Petersen pitches Glenbrook North
past Glenbrook South
Soph baseball player uses golden arm for key plays in 4-3 win
By Rusty Silber
GLENVIEW -- Rivalry games are never forgotten, but some are better remembered than others. Chalk up this Glenbrook Derby renewal Tuesday as one of the latter – especially for the lads from the north high school.
The Spartans rallied for three-unanswered goals for a 4-3 victory their hosts.
An hour-long weather delay did not dampen the enthusiasm for this annually circled contest.
Glenbrook North's Chase Petersen set up the tying goal and the game-winning tally to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match recognition.
"In the final third, I would rather have a throw-in than a corner kick," Glenbrook North coach Paul Gibbs said. "(Petersen) has more control and an absolute rocket.
“It has been causing teams problems all season. It's real hard to defend against it. He's been great, and he's only a sophomore. The best thing is that we've got him for another two years."
The defender has a knack for helping on goals. His affinity for the long ball comes from hard work and a baseball past. He knows what to do and how to set up big-time goals.
"It opens up a bunch of things," Petersen said. "You can always throw it short, throw it in the back six or throw it down line. I can really throw it 40 to 50 yards maybe.
“I'm really a big baseball guy. I've always worked on my arms and shoulders. I'm actually a pitcher and outfielder. I look for a spot where the keeper thinks he's going to second guess himself. Not exactly on the line, but somewhere close to the six-yard line or the back post to give our guys a chance."
After being down a goal entering the second half, the Spartans changed the match in the 45th minute. Petersen sent one of his line-drive throws into the box that led to junior Ben Melnick’s second goal of the match and third of the season. The head flick tied the score at 3-3.
"I have a volleyball background and have the jumping ability," Melnick said. "I had played with Chase last year; it really helped with our chemistry. I knew where he was going to throw it, and I just positioned myself to get a head on it. I was fortunate and lucky to get the goal."
Less than a minute later, Petersen again hurled another throw-in toward the Titans' goal. This time it deflected off a Glenbrook South defender right to the Spartans' Chris Sanchez, who redirected it into the goal for the game-winner.
Glenbrook North (8-4-2, 1-2-0) has been lax opening games but found a way to recover and earn its first Central Suburban League South Division victory.
"To be honest, this has been a problem we've had all season," Gibbs said. "We've had trouble starting games, and we've started very slowly. Now, it seems to be the question if I have to change the warmup or not.
“We knew that we had a chance, even (down) 3-1.
I was hoping we could get back into the game. I was optimistic that we would. We were fortunate to get a second goal before halftime, and it spurred us on a bit."
Glenbrook North scored the important goal in the 40th minute. Vinny Sabbione tallied after a misplayed ball in the back to make the score 3-2.
The play was a blow to Glenbrook South.
"It really was encouraging from the start, and I thought we were taking it to (Glenbrook North)," said Glenbrook South coach Reggie Lara, whose team dropped to 5-6-3, 1-2-0. "One of our goals was to take chances when you see your opportunities. We seemed to do that right away.
“We worked a lot on clearing set pieces (at practice Monday). We were doing a decent job for the first half, and suddenly we started to feel that pressure building as the game went on.
"We talked about that goal, that it was a really deflating going into the half. Even though we were still in the lead, we needed to put (Glenbrook North) away to break their hope and spirits.
“The goal at the end of the first half put more of a flame underneath (Glenbrook North) and got them to believe that they were in this game."
Glenbrook South started the evening strong with a goal 58 seconds into the match. Kevin Perez scored his first of the night off an assist from Adrian Potoniec for the 1-0 lead.
"We were looking forward to this game, because it would've put us back on track," Perez said. "In the beginning, it definitely set the tone for the team. We felt way too confident, and it might have been a boost, but our downfall. Because being confident with a 1-0 lead, we didn't work on our mistakes and that's when (the Spartans) scored."
Glenbrook North evened the game in the 30th minute. Melnick scored on a header at the back post that followed a Steven Rhee corner kick.
The hosts answered with two goals that were five-minutes apart. Perez (nine goals, five assists) made a four-touch move into the box and fired a shot into the upper far corner after a pass from Nathan Halpern in the 33rd minute.
Conor Beach built a two-goal lead with a head flick while standing with his back to the goal. Perez set up the goal with an on-a-line service to Beach about 10 yards in front of the goal.
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North
GK-Max Bachenheimer
D- Daniel Ibraham
D-Chase Petersen
D-Ben Melnick
D-Tal Yedlin
MF-Chris Sanchez
MF-Steven Rhee
MF-Sam Lapin
MF-Ian Lee
F-Vinny Sabbione
F-Brian Pekala
Glenbrook South
GK-Jack Danby
D-Jeffery Podjasek
D-Teddy Sturiale
D-Chris Sanchez
D-Jimmy Aglikin
MF-Anthony Kifarkis
MF-Alec Grenolds
MF-Ben Baczewski
MF-Conor Beach
F-Kevin Perez
F-Adrian Potoniec
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Chase Petersen, so., D, Glenbrook North
Referees: center, John Martelin; ARs, Mike Moore, Robert Koewler
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook South: Perez (Potoniec) 1'
Glenbrook North: Melnick (Rhee) 30'
Glenbrook South: Perez (Halpern) 33'
Glenbrook South: Beach (Perez) 38'
Glenbrook North: Sabbione (unassisted) 40'
Second half
Glenbrook North: Melnick (Petersen) 45'
Glenbrook North: Sanchez (unassisted) 46'
past Glenbrook South
Soph baseball player uses golden arm for key plays in 4-3 win
By Rusty Silber
GLENVIEW -- Rivalry games are never forgotten, but some are better remembered than others. Chalk up this Glenbrook Derby renewal Tuesday as one of the latter – especially for the lads from the north high school.
