Addison Trail upsets Mt. Carmel
Blazers top no. 19 Caravan 1-0 on Silva's 67th-minute score
By Mike Garofola
ADDISON -- A total reversal -- a complete 180 -- that's what Addison Trail did within a matter of two days.
The turnaround shows Blazers fans that Ryan Dini and his club could still yet have a big impact in the postseason when they open play Oct. 14 against Elk Grove.
Dini said his men registered their finest outing of the season during a 1-0 victory over South Side power Mt. Carmel on Saturday at Blazers Stadium.
"Two days ago against Downers Grove South we played our absolute worst game of the season (in a 5-0 loss). Today the performance from all the guys was a complete opposite. It was clearly our best 80 minutes of soccer to date," said a thrilled Dini.
"We've certainly had our ups and down this season, especially in the finishing department," continued Dini.
"But this team has the talent. And today's win makes me think back to last year when Conant came out of nowhere when the playoffs began, and beat one very good opponent after another to make it into the 3A state finals."
The Conant reference is one that Dini and his club have first-hand knowledge of. The Cougars started the 2016 postseason with a workmanlike 11-7-0 record before reeling off five-straight wins against opponents who had a 68-13-10 combined overall record.
"Conant reminded all of us that if you are playing well at the end of the season, good things can happen to you," said Dini, whose 22-2-0 club was sent packing with a sectional final loss to Conant, after the Cougars saw off Wheaton Academy and St. Charles North to advance.
Dini's best hope is to follow that example.
"For us, we've seen just about everyone in our sectional this season, so we know what to expect should we run into any of them in the postseason," said Dini.
"But today's victory should provide the guys with the type of confidence needed to produce a long run. It's obvious to me, and hopefully the players, that we have the talent to do so."
"Oh yeah we do," agreed Eduardo Huerta, as he stood alongside his manager and teammate Luis Silva, who struck for the game-winner in the 67th minute.
"If we go into the playoffs with the mindset that we can play with anybody, and play with confidence at the same time, we can do just about anything we want."
Huerta earned Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match over a few others from a Blazers roster that gave an impressive effort against a Mt. Carmel club which has locked up the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division table and now sports a 14-4-0 overall record.
The Caravan, ranked 19th in the Oct. 8 Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, were recently awarded the no. 2 seed in the Reavis Sectional, on the other side of top-seeded Bradley-Bourbonnais, a top 10 team all season long in the rankings.
Tony Godinez' club, which finished second in Class AA last season and remains loaded with athletic and quick players to form one heck of a strike force, is on course to play those Boilermakers in the sectional final if all goes to form.
"Yes, we should be in that final, but we have to take it a game at a time. And as you can see from today's result, things can happen to change your course," said the Caravan manager, who kept his lads long afterwards before heading back to the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago.
Addison Trail (4-10-3) played with a strong wind at its back during the first period, and much to the surprise of its guests, the Blazers dealt quite well with this advantage, but not as one would have expected.
"We did a really good job of trying to play the ball on the ground, and not in the air where it could take off," said Silva.
"We still played balls over the top, and out of the back, but we connected on most of them. It was our possession and ability to knock it around that helped us create a lot of chances in the first half."
Lots of chances to be sure, but Dini and his staff have seen this movie over and over again this fall.
"We just cannot finish. It's that simple," bemoaned Dini, at the break after watching his club miss three terrific opportunities, and two others that Caravan keeper Sergio Valencia made great saves on.
"Their keeper kept them in the game in that first half, but we had a couple of chances that I thought for sure were gong into the back of the net," said Dini.
The tactical approach the Caravan used in the first half was to drop its two forwards back to defend against the wind-aided Blazers and for the most part it worked.
However, whenever the home side was able to get the proper weight and distance on its crossfield serves, the Caravan struggled to defend targets Christian Garcia, Luis Salcedo and in some cases the Blazers' outside mids, who would support their mates up-top.
Valencia would elevate out of Blazers' Stadium to get a glove on Garcia's wicked snapshot attempt in the 11th minute to take away what was set to go into the upper corner of the net.
