Loyola shakes sluggishness, tops DePaul
Collin Leider’s 35th-minute goal sets tone in 3-0 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
GLENVIEW -- On the first day of September, a Saturday, Loyola completed its four games of the Northside College Showcase by playing Buffalo Grove to a 1-1 draw in the fifth place game.
Their performance proved encouraging though also incomplete. They failed to win a game, going 0-1-3. Early results are not always indicative of deeper and more lasting accomplishments. The deeper signs, like they way Loyola fought back to achieve a draw against rival New Trier, were present for a team ready to make the leap.
Three weeks later and the team has converted the early indications into something more definite and telling. In a soft and hazy twilight, Loyola was more efficient than impressive, solid and steady though also a bit unmoored or disinterested with regard to intensity and effort.
“Quite honestly I thought we played very poorly, especially when you consider with how well we played against St. Laurence [Tuesday night] or Lake Forest [on Monday],” Loyola coach Baer Fisher said.
The discrepancy in talent and depth proved decisive as senior midfielder Collin Leider broke through the malaise with a beautiful goal in the 35th minute that propelled the Ramblers’ 3-0 victory over DePaul in a Chicago Catholic League crossover Thursday at Munz Campus.
Loyola (8-1-3) won its sixth-straight game.
Playing its third game in four nights, the Ramblers were perhaps due for a sluggish effort. These kind of games are inevitable in the course of a long season. Loyola found the means to grind out a victory despite an effort and performance that often lagged.
Midfielder Christian Jimenez had the ball at the top and slotted a beautiful through-ball that cleared two Ram defenders before Leider controlled the ball on the right ring.
He drove toward the Rams’ keeper Joseph Lebron and nailed a left-footed sidewinder inside the near post from about 12 yards.
“It feels good,” Leider said. He scored his team-best ninth goal of the year. “We weren’t playing that well at the beginning of the game. Even the first half, after we scored, we were not always sharp.
“It was not our best, but we won.”
Collin Leider earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his play.
Loyola has posted five shutouts during its winning streak. The Ramblers have a 19-1 scoring differential during the run. The team has eight shutouts on the year. Leider and DePaul recruit David Gripman ignite the offense.
At the moment the team is riding the defensive energy.
“I think defensively we’ve gotten a lot stronger,” Leider said. “Look at how many shutouts we’ve had recently. It’s impressive. David [Gripman] is coming back. He was not that healthy. He is getting back to full strength and that helps the offense a lot.”
The defensive performance is all the more remarkable considering the Ramblers have gone with the unusual step of starting a freshman keeper, Alex Ainsworth.
He was solid with four saves. He proved especially valuable thwarting the Rams’ best option, the dangerous and fast left-footed free kicks of junior midfielder Santiago Carnalla. Three times, Ainsworth stopped hard shots by Carnalla that constituted the Rams’ best scoring chances.
“I think we found some cohesion with our starting back four,” Fisher said. “Our starting keeper, Alex and the back, they are communicating well, working well together and they’re tough. They have really come together.”
Loyola has six sophomores on the roster. Many saw action last year as freshmen. The class is skilled. Oscar Blazer, a normal midfielder, has shifted to the back and brought an edge and intensity.
Another sophomore starting defender, Mario Hrvojevic, is very skilled on service. He also plays with an aggressiveness.
“That sophomore class is very deep and talented, and they are close,” Fisher said. “They are all good friends. It is definitely something to look forward to as they continue to grow and develop and play together more.”
Stanley Niemiec is the new coach at DePaul following a very successful run at at St. Joseph. He directed the Chargers to two state title game appearances in three years, the Class AA championship against Wheaton Academy in 2014 and the Class A title game against University (Normal) in 2016. They finished second each year.
The coaching change was made to accept an administrative position at DePaul, formerly Gordon Tech.
“I need more time,” he said. “I want to spend more time with the guys here. We have a lot of talent. We are just trying to piece it together. When you have that kind of tumultuous year, it has been up and down. They are frustrated by some of the results.”
DePaul (5-6-2) stayed close for more than 60 minutes. They withstood the near constant Loyola pressure. Lebron made six saves, the most impressive a foot block of a point-blank hard ball by Gripman in the 43rd minute.
The lack of depth unmade the team. DePaul only had 14 players dressed for the game.
“We have been putting in some good shows,” Niemiec said. “We played Mount Carmel the same way, until the last four minutes, and they got a goal on us. We usually have a full bench. I have three starting freshmen, and one more who plays a lot and a junior who went home sick.
