South Elgin puts it all together
to defeat Glenbard South
5 players score as Storm claims first UEC, home win
By Curt Herron
SOUTH ELGIN -- Reaching the midway point of its regular season with a 1-5-3 season and five defeats in its last six outings, South Elgin definitely needed a spark to turn around the rest of its campaign when it faced Glenbard South in its first Upstate Eight Conference home match on Wednesday.
And thanks to two goals during the first 5:03 of the match and a season-high goal total from five different players, the Storm suddenly has a much different outlook about their prospects following a 5-1 victory over the Raiders.
After collecting eight goals in three draws to start the season, South Elgin (2-5-3, 1-1-0) only managed to score five times in its previous six matches. Its offensive explosion against Glenbard South (6-3-1, 1-1-0), a squad with six shutout wins to its credit, could provide the perfect catalyst for coach Jerzy Skowron's squad, which claimed their first conference and home wins of the season.
Juniors Ethan Scholl and Kendall Andrewin collected the first two goals before senior Kyle Woertendyke gave the hosts a 3-0 halftime advantage. Sophomore Ryan Nguyen and senior Ryan Doherty added the final two scores after the Spartans connected for the only time just over an hour into the match.
Seniors Andrew Montenegro and Rocco Marzullo handed out assists on the first two scores. Junior Zachary Meyer set up the third goal, and Nguyen followed his tally with an assist to cap the scoring outburst and earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
"I give the credit to coach," Nguyen said. "At practice, he's been teaching us a lot of new things and when we do bad, he punishes us by making us run and stuff. We started off pretty rough, because we had a lot of new kids bumping up to varsity.
"This win gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. I feel like we can take on any team right now since we played great and did what we were supposed to do. I like this team, it's great. We have a lot of connections since we hang out a lot. We have great bonding with great friendships both inside and outside of school."
The diversified offensive attack wasn't the team's only strength on the night. The defense featuring seniors Brandon McKee, Andy Rosales and Marzullo and junior Brandon Pina didn't allow the Raiders to get many good chances against the Storm goalkeepers, juniors Luke Bondi and Tyler Buthman, who split the time.
Due to injuries, Scholl, Meyer and Buthman have all moved up to the varsity. The move paid off in a big way and gives the Storm a lot of options as they prepare for local matches against Geneva, Larkin and St. Charles East through next Saturday before finishing with five league contests in their final seven regular-season contests.
"I think the fact that we were finally able to kind of sit back and not have the schedule that the Hillner (Lake Park's Norm Hillner Classic) was throwing at us, where it seemed like it was game after game after game," Skowron said. "We've been forced to throw a lot of new stuff at a young and inexperienced group. We have nine seniors here and maybe five of them played varsity last year.
"So we're finally able to get into the classroom and kind of teach these kids what we're trying to do. What my assistant suggested was something I had never seen before, the way that we're kind of sitting and organizing, and it's proving to be very difficult for other teams. Everything's starting to click for these guys and five guys scored today so that's huge because normally we depend on 13 (Doherty)."
Scholl opened the scoring in the fourth minute following an assist from Montenegro. Andrewin scored on a header that was set up by a pass from Marzullo in the sixth minute to provide the decisive early advantage.
"It really felt great," Scholl said. "It put us in the lead early. I think we knew what was going to happen from that point on, and we scored three more. In the practices that we've been through, we've really been working on getting the ball from the middle third to the final third, and it really worked today with us scoring five goals.
"I think we're on the rise right now. It started out really bad, but it's all mental since we're all talented enough. We have depth on the bench and depth on the field, which we showed with five different people scoring today.
“I like the versatility between us. We have so many players that we can have a dribbling specialist, one that's passing, one that's shooting and a physical monster, it's great all across the board. And if you want a player that could do it all, I would say Andrew Montenegro is that guy."
Both teams had chances between the early scores and the final goal of the opening half. Nguyen and Doherty were denied on attempts while Bondi halted chances from Tevaris Neidecker and Aryan Sandoval.
In the 35th minute, the Storm equaled their season-high totals for goals with three when Meyer sent a pass in front of the net and Woertendyke put in the shot. They had scored three goals three other times, with the last one on September 4 in their first victory of the season, a 3-2 decision over St. Francis at Lake Park.
"All of the process leading up to this, it's amazing to see what coach has done," Montenegro said. "In the past couple of days, it's been sharp practices. He really wants us to execute all that we do in practice, and it's really showing. It's all just a process.
"I feel like we've got the spark right now. It's a pretty big confidence booster, and the record that we have pretty much does not show who we are. Our relationships are great. We're starting to understand how each of us play, and we're playing to our strengths. When somebody steps down, someone is always stepping up for them, and that's big for us."
