Lake Park tops Oswego E. for Plainfield title
2-1 win delivers Lancers’ 2nd tournament trophy of 2018
By Dave Owen
PLAINFIELD -- Neither a brick wall goalkeeping performance by Oswego East senior Nathan Huerter nor a touch of bad luck could derail the Lake Park express Saturday.
Taking an unbeaten record into the finals of the Plainfield Classic at Plainfield North, the Lancers (11-0-1) endured a wave of great saves by Huerter to emerge with a 2-1 win and its second tournament championship of the four-week-old season.
Being the first winners of the inaugural tournament was just one memorable part of the week in Plainfield.
“We saw some teams we’ve never seen before in my four years playing here,” said Lake Park senior Franco Presta, whose goal with 31:04 broke a 1-1 tie. “So this was awesome. We saw some new playing styles, new opponents, tough. And it was competitive. What more can you ask for?”
Lancers coach Sean Crosby was impressed both by the tournament, and a Lake Park defense that stifled opponents throughout the week.
“There were a lot of unknowns coming into this tournament, because we usually don’t match up with these opponents during the season,” Crosby said. “It’s a fun tournament where you’re able to get different competition. That was great, because it was new opponents.
“Then to finish, and overcome a couple hurdles in games when we didn’t play our best soccer and still got some good results. We had a ton of chances this week. Our ability to get goal-scoring chances builds confidence for us, and then to have just two goals against the whole tournament is pretty strong.”
Goalkeeper Christian Lakki was part of that strong defensive unit.
“It’s a great feeling,” Lakki said of the tournament title. “We’re not going to stop now, but the team played well. Starting last Saturday and ending today, we just gave our all.”
Saturday, the all-out efforts of Oswego East goalkeeper Huerter didn’t make the title win easy.
But dangerous plays from distance in each half by Lake Park’s Victor Pawlik (the co-Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match with Huerter) would provide the only answers to Huerter’s acrobatics.
Pawlik provided a jump start to the Lancers just 3:13 into the match. Winning a ball inside the midfield line, Pawlik dribbled up the middle, found open space and rocketed a 28-yard shot high inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.
“I had the ball, and the midfield was spread open,” Pawlik said. “I saw a gap, went through the two players. The third one coming in took a bigger touch, but I ran past him. I saw the shot and I took the shot and it went in.”
Said Crosby: “Victor took that up at half and just kind of took it all on his own. He hit it so fast it was hard to tell where it was going -- a nice strike from distance.”
Oswego East (7-2-2) faced multiple hurdles coming in to the Saturday final. Three starters (Nolan Laczynski, Kyle Blasingame and Kellen Klosterman) were sidelined by injuries, and the match was moved up to 4 p.m. to accommodate the school’s Homecoming dance that night.
A group of students adorned in ties and formal dresses arrived to cheer on the Wolves, providing a different kind of touch of class to a matchup of first-rate teams.
“We were thin, but I give everybody who stepped out there a lot of credit,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “They battled. That (Lake Park) was a great team. They’re undefeated for a reason.
“I can’t say enough about all the guys who played. And they had other things on their minds.”
Most worthy of praise was Huerter, who began to assert himself with a flurry of saves in the sixth minute.
Off a Jesus Juarez 33-yard free kick, Huerter made a great lunging save at the post of a Presta header. Then with the Lancers gathering the long rebound, Huerter again dove to deflect Gabriel Mendrano’s low 22-yarder wide of the net.
“There were a lot more (goals) we should have had, but their goalie was very good,” Crosby said. “A credit to him -- what a reactive player he is. He made some big-time saves for them. He was hard to get by, a very good player. That kept us at bay a little bit.”
While Presta would eventually score the winning goal, he had that early chance and two other close-in strikes incredibly denied.
“He (Huerter) was phenomenal,” Presta said. “Phenomenal. He made some literally point-blank saves on me going back post, and I don’t know how he pulled that off. I ripped it as hard as I could, and he was there. Credit to him. And they were a tough team. They played hard 80 minutes through.”
