Hoffman Estates holds
WWS to goalless draw
Windy conditions hamper chances for both teams
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON – Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari saw a lot that he liked Saturday afternoon at Red Grange Field.
There were Senior Day and Teacher Appreciation festivities at halftime, to be followed after the game by nearly eight hours of revelry celebrating the 50th season of the school’s soccer program.
Every player on the roster saw significant minutes as Callipari made wholesale lineup changes midway through each half and there certainly was nothing wrong with the Tigers’ defensive effort.
There was only one thing missing – a goal.
Despite some late pressure, the Tigers were unable to find the back of the net and settled for a 0-0 tie with Hoffman Estates.
“Finishing,” Callipari said. “It’s been our Achilles heel at this point.
“The only way you can get upside down is to take care of that final third, and it’s not like they weren’t trying. It’s not like they didn’t create good runs off the ball.
“We were very unfortunate, obviously in many areas, but kudos to the other team for holding tough. It was just a great opportunity for us to play in front of all the (alumni). It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the sweetness of the win, but we didn’t have a loss, either, so I guess we’re even.”
Neither team created much offense on a day in which a nasty wind determined who would be attacking and who would defend.
The host Tigers (6-7-2) went against the wind in the first half and mustered only one shot. The Hawks matched that total in similar circumstances in the second half.
All of the players hated playing in the wind, but one who said he benefitted from it was Hoffman Estates goalkeeper Danny Lopez, who replaced starter Adrian Huerta at halftime and made two saves, including the play of the match with 4:20 remaining.
Niklas Pederson sent a cross from the left side of the box to the onrushing Cristian Munoz, whose one-timer from point-blank range was turned aside by Lopez. It was the last scoring chance for either side.
“I just saw him coming in about to hit it, so I had to make myself big and take the shot,” said Lopez, who deflected the shot with his torso. “It was a reflex save.”
Just as Wheaton Warrenville South starting goalie Marco Chavez, who made two saves, faced much of the action in his own end in the first half, Lopez was kept busy in the second half as the Hawks (4-15-3) were on their heels.
With 35:40 left in the game, Nick McGrath beat Lopez just outside the left edge of the 6 and bounced a ball over to Ryan Dufty, who missed the potential tap-in wide right.
Twelve minutes later, Kevin Stumbris took a pot shot from 45 yards on the right wing that went over the head of Lopez but bounced over the crossbar.
The hosts came closest to scoring at the 5:45 mark when Pederson pinged the post with a sidewinder shot from 10 yards.
Afterward, Lopez said having the wind in his face was a help, not a hindrance.
“I feel the wind was a little bit lucky for me because it was against me,” Lopez said. “I could have done better. I could have gotten to some more balls, but other than that I feel like I did good.”
Both teams were left wanting for a result, but Hoffman Estates coach Sean Armstrong, whose team is in the midst of an 11-game winless streak, was satisfied in coming away with a point.
“I’m happy,” Armstrong said. “I think we played a smart game of soccer, and I’m very happy with the performance from both my goalies.
“We have seven or eight one- or two-goal losses so it’s been tough. I knew that we were really gassed (after a 1-0 road loss to Barrington), so backing that up with a draw, doing a little bit of spoiling on their 50th anniversary, we’ll take that.”
Lopez agreed.
“I feel we played pretty good,” Lopez said. “We could have put away some chances in the beginning, but we hung in there and (got an) unlucky result, but it’s not a loss, so we’re good.”
Some of the Tigers felt the same way. Their defense was just as stalwart, getting burned just once. That came with 5:00 left in the first half when Manny Amezcua and Logan Garcia worked a perfect give-and-go over the last 45 yards, but Amezcua’s shot from the top of the box past the charging Chavez rolled wide of the left post.
Other than that, the WW South defense allowed nary a sniff at the net. Senior right back Sean Tully said that while the Tigers were disappointed not to win, they were satisfied with their determination.
“We really wanted it,” Tully said. “We were so close.
“I’m just proud of us, and we really put a lot of effort in. We’re proud that we tried as hard as we did.”
