Strong 2nd half propels
Lockport over Lincoln-Way C.
Porters shake off cobwebs to lock up 3-0 victory
By Derek Wolff
LOCKPORT — In the blink of an eye, Lockport freshman forward Eric Keta scored his second goal in as many games to put the Porters (6-3-3) in front against visiting Lincoln-Way Central.
Creating breathing room from there proved more challenging.
Lockport dominated the chances in the opening half and effortlessly exploited Lincoln-Way’s left backs to create scoring opportunities that it failed to finish.
A pair of second-half goals from Tommy Calderaro and David Villa helped solidify a 3-0 win for the Porters, who came into the week starved for scoring before downing Lincoln-Way East 7-3 on Tuesday night at Toyota Park.
Lockport coach Chris Beal said his side needed to start scoring again after going goalless in four tough defensive games in the PepsiCo Showdown.
“That was some tough competition we played,” Beal said. “We said we needed goals, we needed to respond, and we’ve scored 10 goals in two games, which is very pleasing. I think Tuesday night our speed, intensity and our finishing were a lot more proficient than tonight. Tonight I thought we looked a little slow, a little lethargic.”
Keta’s opening goal came in the second minute.
Lockport had three attempts from the corner flag before 10 minutes were gone but couldn’t double the lead.
The Porters continued to create chances heading into the halftime. They led in shots 7-2, but conversion still eluded them, causing frustration, said Calderaro, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“We weren’t happy,” Calderaro said of the first half performance. “1-0 wasn’t good enough. We wanted to be more comfortable. We wanted to go out and net five or go out and not give up a goal, win every challenge, play quick with the ball and really dominate this team, and we didn’t do it early. Second half, it got better.”
Calderaro nearly found the back of the net on a nice ball into the box from Nick Kowalczyk in the 46th minute, heading it just over the bar on a flying, diving attempt.
He had better luck in the 59th after making a nice move around a defender on the right side, then chipping one over Knights goalkeeper Issac Hopper.
“It was tough throughout the game because we were looking for that second goal, looking to go up two or three to get comfortable,” Calderaro said. “I finally got the opportunity. I saw the 1-v.-1 opportunity with the man, so I was able to beat him to the right and just get a chip over the goalkeeper. Luckily it went in.”
The breathing room that wasn’t there in the first half finally materialized, enabling the Porters to make some tactical changes.
“That second goal was very important to kind of settle us down,” Beal said. “It allowed us to change players around a little bit and change personal a little bit.”
Beal spoke about the importance of creating some separation after garnering a number of chances.
“When it’s 1-0, anything can happen in the game, anything. I’ve been in soccer far too long to think that 1-0 is a comfortable score line, so it was nice to get a second goal.
"The second goal was a phenomenal individual effort from Thomas Calderaro, and that’s what we’ve been telling them, have the belief to take players on and shoot a goal.”
The Porters made it 3-0 in the 71st minute on an odd angle shot-pass from Gozie Nwachukwu that connected with Villa at the goal mouth.
Lincoln-Way Central coach Sean Fahey has endured the dual misfortunes this season of having a young team and dealing with injuries. That is a volatile combination when facing a relentless opposing attack.
“The lack of experience definitely starts to show late in games sometimes or the first five minutes at times, and they’re like, ‘Oh, yikes, this team is coming out to play us today,’” Fahey said. “You know, that’s part of the growing experience. You can talk about it and you can fire up and you can whatever but until you step on the field and feel a team out, it’s just talk.”
Caught up in the importance of the secondary goals, it was easy to miss the impact of Keta’s early marker.
The freshman’s presence on the pitch has made a difference for the Porters on offense, though he insisted he’s just doing the simple things.
“I didn’t really think of it too much,” Keta said. “I did my job. He looked for the seam, and I ran past it and got to the ball. I look to score; I look to attack the goal.
“Of course, it’s a great feeling to be moved up from JV to varsity and being able to make this much of a difference.”
Lockport’s record and goal totals suffered slightly because they've played top teams such as Streamwood, Libertyville and Morton in the PepsiCo Showdown.
Beal said the key to turning things around is to come out with the intensity and finishing prowess that his side showed in the Toyota Park matchup earlier in the week.
With plenty of conference matchups on the docket now as the Porters turn their attention toward Southwest Suburban Conference Blue Division play, Calderaro said the belief is there after fighting through the tough games.
“We’ve played the best, and it can only get easier on in the schedule,” Calderaro said. “If we play with that same intensity, play with the same heart and soul and keep doing what we do on offense and defending with everything we’ve got and not having any mental lapses, we can beat those teams.”
Starting lineups
Lincoln-Way Central
GK Isaac Hopper
D Ben Zuraitis
D Josh David
D Andrew Linares
D Sean Curran
M Mike Mikolajczak
M Eli Lyons
M Nick Camaioni
M Tim Neukom
F Danny Flores
F Brock Krohe
Lockport
GK Jakub Krawczyk
D Brian Moore
D Thomas Inczauskis
D Ernesto Espinosa
M Jose Magallanes
M David Kordaczka
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Kezie Nwachukwu
M Eric Keta
M Drake Silver
F Tommy Calderaro
Man of the Match: Tommy Calderaro, F, Lockport
Lockport over Lincoln-Way C.
