Elgin makes its point against SCN
Maroons avenge 2017 loss, win inaugural St. Charles tourney 3-1
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES --- Essentially Elgin replaced the chip on its shoulder with a tournament crown.
As much as St. Charles high school, East and North, wanted to stage a highly-competitive, first-class tournament, both of those programs fancied the idea of keeping the trophy from their inaugural St. Charles Soccer Tournament.
Enter the party-crashers from Elgin.
The Maroons relished taking photos with the gleaming silver ball trophy following a 3-1 triumph over St. Charles North, which used a late penalty kick to avoid a shutout.
Aside from likely improving its own stock in the rankings, Elgin’s tourney participation is sure to help shake up the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Last week, the Maroons were ranked at no. 22 and began the eight-school event with a 7-3 Orange Pool victory over seventh-ranked Metea Valley on Monday. Not only did the 7-3 final raise eyebrows, but so did word that Elgin played short-handed for 60 of the 80 minutes.
Next came pool host St. Charles East, ranked among the honorable mention teams in the poll. Though Elgin needed a 5-4 shootout advantage to topple the Saints after a 2-2 draw in regulation Wednesday, the point system gave the Maroons the group title and a championship berth.
Good thing because Elgin appears to be at its best when perceived as an underdog of sorts. In the final group play outing, the Maroons became a shootout loser when a 2-2 tie was followed by a 5-3 shootout disadvantage versus Downers Grove North. Although not without tradition, the Trojans entered as the group’s ultimate cellar finisher.
While St. Charles North stumbled slightly in its 2-1 finale win on Friday, the North Stars did sweep their group matches, had the home field edge for the championship, entered with a perfect 5-0-0 record and had outscored opponents 17-3.
The match began as a defensive show with St. Charles North goalie Bobby Curran and Maroons keeper Martin Jimenez either watching shots sail wide or else making defensive catches or covers on balls played into their box. However, that ended after 21:52 when Elgin’s Omar Lopez fed Olaoluwa Ajayi racing in from the left wing. The junior’s 16-yard blast became his third goal of the season.
“After taking a touch I saw the goalie a little more to one side and just aimed and hit it hard,” Ajayi said. “The kick felt good off my foot.”
While Lopez would set up another goal, ultimately scored in each of the four tourney games and found the net nine times in the tournament to give him 11 for the year, the offensive machine didn’t get Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match prize. That distinction belonged to defender Manuel Ramirez with an emphatic endorsement from the Elgin coaching staff.
“Knowing how we laid an egg Friday night, I was most pleased to see how we reacted to that,” Elgin head coach David Borg said. “We wanted this match. We expect Omar and the offense to produce but knowing North’s scoring ability, Manny’s play was pivotal.
“Nobody gets by him. At the same time, he’s so versatile that he figures into our offense. He’ll make an average of four runs (upfield) a game like he did (to set up the third goal).”
Added longtime assistant John McCreery: “Basically, we don’t worry about plays when he’s the last man defending.”
There was 3:59 remaining in the opening half when St. Charles North thought it had an equalizer. However, an offsides whistle negated that potential tie.
Just after the restart, the North Stars' Matt Beaulieu made a stellar cross but Jimenez dove for a defensive cover that neutralized the threat.
As if to quickly dispel the notion of a comeback, Elgin counterattacked and Lopez found Jesus Millan open near the top of the box. Millan -- another of the nine starters among the 15 returning starters for the Maroons -- earned his initial goal.
After regaining possession following North’s re-start, Elgin had one of those patented overlapping runs by Ramirez, who earned an assist on a Lopez 17-yard rocket.
“If I see enough open space I’m going to take it,” Ramirez said. “Then if there’s a shot, I’ll take that. But I’m just as happy giving the ball to a teammate. And giving it Omar often leads to a goal. I simply want to help us win anyway I can.
“We didn’t have a (in-season) tourney on last year’s schedule, so this was special and is pretty great to win,” Ramirez added with pride.
For Lopez, scoring is the reward and salve for the bumps, bruises and repeated times he has to pick himself up off the ground.
