BG beats Hersey to even MSL East
Bison get crucial 1-0 road win to stay in conference race
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Host Hersey was hoping to make Buffalo Grove leader Darren Llewellyn's return back home an unpleasant one; instead the former Huskies manager left celebrating an important 1-0 road victory Tuesday night.
Jakub Szydlowski's controversial score in the 27th minute was the only tally of the night. Buffalo Grove (7-4-1) took the shutout based in part on a tactical plan from Llewellyn that stopped the Huskies dynamic duo of Ronan Wilcox and Patryk Bujak.
The Bison (7-4-1, 4-2-0) are now even with Hersey (6-3-1, 4-2-0) and Wheeling in the league table with 12 points, though the Wildcats points have been earned from a 4-1-0 MSL mark.
"We had everything to play for, because a loss would make it nearly impossible for us to overtake Hersey," said Llewellyn long after his triumphant return to the touchline he left three years ago.
"I know so many of Mike's (Rusniak, Hersey manager) players, I either coached them here in club with the (Arlington) Aces or here at Hersey when they first came to high school," continued Llewellyn.
"That's what made this game so big for both sides. Fortunately for us, we were able to get out of here with three points."
In the days leading up to this contest, Llewellyn admitted chances for success against his former club centered around slowing the aforementioned Wllcox and Bujak.
"Ronan is a terrific talent, who in one year has gone to another level, making him one of the best around. Patryk is big, strong and dangerous up-top for Mike."
"I was watching Hersey's game with Glenbrook South on film. When you see the goals each scored, I knew with all due respect to the rest of their team, we had to get a handle on both in this game."
Buffalo Grove opened with a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Llewellyn leaning heavily on both Shane Adams and Ryan Kim to hold the middle of the park with his backline of Ansul Biswas, Jack Coughlin, Marcin Czaplinski and Michael Lollino on their toes.
"We kept bouncing one midfielder after another off Ronan (like) popcorn popping so we could keep him from turning, which on a couple of occasions nearly did us in," said Llewellyn.
"But a big reason for the win was the work from our two center backs (Lollino and Czaplinski) who took turns picking off balls sent into our area and in the box which kept Bujak from being a weapon up-top."
"All of us know so many of their players from club," said Lollino, who shared Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors with Alex Berk. "So we knew what they wanted to do coming into the game.
"Llewellyn had us prepared. Our midfield did a real good job, and our backline tonight did what we were expected to do."
Hersey was favored at home, especially after impressive shutout back-to-back wins against ranked foes Barrington on the road and Glenbrook South at home. The Huskies went from unmentioned in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 to no. 20.
"We felt real good coming in," Rusniak said. "(The) guys were looking forward to playing BG and Darren, and I felt like we would be ready to go from the opening whistle."
Rusniak went to his bench frequently in the first 20 minutes for a variety of reasons. Llewellyn did not bring on fresh legs until the 22nd minute when sophomore Charlie Mancilla entered the fray.
"With the youth on this team, it is important for us to reinforce readiness to play at all times," Rusniak said. "So we're looking for guys to come on and provide pace, spark and energy especially in those first 20-25 minutes when we lacked those three things."
No. 23 Buffalo Grove's leading goal-scorer Brian Perez, along with Berk, who is fast becoming someone to know and watch in the area for his all-around, box-to-box game, where the prime targets of the visitors throughout the first half.
Junior Alexis Escobar, whose ability to get up and down the flank with speed, lent his support to his mates.
With a strong wind at its back for the first period, the Bison were able to put more pressure on the Huskies backline thanks in part to the extra long punts from keeper Adam Sempoch.
The Sempoch bombs forced the Huskies to sit a little deeper than usual in order to meet and clear balls out of the area.
Moments after coming on, Mancilla nearly scored the opener if not for a brave effort by Huskies keeper Reece Delahanty, whose acrobatic kick save of Mancilla's point-blank blast kept things goal-less at 25 minutes.
"We're lucky to have a two great keepers, so that save by Reece didn't surprise me," said Rusniak.
