Bartlett late season outlook
brightened by 7-0 win at Nazareth
Hawks end 5-game losing streak
By Dave Owen
LAGRANGE PARK - The neon green jerseys that Bartlett wore Monday were bland compared to the Hawks’ emotional high after their match at Nazareth Academy.
Striking for three goals in the first 16 minutes, Bartlett (4-12) rolled to an eventual 7-0 win over the Roadrunners (9-7) and snapped a five-game losing streak.
"We’ve struggled to score (one goal in three games coming in), so it’s always nice to have a game like this and get that monkey off your back,” Bartlett coach Ben Beary said.
A tough Upstate Eight schedule combined with injuries has done no favors for Bartlett's record.
“We pride ourselves on that (schedule),” Beary said. “There’s no easy road. We learned a lot from those defeats, and if you’re going to be a good team you have to learn, keep pushing and get better throughout the season. There’s still a lot of soccer to be played.
“They needed a game like this. Things haven’t gone our way this season, and the guys have more pressure on them when they know they’re not playing the way that they could be. A lot of pressure gets relieved after a game like this.”
Bartlett put immediate pressure on Nazareth’s young defense (which featured three sophomore defenders and a sophomore goalkeeper), as Joey Mirsky sent a 20-yard shot just wide 90 seconds in.
The Hawks found the net with 33:58 left in the first half when Andrew Gott sped in on a breakaway down the middle off a deflected pass from Tim Riordan and chipped home a low 6-yard shot for his third goal of 2014 and a 1-0 lead.
“The opportunity came, and I finished it,” Gott said. “We were just connecting our passes all game and doing what we need to do.”
Bartlett’s offense received big boosts from two new sources – Marcus Singleton netted his first two goals of 2014, and Igor Zwada celebrated his recent return from injury with his own two-goal day.
Defender/midfielder Singleton looked like a seasoned striker 28:19 before halftime, perfectly placing a 25-yard free kick into the upper right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Singleton’s second goal put the Hawks up 5-0 with 29:50 to go – after Nazareth goalkeeper Aidan Bresnahan had made nice point-blank saves on Singleton and Mirsky at the left post, Singleton fielded a second rebound and tucked it into the right side of the net.
“Marcus is more of a facilitator and doesn’t get a chance to break it open like that too often,” Beary said. “And he finished his opportunities, so that was good to see.”
Said Singleton: “I just felt like everything was clicking today. Everybody was on their game. We were organized and moving the ball. And when we move the ball, goals will come. And we got the shutout too which was nice. We’re going to try and build on this with playoffs coming up soon.”
Singleton had a chance at a hat trick on a 2-on-1 rush with 26.1 seconds left but was cut off by the defender right of the goal. He deftly passed the ball to Ryan Stratton for the finish and the 7-0 Bartlett final margin.
The Hawks’ other star performer was junior Zwada, who missed the first 12 games of the season but made up for lost time with a versatile effort Monday.
The usual forward began the game at right back, and his nice clear of a cross to the net set up a Bartlett counterattack that led to a foul and Singleton’s free kick goal for the 2-0 lead.
“Coach wanted us to see how different it is in different positions, and I guess it worked out,” Zwada said. “We were doing pretty good in the back, Marcus was doing a really good job being a vocal leader at center back – it was just an experiment, and we scored three goals in the first half and had some good balls.”
Playing long balls very well both up the middle and to the wings, the Hawks took a 3-0 lead 24 minutes before halftime when Josh Merkel broke in off an Oliver Saile pass and put away an 8-yard shot.
Zwada moved to forward for the second half, and kept the Bartlett attack rolling with two goals (upping his season total to three).
Free up the left side off a Riordan pass, Zwada patiently touched his dribble around the charging goalkeeper and tipped the ball into an empty net to make the score 4-0 with 32:58 left.
“The defense had a couple holes so I was finding my way through,” Zwada said. “I had a couple of great passes from my teammates and just finished them.”
Zwada struck again with 24:07 left, set up by a nice pass up the middle from Gott. Zwada ran by the defense and drove a 12-yarder off a diving Bresnahan’s hand and into the net. For his superlative effort, he was chosen as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
“Igor’s only been back for three games, and it’s good to have him back,” said Beary, who gave Zwada the rest of the day off with 23 minutes left. “He’s still finding his legs and finding his touch. A day like today is what we expect from him. He had an awesome game, and he deserves that.”
Gott’s own good day could have been even better – a great one-handed deflection wide by Bresnahan three minutes into the second half denied Gott a second goal, and he sent another shot barely over the net off a Singleton corner kick with 18:10 to go.
