Downers Grove South upset
of Addison Trail reason for cheer
Mustangs 4-for-4 in shootout to win battle of league unbeatens
By Bobby Narang
DOWNERS GROVE -- Zach Johnson wasted little time celebrating the joyous achievement on Tuesday night.
After coming off the bench to start the second half, the Downers Grove South junior goalie wants to build momentum to establish himself as the main keeper before the playoffs start in a few weeks.
Locked into a battle with Andrik Vidaurri (two first half saves) all season for top-goalkeeper status, Johnson dealt with an onslaught of shot attempts and a ton of pressure in Tuesday’s pivotal West Suburban Conference Gold Division game against Addison Trail.
The strong, lanky keeper answered the call with a strong effort that included two saves in the first overtime to spark the Mustangs to a vital shootout win over the Blazers.
The Mustangs and Blazers (9-2-0, 3-1-0) were locked in a 2-2 tie after two overtimes. Johnson’s big play in the penalty kick session sparked the win.
The Mustangs triumphed 4-2 in spot kicks and won after only four rounds after Johnson dived to his left to stop the shot Addison Trail’s Matias Aguilar. The Blazers failed to convert in the first round of penalty kicks after the shot hit the crossbar.
“I was just trying to make saves, getting set and tried to stop the penalty kicks,” Johnson said. “On the last one, I saw him looking one way, then going that same way. This win feels great, just coming into this game not ranked and beating a ranked team in the state. This helps us for conference. This feels really good to show what we can do.”
Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini said it was a tough loss for his team, which saw its four-game winning streak end.
“We always have good games against Downers Grove (South),” Dini said. “They're a good defensive team and play everybody behind the ball. It just didn’t go our way. We hit the crossbar, lost in PKs. It was a tough night. This is a senior-led team. We have 17 seniors. They've been here.”
By defeating the Blazers, ranked 13th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, the Mustangs (5-5-1, 4-0-0) remained unbeaten in the conference race, extended their winning streak to three games and reached the .500 level for the first time this season.
As expected, Johnson and the rest of his teammates mobbed each other following the victory, jumping up and down and taking numerous team pictures to commemorate the big home victory before more than 100 fans.
Johnson’s eight saves included three in the overtime periods. The biggest pair came against Addison Trail’s Alex Sandoval in the first overtime. He drilled a 25-yard shot that Johnson dived to stop three minutes into overtime. Five minutes later, Johnson snagged a header from Sandoval.
Johnson was pleased with his play.
Downers Grove South’s goalkeeper competition brought the best out of Johnson.
“Right now, we don’t have a set starter, so we’re playing half and half,” he said. “Today, I stayed in for the extra time because I was warm. I got to show what I could do. I’m mad at myself about the first goal. I thought I could've gone out and punched it out. Other than that, I feel I played pretty well."
Downers Grove South 20-year coach veteran Jon Stapleton emphasized the victory was a key moment for his team. The Mustangs scored the first two goals to lead 2-0, but Addison Trail answered with a goal in each half to force overtime.
“This was a huge game,” he said. “The kids have worked really hard this year, but sometimes we haven't gotten the results. For these kids to come out with a big win, this is a huge lift for us and motivation, especially with the seeding meetings coming up.
“They've been willing to keep buying into what we're doing and stayed together. We’ve grown from those earlier experiences. We’ve had a good mindset and a belief we can be as good as anybody.
“Both keepers played really well. They’ve been alternating who starts. Andrik had a good first half, but we kept Zach in because of the flow of the game for overtime and the PKs. I’m really proud of those guys. We had a lot of guys play huge minutes.”
At the start of the game, Addison Trail had more opportunities to score but came up empty despite five good shots in the first 20 minutes. Downers Grove South senior forward Josh Venouziou broke the ice, connecting on a shot from 17 yards for a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.
“I had a good touch, turned and saw a good shot and tried to go into the far corner and luckily it went in,” Venouziou said of his 10th goal of the season. “This is a big win for us. Our potential is very high. We’re not there yet, but I think we can be very good by the end of the season.”
