Lake Park's Swacha swats aside Batavia
Young keeper records 1st shutout in 1-0 DuKane win
By Bob Narang
After the lows, Lake Park sophomore goalie Andrew Swacha has now experienced the highs of varsity ball.
With the Lancers (3-4-2, 3-4-2) struggling in the first few weeks of the season, Lake Park coach Sean Crosby wanted to shake things up. Nearly a week ago, Crosby decided it was time to test Swacha in the net, electing to switch with battle-tested senior goalie Kyle Czeremuga for a short stint.
“We made a change after our first three or four games in at goalkeeper” Crosby said. “Our senior keeper is out a little bit for just time off with spring break. It’s great to have those two compete, but Andrew earned his time in goal.
“He’s been a great member of program, does everything right in training. He’s a great teammate and not afraid to lead from the back with his voice and giving direction to his teammates.”
But the transition to a new goalkeeper did not start off so well for the Lancers. Geneva and St. Charles East defeated Lake Park by a combined 9-2 total heading into Thursday’s game against Batavia.
Swacha, though, responded from the two rough outings with a sterling performance in the net. He had eight saves to power the Lancers to a 1-0 win over the Bulldogs in a DuKane Conference spring break matinee in Roselle.
Sophomore Chris Payan scored the lone goal, tapping a shot from just in front of the net with his left foot with 12:46 left in regulation to end Lake Park’s two-game losing skid.
The win was the Lancers second over the Bulldogs; the league opted for a home-and-schedule for the shortened pandemic season.
Swacha, a first-year varsity player, credited the team’s positive attitude and constant communication for the win.
“I feel the whole team really needed this, because we knew the last two results were subpar,” Swacha said. “To absolutely dominate a pretty good team makes the team feel better.”
Swacha said he’s been tested mentally and physically in the last three games in the net.
He had two crisp saves within a 50-second span in the 78th minute to preserve the shutout.
“I’ve learned to stay positive no matter what the situation is because staying positive is really key for everybody,” he said. “The last 10 minutes were a little stressful. We’ve had a lot of games in a short amount of time, so we had dead legs.
“The whole team stuck together, and we all communicated and stayed positive. It was a really good team game from everybody.”
Batavia (0-8-2, 0-7-2) had plenty of chances to score. Swacha had a nice save on a shot by Andy Barry early in the second half.
“Andrew came up with some big time saves,” Crosby said. “He’s resilient and nothing shakes him. We didn’t help ourselves in the last two matches. We expect way more than what we produced. Our whole team, from front to back, had to step up and do better.
“But Andrew is our shot-stopper, and he was probably coming away thinking a lot of that was on him; but every goal is on everybody. I know the competitor in him knew he could’ve done better.
“I think there was definitely something for him to prove today in his own head. He’s such a competitor and wasn’t going to get shaken by that and make the best of his next opportunity, and he did. He got tested a lot in a short amount of time and didn’t seem fazed.”
Payan notched his second goal of the season and varsity career. After playing club soccer last season, the midfielder shifted course and decided to suit up for the Lancers.
Before his score. Payan missed a clear shot from 15 yards that ricocheted off the near post and squirted along the goal line to the far post. Fourteen minutes later, Payan had his revenge by knocking in the game-winner.
“I was about to celebrate on my (earlier) shot, but I saw it hit the post and see it crawl out,” Payan said. “It was a relief to score. This feels good. We’re like a family and want to keep this going. We want to do better and think we can start winning now after this one.”
Batavia is still in search of its breakthrough win. The Bulldogs played with energy and maintained solid communication against the Lancers. The Bulldogs just weren’t able to punch across a goal to suffer their second shutout loss of the season.
“I think they only had two quality opportunities, from the one that hit the post and the one that went into the back of the net,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We have to find some way to win and finish the ball.”
Batavia junior Ryan Kahley said the team is ready to win. Kahley said he saw some positives in the loss.
“It’s definitely more encouraging than discouraging, because we’re definitely growing as a team,” he said. “Throughout the season, we’re getting better and better. The score line is not showing it. We’re all staying positive and keeping our effort going.”
Senior midfielder Rodrigo Maldonado, a two-year varsity player, said the Bulldogs have to take advantage of scoring situations.
“I was definitely pleased, because we’ve shown much better improvement from the first half of the season,” he said. “We’ve changed out some tactics that have worked out for us. It’s frustrating because we created a lot of chances but weren’t able to put them away.”
Crosby said his team is pointing toward continuing their momentum into Monday’s 7 p.m. home game against Timothy Christian, which is ranked at no. 14 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
“We expect a lot out of TC,” he said. “They have tremendous players and a lot of attacking weapons and can cover in the back end. That will be a good test for us. We’re excited to get them on the schedule. They’re a great program.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Logan Saenz
D Rodrigo Maldonado
D Quinn Salyers
D Riley Miller
D Josh Denault
M Will Bardol
M Ben Hanson
F Luke Bianco
F Ryan Kahley
F Mark Lillig
F Dylan Knapp.
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Logan Pobloske
D Anthony Magner
D Max Panek
D Aiden Killmer
M Frankie Caira
M Jakub Zych
M Edgar Villagran
M Biagio Lerario
M Chris Payan
F Anthony Bartlett
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Andrew Swacha, so., GK, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lake Park — Chris Payan (Edgar Villagran) 68’
Young keeper records 1st shutout in 1-0 DuKane win
By Bob Narang
After the lows, Lake Park sophomore goalie Andrew Swacha has now experienced the highs of varsity ball.
