Healthy offense, stout defense
lead Willowbrook to tourney win
Warriors follow loss with impressive 5-1 win over Prosser
By Dave Owen
ADDISON- After a proverbial storm Thursday, Willowbrook didn’t let heavy rains douse its hopes for a bounce-back Saturday at the Joe Novy Invitational at Addison Trail.
Coming off a 5-3 loss to Glenbard North in the tournament opener two days earlier, the Warriors (2-1) stung Prosser for two goals in the first 11 minutes to roll to a 5-1 win in the second round.
“We did not have a good start in our last game when we played Glenbard North, so that was definitely an area we wanted to improve on,” Willowbrook coach Peter Ginter said.
“Just how we warmed up and got ourselves mentally prepared, that was a big turnaround (Saturday) for us. And that showed on the field. We had a fast start. We controlled the ball in their half, worked on our possession game, forced them into errors and took advantage of scoring opportunities early.”
Saul Hernandez set the tone with a shot just wide of the net 90 seconds in, and the attack was just starting.
Only 2:51 into the match, Tomas Hernandez broke free up the middle and lined a low shot inside the post to put the Warriors up 1-0.
Two Arkadiusz Szlachta corner kicks followed (the first headed just over the crossbar by Hernandez) before the "Goal of the Match" doubled the lead.
After Szlachta’s pass to Hernandez in the box was cleared, Collin Doherty corralled the loose ball and lined a 28-yarder just inside the left post for a 2-0 lead. It would have been an impressive shot on a dry field, much less in Saturday’s steady downpour.
“Collin did a nice job on that shot,” Ginter said. “That was a beautiful goal.”
Senior Aaron Johnson’s attacking style gave Prosser fits on both early goals. He played a starring role in Willowbrook’s remaining scores.
With 18:07 left in the half, Johnson took a back pass from Beningno Heredia. Calmly settling the ball and creating open space, Johnson perfectly lined a 20-yarder inside the right post.
A standout midfielder since sophomore year for the Warriors, Johnson is adapting well to a more offensive role.
“I was more defensive-mid (last year),” said Johnson, who took Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors with two goals and an assist. “I love this. I finally get my chance to score some goals.
“We adapted very well today to the conditions. Right away we noticed how the field was going to be, and we just played.”
Just 80 seconds after Johnson's first goal of the game, he assisted on a Heredia 15-yard low liner inside the left post that put the Warriors up 4-0 at halftime.
With 12 goals in three games this fall, Willowbrook’s scoring prowess is proven. But it was the defensive improvement Satutrday against speedy Prosser that was pivotal to the win.
Stasiu Szudrowicz made his first of many solid backline plays in the ninth minute, denying a 1 v. 1 attack by Gilberto Hernandez. Five minutes later, Szudrowicz slid on the soaked turf to block a Hernandez shot with the score still 1-0.
“Stasui at our center back position has been playing well,” Ginter said. “And today we pulled Lucas Betts back to play with him. He’s normally a defensive mid, but I think he’ll be there (at defender) for awhile because we lost Mike Sommers with a broken arm.
“That’s a big loss for us, so we’re trying to fill in those holes. But those two guys Stasiu and Lucas have done a nice job for us.”
Betts joins senior teammates Sommers, Johnson, and goalkeeper Asmir Perviz as Willowbrook players with varsity experience since the start of sophomore year.
That background paid off in a smooth transition Saturday. Betts was strong throughout the match (including when he teamed with Szudrowicz to stop an endline threat in the 14th minute).
The Willowbrook defense planned to bounce back from a rough day Thursday, and succeeded.
“The whole back line besides me is new this year, so it’ll take a little bit of getting used to,” Szudrowicz said.
“Last game we didn’t have such a good game, so today we came out as best we could. And we wanted to get a lot of goals in – goal differential is a big thing in this tournament, so today we put shots on net. Our passing could have been better, but the weather kind of screwed us up.”
The lone down moment for the Willowbrook defense came 32 seconds into the second half, when Prosser’s Hernandez took a pass upfield from Ruben Carreto and scored on an 18-yarder into the lower right corner.
The score came almost immediately after the Falcons received a halftime speech from coach Luis Navarro.
“I told the kids the first half is over,” Navarro said. “The second half was much better for us.”
A sequence of two Prosser threats 10 minutes into the half were denied by goalkeeper Perviz (leaping to deflect a 30-yard Carreto free kick over the crossbar) and Betts (heading the ensuing corner kick out of danger). Ali Saleh later nicely headed away another Prosser corner kick.
Willowbrook’s offense then resumed command.
Johnson’s third goal of the season set the final score. A Szlachta pass freed Hernandez in on right wing, and Johnson lined the ensuing Hernandez cross into an open net with 21 minutes left.
