Engoren goal in second overtime
sends Oak Park past Downers S.
Versatile Huskies take regional crown in intense battle
By Dave Owen
DOWNERS GROVE -- Moved to defender from his usual forward spot, Oak Park and River Forest’s Quinn Neuman was in new territory for Friday’s regional championship match against host Downers Grove South.
But with the game tied at 1 in the second overtime, Neuman’s offensive skills came into play in a decisive way.
The senior’s strong throw-in from the left sideline skipped across the crease to Oak Park teammate Harry Engoren, whose putaway at the right post with 2:09 left gave No. 5 sectional seed Oak Park (13-5-1) a 2-1 win over the fourth-seeded Mustangs (14-3-4).
“The whole game, our coach was emphasizing that when you get a throw-in toward our half, you bomb it down the line and hope somebody can get onto it,” Neuman said. “And in the attacking third, everything is into the box.
“We put their keeper (Sam Dumford) under duress. We just crashed the net, and it really worked. Every day we practice those throw-ins and set pieces, and it was great to see it play out.”
Engoren’s sixth goal of the season was the result, giving Oak Park an 8-1 record in its last nine games since mid-September.
“The whole game their No. 3, Hunter (Thoren), was bodying me up,” Engoren said. “He’s a great player, and he wasn’t letting me get the ball. I don’t know how it happened, but Quinn’s throw-in came in, bounced right over and came to me. And I just put it away.”
How the throw-in made it to the far post was a matter of contention across the field.
“I know the officials can’t see everything, but our guy got shoved off the ball in the box,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “The ball bounced and got to the back post. These officials are out here doing their best, but that’s one they missed.”
An argument after the goal brought a red-card ejection for a Mustangs player, resulting in Downers South going the last 2:09 of the OT with 10 players instead of 11.
Even down one man, the Mustangs still generated two chances, the better a 42-yard Peter Becht direct kick that was headed out of danger by Oak Park and River Forest defender Kirk Svensson with 1:15 to play.
The Huskies back line faced an added challenge Friday because usual starter Graham Nagle-Deamer was sidelined with a sprained ankle. But Neuman rose to the challenge.
“They (Downers Grove South) have some strong, fast guys up top,” Oak Park and River Forest coach Paul Wright said. “We needed someone to match that and balance that, and Neuman being left-footed and aggressive, we put him in back. We lost some of that up top, but it really helped us lock down the back.”
“It’s definitely difficult to switch positions, especially in a big game like this,” said Neuman, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “But when I have people like Mavin Gill, Quentin Drane and (goalkeeper) Will Dunne on our defense telling me what to do and always having my back, they make it so much easier for you. I give total props to them.”
Plenty of credit also goes to Downers Grove South for a relentless finish to regulation.
With Oak Park and River Forest ahead 1-0 on Evan Kindler’s goal 4:26 before halftime, the Mustangs were twice just inches away from evening the score.
Matt Buczko drilled a high 25-yard shot off the crossbar with 38:40 left in regulation. Then a foul in the box with 24:15 to go gave Downers Grove South a penalty kick, which Jason Galik lined off the right post.
But Galik bounced back well. With just 2:53 left, a Huskie foul gave Galik a 23-yard free kick right of the goal. He perfectly placed a high ball toward the far post, where Kyle Harty’s header tied the game 1-1.
“We dug deep,” Downers Grove South forward Eric Diaz said. “Coach really wanted us to go out and play our hearts out until the end. He always tells us that we have 80 minutes left, and I think we keep that in our mentality.”
“Our kids played incredibly hard,” Stapleton said. “I was very proud of them all season, and I was proud of the effort they gave tonight to get back in and get that goal.
“But congratulations to Oak Park. Definitely in the first half their physicality gave us some problems. We didn’t necessarily possess the ball; we kind of became a little more direct than we’re used to.”
On the Huskies’ first half goal, Max Klevgard’s initial 27-yard rocket was somehow swatted aside on a lunging save by Mustangs goalkeeper Sam Dumford. But Kindler eventually controlled the loose rebound at the left post and scored.
That goal followed a Huskies’ near-miss 16 minutes before halftime. On a scramble in front after Drane’s 55-yard free kick, Gill lined an 8-yard attempt off the left post.
