Malinsky's big night leads
Maine South over Glenbrook North
Junior forward dominates score sheet in 3-0 CSL South win
By Michael Wojtychiw
NORTHBROOK -- For many years. teams haven't had the luxury of playing on Friday nights. That’s because most soccer teams share the same field with the football team, which has traditionally taken precedence over school facilities.
However, due to a referee shortage, the IHSA has encouraged more football teams to play on Thursday night to ensure there would be enough referees to go around. That means that more soccer teams have the opportunity to play in their own version of "Friday Night Lights."
And because Glenbrook North's football team played on Thursday, that's exactly what the host Spartans and Maine South did Friday.
Both teams suffered losses in their first conference games on Thursday -- Maine South to New Trier, which is ranked eighth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, and Glenbrook North to honorable mention Evanston. So each looked to get back to even footing in Central Suburban League South Division play. It was the visiting Hawks that walked away with a 3-0 win.
"The energy and enthusiasm was great," Maine South manager Dan States said. "We came out flat on Tuesday; they brought it to us and took control of the tempo early. So that was one of the things we talked about.
"We needed to come out and establish ourselves, dictating the play to do the things we wanted to do, and largely we were able to do that."
After much of an even first half, the Hawks (6-3-2) took advantage of some miscommunication by Glenbrook North with about four minutes remaining in the half.
The Spartans thought a throw-in was awarded to them, but in actuality, it was called the other way. The visitors saw this and Zach Malinsky capitalized.
"I saw they were confused, so I was yelling at my left back to ‘Throw it in quick down the line,’" he said. "I was around the 30-yard-line when I started to make the run. I got outside the box and looked up to see the goalie off his line and caught him off guard."
The 25th-ranked Spartans started quickly in the second half with Brian Pekala putting a shot just over the crossbar in the 44th minute. Chris Sanchez forced the Hawks' keeper to make a save just two minutes later.
"The difference was in the final thirds," Glenbrook North manager Paul Gibbs said. "They took more chances, we didn't take ours; and we didn't defend well enough in our own final third. We've got to cut out some silly mistakes, especially in transition.
"And we've got to take our chances. We had plenty of chances, we just had to take advantage. But we're not scoring goals right now. And if you're not scoring goals, you're not winning games, simple as that."
Maine South, which has been ranked in the Top 25 honorable mention list the last several weeks, did not share that problem. Malinsky played a ball to senior Liam Sultana, who put it away from right of the goal to make it 2-0 in the 47th minute.
Glenbrook North (6-4-1) continued to put the ball deep into the Maine South zone and pressure the defense but a goal was not to be found.
That's something that manager Paul Gibbs said has been a struggle for the team this season.
"We need to be a little bit braver with our set pieces and attacking, especially around the box," he said. "We're a little timid right now; we have to be a little more ruthless. We need to be more clinical, simple as that."
His senior captain Sanchez, agrees.
"For me, for example, I would pass it to my wingers and get some crosses into the box," he said. "We still have to work on getting guys in the box. We pass it to our wingers but sometimes half of us are in the middle and not a lot of us in the box. So, we'll miss a lot of opportunities when we cross.
"If we work on that in practice, we'll be going strong into the Glenbrook South game (Sept. 20)."
Malinsky, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, put the game away with 24 minutes, 46 seconds remaining when he knocked in a penalty kick after the Spartans were called for a handball in the box.
The junior said he had been working on penalty kicks in practice and had an inkling of what he wanted to do when he stepped to the ball.
"I've missed some penalties in my career. So now whenever I go up there, I decide which side I'm going and stick with it," he said. "I go left and I know I'm scoring. I go bottom left corner, and it's a goal."
Gibbs and Sanchez know that there's still a lot of season left to go, and that they can't dwell on the result.
With rivalry games against teams like Glenbrook South and New Trier looming, they know they can't dwell on losses like the first two in conference play. Especially since the Central Suburban League South Division consistently one of the toughest groupings in the area.
"We've just got to stick together as a group," Gibbs said. "We've got a good group that works hard, we just need to stick together. If we can't get motivated for the Glenbrook South game, we can't get motivated for any game.
"We're running good training sessions. The coaches are working hard, but once the whistle blows, it's their (the players') job. At the end of the day, we need our leaders to step up."
