Lemont ties Reavis on late goal
1-1 draw features Guzman, Rabianski goals
By Bobby Narang
BURBANK — At 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, Reavis senior midfielder Pedro Guzman is not a towering physical presence on the pitch.
Guzman even joked “I can’t jump, and I’m too short.”
But Guzman’s talents lie in different aspects of soccer that make him a high-volume scorer and emerging college recruit. His quickness, swiftness and stop-and-start ability mesh well with his stellar ball skills.
Reavis coach Mark Gniadek said Guzman is a solid player who provides a calming effect for the rest of the players.
“Pedro is our best player,” he said. “He leads the team in goals and assists. When we get him the ball, everything seems to calm down. He sets everything up. When he gets the ball, we’re a much better team. He finally took a good shot. He doesn’t like to shoot much.
“I keep encouraging him to shoot more. He’s a quality player any college would be lucky to have. He’s got a couple of colleges coming to look at him soon. He sees the field well and has a good touch."
Aside from his duties on corner kicks, Guzman also scored the Rams’ lone goal in a 1-1 tie against Lemont in South Suburban Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
Guzman scored his goal in the 20th minute. He dribbled to his right to find a slight opening and knocked in a shot from 15 yards that got a little help before finding the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
“I dribbled through, stopped and turned around," Guzman said. "Then shot it, and it deflected off the other team and it went in.”
The Rams (5-2-2, 2-0-1) were all set to earn a quality home win over Lemont (4-2-1, 2-0-1) after holding them scoreless for just over 74 minutes. But Lemont's size eventually won out when 6-foot-3 junior forward Lukas Rabianski scored on a header off a Tyler Chrisman corner kick with 5:51 left in regulation.
Rabianski’s first goal of the season silenced the large home crowd and helped wipe away some of the team's frustration from a 3-0 defeat to Sandburg on Sept. 10.
“The ball came in perfectly," Rabianski said. "I saw it really good and was able to get a good header on it.
"It felt really good to score. I knew I had to get that goal for the team, because we had so many set pieces. We should be getting better at those, because we’ve been practicing them a lot.
"It also felt good to get my first goal. It’s been since spring when I had a lot of goals in a short amount of time.”
Guzman said Lemont’s late goal spoiled Reavis’ strong game, plus slowed down their momentum following a 3-1 win over Tinley Park on Thursday.
“We tried to stay on our man, try and move around, and we had to jump high,” Guzman said. "But they were taller than us, so we couldn’t do much. They scored on a corner where we really couldn't do anything because of our height. It went over my head, and I couldn’t header it because my height.”
Gniadek said Lemont’s superior length and strength factored into their late comeback. That gave the visitors an advantage on their six corner kick attempts in the second half.
“(Set pieces) have been something we’ve struggled with all year,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of height, especially compared to Lemont. We emphasize getting in the way, getting up and getting after it, but we gave up corner after corner after corner. A good team like Lemont is eventually going to put one of those in if you give them enough chances.
“But this is a great game for us. Giving up a goal late in the second half isn’t ideal, but when you play Lemont they are always organized and quality, so it’s a good outcome for our conference.”
Reavis junior defender Julian Menchaca watched the tying goal from the bench after suffering an injury early in the second half. Menchaca, one of the Rams’ top defenders, blamed the goal on a mental lapse that cost them a victory.
“Even if they’re taller, we have to mark them and give them a little shove on the (lower half),” Menchaca said. “We just weren’t there. I’m usually the one who controls the backline and sets the tone, so without me, it gets a little sloppy in the middle and the communication is not there.
“I see this (game) as a win and a loss because we fought and almost won the game. We have a really good team with a lot of young people. Against bigger teams, we have to come with better touches and our speed and touch making up for our lack of height.”
Guzman said the Rams can grow -- no pun on words — from the draw.
“I feel we need to get better at passing the ball around from our one-two touches, and we should be good," Guzman said.
Reavis goalie Jacob Nosek collected eight saves. He saved the draw with a dive to his right immediately when the final buzzer sounded.
