Carpenter frames Hinsdale South
effort against Mt. Carmel
Keeper outstanding, but Hornets come up short
By Dave Owen
DARIEN- Without three usual starters and down 1-0 barely three minutes into Saturday’s match with Mount Carmel, Hinsdale South refused to cave in to the waves of adversity.
And while a goal by the visiting Caravan (4-5-1) with 24:04 left produced another tough result for the Hornets (0-9) in a 2-1 loss, the maximum effort of players like Chris Metcalf, Mike Noble and acrobatic goalkeeper Alec Carpenter provided a huge silver lining.
Carpenter was energetic and fearless in denying numerous excellent Caravan threats, and even excelled on Mount Carmel's first goal: he came off his line to make a great diving save on Jaylen Anderson’s 15-yard breakaway shot before Anderson recovered the rebound for a finish and a 1-0 lead 36:50 before halftime.
That type of Carpenter effort was the norm in the second half, as he made four incredible saves to deny Caravan chances on rocket shots.
“Some uncharacteristic mistakes from our solid defense, but Alec Carpenter kept us in the game with some amazing saves,” Hornets’ coach James VanDenBurgh said. “And he does that game in and game out.”
Carpenter preferred to focus on the efforts of the Hornets’ defenders.
“When I see an attacker coming and my defender dead even with him, I never have much worry,” Carpenter said. “I know they’ll be able to get that ball out or make sure he doesn’t get a good shot off.”
Although Carpenter often had to stand tall on chances, one first half sequence featured a Christian Lopez blocked shot, a Lucas Carlson clear of a cross to the box and Dino Vessol’s steal in the box that finally halted the prolonged Caravan threat.
“Something we’ve really corrected as time has gone on this year is staying inside our man, keeping a body on him,” Carpenter added. “Even though the other team is getting a lot of shots off, they’re not as good shots as if we were out of position. That’s made my job a lot easier.”
Carpenter typically made it look much easier than it was in earning Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, but teammate Metcalf’s strong play made him a close honorable mention candidate in that race.
Metcalf had shots stopped in the last 13 minutes of the first half on his 23-yard direct kick and a later tough angle shot on goal from the end line. But those chances were a prelude to paydirt.
Just 50 seconds into the second half, Mike Noble’s dribbled right and had his shot blocked by a defender, but Metcalf was on the spot to put away the rebound and tie the score 1-1.
The quick strike followed a very strong message in the locker room.
“Sometimes when you light them up at halftime, they respond,” VanDenBurgh said. “We came out with a different intensity, and that was my challenge to get that beast mode out of us. We don’t have everyone playing at that level at once, and when you don’t you can only expect certain things.
“Chris Metcalf in the second half definitely responded to the motivational speech. He looked faster and stronger. Hats off to Mount Carmel for winning, but also to the intensity of people like Chris Metcalf. I definitely appreciated that.”
Noble’s play was key to creating the goal and briefly changing the mood of the Hornets.
“In the locker room we said ‘We don’t need to talk about what we’re doing wrong, let’s come out for the second half as hard as possible,’” Noble said. “The first chance we got after the half we scored. We were really amped about the goal, but we kind of let up and lost some momentum. They were able to get a lot of shots in deep.”
Carpenter repelled almost all of those – with 30:15 left, he made a knee-level stop of a Jonah Nuno-Sheldon 18-yard blast, then at 27:05 made a great leaping two-handed deflection and catch of Nuno-Sheldon’s 25-yard rocket targeted for just under the crossbar.
“I knew they always have good goalies,” said Nuno-Sheldon, who was also stopped on a 30-yard laser in the first half. “Last year we won because of a penalty kick, but I was stopped on a couple of shots that I normally score on. And it happened again.”
But Nuno-Sheldon’s persistence finally paid off. With 24:04 left, his shot was stopped again by Carpenter, but teammate Javier Hernandez put in the rebound for a 2-1 Mount Carmel lead.
“It was probably one of our better second halves,” Caravan coach Antonio Godinez said. “The guys stayed composed and they did what we asked them to do.”
“Since I’ve been little I’ve always been a center mid shooting from far – that’s what I’m known for,” Nuno-Sheldon said. “On that shot I told my forwards to crash the net, and one of our midfielders Javy Hernandez scored a goal for us.
“Usually we put our heads down (after a tying goal), but all the seniors were like ‘It’s alright, let’s get the ball and get going.’ We started possessing, got a couple good shots off and then my friend scored.”
Hinsdale South keeper was in the spotlight again with 6:15 left. Carpenter made a great diving save on Anderson’s 20-yard low shot towards a sure, open corner, then somehow followed by smothering Chris Johnson’s point-blank rebound attempt – in the process getting kicked in the chest as he held the ball.
His own great efforts aside on that play, Carpenter was grateful to his teammates.
