Waubonsie Valley nets big road win
Warriors make the most of their chances to end two-game slide
By Chris Walker
LISLE – You’ve heard it before.
“He’s a freshman! Clap, clap, clappity-clap.”
It’s a cheer barked most frequently in gymnasiums during basketball games when a kid who just graduated from eighth grade the previous summer suddenly makes an impact in varsity athletics.
That chant wasn’t yelped by the Waubonsie Valley fans who were on hand in Lisle for Thursday’s non-conference game at Benet, but there’s no doubt it would have been fitting. Warriors’ freshman Rogelio Grimaldo had a fantastic game defensively, as did the rest of the team’s back line, one that also featured fellow starters Justin Damon, Rogelio Grimaldo and Jason Wolfe.
Their efforts thwarted a potent Benet attack and allowed the Warriors to escape with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
Grimaldo was recognized for his performance as Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“It was a very hard game, but we kept up the intensity and just hung in there,” Grimaldo said. “We learned a lot after losing to Naperville Central so we changed a few things and were able to come here and get this 2-1 win.”
He received especially high praise from senior teammate Henry Zehnal.
“Our defense stepped up and was brilliant,” Waubonsie Valley midfielder Zehnal said. “Rogelio (Grimaldo), our left back, was probably our best defender today.”
The Warriors made some tweaks to their formation. They proved to be advantageous.
“Coach Jose (Garcia) changed things up because we usually start with a 4-4-2 and we changed it to a 4-3-2-1 because we wanted to spread out the field more,” Grimaldo said. “Coach said we could play better soccer with the change, so it feels good to see it work and to get back on the winning track.”
The defense had to come up big, as the Redwings controlled the game, outshooting the Warriors by a substantial 16-3 margin.
“Defense is where we’ve kind of struggled a little bit this season,” Garcia said. “I think we’re starting to put it together though and I know in the end it’ll eventually come together, especially on defense.”
Waubonsie Valley (4-2-1) prevented Benet’s star forward Kyle Kenagy from beating them, but the Yale recruit did create his share of chances and continued to be dangerous.
“Kyle got into the box twice with ball on foot in the first half, but it was just one of those days,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “I thought their pressure was good, but once we gave up that second goal we gave them a lot of life. Suddenly they were on the ball and keeping the ball and doing things they hadn’t done in the second half.”
Benet (4-2-0) was able to enjoy an early lead. Junior Ryley Guay connected from about 35 yards away with 25:27 remaining. He corralled a pass from Daniel Morefield and quickly turned and fired a shot just below the cross bar and safely outside of the grasp of Sanchez.
The Warriors responded, drawing even on a combination from Ryan Dittmer to Leo Mendoza with 5:29 left in the first half.
“That was a big play for us,” Zehnal said. “We came out with high intensity but then were suddenly down one-nil. I think getting that first goal set us up for the second half, and then we put (Benet) in their place and just worked harder than them. That’s why we got the result.”
The game winner came less than three minutes into the second half, although Benet would have several chances to net the equalizer.
Waubonsie Valley senior Jon Braun saw the game-winning play unfold right before him as he situated himself just several yards outside of the left corner of the top of the penalty area.
Once he secured possession, he simply let a shot fly.
“I saw the defense and the goalie both come out,” Braun said. “I think the defender and the goalie miscommunicated and the ball just popped out and I happened to be there. It wasn’t a great shot, but at least it went in.”
While it proved to be a huge win for the Warriors, it’s a tough one to accept for Benet after creating more than four times as many shots as the victors.
“This wasn’t a game we wanted to lose. You don’t want to throw away your first home game of the year,” Wesley said. “I thought we were in position to win, and if there’s a positive to take out of it, (Waubonsie Valley) is a good team. We created 11 to 15 good goal scoring chances and they didn’t go in today.”
Benet junior defender Harrison Burke agreed with his coach, saying, “We had plenty of opportunities, but we just didn’t finish. We just need to capitalize on our chances. I thought we played decent as a defense, but had a few unlucky breaks or we would’ve been right in it.”
Good breaks or bad breaks, it was happy bus ride home for the Warriors.
“We got our big win,” Garcia said. “The thing is, these boys needed to find it in themselves after that (Naperville) Central loss (on Saturday morning.) It kind of put them in a depressed kind of mood and they just needed a little bit of fire to pick them back up.”
They’re up now.
Starting lineups
Waubonsie Valley
G Eddie Sanchez
F Tyler Barker
F Sohum Buch
D Justin Damon
D Rogelio Grimaldo
D Jeff Ito
D Jason Wolfe
M Jon Braun
M Leo Mendoza
M Drew Valek
M Henry Zehnal
Benet
G Konrad Bayer
D Harrison Burke
D Bennett Curtis
D Jared Kovach
D Dustin Uher
M Andrew Heaton
M Richie Michalik
M Connor Mote
M Artur Pach
F Kyle Kenagy
F Daniel Morefield
Man of the Match: Rogelio Grimaldo
Officials: David Accardi, Francisco Damian, Bill Niemeyer
Warriors make the most of their chances to end two-game slide
By Chris Walker
LISLE – You’ve heard it before.
