Early three-goal explosion
powers Saint Viator over Prospect
Gyuricza nets hat trick for Lions
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- St. Viator struck three times in the space of the first six minutes of the game to help get their day off to a winning start against Prospect (1-2-0) in a breakfast special Saturday (Aug. 30) morning.
It took the Lions (2-1-0) little time to make their mark in the 9:30 a.m. game against an undermanned Knights club. Aidan Williams fired from close range at two minutes, and followed up by quick strikes from teammate Zach Gyuricza, who helped the home side get into its stride.
It started with Williams, who broke free and steered his low drive past Prospect keeper Peter Flynn, who had no chance on any of the early goals.
Ninety seconds later Gyuricza struck an angled shot from the left side into the far inside netting. Then the senior finished a long throw-in from Chris Beiersdorf past Flynn.
It was a start Prospect, and its manager Jason Cohen, obviously did not want.
"It went from bad to worse, and even though we're a few starters short, there is absolutely no excuse for us coming out as poorly as we did," said a disappointed Cohen.
Saint Viator's start hinted at an easy, and second-consecutive, victory after its 1-0 win over Totino-Grace of Minnesota the day before. That proved only half true.
"It was a great start for us, especially after we missed on several breakaways yesterday against Totino-Grace, but there was no urgency in our play after going up 3-0, and our play really suffered from that," admitted Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Gyuricza, who had been the Lions super sub the past two seasons as a striker or wing-player for manager, Mike Taylor.
Most of the play continued in the the Knights end after the three-goal spree, but not because of the Lions ability to string passes together or possess with a high-percentage rate. Instead, it was the visitors inability to find their midfielders and play through the center of the park that allowed the home side to keep their guests under pressure.
"We came out slow flat, and we just struggled to do much of anything, and even with so many new guys this year, we just should not be playing that way," offered Alex Whiteman, who scored in the Knights 2-1 win over Jacobs on Thursday.
The Knights finally got into the game, thanks in part to some much-needed pace and energy from Adam Sovoia, Chris Cooney and Joe Catalano when Cohen sent them in the game in the 15th minute. The trio helped revive play in the midfield and forced the Lions backline to defend more, instead of getting forward as much as it had in the first quarter hour of play when the St. Viator attack was so vibrant.
The Lions should have made it 4-0, if not for a wonderful kick-save from Flynn against freshman Jack Hartman, who was put through with a lovely ball by Gyuricza at 35 minutes. Moments later, Sam Karlov went just wide with his left-footed blast, which would have brought the Knights closer at the break.
"We played so well in the first 15-20 minutes (then) we stopped playing, and that's what disappoints me more about today than anything else," said an annoyed Taylor.
The level of frustration grew for the long-time St. Viator manager when Whiteman pulled one back in the 50th minute at the tail-end of a superb run to break down the Lions backline.
"No excuse along the back for us," began Taylor. "That goal, and their late one were soft goals that we conceded, and we could have allowed one or two others as well."
The Lions blocked a well-aimed freekick from Ross LaCamera near the spot at 52 minutes as the Knights, inspired by the Whiteman strike, began to play with more confidence. However, shortly thereafter, Whiteman hobbled off, taking yet one more attacking player of note away from Cohen for the rest of the match.
The run of play was clearly in favor of the visitors for the next 7-8 minutes, but the attack lacked the proper bite to get anything of quality on frame, and its resolve was broken four minutes from time when Gyuricza slotted just inside the near post.
Cooney, whose work rate was extremely high whenever called upon by Cohen, was rewarded for his efforts with a goal just after Gyuricza drove in his third of the day.
"It was good to see the team play hard, despite getting down, but we cannot get ourselves into those situations," said Cohen.
"As you can see, it's still a work on progress on all fronts, but we also know it's important to get healthy. There were some positives to takes from this game and use them going forward in preparation of our next week."
After having the week free of any matches, the Lions will travel north to Milwaukee to play long time rival Notre Dame (Peoria) on Friday, before taking on St. Louis-power, Chaminade College Prep on Saturday morning.
"I liked the way guys like Miles (McDonnell) played in the middle, and Javi (Javier Romero) as well, but we need Javi and Anthony (Pineda) to get our attack going a little bit more, and we need our defense to work at understanding our new system a little quicker," said Taylor.
"We'll be tested next weekend, and we'll see where we stand after those two games in Milwaukee."
Prospect faces Conant and Downers Grove North next week.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK: Peter Flynn
D: Miguel Cruz
D: Celso Soto
D: Eryk Soltys
D: Nick Tuczak
M: Sam Karlov
M: Jake Caviani
M: Ross LaCamera
M: Grant Whitebloom
F: Alex Whiteman
F: Maciel Lojewski
St. Viator
GK: Aaron Tres
D: Ryan Carroll
D: Brandon Braun
D: Chris Beiersdorf
MF: Zach Gyuricza
MF: Miles McDonnell
MF: Javier Romero
MF: Anthony Pineda
MF: Sean Lonigro
F: Aidan Williams
F: Jack Hartmann
Man of the Match: Zach Gyuricza, Saint Viator
Officials: Eddie Przybrlski (center); Alex Bargamian and Patrick Anolli (assistant).
powers Saint Viator over Prospect
Gyuricza nets hat trick for Lions
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- St. Viator struck three times in the space of the first six minutes of the game to help get their day off to a winning start against Prospect (1-2-0) in a breakfast special Saturday (Aug. 30) morning.
