Glowing night for host SCN vs. Leyden
No. 5 North Stars shine vs. young Eagles in home tourney opener
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES --- On the outskirts of town a full moon showing its craters had a soccer ball-like look as it was surrounded by stars.
While invisible because of the bright lights of St. Charles North’s field, the host North Stars had a glow about them all their own. Seven players shined on offense and a new backline constellation came into view for the fifth-ranked team in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 Poll.
North’s 5-1 victory over a young Leyden crew was the kind of opener that veteran coach Eric Willson and rival counterpart Vince DiNuzzo envisioned for the inaugural St. Charles Tournament co-hosted by the North Stars and St. Charles East.
While Willson was nervous for the eight-school event’s opening night, his crew was eager to perform under the spotlight for the home fans and improved to 3-0-0.
“Scoring always feels good, but it was especially the case right in the beginning of the match because it built our energy,” explained Joshua Amaro, who accounted for the first and third goals, and earned Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match acclaim. “Getting the lead is always a huge boost.”
Willson was more impressed with the way his team turned that lead into a 3-0 halftime advantage and then continued playing with intensity.
“In our first two (victories), we had one strong half and one that left something to be desired. Tonight we put together a quality start and then backed it up,” Willson said. “It was nearly a complete game and close to the kind of 80 minutes we want.”
Taking into account his team’s youth, Leyden coach Mark Valintis also found encouraging portions of the match for the Eagles (1-2-1). One was the very first near goal just over seven minutes in which was a bit of a surprise after St. Charles North won the coin toss and elected to start with some very warm wind gusts in their favor.
Alan Vazquez, one of five sophomore starters, was on a breakaway going into the wind and put a blistering 18-yard shot on frame only to have North Stars goalie Bobby Curran make an impressive kick save.
As the home team warmed to the attack, junior Gabe D’Amico’s textbook cross led to an eight-yard touch shot inside the left post at 13:38.
“Great pass, then I saw the keeper drifting to the right so I tried tucking it the opposite side,” Amaro noted. “Thankfully I got a good touch on it. My other goal was also thanks to a solid assist.”
Shortly after that D’Amico had another strong cross but a Leyden defender immediately snuffed the shot. At the opposite end, Polo Lopez had a 23-yard blast for the Eagles that Curran saved. There was 22:10 gone when Matt Beaulieu – a member of Chicagoland Soccer’s 2017 All-Sate Watch List along with D’Amico and Parker Kolb who wasn’t available for the game, had a rocket from the right wing that Leyden starting goalie Jesus Mancha deflected with a dive to his right.
That was followed by a trio of Lopez shots for the Eagles. The long-limbed Curran saved the first and third while the middle attempt was wide of the right post.
There was 9:31 left before intermission when the North Stars demonstrated some more precision passing. Ultimately a one-two-three combo saw Logan Michels set up Faizan Mohiuddin for a goal. Mancha had to knock down a laser-shot from Beaulieu a few minutes later to keep it 2-0. However with 3:49 showing prior to halftime, Beaulieu registered his second set-up for the season with a cross that was sent home by Amaro.
David Duwal took over in net for Leyden, and the Eagles senior came up with a huge kick save on a cracker from Michels. He even received congratulations for his save from a North Stars player in an act of pure sportsmanship.
“Quite frankly I thought we played hard and didn’t give up. We actually drew one back early in the second half,” Valintis noted. “We had a good start, more reminiscent of how we came back (to beat Riverside-Brookfield) after taking one on the chin against Oak Park.
“We only have a handful of experienced starters to build around, so a freshman and five sophomores had a lot to learn and did so not only against a quick, but quality team. So I’m really pleased with everyone’s effort,” Valintis added.
Leyden did indeed make a comeback bid as it closed to 3-1 just under 11 minutes into the second half. With 2017 CS All-Stater Eduardo Hernandez being limited, Lopez became a constant threat. The junior midfielder pounced on a loose ball and blasted it by Curran.
“The ball rebounded off a defender, and I just did my best to bury it quickly,” Lopez said of his second goal for the season.
Beaulieu made a highlight reel-worthy run up the left side, twice making cutbacks to get around defenders before shooting just wide of the far right post. With 19:54 still to play in regulation, Mohiuddin re-established North’s three-goal cushion. The junior reserve forward picked up his third goal of the year.
