Glenbrook N. finds its fire vs. Grayslake C.
Spartans win 4-2 over Rams in North Shore Showcase finale
By Gary Larsen
NORTHFIELD — Glenbrook North lost its first three games of this year’s North Shore Showcase so it was gut-check time for the Spartans heading into Saturday’s seventh place game game against Grayslake Central.
“Everyone came out knowing we had something to prove,” Spartans senior defender David Schueler said. “Coach (Paul Vignocchi) said that nothing’s set in stone in regard to starting spots or who’s going to play, so everyone came out knowing they had to prove they deserved to be on the field.”
Glenbrook North (2-3-1) rose to the challenge, winning 4-2 over Grayslake Central (1-5-0) and showing a team-wide embrace of some of the qualities that get results in every sport.
“More grit, more hustle, more willingness to throw yourself into challenges,” senior forward Joey Martens said.
Martens recorded two goals and an assist, and Nico Adducci contributed a goal and an assist to lead the way offensively for the Spartans. North also got a goal from Gabe Nayman and an assist from Alex Link in the win.
But it wasn’t necessarily his side’s attack that had Vignocchi concerned. Glenbrook North has scored 17 goals in six games to start the season and has quality attacking pieces around the park.
Team defense was more of what was on Vignocchi’s mind for a squad that gave up 11 goals in its first five games. Injuries have hurt a new backline, so the Spartans were happy to see keeper Nick Washelesky between the pipes for his second game back since returning from injury.
“David Schueler did a great job in back today and so did Nick,” Vignocchi said. “He calms us down back there. We’re trying to find the right defensive cohesion and the right pieces to the puzzle, and today was a step in the right direction. Giving up two goals at the end was not what we wanted to do but overall defensively we were really strong today.”
The Spartans scored twice in each half. First, Martens took a feed from Adducci and busted loose up the right side into the box and scored at 34 minutes. Link fed Adducci one minute later, and Adducci’s low shot from 12 yards gave the Spartans a 2-0 halftime lead.
Martens dribbled up and deked a defender at 47 minutes and went in alone on net to score his second goal from 12 yards; Nayman ran on to a Martens pass and went around the keeper before scoring into an empty net at 53 minutes.
Glenbrook North held a 4-0 shutout until the 73rd minute, when Grayslake Central freshman Daniel Marynevych broke the Rams’ drought. Marynevych scored again in the game’s final seconds after coming in off the bench Saturday. Nick Hoffman and James Rohlfing assisted on Marynevych’s goals.
“The biggest thing with (Marynevych) is, he brings effort every time, every play,” Rams senior mid Owen Aaberg said.
Despite struggling for wins during Showcase play as a Class AA program battling formidable 3A teams, Grayslake Central knows the tournament will pay dividends moving forward.
“We want to challenge ourselves playing these 3A teams,” Rams senior defender Hoffman said. “It showed us where our weaknesses are so we could build on that in practice.”
Playing the likes of Glenbrook North, New Trier, Libertyville, and Loyola will expose any team’s weaknesses.
“We learned that we need to communicate a lot more, we need our midfield to drop, and we need our fullbacks to press up more and get in there with the attack,” Hoffman said.
Grayslake coach Tom Hamilton loves the competition his boys get to see in the tournament, and he saw an age-old lesson on the value of intensity at play in Saturday’s loss to the Spartans.
“It’s been a mixed bag of performance, but throughout the tournament we’ve improved a lot,” Hamilton said. “We played a great game against Libertyville and didn’t quite bring the same energy today.
“But there was a 20-minute stretch at the end of the first half and part of the second half when we were playing really good soccer. We were getting numbers forward together with the ball rather than sending long balls.”
Defender Hoffman and midfielder Aaberg made the Showcase’s all-tournament team. Aaberg and fellow captain Thomas Ramsey spearhead the Rams’ midfield.
“When we can get the midfield involved, we look the strongest,” Aaberg said. “Our most technical players are in the middle but with that, we can’t afford to take plays off. We’re not the biggest guys, but we can make up for that with our skill and effort.”
Sophomore Jonathan Piggott has been solid in net for the Rams in the early going. Piggott was the keeper on the freshmen team last year but had to step up to a varsity role this season.
“He had a great tournament,” Hamilton said of Piggott. “Against Libertyville, he made some spectacular saves.”
The Rams defeated Cristo Rey St. Martin 2-1 Monday. They host rival Grayslake North and Prairie Ridge this week.
“All-around I think our depth is starting to show,” Hamilton said. “We knew we had a strong core returning, but we’ve been able to go as deep as the bench goes. It’s heartening to see that these guys are all up for it. We can go 20 deep so that’s a good problem to have.”
Martens and Schueler were named to the all-tournament team for a Glenbrook North squad aiming to continue on an upward trend. Schueler was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his effort Saturday.
“I think we have a skilled team, but we got a little bit complacent that with the players we have, we could just show up and get the results,” Schueler said. “Today was a lot better. It’s a new back four and we’ve had some injuries, but we’re starting to come together, and I think it will only get better.”