While Bartlett enjoyed its resurgence, Nazareth struggled to contain the Hawks.
“We were flat, but they were better. There’s no question about that,” Nazareth coach Doug Hunt said. “We’re really young and we’ve got a couple of injuries. Our starting goalie (David Caldwell) has a concussion and has been out. They were better than us, but we hoped to be a little more competitive.”
Defensively, Bartlett’s third shutout of 2014 was a shared effort in goal.
Jake Hasenstein played the first half and made a nice save on a high shot left of goal by Nazareth’s Esai Morales 10:30 before halftime. Brian Hollatz was in net for the second half and made two saves, including a catch in traffic of a high header attempt by Brian Murphy with 12:20 left to seal the shutout.
“The last few games we’ve been focusing on possession a lot, and I feel like that’s a really strong suit of our team,” Zwada said. “Even when we lose games we usually out-possess our opponents. That’s what got us the win today.
“It’s a relief because we’ve been struggling. A win like this kind of gets everything off our chest, and we know we are capable of this. It’s been a long time since we felt like this though.”
Bartlett hopes to carry the good vibes through the last week of the regular season and into its Oct. 17 regional opener against Willowbrook.
“We’ve got the momentum back,” Gott said. “And tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 7) we’re going to come out strong for Senior Night (Glenbard East).”
Added Singleton: “Three games until playoffs, so it’s good to get momentum.”
Beary shares that optimism for the final stretch of the season.
“We’ve been down starters all season, but we get another one back tomorrow,” Beary said. “So things are looking up. Even though we’ve been through some tough times this season, we’re heading into these final weeks with some positive energy and hoping to build off of that.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK-Jake Hasenstein
D-Venici Leone
D-Saul Espinosa
D-Igor Zwada
D-Marcus Singleton
M-Andrew Gott
M-Oliver Saile
M-Josh Merkel
M-Tim Riordan
F-Joey Mirsky
F-Ryan Stratton
Nazareth
GK-Aidan Bresnahan
D-Dominic Carmignani
D-Jack Herbst
D-Edin Galvez
D-Ryan Rollag
M-Ty Guinn
M-Tony Calles
M-Antonio Carrasco
M-Robert Wilson
F-Jimmy Turek
F-Sam McLachlan
Man of the Match: Igor Zwada, Bartlett
Officials: Al Robertson, David Accardi, Don Robertson
brightened by 7-0 win at Nazareth
Hawks end 5-game losing streak
By Dave Owen
LAGRANGE PARK - The neon green jerseys that Bartlett wore Monday were bland compared to the Hawks’ emotional high after their match at Nazareth Academy.
Striking for three goals in the first 16 minutes, Bartlett (4-12) rolled to an eventual 7-0 win over the Roadrunners (9-7) and snapped a five-game losing streak.
"We’ve struggled to score (one goal in three games coming in), so it’s always nice to have a game like this and get that monkey off your back,” Bartlett coach Ben Beary said.
A tough Upstate Eight schedule combined with injuries has done no favors for Bartlett's record.
“We pride ourselves on that (schedule),” Beary said. “There’s no easy road. We learned a lot from those defeats, and if you’re going to be a good team you have to learn, keep pushing and get better throughout the season. There’s still a lot of soccer to be played.
“They needed a game like this. Things haven’t gone our way this season, and the guys have more pressure on them when they know they’re not playing the way that they could be. A lot of pressure gets relieved after a game like this.”
Bartlett put immediate pressure on Nazareth’s young defense (which featured three sophomore defenders and a sophomore goalkeeper), as Joey Mirsky sent a 20-yard shot just wide 90 seconds in.
The Hawks found the net with 33:58 left in the first half when Andrew Gott sped in on a breakaway down the middle off a deflected pass from Tim Riordan and chipped home a low 6-yard shot for his third goal of 2014 and a 1-0 lead.
“The opportunity came, and I finished it,” Gott said. “We were just connecting our passes all game and doing what we need to do.”
Bartlett’s offense received big boosts from two new sources – Marcus Singleton netted his first two goals of 2014, and Igor Zwada celebrated his recent return from injury with his own two-goal day.
Defender/midfielder Singleton looked like a seasoned striker 28:19 before halftime, perfectly placing a 25-yard free kick into the upper right corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.
Singleton’s second goal put the Hawks up 5-0 with 29:50 to go – after Nazareth goalkeeper Aidan Bresnahan had made nice point-blank saves on Singleton and Mirsky at the left post, Singleton fielded a second rebound and tucked it into the right side of the net.
“Marcus is more of a facilitator and doesn’t get a chance to break it open like that too often,” Beary said. “And he finished his opportunities, so that was good to see.”
