2nd half improvement leads
Lockport over Sandburg
Porters beat rivals for 3rd-straight year
By Steve Millar
LOCKPORT -- The host Porters came into their match Thursday with two-straight losses, and after a half of play against rival Sandburg, it looked like that streak would continue.
So Porters coach Chris Beal challenged his team at halftime.
“The first half, we played scared,” Beal said. “We played without self-belief. We let them dictate the rhythm and speed of play. When we got the ball, we were kind of nervous with it and gave up possession too much.
“At halftime, we challenged them and told them we need a response. It was just ‘Hey, boys, you’re playing against Sandburg. It’s our local rival, it’s a conference game. We’ve lost two in a row, and I don’t know when the last time was we lost three games in a row. You’ve got to fight.’”
The Porters heeded their coach’s call, responding strongly in the second half.
Junior Tommy Calderaro continued his recent scoring surge with the game’s only goal, and Lockport earned a huge 1-0 SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division win over the Eagles.
The Porters (7-5-3, 1-1-0) were coming off back-to-back losses to Bradley-Bourbonnais and Stagg, the latter coming in the conference opener for the two-time defending Blue Division champions.
“That was our first conference loss in three years,” Calderaro said. “They’re our rivals. This is the game we get most pumped up for all season.”
Sandburg (8-5-1, 1-1-0), which fell to Lockport for the third-straight season, seemed comfortable until Calderaro, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, made the Eagles pay for one big mistake.
Off a goal kick, a Sandburg defender tried to clear the ball, but played it right to the Lockport striker.
“He cleared it right into me,” Calderaro said. “I was able to take a touch, get it on my feet. I was at the top of the box in a good shooting area so I decided to put it on goal, and it went over (Sandburg goalkeeper Derek McCurdy) and in.”
Calderaro’s goal with 19:09 left in the match was the culmination of a surge from the Porters.
After the Eagles continued to control play through the opening minutes of the second half, Lockport finally got going, winning possession in the midfield and putting pressure on the Sandburg defense.
Calderaro took a pass from Ernesto Espinosa and fired just wide with 32:30 to go on the Porters’ first scoring chance of the game.
Lockport tested McCurdy (3 saves) twice in the next 12 minutes. The Eagle keeper came up with saves on Jose Magallanes’ shot on a free kick, and Drake Silver’s strike off a Calderaro pass.
Under pressure, the Sandburg defense finally made a mistake and Calderaro took advantage, scoring his ninth goal of the season.
“I told our guys that if they kept pressuring hard on the back line, (Sandburg) was going to make a mistake,” Beal said. “You just had to look for any mistake and jump on it, and you’d get the reward for it. That’s what it came down to. We were able to jump on their mistake and get a goal.”
Lockport senior defender Brian Moore said it all came down to adjustments, in attitude and strategy, made at halftime.
“We came out and in the first six minutes of the game, we didn’t connect a single pass,” he said. “It wasn’t good. We were playing low pressure in the first half, and it wasn’t working for us. We picked up the intensity in the second half, forced them into a mistake and scored a goal.”
Moore and his teammates on the backline – Espinosa, Kezie Nwachukwu and Tom Inczauskis – made sure the lead would hold up, making things much easier on goalkeeper Jakub Krawczyk than in the first half.
Krawczyk, who made six saves to record his fifth shutout of the season, was under fire through most of the first 40 minutes.
In the 25th minute, he stopped a Dan Rohder shot, and the Porters caught a break as Nate Carper fired high on the rebound.
Krawczyk’s biggest save came with two minutes left in the first half. Mike Margas was free in front of the net off a Seamus Flanagan cross, but Krawczyk stoned him, catching the shot with two hands.
“They just came out a lot stronger than we did,” Krawczyk said. “They put us on our heels. We just kept fighting. We didn’t put our heads down. We just persevered.
“They were dominating us in basically every aspect of the game. We really needed to pick up the intensity, which we did in the second half.”
