Lockport breaks 3-game
tie string, defeats Minooka 3-2
Undefeated Porters win 5th place game at Lemont Cup
By Derek Wolff
LEMONT --Twice Lockport went one-up on Minooka and twice the Indians came back to tie things up on Saturday afternoon in the fifth place match of the Lemont Cup.
After three-straight ties in the tournament, the Porters’ Jose Magallanes would have no more of that.
The senior midfielder barreled into the box in the 75th minute, timed a leap perfectly and met a cross from the right side in mid-flight that he headed in for the game-winner to give the Porters a 3-2 victory.
“We’ve been coming out of a few ties so you’ve just got to put all of that effort in the last few minutes to make sure you get that victory,” said Magallanes, who was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
Lockport coach Chris Beal said the play was perfectly executed.
“We’ve tied the last three games so once it got back to 2-2 we were really frustrated,” Beal said.
“We tried to push people forward, we wanted to go for the win. It’s something we’ve been working on in practice, get the ball wide, get the crosses in. When you have players making that late run into the box that’s what happens. When Jose (Magallanes) did that it was nice that we got the winning goal.”
The deciding goal negated what had been a solid second half from Minooka, which went into the break tied at 1-1 despite being thoroughly outclassed and out-chanced.
The Indians scored on a free kick from just outside the 18 in the 60th minute to level things at 2-2, with the ball redirecting off the Porters’ defensive wall and in.
The second equalizer came after Lockport senior midfielder Jack Dilger broke the deadlock early in the second half to give the Porters another lead.
Dilger took a pass just above midfield in the 43rd minute, cut back and lofted a beautiful left-footed shot that arched through and hit the upper 90 to put the Porters (2-0-3) one-up for the second time.
“Kezie (Nwachukwu) was dribbling at speed right in the middle of the field, and I waited for him to send the ball through,” Dilger said. “I was going to take it righty, on my right foot, but I decided to cut back and saw a big opening. I just went for the shot.”
Dilger was rewarded by Beal with the all-tournament-team award after the match.
“Jack’s got that ability,” Beal explained. “He’s got great technique, and I think he’s been wanting to play in a more advanced position. He can play anywhere in the center midfield. We’ve put him up as a forward because we know what he can do. He’s got great vision, good field work, and he’s got that creativity and technique and ability to finish so it was nice to see him let one go.”
The Porters scored in the fifth minute to take the early 1-0 lead.
Kezie Nwachukwu found some space inside the box, heading home a cross for the score.
Lockport’s momentum was hurt by a delay early in the game. After lightning was spotted in the area in the ninth minute, the teams had to wait out a half hour break.
Minooka evened things at 1-1 in the 24th when Porters goalkeeper Jacob Krawczyk misread a ball from about 25 yards out.
The ball spun off Krawczyk’s hands and ricocheted behind him, avoiding his diving, last-ditch effort to stop it just before it crossed the goal line for the equalizer.
Krawczyk held off Minooka in the second half, allowing on one goal, which he had no chance to prevent.
The senior finished with seven saves, including a final one at the buzzer to boost Lockport’s confidence with an overdue victory.
“We’re really excited for that win,” Dilger said. “I think we’re going to go on a little run hopefully. We haven’t been scoring lately so getting three big goals, three quality goals this game, is huge.”
The Porters had scored only three goals in their last three games including a 0-0 deadlock with host Lemont. Like many teams, Lockport has used the early season to try to develop some consistency.
“We can work things out, see different formations and different guys to see how we all fit in and play together,” Dilger said. “There’s plenty more games to go, and things are starting to click from here.”
One win and three draws over the tournament lends some perspective as to where the Porters sit, both schematically and personnel-wise, according to Beal.
“Playing an early tournament like this is so important in terms of analyzing what our strengths are, what are weaknesses are, if our system’s going to work or if we need to tweak our system; can our players play this position or are they stronger in other areas,” Beal said. “It’s so important to play these early tournaments since it really teaches a lot going forward. We’ve got conference play and postseason which is where it really counts. We enjoy these early tournaments.”
Lockport will seek its first win of the season against a team not named Minooka when it returns to action on Wednesday when it takes on Romeoville on the road. The Porters downed Minooka 2-1 in the Porters season-opener Aug. 26.
Magallanes said that his team’s improvement from that first game is evident.
“I feel like this tournament is more for preparation,” Magallanes said. “We didn’t have the best tournament but we’ve been improving each and every game and working with the players has been good every day.”
Starting lineup
LOCKPORT
GK Jacob Krawczyk
D Charles Garcia
D Brian Moore
D Kezie Nwachukwu
M Jack Dilger
M Zac Stojak
M Drake Silver
M Jose Magallanes
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Nicholas Calderara
F Thomas Calderaro
Man of the Match: Jose Magallanes, MF, Lockport
tie string, defeats Minooka 3-2
Undefeated Porters win 5th place game at Lemont Cup
By Derek Wolff
LEMONT --Twice Lockport went one-up on Minooka and twice the Indians came back to tie things up on Saturday afternoon in the fifth place match of the Lemont Cup.