Presta wasn’t the only Lancer frustrated by the Wolves keeper.
Just 20 seconds after his two big saves in a row, Huerter was at it again on the ensuing corner kick – with a leaping fingertip deflection over the net of a Juarez right side shot 6:05 into the match.
“The first 10 minutes we looked a little shaky,” Szymanski said. “Then that goal went in, and I was like ‘This is going to be a long night.’ But to our credit we settled in a little bit, changed up our formation a little bit because we weren’t getting much of the attack.”
The Wolves had to endure more quality Lake Park first half scoring bids, including Juarez shots just wide of the net in the 23rd and 25th minutes (the latter off a nice give-and-go with Mendrano).
But Oswego East was very opportunistic on an offensive chance 10:48 before halftime.
After Ford Frazer’s throw-in was deflected out for the Wolves’ first corner kick of the match, the set piece was perfectly executed.
Dimitri Huitron’s corner send connected with defender Eric Montano in front, whose 8-yard header tied the game 1-1.
“That was Eric’s first goal too,” Szymanski said. “He’s been doing a nice job in practice finding them (goals on corner kick headers). He’s a big kid, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds. He was able to step in there and help us out.”
A change in strategy after the slow start also paid off.
“We put one forward up-top, and some of our stronger players in the midfield to help us try to get some better opportunities,” Szymanski said. “Zach Lass is usually a center back for us, but he stepped up at midfield because our two center mids were out, and he did a nice job giving us some control in the midfield.
“Obviously I think they (Lake Park) had the better of the control, but he (Lass) was able to settle us and help us out.”
With the game tied 1-1 at halftime, it didn’t take long for Huerter to be back under fire.
Just 52 seconds into the second half, a Presta cross deep into the box took a high bounce off a Wolves player for a hand ball and a penalty kick.
But on Matteo Costa’s PK, a great Huerter save, great Costa hustle and an officials’ ruling combined to keep the 1-1 tie intact.
On the initial PK, Huerter again wowed the crowd with a diving block at the right post.
“As soon as he (Costa) walked up I had a feeling he would go that way,” Huerter said. “That’s what I always do on PKs, take a guess on where they’re going to go before they even come up, and I stick with it.”
After the save, Costa stuck with the play. Chasing down the loose ball at the right post, he scored on the rebound to apparently make the score 2-1. But officials ruled no goal.
“The shooter can’t be the first one to touch it (after a goal),” Szymanski said of the decision. “And on the PK, the guy didn’t take it easy on it. He (Huerter) just read it perfectly.”
The goal decision was understandably less popular to the Lake Park side.
“We step up and redirect a finish, and that should have been a good goal, a save by the goalie that the shooter absolutely can finish,” Crosby said. “They called it back, and my understanding was that only if it’s off the post (is it not a goal).
“I felt bad for Matteo not to get the (PK) goal, and then step up and have the reaction to finish (on the rebound), I felt he got penalized for making the right play.
“But once that’s over, we were still pressing,” Crosby added. “It’s 1-1, they just had a penalty save, and they had a little bit of momentum. Then very quickly we brought it right back to their end and kept getting chances, and Franco had a big time play to turn on a ball and put it on net.”
After Montano’s clear of the box on a Max Ellenbecker cross just 55 seconds after the PK, Pawlik and Presta teamed up on a great set-up and even better finish with 31:04 left.
Pawlik’s 50-yard free kick reached Presta in a crowd inside the box. Calmly controlling the ball left of the net, Presta set and lined an 8-yard drive inside the left post for the eventual winning goal.
“I’ve got four assists so far off those free kicks,” Pawlik said, “and usually either Franco or Tommy (Zakic) put them in. Today it was Franco.”
Presta’s great poise finished the play.
“I saw the ball go up,” he said, “and I was going for the second ball. I kind of worked into position with my body, and I was able to just get a touch, control it, and I hit it near post.”
