Schaumburg turns back
defending champs in tourney opener
Lopez scores in 1-0 win over St. Charles East
By Mike Garofola
NORTHFIELD -- As Jessie Lopez goes - so goes Schaumburg.
Last season as a junior, with far too many team injuries and additional
issues away from the pitch, the diminutive Saxons midfielder likely
owned 85% of the possession on his way to a sparkling season that
ended with All-American and All-State honors.
This season Lopez is again the key to what could be a banner year for the club.
Only this fall, the talent and weapons around him are more far reaching.
Saturday afternoon the Saxons opened pool play in the Northside
College Showcase on the Northfield Campus of Trier New High School
with an impressive and hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paul Jennison's
defending tournament champions from St. Charles East.
The win improved Schaumburg to 3-0-0 in the early season.
"Obviously, Jessie makes our attack go," began Saxon coach Hamid
Mehreioskouei, a former star striker at Schaumburg, who later
shined at Bradley University.
"But last year he kind of had to go at it alone at times. We had some
guys who could play around him, but we never seemed to be in sync all
together to get the result(s) we wanted."
"However, when you look around this team, and in particular, our
first 11, we've got guys who are technical, and very skilled in
the art of attacking, and we feel if we can get Jessie to take people
on, and push the attack, then his teammates like Eddie (Gomez), Alexis
Flores, Noah (Kostkiewicz) and others will be able to find the back of
the net. Then we'll let our midfield do their thing, and our
backline and Edgar Avila (GK) keep things air-tight along the back."
This has been a formula for success thus far.
It has produced three-straight clean sheets for the Saxons, while Gomez,
Flores and Lopez have bagged nine of the Saxons' 10 goals. The
stretch has seen flawless work from Avila and his backline, and a high
percentage of first- and second-ball wins from senior, and co-captain,
Jason Schoo.
"So far, so good," said the defensive midfielder long after Mehreiouskouei met with his
team following the match and sent them on their way for the
weekend.
"We've gotten better with each game, and although the improvement has
been in our possession, communication, and play between our guys in
the middle and up top, that's also the area we still have to get much
better at if we want to continue to improve as the season goes on."
For the Saints (1-1-0) and the aforementioned Jennison, the 1-0 result
was not a true indicator of how the always affable, yet candid manager
saw things after 80 minutes.
"If someone who wasn't here saw this result in the paper, or online,
they will think it was a close match, and one that could have gone our
way," he said.
"Truth be told, the lads played hard, but except for a chance or two,
this was match in which Schaumburg was clearly the better side, and
one, without Steve Owens, could have been a 4-0, 5-0 result."
During intermission, Jennison suggested
that Owens was already Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match after a
brilliant 40 minutes of work that saw the Saints keeper pull three out
of the back of the net, and later one or two more in the second
period, despite coming off for a brief spell after a 50-50 ball
collision near the spot rattled the bones of the junior.
"(Their) keeper made some amazing saves today, but I really felt (St.
Charles East) played hard for 80 minutes, and really made us earn that
one-goal victory," Mehreioskouei said.
St. Charles East will deal with change this season.
"We're not the same club we've been during the past two seasons,"
admitted Jennison. "We're young, and lack experience in spots, but we
have to play these games in order to find out what we have, and where
we'll need to sort things out.
"That's why we make the long drive here to New Trier. The competition
is first rate, and we'll get to see a lot of different styles and talent,
and that will be good for us."
Next up in the tournament for the Saints are Niles West at 5 p.m. Monday
on the stadium field; and Glenbrook North at 7 p.m. Wednesday on field four.
The medal round is Friday with 5 and 7 p.m. games.
St. Charles East won all four games in the eight-team tournament
last season, including a dramatic, come-from-behind 2-1 overtime win over Lyons
in the title game.
On Saturday, the Saints backline of Tyler Champine, Mitch Lucarto, Jack Kempf, and
Brandon D'Orio soaked up much of the pressure from the Saxons' vibrant attack, which
formed after the opening whistle.
Although most of the play was in the Saints end during
the first quarter hour, the first half-chance fell to East forward
Jasminko Dizdarevic, who was put through and forced Avila to turn his
attempt around the post in the 13th minute.
Plenty of whistles kept the match from finding its rhythm during the
opening 20 minutes, but not long after, a moment of brilliance from
Lopez allowed the Saxons midfielder to zig-zag with way through a
crowded box before sending his well-paced low shot past a
diving Owens.
