Alvarado non-touch aids Lane in win vs. VS
Indians stay unbeaten in CPL Premier North with 2-1 road victory
By Gary Larsen
CHICAGO -- Countless plays across 80 minutes tell the real tale of a soccer game, no matter how the box score reads. And Lane’s Fernando Alvarado made one of the biggest without making contact with the ball Monday.
Alvarado didn’t score or record an assist in the Indians 2-1 Chicago Public League Premier Division North showdown win over Von Steuben, but he spearheaded a play that was as vital to the game’s outcome as any other.
Two minutes into the second half with Lane leading 1-0, Lane’s Jae Riding sent a 60-yard free kick soaring towards the post on the right side. Von Steuben keeper Carlos Martinez left his line and leaped to get his hands on the ball, and Alvarado leapt with his back to Martinez to get his head on it.
Neither succeeded and the ball bounced high before falling steeply under the crossbar to give Lane a 2-0 lead. The official call over whether Alvarado interfered with Martinez went in Lane’s favor.
“I didn’t touch the goalie; the goalie didn’t touch me,” Alvarado said. “I was just in the way, and I kind of ducked to fake him out.”
Von Steuben got a goal from Rambert Ramos at 76 minutes, leaving Riding’s goal built on Alvarado’s aggressive play stand as the pivotal play of the game.
Von Steuben assistant coach Greg Domanico, filling in for absent head coach Vedad Sarancic, wasn’t about to blame the loss on a referee. But he had a different take on the play.
“It looked like a foul to me, that the Lane player jumped up and backward,” Domanico. “I personally think goalies get protected too much but with the rules the way they are, I think you’ve got to call that.”
Lane coach Andrew Ricks saw it another way.
“I agreed with the referee,” Ricks said. “You can be there, and you can go straight up, and (Alvarado) didn’t go into the goalie. Fernando was a beast up there. Challenging and pressing, and doing it fairly, and that was the difference in the game.”
The league win gave Lane (7-4-2, 5-0-0) the regular season title. Next up is the CPL playoffs, which are set to begin Friday.
Von Steuben (10-3-0, 3-3-0) showed skill around the pitch on its home field at Northeastern Illinois University. Through a quarter hour or so, the Panthers flirted with scoring opportunities.
“I thought we had a good 20- or 25-minute stretch in the first half where we should have finished a goal or two,” Domanico said. “We had a scrum in front of goal in the first half, and we needed someone to put a kneecap, a shoulder or something on the ball.”
Instead, Lane found a goal late in the first half when Cathal O’Connor heard a voice calling to him, some 30 yards from goal.
“I saw the space and asked for the ball from (O’Connor),” Lane midfielder David Arroyo said. “I knew when I got it that I was going to shoot it. The keeper was on the wrong foot and had to do a couple slide steps from where he was in the middle of the goal.”
Arroyo’s shot found the upper ninety at the right post, where no keeper gets a glove on it.
“I knew when I made contact it was a good ball,” Arroyo said. “I saw it dipping, and I knew it was going in.”
Domanico applauded the shot.
“You have to give (Arroyo) credit. There’s nothing our goalie could do about it,” Domanico said. “But defensively, we did’t have anyone within three or four yards of him. And if you give Lane too many opportunities, they’re going to cash one of them in.”
After Riding’s goal early in the second half, Von Steuben chased a two-goal deficit with abandon. Chief among the Panthers’ weapons was Ramos.
“Rambert is one of the most dangerous players in the city,” Domanico said. “He’s dealing with double and triple teams every game now.”
Charged with slowing Ramos and a bevy of Panthers like Dane Hoare and Nathan Ramirez, the Indians’ backline and keeper Jakub Bozek stood up to the test.
“Our defensive line had a great game; our keeper had a great game,” Arroyo said. “They were ready for the ball over the top and executed perfectly against it. We scored, but our defense won us the game.”
Ricks named names.
“I thought our central defenders (Riding and Matt Bozek) played really well,” Ricks said. “It’s easy to highlight David’s goal and Fernando’s work ethic, because we’ve benefited from those things all season.
“Jae and Matt were particularly good today. We didn’t give up much. Even if balls got through, we were running with players and running in their running lanes fairly, and not obstructing. That’s good defense. They didn’t get many looks on our goalie.”