With eight goals this season, was this his most impressive shot of the bunch?
“It’s one of my more important ones,” Presta said. “Definitely as a goal to pick us up and get us the lead in a championship game is huge.”
Being tied 1-1 despite a majority of chances didn’t deter the Lancers.
“It was kind of a hiccup, but you keep going through it,” Presta said. “We never really play as if we’re up 1-0, 2-0, 3-0. We play like it’s a tie game or down even. We just kind of give it everything we have. We don’t let up no matter what the score is.”
Oswego East also wouldn’t relent down 2-1. Consecutive Andre Casas corner kicks with 29:30 and 29:05 left ended with a Joey Bavol liner over the net on the second restart.
Then with 25:50 left, Lekki made the catch save on a Casas 8-yard header try off a long Wolves send.
But Oswego East had just two chances the rest of the day. With 13:40 to go, a 42-yard free kick was deflected on goal by Dacarlos Parodis-Yu. Then with just 40 seconds left, a 40-yard Lass free kick was punched out by Lekki, then fielded again by the Lancers keeper on a long resend.
Such strong defense was Lake Park’s forte throughout the tournament run.
“We have pretty good communication and fast players in the back,” Lekki said.
And two defensive pillars at center back spots.
“Max (Ellenbecker) is big-time, Max and Tommy,” Crosby said. “They’re our senior leaders in the back, and the height, size and strength they have and the speed to match it, it’s very hard to get by those two. And they’re very organized in the back and help our younger guys around them.
“Obviously Victor gets so much in on the attack with us, but amongst our backs Tommy has a couple of goals and Victor has one. They’re not just doing things in the back. It’s cool to see that, but defensively they’re so strong and maintain their position so well.
“Max and Tommy really orchestrate it, but to have only two goals against (in the tournament), it’s everybody. Frankie Ciara and Anthony Magner were stepping up big. I’m proud of all of them.”
Huerter’s defensive brilliance at the other end was even more noteworthy.
With 22:10 left, he made a diving block at the left post of a Presta 18-yard rocket. Then with 6:15 to go, he again denied a Presta 12-yard shot seemingly destined for glory with another great two-handed diving swat wide.
“He (Huerter) was unbelievable,” Szymanski said. “He doesn’t get a lot of recognition that he deserves, and he played great today.”
Lake Park left no time for the keeper to think of Homecoming corsages or dance steps.
“This was one of my most busy games I’d say,” Huerter said. “This was one of the better teams we’ve played in a long time. They definitely gave us better competition. We played hard, but we just came up short.”
Finally with just 3:15 left, Presta had another rock solid rival that denied his bid to score. Off a Juarez pass, Presta sent a right side shot off the right post – with Montano clearing the rebound.
With 10 seconds left, Paul Grzybowicz’s header block of an Oswego East cross to the middle put the wraps on the tournament title.
“To overcome that PK and beat a good goalie like that even after he makes a ton of saves on you – the fact that we kept pressing is something to be proud of,” Crosby said. “And to get this win and come back with another trophy (after winning the home Hillner Classic) hopefully adds to our confidence.
“And now the bar is set even higher for us, knowing what we can do. To have the results we’ve had, we’re feeling pretty good.”
Szymanski had reason to praise both the Lancers, and his own squad’s great effort.
“Right now we have two losses on the season, and the two teams we lost to have a (combined) total of one loss,” he said. “We’ve been in every game. In years past we’ve lost to teams and maybe had a bad loss. This year we haven’t, and we’ve been in every game down to the last whistle.
“The thing about high school soccer is, if you play hard you’re going to win a lot more games than you lose. If we can continue to play hard, we’re going to be in every game and have a chance to do some good things down the stretch. That’s our goal.”
Oswego East had to dig deep to match the Lancers.