What made this save such a brilliant one was not only the incredible leap but at the same time the late stab by Valencia with his glove all in one motion.
This extraordinary effort finally awoke the Caravan attack which was struggling to find its form and each other. But when they did, it did provide a precursor of what the Blazers should expect when their guests had the second half wind all to itself.
With or without the wind, or teammates to compliment them during the first 40 minutes, it was obvious the quartet of Josiah Ash, Cesar Cosio, Salvador Valencia and Felix Mendoza were special soccer talents. And they would soon show their technical skill to help keep the Addison Trail faithful on edge after the intermission.
When Dini brought on Alexis Delapaz to add fresh legs and an extra cog in the Blazers' attack, the junior paid immediate dividends with his pace and distribution acumen.
Sergio Valencia stopped Saucedo after Delapaz put the senior through in the 25th minute to inspire a strong first half finish that looked terrific on both sides of the ball, except in the final third where the home side failed to solve the Caravan.
Despite playing into the wind to start the second period, Addison Trail had much of the play for the first 10 minutes, with Lukas Rodriguez and Garcia forcing saves from Sergio Valencia.
However during this time, Mt. Carmel's central midfield duo of Mendoza and Salvador Valencia likely enjoyed 75% of the possession of the game - a statistic which would slowly break down the Blazers' in the middle and threaten to breech the last line of defense were Huerta and company worked.
"We had to concentrate on staying organized and playing together with good communication. I thought we did real well with that in the last half of the second half when they really came after us," said Huerta, in response to the question of how he and Matthew Moran, Joseph Macedo and Melvin Mora stood up to the pressure from Mt. Carmel.
Jean Avila came to the rescue of his backline when called upon between the sticks. A well-timed clearing effort off the line by Huerta saved the day also in the 58th minute as did his stealth-like tackle of Daniel Favela who looked to be in on Avila in the 73rd minute.
"Eduardo has been a rock along the back for us all year. He plays with so much confidence and poise, while Silva, who missed last year with an ACL has really come along. Both of these guys are juniors, and great leaders who will be the core of next season's roster," said Dini.
Silva continued to follow the action with an eye on the goal when his run up the center channel brought him to the top of the box.
Once there, it was classic being in the right place at the right time. After yet another superb save by Salvador Valencia, this time on Rodriguez, the ball spilled free toward Silva.
"The ball was just there for me, and all I had to do was put my foot on the ball for it to go in," said a modest Silva, who in reality, finished with the touch of a fine jeweler past the Caravan keeper, who for the first time Saturday was unable to provide heroics for his club.
The Caravan poured numbers forward in the final 13 minutes in an attempt to equalize.
Favela forced a save from Avila, as did Cosio, before Axel Gongora's serve flashed through the box but went untouched on the other side.
A fearless Avila came off his line to punch out a deep throw from Giovanni Peat in the 78th minute to put an end to the Caravan fightback for good.
"I was very proud of the effort of the guys today," said Dini. "They got themselves a well-deserved result, and hopefully, as I said, this will be the start of something good."
Addison Trail will finish up its league schedule at West Suburban Conference Gold Division-leading Morton on Tuesday, before its regular season finale with Hinsdale Central two days later at home.
Starting lineups
Mt. Carmel (4-4-2 starting formation)
GK- Sergio Valencia
D- Giovanni Peat
D- Daniel Favela
D- Alex Gongora
D- Giovanni Vargas
M- Ricky Ramos
M- Felix Mendoza
M- Salvador Valencia
M- Cesar Cosio
F- Nico Fox
F- Duncan Lunging
Addison Trail (3-5-2)
GK- Jean Avila
D- Luis Perez
D- Eduardo Huerto
D- Melvin Mora
DM- Matthew Moran
M- Demas Navarette
M- Martin Juarez
M- Luis Silva
M- David Zielinski
F- Christian Garcia
F- Luis Saucedo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eduardo Huerto, jr., D, Addison Trail
Referee: Piotr Fryc
Scoring summary
First half
Addison Trail: Silva (U/A) 67'
Blazers top no. 19 Caravan 1-0 on Silva's 67th-minute score
By Mike Garofola
ADDISON -- A total reversal -- a complete 180 -- that's what Addison Trail did within a matter of two days.
