Banged-up Hersey finds
a way against Buffalo Grove
Makeshift Huskies pull it together, win MSL East with 2-1 road win
By Mike Garofola
BUFFALO GROVE -- Since the beginning of time, or at least until the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) formed in 1976, the conference has been considered one of the best prep soccer operations year-in and year-out.
Of late, the West Division has been the stronger half, taking the honor seven of the last 10 times at the league championship Soccer Bowl.
This season, however, there was a distinct new dynamic within the East portion of the league.
Hersey, Prospect, Rolling Meadows and a resurgent Elk Grove made up a Big Four. With Buffalo Grove’s recent upswing, there was not an easy out among this quintet of clubs.
Hersey found this out first hand.
The Huskies were clean at 5-0-0 on Sept. 21, then dropped points to Barrington, Prospect and Fremd. A 2-1 overtime victory over Rolling Meadows among those games kept its chance alive to advance to the East Division’s championship berth in the Soccer Bowl on its last day of the league season Saturday.
That's when Hersey walked onto Grant Blaney Stadium in Buffalo Grove knowing three points would send them through, but a loss or draw kept them at home when the league championship is played this at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fremd.
While the Huskies faithful were nervous and tense, Mike Rusniak’s men remained cool, calm and composed. They proved their mettle with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Bison that earned the East Division slot in the 44th annual Soccer Bowl at Fremd.
"This team does not have a superstar,” Rusniak said. “We're not technically proficient or have the depth of Fremd or Barrington. This team plays and works hard for themselves and each other, has a ton of chemistry, and never thinks for a minute about what could go wrong or even shows signs of nerves.
"We knew all knew what we had to do today," said Charlie Shiffman, who wears the captain's armband with Andrew Hamilton, Simon Hemenway and Adrian Szumski. “(There) really wasn't any conversation about after we lost on Thursday to Fremd, so there was no panic in this team.
“We just went out and played on Saturday afternoon.”
With Hamilton sporting a cast on his arm, Szumski wearing bandages on his left wrist and forearm as if he had the makings of a mummy costume and Alex Ganekov (hip flexor) and starting keeper Joe Lens injured on the sidelines, Rusniak and his assistant Joe Russo were forced to piece together a first 11 before the opening whistle.
"Patrick Rocks is our third string keeper, and a part-time field player, who we have confidence (in),” said Rusniak. “We knew, despite his inexperience back there, we had strong people in front of him to hopefully make things a little easier on him."
Shiffman, Hamilton, Matt Carlson and Alex Masztak did their part in the Huskies protection scheme.
Buffalo Grove coach Darren Llewellyn, who previously enjoyed remarkable success on the boys and girls sides at Hersey, is the last man to guide the Huskies boys team to Soccer Bowl glory in 2008. Hersey won the big trophy from 2006-08.
He was quick to point out this game had little gusto to it during the early stages, particularly from his lads at Buffalo Grove.
"It was a very uninteresting start today, especially on our end,” he said. “(We) didn't come to play, which is disappointing. I thought after our exciting last-minute win (2-1) over Barrington on Thursday the momentum would continue right on through and into today.
"It was a big game for Mike and his boys, and they did what they had to do in order to advance. I am especially happy for Rusniak.
"He's a great guy, and someone who I have a lot of respect for. If we can't get into the MSL Cup, I am thrilled that he went through."
While both managers were not impressed with the first 20 minutes, Hersey (9-6-1, 8-3-0) commanded much of the play and created a handful of chances. Szumski was at the heart of most of those opportunities.
"Like Charlie said, we knew what we had to do coming in,” Szumski said. “We went out and won the 50/50 balls, defended on both sides of the ball, tried our best to keep their chances on (Rock) to just a few, and played hungry for 80 minutes."
Szumski shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor with Hemenway for their strong play.
Jack Farrell, through Hemenway and Charlie Seig tested Buffalo Grove keeper Dan Tarantul, who started in place of the injured Charlie Mancilla.
Szumski went close in the 8th minute. Then 60 seconds later he forced Tarantul to save his header fron in-close. The whirlwind also created a trio of corners before 20 minutes.
Buffalo Grove watched it all happen.
"I don't know if (it's) the fact that we're playing our fifth game in nine days, but we looked slow, and/or asleep,” said Llewellyn. “Our runs and things we've been doing so well of late just weren't there today."
The Bison did present some offense. A well-struck free kick from Anthony Limber fell to Shant Demirjian, whose quick attempt on frame was parried out of the area with a strong header from Schiffman in the 32nd minute.
