St. Charles keeps
3rd-straight invitational trophy
Saints' 5-goal second half downs Glenbard North
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- Initially Paul Jennison’s answer sounded a tad bit haughty, but to use American football terminology -- upon further review -- the response was confirmed to be accurate.
It wasn’t a question of being surprised that St. Charles East won its own invitational championship for a third-straight year, but whether the seventh-year Saints coach was caught off guard by a five-goal second half that produced a one-sided 6-1 victory over Glenbard North.
“Quite honestly, no,” Jennison responded. “In the first half we did the right things to create so many chances that I believed we’d have a big second half. We weren’t happy with our last two wins, so I challenged them to show what we can really do. I was impressed with our intensity from the start, and we never lost that level no matter who was in.”
The evidence was presented by six different scorers plus three additional players contributing assists as East, ranked No. 2 in the area, improved to 11-1-1.
Technically Jordan Moore’s goal was the match winner, but intangibles earned him Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match accolade.
“He’s been back for three games now, and we’ve simply looked like a different team,” said Jennison, who believes that the senior’s positive impact set the tone early.
Actually Taylor Ortiz provided the initial confidence booster with a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and the left post, but somehow managed not to go in.
At 10:23, the Saints got on the scoreboard thanks to a Moore penalty kick conversion. While Panther goalie Nathan Chalus dove to his right, the ball sailed past on his left for Moore’s third goal of the year.
“The No. 1 objective is not to let the goalie get inside your head, so I tell myself I’m going to score over and over and over,” Moore explained.
Glenbard North countered within eight minutes, but it wasn’t enough to cause concern for Jennison.
The Panthers, who dipped to 7-3-2, got the equalizer at 18:38 when Erik Arias assisted on Livre Emena’s header over out-rushing Saints goalie Steven Owens.
“Seeing Erik’s volley, my first step was to beat a defender. When I saw their keeper hesitate on his charge out, I went that much harder to meet the ball and popped it over him and in,” Emena said about his ninth goal of the season.
Glenbard North’s Mahmood Akif had a high 23-yard direct kick dip enough that Saints keeper Steve Owens chose to tip it over for a corner kick, but that opportunity to break the 1-1 first-half deadlock became a distant memory as the hosts’ attack turned relentless.
“I was pleased with how they conducted themselves when it was 1-1 by showing patience and discipline. We had both and that allowed us to do an excellent job finishing the way we started,” Jennison said.
Two minutes into the second half, East’s Tyler Robbins bounced a left-wing shot off the left post. Teammate Evan DiLeonardi got the carom on the right side and nailed the right post before a third attempt sailed over the goal.
A Christian Memije putback attempt continued rising enough to clear the bar by fractions, and another Ortiz blast curved to the right of the post.
Zach Manibog ended the inevitability of another St. Charles East score at 52:37. He used an Ortiz pass for a 12-yarder that banked in off the far left post.
“We had a lot of offensive momentum going in our favor, and when Taylor took the ball to the outside right, I just got in position to finish his pass,” explained Manibog, who tallied his seventh goal.
Within three minutes, 2-1 became 3-1 as Tyler Robbins’ direct kick from the right led to DiLeonardi entering from the left to drill a header inside the far right post for his 10th strike.
“Jordan got us a free kick, and Tyler put it perfectly into the box,” DiLeonardi said. “Their keeper was out of position, but it felt really good because I’ve been in somewhat of a slump. I believe I had seven headers last year and I’m determined to get more aggressive and accurate to add to my second.”
“That was quality,” Jennison said. “That’s what I like to think of as St. Charles East soccer: an excellent through ball, someone splitting between defenders and finishing strong.”
It was also a dagger to the Panthers’ hearts.
“After it was 1-1, they found a way to put one in and we didn’t,” Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller said.
“Once we allowed a third goal, I knew we were done. With Livre hobbling on one leg, I pulled him and some others because I had to coach for the season ahead; 3-1 or 6-1, we weren’t going to win. Looking back, we played great in five of the six halves of this tournament, so we’ll build on that.”
East then built on its lead with reserves who brought fresh legs, energy and hunger.
Reserves Zach Newman, who scored a goal with 22:30 to play, and Jared Brown combined to make it 4-1. Two minutes later, Mitch Dorsey scored from the left side and then chalked up an assist on a breakaway that Jack Petras finished by driving in from the right side.
“With each goal, we lost more of our focus,” the Panthers’ Emena admitted. “We didn’t find feet, we didn’t find each other, and we certainly didn’t finish the match the way we would have liked.”
Glenbard North did improve in one respect: The second-place showing came after having shared third the year before, based on a tie in the third-place contest with Elgin. The Maroons (6-7-1) claimed third by themselves this year, thanks to a 2-0 shutout of Marmion (7-8), which was the runner-up in the previous two invitationals. The 2014 fifth-place game ended in a 1-1 deadlock between Plainfield Central and Belvidere.
Staring lineups
Glenbard North
G Nathan Chalus
D Eleke Bonsi
D Mahmood Akif
D Zach Jones
D Daniel James
M Isaya Ebengo
M Danny Koeller
M Jacob Scheufler
M Gio Duenas
F Michael Botchev
F Livre Emena
St. Charles East
G Steve Owens
D Robert Wolak
D Ryan Stackhouse
D Kyle McLean
D Mitch Lucatorto
M Evan DiLeonardi
M Christian Memije
M Tyler Robbins
M Jordan Moore
F Taylor Ortiz
F Zach Manibog
Man of the Match: Jordan Moore, St. Charles East
Officials: Justin Obaryn, Trevor Ohlrich, Mike Montani.
