Hoffman Estates late rally stuns St. Francis
Goals in last 7:27 produce 2-1 Hawks victory
By Dave Owen
ROSELLE – The Hillner Classic is producing classy results for Hoffman Estates.
After an impressive defensive effort produced a first-round 1-0 win over a quality York side, the Hawks (2-1-0) showed tremendous late game grit in Saturday’s second-round victory over St. Francis (0-2-0).
Trailing the Spartans 1-0, Hoffman Estates turned the tide with late goals by Jesus Martinez (with 7:27 to play) and Georgi Kyosev (a penalty kick with 2:09 to go) to win 2-1.
“As a young team they showed a lot of poise,” Hawks coach Sean Armstrong said of his squad. “They never panicked. They stuck to our game plan the entire time.
“I really think we moved the ball around well. We had our opportunities, and all it was going to take was one. Once we scored one goal, I knew we’d get the momentum. We had played confident the whole game, and I really thought we could mentally take them out of it.”
Hoffman Estates needed to dig deep in confidence and its roster to endure a strong start by the Spartans.
Just 1:50 into the match, a race for a loose ball at the top of the box resulted in a collision, a Hawks foul and a yellow card that forced backup goalkeeper Adrian Huerta to enter the game.
Huerta was ready, leaping high to deflect Frank Marsico’s ensuing 20-yard free kick over the crossbar upper left.
Then on the Spartans’ ensuing corner kick, Huerta punched the send out of the crowd, and Kyosev cleared the box to halt a scary first few minutes.
But the St. Francis early assault wasn’t over.
With 32:42 left in the half, Nathan Corrigan’s hustle produced a rebound finish and a 1-0 St. Francis lead.
“My friend Sam Premak hit it (the initial shot). It was bouncing down the line, and I felt the need to run in, because I knew it wasn’t going in,” Corrigan said of his first goal of 2019. “The goalie was still down, and I just wanted to make sure it went over that line.”
Down 1-0 and outplayed early, Hoffman Estates responded impressively.
The Hawks began to assert themselves in the 13th minute. An extended threat began with Juan Figueroa’s cross being blocked by St. Francis’ Brendan Yarusso. Matheus DeCarvalho’s ensuing left-side chance was also thwarted, this time by a Jack Hartle block and Henry Engelmann clear.
The remainder of the first half featured four Hawks corner kicks and several other challenges to the St. Francis defense.
Among them: a nice cross in the 23rd minute swatted out of the crease and away from two rushing Hawks players by Spartans goalkeeper Adam Thill; a Thill save in the 27th minute on a Kyosev 25-yard shot; and Martinez’s left-side rush and 12-yard shot over the net in the 39th minute.
The action didn't shake Hoffman Estates' confidence.
“We knew we had them the whole game,” Martinez said. “They got lucky on the first goal. We were getting adjusted to the grass; we hadn’t played on grass this season. But once we got used to it, we just needed that shot in the final third.”
Despite the Hawks’ quantity of chances, St. Francis had its own quality bids to add to the 1-0 lead.
Corrigan’s back post redirect off a corner kick in the 38th minute was denied by a Huerta save.
Then three minutes into the second half, Huerta nicely denied a Trey Gora rush into the box to keep the one-goal difference.
Nico Lajewski’s header just wide off a Hartle throw-in (with 25:40 left) and Marsico’s 15-yard shot wide left (23:15) were two other good scoring bids for the Spartans.
But for the most part, the second half produced steady threats by Hoffman Estates.
“Our defense was getting maneuvered a lot,” Corrigan said, “so I think we just need to figure out our stride, keep it together and hold it tight in the back. They were getting down our outside way too easy.”
Along with shots just over or wide of the net by the Hawks Martinez, Kalen Eberman and Manny Amezcua were followed by Thill’s diving cover at the near post of a redirect of Figueroa’s corner kick with 28 minutes left.