“It’s great to score and feels even better to get two. I go in simply trying my best to contribute,” Mohiuddin said.
Less than three minutes elapsed before Luke Persenico registered an assist on a corner kick that became a blazing nine-yard header by D’Amico. The junior midfielder’s perfectly-timed run netted him a second goal for the season to go with his two assists.
Leyden’s Dennis Arreaza launched a missile from the left wing but missed the upper right corner with 13:20 remaining. At the other end, Duwal was kept busy either catching or clearing a variety of potentially dangerous balls. He made yet another notable save with 1:16 to go on an Adam Baer breakaway run.
“They’re obviously a very good team so we could see what we need to work on. We definitely need to talk more,” Leyden midfielder Ozzie Pacheco said. “We need to work better as a team both on offense and defense. We created some chances, but we need to finish those.”
North owned a 19-14 advantage for overall attempts plus a 10-5 edge in shots on goal and was up 5-1 in corner kicks. The North Stars’ aggressiveness was also evident by a 3-1 tally for offside whistles.
“We were happy to have competed in Barrington’s tourney for so many years, but the opportunity to host our own event is special. I was a little nervous over that, but I’d say the boys were super excited for a tourney setting in front of home fans,” Willson said. “Considering we have a lot of new faces, the fact that we strung together combination plays this early is something to be pretty happy about. We still have room to grow.
“In three games we’ve used some different combinations for our backline. I thought tonight’s looked the strongest,” Willson said in reference to D’Amico, John Kirby, Drew Balster and Joey Sommer.
“It’s so cool for us to win our first game while hosting a tournament,” Sommer said. “It showed how much we like competing. I like that our defense can push forward, and we help with overlapping runs. It’s great to execute a give-and-go at times to catch the other team off guard.”
Next up for St. Charles North is a 7 p.m. match Wednesday versus Maine South, which fell on a 4-1 shootout with Plainfield Central after a 0-0 regulation draw. Across town at East, the host Saints topped Downers Grove North 4-1 after Elgin posted a 7-3 win over Metea Valley despite playing a man down for 60 minutes.
Friday’s group play for North finishes with a match against Plainfield Central. Saturday’s slate has each group squaring off with its equal finisher from the opposite group to determine seventh, fifth, third place finishers and the champion.
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK Jesus Mancha
D Max Haruk
D Dennis Arreaza
D Jesus Recendez
D Matt Espinoza
M Carlos Duarte
M Ozzie Pacheco
M Pablo Mancha
M Gerardo Merino
F Alan Vazquez
F Eduardo Hernandez
St. Charles North
GK Bobby Curran
D Gabe D’Amico
D John Kirby
D Drew Balster
D Joey Sommer
M Thomas Weber
M Nicky Sommer
M Joshua Amaro
M Vito Lagioia
F Logan Michels
F Matt Beaulieu
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joshua Amaro, sr., M, St. Charles North Sr. M in 5-1 win over Leyden (8-27-18)
Referees: Scott Lichtfuss (center), Gene Mroz, Dave Holbrook
Game summary
St. Charles North 5, Leyden 1
Leyden 0 1 ---- 1 1-2-1
SCN 3 2 ---- 5 3-0-0
Scoring
First half
SCN – Amaro eight-yard finish inside left post off (D’Amico assist), 13:38 gone
SCN – Mohiuddin six-yard touch shot from 1-2-3 pass and cross (Michels assist), 30:29 gone
SCN – Amaro seven-yard finish off textbook cross from right (Beaulieu assist), 36:11 gone
Second half
L – Lopez seven-yard strike from right off loose ball (unassisted), 50:53 gone
SCN – Mohiuddin 13-yard blast into left side (D’Amico assist), 60:06 gone
SCN – D’Amico nine-yard blazing header off corner kick (Persenico assist), 62:36 gone
Shots
L 9 – 5 --- 14
SCN 11 – 8 --- 19
Shots on goal
L 4 – 1 --- 5
SCN 6 – 4 --- 10
Saves (goalie)
L (J. Mancha) 4 – (Duwal) 1 --- 5
SCN (Curran) 4 – 0 --- 4
Corner kicks
L 0 – 1 --- 1
SCN 2 – 3 --- 5
Offsides
L 0 – 1 --- 1
SCN 1 – 2 --- 3
No. 5 North Stars shine vs. young Eagles in home tourney opener
By Steve Nemeth
ST. CHARLES --- On the outskirts of town a full moon showing its craters had a soccer ball-like look as it was surrounded by stars.
