New formation helps healthier Oswego East blank St. Francis
Waclaw, Magana score twice in Wolves’ fourth straight win
By Bill Stone
WHEATON -- When Oswego East senior forward Michael Waclaw gains possession of the ball, he becomes energized.
“I try to take it forward so that it gets the defense a little more time to prepare and rest and just taking the space so other players can move into it,” Waclaw said.
Plenty of enthusiasm, a healthy lineup and a new formation was a productive combination for the Wolves in the first half of their 4-0 victory Thursday at St. Francis.
Waclaw, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, had the second and third goals for Oswego East (5-3-2) in building a 3-0 halftime advantage.
The Wolves then withstood an offensive barrage by the Spartans (2-5-0) in the final 40 minutes, primarily from leading scorer Leo Herard, to record their second shutout this season while adding a second tally by senior Manuel Magana. Senior Tristan Stewart assisted the last three goals and junior reserve Ford Frazer the first.
Oswego East now has won four straight and is undefeated in its last eight (5-1-2).
“We’ve probably been the most consistent so far this year, just the most effective on offense and finishing for sure,” Waclaw said.
“I think the first 10 minutes we were kind of settling in and then we were able to move the ball and were able to attack, put the pedal to the metal you could say,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “That was really nice to see.”
The second half belonged to St. Francis but to no avail. The Spartans had 17 shots in the second half (9 on goal) but junior goalie Nathan Huerter and senior backup Xavier Pacheco were up to the task. Oswego East senior defender Dawson Johnson also made two saves at the goal line that otherwise would have made it a one-goal game at the time.
St. Francis finished leading 23-16 in shots (12-9 on goal) and 8-4 in corner kicks with all eight in the second half.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit with our offense. I’m sitting here at the 4-0 loss and I’m not really totally disappointed at the way we moved the ball and with our effort,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said.
“I’ll take 23 shots every game. Two ought to at least go in. We should at least score one goal for every 10 shots. That’s kind of what the stat is. It didn’t happen. That’s the game.”
One big reason for the Wolves’ success was that their full lineup was intact for the first time since their 3-3 tie with Hinsdale Central Aug. 29.
Waclaw, Stewart and Kyle Blasingame have been sidelined at various times. Starting defender Joseph Bavol suffered a second-half shoulder injury Thursday but Szymanski said the initial diagnosis was fairly positive.
The team’s first two games were losses to defending Class 3A state champion and currently No. 4-ranked Naperville North 2-0 Aug. 22 and honorable mention Waubonsie Valley 2-1 Aug. 24. Nine of the team’s 18 goals allowed were in back-to-back games against Downers Grove South (5-0 loss Sept. 2) and Romeoville (5-4 in penalty kicks Sept. 5) when Stewart and Blasingame were sidelined.
“Our beginning of the year schedule is one of the tougher in the area, but I don’t want to play cupcake teams. I don’t think we started off bad this year. We just didn’t get wins,” Szymanski said.
“Obviously, (Stewart and Blasingame) do a good job controlling the midfield, not only offensively, but I think they do a good job of stopping the other team’s attack as well.”
The midfield especially rose to the occasion Thursday. Using a new formation, the Wolves opted going with three rather than two forwards (Waclaw, Magana and senior Ryan Aten) with the tradeoff of three instead of four midfielders.
“I attribute (our offense) all of it to three forwards that we’ve been playing a little bit. We train hard in practice. And I give credit to my coach for trying a new formation today,” Waclaw said. “I would say that we mostly we just checked in and played the ball, a little less selfishness. We just kept the ball moving, got down the field quickly and countered.”
Magana scored with 23:16 left in the first half as he converted a quick pass from Frazer after the Spartans were unable to clear senior central defender Mitch Hlavacek’s sidelines throw into the crease. Frazer entered the game 90 seconds earlier for junior outside midfielder Nolan Laczynski.
