Genoa-Kingston celebrates
seniors in Marengo win
Leon hits for hat-trick, Cogs score 5 in 2nd half in 7-0 win
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- After a slow start, Genoa-Kingston sent the Class of ’22 out in style with a win on Senior Day in a 7-0 win against Marengo.
“It’s special,” senior forward Eagan Reams said. “It’s a special moment for me and for all of us. It was good that we won. Marengo is a good team.”
The Cogs scored five goals in the second half to put away the visitors in the game that honored seniors Gerardo Morales; Jacob Barton; Reams; Ben Younker; Eduardo Mercado; and Aiden Tomlinson.
Junior forward Junior Leon continued with his torrid scoring pace with a hat-trick.
“It wasn’t my keys to success, it was basically the whole team,” Leon said. “I want to give a shout out to all these guys, because they help me meet these standards that I want to get to. Without them, I wouldn’t be at where I’m at right now.”
Leon broke open the scoring for the Cogs in the 21st minute with some fancy footwork. He snagged the ball just inside the top of the box and dribbled the ball through and around defenders before making a quick turn and firing the ball into the top left of the goal.
Leon then put his team up by two goals in the 37th minute. After a Cogs corner kick went into traffic and bounced off the left post, Leon charged the net and rifled in a shot from four yards before the Marengo goalkeeper had a chance to turn around.
Genoa-Kingston hit the field hungry for more after the break.
Leon finished his hat-trick less than a minute into the half.
“The way Marengo plays, they play that methodical game that kind of lulls you to sleep, so in the second half we talked about pressing them,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We pressed them down there and got a couple of quick goals and their morale dropped pretty quick. That was our game plan, and it actually worked.”
Diego Espinoza redirected an entry pass from Tomlinson to the feet of Leon as he charged into the attacking zone behind the Marengo defense. He then knocked the ball past Matthew Burley from eight yards as the goalkeeper dived at the shot unsuccessfully.
For Leon and the Cogs, it’s more than about winning this late in the season; it’s about their reputation as a potent offense going into the postseason.
“It’s just putting that work in with the team,” Leon said. “We’re just taking it to every team. When it comes to the postseason, they should be scared of us. We take it to them so they have nightmares about us when we play them in the postseason. “
The Cogs have played and beaten almost every team in their sub-sectional so far this season.
Leon has scored eight goals total this week and has taken over the team lead from fellow forward Reams 39-38.
“It’s just whoever finishes the goal at this point,” Leon said. “(Reams) is a great goal-scorer, and I think I’m a good goal-scorer, so whoever gets the goal, gets the goal.”
Leon dished out an assist to teammate Leonardo Rocha on the Cogs’ next goal in the 53rd minute.
Leon dropped the ball in to Rocha, who quickly corralled the ball and sent a left-footed shot off Burley’s fingertips and into the right side of the net from 16 yards.
Despite the score, Burley made some incredible diving saves.
He stonewalled the Cogs offense early and made seven saves in the first half including three breakaway stops against Reams.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you can’t score,” Reams said. “He caught one of my shots in the first half and made it look routine, much easier than it was. He’s a good goalkeeper.”
Marengo defender Luis Ocelotl made his present felt. He backed up Burley as he charged the Cogs offense and deflected a hard shot in the first half and redirected a header attempt from Reams in the second half.
No one has been able to stop the Genoa-Kingston offense. The lowest number of goals they’ve been held to in a game this season is three: a 3-0 win against Marengo in the final of the Colin Smith Invitational at Stillman Valley on Aug. 28; and a 5-3 loss to Class AA Belvidere Sept. 1.
The Big Northern Conference champion Cogs (17-1-0) are on an 11-game winning streak.
“Junior’s been on the last few nights,” Tate said. “(The opposing teams) have been keying in on Eagan more the last few games, but he finds Junior. Kudos to him for doing that instead of pressing himself, he just looks for someone else.”
Reams finally managed get in on the scoring action with a penalty kick after he was taken down from behind on a breakaway by a Marengo defender.
Reams smashed the ball low to the right corner of the goal, scraping the post and sliding into the back of the net.
“We discussed that our shots that were high, he would grab them,” Reams said. “So, we were trying to keep it low, because the lower ones are harder to get than the higher ones.”
Genoa-Kingston were excited after reserve senior forward Morales scored in the 70th minute to put the Cogs up 6-0.
“He’s a scrappy little player,” Tate said. “Unfortunately, he plays behind Junior and Eagan, so he doesn’t always get the playing time that I’d like him to get. But he keeps pressing everybody in practice, and that’s what we need.”
Junior forward Bryan Garcia finished off the scoring for the Cogs two minutes later as he finished from 18 yards on a pass from Tomlinson.
Game note: Marengo was coached by assistant coach Michelle Bartula because head coach Sergio Orozco was unavailable.
Starting lineups
Marengo
GK Matthew Burley
FB Evan Fashingbauer
FB Nicholas Martin
FB Juan Lopez
FB Anthony Kirchhoff
MF Cristian Ocelotl
MF Fynn Huart
MF Ryen Mirtl
FW Evan Hartmann
FW Tyler Bittenbender
FW Aydan Slavin
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Breck Pearson
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Reams
FW Junior Leon
FW Julian Lara-Para
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Junior Leon, jr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (UA) 21st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (UA) 38th minute
Second half
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Espinoza) 41st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Rocha (Leon) 53rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (PK) 64th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Morales (Reams) 70th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Garcia (Tomlinson) 72nd minute
seniors in Marengo win
Leon hits for hat-trick, Cogs score 5 in 2nd half in 7-0 win
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- After a slow start, Genoa-Kingston sent the Class of ’22 out in style with a win on Senior Day in a 7-0 win against Marengo.