The Spartans play Vernon Hills, Maine East, and Wauconda this week before diving into Central Suburban League South Division play next week against Niles West and New Trier. And as the defense finds its footing, North’s offense should continue to sharpen.
“We had some more dynamic movement today, more interchanging from positions, more combinations — but the attack the whole season has been pretty good,” Martens said.
Vignocchi was just happy to see his team play with increased intensity on Saturday.
“We haven’t had the results we’ve wanted so something had to change,” Vignocchi said. “We had a sense of urgency today. The guys responded.”
Notes:
Martens on the mend
In a full body cast, Glenbrook North forward Joey Martens might still be able to outrun a defender. Thankfully for the Spartans, the only cast Martens has to deal with is the one on his forearm, after breaking his wrist against Lyons on Thursday.
The cast will stay on for six weeks and in the meantime, the fast and skilled senior will deal with an adjusted running style and a cast that’s partially weighing him down.
“I looked kind of goofy out there running today but hey, so what? I was still scoring goals,” Martens said. “That’s all that matters.”
Aaberg’s consistency
Grayslake Central senior Owen Aaberg is a box-to-box midfielder ready to help guide the Rams’ attack, and he impressed in the four games of Showcase play.
“When Owen Aaberg turned it on, he was spectacular,” Hamilton said. “He’s the same every game. He’s a true player. And the scary thing is he’s not entirely fit yet because he had an injury going into the season. He’s going to be quality.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North
GK: Nick Washelesky
D: David Schueler
D: Jan Bogdan
D: Peyton Bernstein
D: Alex Link
M: Kyle Brown
M: Gabe Nayman
M: Tommy Henrickson
M: Trotter Benson
M: Nico Adducci
F: Yusuf Shaaban
Grayslake Central
GK: Jonathan Piggott
D: Thomas Conlon
D: Nick Hoffman
D: Tyler Armstrong
D: Zach Takiff
M: Thomas Ramsey
M: Owen Aaberg
M: James Rohlfing
M: Tyler Kalata
M: Christian Hinestrosa
F: Ben Berry
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: David Schueler, sr., D, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook North — Martens (Adducci) 34th minute
Glenbrook North — Adducci (Link) 35th minute
Second half
Glenbrook North — Martens (UA) 47th minute
Glenbrook North — Nayman (Martens) 53rd minute
Grayslake Central — Marynevych (Rohlfing) 73rd minute
Grayslake Central — Marynevych (Hoffman) 80th minute
Spartans win 4-2 over Rams in North Shore Showcase finale
By Gary Larsen
NORTHFIELD — Glenbrook North lost its first three games of this year’s North Shore Showcase so it was gut-check time for the Spartans heading into Saturday’s seventh place game game against Grayslake Central.
“Everyone came out knowing we had something to prove,” Spartans senior defender David Schueler said. “Coach (Paul Vignocchi) said that nothing’s set in stone in regard to starting spots or who’s going to play, so everyone came out knowing they had to prove they deserved to be on the field.”
Glenbrook North (2-3-1) rose to the challenge, winning 4-2 over Grayslake Central (1-5-0) and showing a team-wide embrace of some of the qualities that get results in every sport.
“More grit, more hustle, more willingness to throw yourself into challenges,” senior forward Joey Martens said.
Martens recorded two goals and an assist, and Nico Adducci contributed a goal and an assist to lead the way offensively for the Spartans. North also got a goal from Gabe Nayman and an assist from Alex Link in the win.
But it wasn’t necessarily his side’s attack that had Vignocchi concerned. Glenbrook North has scored 17 goals in six games to start the season and has quality attacking pieces around the park.
Team defense was more of what was on Vignocchi’s mind for a squad that gave up 11 goals in its first five games. Injuries have hurt a new backline, so the Spartans were happy to see keeper Nick Washelesky between the pipes for his second game back since returning from injury.
“David Schueler did a great job in back today and so did Nick,” Vignocchi said. “He calms us down back there. We’re trying to find the right defensive cohesion and the right pieces to the puzzle, and today was a step in the right direction. Giving up two goals at the end was not what we wanted to do but overall defensively we were really strong today.”
The Spartans scored twice in each half. First, Martens took a feed from Adducci and busted loose up the right side into the box and scored at 34 minutes. Link fed Adducci one minute later, and Adducci’s low shot from 12 yards gave the Spartans a 2-0 halftime lead.
Martens dribbled up and deked a defender at 47 minutes and went in alone on net to score his second goal from 12 yards; Nayman ran on to a Martens pass and went around the keeper before scoring into an empty net at 53 minutes.
Glenbrook North held a 4-0 shutout until the 73rd minute, when Grayslake Central freshman Daniel Marynevych broke the Rams’ drought. Marynevych scored again in the game’s final seconds after coming in off the bench Saturday. Nick Hoffman and James Rohlfing assisted on Marynevych’s goals.
“The biggest thing with (Marynevych) is, he brings effort every time, every play,” Rams senior mid Owen Aaberg said.
