Bartlett, Glenbard N. get on-the-job training
Young squads gain seasoning in competitive 1-1 draw
By Gary Larsen
STREAMWOOD -- Bartlett and Glenbard North have two young teams that are evolving and improving during the early part of the 2017 season. After they played to a 1-1 nonconference tie on Thursday at Millenium Field, both sides had reason for optimism.
For Bartlett, encouragement came thanks to an attack that showed cohesion and purpose. The Hawks also showed resolve after falling behind 1-0 and then finding a leveling goal before halftime.
Bartlett pressured well throughout the game but sent many-a-shot just wide of frame.
“We just ran out of time,” Hawks coach Victor Marquez said.
Bartlett has struggled in the win column thus far but showed throughout Thursday’s contest that they’re ready to turn a corner.
“These last couple games we’ve played well, and that’s motivating us in practice to go harder and harder,” sophomore defensive mid Nico Gomez said.
Glenbard North sees hope on the horizon with an attack that’s slowly finding chemistry. It’s backline has only given up only three goals in six games, holding down the fort in fine fashion as the offense finds its footing.
“I really liked our effort,” Panthers coach Gregg Koeller said. “Especially in the second half, I thought we did a lot of really nice things.”
All of Thursday’s scoring came before halftime. Glenbard North senior Best Emena sent a free kick whistling to the back netting from 20 yards at 21 minutes. Bartlett sophomore Hernan Garcia scored at 32 minutes from near the post in the run of play to end the day’s scoring.
Bartlett (0-5-2) sent two good chances wide through 15 minutes before Emena buried his free kick to give Glenbard North (2-2-2) its 1-0 lead. Emena is a creative and dynamic attacking player who consistently makes his presence felt for the Panthers.
“We’re playing it central to Best (Emena), and once he gets it, he knows what to do,” Glenbard North senior defender Danny Le said. “He’s finding the outside guys very well, and they know to stay wide, whether he’s playing it through or playing to feet to them.”
Bartlett’s Marquez was unhappy with the defensive lapse that allowed Emena to score on the free kick, but pleased with the way his side answered.
“What’s important to me is that after that goal it would have been easy to be demoralized,” Marquez said. “But they reacted quickly to it and being able to tie the game in the first half was big. Then you go into halftime with a different state of mind.”
Bartlett’s Omar Chavez sent a good chance wide and teammate Rudy Reyes forced a save from Glenbard North starting keeper Sam Pauling just before halftime.
Glenbard North’s Fabrizio Guajardo got behind the Bartlett defense one minute into the second half before sending a chance just wide with Hawks keeper Joe Dimas charging off his line.
Dimas is a senior attacking player for Bartlett, but he did yeoman’s work in net on Thursday filling in for Bartlett’s top two keepers on the depth chart --, sophomore keepers Zachary Rebac and Jeremy Taylor are currently battling injuries.
Reyes Gomez sent scoring chances wide in the second half for Bartlett. Glenbard North’s Abood Nasr sent a good chance high of frame at 61 minutes.
The Panthers applied solid pressure in the game’s final 10 minutes, which included a waved-off goal when Anthony Martinez was ruled offsides.
“It would have been nice to get that goal. but you can’t argue with the official. He’s right there in the right spot,” Koeller said. “But I’m very pleased that we were getting those opportunities. It was a very good effort. The young kids are getting more confidence, their rotations are getting better.”
The Panthers’ backline of Le, Evan Scott, Ode Emena, and Ben Solano played well in holding a spirited Hawks attack mainly to shots taken from distance. Freshman Martin Argirov took over in net for Pauling in the second half; the two have split time in net all season.
“I’m confident with both of them as long as they’re communicating, and they’re both doing well this season.” Le said. “We’re pretty good in back. (Solano) was on JV last year, and he has really been playing well.”
Le’s odyssey through North’s program will end with him serving as a key cog on the backline, after he spent last year as an outside mid. Koeller applauded Le’s contribution after Thursday’s effort.
“He’s one of those kids that will do whatever you ask him to do,” Koeller said. “He’s smart enough to attack out of the back for us. He makes runs up the field, and we’re getting some opportunities from our outside backs. We’re not just standing back there whacking the ball back upfield. We’re starting to create plays from back there.”
Le’s move to the Panthers’ backline was initially situational but soon became necessary.
“During summer league I had a slight injury, and we didn’t want to put too many miles on my legs, so I dropped back,” he said. “Now I’m there to help cement our backline and hopefully give us a better chance to win.
