Glenbard North survives WWS comeback
Panthers extend unbeaten streak in 2-1 Dukane win
By Dave Owen
WHEATON – Hitting peak form at playoff time is goal one for every team.
Glenbard North’s 2-1 win Tuesday at Wheaton Warrenville South had both teams feeling those positive vibes.
For the Panthers (9-8-2, 3-2-1 in the DuKane Conference), two nice transition goals in the first half provided an early impetus towards what is developing into a strong October.
“Heading towards the end of the season I feel like we’re ready for regionals,” said Panthers senior Ode Emena, whose team is 2-0-2 in the last four games. “We’re more focused and more disciplined as opposed to midseason and the beginning of the season.”
Said Panthers coach Spero Mandakas: “We’ve had four positive results in a row, so it’s just keeping up that momentum and keeping the pace.
“But we know we can’t let teams hang around and not put the pedal down. That’s something we’ll keep focusing on.”
For the Tigers (6-7-1, 2-4-0), a high-energy second half allowed them to not only hang around, but nearly overcome a late two-goal deficit.
“I feel like finally we kind of stepped forward in the second half instead of taking the foot off,” WWS senior Nick McGrath said.
“Usually we give up some more goals in the second half, but this was the opposite. We knew that we needed to get two goals back, and sadly we only got one. But it’s a lot better, the way we stepped forward.”
Bouncing back wasn’t easy, as a great Tigers chance in the 13th minute turned instead into a showcase for Glenbard North’s electric offense.
After a combination play by McGrath and Jackson Moran produced a WWS shot off the post, the Panthers generated the ultimate momentum reversal.
A defensive clear and then a pass upfield by midfielder Raul Pasillas found Gabriel Jurado, who won the race to the send and scored to put Glenbard North up 1-0.
Wheaton Warrenville South was stunned.
“I headed it,” McGrath said, “it kind of skimmed off and hit the post off him (Moran). Then 60 yards downfield (and a Panthers goal) – it was surreal, honestly.
“We hit the post, and they just ran down the field with it. It’s really just a matter of sprinting back after getting unlucky. We just have to keep our heads up, sprint back and try to win the ball.”
Jurado saw the counterattack chance develop, then let his speed and scoring sense take over.
“I was making a run at like the 40,” he said. “We played it really fast; Raul gave me a good ball. I just cut in and took the shot and scored.”
Said Mandakas: “We find Raul’s feet, Gabe makes a good, hard run, and the ball’s into space. And when that ball is into space, they’re not going to catch up to him (Jurado). He’s great at finishing.”
Seeing a possible 1-0 lead for his team swerve into a 1-0 deficit seconds later, Tigers coach Guy Callipari was less technical in his analysis of the sequence.
“The good, the bad and the ugly all in one play right there,” he said.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Glenbard North was about to make things even uglier.
Less than a minute later, a combination play by Nathaniel Enriquez and Pasillas was the catalyst for Enriquez's goal that put the Panthers up 2-0 with 26:40 left in the first half.
“Nathaniel finds a good ball in the midfield, and lays it off,” Mandakas said. “Raul again with a good assist breaks the backline, and a classy finish (by Enriquez).
“We’ve worked that in training the past week, so that was good to see.”
But not so good from the Tigers’ perspective.
“It wasn’t a great response after we gave up one,” Callipari said, “but their second goal was textbook transition and not much you can do with that. A perfect weighted ball and the perfect stride, and they’re capable of making you pay the price.”
In a matter of minutes, the Panthers had turned a sluggish start into a great first half.
“We had a slow first five to 10 minutes, then we started combining,” Mandakas said. “Our midfield started doing good work, and our wingers were checking back combining with the midfield.
“That was creating a lot of chances, and once we were able to do that, combine and get behind their backline, we were able to create some solid chances. And we have some good finishers.”
Holding a two-goal halftime lead for the first time all season was especially nice for the Panthers.
“Many of the games we play, we don’t get the first goal and that hurts us,” Glenbard North senior Ode Emena said. “So it was really nice we got the first goal, and that drove us to get the second goal.”
Said Callipari: “We let 40 minutes get away from us, and five minutes in particular.”
The Tigers’ energized second half nearly made up for that.
“We have a lot of seniors on this team who aren’t going to play on this field many more times,” McGrath said, “so basically I just told everyone to play for the seniors and play for each other.
“There’s only a limited amount of time on this field for everyone, so you have to make the most of it for the whole team.”
After producing three shots in the first half, the Tigers were revved up from the start of the second.