On the turn, Flores had a go on frame, in which Owens was superb in
his save. Then an opportunity for Andrew Theur nearly turned into a
glorious one, if Mitch Dorsey's helper didn't catch his teammate too
suddenly, forcing Theur to hit his attempt the wrong way.
It was then time for heroics from Owens, who stopped Gomez stone
cold after Lopez and Kostkiewicz initiated his chance against the run
of play.
"I realize their keeper made a couple of great saves, but we've got to
finish our chances," bemoaned Mehreioskouei. "That's how you put away
opponents, especially dangerous ones like St. Charles."
The Saxons began the second period just as bright as they ended the first.
Owens stopped a PK attempt at 45 minutes. Then newcomer, Nico Davis roared
up the right side from out of the back and played a lovely ball to
Gomez, whose shot was saved by Owens once again.
Chippy play, a handful of bookings, and Jennison' desire for more pace
and energy from his club produced some wide-open play for the final
quarter hour -- and a few more quality chances from each side to help
keep the fans tuned in, and both benches anxious.
A quality ball over the top from St. Charles East's Chris Edgerton
ended with an Avila stop on a Michael Anton effort in the 60th minute. Dorsey's
run up the left side would see his serve to an open back post fall
harmlessly over the endline. Then Justin Stepien went close at 69
minutes with Avila once again making the save. That ended the Saints best
10 minutes of attacking soccer of the match.
"Not enough quality in our attack today. Some of it was us, and the
other Schaumburg, who have some big lads in the back who make it
difficult to get in on them," offered Jennison.
Schaumburg's Andrew Ralston, Christopher Melecio, Andrew Bird and Nico Davis were
organized throughout the match. Bird and Davis jumped into the attack when the
opportunities presented themselves.
"Bird has come a long way since last fall, and Nico is back from
academy, so his addition makes us that much stronger and tighter along
the back," said Mehreioskouei.
"We were rock solid along the back today to deflate anything St.
Charles threw at us, and we'll need that type of play in order to
manage, then close out games like these."
With Schaumburg looking to counter, DiLeonrdi dispossed the
Saxons in their own end and quickly put the ball on the foot of his
teammate Stepien.
Sensing immediate trouble, Avila quickly came off his line. It was
the keeper's speed and awareness that likely forced Stepien to fire his shot
wide to keep the Saxons 1-0 advantage secure at 70 minutes.
Lopez tried to increase the lead but went just wide after a wonderful piece of
individual ball work helped set him free four minutes from time.
Soon after the Saxons celebrated.
"This was a good win for us today, but it's early, and we have a lot
of soccer ahead of us. We all hope we'll be in bigger games than
this," said Schoo.
Schaumburg will play Glenbrook North at 7 p.m. Monday on field 4, and
Niles West at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Duke Childs Field before a hoped-for
berth in the final at 7 p.m. Friday in the Northfield Campus stadium.
For Jennison and his staff, the work has just begun. The departure of
nearly the entire roster from a 15-3-2 club from a year ago is
daunting. It included most of the firepower the Saints possessed
from a side which outscored its opponents 59-20.
"While it's true we lost a lot, we still have a quality core back, and
you saw some good things from the lads today," he said. "Unfortunately, when you
play an opponent like Schaumburg, you're going to be exposed for your
weaknesses, and humbled a little bit.
"That's okay. we'll learn from it, and look ahead to our next match,
and training session, knowing we'll be fine if we continue to work hard."
Starting lineups
SCHAUMBURG
GK: Edgar Avila
D- Andrew Ralston
D- Christopher Melecio
D- Andrew Bird
D- Nico Davis
MF- Daniel Artman
MF- Jessie Lopez
MF- Jason Schoo
MF- Freddy Areola
F- Alexis Flores
F- Eddie Gomez
ST. CHARLES EAST
GK- Steven Owens
D- Jack Kempf
D- Tyler Champine
D- Mitch Lucarto
D- Brandon D'Orio
MF- Gustavo Mancera
MF- Michael Anton
MF- Evan DiLeonardi
MF- Chris Edgerton
F- Jasminko Dizdarevic
F- Justin Stepien
Man of the match (co-winners):
Steven Owens, GK, St. Charles East
Jessie Lopez, MF, Schaumburg
defending champs in tourney opener
Lopez scores in 1-0 win over St. Charles East
By Mike Garofola
NORTHFIELD -- As Jessie Lopez goes - so goes Schaumburg.