“I’m used to it, but sometimes it’s necessary to get open for a good shot or for an assist,” Lopez said. “Getting that goal for (a 3-0) lead felt good, because it got us closer to knowing we’d get a victory.”
Elgin’s Borg no longer keeps count on the number of times Lopez is either double- or occasionally triple-teamed.
“Omar will still fight through but at the same time ‘Olay’ (referring to Olaoluwa Ajayi) came up big for us again,” Borg noted. “He tied things Friday and got us started with that first goal. Defensively Julian (Garfias) once again made an impact. He saved two goals for us.”
Those contributions were pivotal because even though Elgin built a three-goal lead, it came at 48:26, which meant there was a lot of time for the North Stars to mount a comeback. But North just couldn’t get its offense going.
It wasn’t until 3:58 was left to play when an Elgin foul created a penalty kick opportunity for the North Stars. Senior tri-captain Beaulieu calmly converted into the left half of the net. Disappointed over coming so close to a second shutout, Jimenez booted the ball and earned one of the five yellow cards issued during the fairly physical match. Jefferson Paulino finished the match in goal for Elgin.
“We seemed pretty tired, and we struggled with our defense in the first half. And you can’t do that against a team like this,” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. “We had some solid team defense in spots, but not as a whole unit. In the second half our energy was better, and we thought we had done a pretty good job of limiting Omar, but tip the cap to Elgin which is a really good team and 100 percent earned the win.
“What is most disappointing is that we just didn’t have enough people on the same page when it came to clawing back into the match,” Willson concluded.
Even with the disappointment and frustration, sophomore defender Drew Balster put things into perspective.
“We’ll use this game as a motivator for us to work harder during practice. There’s a lot of season ahead, and we need to get better and keep improving,” Balster said.
St. Charles North has the opportunity for a reset as the North Stars remain at home for a Tuesday visit from Wheaton North, which marks the start of play in the new DuKane Conference.
Elgin now has some tremendous momentum to add to a match that was circled on the calendar before the season even began.
While the Maroons scored from two to nine goals in 16 matches in 2017, the opposition managed a maximum of two on five occasions. Two were in Elgin victories, one in a draw, and the other two were a pair of 2-1 defeats. One of those was against the North Stars who went on to take fourth place in state; the other was in the regional championship versus Hampshire. That’s why the Tuesday drive to visit with the Whip-Purs also earned a bulls-eye.
Starting lineups
Elgin
GK Martin Jimenez
D Tony Sanchez Lopez
D Alex Kunicki
D Manuel Ramirez
D Julian Garfias
M Rafael Perez Jr.
M Jesus Millan
M Christopher Collin
M Omar Lopez
F Olaoluwa Ajayi
F Isaac Espinosa
St. Charles North
GK Zach Doerr
D Nicky Sommer
D John Kirby
D Drew Balster
D Joey Sommer
M Parker Kolb
M Gabriel D’Amico
M Vito Lagioia
M Logan Michels
F Matt Beaulieu
F Sebastian Carranza
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Manuel Ramirez, sr., D, Elgin
Referees: Zach Richter (center), Miguel Chavez, Dana Joras
Game summary
Inaugural St. Charles Soccer Tournament championship game
Elgin 3, St. Charles North 1
Elgin 1 2 --- 3 4-1-0
SCN 0 1 --- 1 5-1-0
Scoring summary
First half
E – Ajayi 16-yard blast from left wing (Lopez assist), 21:52 gone
Second half
E – Millan 19-yarder from left of center (Lopez assist), 47:39 gone
E – Lopez 17-yard rocket (Ramirez assist), 48:26 gone
SCN – Beaulieu penalty kick conversion (unassisted), 76:02 gone
Shots
E 7 – 10 --- 17
SCN 5 – 3 --- 8
Shots on goal
E 3 – 5 --- 8
SCN 3 – 2 --- 5
Saves
E (Jimenez 2/Garfias 1) 3 – (Jimenez 1/Garfias 1/Paulino 0) 2 --- 5
SCN (Curran) 2 – 3 --- 5
Corner kicks
E 2 – 1 --- 3
SCN 5 – 1 --- 6
Offsides
E 2 – 1 --- 3
SCN 2 – 0 --- 2
Maroons avenge 2017 loss, win inaugural St. Charles tourney 3-1
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES --- Essentially Elgin replaced the chip on its shoulder with a tournament crown.