Additional big late threats were provided by Hernandez (15-yarder deflected wide by the Prosser goalkeeper), Miguel Correa (denied on a sliding kick save off a Heredia pass with 14:35 left) and Szlachta (8-yard endline shot batted down at 3:20).
“Saul (Hernandez) is a great player, and we’re putting Aaron in more of an offensive role, and I think that’s helping with our scoring production,” Ginter said. “And Miguel Correa gives us nice possession in the midfield and distributes the ball really well.
“We can definitely put the ball in the net, and that’s really exciting,” Ginter added. “One area we’re working on is our team defense. We let in too many in our last game, but today I was very happy with our defense. I think Asmir has picked up his game a little bit too (at goalkeeper).”
The stature for the entire Willowbrook program picked up last year with an 8-9-2 record, which included a tie with eventual state champion Hinsdale Central.
“We tied Hinsdale so we knew we had potential to do something good,” Szudrowicz said. “It kind of keeps the momentum going.”
It has led to higher expectations for the 2015 Warriors.
“This year all the coaches are a lot harder on us,” Johnson said, “because they know that we have a good team and quality traits that can bring us to sectionals. They’re all on us to succeed, so we want to show them that we can play.”
Despite stumbles like the Glenbard North loss, the Warriors hope to continue to rise. The next steps come in the final two rounds of the Addison Trail tournament, including Tuesday against Fenton.
“We need to keep on working hard in practice and not let our record or our goal totals get to our heads,” Johnson said. “We have to keep playing hard every minute of the game.”
Saturday’s resounding win was a good sign.
“We want to keep it going,” Ginter said. “We had a bad first half against Glenbard North, so hopefully we don’t have one of those again.”
Starting lineups
Prosser
GK- Miguel Orihuela
D- Anthony Castillo
D- Adayr Anaya
D- Steve Medrano
D- Tito Sandoval
MF- Jose Velasco
MF- Adrian Macias
MF- Gilberto Hernandez
MF- Danny Tolayo
F- David Guerrero
F- Alonzo Melesio
Willowbrook
GK- Asmir Perviz
D- Stasiu Szudrowicz
D- Tomas Hernandez
D- Ali Saleh
D- Lucas Betts
MF- Collin Doherty
MF- Miguel Correa
MF- Aaron Johnson
MF- Arkadiusz Szlachta
F- Saul Hernandez
F- Benigno Heredia
Man of the Match: Aaron Johnson, MF, Willowbrook
lead Willowbrook to tourney win
Warriors follow loss with impressive 5-1 win over Prosser
By Dave Owen
ADDISON- After a proverbial storm Thursday, Willowbrook didn’t let heavy rains douse its hopes for a bounce-back Saturday at the Joe Novy Invitational at Addison Trail.
Coming off a 5-3 loss to Glenbard North in the tournament opener two days earlier, the Warriors (2-1) stung Prosser for two goals in the first 11 minutes to roll to a 5-1 win in the second round.
“We did not have a good start in our last game when we played Glenbard North, so that was definitely an area we wanted to improve on,” Willowbrook coach Peter Ginter said.
“Just how we warmed up and got ourselves mentally prepared, that was a big turnaround (Saturday) for us. And that showed on the field. We had a fast start. We controlled the ball in their half, worked on our possession game, forced them into errors and took advantage of scoring opportunities early.”
Saul Hernandez set the tone with a shot just wide of the net 90 seconds in, and the attack was just starting.
Only 2:51 into the match, Tomas Hernandez broke free up the middle and lined a low shot inside the post to put the Warriors up 1-0.
Two Arkadiusz Szlachta corner kicks followed (the first headed just over the crossbar by Hernandez) before the "Goal of the Match" doubled the lead.
After Szlachta’s pass to Hernandez in the box was cleared, Collin Doherty corralled the loose ball and lined a 28-yarder just inside the left post for a 2-0 lead. It would have been an impressive shot on a dry field, much less in Saturday’s steady downpour.
“Collin did a nice job on that shot,” Ginter said. “That was a beautiful goal.”
Senior Aaron Johnson’s attacking style gave Prosser fits on both early goals. He played a starring role in Willowbrook’s remaining scores.
With 18:07 left in the half, Johnson took a back pass from Beningno Heredia. Calmly settling the ball and creating open space, Johnson perfectly lined a 20-yarder inside the right post.
A standout midfielder since sophomore year for the Warriors, Johnson is adapting well to a more offensive role.
“I was more defensive-mid (last year),” said Johnson, who took Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors with two goals and an assist. “I love this. I finally get my chance to score some goals.
“We adapted very well today to the conditions. Right away we noticed how the field was going to be, and we just played.”
Just 80 seconds after Johnson's first goal of the game, he assisted on a Heredia 15-yard low liner inside the left post that put the Warriors up 4-0 at halftime.