Buthman took over for Bondi to start the second half and halted a free kick from Hector Gonzalez and another attempt from Yusuf Afzal.
Meanwhile, the Storm continued to apply pressure. Nguyen was turned away twice and Doherty once.
Glenbard South was finally able to capitalize on one of their numerous free kicks when Gonzalez connected from about 30 yards in the 62nd minute to pull his team to within 3-1.
But South Elgin quickly responded to that score with one of its own. In the 64th minute, Nguyen got past defenders and fired in a shot from the side to give the squad a season-high in goals.
Andrewin and Doherty had efforts thwarted, as did the Raiders' Neidecker and Sandoval as the clock wound down. Doherty, the Storm's scoring leader, finally connected in the 77th minute after taking a pass from Nguyen and driving to the net to collect his seventh goal of the season.
"It was nice, but it was frustrating giving up as many fouls as we did at the top of the box, so we have to fix those," said McKee of the Storm's defensive play. "I felt like they gave us a little more time to find spaces. In the second half they played with two strikers, which allowed us to play out more.
"We've been able to improve a lot on some things in the back and midfield and have hammered those out a little, and that's helped in matches.
“I feel like we have a lot of talent; we just have to find a way to put it all together. We have to become a collective unit. I feel like we're slowly getting there and as we get there, we'll get better and better."
Starting lineups
Glenbard South
G Matt Drinane
D Jorge Najera
D Andrew Park
D Jacob Lichtenheld
D Noah Ball
M Aryan Sandoval
M Joseph Kim
M Esteban Godinez
M Hector Gonzalez
F Tevaris Neidecker
F Tres Moore
South Elgin
G Luke Bondi
D Andy Rosales
D Brandon Pina
D Brandon McKee
D Rocco Marzullo
M Andrew Montenegro
M Chris Coria
M Ryan Nguyen
M Zachary Meyer
F Kendall Andrewin
F Ethan Scholl
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ryan Nguyen, so., MF, South Elgin
Scoring summary
First half
SE: Scholl (Montenegro), 4th minute
SE: Andrewin (Marzullo), 6th minute
SE: Woertendyke (Meyer), 35th minute
Second half
GS: Gonzalez, 62nd minute
SE: Nguyen, 64th minute
SE: Doherty (Nguyen), 77th minute
to defeat Glenbard South
5 players score as Storm claims first UEC, home win
By Curt Herron
SOUTH ELGIN -- Reaching the midway point of its regular season with a 1-5-3 season and five defeats in its last six outings, South Elgin definitely needed a spark to turn around the rest of its campaign when it faced Glenbard South in its first Upstate Eight Conference home match on Wednesday.
And thanks to two goals during the first 5:03 of the match and a season-high goal total from five different players, the Storm suddenly has a much different outlook about their prospects following a 5-1 victory over the Raiders.
After collecting eight goals in three draws to start the season, South Elgin (2-5-3, 1-1-0) only managed to score five times in its previous six matches. Its offensive explosion against Glenbard South (6-3-1, 1-1-0), a squad with six shutout wins to its credit, could provide the perfect catalyst for coach Jerzy Skowron's squad, which claimed their first conference and home wins of the season.
Juniors Ethan Scholl and Kendall Andrewin collected the first two goals before senior Kyle Woertendyke gave the hosts a 3-0 halftime advantage. Sophomore Ryan Nguyen and senior Ryan Doherty added the final two scores after the Spartans connected for the only time just over an hour into the match.
Seniors Andrew Montenegro and Rocco Marzullo handed out assists on the first two scores. Junior Zachary Meyer set up the third goal, and Nguyen followed his tally with an assist to cap the scoring outburst and earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
"I give the credit to coach," Nguyen said. "At practice, he's been teaching us a lot of new things and when we do bad, he punishes us by making us run and stuff. We started off pretty rough, because we had a lot of new kids bumping up to varsity.
"This win gives us a lot of confidence moving forward. I feel like we can take on any team right now since we played great and did what we were supposed to do. I like this team, it's great. We have a lot of connections since we hang out a lot. We have great bonding with great friendships both inside and outside of school."
The diversified offensive attack wasn't the team's only strength on the night. The defense featuring seniors Brandon McKee, Andy Rosales and Marzullo and junior Brandon Pina didn't allow the Raiders to get many good chances against the Storm goalkeepers, juniors Luke Bondi and Tyler Buthman, who split the time.
Due to injuries, Scholl, Meyer and Buthman have all moved up to the varsity. The move paid off in a big way and gives the Storm a lot of options as they prepare for local matches against Geneva, Larkin and St. Charles East through next Saturday before finishing with five league contests in their final seven regular-season contests.
