Plainfield N. changes key win vs. Joliet C.
Set pieces help Tigers to 3-2 Southwest Prairie victory
By Gary Larsen
PLAINFIELD -- Plainfield North has struggled for wins in 2017 and coach Steve Berry showed in Thursday’s 3-2 win over Joliet Central that he’s more than willing to put on his white lab coat and experiment.
“When you’re down, what does it hurt to change things up a little bit?” Berry asked. “We had a little time to time to train and see if we could shake something up either personnel-wise or system-wise, and we did a little bit of both.”
System-wise, the Tigers implemented a three-defender backline this week, moving a player forward in order to add attacking punch.
Plainfield North (4-10-2, 2-3-0) gave up one goal on a giveaway in its defensive third, and another on a counterattack against Joliet Central in Thursday’s Southwest Prairie Conference tilt.
But for most of the day, defenders Alex Ryan, Oliver Fisher, and Jared Osborne stayed organized in front of keeper Cal Cangilla.
“It’s been kind of a rebuilding year for us -- we have a lot of youth on our team,” Plainfield North captain Patrick Elster said. “We needed to change something up because the season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to. So far the (new) system worked, and if we stay disciplined it’s going to keep working.”
Plainfield North forward Brian Bertoni had the game’s first good scoring chance on his foot, after he broke in on Joliet Central keeper Ramon Bibian on a counterattack at six minutes. Bertoni’s offering went wide from 16 yards with Bibian charging at him.
Joliet Central struck first on a Plainfield North mistake in back that allowed Gerardo Zavala a clean look on net from close range at 14 minutes.
Berry shook his head when asked about Joliet Central’s early goal.
“We’ve been happy with our possession throughout the year, and our record doesn’t really tell the story of how good we’ve been,” he said. “We’ve just consistently made some mistakes and given up goals we shouldn’t give up.”
Play leveled out to halftime, with Joliet Central using its quickness and skill to flirt with scoring chances and Plainfield North using its size and skill in finding dangerous restarts.
Cangilla fielded a strong shot from distance taken by Joliet Central’s Jaime Bedella at 20 minutes, and Plainfield North’s John Seeley headed a good chance wide of frame from 12 yards on a Fisher corner kick at 35 minutes.
Berry’s personnel experiment came after what he saw as a somewhat listless first 40 minutes from his side. Juniors Brandon Wojtkiewicz and Colin Russell and freshmen Dilan Anweiler and Lloyd Quezada entered the game in the second half, as Berry searched for an energy boost for his team.
“We started the second half with some guys that don’t normally play, to see if we could change the intensity,” Berry said. “I was real happy with the way we responded in the second half. They gave us some energy, and we created more chances.
“You have to try something. And it also lit a fire underneath a few of the starters, who had to sit and watch a little bit, to go back out and get after it.”
The first 15 minutes of the second half saw three goals scored. Fisher launched a free kick from 40 yards at 46 minutes that found its way behind a crowd. Plainfield North freshman Shea Bechtel was the beneficiary and buried a shot at the far post to tie the game at 1-1.
Joliet Central went up 2-1 on a counterattack goal from Ruben Ulloa-Aldape at 52 minutes.
“Their goalie threw it out, and we were left one-on-one in the back,” Elster said. “(Osborne) did a stand-up job defending (Ulloa-Aldape) but those are the situations we don’t want to have happen because that’s where goals come from.”
The rest of the half largely played out to a game of Joliet Central fouls and Plainfield North set pieces. One minute after Ulloa-Aldape’s goal, a steady flow of Fisher free kicks and corner kicks followed, beginning with a re-start from 40 yards.
“We know (Fisher) can hit them, and we knew their goalie was struggling a little with the air ball,” Berry said, “so we wanted him to put it on frame, follow it up, and see what we could do.”
Fisher left no need for a follow-up. The left-footed senior struck a perfect ball to the upper ninety that evened the score again and kept Plainfield North in attack mode.
“I tried to hit it high towards the crossbar, because it’s harder to get,” Fisher said.
Joliet Central kept fighting and found occasional space to shoot in its attacking third, but the Steelmen simply spent too much time defending set pieces in the second half.
“We talked at halftime about not giving up set pieces but one thing we’ve done all year is shoot ourselves in the foot,” Joliet Central coach Eduardo Contreras said. “We give up chances that the other team doesn’t deserve, and today we were just sloppy defensively.
“We gave up too many (set pieces). I don’t care who you’re playing, if you give a team too many of those chances, they’re going to score.”
Plainfield North kept the pressure on its guest. Anweiler sent a decent chance wide at 56 minutes, and laid off a nice pass to the right side to a running Bechtel, who sent his quality chance wide of the far post with a defender on his hip.