“Defense first, that is the key right now.”
Leider, Gripman and Jimenez are the acknowledged leaders as four-year starters. Another four-year starter, midfielder Daniel Montaquila, has been out with an injury. The next generation talent has blended well.
Junior Austin Agyemang is a good example, a wiry and high-energy player who has made tremendous progress over the last three weeks of the season.
“With his pace and his energy, he just gives us something different,” Fisher said. “We needed that tonight. He provided that spark, and he has been huge for us.”
Active in his time on the field, Agyemang broke through in the 64th minute with his alert and capable finish off a service from Hrvojevic for his fifth goal of the year.
“The players are fighting for me, so I had to do whatever I could do out there,” Agyemang said. “I am like everybody else. Everybody on the team is fighting to get minutes out there. I just have to finish the balls that Mario sends.
“I raised my hand, and he passed it to me, and I scored.”
If Loyola began lethargically, they ended more enthusiastically and involved. Gripman put the finishing touches on the victory by drilling a free kick just outside the box in the 78th minute for the final goal.
The six-game streak sets up an important game, the Jesuit Cup rivalry with St. Ignatius next Tuesday.
“We are playing more soccer and looking to dictate play a little more,” Fisher said. “It’s exciting that people are playing the kind of soccer that we want to play.”
Starting lineups
DePaul
GK: Joseph Lebron
D: Nico Segura
D: Richard Merki-Deutsch
D: Joseph Lagman
MF: Santiago Carnalla
MF: Parfait Ouedraogo
MF: Ryan Reynaert
MF: Ruben Urquiza
F: Jack Sullivan
F: Gabriel Garza
F: A.J. Adu
Loyola
GK: Alex Ainsworth
D: Oscar Blazer
D: Mario Hrvojevic
D: Michael Sullivan
D: John Wilson
MF: Nick Roscoe
MF: Tommy Zipprich
MF: Brady Reichert
MF: Andrew Hoepfner
MF: Collin Leider
F: David Gripman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Collin Leider, sr., MF, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
Loyola—Collin Leider (Christian Jimenez), 35th minute
Second half
Loyola—Austin Agyemang (Mario Hrvojevic), 64th minute
Loyola—David Gripman (free kick), 78th minute
Collin Leider’s 35th-minute goal sets tone in 3-0 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
GLENVIEW -- On the first day of September, a Saturday, Loyola completed its four games of the Northside College Showcase by playing Buffalo Grove to a 1-1 draw in the fifth place game.
Their performance proved encouraging though also incomplete. They failed to win a game, going 0-1-3. Early results are not always indicative of deeper and more lasting accomplishments. The deeper signs, like they way Loyola fought back to achieve a draw against rival New Trier, were present for a team ready to make the leap.
Three weeks later and the team has converted the early indications into something more definite and telling. In a soft and hazy twilight, Loyola was more efficient than impressive, solid and steady though also a bit unmoored or disinterested with regard to intensity and effort.
“Quite honestly I thought we played very poorly, especially when you consider with how well we played against St. Laurence [Tuesday night] or Lake Forest [on Monday],” Loyola coach Baer Fisher said.
The discrepancy in talent and depth proved decisive as senior midfielder Collin Leider broke through the malaise with a beautiful goal in the 35th minute that propelled the Ramblers’ 3-0 victory over DePaul in a Chicago Catholic League crossover Thursday at Munz Campus.
Loyola (8-1-3) won its sixth-straight game.
Playing its third game in four nights, the Ramblers were perhaps due for a sluggish effort. These kind of games are inevitable in the course of a long season. Loyola found the means to grind out a victory despite an effort and performance that often lagged.
Midfielder Christian Jimenez had the ball at the top and slotted a beautiful through-ball that cleared two Ram defenders before Leider controlled the ball on the right ring.
He drove toward the Rams’ keeper Joseph Lebron and nailed a left-footed sidewinder inside the near post from about 12 yards.
“It feels good,” Leider said. He scored his team-best ninth goal of the year. “We weren’t playing that well at the beginning of the game. Even the first half, after we scored, we were not always sharp.
“It was not our best, but we won.”
Collin Leider earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his play.
Loyola has posted five shutouts during its winning streak. The Ramblers have a 19-1 scoring differential during the run. The team has eight shutouts on the year. Leider and DePaul recruit David Gripman ignite the offense.
At the moment the team is riding the defensive energy.
