NSCD breaks out against Liberty
Raiders end losing streak with 4-2 road win
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Vincent Luglio led North Shore Country Day to the conclusion of a six-game losing streak in style when the sophomore bagged three goals, his third hat-trick of the season in a 4-2 nonconference road victory over Liberty on Thursday.
The victory for the Raiders (3-6-0) ended a tough stretch where Luglio and his mates failed to score after starting the season with two wins.
"We really needed a win today," said Luglio, who believed the team play of his squad improved in loses to the likes of vastly larger enrollment schools Notre Dame and Lake Forest.
"I could see all of us getter better with each game, but we just couldn't finish any of our chances. Today we created a lot and were able to put a few of them in."
The Raiders continued their offensive upswing Friday with an overwhelming 8-0 win over Elgin Academy, who lost earlier in the week to Liberty 6-2.
"We've had a tough week -- three games in the last four days (one) of which was up in Waukegan yesterday against a real good team from Cristo Rey St. Martin," said Liberty manager Jed Bennett.
"The combination of those three games, plus a trip up to Waukegan, and us (still) being without our starting center back kind of caught up to us in the second half today. North Shore took advantage of that to put the game out of our reach."
It didn't begin that way for the Raiders. The host Chargers (5-4-1) were much fresher and sharper than their guests.
Liberty sophomore Dylan Veigel, who scored two against Elgin Academy, popped in the first just five minutes into the match when his diving header caught up to a lovely helper from Titus Bennett.
The home side struck once more with another sophomore, Breckin Aiello, doing the honors after a looping ball over the top from Bennett jumped up and over Nick Potter - forcing the Raiders keeper to go on a retrieving mission. The freshman was not quite quick enough to beat Aiello to the ball.
"Two goals early is not the way to start after what we've been going through of late, but the lads stayed composed and played without panic. Soon we were back in the game," said Raiders manager Kyle Jones.
North Shore Country Day was patient and neat in its attempts to pull one back before the break. While possession is nine-tenths of the law, it's what you do that counts. While the visitors enjoyed most of the play, they waited until five minutes before intermission to score.
Aidan Zavala, Andrew Karmin, Jacob Sherman, Mason Roberts-Jones and Luglio all had a touch during a 13-minute sequence in which the Raiders completed nearly 100 passes but all lacked the extra bite needed in the final third to strike.
"The way we were playing and connecting passes looked great from where I was, but we were still down two goals," said Raiders central defender, Axel Garcia.
"But once we got that first one, it seemed like that was all we needed to open things up for us."
Jones heaped plenty of praise upon his dynamic sophomore defender, who made the switch from the midfield to the all-important spot to captain the Raiders backline.
"Axel has made great strides in his new role, and he has continued to get better with each outing for us back there," said Jones.
"I was real comfortable playing at the wing in the midfield for us," said Garcia. "So I wasn't real sure of the switch when coached asked me to give it a try. (But) playing between Finn and Tyler (the brothers Doornweerd) made it a whole lot easier for me."
The home side did well to stay organized when the Raiders began to dominate possession and offered plenty of passive resistence with a defensive posture that saw them sit a little deeper when their opponents poured forward and into the area.
Nonetheless, the Raiders still managed to create several half-chances, and a good many quality chances on frame against Chargers keeper Ethan Oskroba, who did his best to keep his mates in control before Luglio finally struck with his opener for North Shore Country Day.
"I knew we were in good shape," said Jones. "(We) just needed to be patient after conceding those two goals. With the way we were holding the ball, attacking would come for us."
Sherman, Zavala and Karmin all went close. A terrific crossfield pass from Karmin led to a Raiders corner, one of four-straight the club manufactured in a four-minute span.
Oskroba came quickly off his line to haul in a well-aimed ball to the back post from Garcia just after the half hour. Then Luglio was hauled down in the box for a PK. The call disappointed Jed Bennett.
"The referee did a good, consistent job all day, but they (did) allow a little too much go in the first half," said Bennett. "So I was a little surprised when they gave them a PK on that call after letting a lot of that type of play just be played on."
Luglio buried his spotkick. It was followed by Riley Jones forcing Oskroba tp punch his 14-yard effort up and over the bar two minutes before the break.
"Vincent had a very good day for us. His first goal before the half gave us life when we needed it," said Jones.
The goal-scoring Raiders hero brought his mates back even shortly after the break when he unloaded a left-footed free kick missile past the Chargers four-man wall to equalize on 46 minutes.
"That was a great goal by Vincent," said Garcia.
