First half dooms Lockport,
Libertyville ends Pepsi run
Porters give up 1st goals of tourney, remain scoreless
By Derek Wolff
LOCKPORT — All good things must come to an end.
The adage was appropriate for Lockport on Thursday evening as the unseeded Porters' surprise run through the 2015 Pepsi Showdown winners’ bracket came to a close with a 2-0 loss to sixth seed Libertyville.
Lockport (4-2-3) had bested No.3 seed Streamwood and Lake Zurich to claim a spot in the quarterfinals, but a lackadaisical first half doomed the Porters, who couldn’t get much going offensively.
“We were outplayed for many periods of the game, but I still think those two individual mistakes led to the goals and the lack of intensity in the first half killed us,” Porters coach Chris Beal said.
Early defensive mistakes and poor marking by the Porters proved to be the difference, and the Wildcats took advantage to claim a 2-0 lead by the 26th minute.
Senior striker Luke Sanderson scored early off a corner kick, with Kenny Gallagher registering the assist.
In the 26th minute, Liam O’Connell found the back of the net off a nice dummy play to double the lead.
“I think if we played with the speed of play and the intensity that we played against Streamwood and Lake Zurich those goals might not have happened,” Beal said.
Libertyville was bolstered by a strong effort from its backline, which severely limited Lockport’s attack through the middle. That forced the Porters to look for chances from the outside.
“That’s just the way that we play,” Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. “That’s just the way they’re coached, to keep the ball out of the middle and give the goalies a chance for a cross. We don’t want them shooting right on us, we want it on the outside. That’s what we work on.”
Lockport’s best chance of the night came right before O’Connell made it 2-0.
With the threat of rain in the area and wind swirling about at times, Porters midfielder Jack Dilger took a ball on the left side of the 18, chipped it in towards the net and then watched as it caromed off the post.
Libertyville’s counterattack, a major force throughout the game, directly led to O’Connell’s strike a moment later.
The Wildcats felt confident enough with the 2-0 halftime lead to switch out goalkeepers, putting freshman Thomas Pearson in net to replace junior Brant Kym.
Lockport changed its formation twice in the second half, going from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 and finally a 3-4-3 as they searched for a goal.
The end result didn’t come, but they did create a few chances as a result of Beal’s tinkering.
“We changed systems throughout the game to try to create some offensive play,” Beal said. “We used the flanks a little more than we used to because we try to play three out-and-out forwards.”
Libertyville sophomore forward and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Ryan Wittenbrink was all over the ball in the second half and nearly converted on a few chances and set up his teammates for open looks.
In the 60th minute he just missed scoring a third goal for the Wildcats with a searching ball looking for the upper-ninety at the near post that just whizzed over the crossbar.
Wittenbrink played up with the varsity last postseason and said the transition to playing full-time with the older guys has come easy under veteran leadership.
“We have a really strong senior group that just really possesses the ball well,” Wittenbrink said. “It’s really fun to play with them. We move the ball unselfishly which helps with our offense. Moving the ball a lot, it’s hard to defend.”
“It’s really cool. The older guys have helped me a lot with getting used to playing at this level.”
Lockport goalkeeper Jacob Krawczyk had a strong second half, flying to his left to make a diving save in the 46th minute that pushed away a rocket of a shot from Libertyville’s Nate Edmunds.
Krawczyk was under siege for the final five minutes of the match and made several clutch saves.
In the 75th, he turned away back-to-back attempts from Wittenbrink, who just missed one at the near corner in the 77th.
A minute later, Wittenbrink slipped in behind the defense in the box again and fed a through pass to Edmunds, whose shot floated over Krawczyk but rang off the post.
Beal didn’t hold back in his praise of Libertyville following the final whistle and said that his side was encouraged heading into conference play.
“That’s the best team we’ve played against all season,” Beal said. “We created some chances in the second half and that’s encouraging going forward.
“If you can play against teams like Streamwood, against Libertyville and you can see the speed of play, the intensity they bring and the skill level, if you can play at that level, match that level, then the rest of the games this season we should be positive.”
Lockport will get another contest of speed and skill in their final PepsiCo game. The Porters will play top PepsiCo seed Morton at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lyons Soccer Complex. The Mustangs were upset 1-0 at home by ninth-seeded Deerfield on Thursday.
Libertyville moves on to the semifinals, where it will play the winner of seventh-seeded New Trier Wildcats and second seed Wheaton Academy. That quarterfinal was suspended due to lightning Thursday and will be resumed at 4 p.m. today (Sept. 18) in West Chicago.
Wheaton Academy defeated Libertyville 2-1 last season. While the Wildcats are hoping for a rematch, they’ll be ready regardless, Bitta said.
“Whoever it is, it’s going to be a big game,” he said.
Starting lineups
Libertyville
GK Brant Kym
D Michael Quigley
D Daniel Marks
D Grant Widmark
D Jacob Rasmussen
M Liam O’Connell
M Kevin Reilly
M Kenny Gallagher
M Nate Edmunds
F Luke Sanderson
F Ryan Wittenbrink
Lockport
GK Jacob Krawczyk
D Thomas Inczauskis
D Charles Garcia
D Kezie Nwachukwu
M Jose Magallanes
M David Kordaczka
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Jakub Podczerwinski
M Jack Dilger
M Scott Manhart
F David Villa
Man of the Match: Ryan Wittenbrink, F, Libertyville
Libertyville ends Pepsi run
Porters give up 1st goals of tourney, remain scoreless
By Derek Wolff
LOCKPORT — All good things must come to an end.