Thill again rose to the occasion with a high grab of an Amezcua 30-yarder with 14:40 to go, and Yarusso’s blocked shot in the box with 9:20 left denied another Hawks bid.
“This was by far our best offensive game in terms of passing the ball,” Armstrong said. “Now it’s just a matter of finding the back of the net a little more.”
With just 7:27 to go, Armstrong got his wish.
Martinez attacked the goal from the right sideline, and from a difficult angle somehow tucked an 18-yard drive into the lower left corner of the net to tie the game 1-1.
“Man, what an angle,” Armstrong said. “I had to ask my assistant, ‘Was that Jesus?’ because I thought somebody had to rebound that in. I didn’t think he could possibly score from that angle. It was beautiful.
“Jesus has always been a midfielder, and when I saw how we are loaded with talent at midfield I was thinking about ‘How am I going to get all these guys out here?’ Jesus has a great touch and great instincts, so we converted him to forward during our summer league, and he was our leading scorer.
“He has such an incredible touch,” Armstrong added, “and his speed is sneaky fast. He’s so smooth out there and then all of a sudden he puts that burst on, and he’s able to stop on a dime.”
To Martinez, the goal was a case of perseverance paying off.
“I kept telling (my teammates) from the first minute, ‘Just find me out wide down the line; it’s going to be there,’” Martinez said. “And the last few minutes we finally found it.
“I was very excited when I scored. I knew I was going to get one today because in the first half I kept shooting and shooting and nothing went in. It finally went in.”
Huerta’s save of a Lajewski 16-yard shot with 2:55 left was the next shot on goal. But the Hawks’ next chance would be decisive.
On a Eberman send upfield, Simeon Georgiev was tripped by Thill in a race for the ball in the box.
On the ensuing penalty kick, Kyosev’s liner inside the left post capped the Hoffman Estates comeback.
“I’m never thinking where I’m going,” Kyosev said of his PK strategy. “Last year the same thing happened. I scored a penalty here against the same team.
“Every time you just have to relax and stay calmed down because if you let the pressure get to you, it’s sure to affect the kick.”
The Hawks’ ability to keep their cool during the late rally was a good sign for a squad with just six seniors.
“We’re still a young team,” Kyosev said. “We lost so many seniors from last year’s team, I think 11. So basically we’re a completely fresh and new squad, and most of the guys are full of energy and effort. They showed it in the second half especially, and the result showed it.”
The new squad has really begun to find its footing since a season-opening loss to Evanston. But the process of developing team chemistry began earlier.
“It took the whole summer, in camps and team bonding after camps,” Kyosev said. “After training sessions in the mornings we went out for lunch, played video games. It didn’t happen quick. We had to spend time together on and off the field.”
Despite the shocking final minutes, St. Francis could find both lessons and positives in Saturday’s match.
“We made mistakes and didn’t defend,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said. “But you can look at it two ways. We played way better than we had played (in Thursday’s opening loss to Wheaton North), and kind of executed what we wanted to get done today. Hopefully going forward we can continue to do that. But we have to defend better. If we don’t defend we’re in trouble.”
The challenge of facing bigger schools in the Hillner Classic keeps things in perspective for the Spartans.
“We want to keep improving in attitude and focus, don’t give up and keep coming together,” Ward said. “We’ve come together quite a bit in the first week. We didn’t really play until here, and we jump right in to 3A competition. And we’re pretty much in a rebuilding mode. We’re young.
“But you can look at it a few ways. It is a little disturbing when you let the game go like that (up 1-0 late) and don’t close it out.”
Late game disappointment aside, the Spartans remain confident.
“I hope we keep gaining chemistry,” Corrigan said. “As long as we keep doing that I think we’ll connect better and know what each other are thinking out there on the field.
“We just hop right into this tournament. It’s a good tradition. We’ve done this (tournament) for like eight years or something like that, and just getting together with our guys and starting this tournament off – we’re not worried about conference right now. We’re just trying to learn each other and how we play, and eventually we’ll hopefully go to state.”
