Short-handed Yorkville rallies for tie
Foxes tie Kaneland 2-2 in Northern lllinois Big 12 East clash
By Chris Walker
YORKVILLE -– Despite playing without leading scorer Julio Segura (six goals), second-leading scorer J.C. Noyola (5) and third leading scorer and captain Caleb Law (4), Yorkville found a way to battle to a draw against Kaneland on Tuesday afternoon.
But it certainly wasn’t easy. The Foxes fell behind 2-0 and never enjoyed a lead, but they still had to leave somewhat satisfied after a 2-2 draw.
“Not a big fan of tying or losing,” Yorkville coach Andrew Johnson said. “I would rather win the thing, to be honest. Getting a tie is like getting a ‘C.’ If you would’ve worked a little harder you could’ve gotten that ‘A’ or ‘B.’”
The Foxes (5-6-1, 2-1-1) might have graded themselves with an 'F' after falling two goals behind just 11 minutes into the action.
“It was disappointing to go down 2-0, because we did it to ourselves,” Johnson said. “We focused a lot on mental preparation before this game, and we’ve done it a few games, and it’s paid off. So to put so much into it tonight and come out ill-prepared was frustrating.”
Adjusting to the absence of Segura, Noyola and Law, who had combined for 60 percent of Yorkville’s 25 goals coming into Tuesday, led to a different look and provided an additional challenge.
“We had an entirely different lineup tonight,” Johnson said. “We had to pull starters out and the group that did most of the damage today was probably only about six of our regular starters.
“I don’t know if that affected our start in the game, but they weren’t ready and got themselves in a hole but dug out of it. We still put ourselves in a good position to tie and to continue to contend.”
Sluggish starts are nothing new for the Foxes.
“We have had a bad habit of coming out slow in games this season,” Yorkville goalkeeper Brandon Ducoing said. “It’s rough and some teams can fold, and it turns into an ugly game. But my team fought back and dominated the whole second half.”
Ducoing didn’t guess correctly just 11:09 into the game when he had the difficult challenge of trying to stop Gavin Cano’s penalty kick. Cano converted it, and the Foxes were quickly down by a pair of goals.
It was a severe blow. The Foxes were victimized just 61 seconds earlier when Kaneland’s star scorer, Tucker Jahns, delivered his 17th goal of the season after running down a header from Evan Smith, beating a pair of defenders and slipping it out of the reach of Ducoing.
“It was a tough way to start but I just tried to keep ready,” Ducoing said. “I’ve been doing this for 10-15 years now, playing goalie, and just knowing my teammates and knowing when to come out and help them, I just kept doing that.”
Kaneland (7-6-1, 2-1-1) may have been feeling too good about itself with the quick, early lead. The Knights are on a roll and took the field as winners of seven-of-nine games after beginning the season 0-4-0. They had also won five straight.
“Last year we had the mindset that we never we’re going to lose,” Jahns said. “This year we haven’t had that same energy. We just show up to the games, and it’s just another game, but our main goal is still conference. Every game counts, and we just need to keep our heads in it and keep going.”
Jahns referenced several of his own missed opportunities. If he had converted, it might have allowed the Knights to put the Foxes away good and early.
“I had a lot of breakaways I missed which was tough,” he said. “I was happy with the effort of our boys. We just didn’t finish out shots. That was our main problem. We could’ve been up 5-0 so the effort was there.”
Yorkville cut Kaneland’s lead in half with 20:35 left before halftime as Alex Barrientos’ shot knicked the cross bar before settling in the net to make it 2-1.
“Usually I stand on top of the box and pick up scraps like that,” Barrientos said. “I didn’t want it to come to my right foot, but it did. I just hit it as it was and scored it, so I was pretty happy about that.”
Kaneland certainly weren’t happy, although its senior captain, Alex Bass, gave a tip of the proverbial cap to Barrientos.
“He hit a great shot, crossbar down,” he said. “None of us here can do that, and if we do it’s a one-in-a-million shot. So props to him. We kept fighting but gave up that easy goal, because we didn’t follow a runner on a corner and we missed some of our chances.”
Prior to finally getting the equalizer, the Foxes were able to ward off the Knights, and were especially fortunate on two occasions. The first came when Jahns had what potentially would have been goal no. 18 on the season when he finished Allen Dominguez’s cross, but Kaneland was caught offside.
The second came with 25:15 left. Connor Bottorff’s shot amongst a gathering of players from both squads came out, and the rebound caromed off the face of Bottorff’s teammate Nick Mitchinson. The freshman’s painful-looking unintentional shot sprang toward the net only to be stopped by Ducoing, who made five saves.
Yorkville pressed forward for the equalizer.
“We started to figure out there was a lot of space on the wings,” Alex Barrientos said. “I think their defenders were a little nervous. I felt like we were the better team and had better chances, but we just couldn’t put enough away.”
Preston Huitron took a couple corner kicks as Yorkville kept fighting. Midway through the second half and during the run of play, Caleb Aquino got a ball past a Kaneland defender who whiffed on the ball, but the Knights' goalkeeper Maison Kerl was able to collect it.
