Oswego East's bad luck streak continues
Late slip leads to 1-0 East Aurora win
By Dave Owen
PLAINFIELD – After a great bend-but-don’t break effort for most of the match, Oswego East’s defense was finally solved by one bad break.
On a cross to the front of the net with just 2:29 left, a Wolves defender slipped going for the ball. That gave East Aurora forward Adrian Ferrer enough daylight to power home a 6-yard shot.
That play left Oswego East (2-6-0) with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Tomcats (2-5-1) in the second round of the Plainfield Classic at Plainfield North.
“We defended really well,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said, “but we made one mistake late, and they punished us.
“It’s unfortunately been the story of our season – make a mistake and the other team capitalizes. I thought offensively we just couldn’t connect, and to their credit they (East Aurora) had the better of the play and they found a way to get it done.”
A cross from the end line on the left by Jose Sanchez led to Ferrer’s game-winner.
“I thought he (the defender) was going to clear it out,” Ferrer said, “but it went under his legs. I had the chance, and I shot it.
“Last game I missed a few shots, like three shots. It brought me down, and all I’ve been thinking about is that. We could have won that game too.
“I gave it all I got; you keep pressuring and you can end up winning,” added Ferrer, who has three goals in 2019. “I’m happy we won. I’m happy I scored; and I’m just happy for them (my teammates).”
The goal was part of a sports story that Oswego East now can focus on – a chance at redemption waits just around the corner.
The unlikely finish did nothing to dim a great defensive effort by Oswego East goalkeeper Owen Kiilsgaard and his teammates.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Kiilsgaard seemed to one-up himself with better and better stops as the second half progressed.
Kiilsgaard’s nice save on Giovanni Villegas’ low 18-yard drive with 12:40 left was followed 20 seconds later by another grab of a Villegas 15-yarder.
Then with 9:40 to go, Kiilsgaard made a diving cover at the left post to somehow deny Danny Ramos’ 6-yard redirect of a Roman Hernandez cross.
“I’ve been making those saves since I was eight (years old) I guess,” Kiilsgaard said. “It’s just reflex, something that comes.”
East Aurora coach Nathan Parry was impressed.
“He was very athletic, very tough,” Parry said of Kiilsgaard. “We face them again in a week and a half for our Homecoming soccer game Friday night right before the football game. We’ll have to figure something out if we want to score on him again.”
But refusing to focus on his own acrobatics, Kiilsgaard had high praise for his teammates on the Wolves defense.
“What they (East Aurora) did well was move off the ball,” Kiilsgaard said, “and I think tracking runs off the ball was the biggest thing we needed to focus on there. I think we did a really great job of that.
“They did little combination passes, and you stuck with your guy and didn’t follow the ball. I think that’s what held us together.
“Me talking in the back and (center back) Zach (Seidel) talking,” Kiilsgaard added, “I think that’s also one of the key things that helped assign runs.”
East Aurora’s relentless second half blitz was preceded by a better 40-plus minutes for Oswego East.
In the 31st minute, a Grant Glorioso 22-yard liner was saved on a high block by East Aurora goalkeeper Raul Escobar.
Two minutes later, a 25-yard Dimitri Huitron free kick went wide left. Then in the 36th minute, freshman Ben Paranidharan also lined a shot just wide right.
But in general, it was not a red-letter day for the Oswego East offense.
“We struggled,” Szymanski said. “It was evident. I told our guys it looked like we picked up 11 guys at the park and said, just go play together. There was a little disconnect between some of us.”
Kiilsgaard noticed the same struggles from his vantage point in goal.
“We’re lacking offensively,” he said. “We’ve hammered our defense (as a focus) ever since the start of the season, and something we need to hammer more now is our offense.
“We just aren’t connecting. We have different runs, and you don’t know where your guy is, you don’t know how to combination play with another guy, you don’t know where he’s running.”
The Wolves created some oppotunities in the second half.
With 30 minutes left, Dacarlos Parodis-Yu’s right-side run and short pass set up a Huitron 10-yard shot just over the net.
The Wolves went 15 minutes before their next decent chance, a Glorioso 22-yard shot over the net off a Ryan D’Adamo pass.
Speedy forward Andre Casas (low 26-yard liner saved at the right post with 14:15 left) and Huitron (16-yarder off a Sahil Sethi pass with 12:40 to play) follow with chances.
