GBS falls to Vernon Hills on late goal
Host Cougars withstand early Titans pressure in 1-0 win
By Gary Larsen
VERNON HILLS — Opening play between Glenbrook South and host Vernon Hills on Thursday saw the visiting Titans earn multiple free kicks, corner kicks, and a few quality shots along the way with nothing to show for it.
And nothing haunts a soccer team like scoring chances gone astray.
“I had a feeling that if we weren’t going to sink one of those early on ... Vernon Hills is a skilled team and once they settle in, they knock the ball around really well,” South coach Reggie Lara said.
Lara’s sinking feeling played out, and the haunting was completed at 72 minutes when Vernon Hills sophomore Milan Raval buried the game’s lone goal.
After withstanding the Titans’ opening pressure thanks to some solid set-piece defending and strong play from Cougars keeper Raul Jasso, Vernon Hills slowly began to find its attacking groove.
The Cougars (1-1-0) built possession and largely avoided the sustained pressure the Titans (1-1-0) managed to apply through the 20th minute. For much of the next 50 minutes, Glenbrook South kept a lid on defensively and stayed dangerous largely in the counter attack, while Vernon Hills built its possession game and thwarted every dangerous Titans attempt.
Vernon Hills finally broke the ice when David Deng lofted a corner kick into the box that fell to the turf. Raval pounced, hitting a fine shot from 20 yards that tore inside the post.
“That was an amazing strike,” Vernon Hills senior Ben Krok said.
South keeper Colin Morse, who played loudly and aggressively throughout the night, had no chance on Raval’s shot. Two nights after South won 2-0 over Niles North in its season-opener, Wednesday’s 1-0 loss showed that like most teams, the Titans are finding their early-season footing.
“Our first touch and communication need to improve,” Morse said. “We haven’t had a lot of time together, but give us some time and we’ll keep improving. We were connecting a lot of passes; we had a lot of good ideas, and hopefully we’ll grow and be able to make more of those.”
Vernon Hills enjoyed the opposite fate after losing 1-0 to Maine South on a goal with 30 seconds remaining two nights prior.
“We kept possession and it worked out,” Vernon Hills senior Zach Hanson said. “Our possession and our spacing were much better tonight. We played more as a team than as individuals in this game.”
Glenbrook South earned a free kick one minute into play that saw Jasso dive to turn away the offering from Adrian Potoniec. Then Jasso punched away an ensuing corner kick sent in by South’s Stefan Souleles.
Free-kicks in South’s final third taken by Potoniec and teammate Dominik Danko at two minutes and four minutes went for naught, before Jasso snared a cross sent from the endline by Souleles at eight minutes.
Zarko Pavlovic headed a good chance just wide at 13 minutes, and a ball sent over the top at 15 minutes saw Jasso charge off his line and collide with South’s charging Josh Nelson.
The worst for Vernon Hills was essentially over after it stood strong against South’s early barrage.
“Our kids played their hearts out against Maine South and did a phenomenal job,” Vernon Hills coach Mike McCaulou said. “They (Maine South) were a lot like Glenbrook South — a lot of size and physicality — and defensively we were outstanding in that game. And I thought we were again outstanding defensively tonight.”
With defender Aidan O’Flaherty kick-starting the attack from the back, and center mid Valde Nambo keying the midfield, the Cougars began to answer the challenge. Glenbrook South's starting backline of Danko, Drew Mayturn, Jason Fink, and Victor Matraszek kept dangerous scoring chances to a bare minimum, however, and a scoreless tie held to halftime.
With coaches state-wide making changes on the fly during a bizarre year in high school sports, Lara is pleased with what he has seen thus far.
“Dominik Danko is in back in his first varsity season for us. He’s starting to really show himself as a leader, especially as one of those vocal leaders; and he’s been physical for us,” Lara said. “Owen Beumer has been playing a lot of minutes at that center mid role, and he’s a workhorse. We might have been down 2-0 if he hadn’t hustled back and broken up a breakaway.
"Josh Nelson works hard up-top, and it was good to have Drew Maytum back today. His basketball season ended yesterday so this was literally his second or third day back playing soccer. But it was nice having a senior and three-year varsity starter back there.”
Morse and his teammates are just glad to be lacing up their cleats and pulling on their high school jerseys again after a school year marked by COVID-19.
“It’s amazing,” Morse said. “I found out we’d be playing this season through an email from (Lara) and our whole team just started texting. We were elated. The goal now is to win the CSL. We have the team to do it and as long as we keep working hard and improving, we can do it.”
