Lethargic Lane escapes Jones’ upset bid
Alex Mezyk records hat-trick to gain 3-1 win in pool play opener
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Alex Mezyk is a player alone. Every program has its own checks and balances, with mapped out offenses optimized to play off specific personnel or players that fit into a particular system.
A senior forward at Lane, Mezyk assumes a different set of rules. Rather than flee from them, he accepts it as a part of the importance of his role and the authority it possesses. It also means he is a marked man, the best player in the city, a Chicagoland Soccer all-state player.
“I know a lot of the pressure for us to score is going to be on me,” he said. “Especially in our system, where I am the only player up-top, all the passes were coming to me, and I know that if we were going to score more, then it was going to have to be me. I had the attitude that I had to score.”
Mezyk put on a startling and game-changing performance by scoring two of his three goals in the second half as top-seeded Lane survived an indifferent and sluggish first half performance to beat Jones 3-1 in the start of group play in the city tournament in the South Loop on Monday night.
Lane (9-4-2) hosts Prosser on Wednesday for the right to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal bracket. The game has taken on an added dimension. Because Young dissolved its football team, stranding the planned Lane football Homecoming game, the Wednesday night game is now serving as the school’s official Homecoming competition.
Mezyk scored his 15th, 16th and 17th goals of the year and was the obvious choice for Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
Jones (9-8-0) did not go down without a fight. Junior forward Miguel Perez blasted a laser that caught Lane keeper Fabian Venegas off balance in the 34th minute that nullified Mezyk’s opening goal off an assist from midfielder Brandon Rivera in the sixth minute.
“That was the position we expected to be in, especially after I scored so early,” Mezyk said. “We expected to be up three or four goals at the half. Instead here we were, tied at 1-1, and not playing very good soccer. We had a serious halftime talk.”
Lane coach Andrew Ricks lit into his team’s lethargy and selfishness.
“I was angry,” Ricks said. “We were not playing well. They had a nice team, but we played down to their level. We let them hang around. We had clear-cut, goal-scoring opportunities in that first half we did not capitalize on. Because of that we let them stay in the game. I don’t remember all of my brilliant (halftime speech), but I told them, if we lost this game, then our Homecoming game with Prosser on Wednesday meant nothing because we’d have no way of advancing out of our group.”
Lane was riding a high after exploding for 15 goals its last two games.
“We had just beaten Hubbard 10-2 last week, and we underestimated Jones,” senior midfielder Marcin Kieta said. “We were the better team on paper, but they were outworking us. At halftime, coach Ricks said it’s not enough for us to be known as a good soccer program, a good academic school. We have to go and represent ourselves and play the way we are capable.”
Jones came dangerously close to going up 2-1 at the break. In the 38th minute, Perez again found himself in a dangerous situation with Venegas the only one standing in the way when he drilled another shot the Lane senior keeper was able to snare.
“I don’t know what happened there,” Perez said. “I don’t know if I got nervous. On the first goal somebody played the ball into me, I got the ball, and I got off a great shot. On the other one there, I did not strike it the way I wanted.”
Lane dodged a bullet. Ricks said the Indians had too much empty possession time in the first half, swinging the ball from side to side but not penetrating or getting the ball forward. “I wanted to see us play with more fire in the second half,” Ricks said. “We were possessing the ball, be we gave their defense time to get back, so we were not dangerous with the ball.
“In the second half we had to play more direct, play the longer ball, and it seemed to work out for us.”
Lane regrouped and demonstrated greater urgency, intensity and movement. In the 44th minute, the improved play paid off. Defender Arnel Sinanagic cleared a ball from the back to a streaking Kieta in the middle. Kieta, one of the Indians’ best playmakers, worked the ball out top and slotted a through-ball to Mezyk.
“I saw Arnel played the ball, and I felt a little gap between the two center backs sliding through,” Kieta said. “And I knew if I got the ball to Alex, he’d be able to finish it because he has the great first early touch.”
Mezyk shielded the ball and then got into a run-out with the Eagles’ keeper Leo Weldon, who burst off the line in an effort to get at the ball. Mezyk got the first touch and maneuvered the ball through his legs for the crucial go-ahead score.