The turnaround shows Blazers fans that Ryan Dini and his club could still yet have a big impact in the postseason when they open play Oct. 14 against Elk Grove.
Dini said his men registered their finest outing of the season during a 1-0 victory over South Side power Mt. Carmel on Saturday at Blazers Stadium.
"Two days ago against Downers Grove South we played our absolute worst game of the season (in a 5-0 loss). Today the performance from all the guys was a complete opposite. It was clearly our best 80 minutes of soccer to date," said a thrilled Dini.
"We've certainly had our ups and down this season, especially in the finishing department," continued Dini.
"But this team has the talent. And today's win makes me think back to last year when Conant came out of nowhere when the playoffs began, and beat one very good opponent after another to make it into the 3A state finals."
The Conant reference is one that Dini and his club have first-hand knowledge of. The Cougars started the 2016 postseason with a workmanlike 11-7-0 record before reeling off five-straight wins against opponents who had a 68-13-10 combined overall record.
"Conant reminded all of us that if you are playing well at the end of the season, good things can happen to you," said Dini, whose 22-2-0 club was sent packing with a sectional final loss to Conant, after the Cougars saw off Wheaton Academy and St. Charles North to advance.
Dini's best hope is to follow that example.
"For us, we've seen just about everyone in our sectional this season, so we know what to expect should we run into any of them in the postseason," said Dini.
"But today's victory should provide the guys with the type of confidence needed to produce a long run. It's obvious to me, and hopefully the players, that we have the talent to do so."
"Oh yeah we do," agreed Eduardo Huerta, as he stood alongside his manager and teammate Luis Silva, who struck for the game-winner in the 67th minute.
"If we go into the playoffs with the mindset that we can play with anybody, and play with confidence at the same time, we can do just about anything we want."
Huerta earned Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match over a few others from a Blazers roster that gave an impressive effort against a Mt. Carmel club which has locked up the Chicago Catholic League Blue Division table and now sports a 14-4-0 overall record.
The Caravan, ranked 19th in the Oct. 8 Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, were recently awarded the no. 2 seed in the Reavis Sectional, on the other side of top-seeded Bradley-Bourbonnais, a top 10 team all season long in the rankings.
Tony Godinez' club, which finished second in Class AA last season and remains loaded with athletic and quick players to form one heck of a strike force, is on course to play those Boilermakers in the sectional final if all goes to form.
"Yes, we should be in that final, but we have to take it a game at a time. And as you can see from today's result, things can happen to change your course," said the Caravan manager, who kept his lads long afterwards before heading back to the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago.
Addison Trail (4-10-3) played with a strong wind at its back during the first period, and much to the surprise of its guests, the Blazers dealt quite well with this advantage, but not as one would have expected.
"We did a really good job of trying to play the ball on the ground, and not in the air where it could take off," said Silva.
"We still played balls over the top, and out of the back, but we connected on most of them. It was our possession and ability to knock it around that helped us create a lot of chances in the first half."
Lots of chances to be sure, but Dini and his staff have seen this movie over and over again this fall.
"We just cannot finish. It's that simple," bemoaned Dini, at the break after watching his club miss three terrific opportunities, and two others that Caravan keeper Sergio Valencia made great saves on.
"Their keeper kept them in the game in that first half, but we had a couple of chances that I thought for sure were gong into the back of the net," said Dini.
The tactical approach the Caravan used in the first half was to drop its two forwards back to defend against the wind-aided Blazers and for the most part it worked.
However, whenever the home side was able to get the proper weight and distance on its crossfield serves, the Caravan struggled to defend targets Christian Garcia, Luis Salcedo and in some cases the Blazers' outside mids, who would support their mates up-top.
Valencia would elevate out of Blazers' Stadium to get a glove on Garcia's wicked snapshot attempt in the 11th minute to take away what was set to go into the upper corner of the net.