Lemont coach Rick Prangen called Saturday’s game a step in the right direction for his team.
Sophomore goalie Amir Biba stopped five shots and earned praise from his coach.
“There are good ties and bad ties,” Prangen said. “Today was a good tie for us. Mainly because they gave one up in the last five minutes, so that has to hurt more for them than us.
"The wind played a role, as whichever team had the wind in that half was pressing more. I’m really proud of our guys. It was our first game on artificial turf in a long time. Amir also played a good game for us.
“We were able score on a set piece. We had a lot of them. But I thought they defended the set pieces really well, even though we were bigger than them. They put a body on us. I was unhappy with the services we were getting. They were inconsistent.
“We gave up one goal, didn’t give them many more looks than that, most of them were in front of us. To not give up a counterattack goal up, when they were pressing, this was a good tie for us, a good learning experience.”
Lemont defender Aidan Ontiveros, one of seven freshmen on the varsity, said the team is slowly building for a late-season run.
“In the beginning, it was frustrating because we were trying to get stuff together and gave up that goal,” he said. “We started communicating better in the second half. Our defense worked really hard today. We can go far as a team. We just have to focus.”
Starting lineups
Lemont
GK Amir Biba
D Lukasz Otreba
D Lucas Urban
D Humza Zohair
D Aidan Ontiveros
M Adam Hornik
M Richard Myalik
M Lukas Rabianski
M Marek Skotnicki
F Will Harris
F Tyler Chrisman
Reavis
GK Jacob Nosek
D Julian Menchaca
D David Meza
D Steven Solis
D Krystian Paluch
M Pedro Guzman
M Diego Rodriguez
M Phong Le
M Carlos Ramos
F Diego Ochoa
F Moises Gutierrez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Pedro Guzman, sr., MF, Reavis
Scoring summary
First half
Reavis — Pedro Guzman (unassisted), 20th minute
Second half
Lemont — Rabianski (Chrisman), 75th minute
1-1 draw features Guzman, Rabianski goals
By Bobby Narang
BURBANK — At 5-foot-7 and 140 pounds, Reavis senior midfielder Pedro Guzman is not a towering physical presence on the pitch.
Guzman even joked “I can’t jump, and I’m too short.”
But Guzman’s talents lie in different aspects of soccer that make him a high-volume scorer and emerging college recruit. His quickness, swiftness and stop-and-start ability mesh well with his stellar ball skills.
Reavis coach Mark Gniadek said Guzman is a solid player who provides a calming effect for the rest of the players.
“Pedro is our best player,” he said. “He leads the team in goals and assists. When we get him the ball, everything seems to calm down. He sets everything up. When he gets the ball, we’re a much better team. He finally took a good shot. He doesn’t like to shoot much.
“I keep encouraging him to shoot more. He’s a quality player any college would be lucky to have. He’s got a couple of colleges coming to look at him soon. He sees the field well and has a good touch."
Aside from his duties on corner kicks, Guzman also scored the Rams’ lone goal in a 1-1 tie against Lemont in South Suburban Conference play on Saturday afternoon.
Guzman scored his goal in the 20th minute. He dribbled to his right to find a slight opening and knocked in a shot from 15 yards that got a little help before finding the back of the net for his fifth goal of the season.
“I dribbled through, stopped and turned around," Guzman said. "Then shot it, and it deflected off the other team and it went in.”
The Rams (5-2-2, 2-0-1) were all set to earn a quality home win over Lemont (4-2-1, 2-0-1) after holding them scoreless for just over 74 minutes. But Lemont's size eventually won out when 6-foot-3 junior forward Lukas Rabianski scored on a header off a Tyler Chrisman corner kick with 5:51 left in regulation.
Rabianski’s first goal of the season silenced the large home crowd and helped wipe away some of the team's frustration from a 3-0 defeat to Sandburg on Sept. 10.
“The ball came in perfectly," Rabianski said. "I saw it really good and was able to get a good header on it.
