Long-distance connection
leads Lake Park past Batavia
Donnelly uses his head to deliver 3-2 win
By Bill McLean
ROSELLE — Erdet Agaj’s right foot was about 40 yards away from the right side of Shane Donnelly’s head before a pivotal moment in the game Thursday night.
Donnelly, a Lake Park junior back positioned in the Batavia box, headed — from six yards — the lengthy second half service from Aga, another Lancers junior defender. The result was the game-winning tally in a 3-2 defeat of the visiting Bulldogs at Krupke Memorial Field.
The pair stood only three yards apart after the DuKane Conference contest, during an interview session, to discuss Donnelly’s third goal of the season and Agaj’s second assist of the season.
“That pass came from you?” a smiling Donnelly asked Agaj. “I was wondering.”
“Yes, it did,” Agaj said.
“Thank you,” Donnelly, still beaming, said. “Thank you.”
Lancers Nation was most grateful for Lake Park’s fast start, a 2-0 lead after only 11 minutes. Two days earlier, in Carol Stream, the same team allowed three goals in the first half of a 3-0 loss to Glenbard North.
No wonder LAKE PARK coach Sean Crosby yelled “Stay urgent!” and “Keep working!” to his young men every other minute or so.
“They’re probably tired of hearing ‘urgent’ and ‘urgency’ from me,” said Crosby, whose crew (0-4-1 in its previous five games) hadn’t won since a 6-0 defeat of Auburn on Sept. 16. “We played more direct tonight, tried to be simple. We made runs, good ones. We didn’t want to settle for possession.
“Those two-goal leads we had tonight were very important, because Batavia answered pretty quickly each time.”
Lake Park sophomore midfielder Anthony Juarez opened the night’s scoring in the third minute, off a feed from senior midfielder and tri-captain Frankie Caira. Juarez’s blast traveled 22 yards.
Lake Park’s happy bench players erupted soon after the ball jostled twine.
Eight minutes later Lancers senior forward and tri-captain Raim Ramani fielded a booming punt from junior goalkeeper Andrew Swacha (five saves) after battling tightly and grittily for position with a Batavia defender. After he gained it, Ramani beat Bulldogs senior keeper Logan Saenz (six saves) from about 12 yards.
“That was nice, not having to dig ourselves out of a hole early,” Agaj said.
Batavia (5-8-0, 2-3-0 in the DuKane) pared the lead in half via a goal from senior forward Manasas Monarrez off a swell cross by senior midfielder Ben Hanson. Monarrez high-stepped his right leg to control the delivery in the box and then casually poked a swift shot past Swacha in the 18th minute.
Lake Park (5-7-3, 2-2-1) led 2-1 at the break.
The hosts earned their second two-goal advantage after that memorable Agaj-Donnelly connection in the 49th minute. Batavia responded with a similar sequence only a minute later, getting a header from forward and senior co-captain Ryan Kahley off a spot-on, 30-plus-yard pass from senior forward Josh Denault.
The visitors pressed relentlessly from there until the final horn. The dogged Bulldogs generated three corner kicks, as well as a pair of corner-kick-like throw-ins from sophomore back Owen Stahl, in the final three minutes. Senior defender Grant LeRette-Kaufmann’s late cross had Lake Park holding its collective breath.
“We were trying to do something, anything, to create chances,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “But things didn’t fall for us.
“Nobody quit,” he added.
Donnelly has no idea what “quit” means. The Lancer deserved Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for standing out as an attacker.
And as a defender.
“Shane,” Crosby said, “played hard all night, box to box.”
Batavia senior back Quinn Salyers played at an all-DuKane Conference level from start to finish. He fearlessly smothered cross attempts from Lake Park and won several battles in front of Saenz.
“He throws everything at you,” Gianfrancesco praised.
“Quinn,” Kahley added, “is a dog — a dog that never stops playing hard. He’s a brick wall back there.”
Kahley figured his club displayed the energy it needed for close to 90 percent of the test on grass.
“We showed real heart, though we were slow at times — only a few times,” he said. “We had the better of the chances tonight, I thought. We just didn’t finish like we should have at the end.
“I’m guilty.”
Lake Park hosts Bartlett on Saturday at 10 a.m.; Batavia heads to Waubonsie Valley at 6:30 p.m. Monday for the start of the Warstang Invitational.
