Flannery works overtime,
lifts Lockport over St. Laurence
Senior midfielder keeps Porters' hopes alive for three-peat
By Steve Millar
BURBANK – After his team showed its resilience yet again, pulling off a dramatic overtime win over St. Laurence to punch its ticket to a third-straight Windy City Ram Classic final, Lockport coach Chris Beal tipped his cap to his players.
“I told the boys that I’m proud of their attitude,” Beal said. “It could have gone either way, but we stayed tough and did what we had to do in overtime. We kept fighting, and we pulled it out.”
Senior midfielder Sean Flannery produced the game-winning goal, heading in Danny Jimenez’s cross less than two minutes into the extra session to lift Lockport to a 3-2 win over St. Laurence in the semifinal match Tuesday at Reavis.
The Porters (4-0-0), who are ranked 12th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, also got goals from Nathan Blazewski and Dominic Williams. They will try for the three-peat in the 32-team tournament when they take on Shepard (4-1-0) in the final at 7 p.m. Thursday at Reavis.
“It’s exciting to be back in the championship game,” Blazewski said.
Nathan Lara scored both goals for St. Laurence (3-2-0).
Flannery has mostly played defender throughout his high school career but expects to see more time at outside midfielder this year as the Porters try to replace some of the scoring that graduated from last season’s Class 3A third place finisher.
On the goal, he positioned himself in the box to use his size to outfight defenders and get his head on the ball.
“It’s definitely a first time for me going up and banging like that,” Flannery said. “That’s where I excel is with my size, my weight and being able to move as well as I do with my size. I have to take advantage of that.”
Flannery saw Jimenez creating the play and made sure to get to the right spot.
“As soon as the ball came in, I saw it was coming right to me,” Flannery said. “I just backed up a little bit and then came back on to it, took the shot, and it was on. It felt amazing.”
Flannery, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, also assisted on the game's opening goal, which Blazewski scored in the 14th minute.
Flannery made a strong move down the left side and sent a cross into the box. From there Blazewski was able to strike it on a sliding volley, slamming it home from five yards to give Lockport the early lead.
With guys like Flannery and Williams – who played defender Tuesday but has spent time at forward this season – joining the offensive mix this year, the Porters are starting to connect up-top.
“After so many games, it becomes a lot easier,” Blazewski said. “You start to read each other’s minds where you don’t have to communicate as much. We’re still communicating a lot, and we’re just becoming more complex up-top.”
Although the Porters dominated the opening 20 minutes, St. Laurence’s response was strong.
The Vikings earned the equalizer in the 30th minute after Lorenz Garcia and Tristan Figueroa worked a nice combination play. Figueroa beat a defender in the box and was taken down from behind to draw a penalty.
Lara converted the penalty kick on a line-drive down the middle.
Tied 1-1 at halftime, St. Laurence was able to carry that momentum into the second half and make adjustments.
“We played a very quality side,” coach Jaime Alonso said. “I think in the first half, we were really reactive to what they were doing and didn’t necessarily play our game. That put us behind, but we came back, got a goal, then went up 2-1.”
The Vikings took the lead in the 50th minute as Edgar Perez played a pass to Pedro Mendez, who split a pair of defenders in the box, drew another defender and then slipped a pass to Lara.
With Lockport’s Luke Cibula charging off his line, Lara chipped over the goalie from 10 yards to put St. Laurence on top.
Lara has emerged as a major threat for a Vikings team whose biggest preseason question revolved around who would be their big goal-scorer.
“Nathan Lara is a great kid,” Alonso said. “He’s been our motor the last couple years, but now he’s taking a little more of an offensive role. He’s taking that a little more personal, and it’s showing up in the stat sheet.”
St. Laurence fought to hold onto the lead but could not quite contain the talented Porters.
“They threw their best arsenal at us and came back,” Alonso said. “That’s what happens when you play these types of teams.
