Streamwood tames Lyons
Early goal gives Sabres upset win in tourney opener
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHFIELD -- The history of Streamwood playing against Lyons was not a pretty picture.
"We never beat them before," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "Every time we played them, in the Pepsi Tournament, it was five or six to nothing."
Metaphorically and elsewhere, the Sabres turned a corner last year with its first state trophy in the program history by finishing fourth in the Class 3A state tournament. The consequences and dividends were profound. It meant extra time for practice and playing together.
It meant a changing of the culture. The Sabres were going to dictate tempo and pace and force the style of play.
The results of that deepening confidence and aggressive manner of play came to fruition as sophomore midfielder Aldo Lazaro accepted a through ball down the left edge and finished a beautiful one-touch that settled inside the back post. The score in the seventh minute held up as the No. 22 Sabres stunned the No. 5 Lions 1-0 in a first round game of New Trier's Northside College Showcase on Saturday.
The stellar Lions' defense had been unscored upon in their first two games.
Streamwood freshman midfielder Bryan Mora played Lazaro the initial ball. The sophomore, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the match, accelerated and caught the Lions off-balance.
"I was a little nervous, but I knew I had to score, " Lazaro said of his second goal of the year. "I saw the goalie [Matt Vear] come out, so I just knew I had to touch it, and it would go behind him.
"The artificial turf was very slippery at the start, so I just wanted to make sure I kept my balance and got a good shot."
Polovin knew the Lions are devastating in creating counters and feeding off of other team's mistakes.
"It was good work by a young team," he said. "We said in the first 10 or 15 minutes to take it at them. We didn't want to sit back and see what happens. They're an excellent team, and we wanted to put pressure and create a lot of chances.
"I don't think they expected to get scored upon that early by Streamwood."
Lyons (2-1) was coming off two impressive 1-0 victories, including a Thursday showdown with No. 4 Naperville North. Still, goals have been scarce early and the team is finding its offensive rhythm. Coach Paul Labbato credited the Sabres with the superb early play.
"They outplayed us by far in that first half," he said. "They did a great job of quickly getting it and moving it forward."
To its credit, Streamwood did not back down or get comfortable after the early goal. The Sabres maintained pressure, generating multiple corner kicks and using its speed and quickness to spread the field and force the Lions to chase them. Midfielder Edwin Rueda served some terrific balls. Senior forward Donnie Sosa had a header that was just wide and also watched Vear make a superb stab of another shot.
Still, the tone was set.
"We started off pretty quickly and both teams were going hard right away," Sosa said. "Lyons is a good team. We came into this tournament knowing there were a bunch of good teams. It's a good showcase, and we know all the teams are going to be competitive and come out strong.
"We have to come out with the same mentality as well and just come out and play."
The Lions' best first half opportunity occurred as forward Diego Lopez broke free off a long through ball to create a potential one-on-one with Streamwood keeper Daniel Dominguez. The Sabres' keeper aggressive jumped off the line to challenge the ball and Lopez was able to flick a shot that that floated just over the crossbar.
"In another game this year I'm going to see five goals go in, and they are all going to be very similar," Labbato said.
Forward Isaiah Nieves, who scored both of the team's goals this year, had several rocket shots inside the box. Dominguez deflected one, and a second time a Streamwood defender cleared it. Lyons played with greater urgency and purpose in the second half.
"I felt in the second half we were better motivated to go goal-to-goal," Labbato said. "In the first half we were just calmly trying to play the ball, and it didn't amount to very much. I thought we did better in the second half, and we were challenging in all spaces of the field."
As the Lions pushed numbers forward, the ball played significantly more in the Sabres' back. One byproduct of the early season is players are still adjusting to different speeds and paces and developing their own finishing skills. It is trial by fire.
"We had one that slid by the post, and they had a couple they did a very job of clearing defensively," Labbato said.
It was a disappointing start to a tournament which the Lions held out great ambitions. The pieces are there, Labbato said.
"I think overall we're going to be fine. It's up to the coaches now to figure out how to help our players be successful. We have very high level players, but as a group, we're not clicking right now.
"We have to figure that out," he said.
Streamwood only had to think back two days as an example of how quickly the tide turns. The Sabres played a solid first half in taking a 1-0 lead against Wheeling only to allow three second half goals in their 3-2 loss.
"We lost our last time, so we knew we had to give everything in this game," Lazaro said.
Defender Aaron Villegas made a great recovery and clearing in the 69th minute off a Nieves' blast. Then a Lyons' header was just off target.
"We didn't let off the pedal," Polovin said. "I think we defended them very well. Daniel Dominguez made a beautiful play on one of their crosses.
"A couple of times we had a second keeper (a defender), and that was nice because it showed how composed we were in the back, and they might have scored on a couple of those chances."
Streamwood has seven returning starters from its state qualifying team. Polovin points out he has 11 underclassmen.
It was a statement win for a program on the rise. The complacency that flared up against Wheeling was nowhere in evidence.
"We kept them on their heels," Polovin said. "For us to beat a team like them this early in the season that's a big confidence boost for us."
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Matt Vear
D: Greg Piechalak
D: Nick Economou
D: John Mazur
D: Devin Ekstam
M: Alex Contreras
M: Carlos Molina
M: Camilo Drobny
M: Aaron Onion
F: Isaiah Nieves
F: Adrian Valadez
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Aaron Villegas
D: Erie Ortiz
D: Jair Zuniga
M: Aldo Lazaro
M: Armondo Sanchez
M: Edwin Rueda
M: Bryan Mora
F: Brian Benitez
F: Donnie Sosa
F: Luis Segura
Man of the match: Aldo Lazaro, MF, Streamwood
Early goal gives Sabres upset win in tourney opener
By Patrick Z. McGavin
NORTHFIELD -- The history of Streamwood playing against Lyons was not a pretty picture.
