Glorious Glorioso leads WV over Batavia
Waubonsie star strikes twice as Warriors edge Batavia 2-1
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA -- Waubonsie Valley coach Jose Garcia said before Wednesday’s game against Batavia that he was seeing improvement in his team.
It showed on the scoreboard a couple hours later.
Junior midfielder Noah Glorioso scored two spectacular goals -- doubling his season output in the process -- and the host Warriors held off a late rally to secure a 2-1 victory at the WarStang Invitational.
It was the second win in three games for Waubonsie Valley (3-11-1), which is starting to jell after beginning the season with just one returning starter -- Glorioso.
“Lately we’ve been playing well,” Glorioso said. “We’ve gotten a few wins an it’s a great time to peak in terms of playoffs are coming up, and we’ve got Neuqua Valley on Tuesday, a rivalry game.
“We want to go out there and keep progressing.”
While their respective records don’t indicate it, Waubonsie and Batavia (3-9-4) are improving. They are both the type of quality lower-seeded squad that few opponents would want to face in the first round of the playoffs.
“You don’t want to play those teams,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “Over the last nine games our goals-against average is like 1. We’ve just got to score a little bit more.”
Glorioso had no trouble doing just that. He moved up-top in an effort to create more opportunities and the Bulldogs obliged by leaving him open within 25 yards of the goal.
The result was a pair of goals on back-to-back shots late in the first half.
Glorioso’s first goal came with 13:04 remaining after a throw-in by Brandon Garduno on the left side. The 22-yard missile sailed past Batavia goalie Jacob Mefford in the blink of an eye.
Four minutes later, Glorioso struck again from nearly the same distance. This time Jorge Gallegos found him in space. When the Bulldogs were late stepping to the ball, Mefford had no chance.
“As soon as I got around the box, I just picked my head up and looked to shoot, and no one stepped to me,” Glorioso said. “I looked up, saw the goalie was a little off his post, put it near post.”
The Bulldogs applauded the Waubonsie Valley star for his brace.
“They were powerful and driven near post,” said Mefford, who finished with four saves. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re not giving the other team’s forwards -- on any team -- enough space to shoot like that, and that from that close.”
Gianfrancesco, who warned his team about that exact possibility, echoed those sentiments.
“Those are great shots,” Gianfrancesco said. “You don’t close them down, and we talked about it before.
“I’m like, 14 is their guy. They switched him from the center mid role and pushed him up-top.
“I knew they were going for him and going to press our center back. It was well-noted, and he definitely finished us off.”
Batavia played without usual starting center back Ian Wood, one of their co-captains, as well as leading point-getter Max Hardin. They were also playing their third game in as many days, which proved taxing.
“This was our third game in three days so we had a little bit of fatigue,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’re short a couple guys too, but I thought the boys gave a nice effort and made it interesting at the end, which is good.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs made the Warriors sweat a little bit. Waubonsie goalie Bryan Grimaldo had to make six of his seven saves after the break and senior Gunnar Knox scored on a rebound with 7:04 to go to get the visitors on the board.
The outcome was in doubt until the final minute. Midfielder Eddie Torres sent a 45-yard free kick into the Waubonsie box and the ball was deflected several times in a crowd before Grimaldo finally got his hands on it with 45 seconds left.
“I think we came out a little bit heavy-legged after having this being our third game (in three days) but after the halftime talk we got ourselves together and composed ourselves a little bit and started playing our game a little bit more,” Knox said. “We were still a little bit fatigued, but we were able to get one in and upgrade the energy a little bit.”
The Warriors and Bulldogs have shown energy as the regular season winds down. The Warriors have won two of their last three matches, while the Bulldogs upset St. Charles North on Tuesday for a thrilling Senior Night triumph.
“I think we’ve definitely had improvement just in the past three days because we had probably one of our worst games of the season as a team on Monday,” Mefford said.
“Then we played amazing yesterday, and then today I think we still played well, it was just we were starting to get a little fatigued from having three games in a row.”
Waubonsie Valley, which lost Monday on the opening day of the tournament, didn’t play Tuesday and dominated the first half against the Bulldogs, earning an 11-1 advantage in shots.
“I thought we outworked them, and I thought we did a really good job of swinging the ball to the wings and getting crosses in,” Waubonsie Valley’s Aaron Griffith said.
“Some of them we didn’t score on, but I feel like we did a good job of creating chances.”
