Lane holds off Taft
1-0 win staves off relegation for Indians
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Lane was running out of time — and excuses.
The Indians have been the standard of excellence in Public League soccer. The defending city champions have appeared in four-consecutive city title games and typically stride atop the city's top division, the Premier.
But little has gone according to script this year, the 12th season in the otherwise excellent campaign of coach Andrew Ricks. The team looks good, especially on paper. They have some capable offensive threats, a sturdy back and solid goalkeeping.
From the start of the year something has been amiss.
In the final conference game of the year, Lane stood on the brink. The conference it had dominated was suddenly threatened with the most humbling of possibilities, being dropped, or relegated to the second tier 1st Division.
A loss or tie against Taft would seal the deal in the wrong direction. Lane needed a victory outright to stay atop. "Knowing what we were facing got the whole team pumped up," forward Damian Pikul said.
"We played very well."
Pikul scored his fifth goal of the year and Ricks' tactical decision paid off as the host Indians withstood the Eagles' late aggressive play to pull out the 1-0 victory here Wednesday night on the city's north side.
For his play, Pikul earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match prize.
The physical and rough game was played hard and tough throughout. Many Taft players choked up and were too emotional to talk after the game.
"Our players are best friends with a lot of Lane's players, so this game meant a little more to them tonight," Taft coach Jeffrey Lucco said. "For me, too, because this is my first year as head coach."
Lucco argued his team registered the equalizer in the 75th minute on a ball by that hit the underside of the bar. Lucco vehemently argued the ball crossed the endline but the official ruled otherwise, and he received a yellow card for his passionate protest. It was that kind of night. "We haven't gotten a single break the whole year," he said. "I thought we were going to get one tonight.
"I thought we did get one."
Lane (2-8-4, 2-2-3) begins defense of its city tournament title Monday.
Lane keeper Simon Jillson made a couple of impressive saves, directing a ball over the bar following the disputed play and darting to his left to snare another tight shot in the 80th minute. The importance of the game was felt on both sides. "This was the first game this season where I felt like we worked hard the entire game," Lucco said.
The tone was set at the beginning and end, the passages marked by Lane's early aggression and Taft's late run to create the necessary draw. (The Public League does not play overtime in regular season play.)
"Like we did tonight, we've given up early goals in 95 percent of our games," Lucco said. "In the other games, we folded and ended up losing two or three to nothing. Tonight we played hard the whole game.
"At the end we were really pushing [numbers]."
Pikul is one of the Indians' top offensive threats, in concert with forward Owen Finn. Their early runs created the space for Lane to start the ball wide and move inside and get behind the Eagles' defensive interior.
Lanky midfielder George Ivanov used his size to control a ball and play it up top to Pikul, just outside the top of the box. Pikul saw the opening and never flinched. "Honestly it was just a good ball by George, and he just sent it to me," Pikul said. "All I thought about was taking that shot and wanting to put it in."
The Indians set the early pace and dictated the style of play. Lane went against its normal custom and played toward the south end in the opening half. The swirling southern winds played a crucial role. "We took the wind the first half because we wanted to try and get the first goal," Ricks said. "We said the first goal was going to be very important. The goal was going to dictate the rest of the game.
"We got one, but we hit the bar twice and could have had more. You don't get points for hitting the bar. You score by putting the ball in the net, and we didn't do that."
Finn was particularly active and used his size and speed to break down the Eagles. He hit the bar in the first half and was victimized by a brilliant diving stop by Eagles' keeper Patryk Mieczko at the start of the second half. As it has for most of the season, Lane played on the edge, controlling possession but stuck with the single score and enabling Taft to hang around.
To its credit Taft (3-11-1, 1-6) generated some credible offensive chances of its own. Szymon Misiaszek smashed a header in the 39th minute that repelled off the back post. Fernando Navarrete, the Eagles' dynamic forward, attacked the Indians' defense, especially in the second half as the Eagles enjoyed the advantage of playing with the wind.
Taft had come up through the ranks, winning the 1st Division last year and reaching the quarterfinals of the city tournament. Lane was the team on their mind. "We've been thinking about this game for three years," Navarrete said.
"Lane is one of our biggest rivals, and we made a mistake letting in the early goal and we couldn't catch up to them. That's what hurts the most, allowing a goal like on a [defensive] mistake."
The most perplexing part for Ricks has been watching his team commit its own peculiar brand of mistakes that either allowed teams to pull away or pull even, like Young a week ago with a late goal that ended in a draw. "We haven't been good enough to tie games when we're down a goal or hold onto a lead," Ricks said.
"Tonight we did, and it helped us avoid relegation."
Taft made the final push that certainly put the Indians on notice. "It was very nervous," Pikul said. "I was screaming from the sidelines so the defense could hold out, and I'm glad that we did."
The perspective of Taft was harsher. "We couldn't finish," Fernando said. "I wouldn't be that upset if I thought that they were better than us. That's what hurts the most, the fact that we could have beat them."
Starting lineups
Taft
GK: Patryk Mieczko
D: Kyle Ochwat
D: Szymon Misiaszek
D: Sebastian Pasieka
D: Jonathan Ramirez
MF: Fernando Navarrete
MF: Alex Labastida
MF: Darek Szara
MF: Michal Szczypta
MF: Sardor Naymanbayev
F: Tomek Wojtyga
Lane
GK: Simon Jillson
D: Cesar Garza
D: Stevan Bajich
D: Oscar Garcia
M: Marcin Kieta
M: Alex Rydberg
M: Nestor Aviles
M: George Ivanov
F: Kevin Mienta
F: Owen Finn
F: Damian Pikul
Man of the match: Damian Pikul, F, Lane
1-0 win staves off relegation for Indians
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Lane was running out of time — and excuses.
