Lemont captures
big conference win over Bremen
1 goal is enough to edge South Suburban Blue Braves
By Curt Herron
LEMONT -- Things started well for Lemont this season. It won four of its first five matches. It's lone defeat came on penalties to Reavis in that school's Windy City Classic on August 27. Lemont scored multiple goals in all but one of those contests, a 1-0 win over Andrew.
But the team’s results in the opening week of play against South Suburban Conference teams were not what it had hoped for: a 1-1 draw with eight-win Oak Lawn on Tuesday; and a 2-1 loss to six-win Shepard on Thursday.
Although the league features two divisions, standings are based on competition against all members. That meant Lemont entered its initial first Blue Division matchup against Bremen on Saturday tied with three others for third place with just one point. It also meant a victory in the matchup was critically important.
While coach Rick Prangen's team controlled the play throughout much of the match, it continued to struggle to finish. But they were finally able to get a goal from senior Lukas Rabianski off of an assist from sophomore Billy Eliadis in the 57th minute and then held off a late charge by the Braves to capture the 1-0 home victory.
Lemont (5-2-1, 1-1-1) hopes to build on the win over Bremen (4-4-0, 1-2-0) as it heads into a stretch of three-consecutive weeks that each feature three matches, eight of which are league tilts. Lemont concludes South Suburban Conference play October 1.
The upcoming week's slate features a match at Evergreen Park on Tuesday and home dates with Thornton Fractional United (co-op) on Thursday and Argo on Saturday. The match against United is features Blue Division teams.
The next big Blue game after that takes place at Oak Forest on Sept. 22.
"To be honest with you, I thought in the Oak Lawn game and the Shepard game that we dropped points. In the Shepard game we played better for much of the game than they did," Prangen said. "Today was running the same way where we were really dominating possession and dominating the game and not getting anything out of it goal-wise. So, we just need to get better in the final third of the field.
"It has nothing to do with our work-rate. I thought that our guys worked hard, and we were organized. It has to do with those special moments in the final third of the field where you create those opportunities. We just have to get better at that.
“If we can figure that component out of being more dangerous in the final third, a bit quicker and our service a bit better, and getting better runs in the box, then we'll be in good shape. And we need to get better on our set pieces. I think we had eight or nine corners today, and we got nothing out of it. That's not who we are. It's a little frustrating right now since we're creating those moments, we're just not finishing those moments."
Prangen, whose program has won 12 conference titles, hopes to repeat as Blue Divison champions but knows that each contest in the conference will be a challenge. South Suburban teams have won around 64 percent of their matches outside of league play.
"This was a massive result for us. They're on our side of the conference, and we just picked up three points. That's huge for us," said Prangen, who is one of three current IHSA coaches with 400 or more girls wins as well as 300 or more boys wins. "Next week we've got three big games again with Evergreen Park, TF (United) and Argo.
"We're a fairly young team, and we have a lot of sophomores out there playing, so it's still a work in progress. I'm not going to question their work-rate or their desire because that's been top-notch for us, and I've been really happy about that.
“Our conference is probably as deep as it's ever been. There's a lot of good teams, and every game is going to be like this; it's going to be a dogfight. The compactness of it all is going to be a bit of a challenge. Then you take an injury here and an injury there, and suddenly you get thin."
Both teams had chances in the second half. Lemont shots by sophomore Ali Nabulsi and Rabianski were stopped by Bremen goalkeeper Yahir Perez, and a corner kick by sophomore Tyler Chrisman was headed away by Eric Ruiz.
Lemont junior goalkeeper Amir Biba halted a long shot from Cristian Cardenas. A free kick from Edgar Perez was headed away by senior Ben Kittridge.
Lemont scored the match's lone goal in the 57th minute when Eliadis sent a pass to Rabianski, who fired home a shot from about 20 yards.
"I pushed myself wide, and we had a sequence in the middle,” Rabianski said. “Billy saw me through, and I kept myself onside and saw the perfect cut through. The keeper came out, and I put it in the bottom left. It just all fell into place.
"It was an unnecessarily close game. We had the run of play for most of the game but got closed down in the last 10 but held on for the win. With the way we played, it should have been more since we got it down and got the crosses in. We just have to get more consistent.
