Oswego East falls to Hinsdale C. comeback
Wolves see lead disappear, but note brights spots in 2-1 loss
By Bill Stone
OSWEGO -- Senior Zach Lass and his Oswego East teammates once again were left with that disappointing feeling after playing Hinsdale Central on Tuesday.
“Honestly, kind of the same,” Lass said.
And in some ways, a bit worse.
In their season and home opener, the Wolves scored first only to see the Red Devils tally twice in the final 25 minutes to pull out the 2-1 victory.
In 2017, the Wolves settled for a 3-3 tie at Hinsdale Central after scoring the first three goals.
“I thought we defended really well in the first half. Second half we started to fall asleep a little bit. That’s where they got us. They outworked us in the second half,” Lass said.
“I think we definitely played better this year than last year. (Losing) was unfortunate, but I think we have a lot to learn from this game.”
Oswego East senior Ford Frazer scored in the seventh minute with an assist from junior Dacarlos Parodis-Yu. But after a fairly even first half, the Red Devils outshot the Wolves 12-5 and led 4-1 in corner kicks in the final 40 minutes.
“I just thought we got a little tired at the end. After we scored instead of building on that score, I thought (Hinsdale Central's) energy and intensity really picked up,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said.
“They controlled the end of the game. Credit to them. We’ve got to do a better job of when we score, just keep building off of that. I hate to say it’s the first game, sounds so cliché, but we’ve got things to work on. We try to schedule a tough nonconference schedule. We want to win every single game, but hopefully these games are getting us ready for conference play and making another run at that title.”
Hinsdale Central junior reserve Ronan Martin scored the game-winner with 5:34 to play by heading home a long cross down left wing by senior reserve Donald Chow.
In his varsity debut, junior Aidan White, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, fueled the Red Devils’ fire when he tied the game with 24:18 remaining by heading home a cross from senior Gareth Maritz.
“At practice, that’s the big thing coach (Mike Wiggins) talks about, just never give up,” White said. “ We were talking how even though we’re down 1-0, we have to come back and keep that same energy the entire game. Once we got the first goal, I think that sparked some extra stuff and then we just got even more hyped,” White said.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to get one so quick (this season). It was a really good cross by Gareth. He just put it right on the back post where I was. He put it right on my head. Luckily I just finished it. The (Oswego East) defense really made us work for it, though. They were shutting us down. They were good, but we were just able to overcome that with that spirit of not giving up.”
Hinsdale Central was no. 18 in the Chicagoland Soccer preseason top 25 rankings. This season, Hinsdale Central has discontinued its annual early-season Red Devil Cup tournament, but the program will continue facing former tournament foes Oswego East, Downers Grove South and Brother Rice on the 2018 schedule.
“The biggest takeaway for us is we suffered through a first half that gave us some thoughts in the second half, and we came back,” Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins said. “We found a way to win and good teams find a way to win. You can talk about that all you want but when you experience that, it’s a building block for the rest of the year that we own.”
It’s good competition and a comfortable fit for these teams to continue playing. Wiggins was Szymanski’s varsity coach at Downers Grove South. Wiggins also lives in the Oswego East school district with his junior son Brad is among the area’s top boys cross country runners. He probably would have been at the game if his cross country meet at Yorkville hadn’t been rescheduled from Monday.
“I’m right over there,” said Wiggins, pointing to his house in the near distance.
“I’m just disappointed. I thought we had this won the way we started, but it is what it is,” Szymanski said. “They’re a tough team. I hate losing to Wiggie, because he was my high school coach, too.”
The Wolves again have high expectations after setting a single-season school record for victories in 2017 with a 16-6-2 record after tying the mark with 14 victories in 2016. The Wolves still seek the program’s first regional title, losing in the finals the past two years, including 2-0 to Naperville Central in 2017.
Six senior starters return: team captains Lass, Frazer and Kyle Blasingame, goalie Nathan Huerter, outside defender Joey Bavol and outside midfielder Nolan Laczynski.