The Chargers nearly stunned North Shore Country Day just afterwards with a nicely played counter started by its crafty sophomore Ryan Reyes, who found Miguel Perez on the run.
Titus Bennett latched on to Perez' helper near the top of the box before driving his effort over in the 51st minute.
North Shore Country Day soon put an end to its recent sour run for good when Luglio, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, steered a brilliant one-timer into the far corner to give the visitors a lead they would never give back.
"We needed someone to come through and make a statement for us of late, and Vincent did just that today, and is proving to be the goal-scorer we'll need from here on out," said Jones.
Luglio's third goal of the day in the 51st minute was part of a terrific display of attacking soccer for the rest of the match. It led to a handful of glorious chances and one last goal from Zavala three minutes from time.
Before that, J.D. Elleson took one off the line for the Chargers. Zavala and Luglio each missed sitters following a Roberts-Jones corner that led to Riley Jones short-range blast that went off the bar.
Moments after Erik Jamarillo was brought on he made his presence felt by providing Zavala with an avenue to finish the scoring with his 16-yard effort.
"The lads kept their heads and stayed with our approach to get themselves a well deserved result today," said Jones.
"This felt good today," said Luglio. "We played really well all over the field. Now we just have to continue playing like this the rest of the way."
Starting lineups
North Shore Country Day (4-4-2)
G- Nick Potter
D- Finn Doornweerd
D- Axel Garcia
D- Tyler Doornweerd
D- Alex Winslow
M- Mason Roberts-Jones
M- Jacob Sherman
M- Andrew Karmin
M- Aldan Zavala
F- Vincent Luglio
F- Adam Terhaerdt
Liberty (4-4-2)
G- Ethan Oskroba
D- Justin McHugh
D- Gabe Jimenez
D- J.D. Elleson
D- Christian Ciopasu
M- Miguel Perez
M- Ryan Reyes
M- Dylan Veigel
M- Titus Bennett
F- Breckin Aiello
F- Adam Kania
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Vincent Luglio, so., F, North Shore Country Day
Referee: Thomas Fryc
Scoring Summary
First half
L: Veigel (Bennett, Reyes) 5'
L: Aiello (Bennett) 15'
NSCD: Luglio (PK) 33'
Second half
NSCD: Luglio (FK) 46'
NSCD: Luglio (U/A) 51'
NSCD: Zavala (Jamarillo)
Raiders end losing streak with 4-2 road win
By Mike Garofola
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- Vincent Luglio led North Shore Country Day to the conclusion of a six-game losing streak in style when the sophomore bagged three goals, his third hat-trick of the season in a 4-2 nonconference road victory over Liberty on Thursday.
The victory for the Raiders (3-6-0) ended a tough stretch where Luglio and his mates failed to score after starting the season with two wins.
"We really needed a win today," said Luglio, who believed the team play of his squad improved in loses to the likes of vastly larger enrollment schools Notre Dame and Lake Forest.
"I could see all of us getter better with each game, but we just couldn't finish any of our chances. Today we created a lot and were able to put a few of them in."
The Raiders continued their offensive upswing Friday with an overwhelming 8-0 win over Elgin Academy, who lost earlier in the week to Liberty 6-2.
"We've had a tough week -- three games in the last four days (one) of which was up in Waukegan yesterday against a real good team from Cristo Rey St. Martin," said Liberty manager Jed Bennett.
"The combination of those three games, plus a trip up to Waukegan, and us (still) being without our starting center back kind of caught up to us in the second half today. North Shore took advantage of that to put the game out of our reach."
It didn't begin that way for the Raiders. The host Chargers (5-4-1) were much fresher and sharper than their guests.
Liberty sophomore Dylan Veigel, who scored two against Elgin Academy, popped in the first just five minutes into the match when his diving header caught up to a lovely helper from Titus Bennett.
The home side struck once more with another sophomore, Breckin Aiello, doing the honors after a looping ball over the top from Bennett jumped up and over Nick Potter - forcing the Raiders keeper to go on a retrieving mission. The freshman was not quite quick enough to beat Aiello to the ball.
"Two goals early is not the way to start after what we've been going through of late, but the lads stayed composed and played without panic. Soon we were back in the game," said Raiders manager Kyle Jones.
North Shore Country Day was patient and neat in its attempts to pull one back before the break. While possession is nine-tenths of the law, it's what you do that counts. While the visitors enjoyed most of the play, they waited until five minutes before intermission to score.
Aidan Zavala, Andrew Karmin, Jacob Sherman, Mason Roberts-Jones and Luglio all had a touch during a 13-minute sequence in which the Raiders completed nearly 100 passes but all lacked the extra bite needed in the final third to strike.
