Argo blanks U High, gains Windy City final
Bartyczak goal gives Argonauts 1-0 victory
By Steve Millar
BURBANK -- The backbone of an Argo team with high expectations this season is a defense led by five seniors, all who have plenty of experience working together.
“I always tell the kids that if you play defense, you’re going to win the close games,” Argo coach John Gaytan said. “Our defense was there the whole time. They’ve been tough all season. We’ve played four tough games, and they’ve responded.”
The Argonauts allowed just two shots on goal Tuesday night, making Mateusz Bartyczak’s early goal hold up for a 1-0 win over University (Chicago) in a Windy City Ram Classic semifinal at Reavis High School.
“We had to keep our composure on defense and keep our shape,” defender Julio Rodriguez said. “We just got the ball out to our midfielders whenever we had a chance, and the whole team played strong defense.”
Argo (4-0-0) advanced to the championship game for the first time since 2011 and will meet Bremen at noon Monday at Toyota Park.
Rodriguez, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, led the backline from his center defender position, thwarting several chances for Univeristy (3-1-0).
Chris Jagielo, Victor Martinez and Dominik Pituch were also stalwarts in the back. Armando Gallegos started at midfielder, but rotated to defense and pitched in as well.
Goalkeeper Saul Munoz made two saves.
“We’ve all played together since freshman year and have been together on varsity since sophomore year,” Rodriguez said. “We all know how each other plays. We have chemistry together, and we just play how we know.”
The Argonauts got all the offense they would need in the seventh minute. Martinez hurled a deep throw-in and sent the ball into the box, where Bartyczak took a touch past a defender and fired a shot under the crossbar.
“I got lucky,” Bartyczak said. “It came to me, and I took a quick touch and shot it in. We work on that play in practice, work on getting those chances on throw-ins.”
Argo had several chances to increase the lead in the first half, but could not finish.
Bartyczak fired high on a free kick in the 15th minute, Rodriguez missed just wide on a header in the 17th minute and Univeristy goalkeeper Jamison Miller denied Peter Gal’s bid from 25 yards in the 25th minute.
Miller, who finished with seven saves, came up big again two minutes later, slapping a strong strike from Bartyczak wide.
The Maroons got solid defense from Nolan Issa, Matan Diermeier-Lazar, Joshua Ulane and Connor Smith.
The Argo side thought they could have made things easier on themselves.
“We should’ve put them away in the first half,” Gaytan said. “I wasn’t too happy about that. Then we lost our composure at the end and gave them chances.”
Munoz stopped both of University's shots on goal, attempts from distance from talented freshman forward Alexandre Bal.
The Maroons hung tough in the second half, but couldn’t generate much offense. They did earn a trio off free kicks from striking distance over the final 20 minutes, but nothing materialized.
University's best chance came off a corner kick with four minutes to go, but Fionn Stamataky’s header went just high.
Despite the loss, Maroons coach Josh Potter was happy.
“By no means am I disappointed in our performance so far this season,” Potter said. “To play a top-tier team in the state and compete with them, I’m optimistic about our season, and I think the game went well.
“My hats off to Argo. They came out and battled. I told our guys that Argo was going to have to come out and earn it, and they did. We didn’t give away anything. They did a good job putting the ball in the back of the net, and they were the better team tonight.”
University started four sophomores and a freshman in the game.
“I like our youth,” Potter said. “I’m able to mold them into what I want them to be. I’m able to show them this is how we do it in our program.
“Right now, we don’t have a captain and the kids are OK with that, because they’re all on an equal playing field.”
Things don’t get easier for University, which takes on defending Class AA state champion Latin on Thursday.
Potter is excited for the challenge, and envisions his side being a factor in the Class A playoffs.
“I expect us to continue to make some noise in our conference and into the postseason,” he said. “I’m kind of sick and tired of people writing us off, so I’m expecting to make some noise in the entire state this year.”
Argo is excited for the opportunity to play at Toyota Park.
The road there wasn’t easy. The Windy City Ram Classic’s random draw resulted in a first round matchup between the Argonauts and Mount Carmel, two of the most talented squads in the 32-team field.
Argo also handed Thornton co-op it’s only loss in the tournament and edged Bolingbrook in the quarterfinals.
Next up is South Suburban Conference foe Bremen, which will be making its third-straight appearance in the championship game. The Braves won the tournament in 2015 and fell to Oak Lawn last season.
“It’s exciting that it’s an all-South Suburban final like it was last year,” Gaytan said. “Hopefully we can do the same thing that Oak Lawn did last year and represent well.”
Starting lineups
Argo
GK: Saul Munoz
D: Julio Rodriguez
D: Chris Jagielo
D: Victor Martinez
D: Dominik Pituch
M: Armando Gallegos
M: Sami Madoui
M: Adrian Pituch
M: Peter Gal
F: Mateusz Bartyczak
F: Michael Budz
University High
GK: Jamison Miller
D: Nolan Issa
D: Matan Diermeier-Lazar
D: Joshua Ulane
D: Connor Smith
M: Abdul Atassi
M: Michael Claffey
M: Fionn Stamataky
M: Miles Rochester
F: Jaden Lynch
F: Alexadre Bal
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Julio Rodriguez, D, Argo
Scoring summary
Argo: Bartyczak (Martinez) 7’
Bartyczak goal gives Argonauts 1-0 victory
By Steve Millar
BURBANK -- The backbone of an Argo team with high expectations this season is a defense led by five seniors, all who have plenty of experience working together.