“We were down three starters, three returning starters at that, and we played hard,” Szymanski said. “Kellen Klosterman was hurt in the last game. He’s a freshman center mid who’s been really solid for us. Kyle Blasingame has been out for a little while now, and (injured) Nolan Laczynski was a starter for us last year at defensive mid. Missing those guys – two are 6-foot, 6-foot-1, and the other controls the midfield for us. But the guys who played battled.
“Hopefully we can keep it going, and sometimes a loss gets the fire built up. It’s hard to be upset.”
Huerter sees the tournament experience and Saturday’s setback paying off.
“I think the whole atmosphere of this tournament game was like the last game of the season,” Huerter said. “You don’t want to lose. That was the same feeling this game. We came up short, but we know that feeling now, and we don’t want to have it again.
“We have a lot of talent. For the last three years we’ve been pretty good, a solid team, and this year has been one of our best talent-wise.”
Lake Park is enjoying its own breakthrough year and earned more recognition Saturday.
“We want to keep playing together the way we’ve been playing these last 11 games,” Presta said. “We’ve been unstoppable. We all have chemistry, and we just look for each other and have trust in one another. That’s the key.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Christian Lekki
D: Frankie Ciara
D: Max Ellenbecker
D: Thomas Zakic
D: Victor Pavlik
M: Paul Grzybowicz
M: Franco Presta
M: Gabriel Mendrano
M: Jesus Juarez
F: Matteo Costa
F: Gray McLellan
Oswego East
GK: Nathan Huerter
D: Juan Manrique
D: Joey Bavol
D: David Bombrys
D: Eric Montano
M: Ethan Klosterman
M: Dimitri Huitron
M: Enrique Montano
M: Dacarlos Parodis-Yu
F: Andre Casas
F: Ford Frazer
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Victor Pavlik, sr. D, Lake Park
Nathan Huerter, sr. GK, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
LP – Victor Pavlik, 4th minute
OE – Eric Montano (Dimitri Huitron assist), 30th minute
Second half
LP – Franco Presta (Pavlik), 49th minute
2-1 win delivers Lancers’ 2nd tournament trophy of 2018
By Dave Owen
PLAINFIELD -- Neither a brick wall goalkeeping performance by Oswego East senior Nathan Huerter nor a touch of bad luck could derail the Lake Park express Saturday.
Taking an unbeaten record into the finals of the Plainfield Classic at Plainfield North, the Lancers (11-0-1) endured a wave of great saves by Huerter to emerge with a 2-1 win and its second tournament championship of the four-week-old season.
Being the first winners of the inaugural tournament was just one memorable part of the week in Plainfield.
“We saw some teams we’ve never seen before in my four years playing here,” said Lake Park senior Franco Presta, whose goal with 31:04 broke a 1-1 tie. “So this was awesome. We saw some new playing styles, new opponents, tough. And it was competitive. What more can you ask for?”
Lancers coach Sean Crosby was impressed both by the tournament, and a Lake Park defense that stifled opponents throughout the week.
“There were a lot of unknowns coming into this tournament, because we usually don’t match up with these opponents during the season,” Crosby said. “It’s a fun tournament where you’re able to get different competition. That was great, because it was new opponents.
“Then to finish, and overcome a couple hurdles in games when we didn’t play our best soccer and still got some good results. We had a ton of chances this week. Our ability to get goal-scoring chances builds confidence for us, and then to have just two goals against the whole tournament is pretty strong.”
Goalkeeper Christian Lakki was part of that strong defensive unit.
“It’s a great feeling,” Lakki said of the tournament title. “We’re not going to stop now, but the team played well. Starting last Saturday and ending today, we just gave our all.”
Saturday, the all-out efforts of Oswego East goalkeeper Huerter didn’t make the title win easy.
But dangerous plays from distance in each half by Lake Park’s Victor Pawlik (the co-Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match with Huerter) would provide the only answers to Huerter’s acrobatics.
