Leyden finding stride, downs Willowbrook
Hernandez sparks 4-0 win, extends Warriors scoreless streak
By Dave Owen
VILLA PARK – Optimism is contagious at Leyden.
And so apparently is offensive firepower.
Along with two goals by star senior Eduardo Hernandez and one by Alan Vazquez, the Eagles’ 4-0 win Thursday at Willowbrook featured an offensive jolt from an unlikely source.
Injuries forced usual goalkeeper David Duwal to play extended minutes at a midfield and forward position. And the senior co-captain responded with several quality chances and his first goal of 2018, pounding home the rebound of a Hernandez shot to put Leyden (6-6-2) up 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
“I’m the goalie usually,” Duwal said. “Me and Chewy (Thursday’s starting goalkeeper Jesus Mancha) are both equally good, so we usually play one game on, one game off.
“I haven’t played the field the whole season, but today we’ve got a lot of guys injured, and stuff so I had to go out there. I was excited to try and score a goal. I was doing whatever I could.
“In the first half, I was little winded,” Duwal added. “I was like, ‘Man, these guys have to have good stamina to do this.’ But the second half I was doing alright.”
Duwal even had to briefly return to familiar environs with 29:20 left, when Mancha was shaken up on a corner kick send to the crease. Mancha returned a few minutes later, and the two keepers continued on in their respective solid contributions to the shutout win.
“We had some guys sick and injured, so for the first half we were down to 13 field players,” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “David hasn’t played field for us all year, but we know he can.
“Today we needed him to do it, and boy he stepped up,” Valintis added. “He gets a goal, then hops in the goal when our goalie goes down for a little bit.
“That’s the kind of thing our younger guys need to see – that sacrifice, that ‘I’m going to do anything I can,’ because that’s contagious. I think these younger guys need to see that. You’re going to get bruised, and you have to fight through it.”
Willowbrook (3-9-0, 0-3-0 in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division) is facing its own challenge right now -- scoring.
An early Eric Hoda shot off the crossbar set the tone for the match and continued a recent trend of tough luck.
“Right now our biggest thing for Willowbrook soccer is just putting the ball in the back of the net,” Warriors coach Eddie DeLaCruz said. “This is the fourth game in a row that we’ve been shut out, so scoring has definitely been a big thing on our end.
“I think the frustration is starting to build a little, but it’s not from a lack of effort from my guys. It’s a matter of communication, and working on things we need to work on in practice. They gave it everything they got.
“One hit the crossbar (by Hoda) and went straight down,” DeLa Cruz added. “Was it in or out? It is what it is. But that pretty much sums up the offense for Willowbrook the last couple games.”
A few minutes later, Hernandez took a Vazquez pass on the wing and drove home what would turn out to be the deciding goal for a 1-0 Leyden lead with 28:49 left in the first half.
“Our runs off the ball (were the difference),” said Hernandez, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “We practiced that the day before, diagonal runs off each other, and it was our day. Everything was working out for us.”
Hernandez certainly earned notice on the opposing side.
“Obviously when you have Mr. Hernandez up at the top – Eduardo is an outstanding player,” DeLaCruz said. “We highlighted him in terms of focusing on his runs and everything, but it’s hard to contain a special player for all 80 minutes.”
Willowbrook’s defense did its best in the ensuing minutes. On a 19-yard free kick by Hernandez in the 21st minute, a block by the Warriors’ defensive wall produced a Jeff Wolski-led counterattack towards midfield.
But just 30 seconds after that denial, Leyden swarmed the net – and Duwal had his offensive highlight of the year.
German Hernandez’s cross from the right set up an Eduardo Hernandez 8-yard rocket. Willowbrook standout goalkeeper Mario Giase made a great initial save, but Duwal was there for a point-blank header into the net for a 2-0 lead 18:44 before halftime.
“Their passing to the middle, and then getting it back to the outside and coming in was strong for them,” Willowbrook defender Wolski said of Leyden. “And I’d say they had a lot more effective communication than we did. Those were the two main points.”
Leyden took awhile to find its comfort zone this season, but has reeled off a 3-0-1 record in its last four games.