As much as St. Charles high school, East and North, wanted to stage a highly-competitive, first-class tournament, both of those programs fancied the idea of keeping the trophy from their inaugural St. Charles Soccer Tournament.
Enter the party-crashers from Elgin.
The Maroons relished taking photos with the gleaming silver ball trophy following a 3-1 triumph over St. Charles North, which used a late penalty kick to avoid a shutout.
Aside from likely improving its own stock in the rankings, Elgin’s tourney participation is sure to help shake up the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Last week, the Maroons were ranked at no. 22 and began the eight-school event with a 7-3 Orange Pool victory over seventh-ranked Metea Valley on Monday. Not only did the 7-3 final raise eyebrows, but so did word that Elgin played short-handed for 60 of the 80 minutes.
Next came pool host St. Charles East, ranked among the honorable mention teams in the poll. Though Elgin needed a 5-4 shootout advantage to topple the Saints after a 2-2 draw in regulation Wednesday, the point system gave the Maroons the group title and a championship berth.
Good thing because Elgin appears to be at its best when perceived as an underdog of sorts. In the final group play outing, the Maroons became a shootout loser when a 2-2 tie was followed by a 5-3 shootout disadvantage versus Downers Grove North. Although not without tradition, the Trojans entered as the group’s ultimate cellar finisher.
While St. Charles North stumbled slightly in its 2-1 finale win on Friday, the North Stars did sweep their group matches, had the home field edge for the championship, entered with a perfect 5-0-0 record and had outscored opponents 17-3.
The match began as a defensive show with St. Charles North goalie Bobby Curran and Maroons keeper Martin Jimenez either watching shots sail wide or else making defensive catches or covers on balls played into their box. However, that ended after 21:52 when Elgin’s Omar Lopez fed Olaoluwa Ajayi racing in from the left wing. The junior’s 16-yard blast became his third goal of the season.
“After taking a touch I saw the goalie a little more to one side and just aimed and hit it hard,” Ajayi said. “The kick felt good off my foot.”
While Lopez would set up another goal, ultimately scored in each of the four tourney games and found the net nine times in the tournament to give him 11 for the year, the offensive machine didn’t get Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match prize. That distinction belonged to defender Manuel Ramirez with an emphatic endorsement from the Elgin coaching staff.
“Knowing how we laid an egg Friday night, I was most pleased to see how we reacted to that,” Elgin head coach David Borg said. “We wanted this match. We expect Omar and the offense to produce but knowing North’s scoring ability, Manny’s play was pivotal.
“Nobody gets by him. At the same time, he’s so versatile that he figures into our offense. He’ll make an average of four runs (upfield) a game like he did (to set up the third goal).”
Added longtime assistant John McCreery: “Basically, we don’t worry about plays when he’s the last man defending.”
There was 3:59 remaining in the opening half when St. Charles North thought it had an equalizer. However, an offsides whistle negated that potential tie.
Just after the restart, the North Stars' Matt Beaulieu made a stellar cross but Jimenez dove for a defensive cover that neutralized the threat.
As if to quickly dispel the notion of a comeback, Elgin counterattacked and Lopez found Jesus Millan open near the top of the box. Millan -- another of the nine starters among the 15 returning starters for the Maroons -- earned his initial goal.
After regaining possession following North’s re-start, Elgin had one of those patented overlapping runs by Ramirez, who earned an assist on a Lopez 17-yard rocket.
“If I see enough open space I’m going to take it,” Ramirez said. “Then if there’s a shot, I’ll take that. But I’m just as happy giving the ball to a teammate. And giving it Omar often leads to a goal. I simply want to help us win anyway I can.
“We didn’t have a (in-season) tourney on last year’s schedule, so this was special and is pretty great to win,” Ramirez added with pride.
For Lopez, scoring is the reward and salve for the bumps, bruises and repeated times he has to pick himself up off the ground.
