BG win over rival Hersey ups league lead
Eloiza leads the way with goal, 2 assists in 4-1 MSL victory
By Mike Garofola
BUFFALO GROVE -- Buffalo Grove hit for four and got one step closer to lifting the Mid-Suburban League East Division trophy.
The Bison produced two goals on either side of the halves, including a Marcin Czaplinski strike just before the break to send the league table leaders on their way to an impressive 4-1 victory over Hersey at Grant Blaney Stadium.
This Tuesday afternoon three-point triumph now places the Bison (9-3-1, 6-0-0, 18 points) five points clear of the Huskies, and six over fast rising Wheeling, with a date at MSL West Division leading Fremd next up Thursday in Palatine.
"I still love those guys over at Hersey, but today was all about just finding a way to win in order to beat a very good opponent and to get a little room between them and the rest of our division," said Bison manager Darren Llewellyn, who moved over to take charge of the Buffalo Grove program after his retirement as a teacher at Hersey at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
"Yeah, we all knew how much (Llewellyn) thought of his guys at Hersey, and how much he knew about how they would play and come at us in this game," said senior Kevin Eloiza, who along with his teammate Ryan Kim earned co-Man of the Match honors awarded by Chicagoland Soccer. "So there was (that), and the fact that we really wanted to get these three points today, because it would help us out so much."
"This was a big game," said Kim, who supported his midfield partner Brian Perez with a high work rate that included several key interceptions, impressive tackling, and ball-winning efforts to help keep at bay a talented Hersey midfield unit that worried Llewellyn in advance of this contest.
"Ty Schmidt and Ronan Wilcox are great players in the middle for (new Huskies manager) Mike (Rusniak)," said Llewellyn. "And as you saw today, they are everywhere, always near or on the ball regardless of where it's at. But with a player like Ryan Kim, who never stops working and is willing to do the little things, we were able to keep those two from hurting us too much today."
An early strike by the Huskies (4-1-2, 4-1-1) was not what Llewellyn and his lads expected to concede, but when the home side allowed Angel Guerrero to move freely into the box to meet a terrific inward swinging corner by Kostadin Stoyanov, it was the visitors who were off to a bright start.
"Just a great goal from Angel to get us up and running, but they quickly took the wind out of our sails and grabbed back the momentum when they equalized four minutes later," bemoaned Rusniak, who was mentored by Llewellyn before taking over the girls program last spring in advance of the 2018 fall boys campaign.
"That first goal they scored was a great one, no way to stop it. All of their goals were well executed, but we didn't help ourselves by allowing their highly skilled guys to do what they did."
Jon Peici collected a ball from Eloiza, then did the rest himself when he worked to get enough time and space before unleashing a thunderous blast that somehow found the slightest open window at the near post.
The 25-yard cracker brought the Bison back level in the 9th minute.
"Jon has had the ability to score some very big goals for us this year, many of which helped decide games," said Llewellyn. "But his equalizer today really got us back on our feet and headed in the right direction."
Both sides were composed as the speed of play and urgency in each club surged. It was evident the teams were well aware of the importance of this outcome long before the opening whistle.
Kim went wide on the tail-end of a lovely buildup prepared by Alex Berk and Eloiza. It was more of the same moments later, when Berk and Peici set up Eloiza's attempt.
The Bison endured a scare when Eloiza went into the air to challenge a pair of Huskies on a 50-50 ball and ended up dazed after taking a big hit.
Eloiza was helped off and received care. He returned to begin the second period and showed no ill effects from his rough ride.
Meanwhile, he and his mates did their best to hold down the aforementioned Schmidt-Wilcox duo, who try as they would were unable to consistantly target and connect with the Huskies dynamic duo up-top of Major Hassan and Patryk Bujak.
"We came in here today with a lot of confidence," said Schmidt, who wore the captains armband for his club along with its first-rate keeper Nick Clarizio. "Despite the loss, we'll still leave feeling the same way. But Buffalo Grove made it tough for us to play the way we wanted, and it was a couple of our own mistakes that ultimately did us in."
Schmidt imposed his will and desire to succeed on his club during his 78-minute performance. Much of it was demonstrated through his passing and high connection rate propelled by a nonstop motor that allowed him to win nearly every 50-50 challenge he came upon.
His running mate Wilcox, just a sophomore, provided the perfect balance the Huskies needed on this day. Unfortunately the pair alone were unable to solve the Bison, who just after losing Eloiza went to a flat-three in the midfield. Llewellyn's move proved ingenious.