Huitron’s corner kick caused huge problems for Kaneland and ultimately is what started the game-tying goal. Kerl was unable to secure the ball this time and that definitely was not good for the Knights.
Edgar Barrientos seized the opportunity and was able to get a light touch on the ball and send it to Jake Rodgers who buried it with a header.
“After that goal we really came together as a team more,” Rodgers said. “We worked harder, pushed harder. It was really satisfying that we put in the second goal. I felt like we were the better team. We had better passes, better shots, better runs and more communication."
The end was so satisfying that Rodgers, who was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, acknowledged that it felt like a victory.
“It has to feel like a loss for them,” he said. “For us, I feel like it’s the best game we’ve played this season.
“We had a huge crowd with all the little soccer kids here, and they fueled us to perform. We showed them that when they’re 16, 17 and 18, then they will be on the field trying to win a close game like we were.”
Johnson praised Rodgers and Nick Bivens.
“(Bivens) also displayed his best game of the season,” Johnson said. “And helped avoid further scoring chances against a crafty offensive Kaneland attack.”
He also praised the hard work and intensity that Tim Peterson, Peyton Senffner, K.J. Calder, Salvador Alfaro, Collin Bowers, Aquino and both of the Barrientos boys.
While the tie is certainly better than a loss, it doesn’t help either team in the pursuit of a conference title, although the competition remains tight. The teams will play each other again in October.
“It’s been a very competitive conference the past four years that I’ve been here,” Bass said. “There’s a lot of talent all around, no matter who you play and sometimes it comes down to who works the hardest. That’s probably who is going to get the trophy at the end of the year.”
Starting lineups
Kaneland
GK: Maison Kerl
D: Alex Bass
D: Dylan Bock
D: Tyler Chapman
D: Ben Weiss
MF: Connor Bottorff
MF: Gavin Cano
MF: Alex Dhom
MF: Evan Smith
F: Allen Dominguez
F: Tucker Jahns
Yorkville
GK: Brandon Ducoing
D: Alex Barrientos
D: Nathan Batres
D: Ryan Schwartz
D: Evan Torok
MF: Edgar Barrientos
MF: Preston Huitron
MF: Jake Rodgers
MF: Peyton Senffner
F: Caleb Aquino
F: K.J. Calder
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jake Rodgers, Yorkville, sr., MF
Scoring summary
First half
Kaneland: Tucker Jahns (Evan Smith), 30:00
Kaneland: Gavin Cano PK, 28:51
Yorkville: Alex Barrientos (Jake Rodgers), 20:35
Second half
Yorkville: Jake Rodgers (assist Preston Huitron), 16:26
Foxes tie Kaneland 2-2 in Northern lllinois Big 12 East clash
By Chris Walker
YORKVILLE -– Despite playing without leading scorer Julio Segura (six goals), second-leading scorer J.C. Noyola (5) and third leading scorer and captain Caleb Law (4), Yorkville found a way to battle to a draw against Kaneland on Tuesday afternoon.
But it certainly wasn’t easy. The Foxes fell behind 2-0 and never enjoyed a lead, but they still had to leave somewhat satisfied after a 2-2 draw.
“Not a big fan of tying or losing,” Yorkville coach Andrew Johnson said. “I would rather win the thing, to be honest. Getting a tie is like getting a ‘C.’ If you would’ve worked a little harder you could’ve gotten that ‘A’ or ‘B.’”
The Foxes (5-6-1, 2-1-1) might have graded themselves with an 'F' after falling two goals behind just 11 minutes into the action.
“It was disappointing to go down 2-0, because we did it to ourselves,” Johnson said. “We focused a lot on mental preparation before this game, and we’ve done it a few games, and it’s paid off. So to put so much into it tonight and come out ill-prepared was frustrating.”
Adjusting to the absence of Segura, Noyola and Law, who had combined for 60 percent of Yorkville’s 25 goals coming into Tuesday, led to a different look and provided an additional challenge.
“We had an entirely different lineup tonight,” Johnson said. “We had to pull starters out and the group that did most of the damage today was probably only about six of our regular starters.
“I don’t know if that affected our start in the game, but they weren’t ready and got themselves in a hole but dug out of it. We still put ourselves in a good position to tie and to continue to contend.”
Sluggish starts are nothing new for the Foxes.
“We have had a bad habit of coming out slow in games this season,” Yorkville goalkeeper Brandon Ducoing said. “It’s rough and some teams can fold, and it turns into an ugly game. But my team fought back and dominated the whole second half.”
Ducoing didn’t guess correctly just 11:09 into the game when he had the difficult challenge of trying to stop Gavin Cano’s penalty kick. Cano converted it, and the Foxes were quickly down by a pair of goals.
It was a severe blow. The Foxes were victimized just 61 seconds earlier when Kaneland’s star scorer, Tucker Jahns, delivered his 17th goal of the season after running down a header from Evan Smith, beating a pair of defenders and slipping it out of the reach of Ducoing.
“It was a tough way to start but I just tried to keep ready,” Ducoing said. “I’ve been doing this for 10-15 years now, playing goalie, and just knowing my teammates and knowing when to come out and help them, I just kept doing that.”