Last season as a junior, with far too many team injuries and additional
issues away from the pitch, the diminutive Saxons midfielder likely
owned 85% of the possession on his way to a sparkling season that
ended with All-American and All-State honors.
This season Lopez is again the key to what could be a banner year for the club.
Only this fall, the talent and weapons around him are more far reaching.
Saturday afternoon the Saxons opened pool play in the Northside
College Showcase on the Northfield Campus of Trier New High School
with an impressive and hard-fought 1-0 victory over Paul Jennison's
defending tournament champions from St. Charles East.
The win improved Schaumburg to 3-0-0 in the early season.
"Obviously, Jessie makes our attack go," began Saxon coach Hamid
Mehreioskouei, a former star striker at Schaumburg, who later
shined at Bradley University.
"But last year he kind of had to go at it alone at times. We had some
guys who could play around him, but we never seemed to be in sync all
together to get the result(s) we wanted."
"However, when you look around this team, and in particular, our
first 11, we've got guys who are technical, and very skilled in
the art of attacking, and we feel if we can get Jessie to take people
on, and push the attack, then his teammates like Eddie (Gomez), Alexis
Flores, Noah (Kostkiewicz) and others will be able to find the back of
the net. Then we'll let our midfield do their thing, and our
backline and Edgar Avila (GK) keep things air-tight along the back."
This has been a formula for success thus far.
It has produced three-straight clean sheets for the Saxons, while Gomez,
Flores and Lopez have bagged nine of the Saxons' 10 goals. The
stretch has seen flawless work from Avila and his backline, and a high
percentage of first- and second-ball wins from senior, and co-captain,
Jason Schoo.
"So far, so good," said the defensive midfielder long after Mehreiouskouei met with his
team following the match and sent them on their way for the
weekend.
"We've gotten better with each game, and although the improvement has
been in our possession, communication, and play between our guys in
the middle and up top, that's also the area we still have to get much
better at if we want to continue to improve as the season goes on."
For the Saints (1-1-0) and the aforementioned Jennison, the 1-0 result
was not a true indicator of how the always affable, yet candid manager
saw things after 80 minutes.
"If someone who wasn't here saw this result in the paper, or online,
they will think it was a close match, and one that could have gone our
way," he said.
"Truth be told, the lads played hard, but except for a chance or two,
this was match in which Schaumburg was clearly the better side, and
one, without Steve Owens, could have been a 4-0, 5-0 result."
During intermission, Jennison suggested
that Owens was already Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match after a
brilliant 40 minutes of work that saw the Saints keeper pull three out
of the back of the net, and later one or two more in the second
period, despite coming off for a brief spell after a 50-50 ball
collision near the spot rattled the bones of the junior.
"(Their) keeper made some amazing saves today, but I really felt (St.
Charles East) played hard for 80 minutes, and really made us earn that
one-goal victory," Mehreioskouei said.
St. Charles East will deal with change this season.
"We're not the same club we've been during the past two seasons,"
admitted Jennison. "We're young, and lack experience in spots, but we
have to play these games in order to find out what we have, and where
we'll need to sort things out.
"That's why we make the long drive here to New Trier. The competition
is first rate, and we'll get to see a lot of different styles and talent,
and that will be good for us."
Next up in the tournament for the Saints are Niles West at 5 p.m. Monday
on the stadium field; and Glenbrook North at 7 p.m. Wednesday on field four.
The medal round is Friday with 5 and 7 p.m. games.
St. Charles East won all four games in the eight-team tournament
last season, including a dramatic, come-from-behind 2-1 overtime win over Lyons
in the title game.
On Saturday, the Saints backline of Tyler Champine, Mitch Lucarto, Jack Kempf, and
Brandon D'Orio soaked up much of the pressure from the Saxons' vibrant attack, which
formed after the opening whistle.
Although most of the play was in the Saints end during
the first quarter hour, the first half-chance fell to East forward
Jasminko Dizdarevic, who was put through and forced Avila to turn his
attempt around the post in the 13th minute.
Plenty of whistles kept the match from finding its rhythm during the
opening 20 minutes, but not long after, a moment of brilliance from
Lopez allowed the Saxons midfielder to zig-zag with way through a
crowded box before sending his well-paced low shot past a
diving Owens.