Callipari played his entire roster, in part to let everyone see action in front of the roughly 100 former players in attendance and in part to rest his starter’s for Sunday’s PepsiCo Showdown game against Speer.
The list of players who got in included seniors Chavez, McGrath, Dufty, Tully, Mike Nushi, Sam Schlegel, Jason Aranda, Nati Flores and Jack Cooper.
“It was really cool to see everyone get their opportunity,” Tully said. “Coach has definitely told us that we’re really deep this year, and he’s really proud of how consistent everyone plays.
“He’s actually comfortable letting everyone in, so it’s great that everyone got a shot out there today.”
As for the Hawks, they are itching to get a shot at a victory.
“We’ve been talking about building toward our second season,” Armstrong said. “Our first season leaves a lot to be desired, because I felt like we’re a very talented team that didn’t live up to expectations.
“I wanted to make sure that each game we took another step forward, and we get Elk Grove for first round of playoffs. That game is personal. They spoiled our Senior Night. It was a really bad game for us.”
Indeed, the Hawks lost 4-1 to Elk Grove on Sept. 24. The Grenadiers will be heavy favorites in the rematch next Saturday, but that’s OK with Lopez.
“We’re obviously used to being underdogs,” Lopez said. “We just want to come back up and beat the teams that are supposedly unbeatable. We’re using that as motivation.”
Starting lineups
Hoffman Estates
GK Adrian Huerta
D Matthew deCarvalho
D Siva Nakka
D Colin Grochal
M Georgi Kyosev
M Juan Figueroa
M Julian Rios
M Connor Kurzynski
M Erik Morales
M Kaden Eberman
F Manny Amezcua
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Marco Chavez
D Sam Schlegel
D Sean Tully
D Jason Aranda
D Rolin Thang
M Mikel Nushi
M Ryan Dufty
M Paul Thalmann
M Nati Flores
F Nick McGrath
F Ivan Guzman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Danny Lopez, sr., GK, Hoffman Estates
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
WWS to goalless draw
Windy conditions hamper chances for both teams
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON – Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari saw a lot that he liked Saturday afternoon at Red Grange Field.
There were Senior Day and Teacher Appreciation festivities at halftime, to be followed after the game by nearly eight hours of revelry celebrating the 50th season of the school’s soccer program.
Every player on the roster saw significant minutes as Callipari made wholesale lineup changes midway through each half and there certainly was nothing wrong with the Tigers’ defensive effort.
There was only one thing missing – a goal.
Despite some late pressure, the Tigers were unable to find the back of the net and settled for a 0-0 tie with Hoffman Estates.
“Finishing,” Callipari said. “It’s been our Achilles heel at this point.
“The only way you can get upside down is to take care of that final third, and it’s not like they weren’t trying. It’s not like they didn’t create good runs off the ball.
“We were very unfortunate, obviously in many areas, but kudos to the other team for holding tough. It was just a great opportunity for us to play in front of all the (alumni). It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the sweetness of the win, but we didn’t have a loss, either, so I guess we’re even.”
Neither team created much offense on a day in which a nasty wind determined who would be attacking and who would defend.
The host Tigers (6-7-2) went against the wind in the first half and mustered only one shot. The Hawks matched that total in similar circumstances in the second half.
All of the players hated playing in the wind, but one who said he benefitted from it was Hoffman Estates goalkeeper Danny Lopez, who replaced starter Adrian Huerta at halftime and made two saves, including the play of the match with 4:20 remaining.
Niklas Pederson sent a cross from the left side of the box to the onrushing Cristian Munoz, whose one-timer from point-blank range was turned aside by Lopez. It was the last scoring chance for either side.
“I just saw him coming in about to hit it, so I had to make myself big and take the shot,” said Lopez, who deflected the shot with his torso. “It was a reflex save.”
Just as Wheaton Warrenville South starting goalie Marco Chavez, who made two saves, faced much of the action in his own end in the first half, Lopez was kept busy in the second half as the Hawks (4-15-3) were on their heels.