“Marcin played a great through-ball, and I was able to get a touch on it,” Mezyk said. “It was a relief getting that goal. Even being up one goal, we knew that was not enough, because they already tied it once before. We had to score at least once more, because we knew one shot can change the whole game.”
Mezyk achieved that end with the Indians’ most impressive goal of the game. He punctuated the off-note game with a strong finish as junior midfielder Drew Kelner worked a ball to Rivera, who pushed it wide right to junior midfielder Cathal O’Connor. His final pass to the back post setup Mezyk’s final flourish, the putaway for the 3-1 lead.
“We had two missed assignments, and it led to two back post goals,” Jones coach Paul Zubb said. “Lane is the defending (city) champion, a team that is in the Premier every year, and we are a couple of divisions below them. We are a program that is knocking on the door. We are right there with a lot of schools in (First Division) and Premier.”
The Eagles certainly got the Indians’ attention.
“They got that one goal in the first half, and it was kind of nerve-wracking,” Kieta said. “Alex’s goal early in the second half, that calmed us down and built up our confidence. From there we possessed a little more, and we had them chasing us. This game was definitely a warning call, that we cannot underestimate any opponent. We cannot afford to have these kind of stressful games.”
Starting lineups
Lane
GK: Fabian Venegas
D: Dennis Dresevic
D: Jack Erickson
D: Greg Golba
D: Arnel Sinanagic
MF: David de la Fuente
MF: Zachary Rogers
MF: Brandon Rivera
MF: Cathal O’Connor
MF: Marcin Kieta
F: Alex Mezyk
Jones
GK: Leo Weldon
D: Andrew Villasenor
D: William Conley
D: Stephen Pavkovic
D: Edgar Garcia
MF: Aidan Garton
MF: Carter Shirley
MF: Hector Leal
MF: Oscar Rivera
F: Antonio Velasquez
F: Seamus Masterson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match: Alex Mezyk, sr., F, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Alex Mezyk (Brandon Rivera), sixth minute
Jones—Miguel Perez, 34th minute
Second half
Lane—Mezyk (Marcin Kieta), 44th minute
Lane—Mezyk (Cathal O’Connor), 70th minute
Alex Mezyk records hat-trick to gain 3-1 win in pool play opener
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Alex Mezyk is a player alone. Every program has its own checks and balances, with mapped out offenses optimized to play off specific personnel or players that fit into a particular system.
A senior forward at Lane, Mezyk assumes a different set of rules. Rather than flee from them, he accepts it as a part of the importance of his role and the authority it possesses. It also means he is a marked man, the best player in the city, a Chicagoland Soccer all-state player.
“I know a lot of the pressure for us to score is going to be on me,” he said. “Especially in our system, where I am the only player up-top, all the passes were coming to me, and I know that if we were going to score more, then it was going to have to be me. I had the attitude that I had to score.”
Mezyk put on a startling and game-changing performance by scoring two of his three goals in the second half as top-seeded Lane survived an indifferent and sluggish first half performance to beat Jones 3-1 in the start of group play in the city tournament in the South Loop on Monday night.
Lane (9-4-2) hosts Prosser on Wednesday for the right to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal bracket. The game has taken on an added dimension. Because Young dissolved its football team, stranding the planned Lane football Homecoming game, the Wednesday night game is now serving as the school’s official Homecoming competition.
Mezyk scored his 15th, 16th and 17th goals of the year and was the obvious choice for Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
Jones (9-8-0) did not go down without a fight. Junior forward Miguel Perez blasted a laser that caught Lane keeper Fabian Venegas off balance in the 34th minute that nullified Mezyk’s opening goal off an assist from midfielder Brandon Rivera in the sixth minute.
“That was the position we expected to be in, especially after I scored so early,” Mezyk said. “We expected to be up three or four goals at the half. Instead here we were, tied at 1-1, and not playing very good soccer. We had a serious halftime talk.”
Lane coach Andrew Ricks lit into his team’s lethargy and selfishness.
“I was angry,” Ricks said. “We were not playing well. They had a nice team, but we played down to their level. We let them hang around. We had clear-cut, goal-scoring opportunities in that first half we did not capitalize on. Because of that we let them stay in the game. I don’t remember all of my brilliant (halftime speech), but I told them, if we lost this game, then our Homecoming game with Prosser on Wednesday meant nothing because we’d have no way of advancing out of our group.”