“I think that we’re finally picking it up,” Eduardo Hernandez said. “We faced major adversity at the beginning of the season. We didn’t know each other with the younger guys out here, and didn’t know how to play together. Now we’re getting used to each other, and the chemistry is there.
“I think the game against DGS (a win over Downers Grove South) was our turning point. They’re a really good team, and they really tested our ability to stay in the game. They were physical throughout the whole game, but nobody gave up, and I think that was our key.”
Up 2-0 Thursday, Leyden barely let up. Vazquez launched a one-timer just over the net off a Jakub Dabek corner kick in the 30th minute, then Giase made a nice block at the post of another Duwal end line bid 35 seconds later.
After an offsides call nullified Willowbrook forward Norman Deci’s drive into the net in the 32nd minute, Warriors goalkeeper Giase continued to dazzle at the defensive end.
Passes by Dabek and Vazquez sprung Duwal on a breakaway, but Giase made a great stop on the 10-yard drive to maintain the 2-0 difference at halftime.
And if stopping rushes like that weren’t enough, Giase made a very unusual yet incredible save with 27:30 left in the match.
Dribbling upfield after nabbing a Leyden send, Giase’s pass attempt deflected off a defender’s back towards Vazquez. On the ensuing 30-yard shot towards the empty net, Giase managed to recover and make a upper body block of the ball at the 25-yard line to again keep his team within two goals.
“There’s so much to talk about with Mario,” DeLaCruz said. “Mario’s biggest attribute is, I love his aggressiveness. He came out of the box, and even though he couldn’t use his hands, he literally just gave up his entire body. He was out at the 25 and literally jumped in and made the save.
“It’s going to be sad to see him go at the end of the season, because he’s been an outstanding goalkeeper, but at the same time that’s what he gives us.”
In a bit of a page out of Leyden’s book with Duwal, Giase also would shift to forward for the final 20 minutes of the match.
“Today we had to move our goalkeeper Mario Giase, one of my best players, who used to be a forward when he was younger,” DeLaCruz said. “That also pretty much sums up what I have to do to get a little bit more attack. Today was the first game doing that.
“Unfortunately when I made the switch in the last 20 minutes it was already 3-0.”
That’s because two minutes after Giase’s great body block save, another rush of Leyden numbers proved overwhelming.
On Vazquez’s dribble drive and pass towards midfielder Pablo Mancha near the left post, Mancha won the 50-50 ball and sent the ball back to Vazquez in front for a point-blank putaway with 25:21 to go.
Leyden wrapped up the scoring with 14:46 left. On a Matt Espinoza pass up the right side, Eduardo Hernandez raced in on goal, eluded both the charging goalkeeper and defender and powered in his second goal of the night.
“The whole team has really stepped up the last two weeks,” Valintis said, “but I have to say Matt Espinoza has been a jack of all trades for us. He gives consistent effort each and every time and plays his heart out. And other guys feed into that.
“Jesus Recendez at center back has played every minute of every game, and he’s a sophomore. And Alan Vazquez has 11 goals, so those younger guys are stepping up.
“Pablo Mancha is a freshman,” Valintis added, “and every game he gets more and more comfortable. Danny Toral the last four games has been outstanding – what we thought he could be. It’s taken him time to get there, but now that he’s there, it’s such a breath of fresh air to have somebody like that.”
Willowbrook also showed fight late in the match. Brian Fuentes provided two nice defensive plays, a header clear of the box and ensuing header block of a send towards the net. And with 9:40 left, a David Rizzo send towards Deci in the box was denied by Max Haruk’s nice win and clear of the 50-50 ball.
A defensive-end win by Aaron Guallpa set up another Warriors counterattack by Dorian Mahone and new forward Giase with 2:20 to go, but the cross was deflected and cleared to deny Willowbrook’s last good bid for a score.
“We need to focus on our attack -- that’s big,” Wolski said. “We have to start getting passes to the outside coming in just like they (Leyden) did. That’s how we want to play and take more shots and win more 50-50 balls in the middle.”
Talented offensive players like Hoda provide hope to end the scoring frustration soon.
