Willowbrook rises up to stop Addison Trail
Warriors win 2-1 to take 1st District 88 trophy vs. rival
By Dave Owen
VILLA PARK- Opponents can no longer overlook Willowbrook.
Following attention-grabbing ties with Glenbard North and Wheaton Warrenville South, the host Warriors (3-2-2) topped those efforts Tuesday with a 2-1 win over main rival Addison Trail (2-3-1) in the teams’ West Suburban Conference Gold Division opener.
“We've never done this before,” said Willowbrook junior Liron Ebema, whose nice early goal started the Warriors rolling.
“This is the first time we've won this (District 88 travelling) trophy. It feels amazing, especially for the seniors. We're very excited.”
Willowbrook last won in the series in 2014 with a 2-1 decision.
And with Addison Trail’s history of three state quarterfinal appearances, a fourth place finish in 1989 and the recent two regional titles in the past six years under current coach Ryan Dini, the District 88 bragging rights have been largely a one-sided conversation long before 2014 and since.
But maybe not anymore.
“We've played for that (District 88) trophy for eight years and it's the first time we lost it,” Dini said. “Give them credit.”
When it comes to credit for Willowbrook’s 2022 emergence after consecutive seasons of 5-12-0 last fall and 0-10-0 during the 2021 COVID-caused spring season, a trio of factors seem to stand out.
“It's really our coach (first-year mentor Victor Lopez),” Ebema said. “He's made us work so hard. We're running so much, with so much conditioning, and it's all paid off.
“We completely deserve this, but it's all really back to him. We did well, but at the end of the day it's all him.”
Lopez preferred to deflect the credit.
“The kids believe,” he said. “We're trying to make them believe everything is possible in life, as long as they try their best.
“They've been working hard. Yesterday we practiced at 7 a.m. and everyone was here ready to go. They're working, and they want to make history at the school.”
One player in particular is clearly making a special difference: Aiden Amin chose to play high school soccer over club for his senior season.
“With Aiden,” Lopez said, “for him to be here his last year playing high school, he's huge and really important to the team. At halftime he talks, and we share a lot of ideas. He's a huge support for us as a coaching staff. He's a great kid to have.”
Third-year varsity goalkeeper Jack Voss had his own take on Amin’s impact as a player and leader.
“Aiden is a really good team player and a great captain,” Voss said. “He always lifts us up and gives us good advice. He helps us win every game that we win.”
His role in the win Tuesday was no different in that regard.
With the score tied 1-1, Amin’s contested header try was deflected wide left by the Blazers defense.
On the ensuing corner kick, Armando Martinez’s send to the back post found Amin, who sped in for a running put-away into the lower left corner with 18:46 for the eventual game-winning goal.
“I waited for the ball to be played (on the corner kick) and saw where it was approaching,” Amin said. “I kind of held my run and saw it was going back post, so I made a run back post and just tapped it in far corner.”
As for the move from club to playing alongside high school friends?
“It's super exciting for me,” Amin said. “It's my first year, so it’s fun to play, and we're hoping to continue and make more good stuff happen down the line.
“It's definitely a lot of fun. It's different than club for me. It (high school soccer) helps me show a lot more leadership, something I didn't do as much at club. I can really talk here, help my teammates and try to help push us forward.”
Amin made his presence felt almost from the start of Tuesday’s match.
Just seven minutes in, he raced up the middle and launched an 18-yard shot. But Addison Trail goalkeeper Joseph Morales nicely swatted the rocket straight up into the air and grabbed it to prevent a rebound chance.
After the Blazers answered with two quality chances in the next three minutes (including Voss’ nice right-post block of Christian Alcarez’s 12-yard drive), Willowbrook’s next good scoring bid paid off.
Battling Morales for a loose ball left of the net near the end line, Ebema won control and sent a tough-angle shot inside the lower-right corner to make the score 1-0 Warriors.
“I don't know how I did it honestly,” Ebema said of placing the shot inside the post. “I saw the opportunity, so I just took it. I didn't know if it was going to be possible.”