One minute in, Eric Vargas’ 20-yard shot was blocked by Panthers defender Ramon Acosta. That marked the first punch from the Wheaton Warrenville South rally.
“They responded really well when they could have been pointing fingers,” Callipari said. “And we had a lot of guys come in and put in some good minutes, like Eladio (Reyes-Yanez) and Eric (Vargas) and Christian (Munoz). It was nice to watch.”
The visiting Panthers expected no less.
“We talked about at halftime that these guys (WWS) weren’t going to slow down or roll over,” Mandakas said. “And the first 20 minutes (of the half), they were just zinging it all over the place and kind of disrupted what we wanted to do.”
An Ethan Van Pouke 50-50 win and clear from 20 yards out and a Chris Arroyo steal in the box were two of the defensive denials by the Panthers in the first 12 minutes of the half.
But the Tigers continued to push. With 20:15 left, Munoz’s high drive from the 10-yard-line left of the box required a leaping catch at the crossbar by Panthers goalkeeper Martin Argirov.
Then less than two minutes later, Wheaton South’s surging aggressiveness produced an offensive zone advantage – and a 2-1 score.
Paul Thalmann’s win of a loose ball 25 yards out set up McGrath for a left-side rush. Drawing a defender and the goalkeeper, McGrath sent a perfect cross to Thalmann in front for a putaway inside the right post.
“Paul Thalmann won it, and I just kept going with it,” McGrath said. “The keeper came out, and I saw out of the corner of my eye to play it back across. It was pretty much textbook. But Paul started that all – all props to him.”
Between the increased offensive push and a limiting of Panthers second half chances, Callipari saw plenty of positives.
“I like the combination of Paul a little bit higher up in conjunction with Nick,” Callipari said. “They had some fair ideas together.
“And the backline did a nice job again today, Sam (Schlegel) and Rollin (Thang), and Ben (Webber) came in and asserted himself in the center.
“That gave us a little more pace centrally speaking to try to upset some that transitional flair that they (the Panthers) have. I thought we rallied really well. They didn’t get behind us again.”
But after the Wheaton South goal, Glenbard North’s defense refused to wilt the rest of the way.
“Our backline has been really solid lately,” Mandakas said. “It hasn’t been that we’ve been getting beat in the buildup or throughout play. It’s where they’re countering us, and we don’t have numbers back.
“A lot of credit to Ren (Santillan) and Arroyo, and inserting Ode in there to kind of give us some stability has been key. He can play all over the field, and we took him out of the backline (for a rest), and they score two minutes later.”
Converted midfielder Emena’s strong efforts Tuesday earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“In the last two weeks we transitioned Ode to the outside back,” Mandakas said, “and with that he’s been able to create a lot of chances for us and be rock solid defensively.
“When we get into possession it’s almost like we have five midfielders with our outside back, so him being back there with his poise, control and distribution has been really key.
“He’s been a good fit back there,” Mandakas added, “but at any point he can go up to midfield or striker or winger. He’s very versatile.”
Wheaton Warrenville Sout threatened again with 17:30 left, when McGrath’s 10-yard shot on a left-side run was narrowly denied by Argirov’s leaping one-handed deflection away.
But Glenbard North also still had its chances.
During an extended threat with 16 minutes left, Nestor Dominguez and Owen Van Pouke had consecutive shots in the box blocked by Tigers defenders – followed by an Emmanuel Castanon 25-yard shot that was deflected just wide left.
The ensuing Panthers corner kick was blocked by Gabe Waszak and cleared.
Then with 12:40 left, Dominguez’s sprint for a long send was barely denied when Tigers second half goalkeeper Marco Chavez dived on the loose ball.
But if the Panthers appeared to be regaining some momentum, a Tigers push in the final minutes of play would again change that.
Nice wins by Arroyo and Emena just outside the box with 2:45 left quieted one threat, and an Erik Flores block 30 yards out with 1:05 to go had a similar effect.
But taking a page from the Panthers’ first half book, the Tigers used a long send in the final seconds to nearly produce the tying goal.
With a Wheaton South runner closing in, Argirov came off his line to swat the send away. But Schlegel was able to corral the loose ball, settle control, and rocket a 16-yard shot that went high and just wide right with 20 seconds left.
“If there’s five or 10 more minutes in this game, I don’t know what could have happened,” Mandakas said. “A lot of credit to Wheaton Warrenville South for not giving up.”
Callipari had praise for the Panthers, and his own side.
“They’re a class act team,” Callipari said of Glenbard North. “I like the way they keep the ball, the way they manage it and try to play out of the back.
“We just felt they were going to make mistakes and be a little more fatigued, and we played a little bit more numbers in the second half.”
