Wheaton North's pair of 1sts vs.
Glenbard North earns 2nd DuKane victory
Rosignal, Dulzer lift Falcons to 1-0 home win, 2-0-0 league mark
By Bill McLean
WHEATON — First things first.
Wheaton North senior midfielder Tim Dulzer scored his first goal of the season during mate Anthony Rosignal’s first start of the season, and pairs' performances helped the hosts edged Glenbard North 1-0 Thursday night at Rexilius Field.
The premier efforts in primetime helped shorthanded Wheaton North pocket its second DuKane Conference triumph in as many games.
“Dogfight. That was such a dogfight of a game,” Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen said between sighs and headshakes on the first crisp night of the season. “We were down to two-and-a-half subs. I told Anthony (Rosignal, a senior back) before the game, ‘It’s time for you. It’s go-time for you.’
“He made some mistakes,” Stassen continued, “but he had a goldfish mentality all night. A goldfish has, what, a two-second memory? Something like that. Anthony moved on quickly after tough moments, forgetting about them and focusing on the next minute. And he played smart soccer when we needed him to play smart soccer.”
Rosignal earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his breakthrough performance. Stassen estimated Rosignal, no. 6 on the Falcons’ roster, had logged only a few more minutes of action this fall than the number that adorned the back of his jersey.
“I’m guessing 10 minutes, altogether,” Stassen said after his side improved to 5-4-2, 2-0-0 in the DuKane. “That’s it. But he listens well, and he was fantastic out there. Anthony knew when to build from the back and when to send. And he covered well.”
Rosignal made a clean tackle near his club’s bench in the final minute, disrupting yet another late-match push from a desperate, talented bunch from Glenbard North.
“It was a battle,” Glenbard North coach Spero Mandakas said after his crew slipped to 5-4-3 overall and 0-2-2 in the league. “We had some good deliveries on our set pieces, but we were lacking after them for some reason. We’ve had productive games this season, scoring five, six goals.
“There was some individual play there at the end that we can’t have. We have to clean that up.”
The lone goal Tuesday night — netted in the 65th minute — was anything but tidy. Wheaton North senior back Axel Leon lofted a free kick to the upper far side of the 18, where reserve senior forward J.J. Lee had planted himself. Lee went all NASA, and blasted straight up to head the ball toward a crowded patch in front of Glenbard North senior goalkeeper Stavros Veremis (eight saves, including one off his face in the 51st minute).
Lee’s head ball pinballed amid chaos for a few seconds before banking off Dulzer’s right leg past Veremis. The total distance of Dulzer’s very first tally of ’22: four yards, maybe.
“I volleyed the ball off my preferred leg,” said a smiling Dulzer, who shares co-captaincy with senior defender Kyle Komro.
“Had to give the assist to J.J.,” Stassen said. “He sure got up for that header, didn’t he? He was up there, way up there.”
Wheaton North had fashioned the run of play for the bulk of the first 20 minutes. A rush from junior forward Josh Simon precipitated a corner-kick in the third minute. Falcons senior forward Thang Pau had a thing for keeping the ball at his feet for lengthy stretches.
Glenbard North created its first significant threat in the 15th minute. Panthers senior reserve midfielder Luis Roman launched a perfect left-footed cross to the head of senior forward Pablo DeLaCruz, who just missed solving Falcons junior keeper Joe Wakeman (four saves) at the far post.
Senior Tyler Nack’s right leg, meanwhile, was just getting warmed up as the visitors assumed the run of play. The Glenbard North senior — built like a power forward in basketball and blessed with a leg that would be coveted by any football coach in need of a punter — boomed clears and crushed free kicks.
And he ran unusually fast for a 6-foot-2-ish booter.
“You can put him anywhere on the field,” Glenbard North senior back Mark Szklarczyk said. “Anywhere. What I also like about him is his positivity — it’s always there.”
Moments after a Falcons corner squirted free near the top of the box in the 55th minute, Wheaton North’s Leon created space for himself and uncorked a promising shot. It, alas, flew high.
Dulzer struck the stalemate-breaker 10 minutes later.
