North tops South in Downers Grove rivalry
DGN wins for 1st time in series since 2012
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Declan Kramper is known for his unselfishness.
The Downers Grove North senior enjoys creating opportunities for his teammates.
That admirable quality is fine with Downers North coach Mike Schmitt but he would like the midfielder to shoot more often.
Kramper only took one shot Thursday night against crosstown rival Downers Grove South, but it was a big one.
Kramper’s 20-yard shot from the top of the box found the left corner of the net with 1:38 left in the first half and turned out to be the game-winning goal as the Trojans knocked off the host Mustangs 3-1.
Senior star Jack Richards triggered the play with a long throw-in from the left side. The ball wound up on the foot of Kramper, who netted his second goal of the season. The first came on a penalty kick against Prospect.
“I always stand at the top of the box,” Kramper said. “It just happened to fall right to me. I just got a foot on it, and it was able to find its way.
“I’m not one to shoot always. I’m more of a passer, so it was good to put one in the back of the net.”
It came at a great time for the Trojans, who were badly outplayed in terms of time of possession. Kramper’s strike broke a 1-1 tie and the momentum carried over into the second half, when Kramper fed Timothy Flavin for the final goal of the match just two minutes after the break.
“It was huge because (Kramper) is one of those players who we encourage to shoot because he always takes the opportunity to pass instead of shoot,” Schmitt said. “So it was kind of nice that he took that chance to put one on goal, and it paid off for him.”
Richards had given the Trojans (8-3-2) a 1-0 lead at the 18:24 mark when he stole a pass just outside the Downers South box, raced into the rectangle and shook off tight marking before scoring from a tough angle.
But the Mustangs (5-8-2) equalized just three minutes later on a goal from junior Alex Flores, who booted a shot from the top of the box into the lower right corner of the net for his third goal of the season.
Kramper’s strike, though, snuffed whatever momentum South had.
“Right before the half, that killed them,” Richards said. “They thought they were on top with that tying goal, and Declan was able to put a toe in there and get it across (the goal line). It changed their mindset.”
It also changed the Trojans’ thinking.
“We started the second half strong, came out well after the coach kind of got on us at halftime,” Kramper said. “Then we held onto the lead.”
Schmitt, whose team was outshot 15-9, felt lucky not to be trailing at halftime.
“Coming in here is not always an easy place for us to play,” Schmitt said. “We kind of struggled a little bit, and it showed in the first half.
“We were under a ton of pressure. We shot ourselves in the foot in terms of giving the ball away.
“We didn’t really help ourselves out in the first half and were kind of fortunate to come out of that with two goals, but we had a little bit of grit to get that.”
That moxie continued with an aggressive attack into the South box that led to Flavin’s goal. Flavin and Richards are tied for their team’s scoring lead with six goals each.
“Declan made a good play,” Richards said. “Timmy was able to slot one in like he’s been doing all season.”
After that, though, the offensive spigot was turned off and the Trojans managed just two shots over the final 38 minutes as South took over the game.
The Mustangs forced six corner kicks and fired nine shots in the second half, spending much of the period in their offensive third. Yet they had nothing to show for it.
“That’s what we told our kids,” Downers South coach Jon Stapleton said. “(Assistant) coach (Nate) Terry put it best when he said if you walked away to the concession stand for a moment and came back, it’s hard to believe that was the score.
“But you have to credit North. They took advantage of the opportunities that they had and put them away.
“That being said, I thought we played really well in a lot of phases of the game, so overall I’m proud of the kids. I don’t think the score truly reflects the way the game went, but tonight they were a little better than us.”
While he was happy that he scored, Flores felt he and his teammates could have done better.
“I should have way more (goals),” Flores said. “I think this was probably our best performance defensively. Offensively we had chances to put it in the back of the net, but we didn’t.”
In hindsight, the Mustangs probably lost the game when Kramper scored.
“We should have done a better job of defending,” Flores said. “We just lost focus at the last minute.
“We always overcome that. This season we’ve been more of a second half team, but today I felt like we should have done better. We took a big blow but we still should have come back.”