But the Panthers’ ability to cash in on their chances made the final difference.
“If we could take five minutes out of this game, it would be a whole different game,” McGrath said of the two-goal Glenbard North sequence.
“Even the first 10 minutes (of the game) we had a good flow. They had most of the possession the first 10 minutes, but we were staying contained, and we didn’t give up any unnecessary shots. It was just the two that they scored on that obviously changed the game.”
But then came the second half.
“We got the one and we continued to threaten right to the end,” Callipari said. “It was just a matter of finishing and having some more confidence in the final third. But this is a good step forward.”
The Tigers have a busy weekend, with 50th anniversary festivities Saturday against Hoffman Estates and the Sunday Showcase at Lyons Soccer Complex.
“We have a great itinerary set up for the day,” Callipari said. “I’m really excited to see guys like (former Chicago Sting and national team player) Charlie Fajkus and a lot of guys from that ‘74 team that placed second (at state).
“We have a lot to play for this weekend.”
As for Glenbard North, hard work is paying off.
“We practice what we need to do, and get the job done in the game,” Jurado said.
Said Emena: “We go over film and we watch our mistakes, what we did right and what we did wrong and what we can improve.”
And improvement is coming at a very good time.
“Heading towards the end of the season I feel like we’re ready for regionals,” Emena said. “We’re more focused and more disciplined as opposed to midseason and the beginning of the season.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK: Martin Argirov
D: Ramon Acosta
D: Ren Santillan
D: Chris Arroyo
D: Ode Emena
M: Raul Pasillas
M: Emmanuel Castanon
M: Ethan Van Pouke
M: Erik Hernandez Flores
M: Gabriel Jurado
F: Nestor Dominguez
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Ramsey Khayal
D: Jackson Moran
D: Sam Schlegel
D: Jason Aranda
D: Rolin Thang
M: Kevin Stumbris
M: Ryan Dufty
M: Paul Thalmann
M: Jack Cooper
F: Cristian Munoz
F: Nick McGrath
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ode Emena, sr., D, Glenbard North
Scoring summary
First half
GN- Gabriel Jurado (Raul Pasillas assist), 13’
GN- Nathaniel Enriquez (Pasillas), 14’
Second half
WWS- Paul Thalmann (Nick McGrath), 62’
Panthers extend unbeaten streak in 2-1 Dukane win
By Dave Owen
WHEATON – Hitting peak form at playoff time is goal one for every team.
Glenbard North’s 2-1 win Tuesday at Wheaton Warrenville South had both teams feeling those positive vibes.
For the Panthers (9-8-2, 3-2-1 in the DuKane Conference), two nice transition goals in the first half provided an early impetus towards what is developing into a strong October.
“Heading towards the end of the season I feel like we’re ready for regionals,” said Panthers senior Ode Emena, whose team is 2-0-2 in the last four games. “We’re more focused and more disciplined as opposed to midseason and the beginning of the season.”
Said Panthers coach Spero Mandakas: “We’ve had four positive results in a row, so it’s just keeping up that momentum and keeping the pace.
“But we know we can’t let teams hang around and not put the pedal down. That’s something we’ll keep focusing on.”
For the Tigers (6-7-1, 2-4-0), a high-energy second half allowed them to not only hang around, but nearly overcome a late two-goal deficit.
“I feel like finally we kind of stepped forward in the second half instead of taking the foot off,” WWS senior Nick McGrath said.
“Usually we give up some more goals in the second half, but this was the opposite. We knew that we needed to get two goals back, and sadly we only got one. But it’s a lot better, the way we stepped forward.”
Bouncing back wasn’t easy, as a great Tigers chance in the 13th minute turned instead into a showcase for Glenbard North’s electric offense.
After a combination play by McGrath and Jackson Moran produced a WWS shot off the post, the Panthers generated the ultimate momentum reversal.
A defensive clear and then a pass upfield by midfielder Raul Pasillas found Gabriel Jurado, who won the race to the send and scored to put Glenbard North up 1-0.
Wheaton Warrenville South was stunned.
“I headed it,” McGrath said, “it kind of skimmed off and hit the post off him (Moran). Then 60 yards downfield (and a Panthers goal) – it was surreal, honestly.
“We hit the post, and they just ran down the field with it. It’s really just a matter of sprinting back after getting unlucky. We just have to keep our heads up, sprint back and try to win the ball.”
Jurado saw the counterattack chance develop, then let his speed and scoring sense take over.
“I was making a run at like the 40,” he said. “We played it really fast; Raul gave me a good ball. I just cut in and took the shot and scored.”