“It’s always like this in our games with Glenbard North,” Stassen said. “Back and forth,
gritty, chippy, a little talky-talky. I told our guys before the start, ‘Be prepared to battle or
go home right now.’ I’m glad they stuck around.
“What a performance. A win like this, it’s definitely near the top, one of our better ones, because we stood up and fought; and our middle three was a unit in constant rotation.”
“It was an unfortunate loss,” Glenbard North junior midfielder Andy Pena said. “We worked hard, really hard, and we have to keep working.”
Wheaton North hosts Wheaton Warrenville South on its Senior Night at 6:30 Sept. 27. Glenbard North hosts Glenbard East in a Glenbard Cup contest Saturday at 2 p.m.
Footnotes
Flashback: Wheaton North and Glenbard North had to settle for a 1-1 tie atop the Panthers’ pitch in another uber-competitive DuKane test last fall. …The makeup date for Tuesday night’s rainout between Wheaton North and Lake Park is October 1, with the kickoff at Lake Park scheduled for 10 a.m. … Wheaton North’s game Tuesday night was only its second home contest of the season. “We’ve played more games at Lake Park than we have at home,” Stassen said, alluding to the three games his Falcons had played in Roselle in the Hillner Classic on Aug. 25, Aug. 27 and Sept. 1. … Stassen, on Simon: “He was an absolute workhorse tonight.” … More praise for Glenbard North’s Nack: “He plays with passion, every game,” Pena said. “He’s always lifting our team.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK Stavros Veremis
D Diego Navarro
D Mark Szklarczyk
D Tyler Nack
D Ayan Sheikh
D Diego Chicas
MF Colin Hernandez
MF Andy Pena
F Adan Solorio
F Pablo DeLaCruz
F Andy Rodriguez
Wheaton North
GK Joe Wakeman
D William Bonga
D Anthony Rosignal
D Axel Leon
D Kyle Komro
D Lucas Klingler
MF Carson Bilut
MF Tim Dulzer
MF Julian Ospina
F Josh Simon
F Thang Pau
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Anthony Rosignal, sr., D, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Wheaton North — Dulzer (Lee), 65’
Glenbard North earns 2nd DuKane victory
Rosignal, Dulzer lift Falcons to 1-0 home win, 2-0-0 league mark
By Bill McLean
WHEATON — First things first.
Wheaton North senior midfielder Tim Dulzer scored his first goal of the season during mate Anthony Rosignal’s first start of the season, and pairs' performances helped the hosts edged Glenbard North 1-0 Thursday night at Rexilius Field.
The premier efforts in primetime helped shorthanded Wheaton North pocket its second DuKane Conference triumph in as many games.
“Dogfight. That was such a dogfight of a game,” Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen said between sighs and headshakes on the first crisp night of the season. “We were down to two-and-a-half subs. I told Anthony (Rosignal, a senior back) before the game, ‘It’s time for you. It’s go-time for you.’
“He made some mistakes,” Stassen continued, “but he had a goldfish mentality all night. A goldfish has, what, a two-second memory? Something like that. Anthony moved on quickly after tough moments, forgetting about them and focusing on the next minute. And he played smart soccer when we needed him to play smart soccer.”
Rosignal earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his breakthrough performance. Stassen estimated Rosignal, no. 6 on the Falcons’ roster, had logged only a few more minutes of action this fall than the number that adorned the back of his jersey.
“I’m guessing 10 minutes, altogether,” Stassen said after his side improved to 5-4-2, 2-0-0 in the DuKane. “That’s it. But he listens well, and he was fantastic out there. Anthony knew when to build from the back and when to send. And he covered well.”
Rosignal made a clean tackle near his club’s bench in the final minute, disrupting yet another late-match push from a desperate, talented bunch from Glenbard North.
“It was a battle,” Glenbard North coach Spero Mandakas said after his crew slipped to 5-4-3 overall and 0-2-2 in the league. “We had some good deliveries on our set pieces, but we were lacking after them for some reason. We’ve had productive games this season, scoring five, six goals.
“There was some individual play there at the end that we can’t have. We have to clean that up.”
