Neuqua Valley's run of goals
puts away Lake Park
Wildcats score 3 in row to take control in DVC match
By Ken Keenan
ROSELLE -- Quick as lightning, Neuqua Valley struck for a 1-0 lead exactly 1 minute into its match at Lake Park Thursday night. Seven minutes later, lightning struck back and play in the DuPage Valley Conference game was restarted late Friday afternoon.
When play resumed, the Lancers needed only 5 minutes to knot the ledger at 1-1, but the Wildcats then scored three-straight goals en route to a 4-2 win. Oddly enough, both teams agreed that restarting the match a day later with Neuqua Valley up 1-0 -- and nearly eight minutes already off the clock -- initially favored Lake Park.
"Coming back with the 1-0 lead, it almost worked against us," said Neuqua Valley head coach Arnoldo Gonzalez. "Now you come in and it's counter-productive because (the Lancers) know what we were gonna do. But we able to get the second goal and switch momentum back our way."
Lake Park junior defender Sebastian Glodz said, "We were more mentally ready, and physically (on Friday). We knew we were down 1-0, so we had to come out strongly."
That's what Neuqua Valley did Thursday. Sneaking in on the left side in the first minute, junior forward Daniel Costea blasted a shot off the left post, and then watched as the rebound ping-ponged directly to junior forward William Heniades, who fired the ball in low to the far post with an even 39:00 showing on the clock.
With 32:48 remaining, the stadium was cleared as lightning flashed in the western sky. A sun-splashed field awaited the teams on Friday, and this time it was the Lancers who came out flying.
"We came out a little flat on Thursday," said Lancers head coach Sean Crosby, whose team fell to 6-9-2 overall and 2-3-2 in DVC play with the loss. "Mentally, we were not able to match Neuqua Valley. (Friday), there were no excuses not to know what (the Wildcats) were gonna bring. And we brought a little change in the way we were playing. We were able to counter, and Jesus (Juarez) did a good job holding the ball up on the attack and combining with our midfielders."
After a deep throw-in by Lake Park senior defender Jack Fischer was deflected wide of the Wildcats' cage, the resulting corner-kick by senior midfielder Alessandro Montes was deflected into the net by sophomore forward Jesus Juarez, forging a 1-1 tie with 27:49 to go in the first half.
"We knew we had to come in much stronger (on Friday)," Montes said. "Our plan was to get the first goal, and we did."
Neuqua Valley regained the lead seven minutes later, when junior mid Parker Domschke expertly headed in senior middie Calum Nettleton's corner-kick past Lancers' sophomore goalkeeper Christian Lekki.
"Lake Park came out harder at the beginning (on Friday)," Nettleton said. "But we started putting it together."
The Lancers had a glorious opportunity to even the score in the 25th minute. Juarez, who began a multi-touch possession after a steal, fired a left-footed, 25-yard rocket that rattled off the corner of the crossbar and the left post before bounding out of harm's way.
With 10 minutes left before the break, Lake Park sophomore midfielder Andrew Eliopolous finished another multi-touch sequence with a hard shot from the right side that Wildcats' senior keeper Brandon Hartsock stopped.
"We were sending the ball in and using the middle," Glodz said.
Heniades, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, then gave Neuqua Valley a 3-1 halftime lead when he tipped in a long-ball -- sent by senior mid Joshua Kolzow -- with 3:20 left before the break.
"We found our groove again," Heniades said. "(Lake Park's) chemistry started to break down (at 3-1), and we just kept attacking to get (the ball) in the net."
The Wildcats carried the momentum into the second half, outpossessing the Lancers for long stretches of time. With 33:25 to go, Neuqua Valley senior mid Michael Hammond fired just high from a wide angle on the right side, and Lekki nabbed a header by senior mid Emerson Beinhauer with 32:50 showing.
A minute later, Heniades missed high from in close. In the 55th minute, Lekki stopped Nettleton from 30 yards, and Lekki then made a juggling save to rob Nettleton with 23:15 remaining.
"We really wanted to keep pressure at all times," said Wildcats' senior defender Edon Kosova. "We did our part -- capitalize on mistakes and get in their heads."
Neuqua Valley increased the margin to a 4-1 bulge when a free-kick by Nettleton was headed inside the left post by diving senior defender Spencer Wiese with 10:16 to go.