Both Vernon Hills and Glenbrook South will play an 11-game regular season playing only against CSL opponents.
The game’s second half saw South's Nelson hit a header wide at 45 minutes.
Vernon Hills responded when Raval hit a a wide blast from distance at 51 minutes. Krok sent a head shot wide at 55 minutes, and Nambo bent a free kick into Morse’s hands at 70 minutes. Raval’s opportunistic strike came two minutes later, and Vernon Hills had its first win of the season.
“Aidan O’Flaherty in the middle of the park, once he settled in, was swinging the ball and moving it from side-to-side and really started our attack out of the back there,” McCaulou said. “Valde Mambo in the middle is a simple player with a super high soccer IQ, and (forwards) Glen McGowean and Zidan Chaires are important juniors for us.”
The Cougars continue their campaign at New Trier on Saturday; the Titans, who are ranked 38th in Chicagoland Soccer's First 50 state-wide preseason poll, host Highland Park on Tuesday in Glenview.
“We have a young squad. We (graduated) 16 seniors and it’s the first varsity experience for a lot of juniors on this team,” Lara said. “It will take a little time, but we feel good about this group. In my time at GBS this is one of the hardest-working cores, and there’s a lot of heart out there. So it’s a matter of if our seniors can take the reins and lead us where we want to go.
“We’re playing guys at multiple positions and seeing what works. There’s moments where I like seeing us able to piece passes together and progress up the field, a third of the field at a time, so there are moments of positivity where that’s happening. And I’m seeing more situations where guys are starting to settle in and solidify into their roles.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook South
GK: Colin Morse
D: Victor Matraszek
D: Jason Fink
D: Dominik Danko
D: Drew Mayturn
M: Owen Beumer
M: David Sohn
M: Zarko Pavlovic
M: Stefan Souleles
M: Adrian Potoniec
F: Josh Nelson
Vernon Hills
GK: Raul Jasso
D: Andre Glamocak
D: Zach Hanson
D: David Deng
M: Aidan O'Flaherty
M: Joel Kim
M: Noah Song
M: Valde Mambo
M: Ryan Kim
F: Zidan Chaires
F: Glen McGowean
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Milan Raval, so., MF, Vernon Hills
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Vernon Hills — Raval (Deng) 72 minutes
Host Cougars withstand early Titans pressure in 1-0 win
By Gary Larsen
VERNON HILLS — Opening play between Glenbrook South and host Vernon Hills on Thursday saw the visiting Titans earn multiple free kicks, corner kicks, and a few quality shots along the way with nothing to show for it.
And nothing haunts a soccer team like scoring chances gone astray.
“I had a feeling that if we weren’t going to sink one of those early on ... Vernon Hills is a skilled team and once they settle in, they knock the ball around really well,” South coach Reggie Lara said.
Lara’s sinking feeling played out, and the haunting was completed at 72 minutes when Vernon Hills sophomore Milan Raval buried the game’s lone goal.
After withstanding the Titans’ opening pressure thanks to some solid set-piece defending and strong play from Cougars keeper Raul Jasso, Vernon Hills slowly began to find its attacking groove.
The Cougars (1-1-0) built possession and largely avoided the sustained pressure the Titans (1-1-0) managed to apply through the 20th minute. For much of the next 50 minutes, Glenbrook South kept a lid on defensively and stayed dangerous largely in the counter attack, while Vernon Hills built its possession game and thwarted every dangerous Titans attempt.
Vernon Hills finally broke the ice when David Deng lofted a corner kick into the box that fell to the turf. Raval pounced, hitting a fine shot from 20 yards that tore inside the post.
“That was an amazing strike,” Vernon Hills senior Ben Krok said.
South keeper Colin Morse, who played loudly and aggressively throughout the night, had no chance on Raval’s shot. Two nights after South won 2-0 over Niles North in its season-opener, Wednesday’s 1-0 loss showed that like most teams, the Titans are finding their early-season footing.
“Our first touch and communication need to improve,” Morse said. “We haven’t had a lot of time together, but give us some time and we’ll keep improving. We were connecting a lot of passes; we had a lot of good ideas, and hopefully we’ll grow and be able to make more of those.”
Vernon Hills enjoyed the opposite fate after losing 1-0 to Maine South on a goal with 30 seconds remaining two nights prior.
“We kept possession and it worked out,” Vernon Hills senior Zach Hanson said. “Our possession and our spacing were much better tonight. We played more as a team than as individuals in this game.”