Said Mandakas: “We find Raul’s feet, Gabe makes a good, hard run, and the ball’s into space. And when that ball is into space, they’re not going to catch up to him (Jurado). He’s great at finishing.”
Seeing a possible 1-0 lead for his team swerve into a 1-0 deficit seconds later, Tigers coach Guy Callipari was less technical in his analysis of the sequence.
“The good, the bad and the ugly all in one play right there,” he said.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, Glenbard North was about to make things even uglier.
Less than a minute later, a combination play by Nathaniel Enriquez and Pasillas was the catalyst for Enriquez's goal that put the Panthers up 2-0 with 26:40 left in the first half.
“Nathaniel finds a good ball in the midfield, and lays it off,” Mandakas said. “Raul again with a good assist breaks the backline, and a classy finish (by Enriquez).
“We’ve worked that in training the past week, so that was good to see.”
But not so good from the Tigers’ perspective.
“It wasn’t a great response after we gave up one,” Callipari said, “but their second goal was textbook transition and not much you can do with that. A perfect weighted ball and the perfect stride, and they’re capable of making you pay the price.”
In a matter of minutes, the Panthers had turned a sluggish start into a great first half.
“We had a slow first five to 10 minutes, then we started combining,” Mandakas said. “Our midfield started doing good work, and our wingers were checking back combining with the midfield.
“That was creating a lot of chances, and once we were able to do that, combine and get behind their backline, we were able to create some solid chances. And we have some good finishers.”
Holding a two-goal halftime lead for the first time all season was especially nice for the Panthers.
“Many of the games we play, we don’t get the first goal and that hurts us,” Glenbard North senior Ode Emena said. “So it was really nice we got the first goal, and that drove us to get the second goal.”
Said Callipari: “We let 40 minutes get away from us, and five minutes in particular.”
The Tigers’ energized second half nearly made up for that.
“We have a lot of seniors on this team who aren’t going to play on this field many more times,” McGrath said, “so basically I just told everyone to play for the seniors and play for each other.
“There’s only a limited amount of time on this field for everyone, so you have to make the most of it for the whole team.”
After producing three shots in the first half, the Tigers were revved up from the start of the second.
One minute in, Eric Vargas’ 20-yard shot was blocked by Panthers defender Ramon Acosta. That marked the first punch from the Wheaton Warrenville South rally.
“They responded really well when they could have been pointing fingers,” Callipari said. “And we had a lot of guys come in and put in some good minutes, like Eladio (Reyes-Yanez) and Eric (Vargas) and Christian (Munoz). It was nice to watch.”
The visiting Panthers expected no less.
“We talked about at halftime that these guys (WWS) weren’t going to slow down or roll over,” Mandakas said. “And the first 20 minutes (of the half), they were just zinging it all over the place and kind of disrupted what we wanted to do.”
An Ethan Van Pouke 50-50 win and clear from 20 yards out and a Chris Arroyo steal in the box were two of the defensive denials by the Panthers in the first 12 minutes of the half.
But the Tigers continued to push. With 20:15 left, Munoz’s high drive from the 10-yard-line left of the box required a leaping catch at the crossbar by Panthers goalkeeper Martin Argirov.
Then less than two minutes later, Wheaton South’s surging aggressiveness produced an offensive zone advantage – and a 2-1 score.
Paul Thalmann’s win of a loose ball 25 yards out set up McGrath for a left-side rush. Drawing a defender and the goalkeeper, McGrath sent a perfect cross to Thalmann in front for a putaway inside the right post.
“Paul Thalmann won it, and I just kept going with it,” McGrath said. “The keeper came out, and I saw out of the corner of my eye to play it back across. It was pretty much textbook. But Paul started that all – all props to him.”
Between the increased offensive push and a limiting of Panthers second half chances, Callipari saw plenty of positives.
“I like the combination of Paul a little bit higher up in conjunction with Nick,” Callipari said. “They had some fair ideas together.
“And the backline did a nice job again today, Sam (Schlegel) and Rollin (Thang), and Ben (Webber) came in and asserted himself in the center.
“That gave us a little more pace centrally speaking to try to upset some that transitional flair that they (the Panthers) have. I thought we rallied really well. They didn’t get behind us again.”
But after the Wheaton South goal, Glenbard North’s defense refused to wilt the rest of the way.
“Our backline has been really solid lately,” Mandakas said. “It hasn’t been that we’ve been getting beat in the buildup or throughout play. It’s where they’re countering us, and we don’t have numbers back.
