St. Charles E. gains OT win,
but Lyons shares the glory
Dynamic Saints get job done with late burst
By Dave Owen
NORTHFIELD -- Never count out a great team.
St. Charles East sent that message in shocking fashion Saturday, scoring with 1:03 left in regulation to tie Lyons in the New Trier Showcase Tournament title match and then striking again 1:27 into overtime to win 2-1.
But another message was just as clear for 78 minutes: Lyons is a team to watch this fall.
First, the wild ending: after the Lions went ahead 1-0 with 17:25 left and had the equal or better of play for the entire match, the Saints suddenly exploded into action.
With 1:03 left, Christian Memije’s perfectly placed cross to the box from left of the goal was headed into the net by 6-foot-2 Evan DiLeonardi to tie the game 1-1.
That tie lasted barely past the opening whistle of overtime – after Memije blocked a 36-yard direct kick by the Lions, Memije controlled the ball, dribbled upfield and sent a nice pass to Taylor Ortiz. In on left wing, Ortiz lined a low 15-yard shot inside the right corner of the net to give the Saints a 2-1 win.
“Christian played the ball to the corner. I took a nice touch and went inside toward the goal,” Ortiz said. “I hit it with my left foot and put it in the corner (of the net) like I do every day in practice.”
Memije was selected Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his key roles in both goals.
“I saw Taylor on my blind side,” Memije said. “He was open, and I knew he could finish the ball well, so I just gave him the chance and sent it as hard as I can.”
Memije and Ortiz summed up the Saints’ attitude facing a deficit as time ran down:
“To just have a lot of passion and integrity toward the match,” Memije said. “You want to get it done, and we just knew we couldn’t lose.”
Added Ortiz: “The attitude in that spot is just working together as a unit. We all want to fight for each other.”
Saints’ coach Paul Jennison saw dual messages from the battle.
“With the exception of about 20 seconds in the game, we just got outplayed and outworked,” Jennison said. “Lyons was the better team today – there’s no doubt about it. This is one of those things where you put your hand on your heart and say, ‘This was an ugly win, but we’ll take it.’ And now we’ll go forward and work on it.”
But the inspirational last-second effort by his team made an impression.
“I always learn something new about these guys,” Jennison said. “The best thing we learned in this game is that this team has a lot of heart, a lot of will and obviously the never-say-die attitude that is the one thing I thought maybe teams in the past have lacked: the real self-belief that we can be down a goal with a minute left and still win it.
“To have that brought out so early in the season gives you a lot of confidence going forward. I’m very impressed by the bounce-back ability, but we have to continue to work to get better.”
Lyons' herculean effort was full of impressive factors, starting at the defensive end of the field. Stifling an opponent that entered averaging five goals per game appeared near impossible, but the Lions and a newcomer in net managed just that until the waning moments.
“We started a freshman goalkeeper (Matt Vear) in his first start of the season, and he did a fantastic job,” Lions’ coach Paul Labbato said. “I feel for him because he’ll probably walk away thinking, ‘I gave up two goals in three minutes,’ but it had nothing to do with him. He played a solid game from beginning to end, and they just found their spaces and took advantage of the few instances where we gave them chances.”
Limiting those chances and creating plenty of their own were several Lions.
“Patrick Duncan up top was holding the ball very nicely, and Harry Hilling didn’t come out at center mid and just ran up and down the field,” Labbato said. “He was very tricky with the ball and helped compose us when we needed to, and our center backs played very well all the way through.”
Cole Gilchrist continued his excellent offensive season, scoring his fifth goal of 2014 with 17:25 left to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
Fielding a nice touch pass from Duncan, Gilchrist split two defenders on the dribble up left wing and lined a low 12-yarder inside the right post.
“I thought it was a great ball by Patrick Duncan,” Gilchrist said. “I luckily was able to slide it past the keeper. But tough teams come back. We defended them until the last minute. They came back and scored their goal and they came back strong in the overtime.
“I thought our defense played very well. We were compact to the back and then spread out, got out wide and fed our forwards to feet. I felt like we possessed the ball a lot of the game, and it showed how close we are to No. 1 in the state skill-wise.”
The Lions earned large respect and nearly a huge win from their trek to New Trier.
“We didn’t know where we were until today,” Labbato said, “and we learned a lot about our team and where we are as far as how we can play against good teams. All the credit to St. Charles East – they came down and did what they had to do late. They were relentless and disciplined, and even though I thought we had a little better of the play at the beginning, those last 15 minutes we were just defending and defending and couldn’t get out of our end.”
The Lions and Saints traded good chances most of the game, with the advantage to Lyons.
A nice cross into the box by Isaiah Nieves 8:30 before halftime was batted down by Saints goalkeeper Steven Owens, and defender Robert Wolak made a great play to block a rebound attempt toward an empty net from 15 yards out.