Krawczyk was impressed by the composure his defenders possessed.
“Everybody kept calm, and nobody made a dumb mistake,” he said. “Everyone was just really solid back there. Ernesto (Espinosa) played one of the best games he’s played all season.
“This was a must-win game for us and, especially against Sandburg, that makes it even more special.”
Sandburg coach Desi Vuillaume was left frustrated by another close loss to the Porters, especially after the Eagles controlled possession for the majority of the game.
“We just made a miscue on that goal kick, and they were in the right place,” Vuillaume said. “I think we did a lot of positive things in this game and without that one miscue, it would have been a completely different game.
“I feel like we’ve been in this position before against Lockport where we’ve controlled games and not won. I think it’s the curse of this field.”
Vuillaume, however, wants his team to remember this game, both for the positives and the negatives.
“I thought our possession was really good, and our speed of play was good, especially on grass,” he said. “We just needed to get into the offensive third more and get some slot balls in.
“I don’t want to put this loss too far behind us. I think we need to use it as a motivation.”
The good news for both teams is that they’re still very much alive in the Blue Division title race.
In what’s shaping up to be a topsy-turvy conference season, all seven teams ended play Thursday with 1-1 league records.
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK: Jakub Krawczyk
D: Brian Moore
D: Ernesto Espinosa
D: Kezie Nwachukwu
D: Tom Inczauskis
M: Jack Dilger
M: Jose Magallanes
M: Linas Savickas
M: Eric Keta
F: Nick Kowalczyk
F: Tommy Calderaro
Sandburg
GK: Derek McCurdy
D: Seamus Flanagan
D: Zach Lenz
D: Antonio Roselli
D: Nick Calderon
M: Dan Rohder
M: Dylan Hansan
M: Mike Margas
M: Marty Manzke
F: Ryan Kozlowski
F: Mike Dahlgren
Man of the Match: Tommy Calderaro, F, LockportA
Lockport over Sandburg
Porters beat rivals for 3rd-straight year
By Steve Millar
LOCKPORT -- The host Porters came into their match Thursday with two-straight losses, and after a half of play against rival Sandburg, it looked like that streak would continue.
So Porters coach Chris Beal challenged his team at halftime.
“The first half, we played scared,” Beal said. “We played without self-belief. We let them dictate the rhythm and speed of play. When we got the ball, we were kind of nervous with it and gave up possession too much.
“At halftime, we challenged them and told them we need a response. It was just ‘Hey, boys, you’re playing against Sandburg. It’s our local rival, it’s a conference game. We’ve lost two in a row, and I don’t know when the last time was we lost three games in a row. You’ve got to fight.’”
The Porters heeded their coach’s call, responding strongly in the second half.
Junior Tommy Calderaro continued his recent scoring surge with the game’s only goal, and Lockport earned a huge 1-0 SouthWest Suburban Conference Blue Division win over the Eagles.
The Porters (7-5-3, 1-1-0) were coming off back-to-back losses to Bradley-Bourbonnais and Stagg, the latter coming in the conference opener for the two-time defending Blue Division champions.
“That was our first conference loss in three years,” Calderaro said. “They’re our rivals. This is the game we get most pumped up for all season.”
Sandburg (8-5-1, 1-1-0), which fell to Lockport for the third-straight season, seemed comfortable until Calderaro, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, made the Eagles pay for one big mistake.
Off a goal kick, a Sandburg defender tried to clear the ball, but played it right to the Lockport striker.
“He cleared it right into me,” Calderaro said. “I was able to take a touch, get it on my feet. I was at the top of the box in a good shooting area so I decided to put it on goal, and it went over (Sandburg goalkeeper Derek McCurdy) and in.”
Calderaro’s goal with 19:09 left in the match was the culmination of a surge from the Porters.
After the Eagles continued to control play through the opening minutes of the second half, Lockport finally got going, winning possession in the midfield and putting pressure on the Sandburg defense.
