SCE rookie GK blanks Glenbard North
Fighting Saints frosh Benhart earns 3-0 win in varsity debut
By Jared Birchfield
ST. CHARLES --Thursday night’s DuKane Conference match between St. Charles East and Glenbard North featured a rookie defending one net and a seasoned veteran patrolling the other.
East freshman Tyler Benhart prevailed in his first varsity start and earned a shutout as the no. 8 Saints blanked the 29th-ranked Panthers 3-0.
Martin Argirov, winner of last year’s DuKane Golden Glove Award as the league’s top keeper, made spectacular saves to keep Glenbard North in the game.
“We are working out some kinks with the goalkeeping situation,” said East coach Vince DiNuzzo. “We graduated Jack Settle, who was (Chicagoland Soccer) All-State last year. He was actually in the stand watching tonight.
“We are searching for some answers after our first game, but we have confidence in a lot of goalkeepers in our system.
“With the shortened season and no playoffs, we are trying to see what we have in the program and give (Benhart) some opportunities,” continued DiNuzzo. “I thought he played well enough in the first half to stay in the whole game.
“He was good. He commanded the box. I think he gained confidence as the game went on. The more minutes he plays, the more comfortable he will be with all of these guys. We had a shutout after conceding three goals on Tuesday, so that is a positive.”
Benhart, who made four saves, was modest about his effort.
“It was an honor to play,” the freshman said. “But it was a team effort.”
Glenbard North coach Spero Mandakas has a known commodity on his goal line.
“We’ve got who I feel is the best keeper in the area. (Argirov) stood on his head and made huge saves all night,” Mandakas said. “Being able to keep Martin upright, we are definitely going to be in games, and Martin is going to keep us in games.”
Benhart got some early breathing room when Sebastian Carranza scored 77 seconds after the match started.
“(Elia) Desario was on the ball, so I moved to a wide-open space in the passing lane. He saw me make the run and passed it to me,” said Carranza. “I took a quick turn, and the defenders were stopped. I took a quick touch to the right and took the shot, and luckily it went in.”
For the next 57 minutes the game went back and forth. The Panthers were unable to mount much of a challenge, and the Saints could not finish them.
“Against a good attacking team, we have to be better with it,” said Mandakas. “We talked about taking advantages of the opportunities we had when we countered. We hit two off of the post, so our chances were there in the first half. Second half not as much. We have to generate more.”
On the defensive end, Argirov’s effort drew attention.
“I think their goalie played outstanding. The kid made four or five fantastic saves,” said DiNuzzo. “I feel we created a lot of chances, which is a good thing.
“We talked about executing at half time. We were able to put two in in the second half which is nice, but we have to be better in front of the net for sure.”
“It was pretty bad how many chances we missed,” added Carranza. “It was pretty disappointing. And it made it easier for them to stick in the game, because I feel like we should have had at least three in the first half and another three in the second.
“We just have to be more clinical in front of the net. We had the open looks. We just need to fine-tune our finishing.”
Finally, in the 57th minute, Gaetano D’Argento, who transferred this year from South Elgin, found the back of the net to widen the Saints’ lead to 2-0.
“One of my teammates had the ball. He was trying to shoot, and the ball came a little loose,” said D’Argento, who will play soccer at Bowling Green next fall. “It got to me, and I was able to bury it in the left corner.”
Glenbard North’s offense was hampered by a thin bench. Mandakas only had five reserves to call on. Striker Nathaniel Enriquez, a DePaul commit, missed the match.
“We were short-handed tonight. We had two guys out at a club national tournament and Nathaniel, our captain was out tonight,” Mandakas said. “He was out for personal reasons.”
The Saints suffered a blow to their offense when Jacob Maslowski was injured at the 24:57 mark of the game. Maslowski accounted for half of Easts’ four goals in Tuesday’s opener against Lake Park. Sophomore Mason Brockmeyer replaced him on the front line.
“We had an injury in the first couple of minutes when (Maslowski) came off. Being without him for the entire game was a change. He turned his ankle a little bit, but he’s going to be fine,” said DiNuzzo. “He will probably be ready for Saturday.
“There are a lot of games in a short amount of time, and we just want to manage our minutes. We shut him down, and we were able to get (Brockmeyer) some minutes, He was able to score a goal, which was the second of the season for him, which was nice.”
Brockmeyer completed East’s scoring with 7:59 left to play. The forward snared a rebound off the right post and buried it. He had a chance earlier in the period to increase the Saints’ lead with a penalty kick, but Argirov scooped it up for one of his eight saves.
Both teams sport newcomers on their backlines.