While invisible because of the bright lights of St. Charles North’s field, the host North Stars had a glow about them all their own. Seven players shined on offense and a new backline constellation came into view for the fifth-ranked team in this week’s Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 Poll.
North’s 5-1 victory over a young Leyden crew was the kind of opener that veteran coach Eric Willson and rival counterpart Vince DiNuzzo envisioned for the inaugural St. Charles Tournament co-hosted by the North Stars and St. Charles East.
While Willson was nervous for the eight-school event’s opening night, his crew was eager to perform under the spotlight for the home fans and improved to 3-0-0.
“Scoring always feels good, but it was especially the case right in the beginning of the match because it built our energy,” explained Joshua Amaro, who accounted for the first and third goals, and earned Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match acclaim. “Getting the lead is always a huge boost.”
Willson was more impressed with the way his team turned that lead into a 3-0 halftime advantage and then continued playing with intensity.
“In our first two (victories), we had one strong half and one that left something to be desired. Tonight we put together a quality start and then backed it up,” Willson said. “It was nearly a complete game and close to the kind of 80 minutes we want.”
Taking into account his team’s youth, Leyden coach Mark Valintis also found encouraging portions of the match for the Eagles (1-2-1). One was the very first near goal just over seven minutes in which was a bit of a surprise after St. Charles North won the coin toss and elected to start with some very warm wind gusts in their favor.
Alan Vazquez, one of five sophomore starters, was on a breakaway going into the wind and put a blistering 18-yard shot on frame only to have North Stars goalie Bobby Curran make an impressive kick save.
As the home team warmed to the attack, junior Gabe D’Amico’s textbook cross led to an eight-yard touch shot inside the left post at 13:38.
“Great pass, then I saw the keeper drifting to the right so I tried tucking it the opposite side,” Amaro noted. “Thankfully I got a good touch on it. My other goal was also thanks to a solid assist.”
Shortly after that D’Amico had another strong cross but a Leyden defender immediately snuffed the shot. At the opposite end, Polo Lopez had a 23-yard blast for the Eagles that Curran saved. There was 22:10 gone when Matt Beaulieu – a member of Chicagoland Soccer’s 2017 All-Sate Watch List along with D’Amico and Parker Kolb who wasn’t available for the game, had a rocket from the right wing that Leyden starting goalie Jesus Mancha deflected with a dive to his right.
That was followed by a trio of Lopez shots for the Eagles. The long-limbed Curran saved the first and third while the middle attempt was wide of the right post.
There was 9:31 left before intermission when the North Stars demonstrated some more precision passing. Ultimately a one-two-three combo saw Logan Michels set up Faizan Mohiuddin for a goal. Mancha had to knock down a laser-shot from Beaulieu a few minutes later to keep it 2-0. However with 3:49 showing prior to halftime, Beaulieu registered his second set-up for the season with a cross that was sent home by Amaro.
David Duwal took over in net for Leyden, and the Eagles senior came up with a huge kick save on a cracker from Michels. He even received congratulations for his save from a North Stars player in an act of pure sportsmanship.
“Quite frankly I thought we played hard and didn’t give up. We actually drew one back early in the second half,” Valintis noted. “We had a good start, more reminiscent of how we came back (to beat Riverside-Brookfield) after taking one on the chin against Oak Park.
“We only have a handful of experienced starters to build around, so a freshman and five sophomores had a lot to learn and did so not only against a quick, but quality team. So I’m really pleased with everyone’s effort,” Valintis added.
Leyden did indeed make a comeback bid as it closed to 3-1 just under 11 minutes into the second half. With 2017 CS All-Stater Eduardo Hernandez being limited, Lopez became a constant threat. The junior midfielder pounced on a loose ball and blasted it by Curran.
“The ball rebounded off a defender, and I just did my best to bury it quickly,” Lopez said of his second goal for the season.
Beaulieu made a highlight reel-worthy run up the left side, twice making cutbacks to get around defenders before shooting just wide of the far right post. With 19:54 still to play in regulation, Mohiuddin re-established North’s three-goal cushion. The junior reserve forward picked up his third goal of the year.
