Wheaton Warrenville South
upsets Leyden in tourney opener
Keeper Friedle comes to fore in PepsiCo shootout
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE – Wheaton Warrenville South mustered only two shots in 90 minutes of action against Leyden on Saturday. The Tigers failed to score in the run of play. They missed three attempts in the seven-round penalty kick shootout, including the first two.
A recipe for failure if ever there was one, right?
Wrong.
In a bizarre opening-round game at the PepsiCo Showdown at the Lyons Soccer Complex, Wheaton Warrenville South got some inspired play from second half goalkeeper Nathan Friedle and upset previously unbeaten Leyden 2-1 for its third consecutive victory.
Friedle, one of two goalies utilized by Tigers coach Guy Callipari, made three saves in the shootout, including one on his Leyden counterpart Alfredo Recendez, and watched as the Eagles’ final shooter sent his attempt 5 feet wide of the left post to end the improbable win.
“It’s just amazing,” said Wheaton Warrenville South defender Ethan Weseman, who also made a big save for the Tigers. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone would have thought we could have beaten them. It’s just a great feeling, and we will hope to carry that momentum through the next round.”
The unseeded Tigers (3-5-0) advanced to Tuesday’s second round, when they travel to face no. 7 seed New Trier.
Weseman and his teammates could be forgiven for thinking they would not advance, because for 78 minutes the 10th-seeded Eagles (5-1-1) dominated the action.
But a seemingly harmless cross led to Leyden being whistled for a hand ball in its own penalty area. The Tigers tied the game 1-1 as Anthony Berardi scored on the ensuing penalty kick with 1:58 remaining in regulation.
After neither side could score in two five-minute sudden-death overtime periods, the match went to a shootout, where things got weird.
The Tigers have been rotating Friedle and Adam Mrzlak between the pipes, with Mrzlak being the starter.
Mrzlak made one great save early before Albert Arabik gave Leyden the lead with 22 minutes to go in the first half. Arabik took a pass from Salvador Salgado and raced past two defenders down the left wing before scoring his fifth goal of the season.
But despite dominating possession and generating plenty of chances, the Eagles could not add to their lead. Jesus Hernandez had a shot hit the outside of the right post two minutes before intermission. Then Friedle relieved Mrzlak and proceeded to make seven saves in the second half.
“We were thin in numbers and ability, so we had to play smart,” said Callipari, who was missing two starters who were taking the ACT. “They had some great opportunities, but I thought the guys who have played 10 minutes this year and were thrown into the fire did a pretty good job at the speed of play.
“It’s all about reading, especially with our backs. Am I marking, covering or trapping, and when do I do those things and support and maintain our shape? So that’s the learning curve.
“Experience is critical, and we were going to use this game regardless to develop so that we’re prepared throughout the year."
The little-used Weseman, a junior who came off the bench, made a huge play midway through the second half that turned out to be more important than anybody realized at the time.
Leyden’s Angel Lopez sprinted down the right flank and beat Friedle with a low shot, but Weseman slid and kicked it off the goal line.
“(Lopez) just beat us done the right side and crossed it right across the 6, and I just happened to be there,” Weseman said. “I was following the play, but part of it was just happenstance.”
Callipari observed that Weseman hadn’t seen much action prior to meeting Leyden.
“He’s a great physical player, and that’s something that he read on his own that early on maybe he wouldn’t have," he said. "So he’s starting to pay attention to the coverage, the weak-side help and some other principles like being under control.
“He’s an athlete, and typically most athletes play out of control, so it was nice to see him think first prior to just going in trying to destroy things. That’s what we had hoped for, (that) everybody was to experience something that helps them grow as a player.”
Friedle, and no doubt the fans, experienced something new as Callipari deployed the rarely seen tactic of using two goalies in the shootout.
Friedle faced the first three Leyden shooters, conceding to Lopez before diving to his left to stop Recendez and David Senk.
The shootout was tied at 1-1 at that point because the Tigers’ first shooter, Berardi, hit the crossbar and then Recendez stopped Charlie Kerby before Mark Chrisotomo got his team on the board.