“We’ve got a young backline,” Mandakas said. “Mark (Szklarczyk) in the center, and it’s his first year playing with us. Ren (Santillan) was with us last year, and Steve (Gospodinov) didn’t play with us last year."
St. Charles East was able to post a clean-sheet with a different look in the back.
“It was difficult for us tonight. We were without Aaron Frost, one of our center backs, so we had two sophomores – Elia Desario and Connor Brown, who don’t typically start – playing center back,” DiNuzzo said.
“Having the core being so young, I think is something we had to adjust to. Aaron Frost (injured Tuesday) should be back on Saturday, but we might play it safe and sit him and have him come back next week.”
Mandakas is confident North (0-2-0, 0-2-0) will bounce back.
“We are working together. Raul (Pasillas) was able to generate a lot for us in the middle of the field. We had a few guys who have stepped in, played their first varsity minutes this week and did well,” the Glenbard North coach said.
“We are a young team. I’ve got nine underclassmen. We have the senior leadership there. We started out this week with two tough teams so we should be able to bounce back and rebuild and get after it on Saturday.”
Carranza has high hopes for the Saints (2-0-0, 2-0-0).
“Hopefully we can go undefeated since there is no state tournament,” the junior said. “Just play as hard as we can in every single game.”
Both teams play in nonconference matches Saturday. St. Charles East hosts Bartlett, while Glenbard North travels to Glenbard South.
Starting Lineups
Glenbard North
GK: Martin Argirov
D: Mark Szklarczyk
D: Ricardo Patino
D: Ren Santillan
D: John Salazar
M: Christopher Arroyo
M: Jorge Roman
M: Luis Roman
M: Raul Pasillas
F: Carlos Villagrana
F: Gabriel Jurado
St. Charles East
GK: Tyler Benhart
D: Ryan Champine
D: Elia Desario
D: Connor Brown
D: Connor King
M: Luca Avedano
M: Alex Mancera
M: Gaetano D’Argento
M: Sam Wade
F: Sebastian Carranza
F: Jacob Maslowski
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Tyler Benhart, fr., GK, St. Charles East;
Martin Argirov, sr, GK, Glenbard North.
Scoring Summary
First Half
St. Charles East – Carranza (Desario) 2 minute
Second Half
St. Charles East – D’Argento (unassisted) 57 minutes
St. Charles East – Brockmeyer (unassisted) 73 minutes
Fighting Saints frosh Benhart earns 3-0 win in varsity debut
By Jared Birchfield
ST. CHARLES --Thursday night’s DuKane Conference match between St. Charles East and Glenbard North featured a rookie defending one net and a seasoned veteran patrolling the other.
East freshman Tyler Benhart prevailed in his first varsity start and earned a shutout as the no. 8 Saints blanked the 29th-ranked Panthers 3-0.
Martin Argirov, winner of last year’s DuKane Golden Glove Award as the league’s top keeper, made spectacular saves to keep Glenbard North in the game.
“We are working out some kinks with the goalkeeping situation,” said East coach Vince DiNuzzo. “We graduated Jack Settle, who was (Chicagoland Soccer) All-State last year. He was actually in the stand watching tonight.
“We are searching for some answers after our first game, but we have confidence in a lot of goalkeepers in our system.
“With the shortened season and no playoffs, we are trying to see what we have in the program and give (Benhart) some opportunities,” continued DiNuzzo. “I thought he played well enough in the first half to stay in the whole game.
“He was good. He commanded the box. I think he gained confidence as the game went on. The more minutes he plays, the more comfortable he will be with all of these guys. We had a shutout after conceding three goals on Tuesday, so that is a positive.”
Benhart, who made four saves, was modest about his effort.
“It was an honor to play,” the freshman said. “But it was a team effort.”
Glenbard North coach Spero Mandakas has a known commodity on his goal line.
“We’ve got who I feel is the best keeper in the area. (Argirov) stood on his head and made huge saves all night,” Mandakas said. “Being able to keep Martin upright, we are definitely going to be in games, and Martin is going to keep us in games.”
Benhart got some early breathing room when Sebastian Carranza scored 77 seconds after the match started.
“(Elia) Desario was on the ball, so I moved to a wide-open space in the passing lane. He saw me make the run and passed it to me,” said Carranza. “I took a quick turn, and the defenders were stopped. I took a quick touch to the right and took the shot, and luckily it went in.”
For the next 57 minutes the game went back and forth. The Panthers were unable to mount much of a challenge, and the Saints could not finish them.
“Against a good attacking team, we have to be better with it,” said Mandakas. “We talked about taking advantages of the opportunities we had when we countered. We hit two off of the post, so our chances were there in the first half. Second half not as much. We have to generate more.”