“Eric’s a Firebird player, a junior, and he’s a special talent for sure,” DeLaCruz said. “He’s a big body. He might not run away from you, but he knows how to shield the ball.
“When I say frustration, it’s not from a lack of effort or energy, because these guys are going all out. It’s just frustrating to not score in one game, but four games in a row is definitely going to get to you a little bit for sure.”
But staying upbeat has been essential.
“We’re trying to instill that fun, because when you’re not winning the frustration builds,” DeLaCruz said. “As long as we’re keeping the fun intact, that’s pretty much what it’s all about.”
For Leyden, the fun began around midseason and continues to pick up.
“At the beginning we started pretty slow, because we had a lot of sophomores and freshmen on the team,” Duwal said. “And last year we had I think 17 seniors, so it was really rebuilding this year.
“But we’ve been coming back up to where we’ve been, especially against DGS. We had a big win there, and we’re starting to get back into the hang of it and stringing wins together.”
That string is now three wins and a tie in the last four matches.
“We knew the first nine or 10 games would be shaky,” Valintis said, “and we had to start going on a run. And now we’re doing that.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK: Jesus Mancha
D: Jesus Recendez
D: Kacper Nowarczyk
D: Matt Espinoza
D: Gerardo Merino
M: German Hernandez
M: Jakub Dabek
M: Tomas Senk
M: Daniel Toral
F: Eduardo Hernandez
F: Alan Vazquez
Willowbrook
GK: Mario Giase
D: Hugo Gutierrez
D: Aaron Guallpa
D: Jeff Wolski
D: Brian Fuentes
M: Devin Guallpa
M: David Rizzo
M: Dorian Mahone
M: Kalep Martinez
F: Norman Deci
F: Eric Hoda
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eduardo Hernandez, sr. F, Leyden
Scoring summary
First half
L – Eduardo Hernandez (Alan Vazquez), 12th minute
L – David Duwal, 22nd minute
Second half
L – Vazquez (Pablo Mancha), 55th minute
L – Hernandez (Matt Espinoza), 66th minute
Hernandez sparks 4-0 win, extends Warriors scoreless streak
By Dave Owen
VILLA PARK – Optimism is contagious at Leyden.
And so apparently is offensive firepower.
Along with two goals by star senior Eduardo Hernandez and one by Alan Vazquez, the Eagles’ 4-0 win Thursday at Willowbrook featured an offensive jolt from an unlikely source.
Injuries forced usual goalkeeper David Duwal to play extended minutes at a midfield and forward position. And the senior co-captain responded with several quality chances and his first goal of 2018, pounding home the rebound of a Hernandez shot to put Leyden (6-6-2) up 2-0 in the 22nd minute.
“I’m the goalie usually,” Duwal said. “Me and Chewy (Thursday’s starting goalkeeper Jesus Mancha) are both equally good, so we usually play one game on, one game off.
“I haven’t played the field the whole season, but today we’ve got a lot of guys injured, and stuff so I had to go out there. I was excited to try and score a goal. I was doing whatever I could.
“In the first half, I was little winded,” Duwal added. “I was like, ‘Man, these guys have to have good stamina to do this.’ But the second half I was doing alright.”
Duwal even had to briefly return to familiar environs with 29:20 left, when Mancha was shaken up on a corner kick send to the crease. Mancha returned a few minutes later, and the two keepers continued on in their respective solid contributions to the shutout win.
“We had some guys sick and injured, so for the first half we were down to 13 field players,” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “David hasn’t played field for us all year, but we know he can.
“Today we needed him to do it, and boy he stepped up,” Valintis added. “He gets a goal, then hops in the goal when our goalie goes down for a little bit.
“That’s the kind of thing our younger guys need to see – that sacrifice, that ‘I’m going to do anything I can,’ because that’s contagious. I think these younger guys need to see that. You’re going to get bruised, and you have to fight through it.”
Willowbrook (3-9-0, 0-3-0 in the West Suburban Conference Gold Division) is facing its own challenge right now -- scoring.
An early Eric Hoda shot off the crossbar set the tone for the match and continued a recent trend of tough luck.