Downers Grove South began to assert itself in the second half. Besides twice hitting posts, the Mustangs also threatened in the first 16 minutes of the second half with big attacks by Nick Rohl (denied on a great sliding block by Drane), Thoren (a 12-yarder just wide of the net) and Becht (a header over the frame off an Alex Escamilla cross).
The Huskies had their own great chance with 7:50 left, but Dumford raced off his line to deflect a 15-yard shot by Joe Gullo. A rebound attempt in traffic at an open net went over the frame, and the Mustangs were soon back on the offensive.
“I thought toward the end of that first half we found a little bit of a rhythm, even though it didn’t show on the scoreboard,” Stapleton said. “In the second half we did a much better job of being dangerous and getting to spots where we could put pressure on their goalkeeper.”
The Mustangs’ pressure on goal intensified, literally, with 1:45 left -- Rohl’s drive to the net off a Diaz pass resulted in a collision with goalkeeper Will Dunne.
Dunne briefly left the game, and replacement Sam Lisak immediately had to come up big with a sliding kick save of Rohl’s low 12-yard shot with 30 seconds left in regulation.
Diaz then nearly put an incredible end to the night when his back-to-the-goal bicycle kick attempt from 15 yards out sailed over the net as time expired.
“At the end we had the motivation and momentum,” Harty said. “We thought we could pull it out, but a few things didn’t go our way.”
Dunne returned to stop a low 12-yard shot by Joe Caldarazzo two minutes into the first OT. Then he used his 6-foot-5 height to grab dangerous high free kick shots by Diaz and Becht early in the second session.
“They’re clearly a great team,” Dunne said. “It was a great game. Both sides were physical and playing their hearts out. You have seniors possibly playing their last game, so the mentality going into (overtime) is do or die.
“I thought we did a great job of bouncing back after that late goal. That’s something we struggled with, giving up late goals once in a while, but we started to progress keeping our heads and finishing out games.”
Engoren’s goal would finish this game in style for the Huskies, as even the Mustangs goal late in regulation didn’t deter Oak Park and River Forest.
“Last year (Benet Academy) scored on us in the regional, and we just put our heads down,” Engoren said of Oak Park and River Forest’s 5-2 regional final loss in 2013. “There were a lot of juniors on that team that are seniors now, and (after the Mustangs goal) it was going through my mind and I’m sure everyone else: ‘Not again, we’re not letting this get away from us.’ ”
The win gave the Huskies four regional titles in the last five years.
“We came and watched Downers Grove South beat Curie,” Engoren said. “They have a lot of talented, big, fast and physical players. But we brought our energy, played our game and knew we could handle it. Everyone’s out there playing for each other. This team is unbelievable.”
Oak Park upset Morton 2-1 in the 2012 regional final and now faces the challenge of the No. 1 team in the state again in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal.
“They’re a great team,” Dunne said. “They have some phenomenal talent and speed, so we’ll have to get ready for it.”
The narrow, double-OT setback halted a great season for Downers South, which opened with a school record-tying 12-game unbeaten streak and excelled throughout the campaign.
“Tonight coming back was an example of their willingness to play for each other and compete,” Stapleton said. “So it’s hard. You see your seniors in tears, and nothing you can say can console them. But I’m very proud to have this be my team this year.”
Stapleton’s 2004 Downers South team won the state title, but the bid for a repeat 10 years later ended in the pain of a narrow loss. The similar ache of a loss that ends championship dreams will be felt by all but one Class 3A team this month.
“It’s a tough game,” Wright said. “Every game is going to be like this from here on out. We were on the flip side of this last year. It’s nice to get the win, but you feel for the seniors over there.”
Starting lineups
Oak Park and River Forest
GK- Will Dunne
D- Quentin Drane
D- Mavin Gill
D- Kirk Svensson
D- Quinn Neuman
MF- Noah Fluharty
MF- Evan Kindler
MF- Harry Engoren
MF- Joe Gullo
F- Zach El Metennani
F- Andrew Barkidija
Downers Grove South
GK- Sam Dumford
D- Griffin Overbeck
D- Andrew Dobosenski
D- Kyle Harty
D- Matt Buczko
MF- Joe Caldarazzo
MF- Jason Galik
MF- Hunter Thoren
MF- Peter Becht
F- Nick Rohl
F- Eric Diaz
Man of the Match: Quinn Neuman, Oak Park and River Forest
sends Oak Park past Downers S.