Anweiler chased a ball to the corner at 59 minutes, turned the corner and got tripped, setting up a free kick from close range and a pair of corner kicks for the Tigers. Russell teed off from 12 yards but sent it just wide of the post with Bibian diving after it at the 60-minute mark.
Junior midfielder Elster, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his hustle over the entire field, applauded the play of the Tigers’ second half substitution players.
“They came in and did a nice job,” Elster said.“It felt like the whole tempo lifted and things started to get faster, and we were able to put the ball in the back of the net a few times. We were much more aggressive in the second half.”
A hustle play to the end line from Bechtel earned a Fisher corner kick that set up the Tigers’ game-winner. The Steelmen failed to clear the ball, and Plainfield North midfielder Yousef Ismael was on the spot to bury the decisive shot.
Berry was pleased with his side’s comeback and the continued development of Ryan, Osborne, and Fisher in the Tigers’ three-back system.
“Alex Ryan is a sophomore and he played JV up until Tuesday,” Berry said. “We moved him up this week, he started both games, and he has earned his spot. He’s good on the ball, and he’s fast. We were resilient to come back today, and we’ll keep battling and keep trying to apply what we’ve learned.”
The Tigers’ coach also applauded another hard day’s work put in by Elster, who believes this year’s team can still be dangerous by the time regional play begins.
“(Offensively) we don’t have what we’ve had in past years in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net,” Elster said. “But I think we’ll be all right. We just have to keep working and putting the pieces together when it comes to scoring.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
GK Cal Cangilla
D Alex Ryan
D Oliver Fisher
D Jared Osborne
M Yousef Ismael
M Patrick Elster
M Nathan Green
M Shea Bechtel
F Brian Bertoni
F Ryley Burich
F Adan Juarez
Joliet Central
GK Ramon Bibian
D Erick Viveros
D ALejndro Ruiz
D Braulio Guzman
D Christian Castillo
M Salvador Rosas
M David Conteras
M Giovanni Diala
M Jaime Bedolla
F Gerardo Zavala
F Ruben Ulloa-Aldape
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Patrick Elster, jr., MF, Plainfield North
Scoring summary
First half
Joliet Central -- Zavala (UA)
Second Half
Plainfield North -- Bechtel (UA)
Joliet Central -- Ulloa-Aldape (UA)
Plainfield North -- Fisher (FK)
Plainfield North -- Ismael (UA)
Set pieces help Tigers to 3-2 Southwest Prairie victory
By Gary Larsen
PLAINFIELD -- Plainfield North has struggled for wins in 2017 and coach Steve Berry showed in Thursday’s 3-2 win over Joliet Central that he’s more than willing to put on his white lab coat and experiment.
“When you’re down, what does it hurt to change things up a little bit?” Berry asked. “We had a little time to time to train and see if we could shake something up either personnel-wise or system-wise, and we did a little bit of both.”
System-wise, the Tigers implemented a three-defender backline this week, moving a player forward in order to add attacking punch.
Plainfield North (4-10-2, 2-3-0) gave up one goal on a giveaway in its defensive third, and another on a counterattack against Joliet Central in Thursday’s Southwest Prairie Conference tilt.
But for most of the day, defenders Alex Ryan, Oliver Fisher, and Jared Osborne stayed organized in front of keeper Cal Cangilla.
“It’s been kind of a rebuilding year for us -- we have a lot of youth on our team,” Plainfield North captain Patrick Elster said. “We needed to change something up because the season hasn’t gone the way we wanted it to. So far the (new) system worked, and if we stay disciplined it’s going to keep working.”
Plainfield North forward Brian Bertoni had the game’s first good scoring chance on his foot, after he broke in on Joliet Central keeper Ramon Bibian on a counterattack at six minutes. Bertoni’s offering went wide from 16 yards with Bibian charging at him.
Joliet Central struck first on a Plainfield North mistake in back that allowed Gerardo Zavala a clean look on net from close range at 14 minutes.
Berry shook his head when asked about Joliet Central’s early goal.
“We’ve been happy with our possession throughout the year, and our record doesn’t really tell the story of how good we’ve been,” he said. “We’ve just consistently made some mistakes and given up goals we shouldn’t give up.”
Play leveled out to halftime, with Joliet Central using its quickness and skill to flirt with scoring chances and Plainfield North using its size and skill in finding dangerous restarts.
Cangilla fielded a strong shot from distance taken by Joliet Central’s Jaime Bedella at 20 minutes, and Plainfield North’s John Seeley headed a good chance wide of frame from 12 yards on a Fisher corner kick at 35 minutes.
Berry’s personnel experiment came after what he saw as a somewhat listless first 40 minutes from his side. Juniors Brandon Wojtkiewicz and Colin Russell and freshmen Dilan Anweiler and Lloyd Quezada entered the game in the second half, as Berry searched for an energy boost for his team.