“I think defensively we’ve gotten a lot stronger,” Leider said. “Look at how many shutouts we’ve had recently. It’s impressive. David [Gripman] is coming back. He was not that healthy. He is getting back to full strength and that helps the offense a lot.”
The defensive performance is all the more remarkable considering the Ramblers have gone with the unusual step of starting a freshman keeper, Alex Ainsworth.
He was solid with four saves. He proved especially valuable thwarting the Rams’ best option, the dangerous and fast left-footed free kicks of junior midfielder Santiago Carnalla. Three times, Ainsworth stopped hard shots by Carnalla that constituted the Rams’ best scoring chances.
“I think we found some cohesion with our starting back four,” Fisher said. “Our starting keeper, Alex and the back, they are communicating well, working well together and they’re tough. They have really come together.”
Loyola has six sophomores on the roster. Many saw action last year as freshmen. The class is skilled. Oscar Blazer, a normal midfielder, has shifted to the back and brought an edge and intensity.
Another sophomore starting defender, Mario Hrvojevic, is very skilled on service. He also plays with an aggressiveness.
“That sophomore class is very deep and talented, and they are close,” Fisher said. “They are all good friends. It is definitely something to look forward to as they continue to grow and develop and play together more.”
Stanley Niemiec is the new coach at DePaul following a very successful run at at St. Joseph. He directed the Chargers to two state title game appearances in three years, the Class AA championship against Wheaton Academy in 2014 and the Class A title game against University (Normal) in 2016. They finished second each year.
The coaching change was made to accept an administrative position at DePaul, formerly Gordon Tech.
“I need more time,” he said. “I want to spend more time with the guys here. We have a lot of talent. We are just trying to piece it together. When you have that kind of tumultuous year, it has been up and down. They are frustrated by some of the results.”
DePaul (5-6-2) stayed close for more than 60 minutes. They withstood the near constant Loyola pressure. Lebron made six saves, the most impressive a foot block of a point-blank hard ball by Gripman in the 43rd minute.
The lack of depth unmade the team. DePaul only had 14 players dressed for the game.
“We have been putting in some good shows,” Niemiec said. “We played Mount Carmel the same way, until the last four minutes, and they got a goal on us. We usually have a full bench. I have three starting freshmen, and one more who plays a lot and a junior who went home sick.
“Defense first, that is the key right now.”
Leider, Gripman and Jimenez are the acknowledged leaders as four-year starters. Another four-year starter, midfielder Daniel Montaquila, has been out with an injury. The next generation talent has blended well.
Junior Austin Agyemang is a good example, a wiry and high-energy player who has made tremendous progress over the last three weeks of the season.
“With his pace and his energy, he just gives us something different,” Fisher said. “We needed that tonight. He provided that spark, and he has been huge for us.”
Active in his time on the field, Agyemang broke through in the 64th minute with his alert and capable finish off a service from Hrvojevic for his fifth goal of the year.
“The players are fighting for me, so I had to do whatever I could do out there,” Agyemang said. “I am like everybody else. Everybody on the team is fighting to get minutes out there. I just have to finish the balls that Mario sends.
“I raised my hand, and he passed it to me, and I scored.”
If Loyola began lethargically, they ended more enthusiastically and involved. Gripman put the finishing touches on the victory by drilling a free kick just outside the box in the 78th minute for the final goal.
The six-game streak sets up an important game, the Jesuit Cup rivalry with St. Ignatius next Tuesday.
“We are playing more soccer and looking to dictate play a little more,” Fisher said. “It’s exciting that people are playing the kind of soccer that we want to play.”
Starting lineups
DePaul
GK: Joseph Lebron
D: Nico Segura
D: Richard Merki-Deutsch
D: Joseph Lagman
MF: Santiago Carnalla
MF: Parfait Ouedraogo
MF: Ryan Reynaert
MF: Ruben Urquiza
F: Jack Sullivan
F: Gabriel Garza
F: A.J. Adu
Loyola
GK: Alex Ainsworth
D: Oscar Blazer
D: Mario Hrvojevic
D: Michael Sullivan
D: John Wilson
MF: Nick Roscoe
MF: Tommy Zipprich
MF: Brady Reichert
MF: Andrew Hoepfner
MF: Collin Leider
F: David Gripman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Collin Leider, sr., MF, Loyola
Scoring summary
First half
Loyola—Collin Leider (Christian Jimenez), 35th minute
Second half
Loyola—Austin Agyemang (Mario Hrvojevic), 64th minute
Loyola—David Gripman (free kick), 78th minute