“It’s special,” senior forward Eagan Reams said. “It’s a special moment for me and for all of us. It was good that we won. Marengo is a good team.”
The Cogs scored five goals in the second half to put away the visitors in the game that honored seniors Gerardo Morales; Jacob Barton; Reams; Ben Younker; Eduardo Mercado; and Aiden Tomlinson.
Junior forward Junior Leon continued with his torrid scoring pace with a hat-trick.
“It wasn’t my keys to success, it was basically the whole team,” Leon said. “I want to give a shout out to all these guys, because they help me meet these standards that I want to get to. Without them, I wouldn’t be at where I’m at right now.”
Leon broke open the scoring for the Cogs in the 21st minute with some fancy footwork. He snagged the ball just inside the top of the box and dribbled the ball through and around defenders before making a quick turn and firing the ball into the top left of the goal.
Leon then put his team up by two goals in the 37th minute. After a Cogs corner kick went into traffic and bounced off the left post, Leon charged the net and rifled in a shot from four yards before the Marengo goalkeeper had a chance to turn around.
Genoa-Kingston hit the field hungry for more after the break.
Leon finished his hat-trick less than a minute into the half.
“The way Marengo plays, they play that methodical game that kind of lulls you to sleep, so in the second half we talked about pressing them,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We pressed them down there and got a couple of quick goals and their morale dropped pretty quick. That was our game plan, and it actually worked.”
Diego Espinoza redirected an entry pass from Tomlinson to the feet of Leon as he charged into the attacking zone behind the Marengo defense. He then knocked the ball past Matthew Burley from eight yards as the goalkeeper dived at the shot unsuccessfully.
For Leon and the Cogs, it’s more than about winning this late in the season; it’s about their reputation as a potent offense going into the postseason.
“It’s just putting that work in with the team,” Leon said. “We’re just taking it to every team. When it comes to the postseason, they should be scared of us. We take it to them so they have nightmares about us when we play them in the postseason. “
The Cogs have played and beaten almost every team in their sub-sectional so far this season.
Leon has scored eight goals total this week and has taken over the team lead from fellow forward Reams 39-38.
“It’s just whoever finishes the goal at this point,” Leon said. “(Reams) is a great goal-scorer, and I think I’m a good goal-scorer, so whoever gets the goal, gets the goal.”
Leon dished out an assist to teammate Leonardo Rocha on the Cogs’ next goal in the 53rd minute.
Leon dropped the ball in to Rocha, who quickly corralled the ball and sent a left-footed shot off Burley’s fingertips and into the right side of the net from 16 yards.
Despite the score, Burley made some incredible diving saves.
He stonewalled the Cogs offense early and made seven saves in the first half including three breakaway stops against Reams.
“It’s definitely frustrating when you can’t score,” Reams said. “He caught one of my shots in the first half and made it look routine, much easier than it was. He’s a good goalkeeper.”
Marengo defender Luis Ocelotl made his present felt. He backed up Burley as he charged the Cogs offense and deflected a hard shot in the first half and redirected a header attempt from Reams in the second half.
No one has been able to stop the Genoa-Kingston offense. The lowest number of goals they’ve been held to in a game this season is three: a 3-0 win against Marengo in the final of the Colin Smith Invitational at Stillman Valley on Aug. 28; and a 5-3 loss to Class AA Belvidere Sept. 1.
The Big Northern Conference champion Cogs (17-1-0) are on an 11-game winning streak.
“Junior’s been on the last few nights,” Tate said. “(The opposing teams) have been keying in on Eagan more the last few games, but he finds Junior. Kudos to him for doing that instead of pressing himself, he just looks for someone else.”
Reams finally managed get in on the scoring action with a penalty kick after he was taken down from behind on a breakaway by a Marengo defender.
Reams smashed the ball low to the right corner of the goal, scraping the post and sliding into the back of the net.
“We discussed that our shots that were high, he would grab them,” Reams said. “So, we were trying to keep it low, because the lower ones are harder to get than the higher ones.”
Genoa-Kingston were excited after reserve senior forward Morales scored in the 70th minute to put the Cogs up 6-0.
“He’s a scrappy little player,” Tate said. “Unfortunately, he plays behind Junior and Eagan, so he doesn’t always get the playing time that I’d like him to get. But he keeps pressing everybody in practice, and that’s what we need.”
Junior forward Bryan Garcia finished off the scoring for the Cogs two minutes later as he finished from 18 yards on a pass from Tomlinson.
Game note: Marengo was coached by assistant coach Michelle Bartula because head coach Sergio Orozco was unavailable.
Starting lineups
Marengo
GK Matthew Burley
FB Evan Fashingbauer
FB Nicholas Martin
FB Juan Lopez
FB Anthony Kirchhoff
MF Cristian Ocelotl
MF Fynn Huart
MF Ryen Mirtl
FW Evan Hartmann
FW Tyler Bittenbender
FW Aydan Slavin
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Breck Pearson
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Reams
FW Junior Leon
FW Julian Lara-Para
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Junior Leon, jr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (UA) 21st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (UA) 38th minute
Second half
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Espinoza) 41st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Rocha (Leon) 53rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (PK) 64th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Morales (Reams) 70th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Garcia (Tomlinson) 72nd minute