The Indians have been the standard of excellence in Public League soccer. The defending city champions have appeared in four-consecutive city title games and typically stride atop the city's top division, the Premier.
But little has gone according to script this year, the 12th season in the otherwise excellent campaign of coach Andrew Ricks. The team looks good, especially on paper. They have some capable offensive threats, a sturdy back and solid goalkeeping.
From the start of the year something has been amiss.
In the final conference game of the year, Lane stood on the brink. The conference it had dominated was suddenly threatened with the most humbling of possibilities, being dropped, or relegated to the second tier 1st Division.
A loss or tie against Taft would seal the deal in the wrong direction. Lane needed a victory outright to stay atop. "Knowing what we were facing got the whole team pumped up," forward Damian Pikul said.
"We played very well."
Pikul scored his fifth goal of the year and Ricks' tactical decision paid off as the host Indians withstood the Eagles' late aggressive play to pull out the 1-0 victory here Wednesday night on the city's north side.
For his play, Pikul earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match prize.
The physical and rough game was played hard and tough throughout. Many Taft players choked up and were too emotional to talk after the game.
"Our players are best friends with a lot of Lane's players, so this game meant a little more to them tonight," Taft coach Jeffrey Lucco said. "For me, too, because this is my first year as head coach."
Lucco argued his team registered the equalizer in the 75th minute on a ball by that hit the underside of the bar. Lucco vehemently argued the ball crossed the endline but the official ruled otherwise, and he received a yellow card for his passionate protest. It was that kind of night. "We haven't gotten a single break the whole year," he said. "I thought we were going to get one tonight.
"I thought we did get one."
Lane (2-8-4, 2-2-3) begins defense of its city tournament title Monday.
Lane keeper Simon Jillson made a couple of impressive saves, directing a ball over the bar following the disputed play and darting to his left to snare another tight shot in the 80th minute. The importance of the game was felt on both sides. "This was the first game this season where I felt like we worked hard the entire game," Lucco said.
The tone was set at the beginning and end, the passages marked by Lane's early aggression and Taft's late run to create the necessary draw. (The Public League does not play overtime in regular season play.)
"Like we did tonight, we've given up early goals in 95 percent of our games," Lucco said. "In the other games, we folded and ended up losing two or three to nothing. Tonight we played hard the whole game.
"At the end we were really pushing [numbers]."
Pikul is one of the Indians' top offensive threats, in concert with forward Owen Finn. Their early runs created the space for Lane to start the ball wide and move inside and get behind the Eagles' defensive interior.
Lanky midfielder George Ivanov used his size to control a ball and play it up top to Pikul, just outside the top of the box. Pikul saw the opening and never flinched. "Honestly it was just a good ball by George, and he just sent it to me," Pikul said. "All I thought about was taking that shot and wanting to put it in."
The Indians set the early pace and dictated the style of play. Lane went against its normal custom and played toward the south end in the opening half. The swirling southern winds played a crucial role. "We took the wind the first half because we wanted to try and get the first goal," Ricks said. "We said the first goal was going to be very important. The goal was going to dictate the rest of the game.
"We got one, but we hit the bar twice and could have had more. You don't get points for hitting the bar. You score by putting the ball in the net, and we didn't do that."
Finn was particularly active and used his size and speed to break down the Eagles. He hit the bar in the first half and was victimized by a brilliant diving stop by Eagles' keeper Patryk Mieczko at the start of the second half. As it has for most of the season, Lane played on the edge, controlling possession but stuck with the single score and enabling Taft to hang around.
To its credit Taft (3-11-1, 1-6) generated some credible offensive chances of its own. Szymon Misiaszek smashed a header in the 39th minute that repelled off the back post. Fernando Navarrete, the Eagles' dynamic forward, attacked the Indians' defense, especially in the second half as the Eagles enjoyed the advantage of playing with the wind.
Taft had come up through the ranks, winning the 1st Division last year and reaching the quarterfinals of the city tournament. Lane was the team on their mind. "We've been thinking about this game for three years," Navarrete said.
"Lane is one of our biggest rivals, and we made a mistake letting in the early goal and we couldn't catch up to them. That's what hurts the most, allowing a goal like on a [defensive] mistake."
The most perplexing part for Ricks has been watching his team commit its own peculiar brand of mistakes that either allowed teams to pull away or pull even, like Young a week ago with a late goal that ended in a draw. "We haven't been good enough to tie games when we're down a goal or hold onto a lead," Ricks said.
"Tonight we did, and it helped us avoid relegation."
Taft made the final push that certainly put the Indians on notice. "It was very nervous," Pikul said. "I was screaming from the sidelines so the defense could hold out, and I'm glad that we did."
The perspective of Taft was harsher. "We couldn't finish," Fernando said. "I wouldn't be that upset if I thought that they were better than us. That's what hurts the most, the fact that we could have beat them."
Starting lineups
Taft
GK: Patryk Mieczko
D: Kyle Ochwat
D: Szymon Misiaszek
D: Sebastian Pasieka
D: Jonathan Ramirez
MF: Fernando Navarrete
MF: Alex Labastida
MF: Darek Szara
MF: Michal Szczypta
MF: Sardor Naymanbayev
F: Tomek Wojtyga
Lane
GK: Simon Jillson
D: Cesar Garza
D: Stevan Bajich
D: Oscar Garcia
M: Marcin Kieta
M: Alex Rydberg
M: Nestor Aviles
M: George Ivanov
F: Kevin Mienta
F: Owen Finn
F: Damian Pikul
Man of the match: Damian Pikul, F, Lane