Oswego East blanks Hinsdale South
Wolves Laczynski’s not just a goal-saver, but also a goal-scorer
By Chris Walker
DARIEN -- Nolan Laczynski is a goalkeeper for his club team.
But the senior serves as a midfielder for Oswego East. He loves playing the game just the same, if not more, and it certainly doesn’t get much better for him than when the Wolves are winning.
Well, unless he’s scoring, too.
Laczynski scored twice and the Wolves won convincingly, 4-0, in a nonconference match at Hinsdale South on Thursday evening.
“And he was contemplating about not playing this year,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “At the middle of last year he said he was thinking about going to just play club and to play goalie, and I said, ‘Why don’t you wait on that and let’s reconvene at the end of the year and in summer and see where you’re at.’
“He came to camp and I said, ‘You’re not going to play?’ and he said ‘No, no, I’m playing. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m playing.’”
Szymanski said it’s unfortunate that some kids fail to realize until it’s too late that their time as a high school athlete is short. That said, he’s happy to have Laczynski back for a final season.
“You only get so much time in high school,” Szymanski said. “The last thing you want to do is live with regret that you didn’t play or didn’t do something you wanted to do.”
Having played soccer for most of his life, Laczysnki, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, said that most players have the skill set to play anywhere on the field, so going from goalkeeper to a field player role comes naturally for him.
“You should be able to,” he said. “I like playing the field now for the high school. I think I’m a little more competitive when I’m in goal. The transition is a little bit difficult in the months between when I get back to club and go into goalkeeper mode.”
Adjusting mentally from one or other has pretty much been seamless.
“I can clear out my mind when I’m out here on the field for high school,” he said. “It’s just switching modes and vice versa if I’m trying to go back to goalkeeper mode.”
A flick from freshman Kellen Klosterman set up Laczynski for his first goal of the night with 31:47 remaining in the game and gave the Wolves a 3-0 advantage.
“I was just trying to find the ball and coach was talking at halftime about doing that,” Laczynski said. “The second ball then hit off a couple of people, and I just got lucky on the bounce and was able to head it in right past the goalkeeper.”
His header ability has come in handy this fall, and at 6-foot-2, Laczysnki is utilizing his size like never before.
“I’ve been winning a lot more head balls this year,” he said. “I think I’m leading the team so far so that’s pretty good. I was at the bottom of table last year, so I’m trying to work on that.”
Klosterman also assisted Laczynski on his second goal, which came just 61 seconds after his first. Klosterman has definitely stepped right in and made an impact which is quite a significant accomplishment for a ninth grader.
“We try to make the new guys feel at home just like their club team is welcoming,” Laczynski said. “It’s been a quick transition for him to go from freshman to varsity, but he’s done well.”
Knowing a few of his teammates before the season started has helped Klosterman as he acclimates himself to high school varsity soccer.
“It’s a lot more physical than I thought it would be,” he said. “It’s more about being bigger and stronger and faster than to be better at passing and shooting and receiving and dribbling, but I think I’ve adjusted well.”
Adjusting quickly has allowed him to get on the field and stay there.
“I’ve gotten a lot of time, which is good,” he said. “One of my goals was to play a lot, and I am, so I think that’s good.”
Oswego East (4-1-2) scored the only goal it would need 15 minutes into the action when Kyle Blasingame took advantage of an error in back by the Hornets (1-7-0).
“Their goalie made a mistake, and I was in the right space at the right time,” Blasingame said. “I got an open ball and finished it.”
Ford Frazer extended Oswego East’s lead to 2-0 when he scored with 21:45 remaining in the first half.
Being ahead by a deuce was certainly nice for the Wolves, but it could’ve been a bigger and more comfortable lead.
“We talked about this in the locker room,” Szymanski said. “Some guys on the bench said we should be up bigger. It’s one thing to say it, but we need to go out and bring that intensity and play like we’re playing the best team.”
The Wolves may have controlled the game, but their modest two-goal lead didn’t accurately represent how well they were shutting down their hosts.
“I thought we dominated the first half, but both of our goals there didn’t come in the run of play,” Szymanski said. “So we didn’t earn a goal in the first half. We had to go out and earn our goals in the second half. I thought we did a better job of that, and I got a lot of guys in the game, which was nice, especially because it could be seven games in 12 days for us if we do well in the tournament (Plainfield Classic).”