“Right now our biggest thing for Willowbrook soccer is just putting the ball in the back of the net,” Warriors coach Eddie DeLaCruz said. “This is the fourth game in a row that we’ve been shut out, so scoring has definitely been a big thing on our end.
“I think the frustration is starting to build a little, but it’s not from a lack of effort from my guys. It’s a matter of communication, and working on things we need to work on in practice. They gave it everything they got.
“One hit the crossbar (by Hoda) and went straight down,” DeLa Cruz added. “Was it in or out? It is what it is. But that pretty much sums up the offense for Willowbrook the last couple games.”
A few minutes later, Hernandez took a Vazquez pass on the wing and drove home what would turn out to be the deciding goal for a 1-0 Leyden lead with 28:49 left in the first half.
“Our runs off the ball (were the difference),” said Hernandez, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “We practiced that the day before, diagonal runs off each other, and it was our day. Everything was working out for us.”
Hernandez certainly earned notice on the opposing side.
“Obviously when you have Mr. Hernandez up at the top – Eduardo is an outstanding player,” DeLaCruz said. “We highlighted him in terms of focusing on his runs and everything, but it’s hard to contain a special player for all 80 minutes.”
Willowbrook’s defense did its best in the ensuing minutes. On a 19-yard free kick by Hernandez in the 21st minute, a block by the Warriors’ defensive wall produced a Jeff Wolski-led counterattack towards midfield.
But just 30 seconds after that denial, Leyden swarmed the net – and Duwal had his offensive highlight of the year.
German Hernandez’s cross from the right set up an Eduardo Hernandez 8-yard rocket. Willowbrook standout goalkeeper Mario Giase made a great initial save, but Duwal was there for a point-blank header into the net for a 2-0 lead 18:44 before halftime.
“Their passing to the middle, and then getting it back to the outside and coming in was strong for them,” Willowbrook defender Wolski said of Leyden. “And I’d say they had a lot more effective communication than we did. Those were the two main points.”
Leyden took awhile to find its comfort zone this season, but has reeled off a 3-0-1 record in its last four games.
“I think that we’re finally picking it up,” Eduardo Hernandez said. “We faced major adversity at the beginning of the season. We didn’t know each other with the younger guys out here, and didn’t know how to play together. Now we’re getting used to each other, and the chemistry is there.
“I think the game against DGS (a win over Downers Grove South) was our turning point. They’re a really good team, and they really tested our ability to stay in the game. They were physical throughout the whole game, but nobody gave up, and I think that was our key.”
Up 2-0 Thursday, Leyden barely let up. Vazquez launched a one-timer just over the net off a Jakub Dabek corner kick in the 30th minute, then Giase made a nice block at the post of another Duwal end line bid 35 seconds later.
After an offsides call nullified Willowbrook forward Norman Deci’s drive into the net in the 32nd minute, Warriors goalkeeper Giase continued to dazzle at the defensive end.
Passes by Dabek and Vazquez sprung Duwal on a breakaway, but Giase made a great stop on the 10-yard drive to maintain the 2-0 difference at halftime.
And if stopping rushes like that weren’t enough, Giase made a very unusual yet incredible save with 27:30 left in the match.
Dribbling upfield after nabbing a Leyden send, Giase’s pass attempt deflected off a defender’s back towards Vazquez. On the ensuing 30-yard shot towards the empty net, Giase managed to recover and make a upper body block of the ball at the 25-yard line to again keep his team within two goals.
“There’s so much to talk about with Mario,” DeLaCruz said. “Mario’s biggest attribute is, I love his aggressiveness. He came out of the box, and even though he couldn’t use his hands, he literally just gave up his entire body. He was out at the 25 and literally jumped in and made the save.
“It’s going to be sad to see him go at the end of the season, because he’s been an outstanding goalkeeper, but at the same time that’s what he gives us.”
In a bit of a page out of Leyden’s book with Duwal, Giase also would shift to forward for the final 20 minutes of the match.
“Today we had to move our goalkeeper Mario Giase, one of my best players, who used to be a forward when he was younger,” DeLaCruz said. “That also pretty much sums up what I have to do to get a little bit more attack. Today was the first game doing that.