As the Spartans eye a bright future, Hoffman Estates is gaining confidence.
“We’re a young team, but this young team has a lot of brains,” Martinez said. “And we know we’re a smaller young team, so whenever we go for 50-50s, we’re small but we’re big in the heart. That’s the main reason why our defense is really good.
“We have two freshmen on the team (Bryan Flores and Connor Kurzynski), and those two – we don’t call them freshmen. They’re up here, and they know how to play. They’re here for a reason.”
While young and improving, the Hawks know more offense will be essential to continued success.
“We have to improve our first touch,” Kyosev said. “Defensively I think we’re doing a great job, but we should take more chances (offensively) in front of the goal. More of our players should step up and take the shot.”
The Hawks hope Saturday’s late-game offense and comeback win are signs of more good times to come.
“They showed a lot of character,” Armstrong said. “For a young team to be that resilient and stay in the game – I think it’s another step, beating York and now this.
“And now (unbeaten) Wheaton North (in the third round of the tournament on Tuesday) is going to be another tough challenge.”
Starting lineups
Hoffman Estates
GK: Danny Lopez
D: Colin Grochal
D: Siva Nakka
D: Kaden Eberman
D: Julian Rios
M: Georgi Kyosev
M: Manny Amezcua
M: Juan Figueroa
M: Simeon Georgiev
F: Jesus Martinez
F: Erik Morales
St. Francis
GK: Adam Thill
D: Trey Gora
D: Jack Hartle
D: Henry Engelmann
D: Brendan Yarusso
M: Sam Premak
M: Nathan Corrigan
M: Guy DeFeo
M: Frank Marsico
F: Michael Fasana
F: Nico Lajewski
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jesus Martinez, sr. F, Hoffman Estates
Scoring summary
First half
SF – Nathan Corrigan, 8th min
Second half
HE – Jesus Martinez, 73rd minute
HE – Georgi Kyosev (PK), 78th minute
Goals in last 7:27 produce 2-1 Hawks victory
By Dave Owen
ROSELLE – The Hillner Classic is producing classy results for Hoffman Estates.
After an impressive defensive effort produced a first-round 1-0 win over a quality York side, the Hawks (2-1-0) showed tremendous late game grit in Saturday’s second-round victory over St. Francis (0-2-0).
Trailing the Spartans 1-0, Hoffman Estates turned the tide with late goals by Jesus Martinez (with 7:27 to play) and Georgi Kyosev (a penalty kick with 2:09 to go) to win 2-1.
“As a young team they showed a lot of poise,” Hawks coach Sean Armstrong said of his squad. “They never panicked. They stuck to our game plan the entire time.
“I really think we moved the ball around well. We had our opportunities, and all it was going to take was one. Once we scored one goal, I knew we’d get the momentum. We had played confident the whole game, and I really thought we could mentally take them out of it.”
Hoffman Estates needed to dig deep in confidence and its roster to endure a strong start by the Spartans.
Just 1:50 into the match, a race for a loose ball at the top of the box resulted in a collision, a Hawks foul and a yellow card that forced backup goalkeeper Adrian Huerta to enter the game.
Huerta was ready, leaping high to deflect Frank Marsico’s ensuing 20-yard free kick over the crossbar upper left.
Then on the Spartans’ ensuing corner kick, Huerta punched the send out of the crowd, and Kyosev cleared the box to halt a scary first few minutes.
But the St. Francis early assault wasn’t over.
With 32:42 left in the half, Nathan Corrigan’s hustle produced a rebound finish and a 1-0 St. Francis lead.
“My friend Sam Premak hit it (the initial shot). It was bouncing down the line, and I felt the need to run in, because I knew it wasn’t going in,” Corrigan said of his first goal of 2019. “The goalie was still down, and I just wanted to make sure it went over that line.”
Down 1-0 and outplayed early, Hoffman Estates responded impressively.