Versatile Huskies take regional crown in intense battle
By Dave Owen
DOWNERS GROVE -- Moved to defender from his usual forward spot, Oak Park and River Forest’s Quinn Neuman was in new territory for Friday’s regional championship match against host Downers Grove South.
But with the game tied at 1 in the second overtime, Neuman’s offensive skills came into play in a decisive way.
The senior’s strong throw-in from the left sideline skipped across the crease to Oak Park teammate Harry Engoren, whose putaway at the right post with 2:09 left gave No. 5 sectional seed Oak Park (13-5-1) a 2-1 win over the fourth-seeded Mustangs (14-3-4).
“The whole game, our coach was emphasizing that when you get a throw-in toward our half, you bomb it down the line and hope somebody can get onto it,” Neuman said. “And in the attacking third, everything is into the box.
“We put their keeper (Sam Dumford) under duress. We just crashed the net, and it really worked. Every day we practice those throw-ins and set pieces, and it was great to see it play out.”
Engoren’s sixth goal of the season was the result, giving Oak Park an 8-1 record in its last nine games since mid-September.
“The whole game their No. 3, Hunter (Thoren), was bodying me up,” Engoren said. “He’s a great player, and he wasn’t letting me get the ball. I don’t know how it happened, but Quinn’s throw-in came in, bounced right over and came to me. And I just put it away.”
How the throw-in made it to the far post was a matter of contention across the field.
“I know the officials can’t see everything, but our guy got shoved off the ball in the box,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “The ball bounced and got to the back post. These officials are out here doing their best, but that’s one they missed.”
An argument after the goal brought a red-card ejection for a Mustangs player, resulting in Downers South going the last 2:09 of the OT with 10 players instead of 11.
Even down one man, the Mustangs still generated two chances, the better a 42-yard Peter Becht direct kick that was headed out of danger by Oak Park and River Forest defender Kirk Svensson with 1:15 to play.
The Huskies back line faced an added challenge Friday because usual starter Graham Nagle-Deamer was sidelined with a sprained ankle. But Neuman rose to the challenge.
“They (Downers Grove South) have some strong, fast guys up top,” Oak Park and River Forest coach Paul Wright said. “We needed someone to match that and balance that, and Neuman being left-footed and aggressive, we put him in back. We lost some of that up top, but it really helped us lock down the back.”
“It’s definitely difficult to switch positions, especially in a big game like this,” said Neuman, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “But when I have people like Mavin Gill, Quentin Drane and (goalkeeper) Will Dunne on our defense telling me what to do and always having my back, they make it so much easier for you. I give total props to them.”
Plenty of credit also goes to Downers Grove South for a relentless finish to regulation.
With Oak Park and River Forest ahead 1-0 on Evan Kindler’s goal 4:26 before halftime, the Mustangs were twice just inches away from evening the score.
Matt Buczko drilled a high 25-yard shot off the crossbar with 38:40 left in regulation. Then a foul in the box with 24:15 to go gave Downers Grove South a penalty kick, which Jason Galik lined off the right post.
But Galik bounced back well. With just 2:53 left, a Huskie foul gave Galik a 23-yard free kick right of the goal. He perfectly placed a high ball toward the far post, where Kyle Harty’s header tied the game 1-1.
“We dug deep,” Downers Grove South forward Eric Diaz said. “Coach really wanted us to go out and play our hearts out until the end. He always tells us that we have 80 minutes left, and I think we keep that in our mentality.”
“Our kids played incredibly hard,” Stapleton said. “I was very proud of them all season, and I was proud of the effort they gave tonight to get back in and get that goal.
“But congratulations to Oak Park. Definitely in the first half their physicality gave us some problems. We didn’t necessarily possess the ball; we kind of became a little more direct than we’re used to.”
On the Huskies’ first half goal, Max Klevgard’s initial 27-yard rocket was somehow swatted aside on a lunging save by Mustangs goalkeeper Sam Dumford. But Kindler eventually controlled the loose rebound at the left post and scored.
That goal followed a Huskies’ near-miss 16 minutes before halftime. On a scramble in front after Drane’s 55-yard free kick, Gill lined an 8-yard attempt off the left post.