The adage was appropriate for Lockport on Thursday evening as the unseeded Porters' surprise run through the 2015 Pepsi Showdown winners’ bracket came to a close with a 2-0 loss to sixth seed Libertyville.
Lockport (4-2-3) had bested No.3 seed Streamwood and Lake Zurich to claim a spot in the quarterfinals, but a lackadaisical first half doomed the Porters, who couldn’t get much going offensively.
“We were outplayed for many periods of the game, but I still think those two individual mistakes led to the goals and the lack of intensity in the first half killed us,” Porters coach Chris Beal said.
Early defensive mistakes and poor marking by the Porters proved to be the difference, and the Wildcats took advantage to claim a 2-0 lead by the 26th minute.
Senior striker Luke Sanderson scored early off a corner kick, with Kenny Gallagher registering the assist.
In the 26th minute, Liam O’Connell found the back of the net off a nice dummy play to double the lead.
“I think if we played with the speed of play and the intensity that we played against Streamwood and Lake Zurich those goals might not have happened,” Beal said.
Libertyville was bolstered by a strong effort from its backline, which severely limited Lockport’s attack through the middle. That forced the Porters to look for chances from the outside.
“That’s just the way that we play,” Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. “That’s just the way they’re coached, to keep the ball out of the middle and give the goalies a chance for a cross. We don’t want them shooting right on us, we want it on the outside. That’s what we work on.”
Lockport’s best chance of the night came right before O’Connell made it 2-0.
With the threat of rain in the area and wind swirling about at times, Porters midfielder Jack Dilger took a ball on the left side of the 18, chipped it in towards the net and then watched as it caromed off the post.
Libertyville’s counterattack, a major force throughout the game, directly led to O’Connell’s strike a moment later.
The Wildcats felt confident enough with the 2-0 halftime lead to switch out goalkeepers, putting freshman Thomas Pearson in net to replace junior Brant Kym.
Lockport changed its formation twice in the second half, going from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 and finally a 3-4-3 as they searched for a goal.
The end result didn’t come, but they did create a few chances as a result of Beal’s tinkering.
“We changed systems throughout the game to try to create some offensive play,” Beal said. “We used the flanks a little more than we used to because we try to play three out-and-out forwards.”
Libertyville sophomore forward and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Ryan Wittenbrink was all over the ball in the second half and nearly converted on a few chances and set up his teammates for open looks.
In the 60th minute he just missed scoring a third goal for the Wildcats with a searching ball looking for the upper-ninety at the near post that just whizzed over the crossbar.
Wittenbrink played up with the varsity last postseason and said the transition to playing full-time with the older guys has come easy under veteran leadership.
“We have a really strong senior group that just really possesses the ball well,” Wittenbrink said. “It’s really fun to play with them. We move the ball unselfishly which helps with our offense. Moving the ball a lot, it’s hard to defend.”
“It’s really cool. The older guys have helped me a lot with getting used to playing at this level.”
Lockport goalkeeper Jacob Krawczyk had a strong second half, flying to his left to make a diving save in the 46th minute that pushed away a rocket of a shot from Libertyville’s Nate Edmunds.
Krawczyk was under siege for the final five minutes of the match and made several clutch saves.
In the 75th, he turned away back-to-back attempts from Wittenbrink, who just missed one at the near corner in the 77th.
A minute later, Wittenbrink slipped in behind the defense in the box again and fed a through pass to Edmunds, whose shot floated over Krawczyk but rang off the post.
Beal didn’t hold back in his praise of Libertyville following the final whistle and said that his side was encouraged heading into conference play.
“That’s the best team we’ve played against all season,” Beal said. “We created some chances in the second half and that’s encouraging going forward.
“If you can play against teams like Streamwood, against Libertyville and you can see the speed of play, the intensity they bring and the skill level, if you can play at that level, match that level, then the rest of the games this season we should be positive.”
Lockport will get another contest of speed and skill in their final PepsiCo game. The Porters will play top PepsiCo seed Morton at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Lyons Soccer Complex. The Mustangs were upset 1-0 at home by ninth-seeded Deerfield on Thursday.
Libertyville moves on to the semifinals, where it will play the winner of seventh-seeded New Trier Wildcats and second seed Wheaton Academy. That quarterfinal was suspended due to lightning Thursday and will be resumed at 4 p.m. today (Sept. 18) in West Chicago.
Wheaton Academy defeated Libertyville 2-1 last season. While the Wildcats are hoping for a rematch, they’ll be ready regardless, Bitta said.
“Whoever it is, it’s going to be a big game,” he said.
Starting lineups
Libertyville
GK Brant Kym
D Michael Quigley
D Daniel Marks
D Grant Widmark
D Jacob Rasmussen
M Liam O’Connell
M Kevin Reilly
M Kenny Gallagher
M Nate Edmunds
F Luke Sanderson
F Ryan Wittenbrink
Lockport
GK Jacob Krawczyk
D Thomas Inczauskis
D Charles Garcia
D Kezie Nwachukwu
M Jose Magallanes
M David Kordaczka
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Jakub Podczerwinski
M Jack Dilger
M Scott Manhart
F David Villa
Man of the Match: Ryan Wittenbrink, F, Libertyville