With the Lancers (3-4-2, 3-4-2) struggling in the first few weeks of the season, Lake Park coach Sean Crosby wanted to shake things up. Nearly a week ago, Crosby decided it was time to test Swacha in the net, electing to switch with battle-tested senior goalie Kyle Czeremuga for a short stint.
“We made a change after our first three or four games in at goalkeeper” Crosby said. “Our senior keeper is out a little bit for just time off with spring break. It’s great to have those two compete, but Andrew earned his time in goal.
“He’s been a great member of program, does everything right in training. He’s a great teammate and not afraid to lead from the back with his voice and giving direction to his teammates.”
But the transition to a new goalkeeper did not start off so well for the Lancers. Geneva and St. Charles East defeated Lake Park by a combined 9-2 total heading into Thursday’s game against Batavia.
Swacha, though, responded from the two rough outings with a sterling performance in the net. He had eight saves to power the Lancers to a 1-0 win over the Bulldogs in a DuKane Conference spring break matinee in Roselle.
Sophomore Chris Payan scored the lone goal, tapping a shot from just in front of the net with his left foot with 12:46 left in regulation to end Lake Park’s two-game losing skid.
The win was the Lancers second over the Bulldogs; the league opted for a home-and-schedule for the shortened pandemic season.
Swacha, a first-year varsity player, credited the team’s positive attitude and constant communication for the win.
“I feel the whole team really needed this, because we knew the last two results were subpar,” Swacha said. “To absolutely dominate a pretty good team makes the team feel better.”
Swacha said he’s been tested mentally and physically in the last three games in the net.
He had two crisp saves within a 50-second span in the 78th minute to preserve the shutout.
“I’ve learned to stay positive no matter what the situation is because staying positive is really key for everybody,” he said. “The last 10 minutes were a little stressful. We’ve had a lot of games in a short amount of time, so we had dead legs.
“The whole team stuck together, and we all communicated and stayed positive. It was a really good team game from everybody.”
Batavia (0-8-2, 0-7-2) had plenty of chances to score. Swacha had a nice save on a shot by Andy Barry early in the second half.
“Andrew came up with some big time saves,” Crosby said. “He’s resilient and nothing shakes him. We didn’t help ourselves in the last two matches. We expect way more than what we produced. Our whole team, from front to back, had to step up and do better.
“But Andrew is our shot-stopper, and he was probably coming away thinking a lot of that was on him; but every goal is on everybody. I know the competitor in him knew he could’ve done better.
“I think there was definitely something for him to prove today in his own head. He’s such a competitor and wasn’t going to get shaken by that and make the best of his next opportunity, and he did. He got tested a lot in a short amount of time and didn’t seem fazed.”
Payan notched his second goal of the season and varsity career. After playing club soccer last season, the midfielder shifted course and decided to suit up for the Lancers.
Before his score. Payan missed a clear shot from 15 yards that ricocheted off the near post and squirted along the goal line to the far post. Fourteen minutes later, Payan had his revenge by knocking in the game-winner.
“I was about to celebrate on my (earlier) shot, but I saw it hit the post and see it crawl out,” Payan said. “It was a relief to score. This feels good. We’re like a family and want to keep this going. We want to do better and think we can start winning now after this one.”
Batavia is still in search of its breakthrough win. The Bulldogs played with energy and maintained solid communication against the Lancers. The Bulldogs just weren’t able to punch across a goal to suffer their second shutout loss of the season.
“I think they only had two quality opportunities, from the one that hit the post and the one that went into the back of the net,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We have to find some way to win and finish the ball.”
Batavia junior Ryan Kahley said the team is ready to win. Kahley said he saw some positives in the loss.
“It’s definitely more encouraging than discouraging, because we’re definitely growing as a team,” he said. “Throughout the season, we’re getting better and better. The score line is not showing it. We’re all staying positive and keeping our effort going.”
Senior midfielder Rodrigo Maldonado, a two-year varsity player, said the Bulldogs have to take advantage of scoring situations.
“I was definitely pleased, because we’ve shown much better improvement from the first half of the season,” he said. “We’ve changed out some tactics that have worked out for us. It’s frustrating because we created a lot of chances but weren’t able to put them away.”
Crosby said his team is pointing toward continuing their momentum into Monday’s 7 p.m. home game against Timothy Christian, which is ranked at no. 14 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
“We expect a lot out of TC,” he said. “They have tremendous players and a lot of attacking weapons and can cover in the back end. That will be a good test for us. We’re excited to get them on the schedule. They’re a great program.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Logan Saenz
D Rodrigo Maldonado
D Quinn Salyers
D Riley Miller
D Josh Denault
M Will Bardol
M Ben Hanson
F Luke Bianco
F Ryan Kahley
F Mark Lillig
F Dylan Knapp.
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Logan Pobloske
D Anthony Magner
D Max Panek
D Aiden Killmer
M Frankie Caira
M Jakub Zych
M Edgar Villagran
M Biagio Lerario
M Chris Payan
F Anthony Bartlett
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Andrew Swacha, so., GK, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lake Park — Chris Payan (Edgar Villagran) 68’