“He’s a freshman! Clap, clap, clappity-clap.”
It’s a cheer barked most frequently in gymnasiums during basketball games when a kid who just graduated from eighth grade the previous summer suddenly makes an impact in varsity athletics.
That chant wasn’t yelped by the Waubonsie Valley fans who were on hand in Lisle for Thursday’s non-conference game at Benet, but there’s no doubt it would have been fitting. Warriors’ freshman Rogelio Grimaldo had a fantastic game defensively, as did the rest of the team’s back line, one that also featured fellow starters Justin Damon, Rogelio Grimaldo and Jason Wolfe.
Their efforts thwarted a potent Benet attack and allowed the Warriors to escape with a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
Grimaldo was recognized for his performance as Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“It was a very hard game, but we kept up the intensity and just hung in there,” Grimaldo said. “We learned a lot after losing to Naperville Central so we changed a few things and were able to come here and get this 2-1 win.”
He received especially high praise from senior teammate Henry Zehnal.
“Our defense stepped up and was brilliant,” Waubonsie Valley midfielder Zehnal said. “Rogelio (Grimaldo), our left back, was probably our best defender today.”
The Warriors made some tweaks to their formation. They proved to be advantageous.
“Coach Jose (Garcia) changed things up because we usually start with a 4-4-2 and we changed it to a 4-3-2-1 because we wanted to spread out the field more,” Grimaldo said. “Coach said we could play better soccer with the change, so it feels good to see it work and to get back on the winning track.”
The defense had to come up big, as the Redwings controlled the game, outshooting the Warriors by a substantial 16-3 margin.
“Defense is where we’ve kind of struggled a little bit this season,” Garcia said. “I think we’re starting to put it together though and I know in the end it’ll eventually come together, especially on defense.”
Waubonsie Valley (4-2-1) prevented Benet’s star forward Kyle Kenagy from beating them, but the Yale recruit did create his share of chances and continued to be dangerous.
“Kyle got into the box twice with ball on foot in the first half, but it was just one of those days,” Benet coach Sean Wesley said. “I thought their pressure was good, but once we gave up that second goal we gave them a lot of life. Suddenly they were on the ball and keeping the ball and doing things they hadn’t done in the second half.”
Benet (4-2-0) was able to enjoy an early lead. Junior Ryley Guay connected from about 35 yards away with 25:27 remaining. He corralled a pass from Daniel Morefield and quickly turned and fired a shot just below the cross bar and safely outside of the grasp of Sanchez.
The Warriors responded, drawing even on a combination from Ryan Dittmer to Leo Mendoza with 5:29 left in the first half.
“That was a big play for us,” Zehnal said. “We came out with high intensity but then were suddenly down one-nil. I think getting that first goal set us up for the second half, and then we put (Benet) in their place and just worked harder than them. That’s why we got the result.”
The game winner came less than three minutes into the second half, although Benet would have several chances to net the equalizer.
Waubonsie Valley senior Jon Braun saw the game-winning play unfold right before him as he situated himself just several yards outside of the left corner of the top of the penalty area.
Once he secured possession, he simply let a shot fly.
“I saw the defense and the goalie both come out,” Braun said. “I think the defender and the goalie miscommunicated and the ball just popped out and I happened to be there. It wasn’t a great shot, but at least it went in.”
While it proved to be a huge win for the Warriors, it’s a tough one to accept for Benet after creating more than four times as many shots as the victors.
“This wasn’t a game we wanted to lose. You don’t want to throw away your first home game of the year,” Wesley said. “I thought we were in position to win, and if there’s a positive to take out of it, (Waubonsie Valley) is a good team. We created 11 to 15 good goal scoring chances and they didn’t go in today.”
Benet junior defender Harrison Burke agreed with his coach, saying, “We had plenty of opportunities, but we just didn’t finish. We just need to capitalize on our chances. I thought we played decent as a defense, but had a few unlucky breaks or we would’ve been right in it.”
Good breaks or bad breaks, it was happy bus ride home for the Warriors.
“We got our big win,” Garcia said. “The thing is, these boys needed to find it in themselves after that (Naperville) Central loss (on Saturday morning.) It kind of put them in a depressed kind of mood and they just needed a little bit of fire to pick them back up.”
They’re up now.
Starting lineups
Waubonsie Valley
G Eddie Sanchez
F Tyler Barker
F Sohum Buch
D Justin Damon
D Rogelio Grimaldo
D Jeff Ito
D Jason Wolfe
M Jon Braun
M Leo Mendoza
M Drew Valek
M Henry Zehnal
Benet
G Konrad Bayer
D Harrison Burke
D Bennett Curtis
D Jared Kovach
D Dustin Uher
M Andrew Heaton
M Richie Michalik
M Connor Mote
M Artur Pach
F Kyle Kenagy
F Daniel Morefield
Man of the Match: Rogelio Grimaldo
Officials: David Accardi, Francisco Damian, Bill Niemeyer