After three-straight ties in the tournament, the Porters’ Jose Magallanes would have no more of that.
The senior midfielder barreled into the box in the 75th minute, timed a leap perfectly and met a cross from the right side in mid-flight that he headed in for the game-winner to give the Porters a 3-2 victory.
“We’ve been coming out of a few ties so you’ve just got to put all of that effort in the last few minutes to make sure you get that victory,” said Magallanes, who was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
Lockport coach Chris Beal said the play was perfectly executed.
“We’ve tied the last three games so once it got back to 2-2 we were really frustrated,” Beal said.
“We tried to push people forward, we wanted to go for the win. It’s something we’ve been working on in practice, get the ball wide, get the crosses in. When you have players making that late run into the box that’s what happens. When Jose (Magallanes) did that it was nice that we got the winning goal.”
The deciding goal negated what had been a solid second half from Minooka, which went into the break tied at 1-1 despite being thoroughly outclassed and out-chanced.
The Indians scored on a free kick from just outside the 18 in the 60th minute to level things at 2-2, with the ball redirecting off the Porters’ defensive wall and in.
The second equalizer came after Lockport senior midfielder Jack Dilger broke the deadlock early in the second half to give the Porters another lead.
Dilger took a pass just above midfield in the 43rd minute, cut back and lofted a beautiful left-footed shot that arched through and hit the upper 90 to put the Porters (2-0-3) one-up for the second time.
“Kezie (Nwachukwu) was dribbling at speed right in the middle of the field, and I waited for him to send the ball through,” Dilger said. “I was going to take it righty, on my right foot, but I decided to cut back and saw a big opening. I just went for the shot.”
Dilger was rewarded by Beal with the all-tournament-team award after the match.
“Jack’s got that ability,” Beal explained. “He’s got great technique, and I think he’s been wanting to play in a more advanced position. He can play anywhere in the center midfield. We’ve put him up as a forward because we know what he can do. He’s got great vision, good field work, and he’s got that creativity and technique and ability to finish so it was nice to see him let one go.”
The Porters scored in the fifth minute to take the early 1-0 lead.
Kezie Nwachukwu found some space inside the box, heading home a cross for the score.
Lockport’s momentum was hurt by a delay early in the game. After lightning was spotted in the area in the ninth minute, the teams had to wait out a half hour break.
Minooka evened things at 1-1 in the 24th when Porters goalkeeper Jacob Krawczyk misread a ball from about 25 yards out.
The ball spun off Krawczyk’s hands and ricocheted behind him, avoiding his diving, last-ditch effort to stop it just before it crossed the goal line for the equalizer.
Krawczyk held off Minooka in the second half, allowing on one goal, which he had no chance to prevent.
The senior finished with seven saves, including a final one at the buzzer to boost Lockport’s confidence with an overdue victory.
“We’re really excited for that win,” Dilger said. “I think we’re going to go on a little run hopefully. We haven’t been scoring lately so getting three big goals, three quality goals this game, is huge.”
The Porters had scored only three goals in their last three games including a 0-0 deadlock with host Lemont. Like many teams, Lockport has used the early season to try to develop some consistency.
“We can work things out, see different formations and different guys to see how we all fit in and play together,” Dilger said. “There’s plenty more games to go, and things are starting to click from here.”
One win and three draws over the tournament lends some perspective as to where the Porters sit, both schematically and personnel-wise, according to Beal.
“Playing an early tournament like this is so important in terms of analyzing what our strengths are, what are weaknesses are, if our system’s going to work or if we need to tweak our system; can our players play this position or are they stronger in other areas,” Beal said. “It’s so important to play these early tournaments since it really teaches a lot going forward. We’ve got conference play and postseason which is where it really counts. We enjoy these early tournaments.”
Lockport will seek its first win of the season against a team not named Minooka when it returns to action on Wednesday when it takes on Romeoville on the road. The Porters downed Minooka 2-1 in the Porters season-opener Aug. 26.
Magallanes said that his team’s improvement from that first game is evident.
“I feel like this tournament is more for preparation,” Magallanes said. “We didn’t have the best tournament but we’ve been improving each and every game and working with the players has been good every day.”
Starting lineup
LOCKPORT
GK Jacob Krawczyk
D Charles Garcia
D Brian Moore
D Kezie Nwachukwu
M Jack Dilger
M Zac Stojak
M Drake Silver
M Jose Magallanes
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Nicholas Calderara
F Thomas Calderaro
Man of the Match: Jose Magallanes, MF, Lockport