On the turn, Flores had a go on frame, in which Owens was superb in
his save. Then an opportunity for Andrew Theur nearly turned into a
glorious one, if Mitch Dorsey's helper didn't catch his teammate too
suddenly, forcing Theur to hit his attempt the wrong way.
It was then time for heroics from Owens, who stopped Gomez stone
cold after Lopez and Kostkiewicz initiated his chance against the run
of play.
"I realize their keeper made a couple of great saves, but we've got to
finish our chances," bemoaned Mehreioskouei. "That's how you put away
opponents, especially dangerous ones like St. Charles."
The Saxons began the second period just as bright as they ended the first.
Owens stopped a PK attempt at 45 minutes. Then newcomer, Nico Davis roared
up the right side from out of the back and played a lovely ball to
Gomez, whose shot was saved by Owens once again.
Chippy play, a handful of bookings, and Jennison' desire for more pace
and energy from his club produced some wide-open play for the final
quarter hour -- and a few more quality chances from each side to help
keep the fans tuned in, and both benches anxious.
A quality ball over the top from St. Charles East's Chris Edgerton
ended with an Avila stop on a Michael Anton effort in the 60th minute. Dorsey's
run up the left side would see his serve to an open back post fall
harmlessly over the endline. Then Justin Stepien went close at 69
minutes with Avila once again making the save. That ended the Saints best
10 minutes of attacking soccer of the match.
"Not enough quality in our attack today. Some of it was us, and the
other Schaumburg, who have some big lads in the back who make it
difficult to get in on them," offered Jennison.
Schaumburg's Andrew Ralston, Christopher Melecio, Andrew Bird and Nico Davis were
organized throughout the match. Bird and Davis jumped into the attack when the
opportunities presented themselves.
"Bird has come a long way since last fall, and Nico is back from
academy, so his addition makes us that much stronger and tighter along
the back," said Mehreioskouei.
"We were rock solid along the back today to deflate anything St.
Charles threw at us, and we'll need that type of play in order to
manage, then close out games like these."
With Schaumburg looking to counter, DiLeonrdi dispossed the
Saxons in their own end and quickly put the ball on the foot of his
teammate Stepien.
Sensing immediate trouble, Avila quickly came off his line. It was
the keeper's speed and awareness that likely forced Stepien to fire his shot
wide to keep the Saxons 1-0 advantage secure at 70 minutes.
Lopez tried to increase the lead but went just wide after a wonderful piece of
individual ball work helped set him free four minutes from time.
Soon after the Saxons celebrated.
"This was a good win for us today, but it's early, and we have a lot
of soccer ahead of us. We all hope we'll be in bigger games than
this," said Schoo.
Schaumburg will play Glenbrook North at 7 p.m. Monday on field 4, and
Niles West at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Duke Childs Field before a hoped-for
berth in the final at 7 p.m. Friday in the Northfield Campus stadium.
For Jennison and his staff, the work has just begun. The departure of
nearly the entire roster from a 15-3-2 club from a year ago is
daunting. It included most of the firepower the Saints possessed
from a side which outscored its opponents 59-20.
"While it's true we lost a lot, we still have a quality core back, and
you saw some good things from the lads today," he said. "Unfortunately, when you
play an opponent like Schaumburg, you're going to be exposed for your
weaknesses, and humbled a little bit.
"That's okay. we'll learn from it, and look ahead to our next match,
and training session, knowing we'll be fine if we continue to work hard."
Starting lineups
SCHAUMBURG
GK: Edgar Avila
D- Andrew Ralston
D- Christopher Melecio
D- Andrew Bird
D- Nico Davis
MF- Daniel Artman
MF- Jessie Lopez
MF- Jason Schoo
MF- Freddy Areola
F- Alexis Flores
F- Eddie Gomez
ST. CHARLES EAST
GK- Steven Owens
D- Jack Kempf
D- Tyler Champine
D- Mitch Lucarto
D- Brandon D'Orio
MF- Gustavo Mancera
MF- Michael Anton
MF- Evan DiLeonardi
MF- Chris Edgerton
F- Jasminko Dizdarevic
F- Justin Stepien
Man of the match (co-winners):
Steven Owens, GK, St. Charles East
Jessie Lopez, MF, Schaumburg