Fertitta’s stop sends Lyons past OPRF
Lions win in a shootout over Huskies in WSS clash
By Gary Larsen
OAK PARK — The game had diving goalkeepers making great stops. It had skilled possession and dangerous set pieces. It had intensity and grit, and it even had a bicycle kick. Ultimately, it had stark disappointment for one team and unbridled elation for the other.
Maybe the only thing Tuesday’s game between host Oak Park and River Forest, and Lyons lacked was the high drama of two overtimes and a shootout.
No, wait, stop the presses; it had those things, too.
After 100 minutes of play left the Huskies and Lions in a 1-1 tie, one round of five shooters apiece still couldn’t decide the West Suburban Conference Silver Division tilt. Each team buried four penalty kicks to set up the shootout’s second round of sudden victory kicks.
Both teams shot high of frame to start the second round of kicks before Lyons’ Jack Swicionis converted, setting up the night’s final play. Lyons keeper Gavin Fertitta dove to his right and went airborne to get both hands on Oak Park’s final kick, giving Lyons the win.
“You’re stepping up on the line and you seen them walking up, and you’ve just got to know you’ve got to be able to read it, or you’ve got to guess it right,” Fertitta said. “I kind of had a feeling he was going that way, and I just went with my gut. It ended up working out.”
His game-deciding shootout stop earned Fertitta Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“He stops (penalty kicks) all the time in practice,” Lyons junior J.J. Schmitt said.
There may have been a winner and a loser Tuesday, but fans watched an evenly-played game between two teams without a hair’s width of difference between them.
Oak Park and River Forest (9-2-2, 3-1), ranked no. 9 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had only given up four goals in 12 games and had not lost on its home field this season.
No. 14 Lyons (8-3-2, 3-0), checked yet another highly-ranked opponent off its checklist. Oak Park and River Forest was the fifth team ranked in the top 10 that the Lions have played this season, including the top three in Morton, Naperville North, and Libertyville.
Both goals came in the first 10 minutes, first on an own-goal by Oak Park and River Forest that was credited to Lyons’ Max Behm just 48 seconds into the game.
“They had that crazy first goal by creating pressure, so hat’s off to them,” Huskies coach Jason Fried said. “It flipped up in the air, hit our guy’s heel and went in the net. That happens.”
Oak Park and River Forest answered when Ben Ryan dribbled up and sent a ball to the left side at 10 minutes. Teammate Paul Garcia gathered it and chipped it inside the far post to level the game.
The next 90 minutes of soccer boasted just about every element possible in a quality soccer game.
“After that it was basically a roller-coaster, back and forth,” Fried said. “They took momentum, we took momentum, and we both had chances. We hit a crossbar; they hit a crossbar. It was a fight, when it comes down to it.”
Lyons gave Oak Park and River Forest room to possess for a spell to start the game, and then spent time on the offensive. The game was played between the 18s for a time, and Oak Park and River Forest spent time in its attacking third for a spell.
Set pieces both ways were sprinkled in throughout. Both backlines stood firm and both keepers made big saves when they had to.
“That’s a really good Oak Park team, and we like to think we’re pretty good, too,” Lyons coach Paul Labbato said. “We matched them in everything; shots were probably somewhat even.
"They had a lot of possession but that was a little bit of a game plan, giving them more of the ball to see if we could force some mistakes. And they’re good enough not to make a lot of mistakes.”
Lyons' Behm blistered a shot from 23 yards at 43 minutes into the waiting arms of Huskies keeper Sam Pacenka, and then Behm hit a nifty bicycle kick inside the box that was deflected just over the bar at 59 minutes.
Three Lyons corner kicks in quick succession followed, ending with a nice volleyed shot by Swicionis that Pacenka made a fine stop on at 60 minutes. Oak Park and River Forest spent the next 10 minutes applying solid pressure but Fertitta and his backline held the Huskies at bay.
In addition to his heroic shootout moment, Fertitta charged off his line and made a fine sliding stop at 56 minutes.
Not to be overshadowed, Oak Park and River Forest keeper Pacenka had an exceptional game between the pipes. He was aggressive in the air, made quality diving stops, and tipped three shots over the bar in the game.
