Stagg stings WWSouth in PepsiCo
Tigers struggle to create opportunities in 3-0 loss
By Chris Walker
WHEATON – Will Buxton is trying to keep things in a healthy perspective this fall for Wheaton Warrenville South.
The Tigers’ senior defender was disappointed in the team’s 3-0 loss to Stagg during a PepsiCo Showdown game on Thursday, but de-emphasized the impact such a defeat, just a single game, will have on his team the remainder of the year.
“Going into conference season now, there’s no games that are more important than those,” he said. “You still want to win games like this, but you’re not mentally prepared the same way for these games because you don’t know these teams as well.
“These games help you get in shape. They help you find the players for the right positions. For me as a senior, I’m going all out being it’s my last season and especially when we’re at home like tonight because there aren’t a ton of home games left.”
Stagg controlled the first half but the Tigers were able to keep them off the scoreboard.
"They had a ton of chances so we were lucky to come out 0-0,” Buxton said. “Then in the second half they just kept us on our heels, got that first goal and then another on a sloppy PK and then we were pretty much done. The game kept going their way. We had a free kick there off the bar, but it didn’t go in so nothing really went our way.”
Things began to go Stagg’s way quickly, close to the midway point of the second half.
“You know in our two losses we had opportunities but we couldn’t put them in the back of the net, and this game had that same feeling,” Stagg coach Mike Kealy said. “So we were definitely concerned at halftime going in 0-0 because we left a couple out there for sure and that can get you.”
It also can sometimes lift a team, uncovering a player who perhaps suddenly contributes in a way he hasn’t before or awaken a top player who realizes he better deliver soon because the game is on the line and time is running out.
“We made some adjustments in terms of personnel that sparked us a bit,” Kealy said. “Some guys on the bench who are not getting a ton of time maybe opened my eyes a bit today so we’ll see what happens from here.”
Stagg sophomore Moose Al-Kalab broke the scoreless game with 26:36 remaining and then added a penalty kick with 22:01 left to deflate the Tigers. Al-Kalab was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his efforts.
“Our coach always says to play well together and that’s why I tried to do it on the field there,” he said. “It’s all teamwork. I couldn’t do anything without my team. My team got me some good balls and I just tried to finish them when I could. When I got the PK they hit me hard in my thigh but it never happens to create that scoring opportunity if not for my teammates.”
The Chargers are clicking right now in many ways and a lot of that has to due with the team’s continued development that carried over from last year’s team.
“We are moving the ball well,” Al-Kalab said. “Honestly, in my opinion, we are a better team than last year. We were talented last year but didn’t move the ball like this. We’re playing together better this year, moving the ball and getting along together so it’s been good.”
Wheaton Warrenville South (2-4-2) may have a senior-heavy roster but the Tigers continue to struggle to put it all together.
“Senior-laden teams usually can take that experience with them and get out of the gate quickly, but that hasn’t been the case with us,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “Most of our guys don’t play club so we lack that cohesiveness now, and while they play a lot of soccer, they’re not playing in organized ways. Hopefully their ideas come together, but that’s asking a lot in a short period of time.”
With September now half over, focus will soon be on who is still capable of winning conference and on the outlook for the post-season. The season tends to go by quickly so for a team to get on a better track it has to happen sooner than later.
Can that happen for the Tigers?
“I don’t think we’ll ever get enough time to calibrate all the guys so they’re on the same page,” Callipari said. “It’s very individualistic, but we work hard every day on trying to get that combination play. But when you’re under pressure in a game it’s hard not to go back to the old behaviors.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers right now, if they don’t outplay teams and get some bounces their way, they’re likely going to struggle in reaching that positive outcome in the ‘W’ column.
“You draw in two or three guys and when that happens someone has to be open so you’ve got to get your head up and find them,” Callipari said. “We don’t have that soccer intellect or experience right now so we have to outplay teams, especially the well-organized ones. That’s what we’ve seen from a lot of teams, and a lot of them are club kids, but for us that’s not our case and I’ve told the kids if we can’t compete technically or with the intellect we’ll need to outwork them.”