Lane was riding a high after exploding for 15 goals its last two games.
“We had just beaten Hubbard 10-2 last week, and we underestimated Jones,” senior midfielder Marcin Kieta said. “We were the better team on paper, but they were outworking us. At halftime, coach Ricks said it’s not enough for us to be known as a good soccer program, a good academic school. We have to go and represent ourselves and play the way we are capable.”
Jones came dangerously close to going up 2-1 at the break. In the 38th minute, Perez again found himself in a dangerous situation with Venegas the only one standing in the way when he drilled another shot the Lane senior keeper was able to snare.
“I don’t know what happened there,” Perez said. “I don’t know if I got nervous. On the first goal somebody played the ball into me, I got the ball, and I got off a great shot. On the other one there, I did not strike it the way I wanted.”
Lane dodged a bullet. Ricks said the Indians had too much empty possession time in the first half, swinging the ball from side to side but not penetrating or getting the ball forward. “I wanted to see us play with more fire in the second half,” Ricks said. “We were possessing the ball, be we gave their defense time to get back, so we were not dangerous with the ball.
“In the second half we had to play more direct, play the longer ball, and it seemed to work out for us.”
Lane regrouped and demonstrated greater urgency, intensity and movement. In the 44th minute, the improved play paid off. Defender Arnel Sinanagic cleared a ball from the back to a streaking Kieta in the middle. Kieta, one of the Indians’ best playmakers, worked the ball out top and slotted a through-ball to Mezyk.
“I saw Arnel played the ball, and I felt a little gap between the two center backs sliding through,” Kieta said. “And I knew if I got the ball to Alex, he’d be able to finish it because he has the great first early touch.”
Mezyk shielded the ball and then got into a run-out with the Eagles’ keeper Leo Weldon, who burst off the line in an effort to get at the ball. Mezyk got the first touch and maneuvered the ball through his legs for the crucial go-ahead score.
“Marcin played a great through-ball, and I was able to get a touch on it,” Mezyk said. “It was a relief getting that goal. Even being up one goal, we knew that was not enough, because they already tied it once before. We had to score at least once more, because we knew one shot can change the whole game.”
Mezyk achieved that end with the Indians’ most impressive goal of the game. He punctuated the off-note game with a strong finish as junior midfielder Drew Kelner worked a ball to Rivera, who pushed it wide right to junior midfielder Cathal O’Connor. His final pass to the back post setup Mezyk’s final flourish, the putaway for the 3-1 lead.
“We had two missed assignments, and it led to two back post goals,” Jones coach Paul Zubb said. “Lane is the defending (city) champion, a team that is in the Premier every year, and we are a couple of divisions below them. We are a program that is knocking on the door. We are right there with a lot of schools in (First Division) and Premier.”
The Eagles certainly got the Indians’ attention.
“They got that one goal in the first half, and it was kind of nerve-wracking,” Kieta said. “Alex’s goal early in the second half, that calmed us down and built up our confidence. From there we possessed a little more, and we had them chasing us. This game was definitely a warning call, that we cannot underestimate any opponent. We cannot afford to have these kind of stressful games.”
Starting lineups
Lane
GK: Fabian Venegas
D: Dennis Dresevic
D: Jack Erickson
D: Greg Golba
D: Arnel Sinanagic
MF: David de la Fuente
MF: Zachary Rogers
MF: Brandon Rivera
MF: Cathal O’Connor
MF: Marcin Kieta
F: Alex Mezyk
Jones
GK: Leo Weldon
D: Andrew Villasenor
D: William Conley
D: Stephen Pavkovic
D: Edgar Garcia
MF: Aidan Garton
MF: Carter Shirley
MF: Hector Leal
MF: Oscar Rivera
F: Antonio Velasquez
F: Seamus Masterson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the match: Alex Mezyk, sr., F, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Alex Mezyk (Brandon Rivera), sixth minute
Jones—Miguel Perez, 34th minute
Second half
Lane—Mezyk (Marcin Kieta), 44th minute
Lane—Mezyk (Cathal O’Connor), 70th minute