Ramos split the lead in half from 18 yards with a fine strike that tore a path inside the post on the right side. An intense final five minutes followed before Lane came away victorious -- Riding’s goal was punctuated by Alvarado’s aggressive play to highlight the win.
Alvarado’s hustle and timely play earned him Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match honor.
“As a forward you have to be aware of those balls that are coming in and of every little rebound,” Alvarado said. “You always have to be aware. That one play cost them the game.”
Ricks also singled out a few unsung players after the win.
(Osvaldo Alfaro), our outside defender, was really good too, and late in the game Ulises Espinoza gave us quality minutes in the center of the field,” Ricks said. “He didn’t turn the ball over. He controlled the ball, played it wide; he played maybe the last 15 minutes, and they were important minutes.”
Domanico was pleased with the way his side continued to fight chasing two goals. Von Steuben had its share of quality individual performances as well.
“I thought our center back, Sebastian Tovar, played a great game,” Domanico said. “The last 25 or 30 minutes we went to three in the back, which makes you pretty susceptible, especially with such a good counter-attacking team like Lane. But (Tovar) was a rock back there. He was cleaning everything up.
“Dane Hoare, especially in the first half on the right side, created two or three of our best chances. We moved him to the middle in the second half, and he played a good second half as well.”
Starting lineups
Lane
GK Jakub Bozek
D Matt Bozek
D Jae Riding
D Daniel Rau
D Osvaldo Alfaro
MF Drew Kelner
MF Grant Nagle
MF David Arroyo
MF Cathal O’Connor
MF Michael Junay
F Fernando Alvarado
Von Steuben
GK Carlos Martinez
D Sebastian Tovar
D Juan Valencia
D Jose Piox
D Jesse Guijoso
MF Rambert Ramos
MF Dane Hoare
MF Denilson Ramos
MF Gabriel Edstrom
F James Malutan
F Nathan Ramirez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Fernando Alvarado, sr., F, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane - Arroyo (O’Connor), 30 minutes
Second half
Lane - Riding (UA), 42 minutes
Von Steuben - Ramos (Ramirez), 76 minutes
Indians stay unbeaten in CPL Premier North with 2-1 road victory
By Gary Larsen
CHICAGO -- Countless plays across 80 minutes tell the real tale of a soccer game, no matter how the box score reads. And Lane’s Fernando Alvarado made one of the biggest without making contact with the ball Monday.
Alvarado didn’t score or record an assist in the Indians 2-1 Chicago Public League Premier Division North showdown win over Von Steuben, but he spearheaded a play that was as vital to the game’s outcome as any other.
Two minutes into the second half with Lane leading 1-0, Lane’s Jae Riding sent a 60-yard free kick soaring towards the post on the right side. Von Steuben keeper Carlos Martinez left his line and leaped to get his hands on the ball, and Alvarado leapt with his back to Martinez to get his head on it.
Neither succeeded and the ball bounced high before falling steeply under the crossbar to give Lane a 2-0 lead. The official call over whether Alvarado interfered with Martinez went in Lane’s favor.
“I didn’t touch the goalie; the goalie didn’t touch me,” Alvarado said. “I was just in the way, and I kind of ducked to fake him out.”
Von Steuben got a goal from Rambert Ramos at 76 minutes, leaving Riding’s goal built on Alvarado’s aggressive play stand as the pivotal play of the game.
Von Steuben assistant coach Greg Domanico, filling in for absent head coach Vedad Sarancic, wasn’t about to blame the loss on a referee. But he had a different take on the play.
“It looked like a foul to me, that the Lane player jumped up and backward,” Domanico. “I personally think goalies get protected too much but with the rules the way they are, I think you’ve got to call that.”
Lane coach Andrew Ricks saw it another way.
“I agreed with the referee,” Ricks said. “You can be there, and you can go straight up, and (Alvarado) didn’t go into the goalie. Fernando was a beast up there. Challenging and pressing, and doing it fairly, and that was the difference in the game.”
The league win gave Lane (7-4-2, 5-0-0) the regular season title. Next up is the CPL playoffs, which are set to begin Friday.