But otherwise, it was mostly East Aurora pressure – and Oswego East defense.
“I thought Zach (Seidel) played really well,” Szymanski said. “He’s been solid for us. Cael (Cummings) had a really good first half and then his stomach was bothering him. He’s been stepping up.”
And of course, there was Kiilsgaard at keeper.
“Owen had, I don’t know how many saves. It was a lot,” Szymanski said. “He’s going to do that, and the biggest thing he can do is not give up the one he shouldn’t.”
A former star goalkeeper himself at Downers Grove South, Szymanski knows what makes his current netminder special.
“(Szymanski’s high school coach) Mike Wiggins always told me 'You just have to make the saves you’re supposed to make,'” Szymanski said. “You don’t have to do anything spectacular and don’t put your team in a bad position.
“And that’s what he did. He made the saves he had to make, and they just had a better shot (on Ferrer’s goal). He wasn’t going to save that.”
After Ferrer’s goal, Oswego East generated a last-ditch offensive.
But Casas’ 22-yarder with 1:20 left went wide right, then a Wolves send from midfield with 30 seconds to go was cleared upfield from 30 yards out by East Aurora’s Jesus Nicacio.
The Tomcats closed it out from there.
“We have an athletic defense and stay disciplined in the back,” Parry said. “We just try to hold them (opposing attackers) up and wait for help to come from behind. And then break out.”
In a showdown of teams that have been somewhat snakebitten in the early season, bad luck added to Oswego East’s frustration.
“Our defense is getting better,” Szymanski said. “That’s the one thing I’m upset about today. They played hard enough where we should have at least got a draw. I know you don’t want a tie, but for as hard as they worked today I thought they at least deserved a tie.”
Meanwhile, good fortune literally landed at the doorstep for East Aurora.
“We’ll take it,” Parry said. “We’ve kind of been unlucky the last three or four games. I thought we had more chances than the other teams and just didn’t capitalize.
“So I’m glad he (Ferrer) was in the right place at the right time. It’s stuff that (assistant) coach (James) Ross and I are always telling them to do, put the ball in the zone, anticipate a follow-up and be there to tap it in.
“We’ve been on the wrong end of some close games,” Parry added. “I’m glad we could work hard for all 80 (minutes) and get the win.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK Owen Kiilsgaard
D Zach Seidel
D Jack Conway
D Nathan Cziepel
D Ethan Klosterman
M Dimitri Huitron
M Sahil Sethi
M Carter Boberg
M Kellen Klosterman
F Decarlos Parodis-Yu
F Andre Casas
East Aurora
GK Raul Escobar
D Gabriel Gutierrez
D Alexis Araiza
D Jesus Nicacio
D Toni Benigno
M Danny Ramos
M German Casas
M Salvador Aguilera
F Jose Sanchez
F Giovanni Villegas
F Adrian Ferrer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Owen Kiilsgaard, jr. GK, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
EA- Adrian Ferrer (Jose Sanchez assist), 78th min
Late slip leads to 1-0 East Aurora win
By Dave Owen
PLAINFIELD – After a great bend-but-don’t break effort for most of the match, Oswego East’s defense was finally solved by one bad break.
On a cross to the front of the net with just 2:29 left, a Wolves defender slipped going for the ball. That gave East Aurora forward Adrian Ferrer enough daylight to power home a 6-yard shot.
That play left Oswego East (2-6-0) with a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the Tomcats (2-5-1) in the second round of the Plainfield Classic at Plainfield North.
“We defended really well,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said, “but we made one mistake late, and they punished us.
“It’s unfortunately been the story of our season – make a mistake and the other team capitalizes. I thought offensively we just couldn’t connect, and to their credit they (East Aurora) had the better of the play and they found a way to get it done.”
A cross from the end line on the left by Jose Sanchez led to Ferrer’s game-winner.
“I thought he (the defender) was going to clear it out,” Ferrer said, “but it went under his legs. I had the chance, and I shot it.
“Last game I missed a few shots, like three shots. It brought me down, and all I’ve been thinking about is that. We could have won that game too.
“I gave it all I got; you keep pressuring and you can end up winning,” added Ferrer, who has three goals in 2019. “I’m happy we won. I’m happy I scored; and I’m just happy for them (my teammates).”