“A lot of credit to Ren (Santillan) and Arroyo, and inserting Ode in there to kind of give us some stability has been key. He can play all over the field, and we took him out of the backline (for a rest), and they score two minutes later.”
Converted midfielder Emena’s strong efforts Tuesday earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“In the last two weeks we transitioned Ode to the outside back,” Mandakas said, “and with that he’s been able to create a lot of chances for us and be rock solid defensively.
“When we get into possession it’s almost like we have five midfielders with our outside back, so him being back there with his poise, control and distribution has been really key.
“He’s been a good fit back there,” Mandakas added, “but at any point he can go up to midfield or striker or winger. He’s very versatile.”
Wheaton Warrenville Sout threatened again with 17:30 left, when McGrath’s 10-yard shot on a left-side run was narrowly denied by Argirov’s leaping one-handed deflection away.
But Glenbard North also still had its chances.
During an extended threat with 16 minutes left, Nestor Dominguez and Owen Van Pouke had consecutive shots in the box blocked by Tigers defenders – followed by an Emmanuel Castanon 25-yard shot that was deflected just wide left.
The ensuing Panthers corner kick was blocked by Gabe Waszak and cleared.
Then with 12:40 left, Dominguez’s sprint for a long send was barely denied when Tigers second half goalkeeper Marco Chavez dived on the loose ball.
But if the Panthers appeared to be regaining some momentum, a Tigers push in the final minutes of play would again change that.
Nice wins by Arroyo and Emena just outside the box with 2:45 left quieted one threat, and an Erik Flores block 30 yards out with 1:05 to go had a similar effect.
But taking a page from the Panthers’ first half book, the Tigers used a long send in the final seconds to nearly produce the tying goal.
With a Wheaton South runner closing in, Argirov came off his line to swat the send away. But Schlegel was able to corral the loose ball, settle control, and rocket a 16-yard shot that went high and just wide right with 20 seconds left.
“If there’s five or 10 more minutes in this game, I don’t know what could have happened,” Mandakas said. “A lot of credit to Wheaton Warrenville South for not giving up.”
Callipari had praise for the Panthers, and his own side.
“They’re a class act team,” Callipari said of Glenbard North. “I like the way they keep the ball, the way they manage it and try to play out of the back.
“We just felt they were going to make mistakes and be a little more fatigued, and we played a little bit more numbers in the second half.”
But the Panthers’ ability to cash in on their chances made the final difference.
“If we could take five minutes out of this game, it would be a whole different game,” McGrath said of the two-goal Glenbard North sequence.
“Even the first 10 minutes (of the game) we had a good flow. They had most of the possession the first 10 minutes, but we were staying contained, and we didn’t give up any unnecessary shots. It was just the two that they scored on that obviously changed the game.”
But then came the second half.
“We got the one and we continued to threaten right to the end,” Callipari said. “It was just a matter of finishing and having some more confidence in the final third. But this is a good step forward.”
The Tigers have a busy weekend, with 50th anniversary festivities Saturday against Hoffman Estates and the Sunday Showcase at Lyons Soccer Complex.
“We have a great itinerary set up for the day,” Callipari said. “I’m really excited to see guys like (former Chicago Sting and national team player) Charlie Fajkus and a lot of guys from that ‘74 team that placed second (at state).
“We have a lot to play for this weekend.”
As for Glenbard North, hard work is paying off.
“We practice what we need to do, and get the job done in the game,” Jurado said.
Said Emena: “We go over film and we watch our mistakes, what we did right and what we did wrong and what we can improve.”
And improvement is coming at a very good time.
“Heading towards the end of the season I feel like we’re ready for regionals,” Emena said. “We’re more focused and more disciplined as opposed to midseason and the beginning of the season.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK: Martin Argirov
D: Ramon Acosta
D: Ren Santillan
D: Chris Arroyo
D: Ode Emena
M: Raul Pasillas
M: Emmanuel Castanon
M: Ethan Van Pouke
M: Erik Hernandez Flores
M: Gabriel Jurado
F: Nestor Dominguez
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Ramsey Khayal
D: Jackson Moran
D: Sam Schlegel
D: Jason Aranda
D: Rolin Thang
M: Kevin Stumbris
M: Ryan Dufty
M: Paul Thalmann
M: Jack Cooper
F: Cristian Munoz
F: Nick McGrath
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ode Emena, sr., D, Glenbard North
Scoring summary
First half
GN- Gabriel Jurado (Raul Pasillas assist), 13’
GN- Nathaniel Enriquez (Pasillas), 14’
Second half
WWS- Paul Thalmann (Nick McGrath), 62’