Von Steuben (10-3-0, 3-3-0) showed skill around the pitch on its home field at Northeastern Illinois University. Through a quarter hour or so, the Panthers flirted with scoring opportunities.
“I thought we had a good 20- or 25-minute stretch in the first half where we should have finished a goal or two,” Domanico said. “We had a scrum in front of goal in the first half, and we needed someone to put a kneecap, a shoulder or something on the ball.”
Instead, Lane found a goal late in the first half when Cathal O’Connor heard a voice calling to him, some 30 yards from goal.
“I saw the space and asked for the ball from (O’Connor),” Lane midfielder David Arroyo said. “I knew when I got it that I was going to shoot it. The keeper was on the wrong foot and had to do a couple slide steps from where he was in the middle of the goal.”
Arroyo’s shot found the upper ninety at the right post, where no keeper gets a glove on it.
“I knew when I made contact it was a good ball,” Arroyo said. “I saw it dipping, and I knew it was going in.”
Domanico applauded the shot.
“You have to give (Arroyo) credit. There’s nothing our goalie could do about it,” Domanico said. “But defensively, we did’t have anyone within three or four yards of him. And if you give Lane too many opportunities, they’re going to cash one of them in.”
After Riding’s goal early in the second half, Von Steuben chased a two-goal deficit with abandon. Chief among the Panthers’ weapons was Ramos.
“Rambert is one of the most dangerous players in the city,” Domanico said. “He’s dealing with double and triple teams every game now.”
Charged with slowing Ramos and a bevy of Panthers like Dane Hoare and Nathan Ramirez, the Indians’ backline and keeper Jakub Bozek stood up to the test.
“Our defensive line had a great game; our keeper had a great game,” Arroyo said. “They were ready for the ball over the top and executed perfectly against it. We scored, but our defense won us the game.”
Ricks named names.
“I thought our central defenders (Riding and Matt Bozek) played really well,” Ricks said. “It’s easy to highlight David’s goal and Fernando’s work ethic, because we’ve benefited from those things all season.
“Jae and Matt were particularly good today. We didn’t give up much. Even if balls got through, we were running with players and running in their running lanes fairly, and not obstructing. That’s good defense. They didn’t get many looks on our goalie.”
Ramos split the lead in half from 18 yards with a fine strike that tore a path inside the post on the right side. An intense final five minutes followed before Lane came away victorious -- Riding’s goal was punctuated by Alvarado’s aggressive play to highlight the win.
Alvarado’s hustle and timely play earned him Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match honor.
“As a forward you have to be aware of those balls that are coming in and of every little rebound,” Alvarado said. “You always have to be aware. That one play cost them the game.”
Ricks also singled out a few unsung players after the win.
(Osvaldo Alfaro), our outside defender, was really good too, and late in the game Ulises Espinoza gave us quality minutes in the center of the field,” Ricks said. “He didn’t turn the ball over. He controlled the ball, played it wide; he played maybe the last 15 minutes, and they were important minutes.”
Domanico was pleased with the way his side continued to fight chasing two goals. Von Steuben had its share of quality individual performances as well.
“I thought our center back, Sebastian Tovar, played a great game,” Domanico said. “The last 25 or 30 minutes we went to three in the back, which makes you pretty susceptible, especially with such a good counter-attacking team like Lane. But (Tovar) was a rock back there. He was cleaning everything up.
“Dane Hoare, especially in the first half on the right side, created two or three of our best chances. We moved him to the middle in the second half, and he played a good second half as well.”
Starting lineups
Lane
GK Jakub Bozek
D Matt Bozek
D Jae Riding
D Daniel Rau
D Osvaldo Alfaro
MF Drew Kelner
MF Grant Nagle
MF David Arroyo
MF Cathal O’Connor
MF Michael Junay
F Fernando Alvarado
Von Steuben
GK Carlos Martinez
D Sebastian Tovar
D Juan Valencia
D Jose Piox
D Jesse Guijoso
MF Rambert Ramos
MF Dane Hoare
MF Denilson Ramos
MF Gabriel Edstrom
F James Malutan
F Nathan Ramirez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Fernando Alvarado, sr., F, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane - Arroyo (O’Connor), 30 minutes
Second half
Lane - Riding (UA), 42 minutes
Von Steuben - Ramos (Ramirez), 76 minutes