“Sam was outstanding tonight,” Fried said. “He’ll take this hard, because he feels like he should stop every PK. But I told him ‘That’s not on you’. He’s an amazing keeper.”
Labbato applauded Schmitt’s role in helping to slow down Oak Park and River Forest midfielder Mateja Tadic, along with a team-wide effort from his boys.
And Labbato’s eyes lit up when he talked about the play of junior Jonathan Hill.
“(Jonathan) Hill came in late, and he just worked and won in the middle,” Labbato said. “We had our starting midfielder Jackson Turner cramping; we had Mike Niedermeyer cramping; so we were in a triage for center mids. And (Hill) came in and the last 15 minutes of the game and both overtimes, cold, and was constantly involved in winning the ball.”
Hill was just happy to be an integral part of a hard-fought win.
“We showed so much heart,” Hill said. “We’re all heart. We’re working hard every day, and the chemistry between us has gotten better and better.”
If there’s a good way to handle a tough loss, Oak Park and River Forest senior defender and captain Bram Lebovitz has the guidebook. Lebovitz was asked what he’d say to his teammates after suffering such a tough loss.
“To take this and let it motivate them,” Lebovitz said. “Most people take (a loss) and let it get them down. But I think it’s important to take it, come to practice, and think about it every time they feel tired, or every time they feel like quitting.
“It’s important to understand the weight of the game. It’s painful; and I think that pain is necessary in order to bounce back.”
Fried had his share of credit to throw around after Tuesday’s game.
“I thought Mason Hsieh-Bailey played outstanding today. I thought Ben Ryan in the center mid played fantastic,” Fried said. “I thought Bram (Lebovitz) …did an amazing job today of holding it down for us. Mentally, he’s one of our toughest players.
“Guys like Miles Hirshman, who came off the bench to play 15 or 20 minutes for us, changed momentum when we needed it. He had a role, and he made a huge change for us.”
Notes
Lyons coach Paul Labbato believed his boys had a little extra aid in winning in Oak Park. “We don’t win here. We haven’t won here since 2013, and it’s just hard to win here,” Labbato said. “They bring a gigantic crowd, and our kids love getting yelled at. It fires them up.”
Heading into its seeding meeting, Lyons can point to its schedule and a pair of big recent wins to bolster its case for a high seed. “We play a hard schedule,” Lyons senior J.J. Schmitt said. “Oak Park’s a great team, Hinsdale (Central) is a great team, so back-to-back wins over those two? We should get a good seeding after that.”
On-field chatter between opposing players is nothing new, and rivalry games always have their share. “We come into this game expecting there to be chirping, and we come in prepared to take it well and respond well,” OPRF senior Bram Lebovitz said. “I don’t think anyone said anything that was too disrespectful, and I thought we did a good job staying calm.”
Oak Park coach Jason Fried had a clear message for his players after Tuesday's loss.
“I told them they have until 10 o’clock to talk about it and hang out, crack some jokes and get over it,” Fried said. “Then get a good night’s sleep, because we have practice tomorrow.”
Coaches always talk about the need to play with intensity for 80 minutes, and after Tuesday's game Lebovitz and Fried were at odds over whether the Huskies had managed that rare feat this season.
"What about the game against De La Salle (Mich.)?" Lebovitz said of the Huskies' 1-0 win.
"That was 78 minutes," Fried joked. “There is no such thing as 80 minutes. It’s like the unicorn.”
Starting lineups
Oak Park
GK: Sam Pacenka
D: Jai Hsieh-Bailey
D: Bram Lebovitz
D; Anthony Silvetti-Schmitt
D: Zeke Rivera
M: Zach Buchta
M: Mateja Tadic
M: Ben Ryan
M: Nicolo Stella
F: Paul Garcia
F: Zaahir Hall
Lyons
GK: Bradley De Boer
D: Tommy Abbs
D: Zack Kristy
D: Graham Bearman
D: Rob Sullivan
M: Alex Becerra
M: Mike Niedermeyer
M: Jackson Turner
F: Max Behm
F: Julio Torres
F: Jake Fraser
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match — Gavin Fertitta, sr., GK, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
Lyons — Behm (OPRF own-goal) 1st minute
Oak Park — Garcia (Ryan) 10th minute
Second half
No scoring
First OT
No scoring
Second OT
No scoring
Shootout
Lyons wins 5-4 in seven rounds
Lions win in a shootout over Huskies in WSS clash
By Gary Larsen
OAK PARK — The game had diving goalkeepers making great stops. It had skilled possession and dangerous set pieces. It had intensity and grit, and it even had a bicycle kick. Ultimately, it had stark disappointment for one team and unbridled elation for the other.