But protecting a 1-0 lead vs. Addison Trail’s speed and skill would prove impossible.
After a nice Lucas Bohm steal at the edge of the box in the 25th minute denied one Blazers chance, the Addison Trail push continued with a Voss catch on Jose Leyva’s left-side run and cross (26th minute) and a Matias Aguilar short-hop 38-yard free kick liner that Voss nicely blocked aside (27th minute).
Aguilar’s next chance would be another exceptional effort, and tied the game 12:14 before halftime.
A Christopher Ortega pass up the middle sprang Aguilar. The fleet senior outran the defenders and beat a charging Voss for the finish.
“He (Ortega) got the ball; I made the run. I timed it and made sure I wasn't offside,” Aguilar said. “He put the ball through and the keeper (Voss) came right out at me. I don't even know how far out he came.
“I thought about every situation I could have done. I tried to go with the nutmeg (shooting through Voss); and it didn't work, but it worked out in my favor. It hit off his foot, and I just kept hustling (for the open=net rebound) and finished it.”
Addison Trail nearly duplicated the result 10:30 before halftime.
Voss again had to come sprinting off his line, this time with Ortega bursting free up the middle on a break. Ortega had his breakaway try partially deflected by Voss, and Willowbrook defender Max Solis hustled back to clear the ball out of bounds before it crossed the goal line.
“I always come out strong on the 1-v-1s,” Voss said of his sudden back-to-back late-half challenges. “But the rest of our team came back from those and put pressure on them.”
The first half ended with dueling free kick chances for Willowbrook’s Amin (27-yarder over the net in the 35th minute) and Luca Fischer (45-yarder that Voss came off his line to catch 50 seconds before halftime).
“In the second half after we talked to them (at halftime), they knew they had to commit to more,” Lopez said. “Work more for the team and work for every ball. As soon as possible if you lose the ball, work to get it back.
“They knew if we put more pressure on (Addison Trail) we would have another chance, and we were going to make it happen. And hey, that's what happened.”
But before Amin’s corner kick finish made a 2-1 lead and win happen for the Warriors, many tests had to be survived.
Voss made two saves in the first two minutes of the second half. And after a Willowbrook bid with 34:30 to play (a Marwan Smadi 28-yard free kick over the net), Addison Trail had another series of threats in the next three minutes.
Evan Havorth’s clear from in front broke up an Aguilar-to-Ortega chance, then a throw-in set up a Leyva cross to the crease grabbed by Voss.
The dangerous Aguilar’s cross to the box with 31:15 left was turned into a Warriors chance thanks to defender Adrian Gesicki’s nice clear.
“I'm very surprised and happy the way our freshman Adrian is playing,” Lopez said. “He looks like a senior out there and thinks like a senior. He's doing a lot of good things and helping us a lot.”
Amin led the counterattack off Gesicki’s play with a nice header away from a Blazers defender and pass to Ebema, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner kick.
But the ensuing corner was denied, and the Blazers were soon back on the attack.
A nice clear by Carlos Garcia with 22:15 to play kept Addison Trail at bay. And then off a throw-in with 20:05 remaining, a Joel Alvarez Cruz send to the box found Matthew Reynaga, whose 8-yard shot was partially deflected by the defense and covered by a diving Voss at the left post.
Less than two minutes after that, whatever momentum Addison Trail had dissolved in the well-executed Willowbrook corner kick and Amin’s goal.
“I think the difference was them taking advantage of some of the mistakes we made,” Dini said. “And they just played harder than us today. I thought we were just a step slow to the ball.”
After a 25-yard free kick by Willowbrook’s Vinicius DaSilva was juggled and controlled by Morales with 13:35 left, the Blazers made a big final push.
Voss met the challenge with 7:25 to go, making a high catch of Daniel Herrera’s straight-on 30-yard drive.
Then one minute later, a 1-v-2 dash into the box by Aguilar resulted in a fall to the ground, and a whistle.