Soon thereafter the second of two quality chances from the Bison (6-10-2) came on a midline free kick by Daniel Alfaro to Giovanni Trujano, who was stopped by Rocks.
"(Rocks) was very good in there today in place of Joey," said Rusniak. “He made the saves he needed, took charge of his box and communicated really well. He gave us the performance back there we really needed.”
The visitors were all over the Bison after the intermission. That man Szumski at it again, creating trouble in and around the box.
The senior created a corner, then whipped in a lovely ball to Schiffman, who watched his redirected header saved with a late glove by Tarantul.
Tarantul stopped Szumski at the near post in the 45th minute but had no chance when Hemenway roared up the left side four minutes later. He broke free of two Bison and was nearly bumped off course by another before unleashing an unstoppable left-footer into the upper regions of the far post.
"Just a great goal from Simon, who never gave up and got us that important first goal of the game," said Schiffman.
"Simon was so hungry on that goal of his," added Szumski. “It was big for us.”
The strike was nearly joined by another in the 53rd minute, but Charlie Seig fired just wide.
Buffalo Grove got something cooking after Hersey struggled to clear the area. Rocks was called into action to save an eight-yard attempt from Jacob Krajewski.
Llewellyn moved Daniel Alfaro, an all-conference center back last spring as a freshman, to his midfield and more recently up-top in hopes of finding a target man and inspiring the Bison attack. Alfaro was deployed in the center of the park on the stroke of 60 minutes.
He teed one up from 22 yards only to watch Hemenway block the left-footed cracker before it neared Rocks in the 65th minute.
Hersey’s backline tightened things up in advance of an expected push of numbers forward from the Bison. The unit did its job defending, winning the air war and tackling challenges during a chippy, intense final 10 minutes of action.
The visitors weren’t done on offense.
Szumski, who may have run 10 miles during this 80-degree day dragged the ball to his left before driving his low effort into the hands of Tarantul in the 73rd minute.
Four minutes later, Seig gave the Huskies the security of a two-goal lead.
That's when Reese Stengren facilitated Seig's third goal of the season with some crafty work on the ball along the far touchline. He freed himself long enough to thread a nice ball to Hemenway.
Hemenway did the same to an unmarked Seig, who delivered his one-timer from 12 yards into the back corner three minutes from time.
Buffalo Grove fought back and broke onto the scoreboard thanks to Jacob Krajewski’s 80th-minute score. Unfortunately for the Bison, the tally didn’t match the heroics of the 80th-minute game-winner against Barrington on Thursday.
"We didn't play together like we did against Barrington. Not sure why, but we just didn't,” said Llewellyn. “Hersey played hard for 80 minutes to get themselves a well-deserved win."
Buffalo Grove will play at Conant (2-16-0) at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in a MSL cross-over match to close out its regular-season schedule.
Rusniak, his staff, and players, will begin prepping for Fremd (14-2-1, 10-1-0).
"Fremd is a great team, no doubt about it," said Rusniak.
"We played them well the other night (coming) back from a 2-0 deficit (in a 4-2 loss Oct. 7), but we'll have to come out ready to play, because we know they will.
"With that said, I cannot tell you how proud I am of this team, which day-in, and day-out, works hard, and gives so much effort with whatever they do.
"There's a reason we outlasted the rest of a division that was so good this fall, and it's the effort, and dedication to each other. I am thrilled they'll be playing the Soccer Bowl on Thursday."
Starting lineups
Hersey (4-3-3)
G: Patrick Rocks
D: Matt Carlson
D: Charlie Schiffman
D: Alex Masztak
D: Andrew Hamilton
M: Jack Farrell
M: Simon Hemenway
M: Francisco Lopez-Lugo
F: Charlie Seig
F: Adrian Szumski
F: Michael Choi
Buffalo Grove (4-5-1)
G: Daniel Tarantul
D: Arian Garcia
D: Shant Demirjian
D: Anthony Limber
D: Dennis Likhovid
M: Andrew Berk
M: Aldo Torres
M: Jorge Hernandez Lopez
M: Giovanni Trujano
M: Sebastian Hernandez
F: Danny Alfaro
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Simon Hemenway, sr., MF, Hersey; Adrian Szumski, sr., F, Hersey
Referee: Jim Kolitas
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Hersey: Hemenway (U/A) 49'
Hersey: Seig (Hemenway, Stengren) 77'
Buffalo Grove: Krajewski (U/A) 80'
a way against Buffalo Grove
Makeshift Huskies pull it together, win MSL East with 2-1 road win
By Mike Garofola
BUFFALO GROVE -- Since the beginning of time, or at least until the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) formed in 1976, the conference has been considered one of the best prep soccer operations year-in and year-out.