Being able to go deep during these busy days certainly bodes well for the Wolves.
“We tried to get a lot of guys to play today to see what they can do,” Laczynski said. “I think we’ll have a lot more subs now, because everyone’s playing well.”
Pushing each other to get better and to earn playing time doesn’t hurt either.
“One of the guys said that you can never be satisfied, and I think that’s something we’re trying to focus on,” Szymanski said. “It’s easy to get up for the big games and things like that, but can you get up for a game in Hinsdale at 6:30 at night and take care of business? And I think we did that, and that’s what we've got to do.”
The Wolves open the inaugural Plainfield Classic against Downers Grove North at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“It should be a good matchup for us. I like how it played out for us, because I think we have some opportunities to do well there,” Szymanski said. “We’ve never won a tournament at Oswego East so we’ll see.”
Downers Grove North has to play a tournament game in the morning as well, so the Wolves will be at an advantage. Regardless, they’re not taking anything for granted because their next tournament championship will be their first.
“We lost our first game of the season and haven’t lost since then,” Szymanski said. “We’re not perfect, but we’re getting better each and every game which is a good thing to see. As a coach, you want to see you’re guys keep improving, and I think we’re doing that.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK: Nathan Huerter
D: Joey Bavol
D: David Bombrys
D: Zach Lass
D: Juan Manrique
MF: Kyle Blasingame
MF: Dimitri Huitron
MF: Kellen Klosterman
MF: Nolan Laczynski
F: Ford Frazer
F: Andre Casas
Hinsdale South
GK: Bryan Alcantara
D: Adan Amaro
D: Abbas Asharif
D: Adam Krupa
D: Tristan Tegtmeyer
MF: Jakob Deszcz
MF: Griffin Isberg
MF: Jack Metcalf
MF: Mahmood Shah
MF: Chris Wayman
F: Dylan Chen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nolan Laczynski, sr., MF, Oswego East
Scoring Summary
First half
Oswego East – Kyle Blasingame (unassisted), 35:00
Oswego East – Ford Frazer (unassisted), 21:45
Second half
Oswego East – Nolan Laczynski (Kellen Klosterman), 31:47
Oswego East – Nolan Laczynski (Kellen Klosterman), 30:46
Wolves Laczynski’s not just a goal-saver, but also a goal-scorer
By Chris Walker
DARIEN -- Nolan Laczynski is a goalkeeper for his club team.
But the senior serves as a midfielder for Oswego East. He loves playing the game just the same, if not more, and it certainly doesn’t get much better for him than when the Wolves are winning.
Well, unless he’s scoring, too.
Laczynski scored twice and the Wolves won convincingly, 4-0, in a nonconference match at Hinsdale South on Thursday evening.
“And he was contemplating about not playing this year,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “At the middle of last year he said he was thinking about going to just play club and to play goalie, and I said, ‘Why don’t you wait on that and let’s reconvene at the end of the year and in summer and see where you’re at.’
“He came to camp and I said, ‘You’re not going to play?’ and he said ‘No, no, I’m playing. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m playing.’”
Szymanski said it’s unfortunate that some kids fail to realize until it’s too late that their time as a high school athlete is short. That said, he’s happy to have Laczynski back for a final season.
“You only get so much time in high school,” Szymanski said. “The last thing you want to do is live with regret that you didn’t play or didn’t do something you wanted to do.”
Having played soccer for most of his life, Laczysnki, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, said that most players have the skill set to play anywhere on the field, so going from goalkeeper to a field player role comes naturally for him.
“You should be able to,” he said. “I like playing the field now for the high school. I think I’m a little more competitive when I’m in goal. The transition is a little bit difficult in the months between when I get back to club and go into goalkeeper mode.”
Adjusting mentally from one or other has pretty much been seamless.
“I can clear out my mind when I’m out here on the field for high school,” he said. “It’s just switching modes and vice versa if I’m trying to go back to goalkeeper mode.”
A flick from freshman Kellen Klosterman set up Laczynski for his first goal of the night with 31:47 remaining in the game and gave the Wolves a 3-0 advantage.
“I was just trying to find the ball and coach was talking at halftime about doing that,” Laczynski said. “The second ball then hit off a couple of people, and I just got lucky on the bounce and was able to head it in right past the goalkeeper.”
His header ability has come in handy this fall, and at 6-foot-2, Laczysnki is utilizing his size like never before.