"The idea behind that flat three was to clutter the midfield because their guys like to (and) are very good at dribbling. It's something that I've been doing since 2005 when needed, and I'll likely do it again," Llewellyn said with a wry smile.
Added Kim: "We kind of went with a 4-3-1-2 for awhile midway through the first half. With all of us working hard and staying organized, I really believed it helped to slow down the Hersey attack."
There were still plenty of half-chances and quality efforts from both clubs as the first half continued to roll forward with the visitors generating three tries of their own at Adam Sempoch.
Christian Kozaczka, who enjoyed an impressive outing all day at center back for the Bison, read trouble correctly before moving in to block a Hassan close-range attempt created by Cade Milligan and Schmidt.
Kozaczka was soon at it again, this time blocking Bujak in close before his teammate Jack Couglin stepped in to tackle Guerrero on the stroke of the half hour.
The Bison absorbed this 10-minute flurry without suffering any harm, before they took the lead two minutes from the intermission.
That's when Berk and Michael Eloyza were able to pry open the Huskies on the left side before finding Czaplinski alone on the right.
The junior fired in the eventual game-winner with a low drive that Clarizio had no chance of stopping.
"Nick is a great keeper for them, (but) when your opponent goes low to the other side, it's almost impossible to turn those shots away," said Llewellyn.
Hersey should have gotten back even if not for an alert Czaplinski, who took one off the line when his teammate Sempoch was forced far out in an attempt to force Hassan to shoot early after Wilcox and Bujak set him free.
The game opened up even further after the Huskies near goal. It was then the technical brilliance of Eloiza showed and the Bison took over for good.
The all-state candidate tricked his way free and clear away from three opponents before heading to his left. He steered in his deadly finish the other way to give the home-side a two-goal advantage in the 52nd minute.
"That goal from Kevin was spectacular," said a proud Llewellyn. "Very few can dribble through people, then be composed enough to score."
"Kevin is amazing," said Kim. "He can score in so many ways.He has an unbelievable touch; he's so quick on the ball, and he just does things you don't expect sometimes."
The Bison went for the jugular and might have found it moments later if not for a terrific save by Clarizio on Jose Gonzalez, whose center channel run to latch onto a Shane Adams created a strong chance.
Brian Perez ended the scoring in the 77th minute thanks to an assist from Eloiza.
"Darren has a lot of offensive firepower, and we managed it well for awhile," said Rusniak. "But in the end, they were just better than us today; and that's going to happen.
"I told the guys to be mad and upset for just one day, because we then put this one behind us and go at it tomorrow."
Said Schmidt: "We'll learn a lot from this today, and I know we'll be better for it. We're a very good team, which got beat by another really good team, and that's soccer."
During Buffalo Grove's perfect run in the MSL thus far, it has outscored its six opponents 21-6 after conceding three in its opening night 4-3 victory over Wheeling.
"I've told the guys the MSL is a real soccer battleground," Llewellyn said. "And that although we're pleased and excited to get this win today, there's still a lot of soccer to be played.
"It was a good win against a quality opponent, but we've got another (Fremd) on Thursday who is playing at a high level, so we'll need to be ready for them."
Starting lineups
Hersey (3-4-3)
G- Nick Clarizio
D- Thomas Steger
D- Angel Guerrero
D- Cade Milligan
M- Trey Schmidt
M- Ronan Wilcox
M- Kostadin Stoyanov
M- Nicholas Bell
F- Major Hassan
F- Patryk Bujak
F- Eric Worwa
Buffalo Grove (4-3-3)
G- Adam Sempoch
D- Jack Couglin
D- Christian Kozaczka
D- Brian Hanus
D- Marcin Czaplinski
M- Shane Adams
M- Ryan Kim
M- Brian Perez
F- Kevin Eloiza
F- Jon Peici
F- Alex Berk
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Ryan Kim, jr., M, Buffalo Grove
Kevin Eloiza, sr., MF/F, Buffalo Grove
Referee: Andy Nowak
Scoring Summary
First half
Hersey: Guerrero (Stoyanov) 5'
Buffalo Grove: Peici (Eloiza) 9'
Buffalo Grove: Czaplinski (Berk, Eloyza) 38'
Second half
Buffalo Grove: Eloiza (U/A) 52'
Buffalo Grove: Perez (Eloiza) 77'
Eloiza leads the way with goal, 2 assists in 4-1 MSL victory
By Mike Garofola
BUFFALO GROVE -- Buffalo Grove hit for four and got one step closer to lifting the Mid-Suburban League East Division trophy.