The lone goal Tuesday night — netted in the 65th minute — was anything but tidy. Wheaton North senior back Axel Leon lofted a free kick to the upper far side of the 18, where reserve senior forward J.J. Lee had planted himself. Lee went all NASA, and blasted straight up to head the ball toward a crowded patch in front of Glenbard North senior goalkeeper Stavros Veremis (eight saves, including one off his face in the 51st minute).
Lee’s head ball pinballed amid chaos for a few seconds before banking off Dulzer’s right leg past Veremis. The total distance of Dulzer’s very first tally of ’22: four yards, maybe.
“I volleyed the ball off my preferred leg,” said a smiling Dulzer, who shares co-captaincy with senior defender Kyle Komro.
“Had to give the assist to J.J.,” Stassen said. “He sure got up for that header, didn’t he? He was up there, way up there.”
Wheaton North had fashioned the run of play for the bulk of the first 20 minutes. A rush from junior forward Josh Simon precipitated a corner-kick in the third minute. Falcons senior forward Thang Pau had a thing for keeping the ball at his feet for lengthy stretches.
Glenbard North created its first significant threat in the 15th minute. Panthers senior reserve midfielder Luis Roman launched a perfect left-footed cross to the head of senior forward Pablo DeLaCruz, who just missed solving Falcons junior keeper Joe Wakeman (four saves) at the far post.
Senior Tyler Nack’s right leg, meanwhile, was just getting warmed up as the visitors assumed the run of play. The Glenbard North senior — built like a power forward in basketball and blessed with a leg that would be coveted by any football coach in need of a punter — boomed clears and crushed free kicks.
And he ran unusually fast for a 6-foot-2-ish booter.
“You can put him anywhere on the field,” Glenbard North senior back Mark Szklarczyk said. “Anywhere. What I also like about him is his positivity — it’s always there.”
Moments after a Falcons corner squirted free near the top of the box in the 55th minute, Wheaton North’s Leon created space for himself and uncorked a promising shot. It, alas, flew high.
Dulzer struck the stalemate-breaker 10 minutes later.
“It’s always like this in our games with Glenbard North,” Stassen said. “Back and forth,
gritty, chippy, a little talky-talky. I told our guys before the start, ‘Be prepared to battle or
go home right now.’ I’m glad they stuck around.
“What a performance. A win like this, it’s definitely near the top, one of our better ones, because we stood up and fought; and our middle three was a unit in constant rotation.”
“It was an unfortunate loss,” Glenbard North junior midfielder Andy Pena said. “We worked hard, really hard, and we have to keep working.”
Wheaton North hosts Wheaton Warrenville South on its Senior Night at 6:30 Sept. 27. Glenbard North hosts Glenbard East in a Glenbard Cup contest Saturday at 2 p.m.
Footnotes
Flashback: Wheaton North and Glenbard North had to settle for a 1-1 tie atop the Panthers’ pitch in another uber-competitive DuKane test last fall. …The makeup date for Tuesday night’s rainout between Wheaton North and Lake Park is October 1, with the kickoff at Lake Park scheduled for 10 a.m. … Wheaton North’s game Tuesday night was only its second home contest of the season. “We’ve played more games at Lake Park than we have at home,” Stassen said, alluding to the three games his Falcons had played in Roselle in the Hillner Classic on Aug. 25, Aug. 27 and Sept. 1. … Stassen, on Simon: “He was an absolute workhorse tonight.” … More praise for Glenbard North’s Nack: “He plays with passion, every game,” Pena said. “He’s always lifting our team.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK Stavros Veremis
D Diego Navarro
D Mark Szklarczyk
D Tyler Nack
D Ayan Sheikh
D Diego Chicas
MF Colin Hernandez
MF Andy Pena
F Adan Solorio
F Pablo DeLaCruz
F Andy Rodriguez
Wheaton North
GK Joe Wakeman
D William Bonga
D Anthony Rosignal
D Axel Leon
D Kyle Komro
D Lucas Klingler
MF Carson Bilut
MF Tim Dulzer
MF Julian Ospina
F Josh Simon
F Thang Pau
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Anthony Rosignal, sr., D, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Wheaton North — Dulzer (Lee), 65’