Footnotes
On the last day of the month Thursday night, Lake Park’s PA announcer kicked off the halftime entertainment by blaring Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” … One of Lake Park’s backup goalkeepers jumped off his bench seat to secure an errant ball on the fly. But he didn’t shout, “Put me in coach!” … Agaj, on Ramani: “Great captain, important leader. Vocal, too, always vocal.” … Crosby ranked Thursday’s win way up there on the “satisfaction” meter. “Our guys should feel good about a win like this,” the coach said. “They fought through on heavy legs. And Batavia kept coming at us there at the end. That team never allowed us to get comfortable.” … Each team missed a PK Thursday night. A Batavia try in the 17th minute sailed well above the cross bar, and Saenz got fully horizontal to stop a PK that had “goal” written all over it in the 70th minute. That is, until it didn’t. … For most teams visiting Lake Park’s Krupke Memorial Field, it must be a challenge to compete atop the natural turf in a field-turf-laden state. Not Batavia. “We practice on grass at our place, and this fall we’ve played maybe six games on grass,” Gianfrancesco said before Thursday’s kickoff. “This will be a good test for us, going against Lake Park. Onward and upward. We’re heading in the right direction.” … Wondering why they call soccer “The Beautiful Game”? Watch Lake Park senior midfielder and tri-captain Edgar Villagran dribble the ball in rush-hour-traffic conditions on pitches and wonder no more.
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Logan Saenz
D Quinn Salyers
D Owen Stahl
D Grant LeRette-Kauffman
D Brody Seitzinger
MF Ben Hanson
MF Alec Crum
MF Ryan Kahley
MF Will Bardol
F Josh Denault
F Manasas Monarrez
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Erdet Agaj
D Shane Donnelly
D Oscar Sagan
D Aidan Killmer
D Eric Reyes
MF Anthony Juarez
MF Frankie Caira
MF Edgar Villagran
MF Jason Salwach
F Raim Ramani
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Shane Donnelly, jr., D, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
Lake Park — Juarez (Caira), 3’
Lake Park — Ramani (Swacha), 11’
Batavia — Monarrez (Hanson), 18’
Second half
Lake Park — Donnelly (Agaj), 49’
Batavia — Kahley (Denault), 50’
leads Lake Park past Batavia
Donnelly uses his head to deliver 3-2 win
By Bill McLean
ROSELLE — Erdet Agaj’s right foot was about 40 yards away from the right side of Shane Donnelly’s head before a pivotal moment in the game Thursday night.
Donnelly, a Lake Park junior back positioned in the Batavia box, headed — from six yards — the lengthy second half service from Aga, another Lancers junior defender. The result was the game-winning tally in a 3-2 defeat of the visiting Bulldogs at Krupke Memorial Field.
The pair stood only three yards apart after the DuKane Conference contest, during an interview session, to discuss Donnelly’s third goal of the season and Agaj’s second assist of the season.
“That pass came from you?” a smiling Donnelly asked Agaj. “I was wondering.”
“Yes, it did,” Agaj said.
“Thank you,” Donnelly, still beaming, said. “Thank you.”
Lancers Nation was most grateful for Lake Park’s fast start, a 2-0 lead after only 11 minutes. Two days earlier, in Carol Stream, the same team allowed three goals in the first half of a 3-0 loss to Glenbard North.
No wonder LAKE PARK coach Sean Crosby yelled “Stay urgent!” and “Keep working!” to his young men every other minute or so.
“They’re probably tired of hearing ‘urgent’ and ‘urgency’ from me,” said Crosby, whose crew (0-4-1 in its previous five games) hadn’t won since a 6-0 defeat of Auburn on Sept. 16. “We played more direct tonight, tried to be simple. We made runs, good ones. We didn’t want to settle for possession.
“Those two-goal leads we had tonight were very important, because Batavia answered pretty quickly each time.”
Lake Park sophomore midfielder Anthony Juarez opened the night’s scoring in the third minute, off a feed from senior midfielder and tri-captain Frankie Caira. Juarez’s blast traveled 22 yards.
Lake Park’s happy bench players erupted soon after the ball jostled twine.
Eight minutes later Lancers senior forward and tri-captain Raim Ramani fielded a booming punt from junior goalkeeper Andrew Swacha (five saves) after battling tightly and grittily for position with a Batavia defender. After he gained it, Ramani beat Bulldogs senior keeper Logan Saenz (six saves) from about 12 yards.
