Metea Valley, Lemont fight
to draw in War-Stang finale
Metea's Chmielewski scores to end inter-class battle at 1-1
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Lemont coach Rick Prangen always relishes playing in the War-Stang Invitational -- it gives his Class AA team an opportunity to test its fitness against a trio of Class 3A schools.
His team was fit this week. And fit to be tied. Thrice.
Senior forward Lukas Rabianski scored off a corner kick in the second half before tournament co-host Metea Valley rallied for a 1-1 tie Saturday on the final day of the tournament.
It was the third draw in as many tournament games for Lemont (10-3-6), which also tied Batavia 1-1 in the opener Monday and played Waubonsie Valley to a 0-0 draw Wednesday.
“The frustrating part is in two of the three games, we were up 1-nil, and we gave it away, and both of them on set pieces,” Prangen said. “That’s just a frustrating thing right now.
“We’re scoring goals in the run of play and then you give up on a set piece. But we come here for a reason – to get out of our comfort zone and have to play at a higher level physically and in terms of just mentally trying to play quicker.”
Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson thinks that’s a smart strategy for Lemont, which is the top seed in their Class AA sub-sectional at Glenbard South. Lemont plays a Class 3A schedule outside of their conference, and it should make things easier come playoff time.
But every team wants to celebrate victories, and Lemont lost out on that experience in the tournament.
“We have mixed feelings,” Rabianski said. “We feel confident that we held up against these teams, and we’ve got (16th-ranked) Stagg on Wednesday.
“But at the same time, we could have done much better. Mixed emotions as we go on from here and try to get better next week.”
Rabianski earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for tallying the go-ahead goal. He connected on a counterattack at the 32:45 mark of the second half in a match that his team wasdd outshot 14-4.
Tyler Chrisman took the ball up the right wing and sent a perfect high cross in front to Rabianski, who bounced a header inside the right post. It was the 6-foot-5 Rabianski’s sixth goal of the season, tying him for the team lead with midfielder Marek Skotnicki.
“It was a very nice,” Rabianski said. “My leg was hurting, and I was like I want to get one and then try to get a rest.
“Tyler got the ball on the side and got it back into me. I was proud of him, because he did all the work. I just had the cherry on top.”
Alas, the end of the match was not as sweet.
“The goal we scored today was against the run of play,” Prangen said. “I thought they had the majority of the run of play. We get a breakdown, and it was a very nice goal, very well done by us, but really against the run of play.”
Indeed, Metea Valley (4-11-4) dominated possession and scoring chances in the first half. Lemont was fortunate to get to the break scoreless as goalkeeper Amir Biba made four of his six saves, including a nice diving effort to stop Adrian Gonzalez’s rolling shot from the right wing that was ticketed inside the far post.
“I didn’t like the way we started the game,” Prangen said. “I thought we were very lackadaisical in the first half and were just kind of happy to be out here.
“We played a bit better in the second half, but it was frustrating to be up 1-nil and give it up.”
There was frustration on the part of the Mustangs, too. For the second-straight game, they had the better of the play but failed to secure the victory.
“Recently we’ve been in a slump,” Metea Valley senior midfielder Bartosz Chmielewski said. “We need to start getting better in that attacking third, and we need to crash the box.
“If we can keep on doing that, we can score more goals. We all have to communicate and commit fully to attacking and defending.”
Chmielewski, who missed a large chunk of the season with a sprained ankle, did his part, He worked in the box and notched the equalizer with 11:23 left off an Erick Mena corner kick. He did it by emerging from a crowd and heading the ball past Biba for his first goal of the season.
“It was the one corner kick where I was free,” Chmielewski said. “They were yelling to mark me, and I saw my opportunity.
“I crashed, and I followed right to the ball. I just kind of dove into everyone, hoping I could come out with it.”
Chmielewski’s strike ended a run of futility and enabled the Mustangs to come out of the game with the draw. Metea had two previous quality chances in the second half but came up empty.