Of late, the West Division has been the stronger half, taking the honor seven of the last 10 times at the league championship Soccer Bowl.
This season, however, there was a distinct new dynamic within the East portion of the league.
Hersey, Prospect, Rolling Meadows and a resurgent Elk Grove made up a Big Four. With Buffalo Grove’s recent upswing, there was not an easy out among this quintet of clubs.
Hersey found this out first hand.
The Huskies were clean at 5-0-0 on Sept. 21, then dropped points to Barrington, Prospect and Fremd. A 2-1 overtime victory over Rolling Meadows among those games kept its chance alive to advance to the East Division’s championship berth in the Soccer Bowl on its last day of the league season Saturday.
That's when Hersey walked onto Grant Blaney Stadium in Buffalo Grove knowing three points would send them through, but a loss or draw kept them at home when the league championship is played this at 7 p.m. Thursday at Fremd.
While the Huskies faithful were nervous and tense, Mike Rusniak’s men remained cool, calm and composed. They proved their mettle with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Bison that earned the East Division slot in the 44th annual Soccer Bowl at Fremd.
"This team does not have a superstar,” Rusniak said. “We're not technically proficient or have the depth of Fremd or Barrington. This team plays and works hard for themselves and each other, has a ton of chemistry, and never thinks for a minute about what could go wrong or even shows signs of nerves.
"We knew all knew what we had to do today," said Charlie Shiffman, who wears the captain's armband with Andrew Hamilton, Simon Hemenway and Adrian Szumski. “(There) really wasn't any conversation about after we lost on Thursday to Fremd, so there was no panic in this team.
“We just went out and played on Saturday afternoon.”
With Hamilton sporting a cast on his arm, Szumski wearing bandages on his left wrist and forearm as if he had the makings of a mummy costume and Alex Ganekov (hip flexor) and starting keeper Joe Lens injured on the sidelines, Rusniak and his assistant Joe Russo were forced to piece together a first 11 before the opening whistle.
"Patrick Rocks is our third string keeper, and a part-time field player, who we have confidence (in),” said Rusniak. “We knew, despite his inexperience back there, we had strong people in front of him to hopefully make things a little easier on him."
Shiffman, Hamilton, Matt Carlson and Alex Masztak did their part in the Huskies protection scheme.
Buffalo Grove coach Darren Llewellyn, who previously enjoyed remarkable success on the boys and girls sides at Hersey, is the last man to guide the Huskies boys team to Soccer Bowl glory in 2008. Hersey won the big trophy from 2006-08.
He was quick to point out this game had little gusto to it during the early stages, particularly from his lads at Buffalo Grove.
"It was a very uninteresting start today, especially on our end,” he said. “(We) didn't come to play, which is disappointing. I thought after our exciting last-minute win (2-1) over Barrington on Thursday the momentum would continue right on through and into today.
"It was a big game for Mike and his boys, and they did what they had to do in order to advance. I am especially happy for Rusniak.
"He's a great guy, and someone who I have a lot of respect for. If we can't get into the MSL Cup, I am thrilled that he went through."
While both managers were not impressed with the first 20 minutes, Hersey (9-6-1, 8-3-0) commanded much of the play and created a handful of chances. Szumski was at the heart of most of those opportunities.
"Like Charlie said, we knew what we had to do coming in,” Szumski said. “We went out and won the 50/50 balls, defended on both sides of the ball, tried our best to keep their chances on (Rock) to just a few, and played hungry for 80 minutes."
Szumski shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor with Hemenway for their strong play.
Jack Farrell, through Hemenway and Charlie Seig tested Buffalo Grove keeper Dan Tarantul, who started in place of the injured Charlie Mancilla.
Szumski went close in the 8th minute. Then 60 seconds later he forced Tarantul to save his header fron in-close. The whirlwind also created a trio of corners before 20 minutes.
Buffalo Grove watched it all happen.
"I don't know if (it's) the fact that we're playing our fifth game in nine days, but we looked slow, and/or asleep,” said Llewellyn. “Our runs and things we've been doing so well of late just weren't there today."
The Bison did present some offense. A well-struck free kick from Anthony Limber fell to Shant Demirjian, whose quick attempt on frame was parried out of the area with a strong header from Schiffman in the 32nd minute.