It took the Lions (2-1-0) little time to make their mark in the 9:30 a.m. game against an undermanned Knights club. Aidan Williams fired from close range at two minutes, and followed up by quick strikes from teammate Zach Gyuricza, who helped the home side get into its stride.
It started with Williams, who broke free and steered his low drive past Prospect keeper Peter Flynn, who had no chance on any of the early goals.
Ninety seconds later Gyuricza struck an angled shot from the left side into the far inside netting. Then the senior finished a long throw-in from Chris Beiersdorf past Flynn.
It was a start Prospect, and its manager Jason Cohen, obviously did not want.
"It went from bad to worse, and even though we're a few starters short, there is absolutely no excuse for us coming out as poorly as we did," said a disappointed Cohen.
Saint Viator's start hinted at an easy, and second-consecutive, victory after its 1-0 win over Totino-Grace of Minnesota the day before. That proved only half true.
"It was a great start for us, especially after we missed on several breakaways yesterday against Totino-Grace, but there was no urgency in our play after going up 3-0, and our play really suffered from that," admitted Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Gyuricza, who had been the Lions super sub the past two seasons as a striker or wing-player for manager, Mike Taylor.
Most of the play continued in the the Knights end after the three-goal spree, but not because of the Lions ability to string passes together or possess with a high-percentage rate. Instead, it was the visitors inability to find their midfielders and play through the center of the park that allowed the home side to keep their guests under pressure.
"We came out slow flat, and we just struggled to do much of anything, and even with so many new guys this year, we just should not be playing that way," offered Alex Whiteman, who scored in the Knights 2-1 win over Jacobs on Thursday.
The Knights finally got into the game, thanks in part to some much-needed pace and energy from Adam Sovoia, Chris Cooney and Joe Catalano when Cohen sent them in the game in the 15th minute. The trio helped revive play in the midfield and forced the Lions backline to defend more, instead of getting forward as much as it had in the first quarter hour of play when the St. Viator attack was so vibrant.
The Lions should have made it 4-0, if not for a wonderful kick-save from Flynn against freshman Jack Hartman, who was put through with a lovely ball by Gyuricza at 35 minutes. Moments later, Sam Karlov went just wide with his left-footed blast, which would have brought the Knights closer at the break.
"We played so well in the first 15-20 minutes (then) we stopped playing, and that's what disappoints me more about today than anything else," said an annoyed Taylor.
The level of frustration grew for the long-time St. Viator manager when Whiteman pulled one back in the 50th minute at the tail-end of a superb run to break down the Lions backline.
"No excuse along the back for us," began Taylor. "That goal, and their late one were soft goals that we conceded, and we could have allowed one or two others as well."
The Lions blocked a well-aimed freekick from Ross LaCamera near the spot at 52 minutes as the Knights, inspired by the Whiteman strike, began to play with more confidence. However, shortly thereafter, Whiteman hobbled off, taking yet one more attacking player of note away from Cohen for the rest of the match.
The run of play was clearly in favor of the visitors for the next 7-8 minutes, but the attack lacked the proper bite to get anything of quality on frame, and its resolve was broken four minutes from time when Gyuricza slotted just inside the near post.
Cooney, whose work rate was extremely high whenever called upon by Cohen, was rewarded for his efforts with a goal just after Gyuricza drove in his third of the day.
"It was good to see the team play hard, despite getting down, but we cannot get ourselves into those situations," said Cohen.
"As you can see, it's still a work on progress on all fronts, but we also know it's important to get healthy. There were some positives to takes from this game and use them going forward in preparation of our next week."
After having the week free of any matches, the Lions will travel north to Milwaukee to play long time rival Notre Dame (Peoria) on Friday, before taking on St. Louis-power, Chaminade College Prep on Saturday morning.
"I liked the way guys like Miles (McDonnell) played in the middle, and Javi (Javier Romero) as well, but we need Javi and Anthony (Pineda) to get our attack going a little bit more, and we need our defense to work at understanding our new system a little quicker," said Taylor.
"We'll be tested next weekend, and we'll see where we stand after those two games in Milwaukee."
Prospect faces Conant and Downers Grove North next week.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK: Peter Flynn
D: Miguel Cruz
D: Celso Soto
D: Eryk Soltys
D: Nick Tuczak
M: Sam Karlov
M: Jake Caviani
M: Ross LaCamera
M: Grant Whitebloom
F: Alex Whiteman
F: Maciel Lojewski
St. Viator
GK: Aaron Tres
D: Ryan Carroll
D: Brandon Braun
D: Chris Beiersdorf
MF: Zach Gyuricza
MF: Miles McDonnell
MF: Javier Romero
MF: Anthony Pineda
MF: Sean Lonigro
F: Aidan Williams
F: Jack Hartmann
Man of the Match: Zach Gyuricza, Saint Viator
Officials: Eddie Przybrlski (center); Alex Bargamian and Patrick Anolli (assistant).