Callipari then had Mrzlak face the next two shooters, Krystian Havran and Salgado, who both scored, with Salgado keeping the Eagles alive after Danny Jimenez and Adrian Guzman had converted for the Tigers.
In the sixth round, Recendez dove to his right to thwart Jack Schlegel. In a slight diversion from Callipari’s original plan, in came Friedle, who denied Leyden the win by lunging to his left to stop Christian Rubio.
The Tigers’ seventh shooter was Kevin Noonan. His try was true to put his team ahead 4-3, before Leyden’s final miss against Friedle.
“We had a deal where I would take three, (Mrzlak) would take two and then we would go one, one,” Friedle said. “I didn’t know we could do that, actually.”
Taking turns could be emotionally draining for many keepers, but Friedle wasn’t flummoxed.
“I don’t mind,” Friedle said. “I’m actually the backup.
“Adam’s good. He’s the senior captain and the starter, so I was happy to just save a few. I thought I shouldn’t steal it from him.”
Instead, he stole the game from the Eagles.
“To be honest with you, we stole it from them,” said Friedle, who had never saved that many penalties before. “We were down 1-0 until the next-to-last minute, so that was weird.”
So how did Friedle do it?
He said he searches for a “tell” that lets him figure out a shooter’s intentions, but understandably would not relate what that tell is. But he was willing to generally speak about how he manages pressure situations.
“I just stay as relaxed as possible,” Friedle said. “When it was overtime and everyone was screaming, I just tried to stay as calm as possible. If you’re too jittery, you’re not thinking straight and your eyesight goes funny and you can’t play the best you can.”
Callipari said his decision to use both goalies in the shootout was a matter of preparing for the future.
“You can sub in your keeper, and (we did) because we’re rotating goalies and want to give them both experience,” Callipari said. “You’re not going to get (shootouts) too much, but what happens if one of them goes down? The other one has to step in, and they’ve seen them before. It worked out really well.”
It didn’t work out well for Leyden, which was ranked 23rd in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, despite playing well in every phase except finishing.
“We did outplay them,” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “I thought for the first 10 minutes we had a hard time adjusting to their pace, and they had some good chances. After that we settled down, we scored the goal, and I thought we controlled the game and created a bunch of chances.
“But when you’re not finishing your chances and it’s 1-1 and then all of a sudden we make a mistake in the back and give the ref an opportunity to call a penalty kick, and that’s how it goes.
“But credit them. Even though maybe they didn’t believe, when you leave the team in the game, they got a lucky bounce, a lucky break and they capitalized on it.”
Despite the loss, the Eagles are off to a solid start.
“Yeah, but this loss stings a little bit,” Valintis said. “Yeah, we want to advance in the Pepsi, but the way we lost it is more concerning to me than the fact that we lost.
“I don’t mind losing if we played a good team, as Wheaton Warrenville South certainly is, but we beat ourselves today. We didn’t finish.”
On the other hand, teams are not finishing much lately against the Tigers, who have surrendered just one goal in their current three-game winning streak that included shutout victories over DuPage Valley Conference foes Wheaton North and Metea Valley.
“We gave up 16 goals in our first four games, and the past three games we’ve allowed one,” Friedle said. “I think we are just more focused in the back and that’s helped a lot.”
Callipari said, “We’ve won the last three, and I think more than that the roles have been defined and now they are starting to buy into it. Now we’re seeing some consistency.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
G Alfredo Recendez
D Salvador Salgado
D Christina Rubio
D Damian Kosakowski
D Cesar Franco
M Angel Lopez
M Jesus Hernandez
M David Senk
M Esteban Hernandez
F Albert Arabik
F Mario Vazquez
Wheaton Warrenville South
G Adam Mrzlak
D Kyle Faith
D Cesar Bucio
D Clyde Wight
D Jackson Keske
M Carlos Moyoti-Rosas
M Charlie Kerby
M Mark Crisotomo
M Anthony Berardi
F Jose Alfaro
F Danny Jimenez
Man of the Match: Nathan Friedle, GK, Wheaton Warrenville South
upsets Leyden in tourney opener
Keeper Friedle comes to fore in PepsiCo shootout
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE – Wheaton Warrenville South mustered only two shots in 90 minutes of action against Leyden on Saturday. The Tigers failed to score in the run of play. They missed three attempts in the seven-round penalty kick shootout, including the first two.