Marco Barrios, Una Husseini and Nick McGrath had the best scoring opportunities to cut into Stagg’s lead in the second half, but they either were off target or saw their shots collected by Stagg freshman goalkeeper Jan Miazk who made five saves.
“It’s been a battle for us and we’re still working out our hardest and trying to see what we can bring to the table and to find out our identity on the field,” Tigers senior defender Gabby Lazcano said. “We’ve been switching guys out, moving them out of their comfort zone and seeing what works best for our team. I know we’ve played a lot but we’re still trying to figure some things out. It’s a journey but I think we’re heading the right way even if we lost.”
Lazcano’s optimism permeates not just because he believes in himself and his teammates, but also because it’s now or never for a player who wants to finish strong before graduating.
“Hopefully we’re going to find us going in the right direction,” he said. “As a senior I want us to be as good as we can. I know we won’t always win, but I want to keep growing as a team and getting better.”
Starting lineups:
Stagg
GK: Jan Miazk
D: Jacob Rispin
D: Sam Snell
D: Tom Sobczak
D: Michael Zajac
MF: Abdelqaei Alsalahi
MF: Maciej Rzadkosz
MF: Sebastian Dzuibek
MF: Moosa Al-Kalab
F: Zeead Abdelquy
F: Jacob Nowobilski
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Benji Cruz
D: Will Buxton
D: Gabby Lazcano
D: Sam Schlegel
MF: Fabian Aranda
MF: Nick McGrath
MF: Ryan Dupty
MF: Unla Husseini
MF: Marco Barrrios
MF: Jesus Martinez
F: Declin Ermer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Moosa Al-Kalab, so., MF, Stagg
Scoring summary
Second half
Stagg —Al-Kalab (Zajac), 55th minute; Al-Kalab (PK) 60th minute; Dzuibek (Al-Kalab), 76th minute
Tigers struggle to create opportunities in 3-0 loss
By Chris Walker
WHEATON – Will Buxton is trying to keep things in a healthy perspective this fall for Wheaton Warrenville South.
The Tigers’ senior defender was disappointed in the team’s 3-0 loss to Stagg during a PepsiCo Showdown game on Thursday, but de-emphasized the impact such a defeat, just a single game, will have on his team the remainder of the year.
“Going into conference season now, there’s no games that are more important than those,” he said. “You still want to win games like this, but you’re not mentally prepared the same way for these games because you don’t know these teams as well.
“These games help you get in shape. They help you find the players for the right positions. For me as a senior, I’m going all out being it’s my last season and especially when we’re at home like tonight because there aren’t a ton of home games left.”
Stagg controlled the first half but the Tigers were able to keep them off the scoreboard.
"They had a ton of chances so we were lucky to come out 0-0,” Buxton said. “Then in the second half they just kept us on our heels, got that first goal and then another on a sloppy PK and then we were pretty much done. The game kept going their way. We had a free kick there off the bar, but it didn’t go in so nothing really went our way.”
Things began to go Stagg’s way quickly, close to the midway point of the second half.
“You know in our two losses we had opportunities but we couldn’t put them in the back of the net, and this game had that same feeling,” Stagg coach Mike Kealy said. “So we were definitely concerned at halftime going in 0-0 because we left a couple out there for sure and that can get you.”
It also can sometimes lift a team, uncovering a player who perhaps suddenly contributes in a way he hasn’t before or awaken a top player who realizes he better deliver soon because the game is on the line and time is running out.
“We made some adjustments in terms of personnel that sparked us a bit,” Kealy said. “Some guys on the bench who are not getting a ton of time maybe opened my eyes a bit today so we’ll see what happens from here.”
Stagg sophomore Moose Al-Kalab broke the scoreless game with 26:36 remaining and then added a penalty kick with 22:01 left to deflate the Tigers. Al-Kalab was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his efforts.