After conferring, the officials determined the foul came outside the box for a free kick instead of a penalty kick. Emilio Macias’ 20-yard attempt went over the net.
“It just wasn't our night,” Dini said.
But extra effort, led by seniors Amin, fellow senior midfielder Ricardo Acosta and Voss, was needed to seal the deal for Willowbrook.
With a Blazers player streaking in on Voss with 3:15 left, Ortega’s through-ball pass was nicely cleared out of bounds by a sliding Amin.
Voss followed with saves on a Fischer 45-yard free kick (2:20 to go) and an Ortega 12-yard shot off a Lorenzo Martinez Almaraz pass (1:15 left).
Those marked the game’s final shots. Amin and Bohm combined on a downfield clear with one minute left.
“At the end there we had to control the game more and try to keep more possession,” Amin said. “There were a lot of long balls, and if we wanted to hold them (Addison Trail) off we needed to hold the ball more and slow down their counterattacks a little bit. If you have the ball, they can't do anything.”
In the final 20 seconds, Willowbrook’s Acosta had consecutive clutch blocks of Blazers send attempts just inside midfield, and Solis provided one final pass block near midfield as time expired.
“This is a big win,” Amin said. “Obviously they're (the Blazers) a good team, and we respect them. It builds confidence for us, and we just have to keep going.”
Said Voss: “We just played our game to the best of our ability. And it worked out.”
Stung by the narrow defeat, the Blazers look to learn from the night.
“To me it was nothing technically,” Aguilar said. “It had to do with mentality. They wanted it more than some of us. Some of us came to play, some of us didn't. And without unity, nothing good can happen.
“It's definitely a lesson to learn. That's just how I take it. It's a loss in the book, but for everybody it's a lesson.”
In that lesson, Aguilar hopes his team will be both introspective and optimistic.
“Like our coach (Dini) said, we have to look in the mirror and really reevaluate who we are and what we need to do in training to get better,” Aguilar said. “But it only goes up from here.”
At Willowbrook, emotions are beyond sky high and somewhere near Mars.
“It's amazing,” Voss said. “We've been playing well ever since we had our new coach, and we've had a lot of confidence since the beginning of the season.
“It's good to finally beat Addison Trail. This should really help the team and further ourselves in the conference.”
Good results are coming fast for a Willowbrook squad that had lost its previous 11 WSC Gold games over two years until Tuesday. And it should just be the beginning of far better days.
“We have six freshmen, a lot of sophomores and only five seniors (on varsity),” Lopez said. “It's great promise for the future.
“Our seniors knew they had to be a huge part of this. We had to build a program not just for this year, but for us to make a nice program we need them. And they're taking that role and working for that.”
The work and leadership are paying off, and Lopez wants to keep raising the bar.
“I told them that sometimes talent is not enough,” he said. “If you don't work hard every single game it's not going to happen. And they know that. We are hungry to be different this year.
“This is huge for them, beating Addison Trail for the first time,” Lopez added. “Today we celebrate, and tomorrow we come back to practice and get ready for the next game.
“This isn't a one-game season. We have to work and fight for everything. That's the mentality we want to put in them.”
Starting lineups
Addison Trail
GK: Joseph Morales
D: Emilio Macias
D: Luca Fischer
D: Cristian Teran
D: Jason Valdez
M: Jose Leyva
M: Matias Aguilar
M: Romano Gallo
M: Daniel Herrera
F: Christopher Ortega
F: Christian Alcaraz
Willowbrook
GK: Jack Voss
D: Evan Havorth
D: Adrian Gesicki
D: Carlos Garcia
D: Dean Romano
M: Aiden Amin
M: Lucas Bohm
M: Ricardo Acosta
M: Marwan Smadi
F: Liron Ebema
F: Vinicius DaSilva
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aiden Amin, sr. MF, Willowbrook
Scoring summary
First half
W- Liron Ebema (unassisted), 11’
AT- Matias Aguilar (Christopher Ortega), 28’
Second half
W- Aiden Amin (Armando Martinez corner kick), 62’
Warriors win 2-1 to take 1st District 88 trophy vs. rival
By Dave Owen
VILLA PARK- Opponents can no longer overlook Willowbrook.