The first came when Tony Cuautle crossed into the box from the right wing to Michael Senese, whose volley from 12 yards sailed over the crossbar with 33:25 remaining. Ten minutes later, Gonzalez ripped a 23-yard liner on frame, but Biba leaped to tip it into the crossbar.
With one week left in the regular-season, the focus for both teams turns to preparing for the playoffs.
Lemont, which faces Stagg and Eisenhower next week, is a co-favorite in its sectional but must play on the road and could face fourth-seeded regional host St. Francis in a regional championship game.
“All I know is we’ve got to go on the road and play games, and we’ve got to go to a host that is in our sub-sectional and beat them on their home field,” Prangen said. “That’s going to be a challenge.”
Metea Valley has a tough season-ending slate with games against no. 3 Naperville Central and 212t-ranked West Aurora. The Mustangs are a regional host. The14th-seed in the Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional and will open against no. 4 seed East Aurora.
The Mustangs host the and hope for some home cooking.
“We started off slow from the beginning of the season,” Chmielewski said. “But as playoffs come, we need to speed it up and make a run.”
Starting lineups
Lemont
GK: Amir Biba
D: Adam Briestensky
D: Aidan Ontiveros
D: Ben Kittridge
M: Luciano Mancini
M: Vincenzo Mancini
M: Bill Eliadis
M: Ali Nabulsi
M: Marek Skotnicki
F: Tyler Chrisman
F: Lukas Rabianski
Metea Valley
GK: Orlando Velazquez
D: Julian Ordaz
D: Tony Cuautle
D: Arju Basu
D: Cameron Leys
D: Josh Forden
M: Daniel Wilkinson
M: Anthony Hildreth
M: Michael Senese
M: Cole Hatfield
F: Erick Mena
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Lukas Rabianski, sr., F, Lemont.
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lemont: Lukas Rabianski (Tyler Chrisman) 32:45 remaining
MV: Bartosz Chmielewski (Erick Mena) 11:23 remaining
to draw in War-Stang finale
Metea's Chmielewski scores to end inter-class battle at 1-1
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Lemont coach Rick Prangen always relishes playing in the War-Stang Invitational -- it gives his Class AA team an opportunity to test its fitness against a trio of Class 3A schools.
His team was fit this week. And fit to be tied. Thrice.
Senior forward Lukas Rabianski scored off a corner kick in the second half before tournament co-host Metea Valley rallied for a 1-1 tie Saturday on the final day of the tournament.
It was the third draw in as many tournament games for Lemont (10-3-6), which also tied Batavia 1-1 in the opener Monday and played Waubonsie Valley to a 0-0 draw Wednesday.
“The frustrating part is in two of the three games, we were up 1-nil, and we gave it away, and both of them on set pieces,” Prangen said. “That’s just a frustrating thing right now.
“We’re scoring goals in the run of play and then you give up on a set piece. But we come here for a reason – to get out of our comfort zone and have to play at a higher level physically and in terms of just mentally trying to play quicker.”
Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson thinks that’s a smart strategy for Lemont, which is the top seed in their Class AA sub-sectional at Glenbard South. Lemont plays a Class 3A schedule outside of their conference, and it should make things easier come playoff time.
But every team wants to celebrate victories, and Lemont lost out on that experience in the tournament.
“We have mixed feelings,” Rabianski said. “We feel confident that we held up against these teams, and we’ve got (16th-ranked) Stagg on Wednesday.
“But at the same time, we could have done much better. Mixed emotions as we go on from here and try to get better next week.”
Rabianski earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for tallying the go-ahead goal. He connected on a counterattack at the 32:45 mark of the second half in a match that his team wasdd outshot 14-4.
Tyler Chrisman took the ball up the right wing and sent a perfect high cross in front to Rabianski, who bounced a header inside the right post. It was the 6-foot-5 Rabianski’s sixth goal of the season, tying him for the team lead with midfielder Marek Skotnicki.
