Incandela zones in, Aurora Central
rallies past Bishop McNamara
Senior's hat-trick lifts Chargers to 3-1 league win
By Christopher Walker
AURORA – Communication between soccer players may differ off the field from on it, but those conversations, including barking out immediate game-time instructions are paying off for Aurora Central.
Behind senior Michael Incandela’s three-goal second half and a strong defensive presence collectively in the midfield and back, the Chargers earned a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Bishop McNamara for their first Metro Suburban Conference Red Division victory of the fall.
Certainly, the Chargers had plenty to talk about after Incandela scored three goals in a little more than a 10-minute timeframe. He increased his season total to six goals this fall after his first hat-trick.
“I really liked how we played in the second half,” he said. “We’ve had some problems staying involved in games where we go down. When you go down 7-0 (like the Chargers did in a 7-0 loss to Romeoville on Monday) it’s especially hard on the younger guys, but hopefully they can learn from that, that’s it’s not over once you go down.”
Keeping his teammates up when things aren’t going well is similar to keeping the ball out of the net, because if you’re not succeeding at either chances are your team is going to struggle. Aurora Central junior goalkeeper Justin Cebulski understands this and says improved communication has been one of the keys to the team’s continued progress.
“We were a lot more quiet earlier this season,” he said. “What’s really improved is our communication. We’re talking a lot more and getting those through-passes to each other. We’re looking around the field and we’re not sticking with tunnel vision. We’re looking at the whole picture.”
It simply didn’t happen overnight, but it’s an ongoing process they recognize works well for what they want to do -- compete for 80 minutes.
“It hasn’t been this way all season, but we knew we could do it,” Cebulski said. “It’s gotten progressively better. We’ve been doing it in practice all the time. We hadn’t been able to get it onto the field, but we’ve started to and then we’ve seen the game change and that’s what’s been awesome about it. We’ve been doing a lot better collectively.”
Communication helped keep Aurora Central’s defense organized against Bishop McNamara. While Cebulski was busy at times defending shot attempts, on several other occasions it was his fellow players that stepped up to prevent difficult situations from arising.
“What’s been happening is our defense is starting to come together a lot better,” he said. “For instance, in this game I didn’t have that many shots on me, because my defense was there for me, which has been a huge success on our team. We’ve been playing hard throughout our games, so since I’ve gotten less shots, I also can easily get to (the shots they do take), whether mid dive, low dive or sliding out on 1-v-1. It’s helped us all progress not just through practices, but these games we’ve been given.”
Bishop McNamara (0-4-1, 0-1-0) missed some opportunities in the first half, including a couple of solid chances from speedy sophomore Nikolas Acevedo. The Irish connected early in the second half when senior Francisco Perez’s cross found junior Jackson Mills with 35:40 left in the game.
“We changed some things with the lineup today and moved some guys around,” Irish coach Alex Acevedo said. “I was really hoping these guys would turn it around with a different lineup and possession ball.
“They still did what we wanted them to do, supporting each other more. We’re working toward that with a bunch of new kids, and with moving guys around we didn’t lose it in the midfield as much.”
The Irish competed.
“I think that first half going into the second half we played a much better soccer game as a team then we have (this season) aside from one other game in Hoopeston where we tied, and that was an intense and physical game. Our fitness wasn’t quite there and we couldn’t eke out a couple other goals,” Acevedo said. “But this game was a good game for us moving forward because I think they’re kind of getting it, finding our little places on the field. Positions are starting to get solidified with person A, player B sort of things. Hopefully it’ll come for them, and they won’t let these games get them down so they want to throw in the towel. It’s a work in progress.”
Aurora Central (2-8-2, 1-1-0) almost drew even just a couple minutes after the Irish jumped ahead. Junior Daniel Perez’s 25-yard free kick clanged hard off the crossbar, inches away from being the equalizer.
Perez received another solid attempt midway through the second half after junior Jose Loza tapped a free kick his way. That set up a shot at the top of the box which sailed over the net.
The Chargers finally solved Bishop McNamara with the equalizer with 16:29 remaining thanks to senior Sam Lillwitz’s through ball.
“That’s what we were looking for, just to split their lines,” Incandela said. “We definitely finished that good, and that really helped the team. It was definitely a confidence booster there.”
It’s hard to stay optimistic when you’re down 1-0 after nearly 65 minutes of soccer, but the Chargers felt like they were close, which hasn’t always been the case this season. Sticking with it and continuing to battle certainly worked out in their favor.