Following attention-grabbing ties with Glenbard North and Wheaton Warrenville South, the host Warriors (3-2-2) topped those efforts Tuesday with a 2-1 win over main rival Addison Trail (2-3-1) in the teams’ West Suburban Conference Gold Division opener.
“We've never done this before,” said Willowbrook junior Liron Ebema, whose nice early goal started the Warriors rolling.
“This is the first time we've won this (District 88 travelling) trophy. It feels amazing, especially for the seniors. We're very excited.”
Willowbrook last won in the series in 2014 with a 2-1 decision.
And with Addison Trail’s history of three state quarterfinal appearances, a fourth place finish in 1989 and the recent two regional titles in the past six years under current coach Ryan Dini, the District 88 bragging rights have been largely a one-sided conversation long before 2014 and since.
But maybe not anymore.
“We've played for that (District 88) trophy for eight years and it's the first time we lost it,” Dini said. “Give them credit.”
When it comes to credit for Willowbrook’s 2022 emergence after consecutive seasons of 5-12-0 last fall and 0-10-0 during the 2021 COVID-caused spring season, a trio of factors seem to stand out.
“It's really our coach (first-year mentor Victor Lopez),” Ebema said. “He's made us work so hard. We're running so much, with so much conditioning, and it's all paid off.
“We completely deserve this, but it's all really back to him. We did well, but at the end of the day it's all him.”
Lopez preferred to deflect the credit.
“The kids believe,” he said. “We're trying to make them believe everything is possible in life, as long as they try their best.
“They've been working hard. Yesterday we practiced at 7 a.m. and everyone was here ready to go. They're working, and they want to make history at the school.”
One player in particular is clearly making a special difference: Aiden Amin chose to play high school soccer over club for his senior season.
“With Aiden,” Lopez said, “for him to be here his last year playing high school, he's huge and really important to the team. At halftime he talks, and we share a lot of ideas. He's a huge support for us as a coaching staff. He's a great kid to have.”
Third-year varsity goalkeeper Jack Voss had his own take on Amin’s impact as a player and leader.
“Aiden is a really good team player and a great captain,” Voss said. “He always lifts us up and gives us good advice. He helps us win every game that we win.”
His role in the win Tuesday was no different in that regard.
With the score tied 1-1, Amin’s contested header try was deflected wide left by the Blazers defense.
On the ensuing corner kick, Armando Martinez’s send to the back post found Amin, who sped in for a running put-away into the lower left corner with 18:46 for the eventual game-winning goal.
“I waited for the ball to be played (on the corner kick) and saw where it was approaching,” Amin said. “I kind of held my run and saw it was going back post, so I made a run back post and just tapped it in far corner.”
As for the move from club to playing alongside high school friends?
“It's super exciting for me,” Amin said. “It's my first year, so it’s fun to play, and we're hoping to continue and make more good stuff happen down the line.
“It's definitely a lot of fun. It's different than club for me. It (high school soccer) helps me show a lot more leadership, something I didn't do as much at club. I can really talk here, help my teammates and try to help push us forward.”
Amin made his presence felt almost from the start of Tuesday’s match.
Just seven minutes in, he raced up the middle and launched an 18-yard shot. But Addison Trail goalkeeper Joseph Morales nicely swatted the rocket straight up into the air and grabbed it to prevent a rebound chance.
After the Blazers answered with two quality chances in the next three minutes (including Voss’ nice right-post block of Christian Alcarez’s 12-yard drive), Willowbrook’s next good scoring bid paid off.
Battling Morales for a loose ball left of the net near the end line, Ebema won control and sent a tough-angle shot inside the lower-right corner to make the score 1-0 Warriors.
“I don't know how I did it honestly,” Ebema said of placing the shot inside the post. “I saw the opportunity, so I just took it. I didn't know if it was going to be possible.”
