Lyons works overtime to top
Libertyville for PepsiCo title
Lions come back to win 2-1 in 2 OT for 2nd cola crown
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Slightly more than a minute remained to be played before the PepsiCo Showdown championship game went to penalty kicks, or the ultimate in chance. Meanwhile, Lyons' Adrian Valadez torqued his body to make sure he was not offsides.
Working a sharp 2-on-1 with midfielder Charles Hall, Valadez collected the ball on the right wing as Libertyville freshman keeper Thomas Pearson jumped off the line to try and cut off the Lion's superior angle.
Everything favored Valadez.
"I saw the back of the net and the goalkeeper coming at me," he said. "I put the ball in the back of the net with my foot."
The senior forward cut the ball past the the fast-rushing Pearson and watched it slide inside the near post in the 89th minute as the Lions, ranked no. 7 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, completed the dramatic comeback with the 2-1 double overtime victory for the title in front of an estimated crowd of 600 Sunday at Wish Field on the Lincoln Park campus of DePaul University.
Valadez earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match distinction for his championship finish.
Lyons (10-3-1) overcame a late 1-0 deficit to win its first Pepsi tournament title since the 2012 side beat Morton. Lyons avenged its 2011 title loss against the Wildcats, as well as last year's runner-up finish to Morton on penalty kicks.
"I looked to the sidelines to see if I was ... off, but I wasn't," Valadez said. "I put my body in the right position, and I just did it."
After Hall slotted the ball to the streaking Valadez, he was calm and composed as he deftly advanced the ball. "I've scored many goals like that," he said. "The play just came to me, and I had to put it in the back of the net.
"I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss."
The two programs came into the title game hungry. Both were coming off difficult shutout losses against elite competition after Hinsdale Central beat the Lions 2-0 and Warren administered a 1-0 defeat of the Wildcats.
A scoreless first half witnessed the teams trading some dominant runs. Lyons failed to convert on a throw in that saw Libertyville starting keeper Brant Kym out of position only for the Lions to miss the open net. "I thought we played very well the first 25 minutes, and we could have scored one or two goals there," Nick Economou said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to do that, but we were still able to come back."
Libertyville (8-3-0) strung together some sharp combination and counter actions in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Midfielder Nate Edmunds was typically dangerous on set pieces. "Fortunately our defenders were able to win the balls in the air, but there were definitely a lot of them," Lyons keeper Donald Darrus said.
The Wildcats, ranked fourth in the latest Chicagoland Soccer poll, survived the Lions' early onslaught and staged some striking runs of their own. "The atmosphere was unlike anything I've ever experienced as an athlete who's played the game my entire life," Edmunds said. "Having our whole school there watching the game was incredible."
Libertyville broke through in the 64th minute as Edmunds worked the left edge and delivered a blistering ball that Darrus made a lunging stop. The ball repelled toward a streaking freshman forward Ryan Wittenbrink for the tap in rebound. "It was a learning experience," Libertyville midfielder Kevin Reilly said. "I thought we played a great game, and so did the other team. They finished their chances and we didn't get on the end of ours.
"After we scored all of our confidence went up. I thought we controlled the game pretty well after our goal, but after they put in on their goal things just leveled out and it was a constant battle."
Lyons has made a dramatic habit of coming back from deficits. The Lions trailed Burlington Central with 25 minutes remaining in the first round play before rallying for three goals. "Our motto is we don't panic," Economou said.
After several tantalizing balls hit the post or were pushed wide, the Lions created the equalizer in the 68th minute as Economou elevated and flicked a header off an Isaiah Nieves service from just inside midfield. "The ball was played perfectly to the front post and I was just lucky to be there," Economou said. "I put it in a spot where the keeper couldn't get it."
Lyons coach Paul Labbato said the team's focus has sharpened when confronting a deficit. The team has played high level competition and is prepared for any exigency. "There's strong leadership on the team and a lot of belief that we can come come back.
"Also we have played in a lot of big games. When we hit a groove in the second half we're pretty difficult to stop."
Economou credited a formation change from a 4-3-3 to a more offensively-directed 3-5-2 "We've gotten more chances and defensively we haven't had a problem with any teams switching from four defenders to three," he said.
Just 1:14 remained in the second five-minute overtime before Valadez ended the game. Sixth-seed Libertyville was disappointed by the outcome though spirited by its own grit, toughness and discipline. "We have played eight games in two weeks, and we're a little tired," Libertyville coach Andrew Bitta said.
"We'll go back to the drawing board and work on a few things we saw in the video and get better. Every one of our losses this year has been to a ranked team. The effort we gave was tremendous, and I'm very proud of the boys."
Starting lineups
Libertyville
GK: Brant Kym
D: Michael Quigley
D: Daniel Marks
D: Grant Widmark
D: Christian Long
M: Kevin Reilly
M: Nate Edmunds
M: Liam O'Connell
M: Tucker Goebeler
F: Ryan Wittenbrink
F: Jacob Rasmussen
Lyons
GK: Donald Darrus
D: Nick Economou
D: John Mazur
D: Devin Ekstam
M: Alex Contreras
M: Adrian Valadez
M: Camillo Drobny
M: Aaron Onion
M: Dylan Jones
F: Isaiah Nieves
F: Diego Lopez
Man of the Match: Adrian Valadez, MF, Lyons
Libertyville for PepsiCo title
Lions come back to win 2-1 in 2 OT for 2nd cola crown
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Slightly more than a minute remained to be played before the PepsiCo Showdown championship game went to penalty kicks, or the ultimate in chance. Meanwhile, Lyons' Adrian Valadez torqued his body to make sure he was not offsides.