Senior forward Jerry Smazil set off a second wave of celebrations after he knocked in a shot from 14 yards for a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute.
Addison Trail, which had scored 16 goals in its last four games, got one back on senior midfielder Sandoval banger from 37 yards in the 31st minute.
“That all started off a free kick. Then (the ball) hit the wall and came back to me for a second time,” Sandoval said. “I realized I had to take that opportunity.
“I cut it with my left foot and shot it. I knew right away it was going to go in.”
Johnson opened up the second half with two saves in the first five minutes to help maintain the 2-1 Downers Grove South lead. But after a sluggish period, Addison Trail scored the equalizer with 16:03 left in regulation.
Off a pass from Ethan Oliva, Addison Trail senior midfielder Sebastian Alicea one-hopped a shot into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2.
In the penalty kicks, the Mustangs converted all four of their attempts to seal the win to end an exciting game that included two stoppages of play by a referee, who told fans to quiet down or risk ejection.
Downers Grove South senior defender Max Paschall said the Mustangs have to build off Tuesday’s victory.
“Going into the game, we had a really good record in conference and Addison Trail was doing really good,” Paschall said. "We were hyped up and ready to win. We came out with energy and gave it (our all) for 100 minutes.
“We came together to get the win. At the beginning of the season, we didn't really have that connection. But we found our spark, and it can only be up from here.”
Downers Grove South midfielder Nick Opacian agreed with Paschall's assessment.
“We brought a lot of energy and didn’t back down,” Opacian said. “We've been more positive and hopefully we can continue our winning streak.”
After the loss, Addison Trail’s players spoke in length about the importance of avoiding slow starts. The Blazers host No. 12 York on Thursday.
Addison Trail, like Downers Grove South, utilized two keepers -- Mateo Gomez and Joey Dionne -- in the game.
“It was very frustrating,” Sandoval said. “We had a lot of opportunities in this game. I have to fix myself. I have to keep working harder, to lead by example.
“I told the boys to let this loss soak in, and to play strong in October. Playoffs are hard. We have to learn from this lesson, to work hard and be ready for this not to happen. We have a lot more potential, and we have to bounce back from it.”
Addison Trail senior midfielder Matthew Sobus stressed the importance of his team coming to play from the opening minute.
“We didn’t come out very good in the first half, and it showed,” he said. “We picked it up in the second half, but we just ran out of time. Going forward, we have to keep our head up and win more games.
“We can go far in the state tournament. We have to stay together. We can’t let one game define our season. We felt we were the better team, but it didn’t show today.”
Starting lineups
Addison Trail
GK Joey Dionne
D Uriel Bibiano
D David Peters
D Luca Fisher
D Brian Teran
MF Moises Hernandez
MF Alex Sandoval
MF Sebastian Alicea
MF Nico Parente
F Matthew Sobus
F Matias Aguilar
Downers Grove South
GK Andrik Vidaurri
D Michael Mendoza
D Max Paschall
D Matt Crowley
D Victor Carrasco
M Giovanni Torrijos
M Nick Opacian
M Dardan Sylejmani
M Jorge Alcantara
F Josh Venouziou
F Jerry Smazil
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Zach Johnson, jr., GK, Downers Grove South
Scoring summary
First half
Downers Grove South — Josh Venouziou (unassisted), 19th minute
Downers Grove South — Jerry Smazil (penalty kick), 30th minute
Addison Trail — Alex Sandoval (Nico Parente), 31st minute
Second half
Addison Trail — Sebastian Alicea (Ethan Oliva), 64th minute
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
Shootout
Downers Grove South: 1, Josh Venouziou, goal; 2, Jerry Smazil, goal; 3, Jorge Alcantara, goal; 4, Karol Niziolek, goal.