“We made our defensive changes that we thought were going to give us the best shot to hold the lead, but it didn’t happen. We just have to work on how to finish off games in the final 15 minutes.”
Lockport tied it with 14:03 left in regulation after Blazewski took a pass from Jake Skiba, found an opening on the left side of the box and was taken down to draw a penalty.
Williams ripped the penalty kick into the right side for the equalizer.
The Porters, who had many postseason comebacks along the way to the state finals last season, showed they still have that in them.
Flannery sees things only going up from here.
“The chemistry is building between everybody,” he said. “It’s all about communicating, and we’re really connecting as a team. We’re going to be good. That’s all I can say.”
Beal believes this third-consecutive strong run in the season-opening tournament will spark the Porters going forward.
“This tournament is a great way to start the season and see things you need to work on, things you’re doing well,” Beal said. “It’s a competitive environment. It’s a tournament we want to win, so it puts kids in a situation where they’re playing under high pressure.
“It really boosts our confidence and self-belief where it’s like if we win this, we can get anything done.”
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK: Luke Cibula
D: Daniel Szkodon
D: Dominic Williams
D: Tyler Malczewski
D: Ryan Pavelka
MF: Ismael Gomez
MF: Danny Jimenez
MF: Nick Skiba
MF: Sean Flannery
F: Nathan Blazewski
F: Jake Skiba
St. Laurence
GK: Michael Calderon
D: Alejandro Godoy
D: Michael Rocha
D: Ulises Garfias
D: Bryan Rivera
MF: Edgar Perez
MF: Nathan Lara
MF: Tristan Figueroa
MF: Jonathan Esparza
F: Lalo Perez
F: Pedro Mendez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sean Flannery, sr., MF, Lockport
Scoring summary
First half
Lockport: Blazewski (Flannery), 14’
St. Laurence: Lara (penalty kick), 30’
Second half
St. Laurence: Lara (Mendez), 50’
Lockport: Williams (penalty kick), 56’
Overtime
Lockport: Flannery (Jimenez), 72’
lifts Lockport over St. Laurence
Senior midfielder keeps Porters' hopes alive for three-peat
By Steve Millar
BURBANK – After his team showed its resilience yet again, pulling off a dramatic overtime win over St. Laurence to punch its ticket to a third-straight Windy City Ram Classic final, Lockport coach Chris Beal tipped his cap to his players.
“I told the boys that I’m proud of their attitude,” Beal said. “It could have gone either way, but we stayed tough and did what we had to do in overtime. We kept fighting, and we pulled it out.”
Senior midfielder Sean Flannery produced the game-winning goal, heading in Danny Jimenez’s cross less than two minutes into the extra session to lift Lockport to a 3-2 win over St. Laurence in the semifinal match Tuesday at Reavis.
The Porters (4-0-0), who are ranked 12th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, also got goals from Nathan Blazewski and Dominic Williams. They will try for the three-peat in the 32-team tournament when they take on Shepard (4-1-0) in the final at 7 p.m. Thursday at Reavis.
“It’s exciting to be back in the championship game,” Blazewski said.
Nathan Lara scored both goals for St. Laurence (3-2-0).
Flannery has mostly played defender throughout his high school career but expects to see more time at outside midfielder this year as the Porters try to replace some of the scoring that graduated from last season’s Class 3A third place finisher.
On the goal, he positioned himself in the box to use his size to outfight defenders and get his head on the ball.
“It’s definitely a first time for me going up and banging like that,” Flannery said. “That’s where I excel is with my size, my weight and being able to move as well as I do with my size. I have to take advantage of that.”
Flannery saw Jimenez creating the play and made sure to get to the right spot.
“As soon as the ball came in, I saw it was coming right to me,” Flannery said. “I just backed up a little bit and then came back on to it, took the shot, and it was on. It felt amazing.”
Flannery, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, also assisted on the game's opening goal, which Blazewski scored in the 14th minute.