"We never beat them before," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "Every time we played them, in the Pepsi Tournament, it was five or six to nothing."
Metaphorically and elsewhere, the Sabres turned a corner last year with its first state trophy in the program history by finishing fourth in the Class 3A state tournament. The consequences and dividends were profound. It meant extra time for practice and playing together.
It meant a changing of the culture. The Sabres were going to dictate tempo and pace and force the style of play.
The results of that deepening confidence and aggressive manner of play came to fruition as sophomore midfielder Aldo Lazaro accepted a through ball down the left edge and finished a beautiful one-touch that settled inside the back post. The score in the seventh minute held up as the No. 22 Sabres stunned the No. 5 Lions 1-0 in a first round game of New Trier's Northside College Showcase on Saturday.
The stellar Lions' defense had been unscored upon in their first two games.
Streamwood freshman midfielder Bryan Mora played Lazaro the initial ball. The sophomore, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the match, accelerated and caught the Lions off-balance.
"I was a little nervous, but I knew I had to score, " Lazaro said of his second goal of the year. "I saw the goalie [Matt Vear] come out, so I just knew I had to touch it, and it would go behind him.
"The artificial turf was very slippery at the start, so I just wanted to make sure I kept my balance and got a good shot."
Polovin knew the Lions are devastating in creating counters and feeding off of other team's mistakes.
"It was good work by a young team," he said. "We said in the first 10 or 15 minutes to take it at them. We didn't want to sit back and see what happens. They're an excellent team, and we wanted to put pressure and create a lot of chances.
"I don't think they expected to get scored upon that early by Streamwood."
Lyons (2-1) was coming off two impressive 1-0 victories, including a Thursday showdown with No. 4 Naperville North. Still, goals have been scarce early and the team is finding its offensive rhythm. Coach Paul Labbato credited the Sabres with the superb early play.
"They outplayed us by far in that first half," he said. "They did a great job of quickly getting it and moving it forward."
To its credit, Streamwood did not back down or get comfortable after the early goal. The Sabres maintained pressure, generating multiple corner kicks and using its speed and quickness to spread the field and force the Lions to chase them. Midfielder Edwin Rueda served some terrific balls. Senior forward Donnie Sosa had a header that was just wide and also watched Vear make a superb stab of another shot.
Still, the tone was set.
"We started off pretty quickly and both teams were going hard right away," Sosa said. "Lyons is a good team. We came into this tournament knowing there were a bunch of good teams. It's a good showcase, and we know all the teams are going to be competitive and come out strong.
"We have to come out with the same mentality as well and just come out and play."
The Lions' best first half opportunity occurred as forward Diego Lopez broke free off a long through ball to create a potential one-on-one with Streamwood keeper Daniel Dominguez. The Sabres' keeper aggressive jumped off the line to challenge the ball and Lopez was able to flick a shot that that floated just over the crossbar.
"In another game this year I'm going to see five goals go in, and they are all going to be very similar," Labbato said.
Forward Isaiah Nieves, who scored both of the team's goals this year, had several rocket shots inside the box. Dominguez deflected one, and a second time a Streamwood defender cleared it. Lyons played with greater urgency and purpose in the second half.
"I felt in the second half we were better motivated to go goal-to-goal," Labbato said. "In the first half we were just calmly trying to play the ball, and it didn't amount to very much. I thought we did better in the second half, and we were challenging in all spaces of the field."
As the Lions pushed numbers forward, the ball played significantly more in the Sabres' back. One byproduct of the early season is players are still adjusting to different speeds and paces and developing their own finishing skills. It is trial by fire.
"We had one that slid by the post, and they had a couple they did a very job of clearing defensively," Labbato said.
It was a disappointing start to a tournament which the Lions held out great ambitions. The pieces are there, Labbato said.
"I think overall we're going to be fine. It's up to the coaches now to figure out how to help our players be successful. We have very high level players, but as a group, we're not clicking right now.
"We have to figure that out," he said.
Streamwood only had to think back two days as an example of how quickly the tide turns. The Sabres played a solid first half in taking a 1-0 lead against Wheeling only to allow three second half goals in their 3-2 loss.
"We lost our last time, so we knew we had to give everything in this game," Lazaro said.
Defender Aaron Villegas made a great recovery and clearing in the 69th minute off a Nieves' blast. Then a Lyons' header was just off target.
"We didn't let off the pedal," Polovin said. "I think we defended them very well. Daniel Dominguez made a beautiful play on one of their crosses.
"A couple of times we had a second keeper (a defender), and that was nice because it showed how composed we were in the back, and they might have scored on a couple of those chances."
Streamwood has seven returning starters from its state qualifying team. Polovin points out he has 11 underclassmen.
It was a statement win for a program on the rise. The complacency that flared up against Wheeling was nowhere in evidence.
"We kept them on their heels," Polovin said. "For us to beat a team like them this early in the season that's a big confidence boost for us."
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK: Matt Vear
D: Greg Piechalak
D: Nick Economou
D: John Mazur
D: Devin Ekstam
M: Alex Contreras
M: Carlos Molina
M: Camilo Drobny
M: Aaron Onion
F: Isaiah Nieves
F: Adrian Valadez
Streamwood
GK: Daniel Dominguez
D: Aaron Villegas
D: Erie Ortiz
D: Jair Zuniga
M: Aldo Lazaro
M: Armondo Sanchez
M: Edwin Rueda
M: Bryan Mora
F: Brian Benitez
F: Donnie Sosa
F: Luis Segura
Man of the match: Aldo Lazaro, MF, Streamwood