Defenses dictate Metea V.-Lockport tie
Offenses come up empty in scoreless deadlock
By Steve Nemeth
AURORA --- There’s a philosophical expression that can be applied to Lockport visit to Metea Valley for nonconference meeting Wednesday: “A tie is what you get after ice cubes have wrestled with hot water.”
From either team’s perspective, the quality and tenacity of the defenses neutralized the opposition's offense in the 0-0 deadlock.
“This was one of the most back-and-forth games I’ve ever played. I actually lost my voice a bit,” a semi-hoarse Lockport goalie Dominic Wistocki noted.
The offenses being kept in such check was an ironic twist considering host Metea Valley (2-1-1) was coming off an explosive 8-2 thumping of Prosser in their season home-opener Monday. A 1-0 loss at Hinsdale Central was sandwiched between another offensive outing in a 3-2 season-opening victory at Jacobs.
“They were very sound in back, but our forwards’ work rate was excellent,” Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. “If they lost the ball, they’d win it back quickly. But overall we played with energy and real positivity.”
Having experienced either feast or famine on attack, Lockport (1-2-2) put an emphasis in practice on defending.
“Our overall defense was our biggest positive,” Lockport coach Chris Beal said. “We performed as a unit, stayed compact, didn’t concede any goals. Granted so far, sometimes we score four and sometimes we don’t score at all.”
The Porters began the year with a 4-4 draw against Minooka and scored four in a victory over downstate Triad in the Collinsville Kahok Classic. Lockport was blanked 3-0 by the host Kahoks and 1-0 by a tradition-rich Missouri team in Kirkwood.
Both teams getting to claim a clean sheet was seen as a building block for more success.
“All games matter, so not losing on the road can potentially help us be seeded higher. We can feel better getting a draw,” Witsocki said. “A shutout means I did my job, our defense did its job. Plus having played on Sockers FC with a lot of their guys gives me some ammunition.”
The senior goalie and teammate Nick Kowalczyk, a junior forward, were both on the Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List as are Metea Valley senior defender Ethan Ytterberg and junior midfielder Evan Lang. However, it was Mustangs senior Ethan Williams who had the type of all-around effort that merited the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
“Normally an outside back, we pushed him into the middle for more strength and he simply gave us a top-notch effort,” Robinson stated. “Very simply, he wins the ball and is fundamentally sound. His consistency is a tremendous plus for us.”
While Lockport’s Jose Mendoza had a left-wing shot glance off the top of the crossbar less than two minutes into the match, Metea Valley had a 5-2 edge in overall attempts and 2-0 advantage for shots on goal in the opening half. Jaylen Brooks, who had two goals and an assist versus Prosser, had a breakaway but Witsocki rushed out to make a block. On the ensuing corer, the Porter goalie snatched the inbound kick.
Witsocki won a race to a dangerous through-ball at 20:52 and five minutes later was equal to the challenge when Metea Valley’s James Lynch launched a 38-yard missile. With 4:02 showing before half, the Mustangs’ Matt Barry tried testing the keeper’s readiness with a 27-yard direct kick taken quickly, but the kick sailed wide left.
Just under 15 minutes into the second half, the Porters’ David Napoli tried to put back a block from consecutive corner kicks, but Mustangs goalie Gandhi Cruz made the save. Midway through the final 40 minutes, Witsocki denied a Metea Valley corner kick.
Two minutes later, Lang had a cannon volley that caromed through a crowd only to have Witsocki keep it from entering the goal. Not long after that, Metea’s Alfonso Castillo met the same fate. In the final minutes, Lockport’s Kowalczyk had an attempt soar over the goal, and a Zacary Fox cross went begging for a re-direct.
“Getting a shutout is always a point of pride for the defense,” said Metea Valley’s Abraham Antar. “I think communication is a key for us on defense. Every game is a chance to build on the things we practice, and we did that today.”
“Helping on defense or creating for the offense is something all of us midfielders put in a lot of work on,” Ryan Barry said. “We played with heart and intensity throughout the match, we just couldn’t quite get the finishes we needed.”
However Robinson’s enthusiasm couldn’t be diminished.