The Spartans rallied for three-unanswered goals for a 4-3 victory their hosts.
An hour-long weather delay did not dampen the enthusiasm for this annually circled contest.
Glenbrook North's Chase Petersen set up the tying goal and the game-winning tally to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match recognition.
"In the final third, I would rather have a throw-in than a corner kick," Glenbrook North coach Paul Gibbs said. "(Petersen) has more control and an absolute rocket.
“It has been causing teams problems all season. It's real hard to defend against it. He's been great, and he's only a sophomore. The best thing is that we've got him for another two years."
The defender has a knack for helping on goals. His affinity for the long ball comes from hard work and a baseball past. He knows what to do and how to set up big-time goals.
"It opens up a bunch of things," Petersen said. "You can always throw it short, throw it in the back six or throw it down line. I can really throw it 40 to 50 yards maybe.
“I'm really a big baseball guy. I've always worked on my arms and shoulders. I'm actually a pitcher and outfielder. I look for a spot where the keeper thinks he's going to second guess himself. Not exactly on the line, but somewhere close to the six-yard line or the back post to give our guys a chance."
After being down a goal entering the second half, the Spartans changed the match in the 45th minute. Petersen sent one of his line-drive throws into the box that led to junior Ben Melnick’s second goal of the match and third of the season. The head flick tied the score at 3-3.
"I have a volleyball background and have the jumping ability," Melnick said. "I had played with Chase last year; it really helped with our chemistry. I knew where he was going to throw it, and I just positioned myself to get a head on it. I was fortunate and lucky to get the goal."
Less than a minute later, Petersen again hurled another throw-in toward the Titans' goal. This time it deflected off a Glenbrook South defender right to the Spartans' Chris Sanchez, who redirected it into the goal for the game-winner.
Glenbrook North (8-4-2, 1-2-0) has been lax opening games but found a way to recover and earn its first Central Suburban League South Division victory.
"To be honest, this has been a problem we've had all season," Gibbs said. "We've had trouble starting games, and we've started very slowly. Now, it seems to be the question if I have to change the warmup or not.
“We knew that we had a chance, even (down) 3-1.
I was hoping we could get back into the game. I was optimistic that we would. We were fortunate to get a second goal before halftime, and it spurred us on a bit."
Glenbrook North scored the important goal in the 40th minute. Vinny Sabbione tallied after a misplayed ball in the back to make the score 3-2.
The play was a blow to Glenbrook South.
"It really was encouraging from the start, and I thought we were taking it to (Glenbrook North)," said Glenbrook South coach Reggie Lara, whose team dropped to 5-6-3, 1-2-0. "One of our goals was to take chances when you see your opportunities. We seemed to do that right away.
“We worked a lot on clearing set pieces (at practice Monday). We were doing a decent job for the first half, and suddenly we started to feel that pressure building as the game went on.
"We talked about that goal, that it was a really deflating going into the half. Even though we were still in the lead, we needed to put (Glenbrook North) away to break their hope and spirits.
“The goal at the end of the first half put more of a flame underneath (Glenbrook North) and got them to believe that they were in this game."
Glenbrook South started the evening strong with a goal 58 seconds into the match. Kevin Perez scored his first of the night off an assist from Adrian Potoniec for the 1-0 lead.
"We were looking forward to this game, because it would've put us back on track," Perez said. "In the beginning, it definitely set the tone for the team. We felt way too confident, and it might have been a boost, but our downfall. Because being confident with a 1-0 lead, we didn't work on our mistakes and that's when (the Spartans) scored."
Glenbrook North evened the game in the 30th minute. Melnick scored on a header at the back post that followed a Steven Rhee corner kick.
The hosts answered with two goals that were five-minutes apart. Perez (nine goals, five assists) made a four-touch move into the box and fired a shot into the upper far corner after a pass from Nathan Halpern in the 33rd minute.
Conor Beach built a two-goal lead with a head flick while standing with his back to the goal. Perez set up the goal with an on-a-line service to Beach about 10 yards in front of the goal.
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North
GK-Max Bachenheimer
D- Daniel Ibraham
D-Chase Petersen
D-Ben Melnick
D-Tal Yedlin
MF-Chris Sanchez
MF-Steven Rhee
MF-Sam Lapin
MF-Ian Lee
F-Vinny Sabbione
F-Brian Pekala
Glenbrook South
GK-Jack Danby
D-Jeffery Podjasek
D-Teddy Sturiale
D-Chris Sanchez
D-Jimmy Aglikin
MF-Anthony Kifarkis
MF-Alec Grenolds
MF-Ben Baczewski
MF-Conor Beach
F-Kevin Perez
F-Adrian Potoniec
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Chase Petersen, so., D, Glenbrook North
Referees: center, John Martelin; ARs, Mike Moore, Robert Koewler
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook South: Perez (Potoniec) 1'
Glenbrook North: Melnick (Rhee) 30'
Glenbrook South: Perez (Halpern) 33'
Glenbrook South: Beach (Perez) 38'
Glenbrook North: Sabbione (unassisted) 40'
Second half
Glenbrook North: Melnick (Petersen) 45'
Glenbrook North: Sanchez (unassisted) 46'