Addison Trail: 1, hit cross bar; 2, goal; 3, goal; 4, saved
of Addison Trail reason for cheer
Mustangs 4-for-4 in shootout to win battle of league unbeatens
By Bobby Narang
DOWNERS GROVE -- Zach Johnson wasted little time celebrating the joyous achievement on Tuesday night.
After coming off the bench to start the second half, the Downers Grove South junior goalie wants to build momentum to establish himself as the main keeper before the playoffs start in a few weeks.
Locked into a battle with Andrik Vidaurri (two first half saves) all season for top-goalkeeper status, Johnson dealt with an onslaught of shot attempts and a ton of pressure in Tuesday’s pivotal West Suburban Conference Gold Division game against Addison Trail.
The strong, lanky keeper answered the call with a strong effort that included two saves in the first overtime to spark the Mustangs to a vital shootout win over the Blazers.
The Mustangs and Blazers (9-2-0, 3-1-0) were locked in a 2-2 tie after two overtimes. Johnson’s big play in the penalty kick session sparked the win.
The Mustangs triumphed 4-2 in spot kicks and won after only four rounds after Johnson dived to his left to stop the shot Addison Trail’s Matias Aguilar. The Blazers failed to convert in the first round of penalty kicks after the shot hit the crossbar.
“I was just trying to make saves, getting set and tried to stop the penalty kicks,” Johnson said. “On the last one, I saw him looking one way, then going that same way. This win feels great, just coming into this game not ranked and beating a ranked team in the state. This helps us for conference. This feels really good to show what we can do.”
Addison Trail coach Ryan Dini said it was a tough loss for his team, which saw its four-game winning streak end.
“We always have good games against Downers Grove (South),” Dini said. “They're a good defensive team and play everybody behind the ball. It just didn’t go our way. We hit the crossbar, lost in PKs. It was a tough night. This is a senior-led team. We have 17 seniors. They've been here.”
By defeating the Blazers, ranked 13th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, the Mustangs (5-5-1, 4-0-0) remained unbeaten in the conference race, extended their winning streak to three games and reached the .500 level for the first time this season.
As expected, Johnson and the rest of his teammates mobbed each other following the victory, jumping up and down and taking numerous team pictures to commemorate the big home victory before more than 100 fans.
Johnson’s eight saves included three in the overtime periods. The biggest pair came against Addison Trail’s Alex Sandoval in the first overtime. He drilled a 25-yard shot that Johnson dived to stop three minutes into overtime. Five minutes later, Johnson snagged a header from Sandoval.
Johnson was pleased with his play.
Downers Grove South’s goalkeeper competition brought the best out of Johnson.
“Right now, we don’t have a set starter, so we’re playing half and half,” he said. “Today, I stayed in for the extra time because I was warm. I got to show what I could do. I’m mad at myself about the first goal. I thought I could've gone out and punched it out. Other than that, I feel I played pretty well."
Downers Grove South 20-year coach veteran Jon Stapleton emphasized the victory was a key moment for his team. The Mustangs scored the first two goals to lead 2-0, but Addison Trail answered with a goal in each half to force overtime.
“This was a huge game,” he said. “The kids have worked really hard this year, but sometimes we haven't gotten the results. For these kids to come out with a big win, this is a huge lift for us and motivation, especially with the seeding meetings coming up.
“They've been willing to keep buying into what we're doing and stayed together. We’ve grown from those earlier experiences. We’ve had a good mindset and a belief we can be as good as anybody.
“Both keepers played really well. They’ve been alternating who starts. Andrik had a good first half, but we kept Zach in because of the flow of the game for overtime and the PKs. I’m really proud of those guys. We had a lot of guys play huge minutes.”
At the start of the game, Addison Trail had more opportunities to score but came up empty despite five good shots in the first 20 minutes. Downers Grove South senior forward Josh Venouziou broke the ice, connecting on a shot from 17 yards for a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute.
“I had a good touch, turned and saw a good shot and tried to go into the far corner and luckily it went in,” Venouziou said of his 10th goal of the season. “This is a big win for us. Our potential is very high. We’re not there yet, but I think we can be very good by the end of the season.”
