Lojewski, Taldone carry
Prospect past Elk Grove
Pair of Knights prove too much for Grenadiers
By Ken Keenan
ELK GROVE -- A tight, back-and-forth affair between Mid-Suburban League East foes Prospect and host Elk Grove on Tuesday night turned into a rout for the Knights, who prevailed 4-0 behind the play of Maciej Lojewski and Dominick Taldone.
Lojewski, a junior forward, netted a hat trick, with relentless senior forward/midfielder Dominick Taldone -- Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match -- setting the table to the tune of three assists.
Senior forward Alex Whiteman also scored for Prospect, which charted its first conference victory of the season while improving to 3-13-1 overall and 1-8-0 in league play. Elk Grove fell to 4-9-2 overall and 1-9-0 in the Mid-Suburban League.
"We have a lot of players back (from injury), giving us a little pep in our step; it's more fun to play," said Lojewski, whose first goal (in the 38th minute) gave the Knights a 1-0 halftime lead. "The first goal gave us the momentum and told us we could do it."
Lojewski broke the deadlock on a tap-in from the left side, set up by a beautiful cross from Taldone. The second of Lojewski's three tallies -- also set up by Taldone -- came just two minutes into the second half, when an innocent-looking shot slipped through the legs of Elk Grove senior goalkeeper Alberto Centeno.
Whiteman (from Taldone) then scored in the 45th minute to make it 3-0, and Lojewski completed his hat trick on a short floater with 26:08 remaining in the contest.
"(Taldone) was fighting a lot, and he was a crucial part (of the offense)," Lojewski said. "He did the hard work -- I did the easy work to put it in the back of the net."
Taldone was a force every time he touched the ball, cutting through Elk Grove's defense with tough runs to set up numerous scoring opportunities and dropping back with equal speed to shore up the middle as well.
"Every time you score a goal, it has to be a 0-0 mentality," Taldone said. "So you have to play better to distract the opposition even more."
Lojewski said the Knights weren't satisfied with the 1-0 edge at halftime, adding, "We knew we had to score more, and the second goal was crucial."
Cohen, whose team endured a 12-game losing streak before topping Crystal Lake South 2-1 on Saturday, certainly was pleased to see the strong play of Lojewski and Taldone rewarded on the scoreboard.
"Dominick (Taldone) controlled the middle of the field -- his vision was really good and put us in opportunistic places," Cohen said. "And then Maciej (Lojewski) was in the right place to capitalize on the opportunities."
Elk Grove matched Prospect's solid midfield play for the majority of the first half, which resembled a volleyball match as neither team was able to mount much of an attack.
But Elk Grove's engine lost some of its steam after the Knights notched the two quick second-half goals. Grenadiers coach Rob Shepard did his best to keep a stiff upper lip as his squad quietly left the field at game's end.
"We're struggling ... getting away from what we're good at, and we need to adjust," said Shepard, who also bemoaned the fact that his team has gone three straight games without denting the net.
"Prospect smelled blood in the water, and we had a pretty deflated attitude. A season has a lot of peaks and valleys, and right now we need to climb out of the valley. We've got to get our passion going and figure things out."
Elk Grove senior defender Dan Hadler did his best to thwart the Knights attack, clearing several balls out of danger to help set up counterattacks. He offered no excuses for his team's play after Prospect broke the ice and carried the match from there.
"That's something that's happened the last two games (including a 5-0 loss to Fremd on Oct. 2) -- it's back and forth, and then the other team breaks it open," Hadler said. "We get discouraged when we don't score a lot, and it hurts to lose, but we have to change the way we play completely.
"The playoffs are coming, and we have to play hard the entire game. We had the passion in other games, and we have to find a way to get it back."
Meanwhile, Cohen is seeing a renewed sense of passion with his group.
"Everybody plays a role, and that's what we're looking for," said Cohen, who name-checked senior defenders Ian Lenke and Miguel Cruz, junior defender Dan Marshall and sophomore defender Grant Whitebloom for their efforts in the win.
"We're moving forward, trying to get regrouped and play a good smart game. And a lot of that happened tonight."
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK: Nick Jozefowski
D: Grant Whitebloom
D: Miguel Cruz
D: Ian Lenke
D: Sam Karlov
MF: Jake Cavaiani
MF: Adam Sovoia
MF: Celso Soto
MF: Jordan Parrott
F: Alex Whiteman
F: Dominick Taldone
Elk Grove
GK: Alberto Centeno
D: Bobby Hlavin
D: Dan Hadler
D: Connor Emmerich
D: Ivan Corona
MF: Michael Contreras
MF: Edgar Soto
MF: Noe Centeno
MF: Oscar Suarez
F: Chris Guadarrama
F: Carlos Miranda
Man of the Match: Dominick Taldone, Prospect
Officials: Jay Cummins, Kevin Spitz, Eli Sanchez
Prospect past Elk Grove
Pair of Knights prove too much for Grenadiers
By Ken Keenan
ELK GROVE -- A tight, back-and-forth affair between Mid-Suburban League East foes Prospect and host Elk Grove on Tuesday night turned into a rout for the Knights, who prevailed 4-0 behind the play of Maciej Lojewski and Dominick Taldone.