“Unfortunately when I made the switch in the last 20 minutes it was already 3-0.”
That’s because two minutes after Giase’s great body block save, another rush of Leyden numbers proved overwhelming.
On Vazquez’s dribble drive and pass towards midfielder Pablo Mancha near the left post, Mancha won the 50-50 ball and sent the ball back to Vazquez in front for a point-blank putaway with 25:21 to go.
Leyden wrapped up the scoring with 14:46 left. On a Matt Espinoza pass up the right side, Eduardo Hernandez raced in on goal, eluded both the charging goalkeeper and defender and powered in his second goal of the night.
“The whole team has really stepped up the last two weeks,” Valintis said, “but I have to say Matt Espinoza has been a jack of all trades for us. He gives consistent effort each and every time and plays his heart out. And other guys feed into that.
“Jesus Recendez at center back has played every minute of every game, and he’s a sophomore. And Alan Vazquez has 11 goals, so those younger guys are stepping up.
“Pablo Mancha is a freshman,” Valintis added, “and every game he gets more and more comfortable. Danny Toral the last four games has been outstanding – what we thought he could be. It’s taken him time to get there, but now that he’s there, it’s such a breath of fresh air to have somebody like that.”
Willowbrook also showed fight late in the match. Brian Fuentes provided two nice defensive plays, a header clear of the box and ensuing header block of a send towards the net. And with 9:40 left, a David Rizzo send towards Deci in the box was denied by Max Haruk’s nice win and clear of the 50-50 ball.
A defensive-end win by Aaron Guallpa set up another Warriors counterattack by Dorian Mahone and new forward Giase with 2:20 to go, but the cross was deflected and cleared to deny Willowbrook’s last good bid for a score.
“We need to focus on our attack -- that’s big,” Wolski said. “We have to start getting passes to the outside coming in just like they (Leyden) did. That’s how we want to play and take more shots and win more 50-50 balls in the middle.”
Talented offensive players like Hoda provide hope to end the scoring frustration soon.
“Eric’s a Firebird player, a junior, and he’s a special talent for sure,” DeLaCruz said. “He’s a big body. He might not run away from you, but he knows how to shield the ball.
“When I say frustration, it’s not from a lack of effort or energy, because these guys are going all out. It’s just frustrating to not score in one game, but four games in a row is definitely going to get to you a little bit for sure.”
But staying upbeat has been essential.
“We’re trying to instill that fun, because when you’re not winning the frustration builds,” DeLaCruz said. “As long as we’re keeping the fun intact, that’s pretty much what it’s all about.”
For Leyden, the fun began around midseason and continues to pick up.
“At the beginning we started pretty slow, because we had a lot of sophomores and freshmen on the team,” Duwal said. “And last year we had I think 17 seniors, so it was really rebuilding this year.
“But we’ve been coming back up to where we’ve been, especially against DGS. We had a big win there, and we’re starting to get back into the hang of it and stringing wins together.”
That string is now three wins and a tie in the last four matches.
“We knew the first nine or 10 games would be shaky,” Valintis said, “and we had to start going on a run. And now we’re doing that.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK: Jesus Mancha
D: Jesus Recendez
D: Kacper Nowarczyk
D: Matt Espinoza
D: Gerardo Merino
M: German Hernandez
M: Jakub Dabek
M: Tomas Senk
M: Daniel Toral
F: Eduardo Hernandez
F: Alan Vazquez
Willowbrook
GK: Mario Giase
D: Hugo Gutierrez
D: Aaron Guallpa
D: Jeff Wolski
D: Brian Fuentes
M: Devin Guallpa
M: David Rizzo
M: Dorian Mahone
M: Kalep Martinez
F: Norman Deci
F: Eric Hoda
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eduardo Hernandez, sr. F, Leyden
Scoring summary
First half
L – Eduardo Hernandez (Alan Vazquez), 12th minute
L – David Duwal, 22nd minute
Second half
L – Vazquez (Pablo Mancha), 55th minute
L – Hernandez (Matt Espinoza), 66th minute