A recipe for failure if ever there was one, right?
Wrong.
In a bizarre opening-round game at the PepsiCo Showdown at the Lyons Soccer Complex, Wheaton Warrenville South got some inspired play from second half goalkeeper Nathan Friedle and upset previously unbeaten Leyden 2-1 for its third consecutive victory.
Friedle, one of two goalies utilized by Tigers coach Guy Callipari, made three saves in the shootout, including one on his Leyden counterpart Alfredo Recendez, and watched as the Eagles’ final shooter sent his attempt 5 feet wide of the left post to end the improbable win.
“It’s just amazing,” said Wheaton Warrenville South defender Ethan Weseman, who also made a big save for the Tigers. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone would have thought we could have beaten them. It’s just a great feeling, and we will hope to carry that momentum through the next round.”
The unseeded Tigers (3-5-0) advanced to Tuesday’s second round, when they travel to face no. 7 seed New Trier.
Weseman and his teammates could be forgiven for thinking they would not advance, because for 78 minutes the 10th-seeded Eagles (5-1-1) dominated the action.
But a seemingly harmless cross led to Leyden being whistled for a hand ball in its own penalty area. The Tigers tied the game 1-1 as Anthony Berardi scored on the ensuing penalty kick with 1:58 remaining in regulation.
After neither side could score in two five-minute sudden-death overtime periods, the match went to a shootout, where things got weird.
The Tigers have been rotating Friedle and Adam Mrzlak between the pipes, with Mrzlak being the starter.
Mrzlak made one great save early before Albert Arabik gave Leyden the lead with 22 minutes to go in the first half. Arabik took a pass from Salvador Salgado and raced past two defenders down the left wing before scoring his fifth goal of the season.
But despite dominating possession and generating plenty of chances, the Eagles could not add to their lead. Jesus Hernandez had a shot hit the outside of the right post two minutes before intermission. Then Friedle relieved Mrzlak and proceeded to make seven saves in the second half.
“We were thin in numbers and ability, so we had to play smart,” said Callipari, who was missing two starters who were taking the ACT. “They had some great opportunities, but I thought the guys who have played 10 minutes this year and were thrown into the fire did a pretty good job at the speed of play.
“It’s all about reading, especially with our backs. Am I marking, covering or trapping, and when do I do those things and support and maintain our shape? So that’s the learning curve.
“Experience is critical, and we were going to use this game regardless to develop so that we’re prepared throughout the year."
The little-used Weseman, a junior who came off the bench, made a huge play midway through the second half that turned out to be more important than anybody realized at the time.
Leyden’s Angel Lopez sprinted down the right flank and beat Friedle with a low shot, but Weseman slid and kicked it off the goal line.
“(Lopez) just beat us done the right side and crossed it right across the 6, and I just happened to be there,” Weseman said. “I was following the play, but part of it was just happenstance.”
Callipari observed that Weseman hadn’t seen much action prior to meeting Leyden.
“He’s a great physical player, and that’s something that he read on his own that early on maybe he wouldn’t have," he said. "So he’s starting to pay attention to the coverage, the weak-side help and some other principles like being under control.
“He’s an athlete, and typically most athletes play out of control, so it was nice to see him think first prior to just going in trying to destroy things. That’s what we had hoped for, (that) everybody was to experience something that helps them grow as a player.”
Friedle, and no doubt the fans, experienced something new as Callipari deployed the rarely seen tactic of using two goalies in the shootout.
Friedle faced the first three Leyden shooters, conceding to Lopez before diving to his left to stop Recendez and David Senk.
The shootout was tied at 1-1 at that point because the Tigers’ first shooter, Berardi, hit the crossbar and then Recendez stopped Charlie Kerby before Mark Chrisotomo got his team on the board.