"At halftime, I said, 'Play like you're losing,' and they did," Gonzalez said. "I was very pleased with our possessions ... not giving Lake Park time to think."
Added Nettleton: "If you're up by two at halftime, and they get one, it's a one-goal game. If you get that third and fourth goal, it's hard for the other team to come back."
The Lancers cut the lead to 4-2 on a penalty-kick by Montes in the 75th minute after a foul in the box. Montes shot left, while Hartsock guessed right. But the home team never really threatened again.
"(The Wildcats) were pressing hard," Montes said. "We were trying to move the ball, but we couldn't move it as fast as they did. We got a frustrated a little bit. They got us out of our game."
Crosby said, "Neuqua Valley was aggressive all game. They were doing a good job moving off the ball. They were knocking it and moving it. At halftime we said, 'Battle and keep focus on what we can control.' It was nice to see us battle, and busting our tails to get a PK at the end was a great way to respond."
Added Montes: "Our goal is to never lose focus. Sometimes it happens, but when we are focused, we're on our game. We're gonna take the positives from this game, and maintain that heading into the playoffs."
The Wildcats, in the midst of a solid 5-1-3 stretch, are starting to focus on the impending state tournament as well.
"We needed to win this game to keep the streak going and get momentum going into the playoffs," Heniades said.
Kosova added: "We're starting to see our true lineup. We're getting chemistry, and we want to build on that as the playoffs get closer."
Starting lineups
Neuqua Valley
G: Brandon Hartsock
D: Spencer Wiese
D: Daniel Laverde
D: Ben Mark
D: Edon Kosova
M: Emerson Beinhauer
M: Joshua Kolzow
M: Calum Nettleton
M: Michael Hammond
F: William Heniades
F: Daniel Costea
Lake Park
G: Christian Lekki
D: Max Ellenbecker
D: Jack Fischer
D: Sebastian Glodz
D: Tom Zakic
M: Lorenzo Costa
M: Matteo Costa
M: Andrew Eliopoulos
M: Alessandro Montes
F: Jesus Juarez
F: Franco Presta
Man of the Match: William Heniades, F, Neuqua Valley
Officials: Tom Guidara, Bob Crumrine, Thomas Fryc
puts away Lake Park
Wildcats score 3 in row to take control in DVC match
By Ken Keenan
ROSELLE -- Quick as lightning, Neuqua Valley struck for a 1-0 lead exactly 1 minute into its match at Lake Park Thursday night. Seven minutes later, lightning struck back and play in the DuPage Valley Conference game was restarted late Friday afternoon.
When play resumed, the Lancers needed only 5 minutes to knot the ledger at 1-1, but the Wildcats then scored three-straight goals en route to a 4-2 win. Oddly enough, both teams agreed that restarting the match a day later with Neuqua Valley up 1-0 -- and nearly eight minutes already off the clock -- initially favored Lake Park.
"Coming back with the 1-0 lead, it almost worked against us," said Neuqua Valley head coach Arnoldo Gonzalez. "Now you come in and it's counter-productive because (the Lancers) know what we were gonna do. But we able to get the second goal and switch momentum back our way."
Lake Park junior defender Sebastian Glodz said, "We were more mentally ready, and physically (on Friday). We knew we were down 1-0, so we had to come out strongly."
That's what Neuqua Valley did Thursday. Sneaking in on the left side in the first minute, junior forward Daniel Costea blasted a shot off the left post, and then watched as the rebound ping-ponged directly to junior forward William Heniades, who fired the ball in low to the far post with an even 39:00 showing on the clock.
With 32:48 remaining, the stadium was cleared as lightning flashed in the western sky. A sun-splashed field awaited the teams on Friday, and this time it was the Lancers who came out flying.
"We came out a little flat on Thursday," said Lancers head coach Sean Crosby, whose team fell to 6-9-2 overall and 2-3-2 in DVC play with the loss. "Mentally, we were not able to match Neuqua Valley. (Friday), there were no excuses not to know what (the Wildcats) were gonna bring. And we brought a little change in the way we were playing. We were able to counter, and Jesus (Juarez) did a good job holding the ball up on the attack and combining with our midfielders."
After a deep throw-in by Lake Park senior defender Jack Fischer was deflected wide of the Wildcats' cage, the resulting corner-kick by senior midfielder Alessandro Montes was deflected into the net by sophomore forward Jesus Juarez, forging a 1-1 tie with 27:49 to go in the first half.