The Bison produced two goals on either side of the halves, including a Marcin Czaplinski strike just before the break to send the league table leaders on their way to an impressive 4-1 victory over Hersey at Grant Blaney Stadium.
This Tuesday afternoon three-point triumph now places the Bison (9-3-1, 6-0-0, 18 points) five points clear of the Huskies, and six over fast rising Wheeling, with a date at MSL West Division leading Fremd next up Thursday in Palatine.
"I still love those guys over at Hersey, but today was all about just finding a way to win in order to beat a very good opponent and to get a little room between them and the rest of our division," said Bison manager Darren Llewellyn, who moved over to take charge of the Buffalo Grove program after his retirement as a teacher at Hersey at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
"Yeah, we all knew how much (Llewellyn) thought of his guys at Hersey, and how much he knew about how they would play and come at us in this game," said senior Kevin Eloiza, who along with his teammate Ryan Kim earned co-Man of the Match honors awarded by Chicagoland Soccer. "So there was (that), and the fact that we really wanted to get these three points today, because it would help us out so much."
"This was a big game," said Kim, who supported his midfield partner Brian Perez with a high work rate that included several key interceptions, impressive tackling, and ball-winning efforts to help keep at bay a talented Hersey midfield unit that worried Llewellyn in advance of this contest.
"Ty Schmidt and Ronan Wilcox are great players in the middle for (new Huskies manager) Mike (Rusniak)," said Llewellyn. "And as you saw today, they are everywhere, always near or on the ball regardless of where it's at. But with a player like Ryan Kim, who never stops working and is willing to do the little things, we were able to keep those two from hurting us too much today."
An early strike by the Huskies (4-1-2, 4-1-1) was not what Llewellyn and his lads expected to concede, but when the home side allowed Angel Guerrero to move freely into the box to meet a terrific inward swinging corner by Kostadin Stoyanov, it was the visitors who were off to a bright start.
"Just a great goal from Angel to get us up and running, but they quickly took the wind out of our sails and grabbed back the momentum when they equalized four minutes later," bemoaned Rusniak, who was mentored by Llewellyn before taking over the girls program last spring in advance of the 2018 fall boys campaign.
"That first goal they scored was a great one, no way to stop it. All of their goals were well executed, but we didn't help ourselves by allowing their highly skilled guys to do what they did."
Jon Peici collected a ball from Eloiza, then did the rest himself when he worked to get enough time and space before unleashing a thunderous blast that somehow found the slightest open window at the near post.
The 25-yard cracker brought the Bison back level in the 9th minute.
"Jon has had the ability to score some very big goals for us this year, many of which helped decide games," said Llewellyn. "But his equalizer today really got us back on our feet and headed in the right direction."
Both sides were composed as the speed of play and urgency in each club surged. It was evident the teams were well aware of the importance of this outcome long before the opening whistle.
Kim went wide on the tail-end of a lovely buildup prepared by Alex Berk and Eloiza. It was more of the same moments later, when Berk and Peici set up Eloiza's attempt.
The Bison endured a scare when Eloiza went into the air to challenge a pair of Huskies on a 50-50 ball and ended up dazed after taking a big hit.
Eloiza was helped off and received care. He returned to begin the second period and showed no ill effects from his rough ride.
Meanwhile, he and his mates did their best to hold down the aforementioned Schmidt-Wilcox duo, who try as they would were unable to consistantly target and connect with the Huskies dynamic duo up-top of Major Hassan and Patryk Bujak.
"We came in here today with a lot of confidence," said Schmidt, who wore the captains armband for his club along with its first-rate keeper Nick Clarizio. "Despite the loss, we'll still leave feeling the same way. But Buffalo Grove made it tough for us to play the way we wanted, and it was a couple of our own mistakes that ultimately did us in."
Schmidt imposed his will and desire to succeed on his club during his 78-minute performance. Much of it was demonstrated through his passing and high connection rate propelled by a nonstop motor that allowed him to win nearly every 50-50 challenge he came upon.
His running mate Wilcox, just a sophomore, provided the perfect balance the Huskies needed on this day. Unfortunately the pair alone were unable to solve the Bison, who just after losing Eloiza went to a flat-three in the midfield. Llewellyn's move proved ingenious.