“We started the second half with some guys that don’t normally play, to see if we could change the intensity,” Berry said. “I was real happy with the way we responded in the second half. They gave us some energy, and we created more chances.
“You have to try something. And it also lit a fire underneath a few of the starters, who had to sit and watch a little bit, to go back out and get after it.”
The first 15 minutes of the second half saw three goals scored. Fisher launched a free kick from 40 yards at 46 minutes that found its way behind a crowd. Plainfield North freshman Shea Bechtel was the beneficiary and buried a shot at the far post to tie the game at 1-1.
Joliet Central went up 2-1 on a counterattack goal from Ruben Ulloa-Aldape at 52 minutes.
“Their goalie threw it out, and we were left one-on-one in the back,” Elster said. “(Osborne) did a stand-up job defending (Ulloa-Aldape) but those are the situations we don’t want to have happen because that’s where goals come from.”
The rest of the half largely played out to a game of Joliet Central fouls and Plainfield North set pieces. One minute after Ulloa-Aldape’s goal, a steady flow of Fisher free kicks and corner kicks followed, beginning with a re-start from 40 yards.
“We know (Fisher) can hit them, and we knew their goalie was struggling a little with the air ball,” Berry said, “so we wanted him to put it on frame, follow it up, and see what we could do.”
Fisher left no need for a follow-up. The left-footed senior struck a perfect ball to the upper ninety that evened the score again and kept Plainfield North in attack mode.
“I tried to hit it high towards the crossbar, because it’s harder to get,” Fisher said.
Joliet Central kept fighting and found occasional space to shoot in its attacking third, but the Steelmen simply spent too much time defending set pieces in the second half.
“We talked at halftime about not giving up set pieces but one thing we’ve done all year is shoot ourselves in the foot,” Joliet Central coach Eduardo Contreras said. “We give up chances that the other team doesn’t deserve, and today we were just sloppy defensively.
“We gave up too many (set pieces). I don’t care who you’re playing, if you give a team too many of those chances, they’re going to score.”
Plainfield North kept the pressure on its guest. Anweiler sent a decent chance wide at 56 minutes, and laid off a nice pass to the right side to a running Bechtel, who sent his quality chance wide of the far post with a defender on his hip.
Anweiler chased a ball to the corner at 59 minutes, turned the corner and got tripped, setting up a free kick from close range and a pair of corner kicks for the Tigers. Russell teed off from 12 yards but sent it just wide of the post with Bibian diving after it at the 60-minute mark.
Junior midfielder Elster, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his hustle over the entire field, applauded the play of the Tigers’ second half substitution players.
“They came in and did a nice job,” Elster said.“It felt like the whole tempo lifted and things started to get faster, and we were able to put the ball in the back of the net a few times. We were much more aggressive in the second half.”
A hustle play to the end line from Bechtel earned a Fisher corner kick that set up the Tigers’ game-winner. The Steelmen failed to clear the ball, and Plainfield North midfielder Yousef Ismael was on the spot to bury the decisive shot.
Berry was pleased with his side’s comeback and the continued development of Ryan, Osborne, and Fisher in the Tigers’ three-back system.
“Alex Ryan is a sophomore and he played JV up until Tuesday,” Berry said. “We moved him up this week, he started both games, and he has earned his spot. He’s good on the ball, and he’s fast. We were resilient to come back today, and we’ll keep battling and keep trying to apply what we’ve learned.”
The Tigers’ coach also applauded another hard day’s work put in by Elster, who believes this year’s team can still be dangerous by the time regional play begins.
“(Offensively) we don’t have what we’ve had in past years in terms of putting the ball in the back of the net,” Elster said. “But I think we’ll be all right. We just have to keep working and putting the pieces together when it comes to scoring.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
GK Cal Cangilla
D Alex Ryan
D Oliver Fisher
D Jared Osborne
M Yousef Ismael
M Patrick Elster
M Nathan Green
M Shea Bechtel
F Brian Bertoni
F Ryley Burich
F Adan Juarez
Joliet Central
GK Ramon Bibian
D Erick Viveros
D ALejndro Ruiz
D Braulio Guzman
D Christian Castillo
M Salvador Rosas
M David Conteras
M Giovanni Diala
M Jaime Bedolla
F Gerardo Zavala
F Ruben Ulloa-Aldape
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Patrick Elster, jr., MF, Plainfield North
Scoring summary
First half
Joliet Central -- Zavala (UA)
Second Half
Plainfield North -- Bechtel (UA)
Joliet Central -- Ulloa-Aldape (UA)
Plainfield North -- Fisher (FK)
Plainfield North -- Ismael (UA)