Strong 2nd half leads BG past GBN
60th-minute goal earns Bison win in tournament opener
By Mike Garofola
NORTHFIELD -- Buffalo Grove secured a 2-1 victory over Glenbrook North through goals by Brian Perez and Jakub Szydlowski, but they were made to work extremely hard to earn maximum points against a resilient Spartans club that was just as anxious to open tourney play with three points.
Perez, later named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, stunned the Spartans who conceded the opener at three minutes. Later, the senior was the inspiration behind the Szydlowski game-winner, which came from an outrageous angle at the back post.
"We lost one of the best players in the state in Kevin Eloiza (to graduation), as well as our top goal-scorer (Jon Peici), so now it's time for Brian to make his mark, and thus far, as you saw today, he's quite capable of filling the shoes of both Kevin and Jon, plus so much more," said Bison manager Darren Llewellyn.
"It felt good to get this win today. (It) was one that we all needed very badly," said Perez. "We felt like we played well the other day against Barrington, but we could have been a lot better. To be truthful, (they) were the better team that day."
"Today we beat a very good opponent, who after the first 10-15 minutes outplayed us, and kept us under pressure."
"We bounced back to play a strong second half. If we continue to play like we did, we'll be in good shape from here on out."
Glenbrook North (1-1-1), ranked 32nd in Chicagoland Soccer's preseason First 5o poll, absorbed its first loss of the year.
"We had our moments today, unfortunately not enough of them for long periods of time," began Glenbrook North manager Paul Vignocchi. "We gave up an early goal, which is not the way to start, nearly another on a missed PK, then came back to play some good soccer."
"One of the few things we're missing right now is having guys who have a nose for the goal, someone like their no. 10 (Perez) who had a great game."
Perez shrugged off a pair of Glenbrook North players to drive his attempt from the right side into the far left inside netting.
The missed PK Vignocchi spoke of came five minutes after the Perez opener when Ryan Kim was taken down in the box on a 50-50 challenge.
Kim proceeded to steer his spot-kick wide of the post to give the Spartans new life.
"We've got to convert those chances when they come, so we'll talk about that during our next training session," said Llewellyn.
After the Kim miss, the rest of the first half was largely all Glenbrook North.
Thanks in part to Konrad Kulesza, Yusuf Shaaban, Gabe Nyman and Nico Adducci the Spartans attack was now up and running and creating a handful of corners, deep throws and free kicks.
Joey Martens drove his free kick into a tightly formed wall from the edge, and later, Kyle Brown unloaded a wicked blast off a corner, only to see it blocked on the way into the box.
The Spartans midfield was now winning most of the first and second balls. With their success, Vignocchi pushed his backline further into the attack to add numbers.
With this, no. 20 Buffalo Grove was forced to contend with the long-range marksmanship of the Glenbrook North of David Schueler and Jan Bogdan, whose service out of the back impressed Llewellyn.
"(They) had a big, strong backline, and can you believe no. 6 (Schueler) and no. 27 (Bogdan)?" asked the Buffalo Grove coach. "They were consistently hitting 40-yard balls out of the back and right onto the feet of their teammates."
One such crossfield serve from Schueler was collected nicely by Martens in full gallop, but he took one touch too many to allow Bison keeper Adam Sempoch enough time to challenge off his line to end the threat.
"(They) put a lot of pressure on us after Perez scored, especially on our backline, but the guys played well as a unit together in front of me to keep their chances to a minimum," said Sempoch, who followed his older brother Daniel as the Bison man between the sticks.
Except for one quality opportunity which came as the intermission drew closer, Buffalo Grove had very few clear sights of the goal during the first half as the Spartans continued to enjoy most of the play,
The Bison chance came with Alexis Escobar, freshman Mario Torres and Kim at the controls. The trio created a foul just outside the box.
Up stepped Sasha Oleksandr who crushed his free kick off woodwork after Glenbrook North keeper Jakub Murzyn went airborne to push the attempt out of the back of the net.