“I think we can be just as good, if not better, if we work,” Lass said. “This year everyone wants to play together. Everyone wants to be here. I think that’s going to work out for us in the end.”
“The biggest thing is that it’s expected that we win,” Szymanski added. “We’ve had two quality seasons in a row, and I think we’re building in the right direction.
These guys have been around for the winning. It’s an expectation now that we win and play well.”
Frazer was among the team’s top scorers in 2017 and scored in last year’s tie with the Red Devils. Frazer showed that same nose for the net Tuesday.
He nearly scored in the 36th minute on a give-and-go with sophomore Dimitri Huitron, but junior goalie Nathan Goliak made a nice save. In the last 10 seconds of the first half, sophomore Andre Casas put a blast just over the goal.
On his goal, Frazer ran masterfully horizontally to stay onside after Parodis-Yu dug out a 50-50 ball from a defender at the top of the box and passed to his left.
“I tapped it to (Parodis-Yu) a little bit, and he powered through, which I’m glad he did. He took care of that defender and pushed it back to me. I took a bad touch, but luckily I found the back of the net,” Frazer said. “As a forward, I’ve gotten used to the sort of runs I need to get myself in those situations to make sure it’s a goal.”
There are nine seniors on the roster. It’s also a fairly experienced backline, but Lass this season has moved from outside to sweeper.
“It’s pretty much the same thing. I like being back there, seeing everything. I like my guys back there, too. We work together well,” Lass said.
Center midfielder Blasingame is coming off a national club title with Galaxy SC, but he was injured earlier this week and did not play. Szymanski said he is hopeful Blasingame can return within days.
The only positive in his absence was that even more players received quality minutes in the opener. That included starting freshman center midfielder Kellen Klosterman, junior defender Zach Seidel and Huitron, who played forward for the first time.
“Not having (Blasingame) on the field, obviously, is a big loss but it also is an opportunity for other guys to step up. We had one day to kind of prepare and usually our day practice before a game are a lighter practice,” Szymanski said.
“I was able to get a lot of guys in, see where they’re playing -- for a lot of guys, their first varsity games. A lot of guys were nervous. (They) got some of those jitters out. I thought they were in it and ready to play.”
Hinsdale Central returns eight starters and 14 players from last year’s 13-10-1 team that also reached a regional final.
The Red Devils appeared to tie the game in the 69th minute when Ian Becker’s 45-yard free kick eluded a leaping Huerter and continued into the net, but the goal was nullified by an offsides call. Their momentum continued even after starting senior center midfielder Kareem Touleimat left the field with an apparent calf injury with 21:32 remaining.
“We’re not anywhere where we need to be, but I thought that Oswego East was competitive, organized, their coaches did a great job. They had right ideas and played balls to the right gaps and seams that made us deal with them,” Wiggins said.
“The first half, it was just us running through chaos. I thought we held the ball too long. I think we had an idea of what we wanted to do but were too slow executing it. But if you look at the two goals, that was just guys having an eye to get to the goal. Aidan’s a goal-scorer. He’s got a knack for that and did a great job. Ronan was only in for a bit but did a great job of identifying, having an eye for the goal.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK Nathan Huerter
D Juan Manrique
D Joey Bavol
D Zach Lass
D Zach Seidel
M Kellen Klosterman
M Andre Casas
M Nolan Laczynski
M Dacarlos Parodis-Yu
F Dimitri Huitron
F Ford Frazer
Hinsdale Central
GK Nathan Goliak
D Gavin Schwarz
D Ethan Valeo
D Kosta Kinnas
D Trevor Tompkins
M Kareem Touleimat
M Ian Becker
M Gareth Maritz
M John-Paul Lteif
F Ryan Counts
F Aidan White
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Aidan White, jr. F, Hinsdale Central
Scoring summary
Hinsdale Central 0 2 – 2
Oswego East 0 1 – 1
Second half
Oswego East: Ford Frazer (Dacarlos Parodis-Yu) 46:29
Hinsdale Central: Aidan White (Gareth Maritz) 55:42
Hinsdale Central: Ronan Martin (Donald Chow) 74:26
Wolves see lead disappear, but note brights spots in 2-1 loss
By Bill Stone
OSWEGO -- Senior Zach Lass and his Oswego East teammates once again were left with that disappointing feeling after playing Hinsdale Central on Tuesday.