Lojewski, a junior forward, netted a hat trick, with relentless senior forward/midfielder Dominick Taldone -- Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match -- setting the table to the tune of three assists.
Senior forward Alex Whiteman also scored for Prospect, which charted its first conference victory of the season while improving to 3-13-1 overall and 1-8-0 in league play. Elk Grove fell to 4-9-2 overall and 1-9-0 in the Mid-Suburban League.
"We have a lot of players back (from injury), giving us a little pep in our step; it's more fun to play," said Lojewski, whose first goal (in the 38th minute) gave the Knights a 1-0 halftime lead. "The first goal gave us the momentum and told us we could do it."
Lojewski broke the deadlock on a tap-in from the left side, set up by a beautiful cross from Taldone. The second of Lojewski's three tallies -- also set up by Taldone -- came just two minutes into the second half, when an innocent-looking shot slipped through the legs of Elk Grove senior goalkeeper Alberto Centeno.
Whiteman (from Taldone) then scored in the 45th minute to make it 3-0, and Lojewski completed his hat trick on a short floater with 26:08 remaining in the contest.
"(Taldone) was fighting a lot, and he was a crucial part (of the offense)," Lojewski said. "He did the hard work -- I did the easy work to put it in the back of the net."
Taldone was a force every time he touched the ball, cutting through Elk Grove's defense with tough runs to set up numerous scoring opportunities and dropping back with equal speed to shore up the middle as well.
"Every time you score a goal, it has to be a 0-0 mentality," Taldone said. "So you have to play better to distract the opposition even more."
Lojewski said the Knights weren't satisfied with the 1-0 edge at halftime, adding, "We knew we had to score more, and the second goal was crucial."
Cohen, whose team endured a 12-game losing streak before topping Crystal Lake South 2-1 on Saturday, certainly was pleased to see the strong play of Lojewski and Taldone rewarded on the scoreboard.
"Dominick (Taldone) controlled the middle of the field -- his vision was really good and put us in opportunistic places," Cohen said. "And then Maciej (Lojewski) was in the right place to capitalize on the opportunities."
Elk Grove matched Prospect's solid midfield play for the majority of the first half, which resembled a volleyball match as neither team was able to mount much of an attack.
But Elk Grove's engine lost some of its steam after the Knights notched the two quick second-half goals. Grenadiers coach Rob Shepard did his best to keep a stiff upper lip as his squad quietly left the field at game's end.
"We're struggling ... getting away from what we're good at, and we need to adjust," said Shepard, who also bemoaned the fact that his team has gone three straight games without denting the net.
"Prospect smelled blood in the water, and we had a pretty deflated attitude. A season has a lot of peaks and valleys, and right now we need to climb out of the valley. We've got to get our passion going and figure things out."
Elk Grove senior defender Dan Hadler did his best to thwart the Knights attack, clearing several balls out of danger to help set up counterattacks. He offered no excuses for his team's play after Prospect broke the ice and carried the match from there.
"That's something that's happened the last two games (including a 5-0 loss to Fremd on Oct. 2) -- it's back and forth, and then the other team breaks it open," Hadler said. "We get discouraged when we don't score a lot, and it hurts to lose, but we have to change the way we play completely.
"The playoffs are coming, and we have to play hard the entire game. We had the passion in other games, and we have to find a way to get it back."
Meanwhile, Cohen is seeing a renewed sense of passion with his group.
"Everybody plays a role, and that's what we're looking for," said Cohen, who name-checked senior defenders Ian Lenke and Miguel Cruz, junior defender Dan Marshall and sophomore defender Grant Whitebloom for their efforts in the win.
"We're moving forward, trying to get regrouped and play a good smart game. And a lot of that happened tonight."
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK: Nick Jozefowski
D: Grant Whitebloom
D: Miguel Cruz
D: Ian Lenke
D: Sam Karlov
MF: Jake Cavaiani
MF: Adam Sovoia
MF: Celso Soto
MF: Jordan Parrott
F: Alex Whiteman
F: Dominick Taldone
Elk Grove
GK: Alberto Centeno
D: Bobby Hlavin
D: Dan Hadler
D: Connor Emmerich
D: Ivan Corona
MF: Michael Contreras
MF: Edgar Soto
MF: Noe Centeno
MF: Oscar Suarez
F: Chris Guadarrama
F: Carlos Miranda
Man of the Match: Dominick Taldone, Prospect
Officials: Jay Cummins, Kevin Spitz, Eli Sanchez