"I like the diversity of the players that we have. We have smaller players and quicker players and bigger players. We adapt to each other and play off of each other, which is nice. It's a very interesting team that we have."
Although down, Bremen certainly wasn't out. The visitors went with more attackers to try to get the equalizer and received good tries from Saul Lagunas, Alan Avalos, Fernie Victoria and Cardenas but Biba was able to pull in all of the attempts.
"It's all about consistency," said Kittridge, who is one of the team captains. "You're going to have the games that you lose and tie. But if you stay consistent throughout the field, you'll find yourself either in the mix or you'll win the conference championship at the end of the year.
It will be nice if we can keep it going through the week with Evergreen Park next and then back at home. If we can get that win away, when we come home,we can keep the consistency.
"We have a very young team with a lot of depth that will work hard. If one person isn't performing, we have another person who can step up. That's always a nice thing to have."
There weren't many real threats during the first half: Bremen sent in attempts from Perez and Lagunas; Lemont countered with tries by Eliadis and Kittridge.
After scoring 14 goals in its first five matches, Lemont has only connected for three scores in its last three. Finding the scoring touch again is critical for the team going forward as they try to repeat as conference champions.
Optimism for another successful season is high after 16 players returned are back from last season's 10-7-5 squad. That group won a regional championship and only lost one time against a Class AA opponent -- eventual champion Boylan in the sectional semifinals.
The returning players are: seniors, Adam Briestensky, Franco Calcagno, Marek Skotnicki, Lucas Urban, Mahmoud Yacoub, Kittridge and Rabianski; juniors, Andrew Huhn and Biba; and sophomores, Faraz Ayub, Luciano Mancini, Vincenzo Mancini, Aidan Ontiveros, Maksim Stojakovic, Chrisman and Eliadis.
"It was nice to get a win against Bremen since they are a tough rival of ours," said senior Marek Skotnicki, who's also a team captain. "For the past four years, it's always been a tough game, away or at home. It's nice that every game will be like this, every one will be a tough game. We just have to go and fight and put all of our effort in.
"It's important to just finish our chances. Lukas scored his goal, which was important, and then we were able to hold that 1-0 lead. Some games we'll go through will be 1-0. The best quality about this group is the potential that we have together. We have a lot of potential, because we have a lot of things that we are good at. And there' are things that we can do better.
“I just love how we all come together and can play a really nice, beautiful game together and the older guys helping the younger guys proceed through the program."
Heading into conference play, Bremen claimed victories over Marist, Lincoln-Way East and DeLaSalle before splitting with Eisenhower and Tinley Park in South Suburban Conference play. After scoring 19 goals in its first seven matches while being shut out just once, Braves coach Tom Piotrowski likes what he's seen from his squad thus far, and he wasn’t surprised by his players’ moxie.
"They kept fighting to the end, even in the last second, and as a coach, we can't leave a game upset by that, no matter what the score is," Piotrowski said. "Unfortunately, I don't think we had as many opportunities as we were hoping for until the end when we started pressing. That's when we started seeing more, so I am proud of them for that.
"They come and are ready to go 110 percent and they always put in the effort. There's no complaining at all. When they come to practice, they're ready to practice; and when they come to games they are ready to play. I think that we've been improving a lot since the beginning of the season."
Starting lineups
Bremen
GK: Yahir Perez
D: Juan Sanchez
D: Diego Esparza
D: Luis Caratachea
D: Alex Esparza
MF: Saul Lagunas
MF: Edgar Perez
MF: Jose Caratachea
MF: Eric Ruiz
F: Elijah Valladares
F: Cristian Cardenas
Lemont
GK: Amir Biba
D: Marco Pavlica
D: Aidan Ontiveros
D: Lucas Urban
D: Ben Kittridge
MF: Billy Eliadis
MF: Franco CalcagnO
MF: Ali Nabulsi
MF: Marek Skotnicki
F: Tyler Chrisman
F: Lukas Rabianski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Lukas Rabianski, sr., F, Lemont
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lemont: Lukas Rabianski (Billy Eliadis), 57'
big conference win over Bremen
1 goal is enough to edge South Suburban Blue Braves
By Curt Herron
LEMONT -- Things started well for Lemont this season. It won four of its first five matches. It's lone defeat came on penalties to Reavis in that school's Windy City Classic on August 27. Lemont scored multiple goals in all but one of those contests, a 1-0 win over Andrew.