“That was nice, not having to dig ourselves out of a hole early,” Agaj said.
Batavia (5-8-0, 2-3-0 in the DuKane) pared the lead in half via a goal from senior forward Manasas Monarrez off a swell cross by senior midfielder Ben Hanson. Monarrez high-stepped his right leg to control the delivery in the box and then casually poked a swift shot past Swacha in the 18th minute.
Lake Park (5-7-3, 2-2-1) led 2-1 at the break.
The hosts earned their second two-goal advantage after that memorable Agaj-Donnelly connection in the 49th minute. Batavia responded with a similar sequence only a minute later, getting a header from forward and senior co-captain Ryan Kahley off a spot-on, 30-plus-yard pass from senior forward Josh Denault.
The visitors pressed relentlessly from there until the final horn. The dogged Bulldogs generated three corner kicks, as well as a pair of corner-kick-like throw-ins from sophomore back Owen Stahl, in the final three minutes. Senior defender Grant LeRette-Kaufmann’s late cross had Lake Park holding its collective breath.
“We were trying to do something, anything, to create chances,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “But things didn’t fall for us.
“Nobody quit,” he added.
Donnelly has no idea what “quit” means. The Lancer deserved Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for standing out as an attacker.
And as a defender.
“Shane,” Crosby said, “played hard all night, box to box.”
Batavia senior back Quinn Salyers played at an all-DuKane Conference level from start to finish. He fearlessly smothered cross attempts from Lake Park and won several battles in front of Saenz.
“He throws everything at you,” Gianfrancesco praised.
“Quinn,” Kahley added, “is a dog — a dog that never stops playing hard. He’s a brick wall back there.”
Kahley figured his club displayed the energy it needed for close to 90 percent of the test on grass.
“We showed real heart, though we were slow at times — only a few times,” he said. “We had the better of the chances tonight, I thought. We just didn’t finish like we should have at the end.
“I’m guilty.”
Lake Park hosts Bartlett on Saturday at 10 a.m.; Batavia heads to Waubonsie Valley at 6:30 p.m. Monday for the start of the Warstang Invitational.
Footnotes
On the last day of the month Thursday night, Lake Park’s PA announcer kicked off the halftime entertainment by blaring Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September.” … One of Lake Park’s backup goalkeepers jumped off his bench seat to secure an errant ball on the fly. But he didn’t shout, “Put me in coach!” … Agaj, on Ramani: “Great captain, important leader. Vocal, too, always vocal.” … Crosby ranked Thursday’s win way up there on the “satisfaction” meter. “Our guys should feel good about a win like this,” the coach said. “They fought through on heavy legs. And Batavia kept coming at us there at the end. That team never allowed us to get comfortable.” … Each team missed a PK Thursday night. A Batavia try in the 17th minute sailed well above the cross bar, and Saenz got fully horizontal to stop a PK that had “goal” written all over it in the 70th minute. That is, until it didn’t. … For most teams visiting Lake Park’s Krupke Memorial Field, it must be a challenge to compete atop the natural turf in a field-turf-laden state. Not Batavia. “We practice on grass at our place, and this fall we’ve played maybe six games on grass,” Gianfrancesco said before Thursday’s kickoff. “This will be a good test for us, going against Lake Park. Onward and upward. We’re heading in the right direction.” … Wondering why they call soccer “The Beautiful Game”? Watch Lake Park senior midfielder and tri-captain Edgar Villagran dribble the ball in rush-hour-traffic conditions on pitches and wonder no more.
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Logan Saenz
D Quinn Salyers
D Owen Stahl
D Grant LeRette-Kauffman
D Brody Seitzinger
MF Ben Hanson
MF Alec Crum
MF Ryan Kahley
MF Will Bardol
F Josh Denault
F Manasas Monarrez
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Erdet Agaj
D Shane Donnelly
D Oscar Sagan
D Aidan Killmer
D Eric Reyes
MF Anthony Juarez
MF Frankie Caira
MF Edgar Villagran
MF Jason Salwach
F Raim Ramani
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Shane Donnelly, jr., D, Lake Park
Scoring summary
First half
Lake Park — Juarez (Caira), 3’
Lake Park — Ramani (Swacha), 11’
Batavia — Monarrez (Hanson), 18’
Second half
Lake Park — Donnelly (Agaj), 49’
Batavia — Kahley (Denault), 50’