Waclaw scored first 15:19 before halftime after controlling a lead pass from Stewart down the right sideline. Waclaw cut back and dribbled right along the football line from 24 yards out and then quickly unleashed a left-footed blast that found the lower left corner of the net.
Waclaw struck again 4:04 before halftime as he sprinted to secure Stewart’s lead pass and tapped the ball past a charging Ryan Scharf.
“(Waclaw is) so quick with the ball at his feet,” Szymanski said. “We do have a lot of guys returning but in key spots they’re in different roles and different positions.”
With a balanced attack, Oswego East now has scored 36 goals. Manuel has eight and
Waclaw and Stewart seven apiece. Aten has six assists with five now by Stewart, who rejoined the program this season after remaining in club soccer the past two years.
The entire defensive line consists of newcomers. Johnson has played midfield his first three seasons in the program.
“We’ve been working a lot on defense because we have a decent amount of new players (there),” Johnson said. “We have a lot of returning players (overall). We have a lot of new players, too, so I feel like as the season’s been going on we’ve been getting going as a team, getting more chemistry together and it showed today on the field.”
If not for Johnson, the Spartans certainly would have scored.
In the 30th minute, Herard headed a ball put to the right of the goal by Ethan Grosam from 41 yards out. Herard’s attempt was past Huerter towards the left side of the net, but Johnson was on the end line to get the ball out.
Only two minutes into the second half, Herard got the ball in the crease, passed to nearby Nicholas Gulli, but Johnson was there to block the shot, which Huerter also grazed.
“I’m usually the guy on the team that I always ask my goalies where they want me to drop. On that little crosser, (Huerter) told me back post,” Johnson said. “I heard that (Herard) was really good so I had a feeling that he was going to somehow chip it over the goalie so I just anticipated and ran there. The second one, the same thing. I just thought it was going to go there and it did.”
Johnson’s first save was not without slight controversy for many Spartans, especially with the officiating crew down one.
“The talk was that (my players) thought the ball was in,” Ward said. “Now I didn’t have an angle. They said it was in. It was a tough spot for (the officials) to go see it, too, having a two-man system. I don’t know. It didn’t make a difference. We didn’t score, but maybe it would have opened it up for us a little bit.”
“I think that (either converted chance) would have definitely changed the dynamic,” added St. Francis sophomore Frank Marsico. “That would have definitely given us a lot more confidence.”
In the 33rd minute, Herard took a pass from Marsico at the 25 and again appeared to have beaten Huerter. The ball loudly struck the center of the crossbar and was cleared out.
About one minute later, Scharf made a diving save on Stewart’s free kick from the 26.
With just less than eight minutes left, St. Francis senior Ryan Pennington took a pass from Herard and blasted a ball that forced Pacheco to make a one-hand push save over the net.
“We came out with the same intensity (in the second half), but I feel like they came out with a little bit more than we were expecting,” Johnson said. “We have to talk a little bit more but after the game started rolling we started to realize what they were trying to do and we shut that down pretty well.”
Herard had nine shots and Gulli and Marsico each had three. Junior Sean Conley contributed five shots at goal.
“Overall it was good. We were taking a lot of shots. Overall the offense was not too bad today. We just had some unlucky plays,” Marsico said.
“We played well. We’ve got to put some balls in the back of the net. We definitely had more shots than them. I think everyone played hard. I think we’ve just got to keep our heads up to the next game.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK: Nathan Huerter
D: Zachary Lass
D: Mitch Hlavacek
D: Dawson Johnson
D: Joseph Bavol
M: Nolan Laczynski
M: Tristan Stewart
M: Kyle Blasingame
F: Michael Waclaw
F: Manuel Magana
F: Ryan Aten
St. Francis
GK: 1 Ryan Scharf
D: 24 Jack Hartle
D: 14 Henry Roback
D: 31 Trey Gora
D: 5 Jacob Power
M: 13 Sean Conley
M: 44 Ethan Grosam
M: 20 Frank Marsico
M: 16 Nicholas Gulli
M: 7 Ryan Pennington
F: 17 Leo Herard
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Waclaw, sr. F, Oswego East
Waclaw, Magana score twice in Wolves’ fourth straight win
By Bill Stone
WHEATON -- When Oswego East senior forward Michael Waclaw gains possession of the ball, he becomes energized.