But the team’s results in the opening week of play against South Suburban Conference teams were not what it had hoped for: a 1-1 draw with eight-win Oak Lawn on Tuesday; and a 2-1 loss to six-win Shepard on Thursday.
Although the league features two divisions, standings are based on competition against all members. That meant Lemont entered its initial first Blue Division matchup against Bremen on Saturday tied with three others for third place with just one point. It also meant a victory in the matchup was critically important.
While coach Rick Prangen's team controlled the play throughout much of the match, it continued to struggle to finish. But they were finally able to get a goal from senior Lukas Rabianski off of an assist from sophomore Billy Eliadis in the 57th minute and then held off a late charge by the Braves to capture the 1-0 home victory.
Lemont (5-2-1, 1-1-1) hopes to build on the win over Bremen (4-4-0, 1-2-0) as it heads into a stretch of three-consecutive weeks that each feature three matches, eight of which are league tilts. Lemont concludes South Suburban Conference play October 1.
The upcoming week's slate features a match at Evergreen Park on Tuesday and home dates with Thornton Fractional United (co-op) on Thursday and Argo on Saturday. The match against United is features Blue Division teams.
The next big Blue game after that takes place at Oak Forest on Sept. 22.
"To be honest with you, I thought in the Oak Lawn game and the Shepard game that we dropped points. In the Shepard game we played better for much of the game than they did," Prangen said. "Today was running the same way where we were really dominating possession and dominating the game and not getting anything out of it goal-wise. So, we just need to get better in the final third of the field.
"It has nothing to do with our work-rate. I thought that our guys worked hard, and we were organized. It has to do with those special moments in the final third of the field where you create those opportunities. We just have to get better at that.
“If we can figure that component out of being more dangerous in the final third, a bit quicker and our service a bit better, and getting better runs in the box, then we'll be in good shape. And we need to get better on our set pieces. I think we had eight or nine corners today, and we got nothing out of it. That's not who we are. It's a little frustrating right now since we're creating those moments, we're just not finishing those moments."
Prangen, whose program has won 12 conference titles, hopes to repeat as Blue Divison champions but knows that each contest in the conference will be a challenge. South Suburban teams have won around 64 percent of their matches outside of league play.
"This was a massive result for us. They're on our side of the conference, and we just picked up three points. That's huge for us," said Prangen, who is one of three current IHSA coaches with 400 or more girls wins as well as 300 or more boys wins. "Next week we've got three big games again with Evergreen Park, TF (United) and Argo.
"We're a fairly young team, and we have a lot of sophomores out there playing, so it's still a work in progress. I'm not going to question their work-rate or their desire because that's been top-notch for us, and I've been really happy about that.
“Our conference is probably as deep as it's ever been. There's a lot of good teams, and every game is going to be like this; it's going to be a dogfight. The compactness of it all is going to be a bit of a challenge. Then you take an injury here and an injury there, and suddenly you get thin."
Both teams had chances in the second half. Lemont shots by sophomore Ali Nabulsi and Rabianski were stopped by Bremen goalkeeper Yahir Perez, and a corner kick by sophomore Tyler Chrisman was headed away by Eric Ruiz.
Lemont junior goalkeeper Amir Biba halted a long shot from Cristian Cardenas. A free kick from Edgar Perez was headed away by senior Ben Kittridge.
Lemont scored the match's lone goal in the 57th minute when Eliadis sent a pass to Rabianski, who fired home a shot from about 20 yards.
"I pushed myself wide, and we had a sequence in the middle,” Rabianski said. “Billy saw me through, and I kept myself onside and saw the perfect cut through. The keeper came out, and I put it in the bottom left. It just all fell into place.
"It was an unnecessarily close game. We had the run of play for most of the game but got closed down in the last 10 but held on for the win. With the way we played, it should have been more since we got it down and got the crosses in. We just have to get more consistent.