Flannery made a strong move down the left side and sent a cross into the box. From there Blazewski was able to strike it on a sliding volley, slamming it home from five yards to give Lockport the early lead.
With guys like Flannery and Williams – who played defender Tuesday but has spent time at forward this season – joining the offensive mix this year, the Porters are starting to connect up-top.
“After so many games, it becomes a lot easier,” Blazewski said. “You start to read each other’s minds where you don’t have to communicate as much. We’re still communicating a lot, and we’re just becoming more complex up-top.”
Although the Porters dominated the opening 20 minutes, St. Laurence’s response was strong.
The Vikings earned the equalizer in the 30th minute after Lorenz Garcia and Tristan Figueroa worked a nice combination play. Figueroa beat a defender in the box and was taken down from behind to draw a penalty.
Lara converted the penalty kick on a line-drive down the middle.
Tied 1-1 at halftime, St. Laurence was able to carry that momentum into the second half and make adjustments.
“We played a very quality side,” coach Jaime Alonso said. “I think in the first half, we were really reactive to what they were doing and didn’t necessarily play our game. That put us behind, but we came back, got a goal, then went up 2-1.”
The Vikings took the lead in the 50th minute as Edgar Perez played a pass to Pedro Mendez, who split a pair of defenders in the box, drew another defender and then slipped a pass to Lara.
With Lockport’s Luke Cibula charging off his line, Lara chipped over the goalie from 10 yards to put St. Laurence on top.
Lara has emerged as a major threat for a Vikings team whose biggest preseason question revolved around who would be their big goal-scorer.
“Nathan Lara is a great kid,” Alonso said. “He’s been our motor the last couple years, but now he’s taking a little more of an offensive role. He’s taking that a little more personal, and it’s showing up in the stat sheet.”
St. Laurence fought to hold onto the lead but could not quite contain the talented Porters.
“They threw their best arsenal at us and came back,” Alonso said. “That’s what happens when you play these types of teams.
“We made our defensive changes that we thought were going to give us the best shot to hold the lead, but it didn’t happen. We just have to work on how to finish off games in the final 15 minutes.”
Lockport tied it with 14:03 left in regulation after Blazewski took a pass from Jake Skiba, found an opening on the left side of the box and was taken down to draw a penalty.
Williams ripped the penalty kick into the right side for the equalizer.
The Porters, who had many postseason comebacks along the way to the state finals last season, showed they still have that in them.
Flannery sees things only going up from here.
“The chemistry is building between everybody,” he said. “It’s all about communicating, and we’re really connecting as a team. We’re going to be good. That’s all I can say.”
Beal believes this third-consecutive strong run in the season-opening tournament will spark the Porters going forward.
“This tournament is a great way to start the season and see things you need to work on, things you’re doing well,” Beal said. “It’s a competitive environment. It’s a tournament we want to win, so it puts kids in a situation where they’re playing under high pressure.
“It really boosts our confidence and self-belief where it’s like if we win this, we can get anything done.”
Starting lineups
Lockport
GK: Luke Cibula
D: Daniel Szkodon
D: Dominic Williams
D: Tyler Malczewski
D: Ryan Pavelka
MF: Ismael Gomez
MF: Danny Jimenez
MF: Nick Skiba
MF: Sean Flannery
F: Nathan Blazewski
F: Jake Skiba
St. Laurence
GK: Michael Calderon
D: Alejandro Godoy
D: Michael Rocha
D: Ulises Garfias
D: Bryan Rivera
MF: Edgar Perez
MF: Nathan Lara
MF: Tristan Figueroa
MF: Jonathan Esparza
F: Lalo Perez
F: Pedro Mendez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sean Flannery, sr., MF, Lockport
Scoring summary
First half
Lockport: Blazewski (Flannery), 14’
St. Laurence: Lara (penalty kick), 30’
Second half
St. Laurence: Lara (Mendez), 50’
Lockport: Williams (penalty kick), 56’
Overtime
Lockport: Flannery (Jimenez), 72’