Youth is served for Downers S.
in 1-0 victory over Willowbrook
Two sophomores connect for lone goal on Senior Night
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Downers Grove South celebrated Senior Night on Tuesday, but it was a pair of sophomores who gave the Mustangs something to shout about.
Peter Becht scored his first varsity goal off an assist from fellow sophomore Nick Rohl and Downers South’s shutdown defense did the rest as the Mustangs closed the regular season with a 1-0 West Suburban Conference Gold Division victory over Willowbrook.
The win enabled the Mustangs (13-2-4) to finish second behind Morton in the WSC Gold. They will take a four-game winning streak into the postseason.
“It was kind of interesting on Senior Night that it was sophomore to sophomore on the connect in front of the goal,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “I think we’ve got a great group of kids, and the seniors, I was really happy for them to leave the field tonight, even though we’re hosting regionals, [and finish] the regular season with a win. That was good to see.”
Despite holding a 19-4 edge in shots, it took the Mustangs 45 minutes to break down the resilient Willowbrook defense.
Rohl got a ball from the midfield and drove past two defenders to the right end line before sending a centering pass back into the middle of the box, where the onrushing Becht ran onto the ball and blasted it into the lower left corner with 34:45 remaining in the second half.
“It was a great goal,” said Becht, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match. “It was all Nick taking on defenders and sending me a great pass. I had an easy shot.”
Becht said the goal raises his confidence going into the playoffs.
“Better late than never,” Becht said. “It felt great. I got so much adrenaline. It was awesome.”
Rohl has teamed with senior Eric Diaz to form a dangerous 1-2 threat up top for the Mustangs. He’s become accustomed to finding the back of the net but was thrilled to see a classmate do the same.
“It’s great to finally get another sophomore scorer,” Rohl said. “It really shows how deep we are in our whole program, including all our reserves.”
Rohl has made the penetrating run one of his signature moves, and he’s just as happy dishing the ball as he is shooting it.
“It’s my favorite play,” Rohl said. “I feel like it works amazing – just get to the end line, cut back and mind your head. When you stay composed you’ll find that runner all day.”
The Mustangs found themselves with plenty of scoring opportunities but couldn’t get anything else past Zac Boehm. Willowbrook's junior goalkeeper was brilliant in making seven saves, including incredible back-to-back denials on Rohl and Diaz with 1:45 to go in the match.
Boehm, who was playing in place of starter Asmir Perez, also made a diving stop on a seven-yard blast by Diaz in the first half and made leaping saves on two long shots from Jason Galik and another on a 29-yard drive by Ryan Strelau.
“I give credit to my keeper, Zac,” Willowbrook coach Peter Ginter said. “He’s our second keeper. Our first keeper couldn’t play today; he wasn’t in school.
“That happens. You’ve got to be ready, and [Boehm] came in and did a great job for us.”
Defenders Anthony Pieroni, Gideon Karasek and Stasiu Szudrowicz also played well for the Warriors (7-8-2, 2-4). Szudrowicz made a kick save to deny Strelau a goal midway through the first half.
“Our team defense played very well today,” Ginter said. “We just didn’t score, and you’ve got to score to win.
“We had a few chances and we weren’t able to capitalize on them, but we’ve got to create more, so we’ll be working on our offense a bit more.”
The Warriors were unable to get anything past Downers South goalie Sam Dumford, who made four saves to record his 11th shutout, despite having a man advantage for the final eight minutes after Strelau was ejected for a dangerous play.
Even so, the Warriors demonstrated how far they’ve come in a relatively short time under Ginter, who is in his third year as coach. Downers South would routinely handle Willowbrook easily in past years, but the Warriors were able to string passes together with regularity in this one.
“Our possession game has improved,” Ginter said. “We’re playing a different tactical system that’s best suited for our type of skills. I think our transition game from defense to offense is much better. We’re not just kicking the ball to the other team.
“And we have a little bit more of a scoring threat, although not today. We do have a little more scoring punch with our sophomores, Saul Hernandez and Benny Heredia. They’re going to be a great future for us for the next two years.”
Stapleton doesn’t doubt it.
“Coach Ginter’s got them believing in what they’re doing, and they’re playing hard for each other and it’s evident,” Stapleton said. “They’ve had a nice season in rebuilding that program. They’re a difficult team to break down.