Despite the loss, Stapleton said his team’s performance was a step forward.
“We’re pretty young,” Stapleton said. “We had three seniors starting so I think hopefully tonight was another step in the maturation of the team and as players because we have been up and down.
“We lack a consistent finisher at this stage, and I think that showed up a little bit tonight, but collectively the things we asked our kids to do, they did to a high standard.
“We told them this is you showing a standard. We understand it’s a rivalry and you’re going to be up to play kids that you know well, but you can’t pick and choose when the effort is there. If we can hold ourselves to this standard going forward, we can finish the season very strong.”
Downers Grove North still has a shot at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division title, but the Trojans (2-1-0) will need some help. They shook off a 2-1 to Oak Park and River Forest on Sept. 21 by knocking off Hinsdale Central 2-1 five days later on a brace from Richards. It was Downers Grove North’s first win over the Red Devils since 2005, and they punctuated it with their first crosstown rivalry win since 2012.
Week 7 will pit the Trojans against York (home, Oct. 3) and Lyons (away, Oct. 5) in important conference clashes.
“We’ve had a big week, and luckily we have a few days of rest. So we’ll rest up and get ready for the next one,” Richards said. “The sky is the limit for us.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove North
GK Christopher Bull
D Kevin Danner
D Ryan Newstrom
D Nick Eshghy
D Samuel Bull
M Timothy Flavin
M Ryan Shanahan
M Jack Richards
M Declan Kramper
F Tyler Cree
F Nicholas Chapa
Downers Grove South
GK Parker Smith
D Max Schmidt-Bailey
D Peter Pierropoulos
D Michael Beube
D Alex Wielgosz
M Kurt Bennett
M Alex Flores
M James David
M Jack Daly
F Hristijan Veceski
F Enrique Gonza
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Declan Kramper, MF, Downers North.
Scoring summary
1st Half
Downers North – Jack Richards 18:24
Downers South – Alex Flores 15:27
Downers North – Declan Kramper (Richards) 1:38
2nd Half
Downers North – Timothy Flavin (Kramper) 38:00
DGN wins for 1st time in series since 2012
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Declan Kramper is known for his unselfishness.
The Downers Grove North senior enjoys creating opportunities for his teammates.
That admirable quality is fine with Downers North coach Mike Schmitt but he would like the midfielder to shoot more often.
Kramper only took one shot Thursday night against crosstown rival Downers Grove South, but it was a big one.
Kramper’s 20-yard shot from the top of the box found the left corner of the net with 1:38 left in the first half and turned out to be the game-winning goal as the Trojans knocked off the host Mustangs 3-1.
Senior star Jack Richards triggered the play with a long throw-in from the left side. The ball wound up on the foot of Kramper, who netted his second goal of the season. The first came on a penalty kick against Prospect.
“I always stand at the top of the box,” Kramper said. “It just happened to fall right to me. I just got a foot on it, and it was able to find its way.
“I’m not one to shoot always. I’m more of a passer, so it was good to put one in the back of the net.”
It came at a great time for the Trojans, who were badly outplayed in terms of time of possession. Kramper’s strike broke a 1-1 tie and the momentum carried over into the second half, when Kramper fed Timothy Flavin for the final goal of the match just two minutes after the break.
“It was huge because (Kramper) is one of those players who we encourage to shoot because he always takes the opportunity to pass instead of shoot,” Schmitt said. “So it was kind of nice that he took that chance to put one on goal, and it paid off for him.”
Richards had given the Trojans (8-3-2) a 1-0 lead at the 18:24 mark when he stole a pass just outside the Downers South box, raced into the rectangle and shook off tight marking before scoring from a tough angle.
But the Mustangs (5-8-2) equalized just three minutes later on a goal from junior Alex Flores, who booted a shot from the top of the box into the lower right corner of the net for his third goal of the season.
Kramper’s strike, though, snuffed whatever momentum South had.
“Right before the half, that killed them,” Richards said. “They thought they were on top with that tying goal, and Declan was able to put a toe in there and get it across (the goal line). It changed their mindset.”
It also changed the Trojans’ thinking.