Maybe the only thing Tuesday’s game between host Oak Park and River Forest, and Lyons lacked was the high drama of two overtimes and a shootout.
No, wait, stop the presses; it had those things, too.
After 100 minutes of play left the Huskies and Lions in a 1-1 tie, one round of five shooters apiece still couldn’t decide the West Suburban Conference Silver Division tilt. Each team buried four penalty kicks to set up the shootout’s second round of sudden victory kicks.
Both teams shot high of frame to start the second round of kicks before Lyons’ Jack Swicionis converted, setting up the night’s final play. Lyons keeper Gavin Fertitta dove to his right and went airborne to get both hands on Oak Park’s final kick, giving Lyons the win.
“You’re stepping up on the line and you seen them walking up, and you’ve just got to know you’ve got to be able to read it, or you’ve got to guess it right,” Fertitta said. “I kind of had a feeling he was going that way, and I just went with my gut. It ended up working out.”
His game-deciding shootout stop earned Fertitta Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“He stops (penalty kicks) all the time in practice,” Lyons junior J.J. Schmitt said.
There may have been a winner and a loser Tuesday, but fans watched an evenly-played game between two teams without a hair’s width of difference between them.
Oak Park and River Forest (9-2-2, 3-1), ranked no. 9 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had only given up four goals in 12 games and had not lost on its home field this season.
No. 14 Lyons (8-3-2, 3-0), checked yet another highly-ranked opponent off its checklist. Oak Park and River Forest was the fifth team ranked in the top 10 that the Lions have played this season, including the top three in Morton, Naperville North, and Libertyville.
Both goals came in the first 10 minutes, first on an own-goal by Oak Park and River Forest that was credited to Lyons’ Max Behm just 48 seconds into the game.
“They had that crazy first goal by creating pressure, so hat’s off to them,” Huskies coach Jason Fried said. “It flipped up in the air, hit our guy’s heel and went in the net. That happens.”
Oak Park and River Forest answered when Ben Ryan dribbled up and sent a ball to the left side at 10 minutes. Teammate Paul Garcia gathered it and chipped it inside the far post to level the game.
The next 90 minutes of soccer boasted just about every element possible in a quality soccer game.
“After that it was basically a roller-coaster, back and forth,” Fried said. “They took momentum, we took momentum, and we both had chances. We hit a crossbar; they hit a crossbar. It was a fight, when it comes down to it.”
Lyons gave Oak Park and River Forest room to possess for a spell to start the game, and then spent time on the offensive. The game was played between the 18s for a time, and Oak Park and River Forest spent time in its attacking third for a spell.
Set pieces both ways were sprinkled in throughout. Both backlines stood firm and both keepers made big saves when they had to.
“That’s a really good Oak Park team, and we like to think we’re pretty good, too,” Lyons coach Paul Labbato said. “We matched them in everything; shots were probably somewhat even.
"They had a lot of possession but that was a little bit of a game plan, giving them more of the ball to see if we could force some mistakes. And they’re good enough not to make a lot of mistakes.”
Lyons' Behm blistered a shot from 23 yards at 43 minutes into the waiting arms of Huskies keeper Sam Pacenka, and then Behm hit a nifty bicycle kick inside the box that was deflected just over the bar at 59 minutes.
Three Lyons corner kicks in quick succession followed, ending with a nice volleyed shot by Swicionis that Pacenka made a fine stop on at 60 minutes. Oak Park and River Forest spent the next 10 minutes applying solid pressure but Fertitta and his backline held the Huskies at bay.
In addition to his heroic shootout moment, Fertitta charged off his line and made a fine sliding stop at 56 minutes.
Not to be overshadowed, Oak Park and River Forest keeper Pacenka had an exceptional game between the pipes. He was aggressive in the air, made quality diving stops, and tipped three shots over the bar in the game.
“Sam was outstanding tonight,” Fried said. “He’ll take this hard, because he feels like he should stop every PK. But I told him ‘That’s not on you’. He’s an amazing keeper.”