“I’m used to it, but sometimes it’s necessary to get open for a good shot or for an assist,” Lopez said. “Getting that goal for (a 3-0) lead felt good, because it got us closer to knowing we’d get a victory.”
Elgin’s Borg no longer keeps count on the number of times Lopez is either double- or occasionally triple-teamed.
“Omar will still fight through but at the same time ‘Olay’ (referring to Olaoluwa Ajayi) came up big for us again,” Borg noted. “He tied things Friday and got us started with that first goal. Defensively Julian (Garfias) once again made an impact. He saved two goals for us.”
Those contributions were pivotal because even though Elgin built a three-goal lead, it came at 48:26, which meant there was a lot of time for the North Stars to mount a comeback. But North just couldn’t get its offense going.
It wasn’t until 3:58 was left to play when an Elgin foul created a penalty kick opportunity for the North Stars. Senior tri-captain Beaulieu calmly converted into the left half of the net. Disappointed over coming so close to a second shutout, Jimenez booted the ball and earned one of the five yellow cards issued during the fairly physical match. Jefferson Paulino finished the match in goal for Elgin.
“We seemed pretty tired, and we struggled with our defense in the first half. And you can’t do that against a team like this,” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson said. “We had some solid team defense in spots, but not as a whole unit. In the second half our energy was better, and we thought we had done a pretty good job of limiting Omar, but tip the cap to Elgin which is a really good team and 100 percent earned the win.
“What is most disappointing is that we just didn’t have enough people on the same page when it came to clawing back into the match,” Willson concluded.
Even with the disappointment and frustration, sophomore defender Drew Balster put things into perspective.
“We’ll use this game as a motivator for us to work harder during practice. There’s a lot of season ahead, and we need to get better and keep improving,” Balster said.
St. Charles North has the opportunity for a reset as the North Stars remain at home for a Tuesday visit from Wheaton North, which marks the start of play in the new DuKane Conference.
Elgin now has some tremendous momentum to add to a match that was circled on the calendar before the season even began.
While the Maroons scored from two to nine goals in 16 matches in 2017, the opposition managed a maximum of two on five occasions. Two were in Elgin victories, one in a draw, and the other two were a pair of 2-1 defeats. One of those was against the North Stars who went on to take fourth place in state; the other was in the regional championship versus Hampshire. That’s why the Tuesday drive to visit with the Whip-Purs also earned a bulls-eye.
Starting lineups
Elgin
GK Martin Jimenez
D Tony Sanchez Lopez
D Alex Kunicki
D Manuel Ramirez
D Julian Garfias
M Rafael Perez Jr.
M Jesus Millan
M Christopher Collin
M Omar Lopez
F Olaoluwa Ajayi
F Isaac Espinosa
St. Charles North
GK Zach Doerr
D Nicky Sommer
D John Kirby
D Drew Balster
D Joey Sommer
M Parker Kolb
M Gabriel D’Amico
M Vito Lagioia
M Logan Michels
F Matt Beaulieu
F Sebastian Carranza
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Manuel Ramirez, sr., D, Elgin
Referees: Zach Richter (center), Miguel Chavez, Dana Joras
Game summary
Inaugural St. Charles Soccer Tournament championship game
Elgin 3, St. Charles North 1
Elgin 1 2 --- 3 4-1-0
SCN 0 1 --- 1 5-1-0
Scoring summary
First half
E – Ajayi 16-yard blast from left wing (Lopez assist), 21:52 gone
Second half
E – Millan 19-yarder from left of center (Lopez assist), 47:39 gone
E – Lopez 17-yard rocket (Ramirez assist), 48:26 gone
SCN – Beaulieu penalty kick conversion (unassisted), 76:02 gone
Shots
E 7 – 10 --- 17
SCN 5 – 3 --- 8
Shots on goal
E 3 – 5 --- 8
SCN 3 – 2 --- 5
Saves
E (Jimenez 2/Garfias 1) 3 – (Jimenez 1/Garfias 1/Paulino 0) 2 --- 5
SCN (Curran) 2 – 3 --- 5
Corner kicks
E 2 – 1 --- 3
SCN 5 – 1 --- 6
Offsides
E 2 – 1 --- 3
SCN 2 – 0 --- 2