“You can’t take that goal back so you have to play through it,” Cebulski said. “It angers you a little bit when you get scored on, but we just fought through it the entire time and then we were able to get some assists up to Michael (Incandela). We knew it was going to come at some point and then when it happened it was like, ‘Well, there it is.’”
No one probably had time to figure out how Adam Hartford was able to sneak a long through-ball downfield to Incandela, who took a couple touches and punished the Irish for allowing the long connection. The senior blasted the go-ahead goal past sophomore goalkeeper Curran Smith with 16:29 remaining.
“I saw the through-ball coming in and knew I would have to have a few touches before we were in on goal,” Incandela said. “I was looking to compose myself and decide what I was going to do before I had to do it. It was good that I saw that gap and finished that chance. It was a really good through-ball.”
Then, with exactly 6:00 on the scoreboard, Incandela lined in a 22-yard free kick that sliced past the defensive wall and Smith to make it 3-1.
“We were looking to put it on frame,” Incandela said. “I saw the gap on the right side, and I knew even if it was going to get deflected my teammates were going to be there. That was all we were looking for was to put it on frame, and that’s what I did.”
Both games the Chargers have won this season have come after they trailed 1-0. With a couple of recent rallies and a slew of conference games coming up, they’ll look to continue to improve and compete each time out, and ideally will be able to do so with some quicker starts.
“We definitely have had some trouble getting going, but we’ve played some really strong teams earlier in the season,” Incandela said. “So we’re looking to bottle this up since we play (Aurora Christian) on Thursday. We’re hoping to put this energy right at the beginning this time.”
No doubt about it, winning feels good. Aurora Central hopes to stay hot against the Eagles.
“We just want to keep it going,” Cebulski said. “We know we have the potential to get another win since we could obtain this one. We know where we’re at and know where we can get to. It all depends on how bad we want it.’
Bishop McNamara has to have one of the youngest teams in the state. Of the 18 Irish players only five are upperclassmen and just Perez and non-starting defender Alex Orozco are seniors. They also have a new coach so it’s an exciting time but a challenging one -- the Irish started six sophomores.
“These boys are kind of coming off inconsistent coaching the last couple years with a different face here and there,” Acevedo said. “I’m really hoping for them that we can get some continuity and actually get a team that gels, because with small schools you get a couple different kids and faces each season and no one wants to stick around for whatever reason or are interested in different sports so it’s tough to build something.”
Acevedo wants to build a program where the kids are playing all year long and can get really familiar with each other.
“They can get the game a lot more by them just playing during the soccer season,” he said. “I want these kids to be familiar with each other so they’re getting touches, and they’re not just getting started during camp in the summer and right before school starts.”
Coming out of halftime and striking quickly to go ahead 1-0 gave the Irish some confidence to get their first win of the season, but after surrendering the tying goal, they seemed to lose their focus as Aurora Central rode a wave of momentum to rally to victory.
“I was really hoping for their morale to catch a ‘W’ tonight, but that’s the way this game goes,” Acevedo said. “Tonight I think it was mental mistakes that kind of killed us. They just got a little discombobulated out there, and they’re not used to playing a higher line on the defensive side of things.
“Maybe they got a little nervous when they saw a ball coming in thinking they’ve got to get back. There’s ways to adjust to that, but they’re still learning that.”
Acevedo is patient, but getting teenage boys to do the same isn’t necessarily as easy, but he hopes they understand it’s a process.
“I don’t know what was taught previously, but there’s always some different captain at the helm and always a new set of rules or something coming in,: he said. “You have to unravel a couple years of whatever and be like ‘This is how I’d like to see things done.’ It’s a learning process, but it’s tough for the kids that don’t see the end of the tunnel yet.”
Starting lineups
Bishop McNamara
GK Curran Smith
LB Bladimir Lopez
CB Axel Lopez
RB Emanuel Pizano
MF Zahid Medina
MF Kolton Hunt
MF Caerter Levesque
F Francisco Perez
F Nikolas Acevedo
F Carter Heinrich
F Jackson Mills
Aurora Central
GK Justin Cebulski
LB Nathan Dietrich
CB Michael Incandela
CB Adam Hartford
RB Joseph Hernandez
CM Elijah Hartford
CM Daniel Perez
LM Edrick Contreras
RM Jake McVey
F Jose Loza
F Michael O’Brien
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Incandela, sr., CB, Aurora Central
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
BM: Jackson Mills (Francisco Perez), 44
AC: Michael Incandela (Sam Lillwitz), 63
AC: Incandela (Adam Hartford), 66
AC: Incandela (unassisted), 74
rallies past Bishop McNamara
Senior's hat-trick lifts Chargers to 3-1 league win
By Christopher Walker
AURORA – Communication between soccer players may differ off the field from on it, but those conversations, including barking out immediate game-time instructions are paying off for Aurora Central.