"The way we were playing and connecting passes looked great from where I was, but we were still down two goals," said Raiders central defender, Axel Garcia.
"But once we got that first one, it seemed like that was all we needed to open things up for us."
Jones heaped plenty of praise upon his dynamic sophomore defender, who made the switch from the midfield to the all-important spot to captain the Raiders backline.
"Axel has made great strides in his new role, and he has continued to get better with each outing for us back there," said Jones.
"I was real comfortable playing at the wing in the midfield for us," said Garcia. "So I wasn't real sure of the switch when coached asked me to give it a try. (But) playing between Finn and Tyler (the brothers Doornweerd) made it a whole lot easier for me."
The home side did well to stay organized when the Raiders began to dominate possession and offered plenty of passive resistence with a defensive posture that saw them sit a little deeper when their opponents poured forward and into the area.
Nonetheless, the Raiders still managed to create several half-chances, and a good many quality chances on frame against Chargers keeper Ethan Oskroba, who did his best to keep his mates in control before Luglio finally struck with his opener for North Shore Country Day.
"I knew we were in good shape," said Jones. "(We) just needed to be patient after conceding those two goals. With the way we were holding the ball, attacking would come for us."
Sherman, Zavala and Karmin all went close. A terrific crossfield pass from Karmin led to a Raiders corner, one of four-straight the club manufactured in a four-minute span.
Oskroba came quickly off his line to haul in a well-aimed ball to the back post from Garcia just after the half hour. Then Luglio was hauled down in the box for a PK. The call disappointed Jed Bennett.
"The referee did a good, consistent job all day, but they (did) allow a little too much go in the first half," said Bennett. "So I was a little surprised when they gave them a PK on that call after letting a lot of that type of play just be played on."
Luglio buried his spotkick. It was followed by Riley Jones forcing Oskroba tp punch his 14-yard effort up and over the bar two minutes before the break.
"Vincent had a very good day for us. His first goal before the half gave us life when we needed it," said Jones.
The goal-scoring Raiders hero brought his mates back even shortly after the break when he unloaded a left-footed free kick missile past the Chargers four-man wall to equalize on 46 minutes.
"That was a great goal by Vincent," said Garcia.
The Chargers nearly stunned North Shore Country Day just afterwards with a nicely played counter started by its crafty sophomore Ryan Reyes, who found Miguel Perez on the run.
Titus Bennett latched on to Perez' helper near the top of the box before driving his effort over in the 51st minute.
North Shore Country Day soon put an end to its recent sour run for good when Luglio, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, steered a brilliant one-timer into the far corner to give the visitors a lead they would never give back.
"We needed someone to come through and make a statement for us of late, and Vincent did just that today, and is proving to be the goal-scorer we'll need from here on out," said Jones.
Luglio's third goal of the day in the 51st minute was part of a terrific display of attacking soccer for the rest of the match. It led to a handful of glorious chances and one last goal from Zavala three minutes from time.
Before that, J.D. Elleson took one off the line for the Chargers. Zavala and Luglio each missed sitters following a Roberts-Jones corner that led to Riley Jones short-range blast that went off the bar.
Moments after Erik Jamarillo was brought on he made his presence felt by providing Zavala with an avenue to finish the scoring with his 16-yard effort.
"The lads kept their heads and stayed with our approach to get themselves a well deserved result today," said Jones.
"This felt good today," said Luglio. "We played really well all over the field. Now we just have to continue playing like this the rest of the way."
Starting lineups
North Shore Country Day (4-4-2)
G- Nick Potter
D- Finn Doornweerd
D- Axel Garcia
D- Tyler Doornweerd
D- Alex Winslow
M- Mason Roberts-Jones
M- Jacob Sherman
M- Andrew Karmin
M- Aldan Zavala
F- Vincent Luglio
F- Adam Terhaerdt
Liberty (4-4-2)
G- Ethan Oskroba
D- Justin McHugh
D- Gabe Jimenez
D- J.D. Elleson
D- Christian Ciopasu
M- Miguel Perez
M- Ryan Reyes
M- Dylan Veigel
M- Titus Bennett
F- Breckin Aiello
F- Adam Kania
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Vincent Luglio, so., F, North Shore Country Day
Referee: Thomas Fryc
Scoring Summary
First half
L: Veigel (Bennett, Reyes) 5'
L: Aiello (Bennett) 15'
NSCD: Luglio (PK) 33'
Second half
NSCD: Luglio (FK) 46'
NSCD: Luglio (U/A) 51'
NSCD: Zavala (Jamarillo)