Glenbrook South celebrates
Mundelein win in style
Titans take second straight, finish 3rd in home tournament
By Michael Wojtychiw
GLENVIEW -- Club Dub has become a fixture for the Chicago Bears since coach Matt Nagy was hired four years ago. It's a club-like locker celebration for the team after it picks up a win during the season and has become quite the social media sensation.
What's that have to do with the Glenbrook South-Mundelein soccer match, you ask?
Well, Club Dub has made its way north to Glenview this fall. A building just off of the back of one of the end zones in the Titans' stadium serves as the "club" location, where team members go in and celebrate a win with music blaring inside the building.
"It's something our athletic department and administrators thought of as an awesome way to build team spirit, especially after big wins," Glenbrook South manager Reggie Lara said. "We hope to continue that momentum, and it was an opportunity for our guys to celebrate together.
"It's special for the kids. Knowing how much effort we put in on a daily basis, it's an awesome way to celebrate as a team and celebrate each other. It was moreso celebrating their teammates than them as individuals."
"It's definitely a new experience for me," junior defender Jimmy Aglikin said. "It's our second win of the season, and something I definitely want to experience again."
The Titans got a taste of their Dub Club Saturday after they defeated Mundelein 1-0 in the third place game of the Jim Wolter/Titan Invitational Saturday morning.
And they did it thanks to a strong defensive presence that only gave up one goal in four games during the team's annual invite. The holiday weekend threw a wrinkle at Glenbrook South. Reserves Chris Sanchez and Franco Fernandez-Enjjo drew starts, because the normal starting center backs were out of town.
"Our first priority is to be an organized and tough defense that makes it really difficult at every level for teams to break through," Lara said. "To produce that result with two guys that are our backups, they did an awesome job. I thought we'd be a good defensive team, especially with the guys we had coming back and those that we elevated from the sophomore team last year.
Mundelein (3-2-1) was shut out for the first time this season, but they were able to put plenty of pressure on Glenbrook South keeper Declan Cloutier. The senior keeper made five saves on the morning.
There's one big thing the Mundelein manager, Sebastian Falinski, is looking for, however.
"I thought we competed today," he said. "That's a very organized team, and we struggled to win the first 50/50. But as the game went on, we had some chances we didn't capitalize on, it's a learning experience.
"We're looking for consistency. I think there were a couple times we took one too many touches, and we turned the ball over when it could have been off our foot faster.
"Just consistency moving forward."
After a scoreless first half, the Titans (2-1-3) got their best opportunities of the game during a four-minute stretch about five minutes into the half.
Opportunities in front of the net, almost point-blank, didn't come to fruition.
"It's been really frustrating, and we've felt this pressure that we need to score," Lara said. "We know we're a good team, but we need to score and the way to do that is to create more quality chances for ourselves and to be patient in the attacking third."
Like their opponents, the Titans are looking to find some finishers. The squad has given up only three goals all year but has only scored five, three of which came in Thursday's tournament win over Speer.
"From the first game I saw that we were definitely improving," Aglikin said. "A couple unlucky results, but I think every single game we saw that we were improving on the ball and our possession. These last two games have shown that and these are the results we want to see."
With 15 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the half, Glenbrook South thought it had gone in front after Luca Piekarski put a ball into the back of the net. But an offsides call took the goal off the board.
Aglikin put his squad on top a little over three minutes later, when he took a ball from senior midfielder Owen Beumer and gave the hosts a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"I tried to get as open as possible," he said. "I didn't think I was going to get it, but the opportunity arose. I just took a calm touch on it, and I executed. That's all I could have done there."
The tournament had a bit of a different feel to this season. Teams played on three-consecutive days before having Friday off and playing the place games on Saturday.
Playing four games in five days played a role in how each team played to make sure they were ready for the next game.
"These are good stepping stones to the legitimate season and how we're playing right now, it's an example on what we can build off," Aglikin said. "If we keep building off these results, it's going to be a really productive season."
Mundelein also sees good things ahead.
"The whole season our guys have been willing to fight, and that's all we can ask them for," Falinski said. "We're going to continue to grow and get better. But the boys show heart, we'll take it."
Starting lineups
Mundelein
GK: Nathan Espinosa
D: Anthony Feather
D: Carson Kowalski
D: Cade McGlothlin
D: Gil Aguilera
MF: Joel Sanchez
MF: Bryan Morales
MF: Omar Mangato
MF: Alex Hidrogo
MF: Frankie Hernandez
F: David Bonilla
Glenbrook South
GK: Declan Cloutier
D: Chris Sanchez
D: Teddy Sturiale
D: Franco Fernandez-Enjo
D: Jimmy Aglikin
MF: Conor Beach
MF: Arturo Moyo
MF: Bennett Steenbergen
MF: Owen Beumer
MF: Xander Hwang
F: Josh Nelson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jimmy Aglikin, jr., DGlenbrook South
Scoring Summary
First half
-No scoring-
Second Half
Glenbrook South - Aglikin (Owen Beumer), 48th minute
Mundelein win in style
Titans take second straight, finish 3rd in home tournament
By Michael Wojtychiw
GLENVIEW -- Club Dub has become a fixture for the Chicago Bears since coach Matt Nagy was hired four years ago. It's a club-like locker celebration for the team after it picks up a win during the season and has become quite the social media sensation.