Two minutes later, Delahanty was involved in a sequence of events that both sides had different recollections of later.
Berk's long throw from the far touchline sailed into the box and off Delacanty's gloves, who elevated far above the crowd in an attempt to intercept the ball.
This is Buffalo Grove's view.
"I was told by my guys that the ball went into the net, (then) Reece grabbed the ball and pulled it back over the goal line. Then Jakub slotted the ball into the back of the net.
"The referee blew the whistle when his A.R. on that side deemed the ball in the net, but I am guessing Hersey thought when the whistle blew, it meant he was stopping play before the goal."
Hersey's Tommy Steger, the Huskies terrific center back whom Llewellyn called a first-class player and young man, has a different impression.
"From where I was standing, it looked as though no. 16 (Szydlowski) kicked the ball right out of the hands of Reece -- no goal in my opinion.
"But there's no VAR in place. And to be honest, we did not play as well as we should have. Although the goal should not have been, we still needed to play much better soccer tonight, and that's why Buffalo Grove came out of here with a win."
Steger and seven others, all of whom played for Llewellyn, looked forward to the homecoming of sorts with Llewellyn, but the junior said it didn't change their focus.
"We obviously were excited to play and see Llewellyn, so many of us knew him really well," he said. "But I really don't believe it effected our play."
Berk nearly made it through a trio of Hersey players on his way into the box and was fouled near the edge four minutes from time.
The ensuing free kick did not test Delahanty.
Each side would test the other during the first quarter hour of the second period though none were dangerous enough to bring the big crowd to their feet.
Sempoch saved an attempt at a tie from Wilcox after Bujak and Michael Enz created the chance in the 44th minute. Buffalo Grove's Escobar proved pesky enough to force Delahanty into action in the 50th minute, and once again two minutes later.
One of the instances when the Bison allowed Wilcox to turn nearly turned into a disaster. The chance came at 56 minutes when the junior unloaded an missile that hit the crossbar."
"Ronan is so dangerous," Llewellyn said.
Eric Worwa roared up the left side minutes later and fired in his attempt on frame. It was parried away, but Worwa's hustle put him on a rebound atempt that Sempoch saved.
Buffalo Grove feared it had lost Berk for the night when he took a nasty hit above the knee on a tackle, but the senior returned after some time with the athletic trainor and a bag of ice.
"We could have been in a lot of trouble with Alex gone for the rest of the game, but the guys picked each other up and that proved big for us," admitted Llewellyn.
The Bison prepared for an intense final 10 minutes by sitting in on Hersey's new 3-4-3 formation. However except for a pair of free kicks and a deep throw, the home side was unable to muster anything of quality against Sempoch.
"We're disappointed with this result for sure, but I know this team," Rusniak said. "And they will come back just as they did after that 4-2 loss to Wheeling.
"Michael Enz, Simon Hemenway and (Tommy) Steger all did quite well tonight. If we had a do-over, I would have liked us to me more aggressive in our attack, instead of playing cautious and not trusting our abilities offensively."
Buffalo Grove returns home to continue league play on Thursday against Palatine (2-5-2, 1-4-0). The Huskies travel to Conant (3-4-2, 0-3-1) Thursday.
Starting lineups
Buffalo Grove (4-1-4-1)
G- Adam Sempoch
D- Jack Coughlin
D- Marcin Czaplinski
D- Michael Lollino
D- Anshul Biswas
DM- Shane Adams
M- Kevin Morales
M- Ryan Kim
M- Alex Berk
M- Brian Perez
F- Alexis Escobar
Hersey (4-5-1)
G- Reece Delahanty
D- Ilich Qujije
D- Tommy Steger
D- Nathan Solarski
D- Cade Milligan
M- Eric Worwa
M- Ronan Wilcox
M- Simon Hemenway
M- Sam Schuffler
M- Blake Johnson
F- Patryk Bujak
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Alex Berk, sr., MF/F, Buffalo Grove
Michael Lollino, sr., D, Buffalo Grove
Scoring summary
First half
Buffalo Grove: Jakub Szydlowski (U/A) 27'
Secon half
No scoring
Bison get crucial 1-0 road win to stay in conference race
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Host Hersey was hoping to make Buffalo Grove leader Darren Llewellyn's return back home an unpleasant one; instead the former Huskies manager left celebrating an important 1-0 road victory Tuesday night.