Glenbrook North's Martens ended the Spartans goal-scoring frustrations when he carried across the top of the box from left to right before sending a blistering strike that dipped under the bar to equalize six minutes into the second period.
"That was a great shot from no. 2 (Martens)," said a Llewellyn. "But there's no way we can allow a player to drive across the edge and then give him enough time and space to shoot."
Nayman nearly caught up to a lovely ball sent to the back post from Martens moments later, then it was Adducci testing Sempoch as the BG midfield continued to have trouble winning balls in its own end.
"Right before Jakub put us ahead and for the rest of the game, our midfield played its best soccer of the day," Sempoch said. "And it showed because the (Glenbrook North) attack wasn't the same."
The Bison enjoyed some lively moments of their own. Perez had a go on frame after some nice work from Kim and Oleksandr; then moments later a quick restart between Oleksandr and Perez ended with a sharp tackle from Scott Phadnis.
"It took us a little while to figure things out, but when we did, I felt like we had control of the second half, and especially during the last 10-12 minutes of the game," offered Perez.
Just as the Bison allowed Martens to roam freely before striking gold, the Spartans, much to the chagrin of Vignocchi, did the same with Perez.
After Szydlowski played the ball through to Perez, the junior continued to make his back post run. At the same time he watched his teammate burst freely to the opposite post.
With a nice athletic move, Perez sent an inch-perfect cross to an unmarked Szydlowski, who buried his one-timer on the hour.
"Brian is good enough to do that and so much more," said Llewellyn. "We have to make sure he keeps his teammates engaged and to remember there's a time to be selfish and other times not to be.
"If he plays at the level he can, and at the same time get his teammates involved, our attack is going to be in good shape the rest of the way."
Bursting with confidence now after taking the lead, the Bison continued to keep the Spartans under pressure. At the same time, they turned to their backline to stay watertight as it protected its one-goal advantage.
"(Michael) Lollino and Marcin (Czaplinski) were solid as our center backs today," Llewellyn said. "And we received some very good play off the bench from Fernando Castillo at the outside back."
"It was kind of a tale of two halves today, but I liked what I saw in the second half. That's what we'll work and build from going forward."
Vignocchi would have just a few comments in closing before a long talk with his lads before sending them home for the day.
"We realize it's early, and there are things we're continuing to sort out here and there," he began. "But today we did lack the execution we need to have, and there were other areas of concern that we'll address.
"On the flipside, you saw some good stuff out there this afternoon. So I feel like we have the players who will give this team what it needs to succeed.
"I know this can and will be a very good soccer team as time goes on. So we'll continue to work towards getting to that point."
Both clubs continue pool play next week in the Northside College Showcase. Buffalo Grove hosts no. 9 Lyons (1-0-2) Tuesday at Grant Blaney Stadium, then goes on the road at Waukegan (1-1-1) two days later.
Glenbrook North flips that schedule, welcoming Waukegan on Tuesday, before a trip to LaGrange for its contest with Lyons on Thursday evening.
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North (4-4-2)
G- Jakub Murzyn
D- Jan Bogdan
D- David Schueler
D- Scott Phadnis
D- Quinn Crockford
M- Yusuf Shaaban
M- Kyle Brown
M- Nico Adduci
M- Gabe Nayman
F- Joey Martens
F- Konrad Kulesza
Buffalo Grove (4-3-1-2)
G- Adam Sempoch
D- Anshul Biswas
D- Marcin Czapslinski
D- Kevin Morales
D- Michael Lollino
M- Shane Adams
M- Ryan Kim
M- Brian Perez
M- Jack Coughlin
F- Alexis Escobar
F- Sasha Oleksandr
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brian Perez, sr., F/MF, Buffalo Grove
Referee: Mario Castillo
Scoring summary
First half
Buffalo Grove: Perez (U/A) 3'
Second half
Glenbrook North: Martens (U/A) 46'
Buffalo Grove: Szydlowski (Perez) 60'
60th-minute goal earns Bison win in tournament opener
By Mike Garofola
NORTHFIELD -- Buffalo Grove secured a 2-1 victory over Glenbrook North through goals by Brian Perez and Jakub Szydlowski, but they were made to work extremely hard to earn maximum points against a resilient Spartans club that was just as anxious to open tourney play with three points.