“It’s great to score and feels even better to get two. I go in simply trying my best to contribute,” Mohiuddin said.
Less than three minutes elapsed before Luke Persenico registered an assist on a corner kick that became a blazing nine-yard header by D’Amico. The junior midfielder’s perfectly-timed run netted him a second goal for the season to go with his two assists.
Leyden’s Dennis Arreaza launched a missile from the left wing but missed the upper right corner with 13:20 remaining. At the other end, Duwal was kept busy either catching or clearing a variety of potentially dangerous balls. He made yet another notable save with 1:16 to go on an Adam Baer breakaway run.
“They’re obviously a very good team so we could see what we need to work on. We definitely need to talk more,” Leyden midfielder Ozzie Pacheco said. “We need to work better as a team both on offense and defense. We created some chances, but we need to finish those.”
North owned a 19-14 advantage for overall attempts plus a 10-5 edge in shots on goal and was up 5-1 in corner kicks. The North Stars’ aggressiveness was also evident by a 3-1 tally for offside whistles.
“We were happy to have competed in Barrington’s tourney for so many years, but the opportunity to host our own event is special. I was a little nervous over that, but I’d say the boys were super excited for a tourney setting in front of home fans,” Willson said. “Considering we have a lot of new faces, the fact that we strung together combination plays this early is something to be pretty happy about. We still have room to grow.
“In three games we’ve used some different combinations for our backline. I thought tonight’s looked the strongest,” Willson said in reference to D’Amico, John Kirby, Drew Balster and Joey Sommer.
“It’s so cool for us to win our first game while hosting a tournament,” Sommer said. “It showed how much we like competing. I like that our defense can push forward, and we help with overlapping runs. It’s great to execute a give-and-go at times to catch the other team off guard.”
Next up for St. Charles North is a 7 p.m. match Wednesday versus Maine South, which fell on a 4-1 shootout with Plainfield Central after a 0-0 regulation draw. Across town at East, the host Saints topped Downers Grove North 4-1 after Elgin posted a 7-3 win over Metea Valley despite playing a man down for 60 minutes.
Friday’s group play for North finishes with a match against Plainfield Central. Saturday’s slate has each group squaring off with its equal finisher from the opposite group to determine seventh, fifth, third place finishers and the champion.
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK Jesus Mancha
D Max Haruk
D Dennis Arreaza
D Jesus Recendez
D Matt Espinoza
M Carlos Duarte
M Ozzie Pacheco
M Pablo Mancha
M Gerardo Merino
F Alan Vazquez
F Eduardo Hernandez
St. Charles North
GK Bobby Curran
D Gabe D’Amico
D John Kirby
D Drew Balster
D Joey Sommer
M Thomas Weber
M Nicky Sommer
M Joshua Amaro
M Vito Lagioia
F Logan Michels
F Matt Beaulieu
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joshua Amaro, sr., M, St. Charles North Sr. M in 5-1 win over Leyden (8-27-18)
Referees: Scott Lichtfuss (center), Gene Mroz, Dave Holbrook
Game summary
St. Charles North 5, Leyden 1
Leyden 0 1 ---- 1 1-2-1
SCN 3 2 ---- 5 3-0-0
Scoring
First half
SCN – Amaro eight-yard finish inside left post off (D’Amico assist), 13:38 gone
SCN – Mohiuddin six-yard touch shot from 1-2-3 pass and cross (Michels assist), 30:29 gone
SCN – Amaro seven-yard finish off textbook cross from right (Beaulieu assist), 36:11 gone
Second half
L – Lopez seven-yard strike from right off loose ball (unassisted), 50:53 gone
SCN – Mohiuddin 13-yard blast into left side (D’Amico assist), 60:06 gone
SCN – D’Amico nine-yard blazing header off corner kick (Persenico assist), 62:36 gone
Shots
L 9 – 5 --- 14
SCN 11 – 8 --- 19
Shots on goal
L 4 – 1 --- 5
SCN 6 – 4 --- 10
Saves (goalie)
L (J. Mancha) 4 – (Duwal) 1 --- 5
SCN (Curran) 4 – 0 --- 4
Corner kicks
L 0 – 1 --- 1
SCN 2 – 3 --- 5
Offsides
L 0 – 1 --- 1
SCN 1 – 2 --- 3