“I thought we had some chances early in the match. Their keeper came up with a big save on Eric. [Diaz] had a couple that I’m sure he’d like to have back, but maybe he’s saving them for a different game.”
That would be a playoff game. The Mustangs, seeded fourth at the Class 3A Lyons Sectional, are hosting a regional and open with No. 13 Curie on Tuesday. No. 5 seed Oak Park and River Forest likely awaits in the regional title game.
“I think we can go pretty far,” Becht said. “It just comes down to working hard as a team and stepping and pressing and making sure [opponents] make mistakes by keeping pressure on them. We’ve been working hard.”
Rohl said he has learned a lot from his senior teammates and wants to make sure they get to play two more games at home.
“I feel really confident,” Rohl said. “We’ve scored 10 or 11 goals in these [last] four games. We’ve really gotten our game back to what we want to be, which is big, and now playing at home, [the opener] is going to be a big game for us.”
Willowbrook is the No. 14 seed at the Bartlett Sectional. The Warriors will host No. 18 Bartlett in a play-in game on Saturday, with the winner moving on to face No. 2 seed Lake Park on Tuesday in the Schaumburg Regional semifinals.
“This is the third year in a row that we’ve played them (Bartlett), so we know each other quite well,” Ginter said. “We lost the first two, so we’re really eager to play them again and beat them this time. We set a goal to at least win that first playoff game and go as far as we can.
“We’re looking forward to the game on Saturday, as opposed to looking forward to the end of the season. We want to keep it going.”
Starting lineups
Willowbrook
GK Zac Boehm
D Anthony Pieroni
D Gideon Karasek
D Stasiu Szudrowicz
M Benny Heredia
M Michael Rogowski
M Lucas Betts
M Kristian Johansen
M Arkadiusz Szlachta
M Aaron Johnson
F Saul Hernandez
Downers Grove South
GK Sam Dumford
D Rob Batten
D Kyle Harty
D Jared Sombeck
D Matthew Buczko
M Johnny Parilla
M Brenin Bales
M Jason Galik
F Alexander Escamilla
F Eric Diaz
F Joseph Caldarazzo
Man of the Match: Peter Becht, Downers Grove South
in 1-0 victory over Willowbrook
Two sophomores connect for lone goal on Senior Night
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Downers Grove South celebrated Senior Night on Tuesday, but it was a pair of sophomores who gave the Mustangs something to shout about.
Peter Becht scored his first varsity goal off an assist from fellow sophomore Nick Rohl and Downers South’s shutdown defense did the rest as the Mustangs closed the regular season with a 1-0 West Suburban Conference Gold Division victory over Willowbrook.
The win enabled the Mustangs (13-2-4) to finish second behind Morton in the WSC Gold. They will take a four-game winning streak into the postseason.
“It was kind of interesting on Senior Night that it was sophomore to sophomore on the connect in front of the goal,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “I think we’ve got a great group of kids, and the seniors, I was really happy for them to leave the field tonight, even though we’re hosting regionals, [and finish] the regular season with a win. That was good to see.”
Despite holding a 19-4 edge in shots, it took the Mustangs 45 minutes to break down the resilient Willowbrook defense.
Rohl got a ball from the midfield and drove past two defenders to the right end line before sending a centering pass back into the middle of the box, where the onrushing Becht ran onto the ball and blasted it into the lower left corner with 34:45 remaining in the second half.
“It was a great goal,” said Becht, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match. “It was all Nick taking on defenders and sending me a great pass. I had an easy shot.”
Becht said the goal raises his confidence going into the playoffs.
“Better late than never,” Becht said. “It felt great. I got so much adrenaline. It was awesome.”
Rohl has teamed with senior Eric Diaz to form a dangerous 1-2 threat up top for the Mustangs. He’s become accustomed to finding the back of the net but was thrilled to see a classmate do the same.
“It’s great to finally get another sophomore scorer,” Rohl said. “It really shows how deep we are in our whole program, including all our reserves.”
Rohl has made the penetrating run one of his signature moves, and he’s just as happy dishing the ball as he is shooting it.
“It’s my favorite play,” Rohl said. “I feel like it works amazing – just get to the end line, cut back and mind your head. When you stay composed you’ll find that runner all day.”