"Tomorrow's another day," Sanchez said. "We've got to show out at training, because all the starters right now ... it's not a guarantee you start every game. Everyone is competing for a spot.
"At practice, it's really competitive. … We support each other and if we can motivate each other, it makes us better. When it gets to the playoffs, we could be the better team. One game at a time."
Maine South is battle-tested. At the St. Charles Invitational, the Hawks played St. Charles North, Metea Valley and lost in double overtime in the final to West Chicago, all teams who have either been ranked or listed in honorable mention in the Top 25. They also have a one-goal loss to no. 19 Zion-Benton in a BodyArmor bracket.
"This is a big confidence boost," Malinsky said. "We gave a good fight against New Trier, but coming in here we needed a win. We gave it our all and had confidence on the field, and it showed."
"The guys have gone through a tough schedule to this point … to get us prepared for games like this," Scales said. "It helped us train for conference play, but this was an important win to get us turned around and going in the right direction for the remainder of conference play."
One of the reasons that the Hawks have been able to have success is their defense, especially goalie Jakub Wiktorczyk.
"He's had a couple rough games where we've played top-tier teams, but it was good to get back in the rhythm of shutouts again," the Hawks' manager said. "He has six of them so far so he's been playing really well. He had a really good night."
Starting lineups
Maine South
GK: Jakub Wiktorczyk
D: Ethan Kasicki
D: Sam Middendorf
D: Sam Cohen
D: Matt Figula
MF: Tahar ElMetennani
MF: Stefan Zelenovic
MF: Nino Grimaldi
MF: Liam Sultana
F: Zach Malinsky
F: Pawel Bochina
Glenbrook North
GK: Max Bachenheimer
D: Tal Yedlin
D: Ben Milnick
D: Jordan Elliott
D: Chase Petersen
MF: Ian Lee
MF: Sam Lappin
MF: Brian Pekala
MF: Steven Rhee
MF: Chris Sanchez
F: Vinny Sabbione
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Zach Malinsky, jr., F, Maine South
Scoring summary
First half
Maine South - Zach Malinsky, 37th minute
Second half
Maine South - Liam Sultana (Malinsky), 47th minute
Maine South - Malinsky (PK), 56th minute
Maine South over Glenbrook North
Junior forward dominates score sheet in 3-0 CSL South win
By Michael Wojtychiw
NORTHBROOK -- For many years. teams haven't had the luxury of playing on Friday nights. That’s because most soccer teams share the same field with the football team, which has traditionally taken precedence over school facilities.
However, due to a referee shortage, the IHSA has encouraged more football teams to play on Thursday night to ensure there would be enough referees to go around. That means that more soccer teams have the opportunity to play in their own version of "Friday Night Lights."
And because Glenbrook North's football team played on Thursday, that's exactly what the host Spartans and Maine South did Friday.
Both teams suffered losses in their first conference games on Thursday -- Maine South to New Trier, which is ranked eighth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, and Glenbrook North to honorable mention Evanston. So each looked to get back to even footing in Central Suburban League South Division play. It was the visiting Hawks that walked away with a 3-0 win.
"The energy and enthusiasm was great," Maine South manager Dan States said. "We came out flat on Tuesday; they brought it to us and took control of the tempo early. So that was one of the things we talked about.
"We needed to come out and establish ourselves, dictating the play to do the things we wanted to do, and largely we were able to do that."
After much of an even first half, the Hawks (6-3-2) took advantage of some miscommunication by Glenbrook North with about four minutes remaining in the half.
The Spartans thought a throw-in was awarded to them, but in actuality, it was called the other way. The visitors saw this and Zach Malinsky capitalized.
"I saw they were confused, so I was yelling at my left back to ‘Throw it in quick down the line,’" he said. "I was around the 30-yard-line when I started to make the run. I got outside the box and looked up to see the goalie off his line and caught him off guard."
The 25th-ranked Spartans started quickly in the second half with Brian Pekala putting a shot just over the crossbar in the 44th minute. Chris Sanchez forced the Hawks' keeper to make a save just two minutes later.
"The difference was in the final thirds," Glenbrook North manager Paul Gibbs said. "They took more chances, we didn't take ours; and we didn't defend well enough in our own final third. We've got to cut out some silly mistakes, especially in transition.