Behind senior Michael Incandela’s three-goal second half and a strong defensive presence collectively in the midfield and back, the Chargers earned a 3-1 come-from-behind win over Bishop McNamara for their first Metro Suburban Conference Red Division victory of the fall.
Certainly, the Chargers had plenty to talk about after Incandela scored three goals in a little more than a 10-minute timeframe. He increased his season total to six goals this fall after his first hat-trick.
“I really liked how we played in the second half,” he said. “We’ve had some problems staying involved in games where we go down. When you go down 7-0 (like the Chargers did in a 7-0 loss to Romeoville on Monday) it’s especially hard on the younger guys, but hopefully they can learn from that, that’s it’s not over once you go down.”
Keeping his teammates up when things aren’t going well is similar to keeping the ball out of the net, because if you’re not succeeding at either chances are your team is going to struggle. Aurora Central junior goalkeeper Justin Cebulski understands this and says improved communication has been one of the keys to the team’s continued progress.
“We were a lot more quiet earlier this season,” he said. “What’s really improved is our communication. We’re talking a lot more and getting those through-passes to each other. We’re looking around the field and we’re not sticking with tunnel vision. We’re looking at the whole picture.”
It simply didn’t happen overnight, but it’s an ongoing process they recognize works well for what they want to do -- compete for 80 minutes.
“It hasn’t been this way all season, but we knew we could do it,” Cebulski said. “It’s gotten progressively better. We’ve been doing it in practice all the time. We hadn’t been able to get it onto the field, but we’ve started to and then we’ve seen the game change and that’s what’s been awesome about it. We’ve been doing a lot better collectively.”
Communication helped keep Aurora Central’s defense organized against Bishop McNamara. While Cebulski was busy at times defending shot attempts, on several other occasions it was his fellow players that stepped up to prevent difficult situations from arising.
“What’s been happening is our defense is starting to come together a lot better,” he said. “For instance, in this game I didn’t have that many shots on me, because my defense was there for me, which has been a huge success on our team. We’ve been playing hard throughout our games, so since I’ve gotten less shots, I also can easily get to (the shots they do take), whether mid dive, low dive or sliding out on 1-v-1. It’s helped us all progress not just through practices, but these games we’ve been given.”
Bishop McNamara (0-4-1, 0-1-0) missed some opportunities in the first half, including a couple of solid chances from speedy sophomore Nikolas Acevedo. The Irish connected early in the second half when senior Francisco Perez’s cross found junior Jackson Mills with 35:40 left in the game.
“We changed some things with the lineup today and moved some guys around,” Irish coach Alex Acevedo said. “I was really hoping these guys would turn it around with a different lineup and possession ball.
“They still did what we wanted them to do, supporting each other more. We’re working toward that with a bunch of new kids, and with moving guys around we didn’t lose it in the midfield as much.”
The Irish competed.
“I think that first half going into the second half we played a much better soccer game as a team then we have (this season) aside from one other game in Hoopeston where we tied, and that was an intense and physical game. Our fitness wasn’t quite there and we couldn’t eke out a couple other goals,” Acevedo said. “But this game was a good game for us moving forward because I think they’re kind of getting it, finding our little places on the field. Positions are starting to get solidified with person A, player B sort of things. Hopefully it’ll come for them, and they won’t let these games get them down so they want to throw in the towel. It’s a work in progress.”
Aurora Central (2-8-2, 1-1-0) almost drew even just a couple minutes after the Irish jumped ahead. Junior Daniel Perez’s 25-yard free kick clanged hard off the crossbar, inches away from being the equalizer.
Perez received another solid attempt midway through the second half after junior Jose Loza tapped a free kick his way. That set up a shot at the top of the box which sailed over the net.
The Chargers finally solved Bishop McNamara with the equalizer with 16:29 remaining thanks to senior Sam Lillwitz’s through ball.
“That’s what we were looking for, just to split their lines,” Incandela said. “We definitely finished that good, and that really helped the team. It was definitely a confidence booster there.”
It’s hard to stay optimistic when you’re down 1-0 after nearly 65 minutes of soccer, but the Chargers felt like they were close, which hasn’t always been the case this season. Sticking with it and continuing to battle certainly worked out in their favor.