Jakub Szydlowski's controversial score in the 27th minute was the only tally of the night. Buffalo Grove (7-4-1) took the shutout based in part on a tactical plan from Llewellyn that stopped the Huskies dynamic duo of Ronan Wilcox and Patryk Bujak.
The Bison (7-4-1, 4-2-0) are now even with Hersey (6-3-1, 4-2-0) and Wheeling in the league table with 12 points, though the Wildcats points have been earned from a 4-1-0 MSL mark.
"We had everything to play for, because a loss would make it nearly impossible for us to overtake Hersey," said Llewellyn long after his triumphant return to the touchline he left three years ago.
"I know so many of Mike's (Rusniak, Hersey manager) players, I either coached them here in club with the (Arlington) Aces or here at Hersey when they first came to high school," continued Llewellyn.
"That's what made this game so big for both sides. Fortunately for us, we were able to get out of here with three points."
In the days leading up to this contest, Llewellyn admitted chances for success against his former club centered around slowing the aforementioned Wllcox and Bujak.
"Ronan is a terrific talent, who in one year has gone to another level, making him one of the best around. Patryk is big, strong and dangerous up-top for Mike."
"I was watching Hersey's game with Glenbrook South on film. When you see the goals each scored, I knew with all due respect to the rest of their team, we had to get a handle on both in this game."
Buffalo Grove opened with a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Llewellyn leaning heavily on both Shane Adams and Ryan Kim to hold the middle of the park with his backline of Ansul Biswas, Jack Coughlin, Marcin Czaplinski and Michael Lollino on their toes.
"We kept bouncing one midfielder after another off Ronan (like) popcorn popping so we could keep him from turning, which on a couple of occasions nearly did us in," said Llewellyn.
"But a big reason for the win was the work from our two center backs (Lollino and Czaplinski) who took turns picking off balls sent into our area and in the box which kept Bujak from being a weapon up-top."
"All of us know so many of their players from club," said Lollino, who shared Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors with Alex Berk. "So we knew what they wanted to do coming into the game.
"Llewellyn had us prepared. Our midfield did a real good job, and our backline tonight did what we were expected to do."
Hersey was favored at home, especially after impressive shutout back-to-back wins against ranked foes Barrington on the road and Glenbrook South at home. The Huskies went from unmentioned in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 to no. 20.
"We felt real good coming in," Rusniak said. "(The) guys were looking forward to playing BG and Darren, and I felt like we would be ready to go from the opening whistle."
Rusniak went to his bench frequently in the first 20 minutes for a variety of reasons. Llewellyn did not bring on fresh legs until the 22nd minute when sophomore Charlie Mancilla entered the fray.
"With the youth on this team, it is important for us to reinforce readiness to play at all times," Rusniak said. "So we're looking for guys to come on and provide pace, spark and energy especially in those first 20-25 minutes when we lacked those three things."
No. 23 Buffalo Grove's leading goal-scorer Brian Perez, along with Berk, who is fast becoming someone to know and watch in the area for his all-around, box-to-box game, where the prime targets of the visitors throughout the first half.
Junior Alexis Escobar, whose ability to get up and down the flank with speed, lent his support to his mates.
With a strong wind at its back for the first period, the Bison were able to put more pressure on the Huskies backline thanks in part to the extra long punts from keeper Adam Sempoch.
The Sempoch bombs forced the Huskies to sit a little deeper than usual in order to meet and clear balls out of the area.
Moments after coming on, Mancilla nearly scored the opener if not for a brave effort by Huskies keeper Reece Delahanty, whose acrobatic kick save of Mancilla's point-blank blast kept things goal-less at 25 minutes.
"We're lucky to have a two great keepers, so that save by Reece didn't surprise me," said Rusniak.
Two minutes later, Delahanty was involved in a sequence of events that both sides had different recollections of later.