The Hawks began to assert themselves in the 13th minute. An extended threat began with Juan Figueroa’s cross being blocked by St. Francis’ Brendan Yarusso. Matheus DeCarvalho’s ensuing left-side chance was also thwarted, this time by a Jack Hartle block and Henry Engelmann clear.
The remainder of the first half featured four Hawks corner kicks and several other challenges to the St. Francis defense.
Among them: a nice cross in the 23rd minute swatted out of the crease and away from two rushing Hawks players by Spartans goalkeeper Adam Thill; a Thill save in the 27th minute on a Kyosev 25-yard shot; and Martinez’s left-side rush and 12-yard shot over the net in the 39th minute.
The action didn't shake Hoffman Estates' confidence.
“We knew we had them the whole game,” Martinez said. “They got lucky on the first goal. We were getting adjusted to the grass; we hadn’t played on grass this season. But once we got used to it, we just needed that shot in the final third.”
Despite the Hawks’ quantity of chances, St. Francis had its own quality bids to add to the 1-0 lead.
Corrigan’s back post redirect off a corner kick in the 38th minute was denied by a Huerta save.
Then three minutes into the second half, Huerta nicely denied a Trey Gora rush into the box to keep the one-goal difference.
Nico Lajewski’s header just wide off a Hartle throw-in (with 25:40 left) and Marsico’s 15-yard shot wide left (23:15) were two other good scoring bids for the Spartans.
But for the most part, the second half produced steady threats by Hoffman Estates.
“Our defense was getting maneuvered a lot,” Corrigan said, “so I think we just need to figure out our stride, keep it together and hold it tight in the back. They were getting down our outside way too easy.”
Along with shots just over or wide of the net by the Hawks Martinez, Kalen Eberman and Manny Amezcua were followed by Thill’s diving cover at the near post of a redirect of Figueroa’s corner kick with 28 minutes left.
Thill again rose to the occasion with a high grab of an Amezcua 30-yarder with 14:40 to go, and Yarusso’s blocked shot in the box with 9:20 left denied another Hawks bid.
“This was by far our best offensive game in terms of passing the ball,” Armstrong said. “Now it’s just a matter of finding the back of the net a little more.”
With just 7:27 to go, Armstrong got his wish.
Martinez attacked the goal from the right sideline, and from a difficult angle somehow tucked an 18-yard drive into the lower left corner of the net to tie the game 1-1.
“Man, what an angle,” Armstrong said. “I had to ask my assistant, ‘Was that Jesus?’ because I thought somebody had to rebound that in. I didn’t think he could possibly score from that angle. It was beautiful.
“Jesus has always been a midfielder, and when I saw how we are loaded with talent at midfield I was thinking about ‘How am I going to get all these guys out here?’ Jesus has a great touch and great instincts, so we converted him to forward during our summer league, and he was our leading scorer.
“He has such an incredible touch,” Armstrong added, “and his speed is sneaky fast. He’s so smooth out there and then all of a sudden he puts that burst on, and he’s able to stop on a dime.”
To Martinez, the goal was a case of perseverance paying off.
“I kept telling (my teammates) from the first minute, ‘Just find me out wide down the line; it’s going to be there,’” Martinez said. “And the last few minutes we finally found it.
“I was very excited when I scored. I knew I was going to get one today because in the first half I kept shooting and shooting and nothing went in. It finally went in.”
Huerta’s save of a Lajewski 16-yard shot with 2:55 left was the next shot on goal. But the Hawks’ next chance would be decisive.
On a Eberman send upfield, Simeon Georgiev was tripped by Thill in a race for the ball in the box.
On the ensuing penalty kick, Kyosev’s liner inside the left post capped the Hoffman Estates comeback.
“I’m never thinking where I’m going,” Kyosev said of his PK strategy. “Last year the same thing happened. I scored a penalty here against the same team.
“Every time you just have to relax and stay calmed down because if you let the pressure get to you, it’s sure to affect the kick.”