“We started the second half strong, came out well after the coach kind of got on us at halftime,” Kramper said. “Then we held onto the lead.”
Schmitt, whose team was outshot 15-9, felt lucky not to be trailing at halftime.
“Coming in here is not always an easy place for us to play,” Schmitt said. “We kind of struggled a little bit, and it showed in the first half.
“We were under a ton of pressure. We shot ourselves in the foot in terms of giving the ball away.
“We didn’t really help ourselves out in the first half and were kind of fortunate to come out of that with two goals, but we had a little bit of grit to get that.”
That moxie continued with an aggressive attack into the South box that led to Flavin’s goal. Flavin and Richards are tied for their team’s scoring lead with six goals each.
“Declan made a good play,” Richards said. “Timmy was able to slot one in like he’s been doing all season.”
After that, though, the offensive spigot was turned off and the Trojans managed just two shots over the final 38 minutes as South took over the game.
The Mustangs forced six corner kicks and fired nine shots in the second half, spending much of the period in their offensive third. Yet they had nothing to show for it.
“That’s what we told our kids,” Downers South coach Jon Stapleton said. “(Assistant) coach (Nate) Terry put it best when he said if you walked away to the concession stand for a moment and came back, it’s hard to believe that was the score.
“But you have to credit North. They took advantage of the opportunities that they had and put them away.
“That being said, I thought we played really well in a lot of phases of the game, so overall I’m proud of the kids. I don’t think the score truly reflects the way the game went, but tonight they were a little better than us.”
While he was happy that he scored, Flores felt he and his teammates could have done better.
“I should have way more (goals),” Flores said. “I think this was probably our best performance defensively. Offensively we had chances to put it in the back of the net, but we didn’t.”
In hindsight, the Mustangs probably lost the game when Kramper scored.
“We should have done a better job of defending,” Flores said. “We just lost focus at the last minute.
“We always overcome that. This season we’ve been more of a second half team, but today I felt like we should have done better. We took a big blow but we still should have come back.”
Despite the loss, Stapleton said his team’s performance was a step forward.
“We’re pretty young,” Stapleton said. “We had three seniors starting so I think hopefully tonight was another step in the maturation of the team and as players because we have been up and down.
“We lack a consistent finisher at this stage, and I think that showed up a little bit tonight, but collectively the things we asked our kids to do, they did to a high standard.
“We told them this is you showing a standard. We understand it’s a rivalry and you’re going to be up to play kids that you know well, but you can’t pick and choose when the effort is there. If we can hold ourselves to this standard going forward, we can finish the season very strong.”
Downers Grove North still has a shot at the West Suburban Conference Silver Division title, but the Trojans (2-1-0) will need some help. They shook off a 2-1 to Oak Park and River Forest on Sept. 21 by knocking off Hinsdale Central 2-1 five days later on a brace from Richards. It was Downers Grove North’s first win over the Red Devils since 2005, and they punctuated it with their first crosstown rivalry win since 2012.
Week 7 will pit the Trojans against York (home, Oct. 3) and Lyons (away, Oct. 5) in important conference clashes.
“We’ve had a big week, and luckily we have a few days of rest. So we’ll rest up and get ready for the next one,” Richards said. “The sky is the limit for us.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove North
GK Christopher Bull
D Kevin Danner
D Ryan Newstrom
D Nick Eshghy
D Samuel Bull
M Timothy Flavin
M Ryan Shanahan
M Jack Richards
M Declan Kramper
F Tyler Cree
F Nicholas Chapa
Downers Grove South
GK Parker Smith
D Max Schmidt-Bailey
D Peter Pierropoulos
D Michael Beube
D Alex Wielgosz
M Kurt Bennett
M Alex Flores
M James David
M Jack Daly
F Hristijan Veceski
F Enrique Gonza
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Declan Kramper, MF, Downers North.
Scoring summary
1st Half
Downers North – Jack Richards 18:24
Downers South – Alex Flores 15:27
Downers North – Declan Kramper (Richards) 1:38
2nd Half
Downers North – Timothy Flavin (Kramper) 38:00