Pawlik provided a jump start to the Lancers just 3:13 into the match. Winning a ball inside the midfield line, Pawlik dribbled up the middle, found open space and rocketed a 28-yard shot high inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.
“I had the ball, and the midfield was spread open,” Pawlik said. “I saw a gap, went through the two players. The third one coming in took a bigger touch, but I ran past him. I saw the shot and I took the shot and it went in.”
Said Crosby: “Victor took that up at half and just kind of took it all on his own. He hit it so fast it was hard to tell where it was going -- a nice strike from distance.”
Oswego East (7-2-2) faced multiple hurdles coming in to the Saturday final. Three starters (Nolan Laczynski, Kyle Blasingame and Kellen Klosterman) were sidelined by injuries, and the match was moved up to 4 p.m. to accommodate the school’s Homecoming dance that night.
A group of students adorned in ties and formal dresses arrived to cheer on the Wolves, providing a different kind of touch of class to a matchup of first-rate teams.
“We were thin, but I give everybody who stepped out there a lot of credit,” Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski said. “They battled. That (Lake Park) was a great team. They’re undefeated for a reason.
“I can’t say enough about all the guys who played. And they had other things on their minds.”
Most worthy of praise was Huerter, who began to assert himself with a flurry of saves in the sixth minute.
Off a Jesus Juarez 33-yard free kick, Huerter made a great lunging save at the post of a Presta header. Then with the Lancers gathering the long rebound, Huerter again dove to deflect Gabriel Mendrano’s low 22-yarder wide of the net.
“There were a lot more (goals) we should have had, but their goalie was very good,” Crosby said. “A credit to him -- what a reactive player he is. He made some big-time saves for them. He was hard to get by, a very good player. That kept us at bay a little bit.”
While Presta would eventually score the winning goal, he had that early chance and two other close-in strikes incredibly denied.
“He (Huerter) was phenomenal,” Presta said. “Phenomenal. He made some literally point-blank saves on me going back post, and I don’t know how he pulled that off. I ripped it as hard as I could, and he was there. Credit to him. And they were a tough team. They played hard 80 minutes through.”
Presta wasn’t the only Lancer frustrated by the Wolves keeper.
Just 20 seconds after his two big saves in a row, Huerter was at it again on the ensuing corner kick – with a leaping fingertip deflection over the net of a Juarez right side shot 6:05 into the match.
“The first 10 minutes we looked a little shaky,” Szymanski said. “Then that goal went in, and I was like ‘This is going to be a long night.’ But to our credit we settled in a little bit, changed up our formation a little bit because we weren’t getting much of the attack.”
The Wolves had to endure more quality Lake Park first half scoring bids, including Juarez shots just wide of the net in the 23rd and 25th minutes (the latter off a nice give-and-go with Mendrano).
But Oswego East was very opportunistic on an offensive chance 10:48 before halftime.
After Ford Frazer’s throw-in was deflected out for the Wolves’ first corner kick of the match, the set piece was perfectly executed.
Dimitri Huitron’s corner send connected with defender Eric Montano in front, whose 8-yard header tied the game 1-1.
“That was Eric’s first goal too,” Szymanski said. “He’s been doing a nice job in practice finding them (goals on corner kick headers). He’s a big kid, 6-foot-2, 180 pounds. He was able to step in there and help us out.”
A change in strategy after the slow start also paid off.
“We put one forward up-top, and some of our stronger players in the midfield to help us try to get some better opportunities,” Szymanski said. “Zach Lass is usually a center back for us, but he stepped up at midfield because our two center mids were out, and he did a nice job giving us some control in the midfield.
“Obviously I think they (Lake Park) had the better of the control, but he (Lass) was able to settle us and help us out.”
With the game tied 1-1 at halftime, it didn’t take long for Huerter to be back under fire.
Just 52 seconds into the second half, a Presta cross deep into the box took a high bounce off a Wolves player for a hand ball and a penalty kick.