“I try to take it forward so that it gets the defense a little more time to prepare and rest and just taking the space so other players can move into it,” Waclaw said.
Plenty of enthusiasm, a healthy lineup and a new formation was a productive combination for the Wolves in the first half of their 4-0 victory Thursday at St. Francis.
Waclaw, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, had the second and third goals for Oswego East (5-3-2) in building a 3-0 halftime advantage.
The Wolves then withstood an offensive barrage by the Spartans (2-5-0) in the final 40 minutes, primarily from leading scorer Leo Herard, to record their second shutout this season while adding a second tally by senior Manuel Magana. Senior Tristan Stewart assisted the last three goals and junior reserve Ford Frazer the first.
Oswego East now has won four straight and is undefeated in its last eight (5-1-2).
“We’ve probably been the most consistent so far this year, just the most effective on offense and finishing for sure,” Waclaw said.
“I think the first 10 minutes we were kind of settling in and then we were able to move the ball and were able to attack, put the pedal to the metal you could say,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “That was really nice to see.”
The second half belonged to St. Francis but to no avail. The Spartans had 17 shots in the second half (9 on goal) but junior goalie Nathan Huerter and senior backup Xavier Pacheco were up to the task. Oswego East senior defender Dawson Johnson also made two saves at the goal line that otherwise would have made it a one-goal game at the time.
St. Francis finished leading 23-16 in shots (12-9 on goal) and 8-4 in corner kicks with all eight in the second half.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit with our offense. I’m sitting here at the 4-0 loss and I’m not really totally disappointed at the way we moved the ball and with our effort,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said.
“I’ll take 23 shots every game. Two ought to at least go in. We should at least score one goal for every 10 shots. That’s kind of what the stat is. It didn’t happen. That’s the game.”
One big reason for the Wolves’ success was that their full lineup was intact for the first time since their 3-3 tie with Hinsdale Central Aug. 29.
Waclaw, Stewart and Kyle Blasingame have been sidelined at various times. Starting defender Joseph Bavol suffered a second-half shoulder injury Thursday but Szymanski said the initial diagnosis was fairly positive.
The team’s first two games were losses to defending Class 3A state champion and currently No. 4-ranked Naperville North 2-0 Aug. 22 and honorable mention Waubonsie Valley 2-1 Aug. 24. Nine of the team’s 18 goals allowed were in back-to-back games against Downers Grove South (5-0 loss Sept. 2) and Romeoville (5-4 in penalty kicks Sept. 5) when Stewart and Blasingame were sidelined.
“Our beginning of the year schedule is one of the tougher in the area, but I don’t want to play cupcake teams. I don’t think we started off bad this year. We just didn’t get wins,” Szymanski said.
“Obviously, (Stewart and Blasingame) do a good job controlling the midfield, not only offensively, but I think they do a good job of stopping the other team’s attack as well.”
The midfield especially rose to the occasion Thursday. Using a new formation, the Wolves opted going with three rather than two forwards (Waclaw, Magana and senior Ryan Aten) with the tradeoff of three instead of four midfielders.
“I attribute (our offense) all of it to three forwards that we’ve been playing a little bit. We train hard in practice. And I give credit to my coach for trying a new formation today,” Waclaw said. “I would say that we mostly we just checked in and played the ball, a little less selfishness. We just kept the ball moving, got down the field quickly and countered.”
Magana scored with 23:16 left in the first half as he converted a quick pass from Frazer after the Spartans were unable to clear senior central defender Mitch Hlavacek’s sidelines throw into the crease. Frazer entered the game 90 seconds earlier for junior outside midfielder Nolan Laczynski.
Waclaw scored first 15:19 before halftime after controlling a lead pass from Stewart down the right sideline. Waclaw cut back and dribbled right along the football line from 24 yards out and then quickly unleashed a left-footed blast that found the lower left corner of the net.