"We knew we had to come in much stronger (on Friday)," Montes said. "Our plan was to get the first goal, and we did."
Neuqua Valley regained the lead seven minutes later, when junior mid Parker Domschke expertly headed in senior middie Calum Nettleton's corner-kick past Lancers' sophomore goalkeeper Christian Lekki.
"Lake Park came out harder at the beginning (on Friday)," Nettleton said. "But we started putting it together."
The Lancers had a glorious opportunity to even the score in the 25th minute. Juarez, who began a multi-touch possession after a steal, fired a left-footed, 25-yard rocket that rattled off the corner of the crossbar and the left post before bounding out of harm's way.
With 10 minutes left before the break, Lake Park sophomore midfielder Andrew Eliopolous finished another multi-touch sequence with a hard shot from the right side that Wildcats' senior keeper Brandon Hartsock stopped.
"We were sending the ball in and using the middle," Glodz said.
Heniades, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, then gave Neuqua Valley a 3-1 halftime lead when he tipped in a long-ball -- sent by senior mid Joshua Kolzow -- with 3:20 left before the break.
"We found our groove again," Heniades said. "(Lake Park's) chemistry started to break down (at 3-1), and we just kept attacking to get (the ball) in the net."
The Wildcats carried the momentum into the second half, outpossessing the Lancers for long stretches of time. With 33:25 to go, Neuqua Valley senior mid Michael Hammond fired just high from a wide angle on the right side, and Lekki nabbed a header by senior mid Emerson Beinhauer with 32:50 showing.
A minute later, Heniades missed high from in close. In the 55th minute, Lekki stopped Nettleton from 30 yards, and Lekki then made a juggling save to rob Nettleton with 23:15 remaining.
"We really wanted to keep pressure at all times," said Wildcats' senior defender Edon Kosova. "We did our part -- capitalize on mistakes and get in their heads."
Neuqua Valley increased the margin to a 4-1 bulge when a free-kick by Nettleton was headed inside the left post by diving senior defender Spencer Wiese with 10:16 to go.
"At halftime, I said, 'Play like you're losing,' and they did," Gonzalez said. "I was very pleased with our possessions ... not giving Lake Park time to think."
Added Nettleton: "If you're up by two at halftime, and they get one, it's a one-goal game. If you get that third and fourth goal, it's hard for the other team to come back."
The Lancers cut the lead to 4-2 on a penalty-kick by Montes in the 75th minute after a foul in the box. Montes shot left, while Hartsock guessed right. But the home team never really threatened again.
"(The Wildcats) were pressing hard," Montes said. "We were trying to move the ball, but we couldn't move it as fast as they did. We got a frustrated a little bit. They got us out of our game."
Crosby said, "Neuqua Valley was aggressive all game. They were doing a good job moving off the ball. They were knocking it and moving it. At halftime we said, 'Battle and keep focus on what we can control.' It was nice to see us battle, and busting our tails to get a PK at the end was a great way to respond."
Added Montes: "Our goal is to never lose focus. Sometimes it happens, but when we are focused, we're on our game. We're gonna take the positives from this game, and maintain that heading into the playoffs."
The Wildcats, in the midst of a solid 5-1-3 stretch, are starting to focus on the impending state tournament as well.
"We needed to win this game to keep the streak going and get momentum going into the playoffs," Heniades said.
Kosova added: "We're starting to see our true lineup. We're getting chemistry, and we want to build on that as the playoffs get closer."
Starting lineups
Neuqua Valley
G: Brandon Hartsock
D: Spencer Wiese
D: Daniel Laverde
D: Ben Mark
D: Edon Kosova
M: Emerson Beinhauer
M: Joshua Kolzow
M: Calum Nettleton
M: Michael Hammond
F: William Heniades
F: Daniel Costea
Lake Park
G: Christian Lekki
D: Max Ellenbecker
D: Jack Fischer
D: Sebastian Glodz
D: Tom Zakic
M: Lorenzo Costa
M: Matteo Costa
M: Andrew Eliopoulos
M: Alessandro Montes
F: Jesus Juarez
F: Franco Presta
Man of the Match: William Heniades, F, Neuqua Valley
Officials: Tom Guidara, Bob Crumrine, Thomas Fryc