But on Matteo Costa’s PK, a great Huerter save, great Costa hustle and an officials’ ruling combined to keep the 1-1 tie intact.
On the initial PK, Huerter again wowed the crowd with a diving block at the right post.
“As soon as he (Costa) walked up I had a feeling he would go that way,” Huerter said. “That’s what I always do on PKs, take a guess on where they’re going to go before they even come up, and I stick with it.”
After the save, Costa stuck with the play. Chasing down the loose ball at the right post, he scored on the rebound to apparently make the score 2-1. But officials ruled no goal.
“The shooter can’t be the first one to touch it (after a goal),” Szymanski said of the decision. “And on the PK, the guy didn’t take it easy on it. He (Huerter) just read it perfectly.”
The goal decision was understandably less popular to the Lake Park side.
“We step up and redirect a finish, and that should have been a good goal, a save by the goalie that the shooter absolutely can finish,” Crosby said. “They called it back, and my understanding was that only if it’s off the post (is it not a goal).
“I felt bad for Matteo not to get the (PK) goal, and then step up and have the reaction to finish (on the rebound), I felt he got penalized for making the right play.
“But once that’s over, we were still pressing,” Crosby added. “It’s 1-1, they just had a penalty save, and they had a little bit of momentum. Then very quickly we brought it right back to their end and kept getting chances, and Franco had a big time play to turn on a ball and put it on net.”
After Montano’s clear of the box on a Max Ellenbecker cross just 55 seconds after the PK, Pawlik and Presta teamed up on a great set-up and even better finish with 31:04 left.
Pawlik’s 50-yard free kick reached Presta in a crowd inside the box. Calmly controlling the ball left of the net, Presta set and lined an 8-yard drive inside the left post for the eventual winning goal.
“I’ve got four assists so far off those free kicks,” Pawlik said, “and usually either Franco or Tommy (Zakic) put them in. Today it was Franco.”
Presta’s great poise finished the play.
“I saw the ball go up,” he said, “and I was going for the second ball. I kind of worked into position with my body, and I was able to just get a touch, control it, and I hit it near post.”
With eight goals this season, was this his most impressive shot of the bunch?
“It’s one of my more important ones,” Presta said. “Definitely as a goal to pick us up and get us the lead in a championship game is huge.”
Being tied 1-1 despite a majority of chances didn’t deter the Lancers.
“It was kind of a hiccup, but you keep going through it,” Presta said. “We never really play as if we’re up 1-0, 2-0, 3-0. We play like it’s a tie game or down even. We just kind of give it everything we have. We don’t let up no matter what the score is.”
Oswego East also wouldn’t relent down 2-1. Consecutive Andre Casas corner kicks with 29:30 and 29:05 left ended with a Joey Bavol liner over the net on the second restart.
Then with 25:50 left, Lekki made the catch save on a Casas 8-yard header try off a long Wolves send.
But Oswego East had just two chances the rest of the day. With 13:40 to go, a 42-yard free kick was deflected on goal by Dacarlos Parodis-Yu. Then with just 40 seconds left, a 40-yard Lass free kick was punched out by Lekki, then fielded again by the Lancers keeper on a long resend.
Such strong defense was Lake Park’s forte throughout the tournament run.
“We have pretty good communication and fast players in the back,” Lekki said.
And two defensive pillars at center back spots.
“Max (Ellenbecker) is big-time, Max and Tommy,” Crosby said. “They’re our senior leaders in the back, and the height, size and strength they have and the speed to match it, it’s very hard to get by those two. And they’re very organized in the back and help our younger guys around them.
“Obviously Victor gets so much in on the attack with us, but amongst our backs Tommy has a couple of goals and Victor has one. They’re not just doing things in the back. It’s cool to see that, but defensively they’re so strong and maintain their position so well.
“Max and Tommy really orchestrate it, but to have only two goals against (in the tournament), it’s everybody. Frankie Ciara and Anthony Magner were stepping up big. I’m proud of all of them.”