“Honestly, kind of the same,” Lass said.
And in some ways, a bit worse.
In their season and home opener, the Wolves scored first only to see the Red Devils tally twice in the final 25 minutes to pull out the 2-1 victory.
In 2017, the Wolves settled for a 3-3 tie at Hinsdale Central after scoring the first three goals.
“I thought we defended really well in the first half. Second half we started to fall asleep a little bit. That’s where they got us. They outworked us in the second half,” Lass said.
“I think we definitely played better this year than last year. (Losing) was unfortunate, but I think we have a lot to learn from this game.”
Oswego East senior Ford Frazer scored in the seventh minute with an assist from junior Dacarlos Parodis-Yu. But after a fairly even first half, the Red Devils outshot the Wolves 12-5 and led 4-1 in corner kicks in the final 40 minutes.
“I just thought we got a little tired at the end. After we scored instead of building on that score, I thought (Hinsdale Central's) energy and intensity really picked up,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said.
“They controlled the end of the game. Credit to them. We’ve got to do a better job of when we score, just keep building off of that. I hate to say it’s the first game, sounds so cliché, but we’ve got things to work on. We try to schedule a tough nonconference schedule. We want to win every single game, but hopefully these games are getting us ready for conference play and making another run at that title.”
Hinsdale Central junior reserve Ronan Martin scored the game-winner with 5:34 to play by heading home a long cross down left wing by senior reserve Donald Chow.
In his varsity debut, junior Aidan White, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, fueled the Red Devils’ fire when he tied the game with 24:18 remaining by heading home a cross from senior Gareth Maritz.
“At practice, that’s the big thing coach (Mike Wiggins) talks about, just never give up,” White said. “ We were talking how even though we’re down 1-0, we have to come back and keep that same energy the entire game. Once we got the first goal, I think that sparked some extra stuff and then we just got even more hyped,” White said.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I was going to get one so quick (this season). It was a really good cross by Gareth. He just put it right on the back post where I was. He put it right on my head. Luckily I just finished it. The (Oswego East) defense really made us work for it, though. They were shutting us down. They were good, but we were just able to overcome that with that spirit of not giving up.”
Hinsdale Central was no. 18 in the Chicagoland Soccer preseason top 25 rankings. This season, Hinsdale Central has discontinued its annual early-season Red Devil Cup tournament, but the program will continue facing former tournament foes Oswego East, Downers Grove South and Brother Rice on the 2018 schedule.
“The biggest takeaway for us is we suffered through a first half that gave us some thoughts in the second half, and we came back,” Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins said. “We found a way to win and good teams find a way to win. You can talk about that all you want but when you experience that, it’s a building block for the rest of the year that we own.”
It’s good competition and a comfortable fit for these teams to continue playing. Wiggins was Szymanski’s varsity coach at Downers Grove South. Wiggins also lives in the Oswego East school district with his junior son Brad is among the area’s top boys cross country runners. He probably would have been at the game if his cross country meet at Yorkville hadn’t been rescheduled from Monday.
“I’m right over there,” said Wiggins, pointing to his house in the near distance.
“I’m just disappointed. I thought we had this won the way we started, but it is what it is,” Szymanski said. “They’re a tough team. I hate losing to Wiggie, because he was my high school coach, too.”
The Wolves again have high expectations after setting a single-season school record for victories in 2017 with a 16-6-2 record after tying the mark with 14 victories in 2016. The Wolves still seek the program’s first regional title, losing in the finals the past two years, including 2-0 to Naperville Central in 2017.
Six senior starters return: team captains Lass, Frazer and Kyle Blasingame, goalie Nathan Huerter, outside defender Joey Bavol and outside midfielder Nolan Laczynski.