“That play showed more than anything how much my team is behind me, not just in playing soccer,” Carpenter said. “When that kid was kicking me in the ribs I had my team around me keeping me safe, and that’s always something that’s reassuring.”
VanDenBurgh saw reassuring signs from a reshaped lineup Saturday.
"Some of the young guys we brought up today played well, with the absences of (three) regulars for a variety of reasons,” VanDenBurgh said.
“Christian Lopez came up from JV and played some good minutes, and Ryan Wooten at outside mid came inside and did some nice things too. I was happy with those guys stepping up in a new role with a new team and doing a good job.
“And Mike Noble gives us everything he’s got all over the field.”
Despite the struggles in the win column, the Hornets have seen many reassuring signs.
“I know the guys on this team all want to win,” Carpenter said. “I love playing soccer and love playing with this particular group of guys. The majority of the kids on this team are enjoying the season in spite of the record, and that’s really what’s important.”
Noble sees no quit in the Hornets.
“It’s been hard (starting 0-9), but coach is trying a lot of ways to keep our positivity,” Noble said. “We just try to come out every game like it’s a new season and try to forget the losses. We really need to win for morale and get that feeling of winning again.”
Sweeper Carlson was also an offensive factor with tough direct kicks from distance. His 38-yarder 14:30 before halftime bounced off the Caravan keeper’s hands but couldn’t be redirected from going out of bounds. He later blasted a 30-yard free kick that was caught at the right post with 22:10 left in the match.
Through the great second half start but eventual 2-1 loss, VanDenBurgh is staying positive.
“We haven’t found our stride yet, so that’s tough,” he said. “But our resiliency is something I’m more than impressed with. They’re a good group of guys that just deserve better.”
Starting lineups
Mount Carmel
G- Alberto Yahuaca
D-Javier Hernandez
D-Saul Gonzalez
D-Scott Tobin
M-Jonah Nuno-Sheldon
M-Alex Rizo-Patron
M-Victor Valencia
M-Chris Johnson
F-Miguel Verdin
F-Jaylen Anderson
F-Rob Rajic
Hinsdale South
G-Alec Carpenter
D-Lucas Carlson
D-Christian Lopez
D-Myk Meilus
D-Doyle Dunleavy
M-Alec Raatz
M-Ryan Wooten
M-Mike Noble
M-Dino Vessol
F-Chris Metcalf
F-Zach Duffy
Man of the Match: Alec Carpenter, Hinsdale South.
effort against Mt. Carmel
Keeper outstanding, but Hornets come up short
By Dave Owen
DARIEN- Without three usual starters and down 1-0 barely three minutes into Saturday’s match with Mount Carmel, Hinsdale South refused to cave in to the waves of adversity.
And while a goal by the visiting Caravan (4-5-1) with 24:04 left produced another tough result for the Hornets (0-9) in a 2-1 loss, the maximum effort of players like Chris Metcalf, Mike Noble and acrobatic goalkeeper Alec Carpenter provided a huge silver lining.
Carpenter was energetic and fearless in denying numerous excellent Caravan threats, and even excelled on Mount Carmel's first goal: he came off his line to make a great diving save on Jaylen Anderson’s 15-yard breakaway shot before Anderson recovered the rebound for a finish and a 1-0 lead 36:50 before halftime.
That type of Carpenter effort was the norm in the second half, as he made four incredible saves to deny Caravan chances on rocket shots.
“Some uncharacteristic mistakes from our solid defense, but Alec Carpenter kept us in the game with some amazing saves,” Hornets’ coach James VanDenBurgh said. “And he does that game in and game out.”
Carpenter preferred to focus on the efforts of the Hornets’ defenders.
“When I see an attacker coming and my defender dead even with him, I never have much worry,” Carpenter said. “I know they’ll be able to get that ball out or make sure he doesn’t get a good shot off.”
Although Carpenter often had to stand tall on chances, one first half sequence featured a Christian Lopez blocked shot, a Lucas Carlson clear of a cross to the box and Dino Vessol’s steal in the box that finally halted the prolonged Caravan threat.
“Something we’ve really corrected as time has gone on this year is staying inside our man, keeping a body on him,” Carpenter added. “Even though the other team is getting a lot of shots off, they’re not as good shots as if we were out of position. That’s made my job a lot easier.”
Carpenter typically made it look much easier than it was in earning Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, but teammate Metcalf’s strong play made him a close honorable mention candidate in that race.
Metcalf had shots stopped in the last 13 minutes of the first half on his 23-yard direct kick and a later tough angle shot on goal from the end line. But those chances were a prelude to paydirt.
Just 50 seconds into the second half, Mike Noble’s dribbled right and had his shot blocked by a defender, but Metcalf was on the spot to put away the rebound and tie the score 1-1.
The quick strike followed a very strong message in the locker room.