3rd-straight invitational trophy
Saints' 5-goal second half downs Glenbard North
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES -- Initially Paul Jennison’s answer sounded a tad bit haughty, but to use American football terminology -- upon further review -- the response was confirmed to be accurate.
It wasn’t a question of being surprised that St. Charles East won its own invitational championship for a third-straight year, but whether the seventh-year Saints coach was caught off guard by a five-goal second half that produced a one-sided 6-1 victory over Glenbard North.
“Quite honestly, no,” Jennison responded. “In the first half we did the right things to create so many chances that I believed we’d have a big second half. We weren’t happy with our last two wins, so I challenged them to show what we can really do. I was impressed with our intensity from the start, and we never lost that level no matter who was in.”
The evidence was presented by six different scorers plus three additional players contributing assists as East, ranked No. 2 in the area, improved to 11-1-1.
Technically Jordan Moore’s goal was the match winner, but intangibles earned him Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match accolade.
“He’s been back for three games now, and we’ve simply looked like a different team,” said Jennison, who believes that the senior’s positive impact set the tone early.
Actually Taylor Ortiz provided the initial confidence booster with a shot that ricocheted off the crossbar and the left post, but somehow managed not to go in.
At 10:23, the Saints got on the scoreboard thanks to a Moore penalty kick conversion. While Panther goalie Nathan Chalus dove to his right, the ball sailed past on his left for Moore’s third goal of the year.
“The No. 1 objective is not to let the goalie get inside your head, so I tell myself I’m going to score over and over and over,” Moore explained.
Glenbard North countered within eight minutes, but it wasn’t enough to cause concern for Jennison.
The Panthers, who dipped to 7-3-2, got the equalizer at 18:38 when Erik Arias assisted on Livre Emena’s header over out-rushing Saints goalie Steven Owens.
“Seeing Erik’s volley, my first step was to beat a defender. When I saw their keeper hesitate on his charge out, I went that much harder to meet the ball and popped it over him and in,” Emena said about his ninth goal of the season.
Glenbard North’s Mahmood Akif had a high 23-yard direct kick dip enough that Saints keeper Steve Owens chose to tip it over for a corner kick, but that opportunity to break the 1-1 first-half deadlock became a distant memory as the hosts’ attack turned relentless.
“I was pleased with how they conducted themselves when it was 1-1 by showing patience and discipline. We had both and that allowed us to do an excellent job finishing the way we started,” Jennison said.
Two minutes into the second half, East’s Tyler Robbins bounced a left-wing shot off the left post. Teammate Evan DiLeonardi got the carom on the right side and nailed the right post before a third attempt sailed over the goal.
A Christian Memije putback attempt continued rising enough to clear the bar by fractions, and another Ortiz blast curved to the right of the post.
Zach Manibog ended the inevitability of another St. Charles East score at 52:37. He used an Ortiz pass for a 12-yarder that banked in off the far left post.
“We had a lot of offensive momentum going in our favor, and when Taylor took the ball to the outside right, I just got in position to finish his pass,” explained Manibog, who tallied his seventh goal.
Within three minutes, 2-1 became 3-1 as Tyler Robbins’ direct kick from the right led to DiLeonardi entering from the left to drill a header inside the far right post for his 10th strike.
“Jordan got us a free kick, and Tyler put it perfectly into the box,” DiLeonardi said. “Their keeper was out of position, but it felt really good because I’ve been in somewhat of a slump. I believe I had seven headers last year and I’m determined to get more aggressive and accurate to add to my second.”
“That was quality,” Jennison said. “That’s what I like to think of as St. Charles East soccer: an excellent through ball, someone splitting between defenders and finishing strong.”
It was also a dagger to the Panthers’ hearts.
“After it was 1-1, they found a way to put one in and we didn’t,” Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller said.
“Once we allowed a third goal, I knew we were done. With Livre hobbling on one leg, I pulled him and some others because I had to coach for the season ahead; 3-1 or 6-1, we weren’t going to win. Looking back, we played great in five of the six halves of this tournament, so we’ll build on that.”
East then built on its lead with reserves who brought fresh legs, energy and hunger.
Reserves Zach Newman, who scored a goal with 22:30 to play, and Jared Brown combined to make it 4-1. Two minutes later, Mitch Dorsey scored from the left side and then chalked up an assist on a breakaway that Jack Petras finished by driving in from the right side.
“With each goal, we lost more of our focus,” the Panthers’ Emena admitted. “We didn’t find feet, we didn’t find each other, and we certainly didn’t finish the match the way we would have liked.”
Glenbard North did improve in one respect: The second-place showing came after having shared third the year before, based on a tie in the third-place contest with Elgin. The Maroons (6-7-1) claimed third by themselves this year, thanks to a 2-0 shutout of Marmion (7-8), which was the runner-up in the previous two invitationals. The 2014 fifth-place game ended in a 1-1 deadlock between Plainfield Central and Belvidere.
Staring lineups
Glenbard North
G Nathan Chalus
D Eleke Bonsi
D Mahmood Akif
D Zach Jones
D Daniel James
M Isaya Ebengo
M Danny Koeller
M Jacob Scheufler
M Gio Duenas
F Michael Botchev
F Livre Emena
St. Charles East
G Steve Owens
D Robert Wolak
D Ryan Stackhouse
D Kyle McLean
D Mitch Lucatorto
M Evan DiLeonardi
M Christian Memije
M Tyler Robbins
M Jordan Moore
F Taylor Ortiz
F Zach Manibog
Man of the Match: Jordan Moore, St. Charles East
Officials: Justin Obaryn, Trevor Ohlrich, Mike Montani.