Huerter’s defensive brilliance at the other end was even more noteworthy.
With 22:10 left, he made a diving block at the left post of a Presta 18-yard rocket. Then with 6:15 to go, he again denied a Presta 12-yard shot seemingly destined for glory with another great two-handed diving swat wide.
“He (Huerter) was unbelievable,” Szymanski said. “He doesn’t get a lot of recognition that he deserves, and he played great today.”
Lake Park left no time for the keeper to think of Homecoming corsages or dance steps.
“This was one of my most busy games I’d say,” Huerter said. “This was one of the better teams we’ve played in a long time. They definitely gave us better competition. We played hard, but we just came up short.”
Finally with just 3:15 left, Presta had another rock solid rival that denied his bid to score. Off a Juarez pass, Presta sent a right side shot off the right post – with Montano clearing the rebound.
With 10 seconds left, Paul Grzybowicz’s header block of an Oswego East cross to the middle put the wraps on the tournament title.
“To overcome that PK and beat a good goalie like that even after he makes a ton of saves on you – the fact that we kept pressing is something to be proud of,” Crosby said. “And to get this win and come back with another trophy (after winning the home Hillner Classic) hopefully adds to our confidence.
“And now the bar is set even higher for us, knowing what we can do. To have the results we’ve had, we’re feeling pretty good.”
Szymanski had reason to praise both the Lancers, and his own squad’s great effort.
“Right now we have two losses on the season, and the two teams we lost to have a (combined) total of one loss,” he said. “We’ve been in every game. In years past we’ve lost to teams and maybe had a bad loss. This year we haven’t, and we’ve been in every game down to the last whistle.
“The thing about high school soccer is, if you play hard you’re going to win a lot more games than you lose. If we can continue to play hard, we’re going to be in every game and have a chance to do some good things down the stretch. That’s our goal.”
Oswego East had to dig deep to match the Lancers.
“We were down three starters, three returning starters at that, and we played hard,” Szymanski said. “Kellen Klosterman was hurt in the last game. He’s a freshman center mid who’s been really solid for us. Kyle Blasingame has been out for a little while now, and (injured) Nolan Laczynski was a starter for us last year at defensive mid. Missing those guys – two are 6-foot, 6-foot-1, and the other controls the midfield for us. But the guys who played battled.
“Hopefully we can keep it going, and sometimes a loss gets the fire built up. It’s hard to be upset.”
Huerter sees the tournament experience and Saturday’s setback paying off.
“I think the whole atmosphere of this tournament game was like the last game of the season,” Huerter said. “You don’t want to lose. That was the same feeling this game. We came up short, but we know that feeling now, and we don’t want to have it again.
“We have a lot of talent. For the last three years we’ve been pretty good, a solid team, and this year has been one of our best talent-wise.”
Lake Park is enjoying its own breakthrough year and earned more recognition Saturday.
“We want to keep playing together the way we’ve been playing these last 11 games,” Presta said. “We’ve been unstoppable. We all have chemistry, and we just look for each other and have trust in one another. That’s the key.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Christian Lekki
D: Frankie Ciara
D: Max Ellenbecker
D: Thomas Zakic
D: Victor Pavlik
M: Paul Grzybowicz
M: Franco Presta
M: Gabriel Mendrano
M: Jesus Juarez
F: Matteo Costa
F: Gray McLellan
Oswego East
GK: Nathan Huerter
D: Juan Manrique
D: Joey Bavol
D: David Bombrys
D: Eric Montano
M: Ethan Klosterman
M: Dimitri Huitron
M: Enrique Montano
M: Dacarlos Parodis-Yu
F: Andre Casas
F: Ford Frazer
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Victor Pavlik, sr. D, Lake Park
Nathan Huerter, sr. GK, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
LP – Victor Pavlik, 4th minute
OE – Eric Montano (Dimitri Huitron assist), 30th minute
Second half
LP – Franco Presta (Pavlik), 49th minute