“Joey (Donovan) goes 60 solid minutes and when we gave him a breather, it was tough to get him back. The substitutes played so well that we were finding it difficult to give everyone minutes,” Robinson added. “Finding time for all is a good problem to have, and why I’m so excited about this session.”
Ultimately the Mustangs finished with a 10-7 advantage for overall shot attempts and 7-1 edge in shots on goal. Corner kicks evened out at six all. Metea Valley's aggressiveness earned three offside whistles.
“Dominic handled things well in goal and worked so well with our entire backline,” Lockport’s Beal concluded.
Lockport completes this week with a Saturday visit to Plainfield South, the no. 24-rated side in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Poll.
Metea Valley now takes aim on a challenging start to DuPage Valley competition, hosting previously ranked Neuqua Valley on Tuesday and top-rated and defending state champion Naperville North on Thursday.
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK Dominic Wistocki
D Quin Roth
D Charles Garcia
D David Napoli
D Justin Biela
M Zacary Fox
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Daniel Blaszkiewicz
M Nick Calderaro
F Jose Mendoza
F David Panaszczyk
Metea Valley
GK Gandhi Cruz
D Ethan Ytterberg
D Anthony Sanchez
D Ethan Williams
D Liam Duffy
M Shareef Amor
M Evan Lang
M Matthew Barry
M Abraham Antar
F Jaylen Brooks
F Joey Donovan
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ethan Williams, Sr. D, Metea Valley
Officials: Steve Sarto (center); Alin Popescu; Don Robinson
Game summary
Metea Valley 0, Lockport 0
Lockport 0 0 -- 0 1-2-0
Metea Valley 0 0 -- 0 0-2-0
Shots
L 2 – 5 -- 7
MV 5 – 5 -- 10
Shots on goal
L 0 – 1 -- 1
MV 2 – 5 -- 7
Saves (goalie)
L (Wistocki) 2 – 5 -- 7
MV (Cruz) 0 – 1 -- 1
Corner kicks
L 1 – 5 -- 6
MV 3 – 3 -- 6
Offsides
L 0 – 0 -- 0
MV 3 – 0 -- 3
Offenses come up empty in scoreless deadlock
By Steve Nemeth
AURORA --- There’s a philosophical expression that can be applied to Lockport visit to Metea Valley for nonconference meeting Wednesday: “A tie is what you get after ice cubes have wrestled with hot water.”
From either team’s perspective, the quality and tenacity of the defenses neutralized the opposition's offense in the 0-0 deadlock.
“This was one of the most back-and-forth games I’ve ever played. I actually lost my voice a bit,” a semi-hoarse Lockport goalie Dominic Wistocki noted.
The offenses being kept in such check was an ironic twist considering host Metea Valley (2-1-1) was coming off an explosive 8-2 thumping of Prosser in their season home-opener Monday. A 1-0 loss at Hinsdale Central was sandwiched between another offensive outing in a 3-2 season-opening victory at Jacobs.
“They were very sound in back, but our forwards’ work rate was excellent,” Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. “If they lost the ball, they’d win it back quickly. But overall we played with energy and real positivity.”
Having experienced either feast or famine on attack, Lockport (1-2-2) put an emphasis in practice on defending.
“Our overall defense was our biggest positive,” Lockport coach Chris Beal said. “We performed as a unit, stayed compact, didn’t concede any goals. Granted so far, sometimes we score four and sometimes we don’t score at all.”
The Porters began the year with a 4-4 draw against Minooka and scored four in a victory over downstate Triad in the Collinsville Kahok Classic. Lockport was blanked 3-0 by the host Kahoks and 1-0 by a tradition-rich Missouri team in Kirkwood.
Both teams getting to claim a clean sheet was seen as a building block for more success.
“All games matter, so not losing on the road can potentially help us be seeded higher. We can feel better getting a draw,” Witsocki said. “A shutout means I did my job, our defense did its job. Plus having played on Sockers FC with a lot of their guys gives me some ammunition.”
The senior goalie and teammate Nick Kowalczyk, a junior forward, were both on the Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List as are Metea Valley senior defender Ethan Ytterberg and junior midfielder Evan Lang. However, it was Mustangs senior Ethan Williams who had the type of all-around effort that merited the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction.