“It was a very nice,” Rabianski said. “My leg was hurting, and I was like I want to get one and then try to get a rest.
“Tyler got the ball on the side and got it back into me. I was proud of him, because he did all the work. I just had the cherry on top.”
Alas, the end of the match was not as sweet.
“The goal we scored today was against the run of play,” Prangen said. “I thought they had the majority of the run of play. We get a breakdown, and it was a very nice goal, very well done by us, but really against the run of play.”
Indeed, Metea Valley (4-11-4) dominated possession and scoring chances in the first half. Lemont was fortunate to get to the break scoreless as goalkeeper Amir Biba made four of his six saves, including a nice diving effort to stop Adrian Gonzalez’s rolling shot from the right wing that was ticketed inside the far post.
“I didn’t like the way we started the game,” Prangen said. “I thought we were very lackadaisical in the first half and were just kind of happy to be out here.
“We played a bit better in the second half, but it was frustrating to be up 1-nil and give it up.”
There was frustration on the part of the Mustangs, too. For the second-straight game, they had the better of the play but failed to secure the victory.
“Recently we’ve been in a slump,” Metea Valley senior midfielder Bartosz Chmielewski said. “We need to start getting better in that attacking third, and we need to crash the box.
“If we can keep on doing that, we can score more goals. We all have to communicate and commit fully to attacking and defending.”
Chmielewski, who missed a large chunk of the season with a sprained ankle, did his part, He worked in the box and notched the equalizer with 11:23 left off an Erick Mena corner kick. He did it by emerging from a crowd and heading the ball past Biba for his first goal of the season.
“It was the one corner kick where I was free,” Chmielewski said. “They were yelling to mark me, and I saw my opportunity.
“I crashed, and I followed right to the ball. I just kind of dove into everyone, hoping I could come out with it.”
Chmielewski’s strike ended a run of futility and enabled the Mustangs to come out of the game with the draw. Metea had two previous quality chances in the second half but came up empty.
The first came when Tony Cuautle crossed into the box from the right wing to Michael Senese, whose volley from 12 yards sailed over the crossbar with 33:25 remaining. Ten minutes later, Gonzalez ripped a 23-yard liner on frame, but Biba leaped to tip it into the crossbar.
With one week left in the regular-season, the focus for both teams turns to preparing for the playoffs.
Lemont, which faces Stagg and Eisenhower next week, is a co-favorite in its sectional but must play on the road and could face fourth-seeded regional host St. Francis in a regional championship game.
“All I know is we’ve got to go on the road and play games, and we’ve got to go to a host that is in our sub-sectional and beat them on their home field,” Prangen said. “That’s going to be a challenge.”
Metea Valley has a tough season-ending slate with games against no. 3 Naperville Central and 212t-ranked West Aurora. The Mustangs are a regional host. The14th-seed in the Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional and will open against no. 4 seed East Aurora.
The Mustangs host the and hope for some home cooking.
“We started off slow from the beginning of the season,” Chmielewski said. “But as playoffs come, we need to speed it up and make a run.”
Starting lineups
Lemont
GK: Amir Biba
D: Adam Briestensky
D: Aidan Ontiveros
D: Ben Kittridge
M: Luciano Mancini
M: Vincenzo Mancini
M: Bill Eliadis
M: Ali Nabulsi
M: Marek Skotnicki
F: Tyler Chrisman
F: Lukas Rabianski
Metea Valley
GK: Orlando Velazquez
D: Julian Ordaz
D: Tony Cuautle
D: Arju Basu
D: Cameron Leys
D: Josh Forden
M: Daniel Wilkinson
M: Anthony Hildreth
M: Michael Senese
M: Cole Hatfield
F: Erick Mena
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Lukas Rabianski, sr., F, Lemont.
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Lemont: Lukas Rabianski (Tyler Chrisman) 32:45 remaining
MV: Bartosz Chmielewski (Erick Mena) 11:23 remaining