"And we've got to take our chances. We had plenty of chances, we just had to take advantage. But we're not scoring goals right now. And if you're not scoring goals, you're not winning games, simple as that."
Maine South, which has been ranked in the Top 25 honorable mention list the last several weeks, did not share that problem. Malinsky played a ball to senior Liam Sultana, who put it away from right of the goal to make it 2-0 in the 47th minute.
Glenbrook North (6-4-1) continued to put the ball deep into the Maine South zone and pressure the defense but a goal was not to be found.
That's something that manager Paul Gibbs said has been a struggle for the team this season.
"We need to be a little bit braver with our set pieces and attacking, especially around the box," he said. "We're a little timid right now; we have to be a little more ruthless. We need to be more clinical, simple as that."
His senior captain Sanchez, agrees.
"For me, for example, I would pass it to my wingers and get some crosses into the box," he said. "We still have to work on getting guys in the box. We pass it to our wingers but sometimes half of us are in the middle and not a lot of us in the box. So, we'll miss a lot of opportunities when we cross.
"If we work on that in practice, we'll be going strong into the Glenbrook South game (Sept. 20)."
Malinsky, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, put the game away with 24 minutes, 46 seconds remaining when he knocked in a penalty kick after the Spartans were called for a handball in the box.
The junior said he had been working on penalty kicks in practice and had an inkling of what he wanted to do when he stepped to the ball.
"I've missed some penalties in my career. So now whenever I go up there, I decide which side I'm going and stick with it," he said. "I go left and I know I'm scoring. I go bottom left corner, and it's a goal."
Gibbs and Sanchez know that there's still a lot of season left to go, and that they can't dwell on the result.
With rivalry games against teams like Glenbrook South and New Trier looming, they know they can't dwell on losses like the first two in conference play. Especially since the Central Suburban League South Division consistently one of the toughest groupings in the area.
"We've just got to stick together as a group," Gibbs said. "We've got a good group that works hard, we just need to stick together. If we can't get motivated for the Glenbrook South game, we can't get motivated for any game.
"We're running good training sessions. The coaches are working hard, but once the whistle blows, it's their (the players') job. At the end of the day, we need our leaders to step up."
"Tomorrow's another day," Sanchez said. "We've got to show out at training, because all the starters right now ... it's not a guarantee you start every game. Everyone is competing for a spot.
"At practice, it's really competitive. … We support each other and if we can motivate each other, it makes us better. When it gets to the playoffs, we could be the better team. One game at a time."
Maine South is battle-tested. At the St. Charles Invitational, the Hawks played St. Charles North, Metea Valley and lost in double overtime in the final to West Chicago, all teams who have either been ranked or listed in honorable mention in the Top 25. They also have a one-goal loss to no. 19 Zion-Benton in a BodyArmor bracket.
"This is a big confidence boost," Malinsky said. "We gave a good fight against New Trier, but coming in here we needed a win. We gave it our all and had confidence on the field, and it showed."
"The guys have gone through a tough schedule to this point … to get us prepared for games like this," Scales said. "It helped us train for conference play, but this was an important win to get us turned around and going in the right direction for the remainder of conference play."
One of the reasons that the Hawks have been able to have success is their defense, especially goalie Jakub Wiktorczyk.
"He's had a couple rough games where we've played top-tier teams, but it was good to get back in the rhythm of shutouts again," the Hawks' manager said. "He has six of them so far so he's been playing really well. He had a really good night."
Starting lineups
Maine South
GK: Jakub Wiktorczyk
D: Ethan Kasicki
D: Sam Middendorf
D: Sam Cohen
D: Matt Figula
MF: Tahar ElMetennani
MF: Stefan Zelenovic
MF: Nino Grimaldi
MF: Liam Sultana
F: Zach Malinsky
F: Pawel Bochina
Glenbrook North
GK: Max Bachenheimer
D: Tal Yedlin
D: Ben Milnick
D: Jordan Elliott
D: Chase Petersen
MF: Ian Lee
MF: Sam Lappin
MF: Brian Pekala
MF: Steven Rhee
MF: Chris Sanchez
F: Vinny Sabbione
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Zach Malinsky, jr., F, Maine South
Scoring summary
First half
Maine South - Zach Malinsky, 37th minute
Second half
Maine South - Liam Sultana (Malinsky), 47th minute
Maine South - Malinsky (PK), 56th minute