“I played forward my entire life. After the game, (assistant) coach (Marco) Parducci told me that not all defenders know how to bring up the ball, but that’s something I’ve always been able to do.”
Like Le, Gomez changed positions for Bartlett since last year. Now the Hawks’ defensive mid, Marquez calls Gomez “the glue that holds us together.” Gomez was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his solid play Thursday.
“If you can find a player that can play defensive midfielder by himself, you gain a position,” Marquez said. “Even in professional soccer right now, you see two players playing that position. Very few have one player there.
“He plays what Sergio (Busquets) plays for Barcelona, and for the Spanish national team. Obviously other players provide help, but (Gomez) plays that position by himself for us, so we gain an extra position in the attack.”
Gomez was an outside defender for last year’s Hawks.
“The day coach told me I was going to play defensive mid this year, I stayed up until 2 a.m. watching video of (Busquets) so I could learn that position,” Gomez said.
“There was a theme in all of the videos, in terms of how he’s sort of the king of simplicity. He never looked for the spectacular pass, or looked to be a star player. He looked to get the ball, get rid of it, and get his team up. I feel like I can control things more now, and I can set a tempo so much easier from midfield.
“I think if we could have taken smarter shots today, it would have been an amazing game that we just played. The chemistry is starting to click. Last year our chemistry was pretty bad but with the amount of returning players we have, it’s clicking a lot faster.”
Gomez also applauded the play of Bartlett’s backline. Austin Cichon, Sebastian Gonzalez, Hector Rebollar, and Zander Zamora stood tall in protecting temporarily converted field-player Dimas in net.
Starting lineups
Bartlett:
GK Joey Dimas
D Austin Cichon
D Sebastian Gonzalez
D Hector Rebollar
D Zander Zamora
DM Nico Gomez
M Carlos Alfaro
M Hernan Garcia
M Kevin Nava
F Brandon Palid
F Johnny Andrade
Glenbard North:
GK Sam Pauling
D Evan Scott
D Ode Emena
D Danny Le
D Ben Solano
M Best Emena
M Erik Lopez
M Anthony Martinez
M Brian Dasso
F Fabrizio Guajardo
F Brian Dasso
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nico Gomez, so., DMF, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half:
Glenbard North: B. Emena
Bartlett: Garcia
Young squads gain seasoning in competitive 1-1 draw
By Gary Larsen
STREAMWOOD -- Bartlett and Glenbard North have two young teams that are evolving and improving during the early part of the 2017 season. After they played to a 1-1 nonconference tie on Thursday at Millenium Field, both sides had reason for optimism.
For Bartlett, encouragement came thanks to an attack that showed cohesion and purpose. The Hawks also showed resolve after falling behind 1-0 and then finding a leveling goal before halftime.
Bartlett pressured well throughout the game but sent many-a-shot just wide of frame.
“We just ran out of time,” Hawks coach Victor Marquez said.
Bartlett has struggled in the win column thus far but showed throughout Thursday’s contest that they’re ready to turn a corner.
“These last couple games we’ve played well, and that’s motivating us in practice to go harder and harder,” sophomore defensive mid Nico Gomez said.
Glenbard North sees hope on the horizon with an attack that’s slowly finding chemistry. It’s backline has only given up only three goals in six games, holding down the fort in fine fashion as the offense finds its footing.
“I really liked our effort,” Panthers coach Gregg Koeller said. “Especially in the second half, I thought we did a lot of really nice things.”
All of Thursday’s scoring came before halftime. Glenbard North senior Best Emena sent a free kick whistling to the back netting from 20 yards at 21 minutes. Bartlett sophomore Hernan Garcia scored at 32 minutes from near the post in the run of play to end the day’s scoring.
Bartlett (0-5-2) sent two good chances wide through 15 minutes before Emena buried his free kick to give Glenbard North (2-2-2) its 1-0 lead. Emena is a creative and dynamic attacking player who consistently makes his presence felt for the Panthers.
“We’re playing it central to Best (Emena), and once he gets it, he knows what to do,” Glenbard North senior defender Danny Le said. “He’s finding the outside guys very well, and they know to stay wide, whether he’s playing it through or playing to feet to them.”
Bartlett’s Marquez was unhappy with the defensive lapse that allowed Emena to score on the free kick, but pleased with the way his side answered.
“What’s important to me is that after that goal it would have been easy to be demoralized,” Marquez said. “But they reacted quickly to it and being able to tie the game in the first half was big. Then you go into halftime with a different state of mind.”