“Our coach always says to play well together and that’s why I tried to do it on the field there,” he said. “It’s all teamwork. I couldn’t do anything without my team. My team got me some good balls and I just tried to finish them when I could. When I got the PK they hit me hard in my thigh but it never happens to create that scoring opportunity if not for my teammates.”
The Chargers are clicking right now in many ways and a lot of that has to due with the team’s continued development that carried over from last year’s team.
“We are moving the ball well,” Al-Kalab said. “Honestly, in my opinion, we are a better team than last year. We were talented last year but didn’t move the ball like this. We’re playing together better this year, moving the ball and getting along together so it’s been good.”
Wheaton Warrenville South (2-4-2) may have a senior-heavy roster but the Tigers continue to struggle to put it all together.
“Senior-laden teams usually can take that experience with them and get out of the gate quickly, but that hasn’t been the case with us,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “Most of our guys don’t play club so we lack that cohesiveness now, and while they play a lot of soccer, they’re not playing in organized ways. Hopefully their ideas come together, but that’s asking a lot in a short period of time.”
With September now half over, focus will soon be on who is still capable of winning conference and on the outlook for the post-season. The season tends to go by quickly so for a team to get on a better track it has to happen sooner than later.
Can that happen for the Tigers?
“I don’t think we’ll ever get enough time to calibrate all the guys so they’re on the same page,” Callipari said. “It’s very individualistic, but we work hard every day on trying to get that combination play. But when you’re under pressure in a game it’s hard not to go back to the old behaviors.”
Unfortunately for the Tigers right now, if they don’t outplay teams and get some bounces their way, they’re likely going to struggle in reaching that positive outcome in the ‘W’ column.
“You draw in two or three guys and when that happens someone has to be open so you’ve got to get your head up and find them,” Callipari said. “We don’t have that soccer intellect or experience right now so we have to outplay teams, especially the well-organized ones. That’s what we’ve seen from a lot of teams, and a lot of them are club kids, but for us that’s not our case and I’ve told the kids if we can’t compete technically or with the intellect we’ll need to outwork them.”
Marco Barrios, Una Husseini and Nick McGrath had the best scoring opportunities to cut into Stagg’s lead in the second half, but they either were off target or saw their shots collected by Stagg freshman goalkeeper Jan Miazk who made five saves.
“It’s been a battle for us and we’re still working out our hardest and trying to see what we can bring to the table and to find out our identity on the field,” Tigers senior defender Gabby Lazcano said. “We’ve been switching guys out, moving them out of their comfort zone and seeing what works best for our team. I know we’ve played a lot but we’re still trying to figure some things out. It’s a journey but I think we’re heading the right way even if we lost.”
Lazcano’s optimism permeates not just because he believes in himself and his teammates, but also because it’s now or never for a player who wants to finish strong before graduating.
“Hopefully we’re going to find us going in the right direction,” he said. “As a senior I want us to be as good as we can. I know we won’t always win, but I want to keep growing as a team and getting better.”
Starting lineups:
Stagg
GK: Jan Miazk
D: Jacob Rispin
D: Sam Snell
D: Tom Sobczak
D: Michael Zajac
MF: Abdelqaei Alsalahi
MF: Maciej Rzadkosz
MF: Sebastian Dzuibek
MF: Moosa Al-Kalab
F: Zeead Abdelquy
F: Jacob Nowobilski
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Benji Cruz
D: Will Buxton
D: Gabby Lazcano
D: Sam Schlegel
MF: Fabian Aranda
MF: Nick McGrath
MF: Ryan Dupty
MF: Unla Husseini
MF: Marco Barrrios
MF: Jesus Martinez
F: Declin Ermer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Moosa Al-Kalab, so., MF, Stagg
Scoring summary
Second half
Stagg —Al-Kalab (Zajac), 55th minute; Al-Kalab (PK) 60th minute; Dzuibek (Al-Kalab), 76th minute