What made this save such a brilliant one was not only the incredible leap but at the same time the late stab by Valencia with his glove all in one motion.
This extraordinary effort finally awoke the Caravan attack which was struggling to find its form and each other. But when they did, it did provide a precursor of what the Blazers should expect when their guests had the second half wind all to itself.
With or without the wind, or teammates to compliment them during the first 40 minutes, it was obvious the quartet of Josiah Ash, Cesar Cosio, Salvador Valencia and Felix Mendoza were special soccer talents. And they would soon show their technical skill to help keep the Addison Trail faithful on edge after the intermission.
When Dini brought on Alexis Delapaz to add fresh legs and an extra cog in the Blazers' attack, the junior paid immediate dividends with his pace and distribution acumen.
Sergio Valencia stopped Saucedo after Delapaz put the senior through in the 25th minute to inspire a strong first half finish that looked terrific on both sides of the ball, except in the final third where the home side failed to solve the Caravan.
Despite playing into the wind to start the second period, Addison Trail had much of the play for the first 10 minutes, with Lukas Rodriguez and Garcia forcing saves from Sergio Valencia.
However during this time, Mt. Carmel's central midfield duo of Mendoza and Salvador Valencia likely enjoyed 75% of the possession of the game - a statistic which would slowly break down the Blazers' in the middle and threaten to breech the last line of defense were Huerta and company worked.
"We had to concentrate on staying organized and playing together with good communication. I thought we did real well with that in the last half of the second half when they really came after us," said Huerta, in response to the question of how he and Matthew Moran, Joseph Macedo and Melvin Mora stood up to the pressure from Mt. Carmel.
Jean Avila came to the rescue of his backline when called upon between the sticks. A well-timed clearing effort off the line by Huerta saved the day also in the 58th minute as did his stealth-like tackle of Daniel Favela who looked to be in on Avila in the 73rd minute.
"Eduardo has been a rock along the back for us all year. He plays with so much confidence and poise, while Silva, who missed last year with an ACL has really come along. Both of these guys are juniors, and great leaders who will be the core of next season's roster," said Dini.
Silva continued to follow the action with an eye on the goal when his run up the center channel brought him to the top of the box.
Once there, it was classic being in the right place at the right time. After yet another superb save by Salvador Valencia, this time on Rodriguez, the ball spilled free toward Silva.
"The ball was just there for me, and all I had to do was put my foot on the ball for it to go in," said a modest Silva, who in reality, finished with the touch of a fine jeweler past the Caravan keeper, who for the first time Saturday was unable to provide heroics for his club.
The Caravan poured numbers forward in the final 13 minutes in an attempt to equalize.
Favela forced a save from Avila, as did Cosio, before Axel Gongora's serve flashed through the box but went untouched on the other side.
A fearless Avila came off his line to punch out a deep throw from Giovanni Peat in the 78th minute to put an end to the Caravan fightback for good.
"I was very proud of the effort of the guys today," said Dini. "They got themselves a well-deserved result, and hopefully, as I said, this will be the start of something good."
Addison Trail will finish up its league schedule at West Suburban Conference Gold Division-leading Morton on Tuesday, before its regular season finale with Hinsdale Central two days later at home.
Starting lineups
Mt. Carmel (4-4-2 starting formation)
GK- Sergio Valencia
D- Giovanni Peat
D- Daniel Favela
D- Alex Gongora
D- Giovanni Vargas
M- Ricky Ramos
M- Felix Mendoza
M- Salvador Valencia
M- Cesar Cosio
F- Nico Fox
F- Duncan Lunging
Addison Trail (3-5-2)
GK- Jean Avila
D- Luis Perez
D- Eduardo Huerto
D- Melvin Mora
DM- Matthew Moran
M- Demas Navarette
M- Martin Juarez
M- Luis Silva
M- David Zielinski
F- Christian Garcia
F- Luis Saucedo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eduardo Huerto, jr., D, Addison Trail
Referee: Piotr Fryc
Scoring summary
First half
Addison Trail: Silva (U/A) 67'