Fast start inspires Boylan to 3rd place victory over Glenbrook North
Titans take over quickly after hour-long Thor Guard delay, win 3-1
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- Reigning Class AA state champion Boylan played the part in the opening half and never looked back during the Titans 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon over Glenbrook North in the third place match of the 33rd-annual Barrington Classic.
Glenbrook North (3-3-0) fell behind on the quarter hour when Boylan super-soph Reese Schlichting played the ball to Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Gabriel Casa. The junior did the rest with his teasing, marvelous one-timer that began an impressive 40 minutes for a club which graduated the core of its 2021 title group, including a quartet of Chicagoland Soccer All-State players.
"(Boylan) is a very good team and deserved their victory, but the Glenbrook North team you saw out there today isn't the team you saw last weekend in our 1-1 draw with Fremd (or) the team you'll see as the season progresses," said Spartans senior and captain Tal Yedlin, who did his best from the back to motivate his teammates, both vocally and with his gritty play as the Spartans central defender.
"It's not an excuse, but it's been a grueling week of soccer with four games in six days. We had tired legs and just ran out of gas. I was proud of the way we came out in the second half -- showing more energy, and urgency in our play. "
With its only real star back from a year ago in Victor Ibarra, young Boylan (4-1-0) showed early on that the extra-large pitch at Barrington Community Stadium was to its liking. They played quick one-two passes, used width and made purposeful runs to put the Spartans under duress from the opening whistle.
"(Former coach) Bart (Boguszewski) already had a terrific group in place when he took over here," stated new coach Jose Gomez. Boguszewski coached at the school for two years. “(For) me, we will build from the ground up centered around a nice core of players, and a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, with the hope that in another year we can get back into the state final.”
Gomez, a longtime manager at the Rockford Raptors FC club, will lean on Ibarra and Jovanny Millan, who were key figures in the Titans championship club that featured Jack Bonavia, Bryan Sanchez, Taylor Sowell and keeper Alyas Fritz, each of whom were found on the Chicagoland Soccer All-State Team.
"We really do not have a whole lot of players with varsity experience,” said Gomez. “This tournament helped all of us to get a feel for playing at a higher level. A lot of the players grew this week, especially our younger players, who will be our future."
One such young player is Schlichting, whose creativity with and without the ball, pace and awareness gave him the appearance of a veteran.
The stylish games of Schlichting, Casa and Ibarra were a joy to watch, especially if you were among the Titans faithful. The trio was responsible for the opener when Ibarra bagged his fourth of the tournament at 15 minutes.
Casas' sublime finish in the 20th minute from a left-footed chip up and over Spartans keeper Max Bachenheimer doubled the Titans advantage.
"Our inexperience and young roster really showed in that first half,” said Glenbrook North's former manager Paul Vignocchi, who now is the right-hand man for first-year leader Paul Gibbs. “We struggled with their possession and an inability to get ourselves out of our own end. It all contributed to a very slow start against an impressive opponent.
"For many of our guys, it's their first real taste of a long week of soccer playing against some very good teams. It was a learning experience for all of us, which is what the early part of the season is for."
Bachenheimer came to the rescue just before the break when he turned around a wicked 22-yard angled blast from Millan. He then watched down at the other end when a late corner sent in from teammate Steven Rhee might have halved the lead. But Tomas Sabbone's header was saved by Titans keeper Patricio Lopez.
"It obviously wasn't our best half of soccer, but I really liked the way we regrouped (to) come together to play a much better second half to finish up strongly," offered Yedlin.
Glenbrook North did its best to up its pace and quality after the intermission. It wasn't long before they created a couple of chances.
Rhee connected with Chris Sanchez, whose left-footed effort went wide and high. That was followed by a nice tackle from Sanchez, who then quickly played Vinny Sabbione along the right side.
The senior rattled the back post before alert Boylan midfielder Ivan Ibarra-Contreras parried the ball out of the area or the Spartans may have had another chance to score.
Ian Lee tested Lopez in the 48th minute. With the Spartans now going with Sanchez, Brian Pekala, and Sabbione up-top, they attacked with more confidence and energy.
"We made some adjustments at the half, and the guys responded well, which was very encouraging," said Vignocchi.
Sanchez and Sabbione continued their activity and buzzed around the Titans end with pace and some pin-point passes. Pekala forced Lopez into action with his 54th-minute strike. Another from 14 yards created a fifth corner of the half for the Spartans.
Glenbrook North was sent a lifeline of sorts when Ibarra was shown a rather harsh second yellow card in the 65th minute to give the Spartans a man advantage the rest of the way.
However, the extra space on the pitch suited the nonstop running of Casas. The Boylan junior got a second chance to finish when his initial effort was blocked by Bachenheimer. The ball spilled free and the opportunistic Casas tripled his team’s advantage in the 71st minute.