Working a sharp 2-on-1 with midfielder Charles Hall, Valadez collected the ball on the right wing as Libertyville freshman keeper Thomas Pearson jumped off the line to try and cut off the Lion's superior angle.
Everything favored Valadez.
"I saw the back of the net and the goalkeeper coming at me," he said. "I put the ball in the back of the net with my foot."
The senior forward cut the ball past the the fast-rushing Pearson and watched it slide inside the near post in the 89th minute as the Lions, ranked no. 7 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, completed the dramatic comeback with the 2-1 double overtime victory for the title in front of an estimated crowd of 600 Sunday at Wish Field on the Lincoln Park campus of DePaul University.
Valadez earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match distinction for his championship finish.
Lyons (10-3-1) overcame a late 1-0 deficit to win its first Pepsi tournament title since the 2012 side beat Morton. Lyons avenged its 2011 title loss against the Wildcats, as well as last year's runner-up finish to Morton on penalty kicks.
"I looked to the sidelines to see if I was ... off, but I wasn't," Valadez said. "I put my body in the right position, and I just did it."
After Hall slotted the ball to the streaking Valadez, he was calm and composed as he deftly advanced the ball. "I've scored many goals like that," he said. "The play just came to me, and I had to put it in the back of the net.
"I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss."
The two programs came into the title game hungry. Both were coming off difficult shutout losses against elite competition after Hinsdale Central beat the Lions 2-0 and Warren administered a 1-0 defeat of the Wildcats.
A scoreless first half witnessed the teams trading some dominant runs. Lyons failed to convert on a throw in that saw Libertyville starting keeper Brant Kym out of position only for the Lions to miss the open net. "I thought we played very well the first 25 minutes, and we could have scored one or two goals there," Nick Economou said. "Unfortunately we weren't able to do that, but we were still able to come back."
Libertyville (8-3-0) strung together some sharp combination and counter actions in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Midfielder Nate Edmunds was typically dangerous on set pieces. "Fortunately our defenders were able to win the balls in the air, but there were definitely a lot of them," Lyons keeper Donald Darrus said.
The Wildcats, ranked fourth in the latest Chicagoland Soccer poll, survived the Lions' early onslaught and staged some striking runs of their own. "The atmosphere was unlike anything I've ever experienced as an athlete who's played the game my entire life," Edmunds said. "Having our whole school there watching the game was incredible."
Libertyville broke through in the 64th minute as Edmunds worked the left edge and delivered a blistering ball that Darrus made a lunging stop. The ball repelled toward a streaking freshman forward Ryan Wittenbrink for the tap in rebound. "It was a learning experience," Libertyville midfielder Kevin Reilly said. "I thought we played a great game, and so did the other team. They finished their chances and we didn't get on the end of ours.
"After we scored all of our confidence went up. I thought we controlled the game pretty well after our goal, but after they put in on their goal things just leveled out and it was a constant battle."
Lyons has made a dramatic habit of coming back from deficits. The Lions trailed Burlington Central with 25 minutes remaining in the first round play before rallying for three goals. "Our motto is we don't panic," Economou said.
After several tantalizing balls hit the post or were pushed wide, the Lions created the equalizer in the 68th minute as Economou elevated and flicked a header off an Isaiah Nieves service from just inside midfield. "The ball was played perfectly to the front post and I was just lucky to be there," Economou said. "I put it in a spot where the keeper couldn't get it."
Lyons coach Paul Labbato said the team's focus has sharpened when confronting a deficit. The team has played high level competition and is prepared for any exigency. "There's strong leadership on the team and a lot of belief that we can come come back.
"Also we have played in a lot of big games. When we hit a groove in the second half we're pretty difficult to stop."
Economou credited a formation change from a 4-3-3 to a more offensively-directed 3-5-2 "We've gotten more chances and defensively we haven't had a problem with any teams switching from four defenders to three," he said.
Just 1:14 remained in the second five-minute overtime before Valadez ended the game. Sixth-seed Libertyville was disappointed by the outcome though spirited by its own grit, toughness and discipline. "We have played eight games in two weeks, and we're a little tired," Libertyville coach Andrew Bitta said.
"We'll go back to the drawing board and work on a few things we saw in the video and get better. Every one of our losses this year has been to a ranked team. The effort we gave was tremendous, and I'm very proud of the boys."
Starting lineups
Libertyville
GK: Brant Kym
D: Michael Quigley
D: Daniel Marks
D: Grant Widmark
D: Christian Long
M: Kevin Reilly
M: Nate Edmunds
M: Liam O'Connell
M: Tucker Goebeler
F: Ryan Wittenbrink
F: Jacob Rasmussen
Lyons
GK: Donald Darrus
D: Nick Economou
D: John Mazur
D: Devin Ekstam
M: Alex Contreras
M: Adrian Valadez
M: Camillo Drobny
M: Aaron Onion
M: Dylan Jones
F: Isaiah Nieves
F: Diego Lopez
Man of the Match: Adrian Valadez, MF, Lyons