Soon thereafter the second of two quality chances from the Bison (6-10-2) came on a midline free kick by Daniel Alfaro to Giovanni Trujano, who was stopped by Rocks.
"(Rocks) was very good in there today in place of Joey," said Rusniak. “He made the saves he needed, took charge of his box and communicated really well. He gave us the performance back there we really needed.”
The visitors were all over the Bison after the intermission. That man Szumski at it again, creating trouble in and around the box.
The senior created a corner, then whipped in a lovely ball to Schiffman, who watched his redirected header saved with a late glove by Tarantul.
Tarantul stopped Szumski at the near post in the 45th minute but had no chance when Hemenway roared up the left side four minutes later. He broke free of two Bison and was nearly bumped off course by another before unleashing an unstoppable left-footer into the upper regions of the far post.
"Just a great goal from Simon, who never gave up and got us that important first goal of the game," said Schiffman.
"Simon was so hungry on that goal of his," added Szumski. “It was big for us.”
The strike was nearly joined by another in the 53rd minute, but Charlie Seig fired just wide.
Buffalo Grove got something cooking after Hersey struggled to clear the area. Rocks was called into action to save an eight-yard attempt from Jacob Krajewski.
Llewellyn moved Daniel Alfaro, an all-conference center back last spring as a freshman, to his midfield and more recently up-top in hopes of finding a target man and inspiring the Bison attack. Alfaro was deployed in the center of the park on the stroke of 60 minutes.
He teed one up from 22 yards only to watch Hemenway block the left-footed cracker before it neared Rocks in the 65th minute.
Hersey’s backline tightened things up in advance of an expected push of numbers forward from the Bison. The unit did its job defending, winning the air war and tackling challenges during a chippy, intense final 10 minutes of action.
The visitors weren’t done on offense.
Szumski, who may have run 10 miles during this 80-degree day dragged the ball to his left before driving his low effort into the hands of Tarantul in the 73rd minute.
Four minutes later, Seig gave the Huskies the security of a two-goal lead.
That's when Reese Stengren facilitated Seig's third goal of the season with some crafty work on the ball along the far touchline. He freed himself long enough to thread a nice ball to Hemenway.
Hemenway did the same to an unmarked Seig, who delivered his one-timer from 12 yards into the back corner three minutes from time.
Buffalo Grove fought back and broke onto the scoreboard thanks to Jacob Krajewski’s 80th-minute score. Unfortunately for the Bison, the tally didn’t match the heroics of the 80th-minute game-winner against Barrington on Thursday.
"We didn't play together like we did against Barrington. Not sure why, but we just didn't,” said Llewellyn. “Hersey played hard for 80 minutes to get themselves a well-deserved win."
Buffalo Grove will play at Conant (2-16-0) at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday in a MSL cross-over match to close out its regular-season schedule.
Rusniak, his staff, and players, will begin prepping for Fremd (14-2-1, 10-1-0).
"Fremd is a great team, no doubt about it," said Rusniak.
"We played them well the other night (coming) back from a 2-0 deficit (in a 4-2 loss Oct. 7), but we'll have to come out ready to play, because we know they will.
"With that said, I cannot tell you how proud I am of this team, which day-in, and day-out, works hard, and gives so much effort with whatever they do.
"There's a reason we outlasted the rest of a division that was so good this fall, and it's the effort, and dedication to each other. I am thrilled they'll be playing the Soccer Bowl on Thursday."
Starting lineups
Hersey (4-3-3)
G: Patrick Rocks
D: Matt Carlson
D: Charlie Schiffman
D: Alex Masztak
D: Andrew Hamilton
M: Jack Farrell
M: Simon Hemenway
M: Francisco Lopez-Lugo
F: Charlie Seig
F: Adrian Szumski
F: Michael Choi
Buffalo Grove (4-5-1)
G: Daniel Tarantul
D: Arian Garcia
D: Shant Demirjian
D: Anthony Limber
D: Dennis Likhovid
M: Andrew Berk
M: Aldo Torres
M: Jorge Hernandez Lopez
M: Giovanni Trujano
M: Sebastian Hernandez
F: Danny Alfaro
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Simon Hemenway, sr., MF, Hersey; Adrian Szumski, sr., F, Hersey
Referee: Jim Kolitas
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Hersey: Hemenway (U/A) 49'
Hersey: Seig (Hemenway, Stengren) 77'
Buffalo Grove: Krajewski (U/A) 80'