“You can’t take that goal back so you have to play through it,” Cebulski said. “It angers you a little bit when you get scored on, but we just fought through it the entire time and then we were able to get some assists up to Michael (Incandela). We knew it was going to come at some point and then when it happened it was like, ‘Well, there it is.’”
No one probably had time to figure out how Adam Hartford was able to sneak a long through-ball downfield to Incandela, who took a couple touches and punished the Irish for allowing the long connection. The senior blasted the go-ahead goal past sophomore goalkeeper Curran Smith with 16:29 remaining.
“I saw the through-ball coming in and knew I would have to have a few touches before we were in on goal,” Incandela said. “I was looking to compose myself and decide what I was going to do before I had to do it. It was good that I saw that gap and finished that chance. It was a really good through-ball.”
Then, with exactly 6:00 on the scoreboard, Incandela lined in a 22-yard free kick that sliced past the defensive wall and Smith to make it 3-1.
“We were looking to put it on frame,” Incandela said. “I saw the gap on the right side, and I knew even if it was going to get deflected my teammates were going to be there. That was all we were looking for was to put it on frame, and that’s what I did.”
Both games the Chargers have won this season have come after they trailed 1-0. With a couple of recent rallies and a slew of conference games coming up, they’ll look to continue to improve and compete each time out, and ideally will be able to do so with some quicker starts.
“We definitely have had some trouble getting going, but we’ve played some really strong teams earlier in the season,” Incandela said. “So we’re looking to bottle this up since we play (Aurora Christian) on Thursday. We’re hoping to put this energy right at the beginning this time.”
No doubt about it, winning feels good. Aurora Central hopes to stay hot against the Eagles.
“We just want to keep it going,” Cebulski said. “We know we have the potential to get another win since we could obtain this one. We know where we’re at and know where we can get to. It all depends on how bad we want it.’
Bishop McNamara has to have one of the youngest teams in the state. Of the 18 Irish players only five are upperclassmen and just Perez and non-starting defender Alex Orozco are seniors. They also have a new coach so it’s an exciting time but a challenging one -- the Irish started six sophomores.
“These boys are kind of coming off inconsistent coaching the last couple years with a different face here and there,” Acevedo said. “I’m really hoping for them that we can get some continuity and actually get a team that gels, because with small schools you get a couple different kids and faces each season and no one wants to stick around for whatever reason or are interested in different sports so it’s tough to build something.”
Acevedo wants to build a program where the kids are playing all year long and can get really familiar with each other.
“They can get the game a lot more by them just playing during the soccer season,” he said. “I want these kids to be familiar with each other so they’re getting touches, and they’re not just getting started during camp in the summer and right before school starts.”
Coming out of halftime and striking quickly to go ahead 1-0 gave the Irish some confidence to get their first win of the season, but after surrendering the tying goal, they seemed to lose their focus as Aurora Central rode a wave of momentum to rally to victory.
“I was really hoping for their morale to catch a ‘W’ tonight, but that’s the way this game goes,” Acevedo said. “Tonight I think it was mental mistakes that kind of killed us. They just got a little discombobulated out there, and they’re not used to playing a higher line on the defensive side of things.
“Maybe they got a little nervous when they saw a ball coming in thinking they’ve got to get back. There’s ways to adjust to that, but they’re still learning that.”
Acevedo is patient, but getting teenage boys to do the same isn’t necessarily as easy, but he hopes they understand it’s a process.
“I don’t know what was taught previously, but there’s always some different captain at the helm and always a new set of rules or something coming in,: he said. “You have to unravel a couple years of whatever and be like ‘This is how I’d like to see things done.’ It’s a learning process, but it’s tough for the kids that don’t see the end of the tunnel yet.”
Starting lineups
Bishop McNamara
GK Curran Smith
LB Bladimir Lopez
CB Axel Lopez
RB Emanuel Pizano
MF Zahid Medina
MF Kolton Hunt
MF Caerter Levesque
F Francisco Perez
F Nikolas Acevedo
F Carter Heinrich
F Jackson Mills
Aurora Central
GK Justin Cebulski
LB Nathan Dietrich
CB Michael Incandela
CB Adam Hartford
RB Joseph Hernandez
CM Elijah Hartford
CM Daniel Perez
LM Edrick Contreras
RM Jake McVey
F Jose Loza
F Michael O’Brien
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Incandela, sr., CB, Aurora Central
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
BM: Jackson Mills (Francisco Perez), 44
AC: Michael Incandela (Sam Lillwitz), 63
AC: Incandela (Adam Hartford), 66
AC: Incandela (unassisted), 74