The Titans nearly added another moments later if not for a brave save from newly installed keeper Alex Steglik, who made a point-blank save on Schlichting.
Glenbrook North kept playing with heart and dashed the hopes of a Titans clean-sheet when Pekala roared up the right side and stretched the Boylan backline. He passed to Sabbione, who used deft dribbling to escape from a trio of Titans and move to his left. From there he unleashed an 18-yard effort the other way to beat Lopez, who had no chance six minutes from time.
"I was proud of the way we played in the second half, and although we came up short, the last 40 minutes of play is something we can build on," said Yedlin.
"We came away healthy after a tough week,” said Vignocchi. “We learned a lot along the way. There are some things we obviously have to correct, but there were enough positive things we will take going forward."
The Spartans travel to Maine East on Tuesday, before hosting Highland Park two days later in a pair of Central Suburban league cross-over matches.
Boylan will open play in the NIC-10 on Tuesday against Jefferson.
Starting lineups
Boylan (4-4-2)
G- Patricio Lopez
D- Juan Mendoza
D- Nathan Dorado
D- Adan Pina
D- Tyler Marquez
MF- Alvin Hernandez
MF- Victor Ibarra
MF- Ivan Ibarra-Contreras
MF- Jovanny Millan
F- Reese Schlichting
F- Gabriel Casas
Glenbrook North (4-4-2)
G- Max Bachenheimer
D- Chase Petersen
D- Tal Yedlin
D- Ethan Klinghofer
D- Jordan Elliott
MF- Chris Sanchez
MF- Kieran Layland
MF- Ian Lee
MF- Tomas Sabbione
F- Vinny Sabbione
F- Brady Spiggos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Gabriel Casa, jr, F, Boylan
Referee: Steve Konstantinovic
Scoring summary
First Half
Boylan: Ibarra (Schlichting) 15'
Boylan: Casa (Schlichting) 20'
Second Half
Boylan: Casa (U/A) 71'
Glenbrook North: Sabbione (Pekala), 74'
Game Statistics
Shots on goal
Boylan: 9
Glenbrook North: 7
Shots off
Boylan: 6
Glenbrook North: 2
Corner kicks
Boylan: 2
Glenbrook North: 7
Offsides
Boylan: 1
Glenbrook North: 1
Fouls
Boylan: 11
Glenbrook North: 11
Titans take over quickly after hour-long Thor Guard delay, win 3-1
By Mike Garofola
BARRINGTON -- Reigning Class AA state champion Boylan played the part in the opening half and never looked back during the Titans 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon over Glenbrook North in the third place match of the 33rd-annual Barrington Classic.
Glenbrook North (3-3-0) fell behind on the quarter hour when Boylan super-soph Reese Schlichting played the ball to Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Gabriel Casa. The junior did the rest with his teasing, marvelous one-timer that began an impressive 40 minutes for a club which graduated the core of its 2021 title group, including a quartet of Chicagoland Soccer All-State players.
"(Boylan) is a very good team and deserved their victory, but the Glenbrook North team you saw out there today isn't the team you saw last weekend in our 1-1 draw with Fremd (or) the team you'll see as the season progresses," said Spartans senior and captain Tal Yedlin, who did his best from the back to motivate his teammates, both vocally and with his gritty play as the Spartans central defender.
"It's not an excuse, but it's been a grueling week of soccer with four games in six days. We had tired legs and just ran out of gas. I was proud of the way we came out in the second half -- showing more energy, and urgency in our play. "
With its only real star back from a year ago in Victor Ibarra, young Boylan (4-1-0) showed early on that the extra-large pitch at Barrington Community Stadium was to its liking. They played quick one-two passes, used width and made purposeful runs to put the Spartans under duress from the opening whistle.
"(Former coach) Bart (Boguszewski) already had a terrific group in place when he took over here," stated new coach Jose Gomez. Boguszewski coached at the school for two years. “(For) me, we will build from the ground up centered around a nice core of players, and a bunch of freshmen and sophomores, with the hope that in another year we can get back into the state final.”
Gomez, a longtime manager at the Rockford Raptors FC club, will lean on Ibarra and Jovanny Millan, who were key figures in the Titans championship club that featured Jack Bonavia, Bryan Sanchez, Taylor Sowell and keeper Alyas Fritz, each of whom were found on the Chicagoland Soccer All-State Team.
"We really do not have a whole lot of players with varsity experience,” said Gomez. “This tournament helped all of us to get a feel for playing at a higher level. A lot of the players grew this week, especially our younger players, who will be our future."
One such young player is Schlichting, whose creativity with and without the ball, pace and awareness gave him the appearance of a veteran.