Vear saved a hard direct kick 4:15 before halftime by St. Charles East standout defender Kyle McLean, but the Lions were back on the offensive.
Early in the second half, Nieves sent a shot just wide off nice passes from Gilchrist and Duncan, and Gilchrist followed four minutes later with a one-timer off a Hilling pass that went just wide from 18 yards out.
“We were able to defend as a group and counterattack,” Labbato said. “We had plenty of chances. It wasn’t like we took our one chance and got a goal.”
St. Charles East’s Tyler Robbins rocketed an 18-yarder inches over the crossbar with 30:40 left, then with 10:35 to go and LT up 1-0, Jared Brown sent a 15-yard shot narrowly over the net off a Zachary Newman pass.
A Robbins corner kick (5:40 left) and a Vear save off a throw-in with 1:40 to play preceded the Saints’ 11th-hour heroics.
“The performance obviously wasn’t there today,” Jennison said. “We were second best at pretty much everything we did except putting the ball away. The beauty and the tragedy of this game is that obviously we didn’t deserve to win, but by putting the ball away twice, we did. So we’ll take it.
“They’re quality lads, and we find out they have belief that they’re never going to give up even with a second on the clock. I’m very proud of them for that, and again we look forward to a quality practice knowing that we’re still undefeated.”
The Saints survived a rough gauntlet at New Trier, beating four teams that reached sectionals in 2013 (including sectional winner Wheeling, and finalists Buffalo Grove and Lyons).
“The first three games (at New Trier) I thought we were very good,” Jennison said. “We kept learning about each other.
“We’ve played against some of the best teams in the state, but we had no business winning this game. If we can keep finding a way to win, that’s the best thing we can come out with.”
Starting lineups
Lyons Township
G-Matt Vear
D-Leo Gabrek
D-John Mazur
D-Tim Nolan
D-Nick Economou
M-Isaiah Nieves
M-Patrick Duncan
M-Harry Hilling
M-Daniel Thomas
F-Cole Gilchrist
F-Paul Fulop
St. Charles
G-Steven Owens
D-Kyle McLean
D-Ryan Stackhouse
D-Robert Wolak
D-Mitchell Dorsey
M-Taylor Ortiz
M-Christian Memije
M-Evan DiLeonardi
M-Chris Edgerton
F-Tyler Robbins
F-Zach Manibog
Man of the Match: Christian Memije, St. Charles East
but Lyons shares the glory
Dynamic Saints get job done with late burst
By Dave Owen
NORTHFIELD -- Never count out a great team.
St. Charles East sent that message in shocking fashion Saturday, scoring with 1:03 left in regulation to tie Lyons in the New Trier Showcase Tournament title match and then striking again 1:27 into overtime to win 2-1.
But another message was just as clear for 78 minutes: Lyons is a team to watch this fall.
First, the wild ending: after the Lions went ahead 1-0 with 17:25 left and had the equal or better of play for the entire match, the Saints suddenly exploded into action.
With 1:03 left, Christian Memije’s perfectly placed cross to the box from left of the goal was headed into the net by 6-foot-2 Evan DiLeonardi to tie the game 1-1.
That tie lasted barely past the opening whistle of overtime – after Memije blocked a 36-yard direct kick by the Lions, Memije controlled the ball, dribbled upfield and sent a nice pass to Taylor Ortiz. In on left wing, Ortiz lined a low 15-yard shot inside the right corner of the net to give the Saints a 2-1 win.
“Christian played the ball to the corner. I took a nice touch and went inside toward the goal,” Ortiz said. “I hit it with my left foot and put it in the corner (of the net) like I do every day in practice.”
Memije was selected Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his key roles in both goals.
“I saw Taylor on my blind side,” Memije said. “He was open, and I knew he could finish the ball well, so I just gave him the chance and sent it as hard as I can.”
Memije and Ortiz summed up the Saints’ attitude facing a deficit as time ran down:
“To just have a lot of passion and integrity toward the match,” Memije said. “You want to get it done, and we just knew we couldn’t lose.”
Added Ortiz: “The attitude in that spot is just working together as a unit. We all want to fight for each other.”
Saints’ coach Paul Jennison saw dual messages from the battle.
“With the exception of about 20 seconds in the game, we just got outplayed and outworked,” Jennison said. “Lyons was the better team today – there’s no doubt about it. This is one of those things where you put your hand on your heart and say, ‘This was an ugly win, but we’ll take it.’ And now we’ll go forward and work on it.”
But the inspirational last-second effort by his team made an impression.
“I always learn something new about these guys,” Jennison said. “The best thing we learned in this game is that this team has a lot of heart, a lot of will and obviously the never-say-die attitude that is the one thing I thought maybe teams in the past have lacked: the real self-belief that we can be down a goal with a minute left and still win it.