Berk's long throw from the far touchline sailed into the box and off Delacanty's gloves, who elevated far above the crowd in an attempt to intercept the ball.
This is Buffalo Grove's view.
"I was told by my guys that the ball went into the net, (then) Reece grabbed the ball and pulled it back over the goal line. Then Jakub slotted the ball into the back of the net.
"The referee blew the whistle when his A.R. on that side deemed the ball in the net, but I am guessing Hersey thought when the whistle blew, it meant he was stopping play before the goal."
Hersey's Tommy Steger, the Huskies terrific center back whom Llewellyn called a first-class player and young man, has a different impression.
"From where I was standing, it looked as though no. 16 (Szydlowski) kicked the ball right out of the hands of Reece -- no goal in my opinion.
"But there's no VAR in place. And to be honest, we did not play as well as we should have. Although the goal should not have been, we still needed to play much better soccer tonight, and that's why Buffalo Grove came out of here with a win."
Steger and seven others, all of whom played for Llewellyn, looked forward to the homecoming of sorts with Llewellyn, but the junior said it didn't change their focus.
"We obviously were excited to play and see Llewellyn, so many of us knew him really well," he said. "But I really don't believe it effected our play."
Berk nearly made it through a trio of Hersey players on his way into the box and was fouled near the edge four minutes from time.
The ensuing free kick did not test Delahanty.
Each side would test the other during the first quarter hour of the second period though none were dangerous enough to bring the big crowd to their feet.
Sempoch saved an attempt at a tie from Wilcox after Bujak and Michael Enz created the chance in the 44th minute. Buffalo Grove's Escobar proved pesky enough to force Delahanty into action in the 50th minute, and once again two minutes later.
One of the instances when the Bison allowed Wilcox to turn nearly turned into a disaster. The chance came at 56 minutes when the junior unloaded an missile that hit the crossbar."
"Ronan is so dangerous," Llewellyn said.
Eric Worwa roared up the left side minutes later and fired in his attempt on frame. It was parried away, but Worwa's hustle put him on a rebound atempt that Sempoch saved.
Buffalo Grove feared it had lost Berk for the night when he took a nasty hit above the knee on a tackle, but the senior returned after some time with the athletic trainor and a bag of ice.
"We could have been in a lot of trouble with Alex gone for the rest of the game, but the guys picked each other up and that proved big for us," admitted Llewellyn.
The Bison prepared for an intense final 10 minutes by sitting in on Hersey's new 3-4-3 formation. However except for a pair of free kicks and a deep throw, the home side was unable to muster anything of quality against Sempoch.
"We're disappointed with this result for sure, but I know this team," Rusniak said. "And they will come back just as they did after that 4-2 loss to Wheeling.
"Michael Enz, Simon Hemenway and (Tommy) Steger all did quite well tonight. If we had a do-over, I would have liked us to me more aggressive in our attack, instead of playing cautious and not trusting our abilities offensively."
Buffalo Grove returns home to continue league play on Thursday against Palatine (2-5-2, 1-4-0). The Huskies travel to Conant (3-4-2, 0-3-1) Thursday.
Starting lineups
Buffalo Grove (4-1-4-1)
G- Adam Sempoch
D- Jack Coughlin
D- Marcin Czaplinski
D- Michael Lollino
D- Anshul Biswas
DM- Shane Adams
M- Kevin Morales
M- Ryan Kim
M- Alex Berk
M- Brian Perez
F- Alexis Escobar
Hersey (4-5-1)
G- Reece Delahanty
D- Ilich Qujije
D- Tommy Steger
D- Nathan Solarski
D- Cade Milligan
M- Eric Worwa
M- Ronan Wilcox
M- Simon Hemenway
M- Sam Schuffler
M- Blake Johnson
F- Patryk Bujak
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Alex Berk, sr., MF/F, Buffalo Grove
Michael Lollino, sr., D, Buffalo Grove
Scoring summary
First half
Buffalo Grove: Jakub Szydlowski (U/A) 27'
Secon half
No scoring