Calderaro took a pass from Ernesto Espinosa and fired just wide with 32:30 to go on the Porters’ first scoring chance of the game.
Lockport tested McCurdy (3 saves) twice in the next 12 minutes. The Eagle keeper came up with saves on Jose Magallanes’ shot on a free kick, and Drake Silver’s strike off a Calderaro pass.
Under pressure, the Sandburg defense finally made a mistake and Calderaro took advantage, scoring his ninth goal of the season.
“I told our guys that if they kept pressuring hard on the back line, (Sandburg) was going to make a mistake,” Beal said. “You just had to look for any mistake and jump on it, and you’d get the reward for it. That’s what it came down to. We were able to jump on their mistake and get a goal.”
Lockport senior defender Brian Moore said it all came down to adjustments, in attitude and strategy, made at halftime.
“We came out and in the first six minutes of the game, we didn’t connect a single pass,” he said. “It wasn’t good. We were playing low pressure in the first half, and it wasn’t working for us. We picked up the intensity in the second half, forced them into a mistake and scored a goal.”
Moore and his teammates on the backline – Espinosa, Kezie Nwachukwu and Tom Inczauskis – made sure the lead would hold up, making things much easier on goalkeeper Jakub Krawczyk than in the first half.
Krawczyk, who made six saves to record his fifth shutout of the season, was under fire through most of the first 40 minutes.
In the 25th minute, he stopped a Dan Rohder shot, and the Porters caught a break as Nate Carper fired high on the rebound.
Krawczyk’s biggest save came with two minutes left in the first half. Mike Margas was free in front of the net off a Seamus Flanagan cross, but Krawczyk stoned him, catching the shot with two hands.
“They just came out a lot stronger than we did,” Krawczyk said. “They put us on our heels. We just kept fighting. We didn’t put our heads down. We just persevered.
“They were dominating us in basically every aspect of the game. We really needed to pick up the intensity, which we did in the second half.”
Krawczyk was impressed by the composure his defenders possessed.
“Everybody kept calm, and nobody made a dumb mistake,” he said. “Everyone was just really solid back there. Ernesto (Espinosa) played one of the best games he’s played all season.
“This was a must-win game for us and, especially against Sandburg, that makes it even more special.”
Sandburg coach Desi Vuillaume was left frustrated by another close loss to the Porters, especially after the Eagles controlled possession for the majority of the game.
“We just made a miscue on that goal kick, and they were in the right place,” Vuillaume said. “I think we did a lot of positive things in this game and without that one miscue, it would have been a completely different game.
“I feel like we’ve been in this position before against Lockport where we’ve controlled games and not won. I think it’s the curse of this field.”
Vuillaume, however, wants his team to remember this game, both for the positives and the negatives.
“I thought our possession was really good, and our speed of play was good, especially on grass,” he said. “We just needed to get into the offensive third more and get some slot balls in.
“I don’t want to put this loss too far behind us. I think we need to use it as a motivation.”
The good news for both teams is that they’re still very much alive in the Blue Division title race.
In what’s shaping up to be a topsy-turvy conference season, all seven teams ended play Thursday with 1-1 league records.
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK: Jakub Krawczyk
D: Brian Moore
D: Ernesto Espinosa
D: Kezie Nwachukwu
D: Tom Inczauskis
M: Jack Dilger
M: Jose Magallanes
M: Linas Savickas
M: Eric Keta
F: Nick Kowalczyk
F: Tommy Calderaro
Sandburg
GK: Derek McCurdy
D: Seamus Flanagan
D: Zach Lenz
D: Antonio Roselli
D: Nick Calderon
M: Dan Rohder
M: Dylan Hansan
M: Mike Margas
M: Marty Manzke
F: Ryan Kozlowski
F: Mike Dahlgren
Man of the Match: Tommy Calderaro, F, LockportA