Senior forward Jerry Smazil set off a second wave of celebrations after he knocked in a shot from 14 yards for a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute.
Addison Trail, which had scored 16 goals in its last four games, got one back on senior midfielder Sandoval banger from 37 yards in the 31st minute.
“That all started off a free kick. Then (the ball) hit the wall and came back to me for a second time,” Sandoval said. “I realized I had to take that opportunity.
“I cut it with my left foot and shot it. I knew right away it was going to go in.”
Johnson opened up the second half with two saves in the first five minutes to help maintain the 2-1 Downers Grove South lead. But after a sluggish period, Addison Trail scored the equalizer with 16:03 left in regulation.
Off a pass from Ethan Oliva, Addison Trail senior midfielder Sebastian Alicea one-hopped a shot into the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2.
In the penalty kicks, the Mustangs converted all four of their attempts to seal the win to end an exciting game that included two stoppages of play by a referee, who told fans to quiet down or risk ejection.
Downers Grove South senior defender Max Paschall said the Mustangs have to build off Tuesday’s victory.
“Going into the game, we had a really good record in conference and Addison Trail was doing really good,” Paschall said. "We were hyped up and ready to win. We came out with energy and gave it (our all) for 100 minutes.
“We came together to get the win. At the beginning of the season, we didn't really have that connection. But we found our spark, and it can only be up from here.”
Downers Grove South midfielder Nick Opacian agreed with Paschall's assessment.
“We brought a lot of energy and didn’t back down,” Opacian said. “We've been more positive and hopefully we can continue our winning streak.”
After the loss, Addison Trail’s players spoke in length about the importance of avoiding slow starts. The Blazers host No. 12 York on Thursday.
Addison Trail, like Downers Grove South, utilized two keepers -- Mateo Gomez and Joey Dionne -- in the game.
“It was very frustrating,” Sandoval said. “We had a lot of opportunities in this game. I have to fix myself. I have to keep working harder, to lead by example.
“I told the boys to let this loss soak in, and to play strong in October. Playoffs are hard. We have to learn from this lesson, to work hard and be ready for this not to happen. We have a lot more potential, and we have to bounce back from it.”
Addison Trail senior midfielder Matthew Sobus stressed the importance of his team coming to play from the opening minute.
“We didn’t come out very good in the first half, and it showed,” he said. “We picked it up in the second half, but we just ran out of time. Going forward, we have to keep our head up and win more games.
“We can go far in the state tournament. We have to stay together. We can’t let one game define our season. We felt we were the better team, but it didn’t show today.”
Starting lineups
Addison Trail
GK Joey Dionne
D Uriel Bibiano
D David Peters
D Luca Fisher
D Brian Teran
MF Moises Hernandez
MF Alex Sandoval
MF Sebastian Alicea
MF Nico Parente
F Matthew Sobus
F Matias Aguilar
Downers Grove South
GK Andrik Vidaurri
D Michael Mendoza
D Max Paschall
D Matt Crowley
D Victor Carrasco
M Giovanni Torrijos
M Nick Opacian
M Dardan Sylejmani
M Jorge Alcantara
F Josh Venouziou
F Jerry Smazil
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Zach Johnson, jr., GK, Downers Grove South
Scoring summary
First half
Downers Grove South — Josh Venouziou (unassisted), 19th minute
Downers Grove South — Jerry Smazil (penalty kick), 30th minute
Addison Trail — Alex Sandoval (Nico Parente), 31st minute
Second half
Addison Trail — Sebastian Alicea (Ethan Oliva), 64th minute
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
Shootout
Downers Grove South: 1, Josh Venouziou, goal; 2, Jerry Smazil, goal; 3, Jorge Alcantara, goal; 4, Karol Niziolek, goal.
Addison Trail: 1, hit cross bar; 2, goal; 3, goal; 4, saved