But protecting a 1-0 lead vs. Addison Trail’s speed and skill would prove impossible.
After a nice Lucas Bohm steal at the edge of the box in the 25th minute denied one Blazers chance, the Addison Trail push continued with a Voss catch on Jose Leyva’s left-side run and cross (26th minute) and a Matias Aguilar short-hop 38-yard free kick liner that Voss nicely blocked aside (27th minute).
Aguilar’s next chance would be another exceptional effort, and tied the game 12:14 before halftime.
A Christopher Ortega pass up the middle sprang Aguilar. The fleet senior outran the defenders and beat a charging Voss for the finish.
“He (Ortega) got the ball; I made the run. I timed it and made sure I wasn't offside,” Aguilar said. “He put the ball through and the keeper (Voss) came right out at me. I don't even know how far out he came.
“I thought about every situation I could have done. I tried to go with the nutmeg (shooting through Voss); and it didn't work, but it worked out in my favor. It hit off his foot, and I just kept hustling (for the open=net rebound) and finished it.”
Addison Trail nearly duplicated the result 10:30 before halftime.
Voss again had to come sprinting off his line, this time with Ortega bursting free up the middle on a break. Ortega had his breakaway try partially deflected by Voss, and Willowbrook defender Max Solis hustled back to clear the ball out of bounds before it crossed the goal line.
“I always come out strong on the 1-v-1s,” Voss said of his sudden back-to-back late-half challenges. “But the rest of our team came back from those and put pressure on them.”
The first half ended with dueling free kick chances for Willowbrook’s Amin (27-yarder over the net in the 35th minute) and Luca Fischer (45-yarder that Voss came off his line to catch 50 seconds before halftime).
“In the second half after we talked to them (at halftime), they knew they had to commit to more,” Lopez said. “Work more for the team and work for every ball. As soon as possible if you lose the ball, work to get it back.
“They knew if we put more pressure on (Addison Trail) we would have another chance, and we were going to make it happen. And hey, that's what happened.”
But before Amin’s corner kick finish made a 2-1 lead and win happen for the Warriors, many tests had to be survived.
Voss made two saves in the first two minutes of the second half. And after a Willowbrook bid with 34:30 to play (a Marwan Smadi 28-yard free kick over the net), Addison Trail had another series of threats in the next three minutes.
Evan Havorth’s clear from in front broke up an Aguilar-to-Ortega chance, then a throw-in set up a Leyva cross to the crease grabbed by Voss.
The dangerous Aguilar’s cross to the box with 31:15 left was turned into a Warriors chance thanks to defender Adrian Gesicki’s nice clear.
“I'm very surprised and happy the way our freshman Adrian is playing,” Lopez said. “He looks like a senior out there and thinks like a senior. He's doing a lot of good things and helping us a lot.”
Amin led the counterattack off Gesicki’s play with a nice header away from a Blazers defender and pass to Ebema, whose shot was deflected wide for a corner kick.
But the ensuing corner was denied, and the Blazers were soon back on the attack.
A nice clear by Carlos Garcia with 22:15 to play kept Addison Trail at bay. And then off a throw-in with 20:05 remaining, a Joel Alvarez Cruz send to the box found Matthew Reynaga, whose 8-yard shot was partially deflected by the defense and covered by a diving Voss at the left post.
Less than two minutes after that, whatever momentum Addison Trail had dissolved in the well-executed Willowbrook corner kick and Amin’s goal.
“I think the difference was them taking advantage of some of the mistakes we made,” Dini said. “And they just played harder than us today. I thought we were just a step slow to the ball.”
After a 25-yard free kick by Willowbrook’s Vinicius DaSilva was juggled and controlled by Morales with 13:35 left, the Blazers made a big final push.
Voss met the challenge with 7:25 to go, making a high catch of Daniel Herrera’s straight-on 30-yard drive.
Then one minute later, a 1-v-2 dash into the box by Aguilar resulted in a fall to the ground, and a whistle.