The stylish games of Schlichting, Casa and Ibarra were a joy to watch, especially if you were among the Titans faithful. The trio was responsible for the opener when Ibarra bagged his fourth of the tournament at 15 minutes.
Casas' sublime finish in the 20th minute from a left-footed chip up and over Spartans keeper Max Bachenheimer doubled the Titans advantage.
"Our inexperience and young roster really showed in that first half,” said Glenbrook North's former manager Paul Vignocchi, who now is the right-hand man for first-year leader Paul Gibbs. “We struggled with their possession and an inability to get ourselves out of our own end. It all contributed to a very slow start against an impressive opponent.
"For many of our guys, it's their first real taste of a long week of soccer playing against some very good teams. It was a learning experience for all of us, which is what the early part of the season is for."
Bachenheimer came to the rescue just before the break when he turned around a wicked 22-yard angled blast from Millan. He then watched down at the other end when a late corner sent in from teammate Steven Rhee might have halved the lead. But Tomas Sabbone's header was saved by Titans keeper Patricio Lopez.
"It obviously wasn't our best half of soccer, but I really liked the way we regrouped (to) come together to play a much better second half to finish up strongly," offered Yedlin.
Glenbrook North did its best to up its pace and quality after the intermission. It wasn't long before they created a couple of chances.
Rhee connected with Chris Sanchez, whose left-footed effort went wide and high. That was followed by a nice tackle from Sanchez, who then quickly played Vinny Sabbione along the right side.
The senior rattled the back post before alert Boylan midfielder Ivan Ibarra-Contreras parried the ball out of the area or the Spartans may have had another chance to score.
Ian Lee tested Lopez in the 48th minute. With the Spartans now going with Sanchez, Brian Pekala, and Sabbione up-top, they attacked with more confidence and energy.
"We made some adjustments at the half, and the guys responded well, which was very encouraging," said Vignocchi.
Sanchez and Sabbione continued their activity and buzzed around the Titans end with pace and some pin-point passes. Pekala forced Lopez into action with his 54th-minute strike. Another from 14 yards created a fifth corner of the half for the Spartans.
Glenbrook North was sent a lifeline of sorts when Ibarra was shown a rather harsh second yellow card in the 65th minute to give the Spartans a man advantage the rest of the way.
However, the extra space on the pitch suited the nonstop running of Casas. The Boylan junior got a second chance to finish when his initial effort was blocked by Bachenheimer. The ball spilled free and the opportunistic Casas tripled his team’s advantage in the 71st minute.
The Titans nearly added another moments later if not for a brave save from newly installed keeper Alex Steglik, who made a point-blank save on Schlichting.
Glenbrook North kept playing with heart and dashed the hopes of a Titans clean-sheet when Pekala roared up the right side and stretched the Boylan backline. He passed to Sabbione, who used deft dribbling to escape from a trio of Titans and move to his left. From there he unleashed an 18-yard effort the other way to beat Lopez, who had no chance six minutes from time.
"I was proud of the way we played in the second half, and although we came up short, the last 40 minutes of play is something we can build on," said Yedlin.
"We came away healthy after a tough week,” said Vignocchi. “We learned a lot along the way. There are some things we obviously have to correct, but there were enough positive things we will take going forward."
The Spartans travel to Maine East on Tuesday, before hosting Highland Park two days later in a pair of Central Suburban league cross-over matches.
Boylan will open play in the NIC-10 on Tuesday against Jefferson.
Starting lineups
Boylan (4-4-2)
G- Patricio Lopez
D- Juan Mendoza
D- Nathan Dorado
D- Adan Pina
D- Tyler Marquez
MF- Alvin Hernandez
MF- Victor Ibarra
MF- Ivan Ibarra-Contreras
MF- Jovanny Millan
F- Reese Schlichting
F- Gabriel Casas
Glenbrook North (4-4-2)
G- Max Bachenheimer
D- Chase Petersen
D- Tal Yedlin
D- Ethan Klinghofer
D- Jordan Elliott
MF- Chris Sanchez
MF- Kieran Layland
MF- Ian Lee
MF- Tomas Sabbione
F- Vinny Sabbione
F- Brady Spiggos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Gabriel Casa, jr, F, Boylan
Referee: Steve Konstantinovic
Scoring summary
First Half
Boylan: Ibarra (Schlichting) 15'
Boylan: Casa (Schlichting) 20'
Second Half
Boylan: Casa (U/A) 71'
Glenbrook North: Sabbione (Pekala), 74'
Game Statistics
Shots on goal
Boylan: 9
Glenbrook North: 7
Shots off
Boylan: 6
Glenbrook North: 2
Corner kicks
Boylan: 2
Glenbrook North: 7
Offsides
Boylan: 1
Glenbrook North: 1
Fouls
Boylan: 11
Glenbrook North: 11