Callipari then had Mrzlak face the next two shooters, Krystian Havran and Salgado, who both scored, with Salgado keeping the Eagles alive after Danny Jimenez and Adrian Guzman had converted for the Tigers.
In the sixth round, Recendez dove to his right to thwart Jack Schlegel. In a slight diversion from Callipari’s original plan, in came Friedle, who denied Leyden the win by lunging to his left to stop Christian Rubio.
The Tigers’ seventh shooter was Kevin Noonan. His try was true to put his team ahead 4-3, before Leyden’s final miss against Friedle.
“We had a deal where I would take three, (Mrzlak) would take two and then we would go one, one,” Friedle said. “I didn’t know we could do that, actually.”
Taking turns could be emotionally draining for many keepers, but Friedle wasn’t flummoxed.
“I don’t mind,” Friedle said. “I’m actually the backup.
“Adam’s good. He’s the senior captain and the starter, so I was happy to just save a few. I thought I shouldn’t steal it from him.”
Instead, he stole the game from the Eagles.
“To be honest with you, we stole it from them,” said Friedle, who had never saved that many penalties before. “We were down 1-0 until the next-to-last minute, so that was weird.”
So how did Friedle do it?
He said he searches for a “tell” that lets him figure out a shooter’s intentions, but understandably would not relate what that tell is. But he was willing to generally speak about how he manages pressure situations.
“I just stay as relaxed as possible,” Friedle said. “When it was overtime and everyone was screaming, I just tried to stay as calm as possible. If you’re too jittery, you’re not thinking straight and your eyesight goes funny and you can’t play the best you can.”
Callipari said his decision to use both goalies in the shootout was a matter of preparing for the future.
“You can sub in your keeper, and (we did) because we’re rotating goalies and want to give them both experience,” Callipari said. “You’re not going to get (shootouts) too much, but what happens if one of them goes down? The other one has to step in, and they’ve seen them before. It worked out really well.”
It didn’t work out well for Leyden, which was ranked 23rd in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, despite playing well in every phase except finishing.
“We did outplay them,” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “I thought for the first 10 minutes we had a hard time adjusting to their pace, and they had some good chances. After that we settled down, we scored the goal, and I thought we controlled the game and created a bunch of chances.
“But when you’re not finishing your chances and it’s 1-1 and then all of a sudden we make a mistake in the back and give the ref an opportunity to call a penalty kick, and that’s how it goes.
“But credit them. Even though maybe they didn’t believe, when you leave the team in the game, they got a lucky bounce, a lucky break and they capitalized on it.”
Despite the loss, the Eagles are off to a solid start.
“Yeah, but this loss stings a little bit,” Valintis said. “Yeah, we want to advance in the Pepsi, but the way we lost it is more concerning to me than the fact that we lost.
“I don’t mind losing if we played a good team, as Wheaton Warrenville South certainly is, but we beat ourselves today. We didn’t finish.”
On the other hand, teams are not finishing much lately against the Tigers, who have surrendered just one goal in their current three-game winning streak that included shutout victories over DuPage Valley Conference foes Wheaton North and Metea Valley.
“We gave up 16 goals in our first four games, and the past three games we’ve allowed one,” Friedle said. “I think we are just more focused in the back and that’s helped a lot.”
Callipari said, “We’ve won the last three, and I think more than that the roles have been defined and now they are starting to buy into it. Now we’re seeing some consistency.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
G Alfredo Recendez
D Salvador Salgado
D Christina Rubio
D Damian Kosakowski
D Cesar Franco
M Angel Lopez
M Jesus Hernandez
M David Senk
M Esteban Hernandez
F Albert Arabik
F Mario Vazquez
Wheaton Warrenville South
G Adam Mrzlak
D Kyle Faith
D Cesar Bucio
D Clyde Wight
D Jackson Keske
M Carlos Moyoti-Rosas
M Charlie Kerby
M Mark Crisotomo
M Anthony Berardi
F Jose Alfaro
F Danny Jimenez
Man of the Match: Nathan Friedle, GK, Wheaton Warrenville South