After conferring, the officials determined the foul came outside the box for a free kick instead of a penalty kick. Emilio Macias’ 20-yard attempt went over the net.
“It just wasn't our night,” Dini said.
But extra effort, led by seniors Amin, fellow senior midfielder Ricardo Acosta and Voss, was needed to seal the deal for Willowbrook.
With a Blazers player streaking in on Voss with 3:15 left, Ortega’s through-ball pass was nicely cleared out of bounds by a sliding Amin.
Voss followed with saves on a Fischer 45-yard free kick (2:20 to go) and an Ortega 12-yard shot off a Lorenzo Martinez Almaraz pass (1:15 left).
Those marked the game’s final shots. Amin and Bohm combined on a downfield clear with one minute left.
“At the end there we had to control the game more and try to keep more possession,” Amin said. “There were a lot of long balls, and if we wanted to hold them (Addison Trail) off we needed to hold the ball more and slow down their counterattacks a little bit. If you have the ball, they can't do anything.”
In the final 20 seconds, Willowbrook’s Acosta had consecutive clutch blocks of Blazers send attempts just inside midfield, and Solis provided one final pass block near midfield as time expired.
“This is a big win,” Amin said. “Obviously they're (the Blazers) a good team, and we respect them. It builds confidence for us, and we just have to keep going.”
Said Voss: “We just played our game to the best of our ability. And it worked out.”
Stung by the narrow defeat, the Blazers look to learn from the night.
“To me it was nothing technically,” Aguilar said. “It had to do with mentality. They wanted it more than some of us. Some of us came to play, some of us didn't. And without unity, nothing good can happen.
“It's definitely a lesson to learn. That's just how I take it. It's a loss in the book, but for everybody it's a lesson.”
In that lesson, Aguilar hopes his team will be both introspective and optimistic.
“Like our coach (Dini) said, we have to look in the mirror and really reevaluate who we are and what we need to do in training to get better,” Aguilar said. “But it only goes up from here.”
At Willowbrook, emotions are beyond sky high and somewhere near Mars.
“It's amazing,” Voss said. “We've been playing well ever since we had our new coach, and we've had a lot of confidence since the beginning of the season.
“It's good to finally beat Addison Trail. This should really help the team and further ourselves in the conference.”
Good results are coming fast for a Willowbrook squad that had lost its previous 11 WSC Gold games over two years until Tuesday. And it should just be the beginning of far better days.
“We have six freshmen, a lot of sophomores and only five seniors (on varsity),” Lopez said. “It's great promise for the future.
“Our seniors knew they had to be a huge part of this. We had to build a program not just for this year, but for us to make a nice program we need them. And they're taking that role and working for that.”
The work and leadership are paying off, and Lopez wants to keep raising the bar.
“I told them that sometimes talent is not enough,” he said. “If you don't work hard every single game it's not going to happen. And they know that. We are hungry to be different this year.
“This is huge for them, beating Addison Trail for the first time,” Lopez added. “Today we celebrate, and tomorrow we come back to practice and get ready for the next game.
“This isn't a one-game season. We have to work and fight for everything. That's the mentality we want to put in them.”
Starting lineups
Addison Trail
GK: Joseph Morales
D: Emilio Macias
D: Luca Fischer
D: Cristian Teran
D: Jason Valdez
M: Jose Leyva
M: Matias Aguilar
M: Romano Gallo
M: Daniel Herrera
F: Christopher Ortega
F: Christian Alcaraz
Willowbrook
GK: Jack Voss
D: Evan Havorth
D: Adrian Gesicki
D: Carlos Garcia
D: Dean Romano
M: Aiden Amin
M: Lucas Bohm
M: Ricardo Acosta
M: Marwan Smadi
F: Liron Ebema
F: Vinicius DaSilva
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Aiden Amin, sr. MF, Willowbrook
Scoring summary
First half
W- Liron Ebema (unassisted), 11’
AT- Matias Aguilar (Christopher Ortega), 28’
Second half
W- Aiden Amin (Armando Martinez corner kick), 62’