Glenbrook South earned a free kick one minute into play that saw Jasso dive to turn away the offering from Adrian Potoniec. Then Jasso punched away an ensuing corner kick sent in by South’s Stefan Souleles.
Free-kicks in South’s final third taken by Potoniec and teammate Dominik Danko at two minutes and four minutes went for naught, before Jasso snared a cross sent from the endline by Souleles at eight minutes.
Zarko Pavlovic headed a good chance just wide at 13 minutes, and a ball sent over the top at 15 minutes saw Jasso charge off his line and collide with South’s charging Josh Nelson.
The worst for Vernon Hills was essentially over after it stood strong against South’s early barrage.
“Our kids played their hearts out against Maine South and did a phenomenal job,” Vernon Hills coach Mike McCaulou said. “They (Maine South) were a lot like Glenbrook South — a lot of size and physicality — and defensively we were outstanding in that game. And I thought we were again outstanding defensively tonight.”
With defender Aidan O’Flaherty kick-starting the attack from the back, and center mid Valde Nambo keying the midfield, the Cougars began to answer the challenge. Glenbrook South's starting backline of Danko, Drew Mayturn, Jason Fink, and Victor Matraszek kept dangerous scoring chances to a bare minimum, however, and a scoreless tie held to halftime.
With coaches state-wide making changes on the fly during a bizarre year in high school sports, Lara is pleased with what he has seen thus far.
“Dominik Danko is in back in his first varsity season for us. He’s starting to really show himself as a leader, especially as one of those vocal leaders; and he’s been physical for us,” Lara said. “Owen Beumer has been playing a lot of minutes at that center mid role, and he’s a workhorse. We might have been down 2-0 if he hadn’t hustled back and broken up a breakaway.
"Josh Nelson works hard up-top, and it was good to have Drew Maytum back today. His basketball season ended yesterday so this was literally his second or third day back playing soccer. But it was nice having a senior and three-year varsity starter back there.”
Morse and his teammates are just glad to be lacing up their cleats and pulling on their high school jerseys again after a school year marked by COVID-19.
“It’s amazing,” Morse said. “I found out we’d be playing this season through an email from (Lara) and our whole team just started texting. We were elated. The goal now is to win the CSL. We have the team to do it and as long as we keep working hard and improving, we can do it.”
Both Vernon Hills and Glenbrook South will play an 11-game regular season playing only against CSL opponents.
The game’s second half saw South's Nelson hit a header wide at 45 minutes.
Vernon Hills responded when Raval hit a a wide blast from distance at 51 minutes. Krok sent a head shot wide at 55 minutes, and Nambo bent a free kick into Morse’s hands at 70 minutes. Raval’s opportunistic strike came two minutes later, and Vernon Hills had its first win of the season.
“Aidan O’Flaherty in the middle of the park, once he settled in, was swinging the ball and moving it from side-to-side and really started our attack out of the back there,” McCaulou said. “Valde Mambo in the middle is a simple player with a super high soccer IQ, and (forwards) Glen McGowean and Zidan Chaires are important juniors for us.”
The Cougars continue their campaign at New Trier on Saturday; the Titans, who are ranked 38th in Chicagoland Soccer's First 50 state-wide preseason poll, host Highland Park on Tuesday in Glenview.
“We have a young squad. We (graduated) 16 seniors and it’s the first varsity experience for a lot of juniors on this team,” Lara said. “It will take a little time, but we feel good about this group. In my time at GBS this is one of the hardest-working cores, and there’s a lot of heart out there. So it’s a matter of if our seniors can take the reins and lead us where we want to go.
“We’re playing guys at multiple positions and seeing what works. There’s moments where I like seeing us able to piece passes together and progress up the field, a third of the field at a time, so there are moments of positivity where that’s happening. And I’m seeing more situations where guys are starting to settle in and solidify into their roles.”
Starting lineups
Glenbrook South
GK: Colin Morse
D: Victor Matraszek
D: Jason Fink
D: Dominik Danko
D: Drew Mayturn
M: Owen Beumer
M: David Sohn
M: Zarko Pavlovic
M: Stefan Souleles
M: Adrian Potoniec
F: Josh Nelson
Vernon Hills
GK: Raul Jasso
D: Andre Glamocak
D: Zach Hanson
D: David Deng
M: Aidan O'Flaherty
M: Joel Kim
M: Noah Song
M: Valde Mambo
M: Ryan Kim
F: Zidan Chaires
F: Glen McGowean
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Milan Raval, so., MF, Vernon Hills
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Vernon Hills — Raval (Deng) 72 minutes