With 12 goals in three games this fall, Willowbrook’s scoring prowess is proven. But it was the defensive improvement Satutrday against speedy Prosser that was pivotal to the win.
Stasiu Szudrowicz made his first of many solid backline plays in the ninth minute, denying a 1 v. 1 attack by Gilberto Hernandez. Five minutes later, Szudrowicz slid on the soaked turf to block a Hernandez shot with the score still 1-0.
“Stasui at our center back position has been playing well,” Ginter said. “And today we pulled Lucas Betts back to play with him. He’s normally a defensive mid, but I think he’ll be there (at defender) for awhile because we lost Mike Sommers with a broken arm.
“That’s a big loss for us, so we’re trying to fill in those holes. But those two guys Stasiu and Lucas have done a nice job for us.”
Betts joins senior teammates Sommers, Johnson, and goalkeeper Asmir Perviz as Willowbrook players with varsity experience since the start of sophomore year.
That background paid off in a smooth transition Saturday. Betts was strong throughout the match (including when he teamed with Szudrowicz to stop an endline threat in the 14th minute).
The Willowbrook defense planned to bounce back from a rough day Thursday, and succeeded.
“The whole back line besides me is new this year, so it’ll take a little bit of getting used to,” Szudrowicz said.
“Last game we didn’t have such a good game, so today we came out as best we could. And we wanted to get a lot of goals in – goal differential is a big thing in this tournament, so today we put shots on net. Our passing could have been better, but the weather kind of screwed us up.”
The lone down moment for the Willowbrook defense came 32 seconds into the second half, when Prosser’s Hernandez took a pass upfield from Ruben Carreto and scored on an 18-yarder into the lower right corner.
The score came almost immediately after the Falcons received a halftime speech from coach Luis Navarro.
“I told the kids the first half is over,” Navarro said. “The second half was much better for us.”
A sequence of two Prosser threats 10 minutes into the half were denied by goalkeeper Perviz (leaping to deflect a 30-yard Carreto free kick over the crossbar) and Betts (heading the ensuing corner kick out of danger). Ali Saleh later nicely headed away another Prosser corner kick.
Willowbrook’s offense then resumed command.
Johnson’s third goal of the season set the final score. A Szlachta pass freed Hernandez in on right wing, and Johnson lined the ensuing Hernandez cross into an open net with 21 minutes left.
Additional big late threats were provided by Hernandez (15-yarder deflected wide by the Prosser goalkeeper), Miguel Correa (denied on a sliding kick save off a Heredia pass with 14:35 left) and Szlachta (8-yard endline shot batted down at 3:20).
“Saul (Hernandez) is a great player, and we’re putting Aaron in more of an offensive role, and I think that’s helping with our scoring production,” Ginter said. “And Miguel Correa gives us nice possession in the midfield and distributes the ball really well.
“We can definitely put the ball in the net, and that’s really exciting,” Ginter added. “One area we’re working on is our team defense. We let in too many in our last game, but today I was very happy with our defense. I think Asmir has picked up his game a little bit too (at goalkeeper).”
The stature for the entire Willowbrook program picked up last year with an 8-9-2 record, which included a tie with eventual state champion Hinsdale Central.
“We tied Hinsdale so we knew we had potential to do something good,” Szudrowicz said. “It kind of keeps the momentum going.”
It has led to higher expectations for the 2015 Warriors.
“This year all the coaches are a lot harder on us,” Johnson said, “because they know that we have a good team and quality traits that can bring us to sectionals. They’re all on us to succeed, so we want to show them that we can play.”
Despite stumbles like the Glenbard North loss, the Warriors hope to continue to rise. The next steps come in the final two rounds of the Addison Trail tournament, including Tuesday against Fenton.
“We need to keep on working hard in practice and not let our record or our goal totals get to our heads,” Johnson said. “We have to keep playing hard every minute of the game.”
Saturday’s resounding win was a good sign.
“We want to keep it going,” Ginter said. “We had a bad first half against Glenbard North, so hopefully we don’t have one of those again.”
Starting lineups
Prosser
GK- Miguel Orihuela
D- Anthony Castillo
D- Adayr Anaya
D- Steve Medrano
D- Tito Sandoval
MF- Jose Velasco
MF- Adrian Macias
MF- Gilberto Hernandez
MF- Danny Tolayo
F- David Guerrero
F- Alonzo Melesio
Willowbrook
GK- Asmir Perviz
D- Stasiu Szudrowicz
D- Tomas Hernandez
D- Ali Saleh
D- Lucas Betts
MF- Collin Doherty
MF- Miguel Correa
MF- Aaron Johnson
MF- Arkadiusz Szlachta
F- Saul Hernandez
F- Benigno Heredia
Man of the Match: Aaron Johnson, MF, Willowbrook