What's that have to do with the Glenbrook South-Mundelein soccer match, you ask?
Well, Club Dub has made its way north to Glenview this fall. A building just off of the back of one of the end zones in the Titans' stadium serves as the "club" location, where team members go in and celebrate a win with music blaring inside the building.
"It's something our athletic department and administrators thought of as an awesome way to build team spirit, especially after big wins," Glenbrook South manager Reggie Lara said. "We hope to continue that momentum, and it was an opportunity for our guys to celebrate together.
"It's special for the kids. Knowing how much effort we put in on a daily basis, it's an awesome way to celebrate as a team and celebrate each other. It was moreso celebrating their teammates than them as individuals."
"It's definitely a new experience for me," junior defender Jimmy Aglikin said. "It's our second win of the season, and something I definitely want to experience again."
The Titans got a taste of their Dub Club Saturday after they defeated Mundelein 1-0 in the third place game of the Jim Wolter/Titan Invitational Saturday morning.
And they did it thanks to a strong defensive presence that only gave up one goal in four games during the team's annual invite. The holiday weekend threw a wrinkle at Glenbrook South. Reserves Chris Sanchez and Franco Fernandez-Enjjo drew starts, because the normal starting center backs were out of town.
"Our first priority is to be an organized and tough defense that makes it really difficult at every level for teams to break through," Lara said. "To produce that result with two guys that are our backups, they did an awesome job. I thought we'd be a good defensive team, especially with the guys we had coming back and those that we elevated from the sophomore team last year.
Mundelein (3-2-1) was shut out for the first time this season, but they were able to put plenty of pressure on Glenbrook South keeper Declan Cloutier. The senior keeper made five saves on the morning.
There's one big thing the Mundelein manager, Sebastian Falinski, is looking for, however.
"I thought we competed today," he said. "That's a very organized team, and we struggled to win the first 50/50. But as the game went on, we had some chances we didn't capitalize on, it's a learning experience.
"We're looking for consistency. I think there were a couple times we took one too many touches, and we turned the ball over when it could have been off our foot faster.
"Just consistency moving forward."
After a scoreless first half, the Titans (2-1-3) got their best opportunities of the game during a four-minute stretch about five minutes into the half.
Opportunities in front of the net, almost point-blank, didn't come to fruition.
"It's been really frustrating, and we've felt this pressure that we need to score," Lara said. "We know we're a good team, but we need to score and the way to do that is to create more quality chances for ourselves and to be patient in the attacking third."
Like their opponents, the Titans are looking to find some finishers. The squad has given up only three goals all year but has only scored five, three of which came in Thursday's tournament win over Speer.
"From the first game I saw that we were definitely improving," Aglikin said. "A couple unlucky results, but I think every single game we saw that we were improving on the ball and our possession. These last two games have shown that and these are the results we want to see."
With 15 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the half, Glenbrook South thought it had gone in front after Luca Piekarski put a ball into the back of the net. But an offsides call took the goal off the board.
Aglikin put his squad on top a little over three minutes later, when he took a ball from senior midfielder Owen Beumer and gave the hosts a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"I tried to get as open as possible," he said. "I didn't think I was going to get it, but the opportunity arose. I just took a calm touch on it, and I executed. That's all I could have done there."
The tournament had a bit of a different feel to this season. Teams played on three-consecutive days before having Friday off and playing the place games on Saturday.
Playing four games in five days played a role in how each team played to make sure they were ready for the next game.
"These are good stepping stones to the legitimate season and how we're playing right now, it's an example on what we can build off," Aglikin said. "If we keep building off these results, it's going to be a really productive season."
Mundelein also sees good things ahead.
"The whole season our guys have been willing to fight, and that's all we can ask them for," Falinski said. "We're going to continue to grow and get better. But the boys show heart, we'll take it."
Starting lineups
Mundelein
GK: Nathan Espinosa
D: Anthony Feather
D: Carson Kowalski
D: Cade McGlothlin
D: Gil Aguilera
MF: Joel Sanchez
MF: Bryan Morales
MF: Omar Mangato
MF: Alex Hidrogo
MF: Frankie Hernandez
F: David Bonilla
Glenbrook South
GK: Declan Cloutier
D: Chris Sanchez
D: Teddy Sturiale
D: Franco Fernandez-Enjo
D: Jimmy Aglikin
MF: Conor Beach
MF: Arturo Moyo
MF: Bennett Steenbergen
MF: Owen Beumer
MF: Xander Hwang
F: Josh Nelson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jimmy Aglikin, jr., DGlenbrook South
Scoring Summary
First half
-No scoring-
Second Half
Glenbrook South - Aglikin (Owen Beumer), 48th minute