“To have that brought out so early in the season gives you a lot of confidence going forward. I’m very impressed by the bounce-back ability, but we have to continue to work to get better.”
Lyons' herculean effort was full of impressive factors, starting at the defensive end of the field. Stifling an opponent that entered averaging five goals per game appeared near impossible, but the Lions and a newcomer in net managed just that until the waning moments.
“We started a freshman goalkeeper (Matt Vear) in his first start of the season, and he did a fantastic job,” Lions’ coach Paul Labbato said. “I feel for him because he’ll probably walk away thinking, ‘I gave up two goals in three minutes,’ but it had nothing to do with him. He played a solid game from beginning to end, and they just found their spaces and took advantage of the few instances where we gave them chances.”
Limiting those chances and creating plenty of their own were several Lions.
“Patrick Duncan up top was holding the ball very nicely, and Harry Hilling didn’t come out at center mid and just ran up and down the field,” Labbato said. “He was very tricky with the ball and helped compose us when we needed to, and our center backs played very well all the way through.”
Cole Gilchrist continued his excellent offensive season, scoring his fifth goal of 2014 with 17:25 left to give the Lions a 1-0 lead.
Fielding a nice touch pass from Duncan, Gilchrist split two defenders on the dribble up left wing and lined a low 12-yarder inside the right post.
“I thought it was a great ball by Patrick Duncan,” Gilchrist said. “I luckily was able to slide it past the keeper. But tough teams come back. We defended them until the last minute. They came back and scored their goal and they came back strong in the overtime.
“I thought our defense played very well. We were compact to the back and then spread out, got out wide and fed our forwards to feet. I felt like we possessed the ball a lot of the game, and it showed how close we are to No. 1 in the state skill-wise.”
The Lions earned large respect and nearly a huge win from their trek to New Trier.
“We didn’t know where we were until today,” Labbato said, “and we learned a lot about our team and where we are as far as how we can play against good teams. All the credit to St. Charles East – they came down and did what they had to do late. They were relentless and disciplined, and even though I thought we had a little better of the play at the beginning, those last 15 minutes we were just defending and defending and couldn’t get out of our end.”
The Lions and Saints traded good chances most of the game, with the advantage to Lyons.
A nice cross into the box by Isaiah Nieves 8:30 before halftime was batted down by Saints goalkeeper Steven Owens, and defender Robert Wolak made a great play to block a rebound attempt toward an empty net from 15 yards out.
Vear saved a hard direct kick 4:15 before halftime by St. Charles East standout defender Kyle McLean, but the Lions were back on the offensive.
Early in the second half, Nieves sent a shot just wide off nice passes from Gilchrist and Duncan, and Gilchrist followed four minutes later with a one-timer off a Hilling pass that went just wide from 18 yards out.
“We were able to defend as a group and counterattack,” Labbato said. “We had plenty of chances. It wasn’t like we took our one chance and got a goal.”
St. Charles East’s Tyler Robbins rocketed an 18-yarder inches over the crossbar with 30:40 left, then with 10:35 to go and LT up 1-0, Jared Brown sent a 15-yard shot narrowly over the net off a Zachary Newman pass.
A Robbins corner kick (5:40 left) and a Vear save off a throw-in with 1:40 to play preceded the Saints’ 11th-hour heroics.
“The performance obviously wasn’t there today,” Jennison said. “We were second best at pretty much everything we did except putting the ball away. The beauty and the tragedy of this game is that obviously we didn’t deserve to win, but by putting the ball away twice, we did. So we’ll take it.
“They’re quality lads, and we find out they have belief that they’re never going to give up even with a second on the clock. I’m very proud of them for that, and again we look forward to a quality practice knowing that we’re still undefeated.”
The Saints survived a rough gauntlet at New Trier, beating four teams that reached sectionals in 2013 (including sectional winner Wheeling, and finalists Buffalo Grove and Lyons).
“The first three games (at New Trier) I thought we were very good,” Jennison said. “We kept learning about each other.
“We’ve played against some of the best teams in the state, but we had no business winning this game. If we can keep finding a way to win, that’s the best thing we can come out with.”
Starting lineups
Lyons Township
G-Matt Vear
D-Leo Gabrek
D-John Mazur
D-Tim Nolan
D-Nick Economou
M-Isaiah Nieves
M-Patrick Duncan
M-Harry Hilling
M-Daniel Thomas
F-Cole Gilchrist
F-Paul Fulop
St. Charles
G-Steven Owens
D-Kyle McLean
D-Ryan Stackhouse
D-Robert Wolak
D-Mitchell Dorsey
M-Taylor Ortiz
M-Christian Memije
M-Evan DiLeonardi
M-Chris Edgerton
F-Tyler Robbins
F-Zach Manibog
Man of the Match: Christian Memije, St. Charles East