Labbato applauded Schmitt’s role in helping to slow down Oak Park and River Forest midfielder Mateja Tadic, along with a team-wide effort from his boys.
And Labbato’s eyes lit up when he talked about the play of junior Jonathan Hill.
“(Jonathan) Hill came in late, and he just worked and won in the middle,” Labbato said. “We had our starting midfielder Jackson Turner cramping; we had Mike Niedermeyer cramping; so we were in a triage for center mids. And (Hill) came in and the last 15 minutes of the game and both overtimes, cold, and was constantly involved in winning the ball.”
Hill was just happy to be an integral part of a hard-fought win.
“We showed so much heart,” Hill said. “We’re all heart. We’re working hard every day, and the chemistry between us has gotten better and better.”
If there’s a good way to handle a tough loss, Oak Park and River Forest senior defender and captain Bram Lebovitz has the guidebook. Lebovitz was asked what he’d say to his teammates after suffering such a tough loss.
“To take this and let it motivate them,” Lebovitz said. “Most people take (a loss) and let it get them down. But I think it’s important to take it, come to practice, and think about it every time they feel tired, or every time they feel like quitting.
“It’s important to understand the weight of the game. It’s painful; and I think that pain is necessary in order to bounce back.”
Fried had his share of credit to throw around after Tuesday’s game.
“I thought Mason Hsieh-Bailey played outstanding today. I thought Ben Ryan in the center mid played fantastic,” Fried said. “I thought Bram (Lebovitz) …did an amazing job today of holding it down for us. Mentally, he’s one of our toughest players.
“Guys like Miles Hirshman, who came off the bench to play 15 or 20 minutes for us, changed momentum when we needed it. He had a role, and he made a huge change for us.”
Notes
Lyons coach Paul Labbato believed his boys had a little extra aid in winning in Oak Park. “We don’t win here. We haven’t won here since 2013, and it’s just hard to win here,” Labbato said. “They bring a gigantic crowd, and our kids love getting yelled at. It fires them up.”
Heading into its seeding meeting, Lyons can point to its schedule and a pair of big recent wins to bolster its case for a high seed. “We play a hard schedule,” Lyons senior J.J. Schmitt said. “Oak Park’s a great team, Hinsdale (Central) is a great team, so back-to-back wins over those two? We should get a good seeding after that.”
On-field chatter between opposing players is nothing new, and rivalry games always have their share. “We come into this game expecting there to be chirping, and we come in prepared to take it well and respond well,” OPRF senior Bram Lebovitz said. “I don’t think anyone said anything that was too disrespectful, and I thought we did a good job staying calm.”
Oak Park coach Jason Fried had a clear message for his players after Tuesday's loss.
“I told them they have until 10 o’clock to talk about it and hang out, crack some jokes and get over it,” Fried said. “Then get a good night’s sleep, because we have practice tomorrow.”
Coaches always talk about the need to play with intensity for 80 minutes, and after Tuesday's game Lebovitz and Fried were at odds over whether the Huskies had managed that rare feat this season.
"What about the game against De La Salle (Mich.)?" Lebovitz said of the Huskies' 1-0 win.
"That was 78 minutes," Fried joked. “There is no such thing as 80 minutes. It’s like the unicorn.”
Starting lineups
Oak Park
GK: Sam Pacenka
D: Jai Hsieh-Bailey
D: Bram Lebovitz
D; Anthony Silvetti-Schmitt
D: Zeke Rivera
M: Zach Buchta
M: Mateja Tadic
M: Ben Ryan
M: Nicolo Stella
F: Paul Garcia
F: Zaahir Hall
Lyons
GK: Bradley De Boer
D: Tommy Abbs
D: Zack Kristy
D: Graham Bearman
D: Rob Sullivan
M: Alex Becerra
M: Mike Niedermeyer
M: Jackson Turner
F: Max Behm
F: Julio Torres
F: Jake Fraser
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match — Gavin Fertitta, sr., GK, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
Lyons — Behm (OPRF own-goal) 1st minute
Oak Park — Garcia (Ryan) 10th minute
Second half
No scoring
First OT
No scoring
Second OT
No scoring
Shootout
Lyons wins 5-4 in seven rounds