Downers Grove South began to assert itself in the second half. Besides twice hitting posts, the Mustangs also threatened in the first 16 minutes of the second half with big attacks by Nick Rohl (denied on a great sliding block by Drane), Thoren (a 12-yarder just wide of the net) and Becht (a header over the frame off an Alex Escamilla cross).
The Huskies had their own great chance with 7:50 left, but Dumford raced off his line to deflect a 15-yard shot by Joe Gullo. A rebound attempt in traffic at an open net went over the frame, and the Mustangs were soon back on the offensive.
“I thought toward the end of that first half we found a little bit of a rhythm, even though it didn’t show on the scoreboard,” Stapleton said. “In the second half we did a much better job of being dangerous and getting to spots where we could put pressure on their goalkeeper.”
The Mustangs’ pressure on goal intensified, literally, with 1:45 left -- Rohl’s drive to the net off a Diaz pass resulted in a collision with goalkeeper Will Dunne.
Dunne briefly left the game, and replacement Sam Lisak immediately had to come up big with a sliding kick save of Rohl’s low 12-yard shot with 30 seconds left in regulation.
Diaz then nearly put an incredible end to the night when his back-to-the-goal bicycle kick attempt from 15 yards out sailed over the net as time expired.
“At the end we had the motivation and momentum,” Harty said. “We thought we could pull it out, but a few things didn’t go our way.”
Dunne returned to stop a low 12-yard shot by Joe Caldarazzo two minutes into the first OT. Then he used his 6-foot-5 height to grab dangerous high free kick shots by Diaz and Becht early in the second session.
“They’re clearly a great team,” Dunne said. “It was a great game. Both sides were physical and playing their hearts out. You have seniors possibly playing their last game, so the mentality going into (overtime) is do or die.
“I thought we did a great job of bouncing back after that late goal. That’s something we struggled with, giving up late goals once in a while, but we started to progress keeping our heads and finishing out games.”
Engoren’s goal would finish this game in style for the Huskies, as even the Mustangs goal late in regulation didn’t deter Oak Park and River Forest.
“Last year (Benet Academy) scored on us in the regional, and we just put our heads down,” Engoren said of Oak Park and River Forest’s 5-2 regional final loss in 2013. “There were a lot of juniors on that team that are seniors now, and (after the Mustangs goal) it was going through my mind and I’m sure everyone else: ‘Not again, we’re not letting this get away from us.’ ”
The win gave the Huskies four regional titles in the last five years.
“We came and watched Downers Grove South beat Curie,” Engoren said. “They have a lot of talented, big, fast and physical players. But we brought our energy, played our game and knew we could handle it. Everyone’s out there playing for each other. This team is unbelievable.”
Oak Park upset Morton 2-1 in the 2012 regional final and now faces the challenge of the No. 1 team in the state again in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal.
“They’re a great team,” Dunne said. “They have some phenomenal talent and speed, so we’ll have to get ready for it.”
The narrow, double-OT setback halted a great season for Downers South, which opened with a school record-tying 12-game unbeaten streak and excelled throughout the campaign.
“Tonight coming back was an example of their willingness to play for each other and compete,” Stapleton said. “So it’s hard. You see your seniors in tears, and nothing you can say can console them. But I’m very proud to have this be my team this year.”
Stapleton’s 2004 Downers South team won the state title, but the bid for a repeat 10 years later ended in the pain of a narrow loss. The similar ache of a loss that ends championship dreams will be felt by all but one Class 3A team this month.
“It’s a tough game,” Wright said. “Every game is going to be like this from here on out. We were on the flip side of this last year. It’s nice to get the win, but you feel for the seniors over there.”
Starting lineups
Oak Park and River Forest
GK- Will Dunne
D- Quentin Drane
D- Mavin Gill
D- Kirk Svensson
D- Quinn Neuman
MF- Noah Fluharty
MF- Evan Kindler
MF- Harry Engoren
MF- Joe Gullo
F- Zach El Metennani
F- Andrew Barkidija
Downers Grove South
GK- Sam Dumford
D- Griffin Overbeck
D- Andrew Dobosenski
D- Kyle Harty
D- Matt Buczko
MF- Joe Caldarazzo
MF- Jason Galik
MF- Hunter Thoren
MF- Peter Becht
F- Nick Rohl
F- Eric Diaz
Man of the Match: Quinn Neuman, Oak Park and River Forest