Bartlett’s Omar Chavez sent a good chance wide and teammate Rudy Reyes forced a save from Glenbard North starting keeper Sam Pauling just before halftime.
Glenbard North’s Fabrizio Guajardo got behind the Bartlett defense one minute into the second half before sending a chance just wide with Hawks keeper Joe Dimas charging off his line.
Dimas is a senior attacking player for Bartlett, but he did yeoman’s work in net on Thursday filling in for Bartlett’s top two keepers on the depth chart --, sophomore keepers Zachary Rebac and Jeremy Taylor are currently battling injuries.
Reyes Gomez sent scoring chances wide in the second half for Bartlett. Glenbard North’s Abood Nasr sent a good chance high of frame at 61 minutes.
The Panthers applied solid pressure in the game’s final 10 minutes, which included a waved-off goal when Anthony Martinez was ruled offsides.
“It would have been nice to get that goal. but you can’t argue with the official. He’s right there in the right spot,” Koeller said. “But I’m very pleased that we were getting those opportunities. It was a very good effort. The young kids are getting more confidence, their rotations are getting better.”
The Panthers’ backline of Le, Evan Scott, Ode Emena, and Ben Solano played well in holding a spirited Hawks attack mainly to shots taken from distance. Freshman Martin Argirov took over in net for Pauling in the second half; the two have split time in net all season.
“I’m confident with both of them as long as they’re communicating, and they’re both doing well this season.” Le said. “We’re pretty good in back. (Solano) was on JV last year, and he has really been playing well.”
Le’s odyssey through North’s program will end with him serving as a key cog on the backline, after he spent last year as an outside mid. Koeller applauded Le’s contribution after Thursday’s effort.
“He’s one of those kids that will do whatever you ask him to do,” Koeller said. “He’s smart enough to attack out of the back for us. He makes runs up the field, and we’re getting some opportunities from our outside backs. We’re not just standing back there whacking the ball back upfield. We’re starting to create plays from back there.”
Le’s move to the Panthers’ backline was initially situational but soon became necessary.
“During summer league I had a slight injury, and we didn’t want to put too many miles on my legs, so I dropped back,” he said. “Now I’m there to help cement our backline and hopefully give us a better chance to win.
“I played forward my entire life. After the game, (assistant) coach (Marco) Parducci told me that not all defenders know how to bring up the ball, but that’s something I’ve always been able to do.”
Like Le, Gomez changed positions for Bartlett since last year. Now the Hawks’ defensive mid, Marquez calls Gomez “the glue that holds us together.” Gomez was named Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his solid play Thursday.
“If you can find a player that can play defensive midfielder by himself, you gain a position,” Marquez said. “Even in professional soccer right now, you see two players playing that position. Very few have one player there.
“He plays what Sergio (Busquets) plays for Barcelona, and for the Spanish national team. Obviously other players provide help, but (Gomez) plays that position by himself for us, so we gain an extra position in the attack.”
Gomez was an outside defender for last year’s Hawks.
“The day coach told me I was going to play defensive mid this year, I stayed up until 2 a.m. watching video of (Busquets) so I could learn that position,” Gomez said.
“There was a theme in all of the videos, in terms of how he’s sort of the king of simplicity. He never looked for the spectacular pass, or looked to be a star player. He looked to get the ball, get rid of it, and get his team up. I feel like I can control things more now, and I can set a tempo so much easier from midfield.
“I think if we could have taken smarter shots today, it would have been an amazing game that we just played. The chemistry is starting to click. Last year our chemistry was pretty bad but with the amount of returning players we have, it’s clicking a lot faster.”
Gomez also applauded the play of Bartlett’s backline. Austin Cichon, Sebastian Gonzalez, Hector Rebollar, and Zander Zamora stood tall in protecting temporarily converted field-player Dimas in net.
Starting lineups
Bartlett:
GK Joey Dimas
D Austin Cichon
D Sebastian Gonzalez
D Hector Rebollar
D Zander Zamora
DM Nico Gomez
M Carlos Alfaro
M Hernan Garcia
M Kevin Nava
F Brandon Palid
F Johnny Andrade
Glenbard North:
GK Sam Pauling
D Evan Scott
D Ode Emena
D Danny Le
D Ben Solano
M Best Emena
M Erik Lopez
M Anthony Martinez
M Brian Dasso
F Fabrizio Guajardo
F Brian Dasso
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nico Gomez, so., DMF, Bartlett
Scoring summary
First half:
Glenbard North: B. Emena
Bartlett: Garcia