Perez, later named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, stunned the Spartans who conceded the opener at three minutes. Later, the senior was the inspiration behind the Szydlowski game-winner, which came from an outrageous angle at the back post.
"We lost one of the best players in the state in Kevin Eloiza (to graduation), as well as our top goal-scorer (Jon Peici), so now it's time for Brian to make his mark, and thus far, as you saw today, he's quite capable of filling the shoes of both Kevin and Jon, plus so much more," said Bison manager Darren Llewellyn.
"It felt good to get this win today. (It) was one that we all needed very badly," said Perez. "We felt like we played well the other day against Barrington, but we could have been a lot better. To be truthful, (they) were the better team that day."
"Today we beat a very good opponent, who after the first 10-15 minutes outplayed us, and kept us under pressure."
"We bounced back to play a strong second half. If we continue to play like we did, we'll be in good shape from here on out."
Glenbrook North (1-1-1), ranked 32nd in Chicagoland Soccer's preseason First 5o poll, absorbed its first loss of the year.
"We had our moments today, unfortunately not enough of them for long periods of time," began Glenbrook North manager Paul Vignocchi. "We gave up an early goal, which is not the way to start, nearly another on a missed PK, then came back to play some good soccer."
"One of the few things we're missing right now is having guys who have a nose for the goal, someone like their no. 10 (Perez) who had a great game."
Perez shrugged off a pair of Glenbrook North players to drive his attempt from the right side into the far left inside netting.
The missed PK Vignocchi spoke of came five minutes after the Perez opener when Ryan Kim was taken down in the box on a 50-50 challenge.
Kim proceeded to steer his spot-kick wide of the post to give the Spartans new life.
"We've got to convert those chances when they come, so we'll talk about that during our next training session," said Llewellyn.
After the Kim miss, the rest of the first half was largely all Glenbrook North.
Thanks in part to Konrad Kulesza, Yusuf Shaaban, Gabe Nyman and Nico Adducci the Spartans attack was now up and running and creating a handful of corners, deep throws and free kicks.
Joey Martens drove his free kick into a tightly formed wall from the edge, and later, Kyle Brown unloaded a wicked blast off a corner, only to see it blocked on the way into the box.
The Spartans midfield was now winning most of the first and second balls. With their success, Vignocchi pushed his backline further into the attack to add numbers.
With this, no. 20 Buffalo Grove was forced to contend with the long-range marksmanship of the Glenbrook North of David Schueler and Jan Bogdan, whose service out of the back impressed Llewellyn.
"(They) had a big, strong backline, and can you believe no. 6 (Schueler) and no. 27 (Bogdan)?" asked the Buffalo Grove coach. "They were consistently hitting 40-yard balls out of the back and right onto the feet of their teammates."
One such crossfield serve from Schueler was collected nicely by Martens in full gallop, but he took one touch too many to allow Bison keeper Adam Sempoch enough time to challenge off his line to end the threat.
"(They) put a lot of pressure on us after Perez scored, especially on our backline, but the guys played well as a unit together in front of me to keep their chances to a minimum," said Sempoch, who followed his older brother Daniel as the Bison man between the sticks.
Except for one quality opportunity which came as the intermission drew closer, Buffalo Grove had very few clear sights of the goal during the first half as the Spartans continued to enjoy most of the play,
The Bison chance came with Alexis Escobar, freshman Mario Torres and Kim at the controls. The trio created a foul just outside the box.
Up stepped Sasha Oleksandr who crushed his free kick off woodwork after Glenbrook North keeper Jakub Murzyn went airborne to push the attempt out of the back of the net.