Kaneland (7-6-1, 2-1-1) may have been feeling too good about itself with the quick, early lead. The Knights are on a roll and took the field as winners of seven-of-nine games after beginning the season 0-4-0. They had also won five straight.
“Last year we had the mindset that we never we’re going to lose,” Jahns said. “This year we haven’t had that same energy. We just show up to the games, and it’s just another game, but our main goal is still conference. Every game counts, and we just need to keep our heads in it and keep going.”
Jahns referenced several of his own missed opportunities. If he had converted, it might have allowed the Knights to put the Foxes away good and early.
“I had a lot of breakaways I missed which was tough,” he said. “I was happy with the effort of our boys. We just didn’t finish out shots. That was our main problem. We could’ve been up 5-0 so the effort was there.”
Yorkville cut Kaneland’s lead in half with 20:35 left before halftime as Alex Barrientos’ shot knicked the cross bar before settling in the net to make it 2-1.
“Usually I stand on top of the box and pick up scraps like that,” Barrientos said. “I didn’t want it to come to my right foot, but it did. I just hit it as it was and scored it, so I was pretty happy about that.”
Kaneland certainly weren’t happy, although its senior captain, Alex Bass, gave a tip of the proverbial cap to Barrientos.
“He hit a great shot, crossbar down,” he said. “None of us here can do that, and if we do it’s a one-in-a-million shot. So props to him. We kept fighting but gave up that easy goal, because we didn’t follow a runner on a corner and we missed some of our chances.”
Prior to finally getting the equalizer, the Foxes were able to ward off the Knights, and were especially fortunate on two occasions. The first came when Jahns had what potentially would have been goal no. 18 on the season when he finished Allen Dominguez’s cross, but Kaneland was caught offside.
The second came with 25:15 left. Connor Bottorff’s shot amongst a gathering of players from both squads came out, and the rebound caromed off the face of Bottorff’s teammate Nick Mitchinson. The freshman’s painful-looking unintentional shot sprang toward the net only to be stopped by Ducoing, who made five saves.
Yorkville pressed forward for the equalizer.
“We started to figure out there was a lot of space on the wings,” Alex Barrientos said. “I think their defenders were a little nervous. I felt like we were the better team and had better chances, but we just couldn’t put enough away.”
Preston Huitron took a couple corner kicks as Yorkville kept fighting. Midway through the second half and during the run of play, Caleb Aquino got a ball past a Kaneland defender who whiffed on the ball, but the Knights' goalkeeper Maison Kerl was able to collect it.
Huitron’s corner kick caused huge problems for Kaneland and ultimately is what started the game-tying goal. Kerl was unable to secure the ball this time and that definitely was not good for the Knights.
Edgar Barrientos seized the opportunity and was able to get a light touch on the ball and send it to Jake Rodgers who buried it with a header.
“After that goal we really came together as a team more,” Rodgers said. “We worked harder, pushed harder. It was really satisfying that we put in the second goal. I felt like we were the better team. We had better passes, better shots, better runs and more communication."
The end was so satisfying that Rodgers, who was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, acknowledged that it felt like a victory.
“It has to feel like a loss for them,” he said. “For us, I feel like it’s the best game we’ve played this season.
“We had a huge crowd with all the little soccer kids here, and they fueled us to perform. We showed them that when they’re 16, 17 and 18, then they will be on the field trying to win a close game like we were.”
Johnson praised Rodgers and Nick Bivens.
“(Bivens) also displayed his best game of the season,” Johnson said. “And helped avoid further scoring chances against a crafty offensive Kaneland attack.”
He also praised the hard work and intensity that Tim Peterson, Peyton Senffner, K.J. Calder, Salvador Alfaro, Collin Bowers, Aquino and both of the Barrientos boys.
While the tie is certainly better than a loss, it doesn’t help either team in the pursuit of a conference title, although the competition remains tight. The teams will play each other again in October.
“It’s been a very competitive conference the past four years that I’ve been here,” Bass said. “There’s a lot of talent all around, no matter who you play and sometimes it comes down to who works the hardest. That’s probably who is going to get the trophy at the end of the year.”
Starting lineups
Kaneland
GK: Maison Kerl
D: Alex Bass
D: Dylan Bock
D: Tyler Chapman
D: Ben Weiss
MF: Connor Bottorff
MF: Gavin Cano
MF: Alex Dhom
MF: Evan Smith
F: Allen Dominguez
F: Tucker Jahns
Yorkville
GK: Brandon Ducoing
D: Alex Barrientos
D: Nathan Batres
D: Ryan Schwartz
D: Evan Torok
MF: Edgar Barrientos
MF: Preston Huitron
MF: Jake Rodgers
MF: Peyton Senffner
F: Caleb Aquino
F: K.J. Calder
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jake Rodgers, Yorkville, sr., MF
Scoring summary
First half
Kaneland: Tucker Jahns (Evan Smith), 30:00
Kaneland: Gavin Cano PK, 28:51
Yorkville: Alex Barrientos (Jake Rodgers), 20:35
Second half
Yorkville: Jake Rodgers (assist Preston Huitron), 16:26