“Sometimes when you light them up at halftime, they respond,” VanDenBurgh said. “We came out with a different intensity, and that was my challenge to get that beast mode out of us. We don’t have everyone playing at that level at once, and when you don’t you can only expect certain things.
“Chris Metcalf in the second half definitely responded to the motivational speech. He looked faster and stronger. Hats off to Mount Carmel for winning, but also to the intensity of people like Chris Metcalf. I definitely appreciated that.”
Noble’s play was key to creating the goal and briefly changing the mood of the Hornets.
“In the locker room we said ‘We don’t need to talk about what we’re doing wrong, let’s come out for the second half as hard as possible,’” Noble said. “The first chance we got after the half we scored. We were really amped about the goal, but we kind of let up and lost some momentum. They were able to get a lot of shots in deep.”
Carpenter repelled almost all of those – with 30:15 left, he made a knee-level stop of a Jonah Nuno-Sheldon 18-yard blast, then at 27:05 made a great leaping two-handed deflection and catch of Nuno-Sheldon’s 25-yard rocket targeted for just under the crossbar.
“I knew they always have good goalies,” said Nuno-Sheldon, who was also stopped on a 30-yard laser in the first half. “Last year we won because of a penalty kick, but I was stopped on a couple of shots that I normally score on. And it happened again.”
But Nuno-Sheldon’s persistence finally paid off. With 24:04 left, his shot was stopped again by Carpenter, but teammate Javier Hernandez put in the rebound for a 2-1 Mount Carmel lead.
“It was probably one of our better second halves,” Caravan coach Antonio Godinez said. “The guys stayed composed and they did what we asked them to do.”
“Since I’ve been little I’ve always been a center mid shooting from far – that’s what I’m known for,” Nuno-Sheldon said. “On that shot I told my forwards to crash the net, and one of our midfielders Javy Hernandez scored a goal for us.
“Usually we put our heads down (after a tying goal), but all the seniors were like ‘It’s alright, let’s get the ball and get going.’ We started possessing, got a couple good shots off and then my friend scored.”
Hinsdale South keeper was in the spotlight again with 6:15 left. Carpenter made a great diving save on Anderson’s 20-yard low shot towards a sure, open corner, then somehow followed by smothering Chris Johnson’s point-blank rebound attempt – in the process getting kicked in the chest as he held the ball.
His own great efforts aside on that play, Carpenter was grateful to his teammates.
“That play showed more than anything how much my team is behind me, not just in playing soccer,” Carpenter said. “When that kid was kicking me in the ribs I had my team around me keeping me safe, and that’s always something that’s reassuring.”
VanDenBurgh saw reassuring signs from a reshaped lineup Saturday.
"Some of the young guys we brought up today played well, with the absences of (three) regulars for a variety of reasons,” VanDenBurgh said.
“Christian Lopez came up from JV and played some good minutes, and Ryan Wooten at outside mid came inside and did some nice things too. I was happy with those guys stepping up in a new role with a new team and doing a good job.
“And Mike Noble gives us everything he’s got all over the field.”
Despite the struggles in the win column, the Hornets have seen many reassuring signs.
“I know the guys on this team all want to win,” Carpenter said. “I love playing soccer and love playing with this particular group of guys. The majority of the kids on this team are enjoying the season in spite of the record, and that’s really what’s important.”
Noble sees no quit in the Hornets.
“It’s been hard (starting 0-9), but coach is trying a lot of ways to keep our positivity,” Noble said. “We just try to come out every game like it’s a new season and try to forget the losses. We really need to win for morale and get that feeling of winning again.”
Sweeper Carlson was also an offensive factor with tough direct kicks from distance. His 38-yarder 14:30 before halftime bounced off the Caravan keeper’s hands but couldn’t be redirected from going out of bounds. He later blasted a 30-yard free kick that was caught at the right post with 22:10 left in the match.
Through the great second half start but eventual 2-1 loss, VanDenBurgh is staying positive.
“We haven’t found our stride yet, so that’s tough,” he said. “But our resiliency is something I’m more than impressed with. They’re a good group of guys that just deserve better.”
Starting lineups
Mount Carmel
G- Alberto Yahuaca
D-Javier Hernandez
D-Saul Gonzalez
D-Scott Tobin
M-Jonah Nuno-Sheldon
M-Alex Rizo-Patron
M-Victor Valencia
M-Chris Johnson
F-Miguel Verdin
F-Jaylen Anderson
F-Rob Rajic
Hinsdale South
G-Alec Carpenter
D-Lucas Carlson
D-Christian Lopez
D-Myk Meilus
D-Doyle Dunleavy
M-Alec Raatz
M-Ryan Wooten
M-Mike Noble
M-Dino Vessol
F-Chris Metcalf
F-Zach Duffy
Man of the Match: Alec Carpenter, Hinsdale South.