Glenbrook North's Martens ended the Spartans goal-scoring frustrations when he carried across the top of the box from left to right before sending a blistering strike that dipped under the bar to equalize six minutes into the second period.
"That was a great shot from no. 2 (Martens)," said a Llewellyn. "But there's no way we can allow a player to drive across the edge and then give him enough time and space to shoot."
Nayman nearly caught up to a lovely ball sent to the back post from Martens moments later, then it was Adducci testing Sempoch as the BG midfield continued to have trouble winning balls in its own end.
"Right before Jakub put us ahead and for the rest of the game, our midfield played its best soccer of the day," Sempoch said. "And it showed because the (Glenbrook North) attack wasn't the same."
The Bison enjoyed some lively moments of their own. Perez had a go on frame after some nice work from Kim and Oleksandr; then moments later a quick restart between Oleksandr and Perez ended with a sharp tackle from Scott Phadnis.
"It took us a little while to figure things out, but when we did, I felt like we had control of the second half, and especially during the last 10-12 minutes of the game," offered Perez.
Just as the Bison allowed Martens to roam freely before striking gold, the Spartans, much to the chagrin of Vignocchi, did the same with Perez.
After Szydlowski played the ball through to Perez, the junior continued to make his back post run. At the same time he watched his teammate burst freely to the opposite post.
With a nice athletic move, Perez sent an inch-perfect cross to an unmarked Szydlowski, who buried his one-timer on the hour.
"Brian is good enough to do that and so much more," said Llewellyn. "We have to make sure he keeps his teammates engaged and to remember there's a time to be selfish and other times not to be.
"If he plays at the level he can, and at the same time get his teammates involved, our attack is going to be in good shape the rest of the way."
Bursting with confidence now after taking the lead, the Bison continued to keep the Spartans under pressure. At the same time, they turned to their backline to stay watertight as it protected its one-goal advantage.
"(Michael) Lollino and Marcin (Czaplinski) were solid as our center backs today," Llewellyn said. "And we received some very good play off the bench from Fernando Castillo at the outside back."
"It was kind of a tale of two halves today, but I liked what I saw in the second half. That's what we'll work and build from going forward."
Vignocchi would have just a few comments in closing before a long talk with his lads before sending them home for the day.
"We realize it's early, and there are things we're continuing to sort out here and there," he began. "But today we did lack the execution we need to have, and there were other areas of concern that we'll address.
"On the flipside, you saw some good stuff out there this afternoon. So I feel like we have the players who will give this team what it needs to succeed.
"I know this can and will be a very good soccer team as time goes on. So we'll continue to work towards getting to that point."
Both clubs continue pool play next week in the Northside College Showcase. Buffalo Grove hosts no. 9 Lyons (1-0-2) Tuesday at Grant Blaney Stadium, then goes on the road at Waukegan (1-1-1) two days later.
Glenbrook North flips that schedule, welcoming Waukegan on Tuesday, before a trip to LaGrange for its contest with Lyons on Thursday evening.
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North (4-4-2)
G- Jakub Murzyn
D- Jan Bogdan
D- David Schueler
D- Scott Phadnis
D- Quinn Crockford
M- Yusuf Shaaban
M- Kyle Brown
M- Nico Adduci
M- Gabe Nayman
F- Joey Martens
F- Konrad Kulesza
Buffalo Grove (4-3-1-2)
G- Adam Sempoch
D- Anshul Biswas
D- Marcin Czapslinski
D- Kevin Morales
D- Michael Lollino
M- Shane Adams
M- Ryan Kim
M- Brian Perez
M- Jack Coughlin
F- Alexis Escobar
F- Sasha Oleksandr
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brian Perez, sr., F/MF, Buffalo Grove
Referee: Mario Castillo
Scoring summary
First half
Buffalo Grove: Perez (U/A) 3'
Second half
Glenbrook North: Martens (U/A) 46'
Buffalo Grove: Szydlowski (Perez) 60'