On the defensive end, Argirov’s effort drew attention.
“I think their goalie played outstanding. The kid made four or five fantastic saves,” said DiNuzzo. “I feel we created a lot of chances, which is a good thing.
“We talked about executing at half time. We were able to put two in in the second half which is nice, but we have to be better in front of the net for sure.”
“It was pretty bad how many chances we missed,” added Carranza. “It was pretty disappointing. And it made it easier for them to stick in the game, because I feel like we should have had at least three in the first half and another three in the second.
“We just have to be more clinical in front of the net. We had the open looks. We just need to fine-tune our finishing.”
Finally, in the 57th minute, Gaetano D’Argento, who transferred this year from South Elgin, found the back of the net to widen the Saints’ lead to 2-0.
“One of my teammates had the ball. He was trying to shoot, and the ball came a little loose,” said D’Argento, who will play soccer at Bowling Green next fall. “It got to me, and I was able to bury it in the left corner.”
Glenbard North’s offense was hampered by a thin bench. Mandakas only had five reserves to call on. Striker Nathaniel Enriquez, a DePaul commit, missed the match.
“We were short-handed tonight. We had two guys out at a club national tournament and Nathaniel, our captain was out tonight,” Mandakas said. “He was out for personal reasons.”
The Saints suffered a blow to their offense when Jacob Maslowski was injured at the 24:57 mark of the game. Maslowski accounted for half of Easts’ four goals in Tuesday’s opener against Lake Park. Sophomore Mason Brockmeyer replaced him on the front line.
“We had an injury in the first couple of minutes when (Maslowski) came off. Being without him for the entire game was a change. He turned his ankle a little bit, but he’s going to be fine,” said DiNuzzo. “He will probably be ready for Saturday.
“There are a lot of games in a short amount of time, and we just want to manage our minutes. We shut him down, and we were able to get (Brockmeyer) some minutes, He was able to score a goal, which was the second of the season for him, which was nice.”
Brockmeyer completed East’s scoring with 7:59 left to play. The forward snared a rebound off the right post and buried it. He had a chance earlier in the period to increase the Saints’ lead with a penalty kick, but Argirov scooped it up for one of his eight saves.
Both teams sport newcomers on their backlines.
“We’ve got a young backline,” Mandakas said. “Mark (Szklarczyk) in the center, and it’s his first year playing with us. Ren (Santillan) was with us last year, and Steve (Gospodinov) didn’t play with us last year."
St. Charles East was able to post a clean-sheet with a different look in the back.
“It was difficult for us tonight. We were without Aaron Frost, one of our center backs, so we had two sophomores – Elia Desario and Connor Brown, who don’t typically start – playing center back,” DiNuzzo said.
“Having the core being so young, I think is something we had to adjust to. Aaron Frost (injured Tuesday) should be back on Saturday, but we might play it safe and sit him and have him come back next week.”
Mandakas is confident North (0-2-0, 0-2-0) will bounce back.
“We are working together. Raul (Pasillas) was able to generate a lot for us in the middle of the field. We had a few guys who have stepped in, played their first varsity minutes this week and did well,” the Glenbard North coach said.
“We are a young team. I’ve got nine underclassmen. We have the senior leadership there. We started out this week with two tough teams so we should be able to bounce back and rebuild and get after it on Saturday.”
Carranza has high hopes for the Saints (2-0-0, 2-0-0).
“Hopefully we can go undefeated since there is no state tournament,” the junior said. “Just play as hard as we can in every single game.”
Both teams play in nonconference matches Saturday. St. Charles East hosts Bartlett, while Glenbard North travels to Glenbard South.
Starting Lineups
Glenbard North
GK: Martin Argirov
D: Mark Szklarczyk
D: Ricardo Patino
D: Ren Santillan
D: John Salazar
M: Christopher Arroyo
M: Jorge Roman
M: Luis Roman
M: Raul Pasillas
F: Carlos Villagrana
F: Gabriel Jurado
St. Charles East
GK: Tyler Benhart
D: Ryan Champine
D: Elia Desario
D: Connor Brown
D: Connor King
M: Luca Avedano
M: Alex Mancera
M: Gaetano D’Argento
M: Sam Wade
F: Sebastian Carranza
F: Jacob Maslowski
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Tyler Benhart, fr., GK, St. Charles East;
Martin Argirov, sr, GK, Glenbard North.
Scoring Summary
First Half
St. Charles East – Carranza (Desario) 2 minute
Second Half
St. Charles East – D’Argento (unassisted) 57 minutes
St. Charles East – Brockmeyer (unassisted) 73 minutes