The Warriors do have a bona fide playmaker in Glorioso, who played on the Galaxy club team that won the U17 national title in July. Less experienced players such as Griffith, a sophomore midfielder who was on the varsity last season but rode the bench, rely heavily on Glorioso.
“It’s really fun, because I know I always have him as an option whenever I get the ball,” Griffith said. “I always turn and look to switch the field to him, and I know he can make a play.
“So whenever I’m in the midfield I’m always trying to look for him, because I know he’s our playmaker. I’m always trying to feed him balls.”
Glorioso, in turn, is feeding his teammates encouragement.
“It’s been fun,” Glorioso said. “Obviously, playing around all these kids, they know what they’re doing, just like Galaxy. I’ve just got to be a leader and keep their heads up.”
Now things appear to be heading up for the Warriors, who have put a nine-game winless streak in the rearview mirror.
“I thought we were really sloppy at the start of the season,” Griffith said. “I think with every game and every practice we’ve improved, and it’s starting to show because the last three games we’ve got two wins. We’re doing really good and progressing.”
So, it would seem, are the Bulldogs, who are looking forward to the postseason.
“I feel like we’ve definitely improved throughout the entire season,” Mefford said. “I think if we can keep up this momentum we can do well in the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Jacob Mefford
D Joe Grendzinski
D Aiden Carlson
D Kipp Knecht
D Jason Nichols
M Adler Palos
M Eddie Torres
F Miguel Garcia
F Reese Carlson
F Gunnar Knox
F Drew Lillig
Waubonsie Valley
GK Bryan Grimaldo
D Ryan Sanchez
D Matthew Shannon
D Brandon Garduno
D Adrien Mehra
M Aaron Griffith
M Jorge Gallegos
M Jerry Perez
M Zach Stanley
F Noah Glorioso
F Milan Erastus-Obilo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Noah Glorioso, jr., M, Waubonsie Valley
Scoring summary
First half
Waubonsie Valley – Noah Glorioso (Brandon Garduno) 13:04
Waubonsie Valley – Noah Glorioso (Jorge Gallegos) 9:18
Second half
Batavia – Gunnar Knox 7:04
Waubonsie star strikes twice as Warriors edge Batavia 2-1
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA -- Waubonsie Valley coach Jose Garcia said before Wednesday’s game against Batavia that he was seeing improvement in his team.
It showed on the scoreboard a couple hours later.
Junior midfielder Noah Glorioso scored two spectacular goals -- doubling his season output in the process -- and the host Warriors held off a late rally to secure a 2-1 victory at the WarStang Invitational.
It was the second win in three games for Waubonsie Valley (3-11-1), which is starting to jell after beginning the season with just one returning starter -- Glorioso.
“Lately we’ve been playing well,” Glorioso said. “We’ve gotten a few wins an it’s a great time to peak in terms of playoffs are coming up, and we’ve got Neuqua Valley on Tuesday, a rivalry game.
“We want to go out there and keep progressing.”
While their respective records don’t indicate it, Waubonsie and Batavia (3-9-4) are improving. They are both the type of quality lower-seeded squad that few opponents would want to face in the first round of the playoffs.
“You don’t want to play those teams,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “Over the last nine games our goals-against average is like 1. We’ve just got to score a little bit more.”
Glorioso had no trouble doing just that. He moved up-top in an effort to create more opportunities and the Bulldogs obliged by leaving him open within 25 yards of the goal.
The result was a pair of goals on back-to-back shots late in the first half.
Glorioso’s first goal came with 13:04 remaining after a throw-in by Brandon Garduno on the left side. The 22-yard missile sailed past Batavia goalie Jacob Mefford in the blink of an eye.
Four minutes later, Glorioso struck again from nearly the same distance. This time Jorge Gallegos found him in space. When the Bulldogs were late stepping to the ball, Mefford had no chance.
“As soon as I got around the box, I just picked my head up and looked to shoot, and no one stepped to me,” Glorioso said. “I looked up, saw the goalie was a little off his post, put it near post.”
The Bulldogs applauded the Waubonsie Valley star for his brace.
“They were powerful and driven near post,” said Mefford, who finished with four saves. “We’ve just got to make sure we’re not giving the other team’s forwards -- on any team -- enough space to shoot like that, and that from that close.”
Gianfrancesco, who warned his team about that exact possibility, echoed those sentiments.