With 35:40 left in the game, Nick McGrath beat Lopez just outside the left edge of the 6 and bounced a ball over to Ryan Dufty, who missed the potential tap-in wide right.
Twelve minutes later, Kevin Stumbris took a pot shot from 45 yards on the right wing that went over the head of Lopez but bounced over the crossbar.
The hosts came closest to scoring at the 5:45 mark when Pederson pinged the post with a sidewinder shot from 10 yards.
Afterward, Lopez said having the wind in his face was a help, not a hindrance.
“I feel the wind was a little bit lucky for me because it was against me,” Lopez said. “I could have done better. I could have gotten to some more balls, but other than that I feel like I did good.”
Both teams were left wanting for a result, but Hoffman Estates coach Sean Armstrong, whose team is in the midst of an 11-game winless streak, was satisfied in coming away with a point.
“I’m happy,” Armstrong said. “I think we played a smart game of soccer, and I’m very happy with the performance from both my goalies.
“We have seven or eight one- or two-goal losses so it’s been tough. I knew that we were really gassed (after a 1-0 road loss to Barrington), so backing that up with a draw, doing a little bit of spoiling on their 50th anniversary, we’ll take that.”
Lopez agreed.
“I feel we played pretty good,” Lopez said. “We could have put away some chances in the beginning, but we hung in there and (got an) unlucky result, but it’s not a loss, so we’re good.”
Some of the Tigers felt the same way. Their defense was just as stalwart, getting burned just once. That came with 5:00 left in the first half when Manny Amezcua and Logan Garcia worked a perfect give-and-go over the last 45 yards, but Amezcua’s shot from the top of the box past the charging Chavez rolled wide of the left post.
Other than that, the WW South defense allowed nary a sniff at the net. Senior right back Sean Tully said that while the Tigers were disappointed not to win, they were satisfied with their determination.
“We really wanted it,” Tully said. “We were so close.
“I’m just proud of us, and we really put a lot of effort in. We’re proud that we tried as hard as we did.”
Callipari played his entire roster, in part to let everyone see action in front of the roughly 100 former players in attendance and in part to rest his starter’s for Sunday’s PepsiCo Showdown game against Speer.
The list of players who got in included seniors Chavez, McGrath, Dufty, Tully, Mike Nushi, Sam Schlegel, Jason Aranda, Nati Flores and Jack Cooper.
“It was really cool to see everyone get their opportunity,” Tully said. “Coach has definitely told us that we’re really deep this year, and he’s really proud of how consistent everyone plays.
“He’s actually comfortable letting everyone in, so it’s great that everyone got a shot out there today.”
As for the Hawks, they are itching to get a shot at a victory.
“We’ve been talking about building toward our second season,” Armstrong said. “Our first season leaves a lot to be desired, because I felt like we’re a very talented team that didn’t live up to expectations.
“I wanted to make sure that each game we took another step forward, and we get Elk Grove for first round of playoffs. That game is personal. They spoiled our Senior Night. It was a really bad game for us.”
Indeed, the Hawks lost 4-1 to Elk Grove on Sept. 24. The Grenadiers will be heavy favorites in the rematch next Saturday, but that’s OK with Lopez.
“We’re obviously used to being underdogs,” Lopez said. “We just want to come back up and beat the teams that are supposedly unbeatable. We’re using that as motivation.”
Starting lineups
Hoffman Estates
GK Adrian Huerta
D Matthew deCarvalho
D Siva Nakka
D Colin Grochal
M Georgi Kyosev
M Juan Figueroa
M Julian Rios
M Connor Kurzynski
M Erik Morales
M Kaden Eberman
F Manny Amezcua
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Marco Chavez
D Sam Schlegel
D Sean Tully
D Jason Aranda
D Rolin Thang
M Mikel Nushi
M Ryan Dufty
M Paul Thalmann
M Nati Flores
F Nick McGrath
F Ivan Guzman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Danny Lopez, sr., GK, Hoffman Estates
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring