaline after that first goal,” Lesher said. “It just kick-started our team.”
The Trojans made it 2-0 with 34:45 left in the game when Jack Richards drilled a free kick from 25 yards out around the Warriors wall and in.
Six minutes later, Alex Pacheco scored on a penalty kick to give Downers Grove North a 3-0 lead.
“I’ve never missed a PK in my career here,” said Pacheco, a junior. “So I was pretty confident that I’d make it.
“We were able to take over the game by playing the ball on the ground and keeping possession. We made them run, and we made the plays.”
The Warriors got back within two on a goal from Luke James with 19:21 to go, but the Trojans put away another set piece to seal the deal.
Matt Durkin took a free kick from 45 yards out and played a great ball into the box, where Steven Klasing volleyed it in.
Klasing and Lesher both come off the bench for a Downers Grove North team that has 30 players on its roster.
“Last year, we didn’t have a big roster,” Schmitt said. “This year, we have a lot of depth. It’s good to see. It’s good for the future of our program that we can sub someone out and not lose anything in the level of play. We had two guys step in off the bench and score goals for us.”
Tome, meanwhile, anchored a back line that kept the Warriors in check throughout.
“Lincoln-Way West was a great team,” he said. “We had to keep our shape, track their runners going through and we did a good job doing that. Credit to Dan Schuller, Ruairi Conaghan and Sam Crowley.”
Though Tome was quick to deflect the credit, Schmitt heaped plenty of it onto the senior.
“Carter is a fantastic player with fantastic character,” he said. “He’s very versatile. We started him up top in our first game, and we had a few weaknesses that we tried to sort out and he moved to the back to help solidify our backline. From that point on, we really came together as a team.”
Warriors coach Jeff Theiss was pleased with his team’s run through the tournament.
“What an excellent tournament with the level of competition here,” he said. “We’ve never been to the final of this tournament so it was a great feat for our kids and a great experience. We talk about how we’re proud to get here, but we’re not going to be satisfied until we get that first place trophy.
“I thought we were possessing really well, but we made one mistake on that first goal. We let the ball squirt through, and we lost our marks on the backside. We tried to make some changes in the second half and that kind of came back to bite us, but we weren’t just going to sit back once we got down 1-0.”
The Trojans, meanwhile, will enjoy the first tournament championship anyone on the current roster has won with the team.
Tome, though, is cautioning his teammates not to get big heads.
“The thing is we have to know that there’s a thin like between confidence and cockiness,” he said. “I think we do recognize that and we do a good job of leaning towards the confidence side.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove North
GK: Jimmy Miller
D: Daniel Schuller
D: Ruairi Conaghan
D: Carter Tome
D: Sam Crowley
M: Liam Budnik
M: Ronaldo Perez
M: Jokubas Baranauskas
M: Alex Pacheco
F: Ethan Akkawi
F: Jack Richards
Lincoln-Way West
GK: Gus Petrungaro
D: John Farrell
D: Jake Galounis
D: Zak Pavlovich
M: Kyle Seymour
M: Justin Yaeger
M: Tim Cucci
M: Ezequiel Medellin
F: Luke James
F: Conrad Bolster
F: Jay Bumstead
Man of the Match: Carter Tome, D, Downers Grove North
bolts to Lemont Cup title
Electricity in the air as Trojans top Lincoln-Way West 4-1
By Steve Millar
LEMONT - If this keeps up, Downers Grove North will be hoping for lightning to interrupt every game it plays.
Trojans coach Mike Schmitt felt a lightning delay helped his team regroup for a 3-2 win Thursday over East Aurora.
In Saturday’s Lemont Cup championship, Downers Grove North didn’t have much clicking in the first 13 minutes against Lincoln-Way West.
Then lightning struck again.
After the delay, the Trojans got a goal from Noah Lesher and took total control of the game after that, claiming the tournament title with a 4-1 win.
“There’s something about lightning breaks,” Schmitt said. “They’ve really helped us both times. The first 13 minutes (Saturday), we were just a little anxious. We were just very excited to play. We were doing a lot of things very direct.
“We came together over that break and told them to settle down a little bit, be patient and let the plays build up and things would happen. We have a very strong midfield, and we just had to make sure the ball did the work. It paid off for us.”
Downers Grove North improved to 6-0. Senior defender Carter Tome, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
“It’s a very special award here, but I couldn’t have done it without my team,” Tome said. “It’s a great group of guys. I’m really proud of our team. We’re 6-0 and we’re going to go far. I’m excited to see what the rest of the season brings.”
After the Trojans survived a strong start from the Lincoln-Way West (2-1-2), they grabbed the lead in the 23rd minute when Ronaldo Perez carried the ball into the corner and sent a cross into the box. West goalkeeper Gus Petrungaro tried to pick off the cross, but it slipped out of his hands and Lesher was there to poke it in.
“We were struggling to build stuff up those first 13 minutes, then the lightning delay happened,” Lesher said. “Right after that, we started getting it forward. I just kept running forward and the ball eventually came across, the goalie fumbled it and I was able to put it in. It was a good touch with my weak foot, so I’ll take it.”
Schmitt said Lesher was doing exactly what he was supposed to do on the play.
“It was just awareness in front of the goal,” he said. “Always being ready, on our toes and making sure that if anything does come popping out, we’re ready to take advantage of it.”
The Trojans spent the vast majority of the remainder of the first half on the attack, earning three corner kicks. They didn’t score again, but clearly had momentum as they took a 1-0 lead to halftime.
“We just had a lot of adrenaline after that first goal,” Lesher said. “It just kick-started our team.”
The Trojans made it 2-0 with 34:45 left in the game when Jack Richards drilled a free kick from 25 yards out around the Warriors wall and in.
Six minutes later, Alex Pacheco scored on a penalty kick to give Downers Grove North a 3-0 lead.
“I’ve never missed a PK in my career here,” said Pacheco, a junior. “So I was pretty confident that I’d make it.
“We were able to take over the game by playing the ball on the ground and keeping possession. We made them run, and we made the plays.”
The Warriors got back within two on a goal from Luke James with 19:21 to go, but the Trojans put away another set piece to seal the deal.
Matt Durkin took a free kick from 45 yards out and played a great ball into the box, where Steven Klasing volleyed it in.
Klasing and Lesher both come off the bench for a Downers Grove North team that has 30 players on its roster.
“Last year, we didn’t have a big roster,” Schmitt said. “This year, we have a lot of depth. It’s good to see. It’s good for the future of our program that we can sub someone out and not lose anything in the level of play. We had two guys step in off the bench and score goals for us.”
Tome, meanwhile, anchored a back line that kept the Warriors in check throughout.
“Lincoln-Way West was a great team,” he said. “We had to keep our shape, track their runners going through and we did a good job doing that. Credit to Dan Schuller, Ruairi Conaghan and Sam Crowley.”
Though Tome was quick to deflect the credit, Schmitt heaped plenty of it onto the senior.
“Carter is a fantastic player with fantastic character,” he said. “He’s very versatile. We started him up top in our first game, and we had a few weaknesses that we tried to sort out and he moved to the back to help solidify our backline. From that point on, we really came together as a team.”
Warriors coach Jeff Theiss was pleased with his team’s run through the tournament.
“What an excellent tournament with the level of competition here,” he said. “We’ve never been to the final of this tournament so it was a great feat for our kids and a great experience. We talk about how we’re proud to get here, but we’re not going to be satisfied until we get that first place trophy.
“I thought we were possessing really well, but we made one mistake on that first goal. We let the ball squirt through, and we lost our marks on the backside. We tried to make some changes in the second half and that kind of came back to bite us, but we weren’t just going to sit back once we got down 1-0.”
The Trojans, meanwhile, will enjoy the first tournament championship anyone on the current roster has won with the team.
Tome, though, is cautioning his teammates not to get big heads.
“The thing is we have to know that there’s a thin like between confidence and cockiness,” he said. “I think we do recognize that and we do a good job of leaning towards the confidence side.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove North
GK: Jimmy Miller
D: Daniel Schuller
D: Ruairi Conaghan
D: Carter Tome
D: Sam Crowley
M: Liam Budnik
M: Ronaldo Perez
M: Jokubas Baranauskas
M: Alex Pacheco
F: Ethan Akkawi
F: Jack Richards
Lincoln-Way West
GK: Gus Petrungaro
D: John Farrell
D: Jake Galounis
D: Zak Pavlovich
M: Kyle Seymour
M: Justin Yaeger
M: Tim Cucci
M: Ezequiel Medellin
F: Luke James
F: Conrad Bolster
F: Jay Bumstead
Man of the Match: Carter Tome, D, Downers Grove North