"The idea behind that flat three was to clutter the midfield because their guys like to (and) are very good at dribbling. It's something that I've been doing since 2005 when needed, and I'll likely do it again," Llewellyn said with a wry smile.
Added Kim: "We kind of went with a 4-3-1-2 for awhile midway through the first half. With all of us working hard and staying organized, I really believed it helped to slow down the Hersey attack."
There were still plenty of half-chances and quality efforts from both clubs as the first half continued to roll forward with the visitors generating three tries of their own at Adam Sempoch.
Christian Kozaczka, who enjoyed an impressive outing all day at center back for the Bison, read trouble correctly before moving in to block a Hassan close-range attempt created by Cade Milligan and Schmidt.
Kozaczka was soon at it again, this time blocking Bujak in close before his teammate Jack Couglin stepped in to tackle Guerrero on the stroke of the half hour.
The Bison absorbed this 10-minute flurry without suffering any harm, before they took the lead two minutes from the intermission.
That's when Berk and Michael Eloyza were able to pry open the Huskies on the left side before finding Czaplinski alone on the right.
The junior fired in the eventual game-winner with a low drive that Clarizio had no chance of stopping.
"Nick is a great keeper for them, (but) when your opponent goes low to the other side, it's almost impossible to turn those shots away," said Llewellyn.
Hersey should have gotten back even if not for an alert Czaplinski, who took one off the line when his teammate Sempoch was forced far out in an attempt to force Hassan to shoot early after Wilcox and Bujak set him free.
The game opened up even further after the Huskies near goal. It was then the technical brilliance of Eloiza showed and the Bison took over for good.
The all-state candidate tricked his way free and clear away from three opponents before heading to his left. He steered in his deadly finish the other way to give the home-side a two-goal advantage in the 52nd minute.
"That goal from Kevin was spectacular," said a proud Llewellyn. "Very few can dribble through people, then be composed enough to score."
"Kevin is amazing," said Kim. "He can score in so many ways.He has an unbelievable touch; he's so quick on the ball, and he just does things you don't expect sometimes."
The Bison went for the jugular and might have found it moments later if not for a terrific save by Clarizio on Jose Gonzalez, whose center channel run to latch onto a Shane Adams created a strong chance.
Brian Perez ended the scoring in the 77th minute thanks to an assist from Eloiza.
"Darren has a lot of offensive firepower, and we managed it well for awhile," said Rusniak. "But in the end, they were just better than us today; and that's going to happen.
"I told the guys to be mad and upset for just one day, because we then put this one behind us and go at it tomorrow."
Said Schmidt: "We'll learn a lot from this today, and I know we'll be better for it. We're a very good team, which got beat by another really good team, and that's soccer."
During Buffalo Grove's perfect run in the MSL thus far, it has outscored its six opponents 21-6 after conceding three in its opening night 4-3 victory over Wheeling.
"I've told the guys the MSL is a real soccer battleground," Llewellyn said. "And that although we're pleased and excited to get this win today, there's still a lot of soccer to be played.
"It was a good win against a quality opponent, but we've got another (Fremd) on Thursday who is playing at a high level, so we'll need to be ready for them."
Starting lineups
Hersey (3-4-3)
G- Nick Clarizio
D- Thomas Steger
D- Angel Guerrero
D- Cade Milligan
M- Trey Schmidt
M- Ronan Wilcox
M- Kostadin Stoyanov
M- Nicholas Bell
F- Major Hassan
F- Patryk Bujak
F- Eric Worwa
Buffalo Grove (4-3-3)
G- Adam Sempoch
D- Jack Couglin
D- Christian Kozaczka
D- Brian Hanus
D- Marcin Czaplinski
M- Shane Adams
M- Ryan Kim
M- Brian Perez
F- Kevin Eloiza
F- Jon Peici
F- Alex Berk
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Ryan Kim, jr., M, Buffalo Grove
Kevin Eloiza, sr., MF/F, Buffalo Grove
Referee: Andy Nowak
Scoring Summary
First half
Hersey: Guerrero (Stoyanov) 5'
Buffalo Grove: Peici (Eloiza) 9'
Buffalo Grove: Czaplinski (Berk, Eloyza) 38'
Second half
Buffalo Grove: Eloiza (U/A) 52'
Buffalo Grove: Perez (Eloiza) 77'