Porters shake off cobwebs to lock up 3-0 victory
By Derek Wolff
LOCKPORT — In the blink of an eye, Lockport freshman forward Eric Keta scored his second goal in as many games to put the Porters (6-3-3) in front against visiting Lincoln-Way Central.
Creating breathing room from there proved more challenging.
Lockport dominated the chances in the opening half and effortlessly exploited Lincoln-Way’s left backs to create scoring opportunities that it failed to finish.
A pair of second-half goals from Tommy Calderaro and David Villa helped solidify a 3-0 win for the Porters, who came into the week starved for scoring before downing Lincoln-Way East 7-3 on Tuesday night at Toyota Park.
Lockport coach Chris Beal said his side needed to start scoring again after going goalless in four tough defensive games in the PepsiCo Showdown.
“That was some tough competition we played,” Beal said. “We said we needed goals, we needed to respond, and we’ve scored 10 goals in two games, which is very pleasing. I think Tuesday night our speed, intensity and our finishing were a lot more proficient than tonight. Tonight I thought we looked a little slow, a little lethargic.”
Keta’s opening goal came in the second minute.
Lockport had three attempts from the corner flag before 10 minutes were gone but couldn’t double the lead.
The Porters continued to create chances heading into the halftime. They led in shots 7-2, but conversion still eluded them, causing frustration, said Calderaro, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“We weren’t happy,” Calderaro said of the first half performance. “1-0 wasn’t good enough. We wanted to be more comfortable. We wanted to go out and net five or go out and not give up a goal, win every challenge, play quick with the ball and really dominate this team, and we didn’t do it early. Second half, it got better.”
Calderaro nearly found the back of the net on a nice ball into the box from Nick Kowalczyk in the 46th minute, heading it just over the bar on a flying, diving attempt.
He had better luck in the 59th after making a nice move around a defender on the right side, then chipping one over Knights goalkeeper Issac Hopper.
“It was tough throughout the game because we were looking for that second goal, looking to go up two or three to get comfortable,” Calderaro said. “I finally got the opportunity. I saw the 1-v.-1 opportunity with the man, so I was able to beat him to the right and just get a chip over the goalkeeper. Luckily it went in.”
The breathing room that wasn’t there in the first half finally materialized, enabling the Porters to make some tactical changes.
“That second goal was very important to kind of settle us down,” Beal said. “It allowed us to change players around a little bit and change personal a little bit.”
Beal spoke about the importance of creating some separation after garnering a number of chances.
“When it’s 1-0, anything can happen in the game, anything. I’ve been in soccer far too long to think that 1-0 is a comfortable score line, so it was nice to get a second goal.
"The second goal was a phenomenal individual effort from Thomas Calderaro, and that’s what we’ve been telling them, have the belief to take players on and shoot a goal.”
The Porters made it 3-0 in the 71st minute on an odd angle shot-pass from Gozie Nwachukwu that connected with Villa at the goal mouth.
Lincoln-Way Central coach Sean Fahey has endured the dual misfortunes this season of having a young team and dealing with injuries. That is a volatile combination when facing a relentless opposing attack.
“The lack of experience definitely starts to show late in games sometimes or the first five minutes at times, and they’re like, ‘Oh, yikes, this team is coming out to play us today,’” Fahey said. “You know, that’s part of the growing experience. You can talk about it and you can fire up and you can whatever but until you step on the field and feel a team out, it’s just talk.”
Caught up in the importance of the secondary goals, it was easy to miss the impact of Keta’s early marker.
The freshman’s presence on the pitch has made a difference for the Porters on offense, though he insisted he’s just doing the simple things.
“I didn’t really think of it too much,” Keta said. “I did my job. He looked for the seam, and I ran past it and got to the ball. I look to score; I look to attack the goal.
“Of course, it’s a great feeling to be moved up from JV to varsity and being able to make this much of a difference.”
Lockport’s record and goal totals suffered slightly because they've played top teams such as Streamwood, Libertyville and Morton in the PepsiCo Showdown.
Beal said the key to turning things around is to come out with the intensity and finishing prowess that his side showed in the Toyota Park matchup earlier in the week.
With plenty of conference matchups on the docket now as the Porters turn their attention toward Southwest Suburban Conference Blue Division play, Calderaro said the belief is there after fighting through the tough games.
“We’ve played the best, and it can only get easier on in the schedule,” Calderaro said. “If we play with that same intensity, play with the same heart and soul and keep doing what we do on offense and defending with everything we’ve got and not having any mental lapses, we can beat those teams.”
Starting lineups
Lincoln-Way Central
GK Isaac Hopper
D Ben Zuraitis
D Josh David
D Andrew Linares
D Sean Curran
M Mike Mikolajczak
M Eli Lyons
M Nick Camaioni
M Tim Neukom
F Danny Flores
F Brock Krohe
Lockport
GK Jakub Krawczyk
D Brian Moore
D Thomas Inczauskis
D Ernesto Espinosa
M Jose Magallanes
M David Kordaczka
M Nick Kowalczyk
M Kezie Nwachukwu
M Eric Keta
M Drake Silver
F Tommy Calderaro
Man of the Match: Tommy Calderaro, F, Lockport