The Mustangs found themselves with plenty of scoring opportunities but couldn’t get anything else past Zac Boehm. Willowbrook's junior goalkeeper was brilliant in making seven saves, including incredible back-to-back denials on Rohl and Diaz with 1:45 to go in the match.
Boehm, who was playing in place of starter Asmir Perez, also made a diving stop on a seven-yard blast by Diaz in the first half and made leaping saves on two long shots from Jason Galik and another on a 29-yard drive by Ryan Strelau.
“I give credit to my keeper, Zac,” Willowbrook coach Peter Ginter said. “He’s our second keeper. Our first keeper couldn’t play today; he wasn’t in school.
“That happens. You’ve got to be ready, and [Boehm] came in and did a great job for us.”
Defenders Anthony Pieroni, Gideon Karasek and Stasiu Szudrowicz also played well for the Warriors (7-8-2, 2-4). Szudrowicz made a kick save to deny Strelau a goal midway through the first half.
“Our team defense played very well today,” Ginter said. “We just didn’t score, and you’ve got to score to win.
“We had a few chances and we weren’t able to capitalize on them, but we’ve got to create more, so we’ll be working on our offense a bit more.”
The Warriors were unable to get anything past Downers South goalie Sam Dumford, who made four saves to record his 11th shutout, despite having a man advantage for the final eight minutes after Strelau was ejected for a dangerous play.
Even so, the Warriors demonstrated how far they’ve come in a relatively short time under Ginter, who is in his third year as coach. Downers South would routinely handle Willowbrook easily in past years, but the Warriors were able to string passes together with regularity in this one.
“Our possession game has improved,” Ginter said. “We’re playing a different tactical system that’s best suited for our type of skills. I think our transition game from defense to offense is much better. We’re not just kicking the ball to the other team.
“And we have a little bit more of a scoring threat, although not today. We do have a little more scoring punch with our sophomores, Saul Hernandez and Benny Heredia. They’re going to be a great future for us for the next two years.”
Stapleton doesn’t doubt it.
“Coach Ginter’s got them believing in what they’re doing, and they’re playing hard for each other and it’s evident,” Stapleton said. “They’ve had a nice season in rebuilding that program. They’re a difficult team to break down.
“I thought we had some chances early in the match. Their keeper came up with a big save on Eric. [Diaz] had a couple that I’m sure he’d like to have back, but maybe he’s saving them for a different game.”
That would be a playoff game. The Mustangs, seeded fourth at the Class 3A Lyons Sectional, are hosting a regional and open with No. 13 Curie on Tuesday. No. 5 seed Oak Park and River Forest likely awaits in the regional title game.
“I think we can go pretty far,” Becht said. “It just comes down to working hard as a team and stepping and pressing and making sure [opponents] make mistakes by keeping pressure on them. We’ve been working hard.”
Rohl said he has learned a lot from his senior teammates and wants to make sure they get to play two more games at home.
“I feel really confident,” Rohl said. “We’ve scored 10 or 11 goals in these [last] four games. We’ve really gotten our game back to what we want to be, which is big, and now playing at home, [the opener] is going to be a big game for us.”
Willowbrook is the No. 14 seed at the Bartlett Sectional. The Warriors will host No. 18 Bartlett in a play-in game on Saturday, with the winner moving on to face No. 2 seed Lake Park on Tuesday in the Schaumburg Regional semifinals.
“This is the third year in a row that we’ve played them (Bartlett), so we know each other quite well,” Ginter said. “We lost the first two, so we’re really eager to play them again and beat them this time. We set a goal to at least win that first playoff game and go as far as we can.
“We’re looking forward to the game on Saturday, as opposed to looking forward to the end of the season. We want to keep it going.”
Starting lineups
Willowbrook
GK Zac Boehm
D Anthony Pieroni
D Gideon Karasek
D Stasiu Szudrowicz
M Benny Heredia
M Michael Rogowski
M Lucas Betts
M Kristian Johansen
M Arkadiusz Szlachta
M Aaron Johnson
F Saul Hernandez
Downers Grove South
GK Sam Dumford
D Rob Batten
D Kyle Harty
D Jared Sombeck
D Matthew Buczko
M Johnny Parilla
M Brenin Bales
M Jason Galik
F Alexander Escamilla
F Eric Diaz
F Joseph Caldarazzo
Man of the Match: Peter Becht, Downers Grove South