“I’ve been winning a lot more head balls this year,” he said. “I think I’m leading the team so far so that’s pretty good. I was at the bottom of table last year, so I’m trying to work on that.”
Klosterman also assisted Laczynski on his second goal, which came just 61 seconds after his first. Klosterman has definitely stepped right in and made an impact which is quite a significant accomplishment for a ninth grader.
“We try to make the new guys feel at home just like their club team is welcoming,” Laczynski said. “It’s been a quick transition for him to go from freshman to varsity, but he’s done well.”
Knowing a few of his teammates before the season started has helped Klosterman as he acclimates himself to high school varsity soccer.
“It’s a lot more physical than I thought it would be,” he said. “It’s more about being bigger and stronger and faster than to be better at passing and shooting and receiving and dribbling, but I think I’ve adjusted well.”
Adjusting quickly has allowed him to get on the field and stay there.
“I’ve gotten a lot of time, which is good,” he said. “One of my goals was to play a lot, and I am, so I think that’s good.”
Oswego East (4-1-2) scored the only goal it would need 15 minutes into the action when Kyle Blasingame took advantage of an error in back by the Hornets (1-7-0).
“Their goalie made a mistake, and I was in the right space at the right time,” Blasingame said. “I got an open ball and finished it.”
Ford Frazer extended Oswego East’s lead to 2-0 when he scored with 21:45 remaining in the first half.
Being ahead by a deuce was certainly nice for the Wolves, but it could’ve been a bigger and more comfortable lead.
“We talked about this in the locker room,” Szymanski said. “Some guys on the bench said we should be up bigger. It’s one thing to say it, but we need to go out and bring that intensity and play like we’re playing the best team.”
The Wolves may have controlled the game, but their modest two-goal lead didn’t accurately represent how well they were shutting down their hosts.
“I thought we dominated the first half, but both of our goals there didn’t come in the run of play,” Szymanski said. “So we didn’t earn a goal in the first half. We had to go out and earn our goals in the second half. I thought we did a better job of that, and I got a lot of guys in the game, which was nice, especially because it could be seven games in 12 days for us if we do well in the tournament (Plainfield Classic).”
Being able to go deep during these busy days certainly bodes well for the Wolves.
“We tried to get a lot of guys to play today to see what they can do,” Laczynski said. “I think we’ll have a lot more subs now, because everyone’s playing well.”
Pushing each other to get better and to earn playing time doesn’t hurt either.
“One of the guys said that you can never be satisfied, and I think that’s something we’re trying to focus on,” Szymanski said. “It’s easy to get up for the big games and things like that, but can you get up for a game in Hinsdale at 6:30 at night and take care of business? And I think we did that, and that’s what we've got to do.”
The Wolves open the inaugural Plainfield Classic against Downers Grove North at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
“It should be a good matchup for us. I like how it played out for us, because I think we have some opportunities to do well there,” Szymanski said. “We’ve never won a tournament at Oswego East so we’ll see.”
Downers Grove North has to play a tournament game in the morning as well, so the Wolves will be at an advantage. Regardless, they’re not taking anything for granted because their next tournament championship will be their first.
“We lost our first game of the season and haven’t lost since then,” Szymanski said. “We’re not perfect, but we’re getting better each and every game which is a good thing to see. As a coach, you want to see you’re guys keep improving, and I think we’re doing that.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK: Nathan Huerter
D: Joey Bavol
D: David Bombrys
D: Zach Lass
D: Juan Manrique
MF: Kyle Blasingame
MF: Dimitri Huitron
MF: Kellen Klosterman
MF: Nolan Laczynski
F: Ford Frazer
F: Andre Casas
Hinsdale South
GK: Bryan Alcantara
D: Adan Amaro
D: Abbas Asharif
D: Adam Krupa
D: Tristan Tegtmeyer
MF: Jakob Deszcz
MF: Griffin Isberg
MF: Jack Metcalf
MF: Mahmood Shah
MF: Chris Wayman
F: Dylan Chen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nolan Laczynski, sr., MF, Oswego East
Scoring Summary
First half
Oswego East – Kyle Blasingame (unassisted), 35:00
Oswego East – Ford Frazer (unassisted), 21:45
Second half
Oswego East – Nolan Laczynski (Kellen Klosterman), 31:47
Oswego East – Nolan Laczynski (Kellen Klosterman), 30:46