"I like the diversity of the players that we have. We have smaller players and quicker players and bigger players. We adapt to each other and play off of each other, which is nice. It's a very interesting team that we have."
Although down, Bremen certainly wasn't out. The visitors went with more attackers to try to get the equalizer and received good tries from Saul Lagunas, Alan Avalos, Fernie Victoria and Cardenas but Biba was able to pull in all of the attempts.
"It's all about consistency," said Kittridge, who is one of the team captains. "You're going to have the games that you lose and tie. But if you stay consistent throughout the field, you'll find yourself either in the mix or you'll win the conference championship at the end of the year.
It will be nice if we can keep it going through the week with Evergreen Park next and then back at home. If we can get that win away, when we come home,we can keep the consistency.
"We have a very young team with a lot of depth that will work hard. If one person isn't performing, we have another person who can step up. That's always a nice thing to have."
There weren't many real threats during the first half: Bremen sent in attempts from Perez and Lagunas; Lemont countered with tries by Eliadis and Kittridge.
After scoring 14 goals in its first five matches, Lemont has only connected for three scores in its last three. Finding the scoring touch again is critical for the team going forward as they try to repeat as conference champions.
Optimism for another successful season is high after 16 players returned are back from last season's 10-7-5 squad. That group won a regional championship and only lost one time against a Class AA opponent -- eventual champion Boylan in the sectional semifinals.
The returning players are: seniors, Adam Briestensky, Franco Calcagno, Marek Skotnicki, Lucas Urban, Mahmoud Yacoub, Kittridge and Rabianski; juniors, Andrew Huhn and Biba; and sophomores, Faraz Ayub, Luciano Mancini, Vincenzo Mancini, Aidan Ontiveros, Maksim Stojakovic, Chrisman and Eliadis.
"It was nice to get a win against Bremen since they are a tough rival of ours," said senior Marek Skotnicki, who's also a team captain. "For the past four years, it's always been a tough game, away or at home. It's nice that every game will be like this, every one will be a tough game. We just have to go and fight and put all of our effort in.
"It's important to just finish our chances. Lukas scored his goal, which was important, and then we were able to hold that 1-0 lead. Some games we'll go through will be 1-0. The best quality about this group is the potential that we have together. We have a lot of potential, because we have a lot of things that we are good at. And there' are things that we can do better.
“I just love how we all come together and can play a really nice, beautiful game together and the older guys helping the younger guys proceed through the program."
Heading into conference play, Bremen claimed victories over Marist, Lincoln-Way East and DeLaSalle before splitting with Eisenhower and Tinley Park in South Suburban Conference play. After scoring 19 goals in its first seven matches while being shut out just once, Braves coach Tom Piotrowski likes what he's seen from his squad thus far, and he wasn’t surprised by his players’ moxie.
"They kept fighting to the end, even in the last second, and as a coach, we can't leave a game upset by that, no matter what the score is," Piotrowski said. "Unfortunately, I don't think we had as many opportunities as we were hoping for until the end when we started pressing. That's when we started seeing more, so I am proud of them for that.
"They come and are ready to go 110 percent and they always put in the effort. There's no complaining at all. When they come to practice, they're ready to practice; and when they come to games they are ready to play. I think that we've been improving a lot since the beginning of the season."
Starting lineups
Bremen
GK: Yahir Perez
D: Juan Sanchez
D: Diego Esparza
D: Luis Caratachea
D: Alex Esparza
MF: Saul Lagunas
MF: Edgar Perez
MF: Jose Caratachea
MF: Eric Ruiz
F: Elijah Valladares
F: Cristian Cardenas
Lemont
GK: Amir Biba
D: Marco Pavlica
D: Aidan Ontiveros
D: Lucas Urban
D: Ben Kittridge
MF: Billy Eliadis
MF: Franco CalcagnO
MF: Ali Nabulsi
MF: Marek Skotnicki
F: Tyler Chrisman
F: Lukas Rabianski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Lukas Rabianski, sr., F, Lemont
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lemont: Lukas Rabianski (Billy Eliadis), 57'