"I think the fact that we were finally able to kind of sit back and not have the schedule that the Hillner (Lake Park's Norm Hillner Classic) was throwing at us, where it seemed like it was game after game after game," Skowron said. "We've been forced to throw a lot of new stuff at a young and inexperienced group. We have nine seniors here and maybe five of them played varsity last year.
"So we're finally able to get into the classroom and kind of teach these kids what we're trying to do. What my assistant suggested was something I had never seen before, the way that we're kind of sitting and organizing, and it's proving to be very difficult for other teams. Everything's starting to click for these guys and five guys scored today so that's huge because normally we depend on 13 (Doherty)."
Scholl opened the scoring in the fourth minute following an assist from Montenegro. Andrewin scored on a header that was set up by a pass from Marzullo in the sixth minute to provide the decisive early advantage.
"It really felt great," Scholl said. "It put us in the lead early. I think we knew what was going to happen from that point on, and we scored three more. In the practices that we've been through, we've really been working on getting the ball from the middle third to the final third, and it really worked today with us scoring five goals.
"I think we're on the rise right now. It started out really bad, but it's all mental since we're all talented enough. We have depth on the bench and depth on the field, which we showed with five different people scoring today.
“I like the versatility between us. We have so many players that we can have a dribbling specialist, one that's passing, one that's shooting and a physical monster, it's great all across the board. And if you want a player that could do it all, I would say Andrew Montenegro is that guy."
Both teams had chances between the early scores and the final goal of the opening half. Nguyen and Doherty were denied on attempts while Bondi halted chances from Tevaris Neidecker and Aryan Sandoval.
In the 35th minute, the Storm equaled their season-high totals for goals with three when Meyer sent a pass in front of the net and Woertendyke put in the shot. They had scored three goals three other times, with the last one on September 4 in their first victory of the season, a 3-2 decision over St. Francis at Lake Park.
"All of the process leading up to this, it's amazing to see what coach has done," Montenegro said. "In the past couple of days, it's been sharp practices. He really wants us to execute all that we do in practice, and it's really showing. It's all just a process.
"I feel like we've got the spark right now. It's a pretty big confidence booster, and the record that we have pretty much does not show who we are. Our relationships are great. We're starting to understand how each of us play, and we're playing to our strengths. When somebody steps down, someone is always stepping up for them, and that's big for us."
Buthman took over for Bondi to start the second half and halted a free kick from Hector Gonzalez and another attempt from Yusuf Afzal.
Meanwhile, the Storm continued to apply pressure. Nguyen was turned away twice and Doherty once.
Glenbard South was finally able to capitalize on one of their numerous free kicks when Gonzalez connected from about 30 yards in the 62nd minute to pull his team to within 3-1.
But South Elgin quickly responded to that score with one of its own. In the 64th minute, Nguyen got past defenders and fired in a shot from the side to give the squad a season-high in goals.
Andrewin and Doherty had efforts thwarted, as did the Raiders' Neidecker and Sandoval as the clock wound down. Doherty, the Storm's scoring leader, finally connected in the 77th minute after taking a pass from Nguyen and driving to the net to collect his seventh goal of the season.
"It was nice, but it was frustrating giving up as many fouls as we did at the top of the box, so we have to fix those," said McKee of the Storm's defensive play. "I felt like they gave us a little more time to find spaces. In the second half they played with two strikers, which allowed us to play out more.
"We've been able to improve a lot on some things in the back and midfield and have hammered those out a little, and that's helped in matches.
“I feel like we have a lot of talent; we just have to find a way to put it all together. We have to become a collective unit. I feel like we're slowly getting there and as we get there, we'll get better and better."
Starting lineups
Glenbard South
G Matt Drinane
D Jorge Najera
D Andrew Park
D Jacob Lichtenheld
D Noah Ball
M Aryan Sandoval
M Joseph Kim
M Esteban Godinez
M Hector Gonzalez
F Tevaris Neidecker
F Tres Moore
South Elgin
G Luke Bondi
D Andy Rosales
D Brandon Pina
D Brandon McKee
D Rocco Marzullo
M Andrew Montenegro
M Chris Coria
M Ryan Nguyen
M Zachary Meyer
F Kendall Andrewin
F Ethan Scholl
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Ryan Nguyen, so., MF, South Elgin
Scoring summary
First half
SE: Scholl (Montenegro), 4th minute
SE: Andrewin (Marzullo), 6th minute
SE: Woertendyke (Meyer), 35th minute
Second half
GS: Gonzalez, 62nd minute
SE: Nguyen, 64th minute
SE: Doherty (Nguyen), 77th minute