Said Singleton: “I just felt like everything was clicking today. Everybody was on their game. We were organized and moving the ball. And when we move the ball, goals will come. And we got the shutout too which was nice. We’re going to try and build on this with playoffs coming up soon.”
Singleton had a chance at a hat trick on a 2-on-1 rush with 26.1 seconds left but was cut off by the defender right of the goal. He deftly passed the ball to Ryan Stratton for the finish and the 7-0 Bartlett final margin.
The Hawks’ other star performer was junior Zwada, who missed the first 12 games of the season but made up for lost time with a versatile effort Monday.
The usual forward began the game at right back, and his nice clear of a cross to the net set up a Bartlett counterattack that led to a foul and Singleton’s free kick goal for the 2-0 lead.
“Coach wanted us to see how different it is in different positions, and I guess it worked out,” Zwada said. “We were doing pretty good in the back, Marcus was doing a really good job being a vocal leader at center back – it was just an experiment, and we scored three goals in the first half and had some good balls.”
Playing long balls very well both up the middle and to the wings, the Hawks took a 3-0 lead 24 minutes before halftime when Josh Merkel broke in off an Oliver Saile pass and put away an 8-yard shot.
Zwada moved to forward for the second half, and kept the Bartlett attack rolling with two goals (upping his season total to three).
Free up the left side off a Riordan pass, Zwada patiently touched his dribble around the charging goalkeeper and tipped the ball into an empty net to make the score 4-0 with 32:58 left.
“The defense had a couple holes so I was finding my way through,” Zwada said. “I had a couple of great passes from my teammates and just finished them.”
Zwada struck again with 24:07 left, set up by a nice pass up the middle from Gott. Zwada ran by the defense and drove a 12-yarder off a diving Bresnahan’s hand and into the net. For his superlative effort, he was chosen as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match.
“Igor’s only been back for three games, and it’s good to have him back,” said Beary, who gave Zwada the rest of the day off with 23 minutes left. “He’s still finding his legs and finding his touch. A day like today is what we expect from him. He had an awesome game, and he deserves that.”
Gott’s own good day could have been even better – a great one-handed deflection wide by Bresnahan three minutes into the second half denied Gott a second goal, and he sent another shot barely over the net off a Singleton corner kick with 18:10 to go.
While Bartlett enjoyed its resurgence, Nazareth struggled to contain the Hawks.
“We were flat, but they were better. There’s no question about that,” Nazareth coach Doug Hunt said. “We’re really young and we’ve got a couple of injuries. Our starting goalie (David Caldwell) has a concussion and has been out. They were better than us, but we hoped to be a little more competitive.”
Defensively, Bartlett’s third shutout of 2014 was a shared effort in goal.
Jake Hasenstein played the first half and made a nice save on a high shot left of goal by Nazareth’s Esai Morales 10:30 before halftime. Brian Hollatz was in net for the second half and made two saves, including a catch in traffic of a high header attempt by Brian Murphy with 12:20 left to seal the shutout.
“The last few games we’ve been focusing on possession a lot, and I feel like that’s a really strong suit of our team,” Zwada said. “Even when we lose games we usually out-possess our opponents. That’s what got us the win today.
“It’s a relief because we’ve been struggling. A win like this kind of gets everything off our chest, and we know we are capable of this. It’s been a long time since we felt like this though.”
Bartlett hopes to carry the good vibes through the last week of the regular season and into its Oct. 17 regional opener against Willowbrook.
“We’ve got the momentum back,” Gott said. “And tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 7) we’re going to come out strong for Senior Night (Glenbard East).”
Added Singleton: “Three games until playoffs, so it’s good to get momentum.”
Beary shares that optimism for the final stretch of the season.
“We’ve been down starters all season, but we get another one back tomorrow,” Beary said. “So things are looking up. Even though we’ve been through some tough times this season, we’re heading into these final weeks with some positive energy and hoping to build off of that.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK-Jake Hasenstein
D-Venici Leone
D-Saul Espinosa
D-Igor Zwada
D-Marcus Singleton
M-Andrew Gott
M-Oliver Saile
M-Josh Merkel
M-Tim Riordan
F-Joey Mirsky
F-Ryan Stratton
Nazareth
GK-Aidan Bresnahan
D-Dominic Carmignani
D-Jack Herbst
D-Edin Galvez
D-Ryan Rollag
M-Ty Guinn
M-Tony Calles
M-Antonio Carrasco
M-Robert Wilson
F-Jimmy Turek
F-Sam McLachlan
Man of the Match: Igor Zwada, Bartlett
Officials: Al Robertson, David Accardi, Don Robertson