Despite struggling for wins during Showcase play as a Class AA program battling formidable 3A teams, Grayslake Central knows the tournament will pay dividends moving forward.
“We want to challenge ourselves playing these 3A teams,” Rams senior defender Hoffman said. “It showed us where our weaknesses are so we could build on that in practice.”
Playing the likes of Glenbrook North, New Trier, Libertyville, and Loyola will expose any team’s weaknesses.
“We learned that we need to communicate a lot more, we need our midfield to drop, and we need our fullbacks to press up more and get in there with the attack,” Hoffman said.
Grayslake coach Tom Hamilton loves the competition his boys get to see in the tournament, and he saw an age-old lesson on the value of intensity at play in Saturday’s loss to the Spartans.
“It’s been a mixed bag of performance, but throughout the tournament we’ve improved a lot,” Hamilton said. “We played a great game against Libertyville and didn’t quite bring the same energy today.
“But there was a 20-minute stretch at the end of the first half and part of the second half when we were playing really good soccer. We were getting numbers forward together with the ball rather than sending long balls.”
Defender Hoffman and midfielder Aaberg made the Showcase’s all-tournament team. Aaberg and fellow captain Thomas Ramsey spearhead the Rams’ midfield.
“When we can get the midfield involved, we look the strongest,” Aaberg said. “Our most technical players are in the middle but with that, we can’t afford to take plays off. We’re not the biggest guys, but we can make up for that with our skill and effort.”
Sophomore Jonathan Piggott has been solid in net for the Rams in the early going. Piggott was the keeper on the freshmen team last year but had to step up to a varsity role this season.
“He had a great tournament,” Hamilton said of Piggott. “Against Libertyville, he made some spectacular saves.”
The Rams defeated Cristo Rey St. Martin 2-1 Monday. They host rival Grayslake North and Prairie Ridge this week.
“All-around I think our depth is starting to show,” Hamilton said. “We knew we had a strong core returning, but we’ve been able to go as deep as the bench goes. It’s heartening to see that these guys are all up for it. We can go 20 deep so that’s a good problem to have.”
Martens and Schueler were named to the all-tournament team for a Glenbrook North squad aiming to continue on an upward trend. Schueler was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his effort Saturday.
“I think we have a skilled team, but we got a little bit complacent that with the players we have, we could just show up and get the results,” Schueler said. “Today was a lot better. It’s a new back four and we’ve had some injuries, but we’re starting to come together, and I think it will only get better.”
The Spartans play Vernon Hills, Maine East, and Wauconda this week before diving into Central Suburban League South Division play next week against Niles West and New Trier. And as the defense finds its footing, North’s offense should continue to sharpen.
“We had some more dynamic movement today, more interchanging from positions, more combinations — but the attack the whole season has been pretty good,” Martens said.
Vignocchi was just happy to see his team play with increased intensity on Saturday.
“We haven’t had the results we’ve wanted so something had to change,” Vignocchi said. “We had a sense of urgency today. The guys responded.”
Notes:
Martens on the mend
In a full body cast, Glenbrook North forward Joey Martens might still be able to outrun a defender. Thankfully for the Spartans, the only cast Martens has to deal with is the one on his forearm, after breaking his wrist against Lyons on Thursday.
The cast will stay on for six weeks and in the meantime, the fast and skilled senior will deal with an adjusted running style and a cast that’s partially weighing him down.
“I looked kind of goofy out there running today but hey, so what? I was still scoring goals,” Martens said. “That’s all that matters.”
Aaberg’s consistency
Grayslake Central senior Owen Aaberg is a box-to-box midfielder ready to help guide the Rams’ attack, and he impressed in the four games of Showcase play.
“When Owen Aaberg turned it on, he was spectacular,” Hamilton said. “He’s the same every game. He’s a true player. And the scary thing is he’s not entirely fit yet because he had an injury going into the season. He’s going to be quality.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook North
GK: Nick Washelesky
D: David Schueler
D: Jan Bogdan
D: Peyton Bernstein
D: Alex Link
M: Kyle Brown
M: Gabe Nayman
M: Tommy Henrickson
M: Trotter Benson
M: Nico Adducci
F: Yusuf Shaaban
Grayslake Central
GK: Jonathan Piggott
D: Thomas Conlon
D: Nick Hoffman
D: Tyler Armstrong
D: Zach Takiff
M: Thomas Ramsey
M: Owen Aaberg
M: James Rohlfing
M: Tyler Kalata
M: Christian Hinestrosa
F: Ben Berry
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: David Schueler, sr., D, Glenbrook North
Scoring summary
First half
Glenbrook North — Martens (Adducci) 34th minute
Glenbrook North — Adducci (Link) 35th minute
Second half
Glenbrook North — Martens (UA) 47th minute
Glenbrook North — Nayman (Martens) 53rd minute
Grayslake Central — Marynevych (Rohlfing) 73rd minute
Grayslake Central — Marynevych (Hoffman) 80th minute