Waclaw struck again 4:04 before halftime as he sprinted to secure Stewart’s lead pass and tapped the ball past a charging Ryan Scharf.
“(Waclaw is) so quick with the ball at his feet,” Szymanski said. “We do have a lot of guys returning but in key spots they’re in different roles and different positions.”
With a balanced attack, Oswego East now has scored 36 goals. Manuel has eight and
Waclaw and Stewart seven apiece. Aten has six assists with five now by Stewart, who rejoined the program this season after remaining in club soccer the past two years.
The entire defensive line consists of newcomers. Johnson has played midfield his first three seasons in the program.
“We’ve been working a lot on defense because we have a decent amount of new players (there),” Johnson said. “We have a lot of returning players (overall). We have a lot of new players, too, so I feel like as the season’s been going on we’ve been getting going as a team, getting more chemistry together and it showed today on the field.”
If not for Johnson, the Spartans certainly would have scored.
In the 30th minute, Herard headed a ball put to the right of the goal by Ethan Grosam from 41 yards out. Herard’s attempt was past Huerter towards the left side of the net, but Johnson was on the end line to get the ball out.
Only two minutes into the second half, Herard got the ball in the crease, passed to nearby Nicholas Gulli, but Johnson was there to block the shot, which Huerter also grazed.
“I’m usually the guy on the team that I always ask my goalies where they want me to drop. On that little crosser, (Huerter) told me back post,” Johnson said. “I heard that (Herard) was really good so I had a feeling that he was going to somehow chip it over the goalie so I just anticipated and ran there. The second one, the same thing. I just thought it was going to go there and it did.”
Johnson’s first save was not without slight controversy for many Spartans, especially with the officiating crew down one.
“The talk was that (my players) thought the ball was in,” Ward said. “Now I didn’t have an angle. They said it was in. It was a tough spot for (the officials) to go see it, too, having a two-man system. I don’t know. It didn’t make a difference. We didn’t score, but maybe it would have opened it up for us a little bit.”
“I think that (either converted chance) would have definitely changed the dynamic,” added St. Francis sophomore Frank Marsico. “That would have definitely given us a lot more confidence.”
In the 33rd minute, Herard took a pass from Marsico at the 25 and again appeared to have beaten Huerter. The ball loudly struck the center of the crossbar and was cleared out.
About one minute later, Scharf made a diving save on Stewart’s free kick from the 26.
With just less than eight minutes left, St. Francis senior Ryan Pennington took a pass from Herard and blasted a ball that forced Pacheco to make a one-hand push save over the net.
“We came out with the same intensity (in the second half), but I feel like they came out with a little bit more than we were expecting,” Johnson said. “We have to talk a little bit more but after the game started rolling we started to realize what they were trying to do and we shut that down pretty well.”
Herard had nine shots and Gulli and Marsico each had three. Junior Sean Conley contributed five shots at goal.
“Overall it was good. We were taking a lot of shots. Overall the offense was not too bad today. We just had some unlucky plays,” Marsico said.
“We played well. We’ve got to put some balls in the back of the net. We definitely had more shots than them. I think everyone played hard. I think we’ve just got to keep our heads up to the next game.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK: Nathan Huerter
D: Zachary Lass
D: Mitch Hlavacek
D: Dawson Johnson
D: Joseph Bavol
M: Nolan Laczynski
M: Tristan Stewart
M: Kyle Blasingame
F: Michael Waclaw
F: Manuel Magana
F: Ryan Aten
St. Francis
GK: 1 Ryan Scharf
D: 24 Jack Hartle
D: 14 Henry Roback
D: 31 Trey Gora
D: 5 Jacob Power
M: 13 Sean Conley
M: 44 Ethan Grosam
M: 20 Frank Marsico
M: 16 Nicholas Gulli
M: 7 Ryan Pennington
F: 17 Leo Herard
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Waclaw, sr. F, Oswego East