"It felt really good to score. I knew I had to get that goal for the team, because we had so many set pieces. We should be getting better at those, because we’ve been practicing them a lot.
"It also felt good to get my first goal. It’s been since spring when I had a lot of goals in a short amount of time.”
Guzman said Lemont’s late goal spoiled Reavis’ strong game, plus slowed down their momentum following a 3-1 win over Tinley Park on Thursday.
“We tried to stay on our man, try and move around, and we had to jump high,” Guzman said. "But they were taller than us, so we couldn’t do much. They scored on a corner where we really couldn't do anything because of our height. It went over my head, and I couldn’t header it because my height.”
Gniadek said Lemont’s superior length and strength factored into their late comeback. That gave the visitors an advantage on their six corner kick attempts in the second half.
“(Set pieces) have been something we’ve struggled with all year,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of height, especially compared to Lemont. We emphasize getting in the way, getting up and getting after it, but we gave up corner after corner after corner. A good team like Lemont is eventually going to put one of those in if you give them enough chances.
“But this is a great game for us. Giving up a goal late in the second half isn’t ideal, but when you play Lemont they are always organized and quality, so it’s a good outcome for our conference.”
Reavis junior defender Julian Menchaca watched the tying goal from the bench after suffering an injury early in the second half. Menchaca, one of the Rams’ top defenders, blamed the goal on a mental lapse that cost them a victory.
“Even if they’re taller, we have to mark them and give them a little shove on the (lower half),” Menchaca said. “We just weren’t there. I’m usually the one who controls the backline and sets the tone, so without me, it gets a little sloppy in the middle and the communication is not there.
“I see this (game) as a win and a loss because we fought and almost won the game. We have a really good team with a lot of young people. Against bigger teams, we have to come with better touches and our speed and touch making up for our lack of height.”
Guzman said the Rams can grow -- no pun on words — from the draw.
“I feel we need to get better at passing the ball around from our one-two touches, and we should be good," Guzman said.
Reavis goalie Jacob Nosek collected eight saves. He saved the draw with a dive to his right immediately when the final buzzer sounded.
Lemont coach Rick Prangen called Saturday’s game a step in the right direction for his team.
Sophomore goalie Amir Biba stopped five shots and earned praise from his coach.
“There are good ties and bad ties,” Prangen said. “Today was a good tie for us. Mainly because they gave one up in the last five minutes, so that has to hurt more for them than us.
"The wind played a role, as whichever team had the wind in that half was pressing more. I’m really proud of our guys. It was our first game on artificial turf in a long time. Amir also played a good game for us.
“We were able score on a set piece. We had a lot of them. But I thought they defended the set pieces really well, even though we were bigger than them. They put a body on us. I was unhappy with the services we were getting. They were inconsistent.
“We gave up one goal, didn’t give them many more looks than that, most of them were in front of us. To not give up a counterattack goal up, when they were pressing, this was a good tie for us, a good learning experience.”
Lemont defender Aidan Ontiveros, one of seven freshmen on the varsity, said the team is slowly building for a late-season run.
“In the beginning, it was frustrating because we were trying to get stuff together and gave up that goal,” he said. “We started communicating better in the second half. Our defense worked really hard today. We can go far as a team. We just have to focus.”
Starting lineups
Lemont
GK Amir Biba
D Lukasz Otreba
D Lucas Urban
D Humza Zohair
D Aidan Ontiveros
M Adam Hornik
M Richard Myalik
M Lukas Rabianski
M Marek Skotnicki
F Will Harris
F Tyler Chrisman
Reavis
GK Jacob Nosek
D Julian Menchaca
D David Meza
D Steven Solis
D Krystian Paluch
M Pedro Guzman
M Diego Rodriguez
M Phong Le
M Carlos Ramos
F Diego Ochoa
F Moises Gutierrez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Pedro Guzman, sr., MF, Reavis
Scoring summary
First half
Reavis — Pedro Guzman (unassisted), 20th minute
Second half
Lemont — Rabianski (Chrisman), 75th minute