“I think we can be just as good, if not better, if we work,” Lass said. “This year everyone wants to play together. Everyone wants to be here. I think that’s going to work out for us in the end.”
“The biggest thing is that it’s expected that we win,” Szymanski added. “We’ve had two quality seasons in a row, and I think we’re building in the right direction.
These guys have been around for the winning. It’s an expectation now that we win and play well.”
Frazer was among the team’s top scorers in 2017 and scored in last year’s tie with the Red Devils. Frazer showed that same nose for the net Tuesday.
He nearly scored in the 36th minute on a give-and-go with sophomore Dimitri Huitron, but junior goalie Nathan Goliak made a nice save. In the last 10 seconds of the first half, sophomore Andre Casas put a blast just over the goal.
On his goal, Frazer ran masterfully horizontally to stay onside after Parodis-Yu dug out a 50-50 ball from a defender at the top of the box and passed to his left.
“I tapped it to (Parodis-Yu) a little bit, and he powered through, which I’m glad he did. He took care of that defender and pushed it back to me. I took a bad touch, but luckily I found the back of the net,” Frazer said. “As a forward, I’ve gotten used to the sort of runs I need to get myself in those situations to make sure it’s a goal.”
There are nine seniors on the roster. It’s also a fairly experienced backline, but Lass this season has moved from outside to sweeper.
“It’s pretty much the same thing. I like being back there, seeing everything. I like my guys back there, too. We work together well,” Lass said.
Center midfielder Blasingame is coming off a national club title with Galaxy SC, but he was injured earlier this week and did not play. Szymanski said he is hopeful Blasingame can return within days.
The only positive in his absence was that even more players received quality minutes in the opener. That included starting freshman center midfielder Kellen Klosterman, junior defender Zach Seidel and Huitron, who played forward for the first time.
“Not having (Blasingame) on the field, obviously, is a big loss but it also is an opportunity for other guys to step up. We had one day to kind of prepare and usually our day practice before a game are a lighter practice,” Szymanski said.
“I was able to get a lot of guys in, see where they’re playing -- for a lot of guys, their first varsity games. A lot of guys were nervous. (They) got some of those jitters out. I thought they were in it and ready to play.”
Hinsdale Central returns eight starters and 14 players from last year’s 13-10-1 team that also reached a regional final.
The Red Devils appeared to tie the game in the 69th minute when Ian Becker’s 45-yard free kick eluded a leaping Huerter and continued into the net, but the goal was nullified by an offsides call. Their momentum continued even after starting senior center midfielder Kareem Touleimat left the field with an apparent calf injury with 21:32 remaining.
“We’re not anywhere where we need to be, but I thought that Oswego East was competitive, organized, their coaches did a great job. They had right ideas and played balls to the right gaps and seams that made us deal with them,” Wiggins said.
“The first half, it was just us running through chaos. I thought we held the ball too long. I think we had an idea of what we wanted to do but were too slow executing it. But if you look at the two goals, that was just guys having an eye to get to the goal. Aidan’s a goal-scorer. He’s got a knack for that and did a great job. Ronan was only in for a bit but did a great job of identifying, having an eye for the goal.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK Nathan Huerter
D Juan Manrique
D Joey Bavol
D Zach Lass
D Zach Seidel
M Kellen Klosterman
M Andre Casas
M Nolan Laczynski
M Dacarlos Parodis-Yu
F Dimitri Huitron
F Ford Frazer
Hinsdale Central
GK Nathan Goliak
D Gavin Schwarz
D Ethan Valeo
D Kosta Kinnas
D Trevor Tompkins
M Kareem Touleimat
M Ian Becker
M Gareth Maritz
M John-Paul Lteif
F Ryan Counts
F Aidan White
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Aidan White, jr. F, Hinsdale Central
Scoring summary
Hinsdale Central 0 2 – 2
Oswego East 0 1 – 1
Second half
Oswego East: Ford Frazer (Dacarlos Parodis-Yu) 46:29
Hinsdale Central: Aidan White (Gareth Maritz) 55:42
Hinsdale Central: Ronan Martin (Donald Chow) 74:26