“Normally an outside back, we pushed him into the middle for more strength and he simply gave us a top-notch effort,” Robinson stated. “Very simply, he wins the ball and is fundamentally sound. His consistency is a tremendous plus for us.”
While Lockport’s Jose Mendoza had a left-wing shot glance off the top of the crossbar less than two minutes into the match, Metea Valley had a 5-2 edge in overall attempts and 2-0 advantage for shots on goal in the opening half. Jaylen Brooks, who had two goals and an assist versus Prosser, had a breakaway but Witsocki rushed out to make a block. On the ensuing corer, the Porter goalie snatched the inbound kick.
Witsocki won a race to a dangerous through-ball at 20:52 and five minutes later was equal to the challenge when Metea Valley’s James Lynch launched a 38-yard missile. With 4:02 showing before half, the Mustangs’ Matt Barry tried testing the keeper’s readiness with a 27-yard direct kick taken quickly, but the kick sailed wide left.
Just under 15 minutes into the second half, the Porters’ David Napoli tried to put back a block from consecutive corner kicks, but Mustangs goalie Gandhi Cruz made the save. Midway through the final 40 minutes, Witsocki denied a Metea Valley corner kick.
Two minutes later, Lang had a cannon volley that caromed through a crowd only to have Witsocki keep it from entering the goal. Not long after that, Metea’s Alfonso Castillo met the same fate. In the final minutes, Lockport’s Kowalczyk had an attempt soar over the goal, and a Zacary Fox cross went begging for a re-direct.
“Getting a shutout is always a point of pride for the defense,” said Metea Valley’s Abraham Antar. “I think communication is a key for us on defense. Every game is a chance to build on the things we practice, and we did that today.”
“Helping on defense or creating for the offense is something all of us midfielders put in a lot of work on,” Ryan Barry said. “We played with heart and intensity throughout the match, we just couldn’t quite get the finishes we needed.”
However Robinson’s enthusiasm couldn’t be diminished.
“Joey (Donovan) goes 60 solid minutes and when we gave him a breather, it was tough to get him back. The substitutes played so well that we were finding it difficult to give everyone minutes,” Robinson added. “Finding time for all is a good problem to have, and why I’m so excited about this session.”
Ultimately the Mustangs finished with a 10-7 advantage for overall shot attempts and 7-1 edge in shots on goal. Corner kicks evened out at six all. Metea Valley's aggressiveness earned three offside whistles.
“Dominic handled things well in goal and worked so well with our entire backline,” Lockport’s Beal concluded.
Lockport completes this week with a Saturday visit to Plainfield South, the no. 24-rated side in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Poll.
Metea Valley now takes aim on a challenging start to DuPage Valley competition, hosting previously ranked Neuqua Valley on Tuesday and top-rated and defending state champion Naperville North on Thursday.
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK Dominic Wistocki
D Quin Roth
D Charles Garcia
D David Napoli
D Justin Biela
M Zacary Fox
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Daniel Blaszkiewicz
M Nick Calderaro
F Jose Mendoza
F David Panaszczyk
Metea Valley
GK Gandhi Cruz
D Ethan Ytterberg
D Anthony Sanchez
D Ethan Williams
D Liam Duffy
M Shareef Amor
M Evan Lang
M Matthew Barry
M Abraham Antar
F Jaylen Brooks
F Joey Donovan
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ethan Williams, Sr. D, Metea Valley
Officials: Steve Sarto (center); Alin Popescu; Don Robinson
Game summary
Metea Valley 0, Lockport 0
Lockport 0 0 -- 0 1-2-0
Metea Valley 0 0 -- 0 0-2-0
Shots
L 2 – 5 -- 7
MV 5 – 5 -- 10
Shots on goal
L 0 – 1 -- 1
MV 2 – 5 -- 7
Saves (goalie)
L (Wistocki) 2 – 5 -- 7
MV (Cruz) 0 – 1 -- 1
Corner kicks
L 1 – 5 -- 6
MV 3 – 3 -- 6
Offsides
L 0 – 0 -- 0
MV 3 – 0 -- 3