“I always tell the kids that if you play defense, you’re going to win the close games,” Argo coach John Gaytan said. “Our defense was there the whole time. They’ve been tough all season. We’ve played four tough games, and they’ve responded.”
The Argonauts allowed just two shots on goal Tuesday night, making Mateusz Bartyczak’s early goal hold up for a 1-0 win over University (Chicago) in a Windy City Ram Classic semifinal at Reavis High School.
“We had to keep our composure on defense and keep our shape,” defender Julio Rodriguez said. “We just got the ball out to our midfielders whenever we had a chance, and the whole team played strong defense.”
Argo (4-0-0) advanced to the championship game for the first time since 2011 and will meet Bremen at noon Monday at Toyota Park.
Rodriguez, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, led the backline from his center defender position, thwarting several chances for Univeristy (3-1-0).
Chris Jagielo, Victor Martinez and Dominik Pituch were also stalwarts in the back. Armando Gallegos started at midfielder, but rotated to defense and pitched in as well.
Goalkeeper Saul Munoz made two saves.
“We’ve all played together since freshman year and have been together on varsity since sophomore year,” Rodriguez said. “We all know how each other plays. We have chemistry together, and we just play how we know.”
The Argonauts got all the offense they would need in the seventh minute. Martinez hurled a deep throw-in and sent the ball into the box, where Bartyczak took a touch past a defender and fired a shot under the crossbar.
“I got lucky,” Bartyczak said. “It came to me, and I took a quick touch and shot it in. We work on that play in practice, work on getting those chances on throw-ins.”
Argo had several chances to increase the lead in the first half, but could not finish.
Bartyczak fired high on a free kick in the 15th minute, Rodriguez missed just wide on a header in the 17th minute and Univeristy goalkeeper Jamison Miller denied Peter Gal’s bid from 25 yards in the 25th minute.
Miller, who finished with seven saves, came up big again two minutes later, slapping a strong strike from Bartyczak wide.
The Maroons got solid defense from Nolan Issa, Matan Diermeier-Lazar, Joshua Ulane and Connor Smith.
The Argo side thought they could have made things easier on themselves.
“We should’ve put them away in the first half,” Gaytan said. “I wasn’t too happy about that. Then we lost our composure at the end and gave them chances.”
Munoz stopped both of University's shots on goal, attempts from distance from talented freshman forward Alexandre Bal.
The Maroons hung tough in the second half, but couldn’t generate much offense. They did earn a trio off free kicks from striking distance over the final 20 minutes, but nothing materialized.
University's best chance came off a corner kick with four minutes to go, but Fionn Stamataky’s header went just high.
Despite the loss, Maroons coach Josh Potter was happy.
“By no means am I disappointed in our performance so far this season,” Potter said. “To play a top-tier team in the state and compete with them, I’m optimistic about our season, and I think the game went well.
“My hats off to Argo. They came out and battled. I told our guys that Argo was going to have to come out and earn it, and they did. We didn’t give away anything. They did a good job putting the ball in the back of the net, and they were the better team tonight.”
University started four sophomores and a freshman in the game.
“I like our youth,” Potter said. “I’m able to mold them into what I want them to be. I’m able to show them this is how we do it in our program.
“Right now, we don’t have a captain and the kids are OK with that, because they’re all on an equal playing field.”
Things don’t get easier for University, which takes on defending Class AA state champion Latin on Thursday.
Potter is excited for the challenge, and envisions his side being a factor in the Class A playoffs.
“I expect us to continue to make some noise in our conference and into the postseason,” he said. “I’m kind of sick and tired of people writing us off, so I’m expecting to make some noise in the entire state this year.”
Argo is excited for the opportunity to play at Toyota Park.
The road there wasn’t easy. The Windy City Ram Classic’s random draw resulted in a first round matchup between the Argonauts and Mount Carmel, two of the most talented squads in the 32-team field.
Argo also handed Thornton co-op it’s only loss in the tournament and edged Bolingbrook in the quarterfinals.
Next up is South Suburban Conference foe Bremen, which will be making its third-straight appearance in the championship game. The Braves won the tournament in 2015 and fell to Oak Lawn last season.
“It’s exciting that it’s an all-South Suburban final like it was last year,” Gaytan said. “Hopefully we can do the same thing that Oak Lawn did last year and represent well.”
Starting lineups
Argo
GK: Saul Munoz
D: Julio Rodriguez
D: Chris Jagielo
D: Victor Martinez
D: Dominik Pituch
M: Armando Gallegos
M: Sami Madoui
M: Adrian Pituch
M: Peter Gal
F: Mateusz Bartyczak
F: Michael Budz
University High
GK: Jamison Miller
D: Nolan Issa
D: Matan Diermeier-Lazar
D: Joshua Ulane
D: Connor Smith
M: Abdul Atassi
M: Michael Claffey
M: Fionn Stamataky
M: Miles Rochester
F: Jaden Lynch
F: Alexadre Bal
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Julio Rodriguez, D, Argo
Scoring summary
Argo: Bartyczak (Martinez) 7’