The Hawks’ ability to keep their cool during the late rally was a good sign for a squad with just six seniors.
“We’re still a young team,” Kyosev said. “We lost so many seniors from last year’s team, I think 11. So basically we’re a completely fresh and new squad, and most of the guys are full of energy and effort. They showed it in the second half especially, and the result showed it.”
The new squad has really begun to find its footing since a season-opening loss to Evanston. But the process of developing team chemistry began earlier.
“It took the whole summer, in camps and team bonding after camps,” Kyosev said. “After training sessions in the mornings we went out for lunch, played video games. It didn’t happen quick. We had to spend time together on and off the field.”
Despite the shocking final minutes, St. Francis could find both lessons and positives in Saturday’s match.
“We made mistakes and didn’t defend,” St. Francis coach Kevin Ward said. “But you can look at it two ways. We played way better than we had played (in Thursday’s opening loss to Wheaton North), and kind of executed what we wanted to get done today. Hopefully going forward we can continue to do that. But we have to defend better. If we don’t defend we’re in trouble.”
The challenge of facing bigger schools in the Hillner Classic keeps things in perspective for the Spartans.
“We want to keep improving in attitude and focus, don’t give up and keep coming together,” Ward said. “We’ve come together quite a bit in the first week. We didn’t really play until here, and we jump right in to 3A competition. And we’re pretty much in a rebuilding mode. We’re young.
“But you can look at it a few ways. It is a little disturbing when you let the game go like that (up 1-0 late) and don’t close it out.”
Late game disappointment aside, the Spartans remain confident.
“I hope we keep gaining chemistry,” Corrigan said. “As long as we keep doing that I think we’ll connect better and know what each other are thinking out there on the field.
“We just hop right into this tournament. It’s a good tradition. We’ve done this (tournament) for like eight years or something like that, and just getting together with our guys and starting this tournament off – we’re not worried about conference right now. We’re just trying to learn each other and how we play, and eventually we’ll hopefully go to state.”
As the Spartans eye a bright future, Hoffman Estates is gaining confidence.
“We’re a young team, but this young team has a lot of brains,” Martinez said. “And we know we’re a smaller young team, so whenever we go for 50-50s, we’re small but we’re big in the heart. That’s the main reason why our defense is really good.
“We have two freshmen on the team (Bryan Flores and Connor Kurzynski), and those two – we don’t call them freshmen. They’re up here, and they know how to play. They’re here for a reason.”
While young and improving, the Hawks know more offense will be essential to continued success.
“We have to improve our first touch,” Kyosev said. “Defensively I think we’re doing a great job, but we should take more chances (offensively) in front of the goal. More of our players should step up and take the shot.”
The Hawks hope Saturday’s late-game offense and comeback win are signs of more good times to come.
“They showed a lot of character,” Armstrong said. “For a young team to be that resilient and stay in the game – I think it’s another step, beating York and now this.
“And now (unbeaten) Wheaton North (in the third round of the tournament on Tuesday) is going to be another tough challenge.”
Starting lineups
Hoffman Estates
GK: Danny Lopez
D: Colin Grochal
D: Siva Nakka
D: Kaden Eberman
D: Julian Rios
M: Georgi Kyosev
M: Manny Amezcua
M: Juan Figueroa
M: Simeon Georgiev
F: Jesus Martinez
F: Erik Morales
St. Francis
GK: Adam Thill
D: Trey Gora
D: Jack Hartle
D: Henry Engelmann
D: Brendan Yarusso
M: Sam Premak
M: Nathan Corrigan
M: Guy DeFeo
M: Frank Marsico
F: Michael Fasana
F: Nico Lajewski
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jesus Martinez, sr. F, Hoffman Estates
Scoring summary
First half
SF – Nathan Corrigan, 8th min
Second half
HE – Jesus Martinez, 73rd minute
HE – Georgi Kyosev (PK), 78th minute