“Those are great shots,” Gianfrancesco said. “You don’t close them down, and we talked about it before.
“I’m like, 14 is their guy. They switched him from the center mid role and pushed him up-top.
“I knew they were going for him and going to press our center back. It was well-noted, and he definitely finished us off.”
Batavia played without usual starting center back Ian Wood, one of their co-captains, as well as leading point-getter Max Hardin. They were also playing their third game in as many days, which proved taxing.
“This was our third game in three days so we had a little bit of fatigue,” Gianfrancesco said. “We’re short a couple guys too, but I thought the boys gave a nice effort and made it interesting at the end, which is good.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs made the Warriors sweat a little bit. Waubonsie goalie Bryan Grimaldo had to make six of his seven saves after the break and senior Gunnar Knox scored on a rebound with 7:04 to go to get the visitors on the board.
The outcome was in doubt until the final minute. Midfielder Eddie Torres sent a 45-yard free kick into the Waubonsie box and the ball was deflected several times in a crowd before Grimaldo finally got his hands on it with 45 seconds left.
“I think we came out a little bit heavy-legged after having this being our third game (in three days) but after the halftime talk we got ourselves together and composed ourselves a little bit and started playing our game a little bit more,” Knox said. “We were still a little bit fatigued, but we were able to get one in and upgrade the energy a little bit.”
The Warriors and Bulldogs have shown energy as the regular season winds down. The Warriors have won two of their last three matches, while the Bulldogs upset St. Charles North on Tuesday for a thrilling Senior Night triumph.
“I think we’ve definitely had improvement just in the past three days because we had probably one of our worst games of the season as a team on Monday,” Mefford said.
“Then we played amazing yesterday, and then today I think we still played well, it was just we were starting to get a little fatigued from having three games in a row.”
Waubonsie Valley, which lost Monday on the opening day of the tournament, didn’t play Tuesday and dominated the first half against the Bulldogs, earning an 11-1 advantage in shots.
“I thought we outworked them, and I thought we did a really good job of swinging the ball to the wings and getting crosses in,” Waubonsie Valley’s Aaron Griffith said.
“Some of them we didn’t score on, but I feel like we did a good job of creating chances.”
The Warriors do have a bona fide playmaker in Glorioso, who played on the Galaxy club team that won the U17 national title in July. Less experienced players such as Griffith, a sophomore midfielder who was on the varsity last season but rode the bench, rely heavily on Glorioso.
“It’s really fun, because I know I always have him as an option whenever I get the ball,” Griffith said. “I always turn and look to switch the field to him, and I know he can make a play.
“So whenever I’m in the midfield I’m always trying to look for him, because I know he’s our playmaker. I’m always trying to feed him balls.”
Glorioso, in turn, is feeding his teammates encouragement.
“It’s been fun,” Glorioso said. “Obviously, playing around all these kids, they know what they’re doing, just like Galaxy. I’ve just got to be a leader and keep their heads up.”
Now things appear to be heading up for the Warriors, who have put a nine-game winless streak in the rearview mirror.
“I thought we were really sloppy at the start of the season,” Griffith said. “I think with every game and every practice we’ve improved, and it’s starting to show because the last three games we’ve got two wins. We’re doing really good and progressing.”
So, it would seem, are the Bulldogs, who are looking forward to the postseason.
“I feel like we’ve definitely improved throughout the entire season,” Mefford said. “I think if we can keep up this momentum we can do well in the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Batavia
GK Jacob Mefford
D Joe Grendzinski
D Aiden Carlson
D Kipp Knecht
D Jason Nichols
M Adler Palos
M Eddie Torres
F Miguel Garcia
F Reese Carlson
F Gunnar Knox
F Drew Lillig
Waubonsie Valley
GK Bryan Grimaldo
D Ryan Sanchez
D Matthew Shannon
D Brandon Garduno
D Adrien Mehra
M Aaron Griffith
M Jorge Gallegos
M Jerry Perez
M Zach Stanley
F Noah Glorioso
F Milan Erastus-Obilo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Noah Glorioso, jr., M, Waubonsie Valley
Scoring summary
First half
Waubonsie Valley – Noah Glorioso (Brandon Garduno) 13:04
Waubonsie Valley – Noah Glorioso (Jorge Gallegos) 9:18
Second half
Batavia – Gunnar Knox 7:04