The goal was part of a sports story that Oswego East now can focus on – a chance at redemption waits just around the corner.
The unlikely finish did nothing to dim a great defensive effort by Oswego East goalkeeper Owen Kiilsgaard and his teammates.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Kiilsgaard seemed to one-up himself with better and better stops as the second half progressed.
Kiilsgaard’s nice save on Giovanni Villegas’ low 18-yard drive with 12:40 left was followed 20 seconds later by another grab of a Villegas 15-yarder.
Then with 9:40 to go, Kiilsgaard made a diving cover at the left post to somehow deny Danny Ramos’ 6-yard redirect of a Roman Hernandez cross.
“I’ve been making those saves since I was eight (years old) I guess,” Kiilsgaard said. “It’s just reflex, something that comes.”
East Aurora coach Nathan Parry was impressed.
“He was very athletic, very tough,” Parry said of Kiilsgaard. “We face them again in a week and a half for our Homecoming soccer game Friday night right before the football game. We’ll have to figure something out if we want to score on him again.”
But refusing to focus on his own acrobatics, Kiilsgaard had high praise for his teammates on the Wolves defense.
“What they (East Aurora) did well was move off the ball,” Kiilsgaard said, “and I think tracking runs off the ball was the biggest thing we needed to focus on there. I think we did a really great job of that.
“They did little combination passes, and you stuck with your guy and didn’t follow the ball. I think that’s what held us together.
“Me talking in the back and (center back) Zach (Seidel) talking,” Kiilsgaard added, “I think that’s also one of the key things that helped assign runs.”
East Aurora’s relentless second half blitz was preceded by a better 40-plus minutes for Oswego East.
In the 31st minute, a Grant Glorioso 22-yard liner was saved on a high block by East Aurora goalkeeper Raul Escobar.
Two minutes later, a 25-yard Dimitri Huitron free kick went wide left. Then in the 36th minute, freshman Ben Paranidharan also lined a shot just wide right.
But in general, it was not a red-letter day for the Oswego East offense.
“We struggled,” Szymanski said. “It was evident. I told our guys it looked like we picked up 11 guys at the park and said, just go play together. There was a little disconnect between some of us.”
Kiilsgaard noticed the same struggles from his vantage point in goal.
“We’re lacking offensively,” he said. “We’ve hammered our defense (as a focus) ever since the start of the season, and something we need to hammer more now is our offense.
“We just aren’t connecting. We have different runs, and you don’t know where your guy is, you don’t know how to combination play with another guy, you don’t know where he’s running.”
The Wolves created some oppotunities in the second half.
With 30 minutes left, Dacarlos Parodis-Yu’s right-side run and short pass set up a Huitron 10-yard shot just over the net.
The Wolves went 15 minutes before their next decent chance, a Glorioso 22-yard shot over the net off a Ryan D’Adamo pass.
Speedy forward Andre Casas (low 26-yard liner saved at the right post with 14:15 left) and Huitron (16-yarder off a Sahil Sethi pass with 12:40 to play) follow with chances.
But otherwise, it was mostly East Aurora pressure – and Oswego East defense.
“I thought Zach (Seidel) played really well,” Szymanski said. “He’s been solid for us. Cael (Cummings) had a really good first half and then his stomach was bothering him. He’s been stepping up.”
And of course, there was Kiilsgaard at keeper.
“Owen had, I don’t know how many saves. It was a lot,” Szymanski said. “He’s going to do that, and the biggest thing he can do is not give up the one he shouldn’t.”
A former star goalkeeper himself at Downers Grove South, Szymanski knows what makes his current netminder special.
“(Szymanski’s high school coach) Mike Wiggins always told me 'You just have to make the saves you’re supposed to make,'” Szymanski said. “You don’t have to do anything spectacular and don’t put your team in a bad position.
“And that’s what he did. He made the saves he had to make, and they just had a better shot (on Ferrer’s goal). He wasn’t going to save that.”
After Ferrer’s goal, Oswego East generated a last-ditch offensive.
But Casas’ 22-yarder with 1:20 left went wide right, then a Wolves send from midfield with 30 seconds to go was cleared upfield from 30 yards out by East Aurora’s Jesus Nicacio.
The Tomcats closed it out from there.
“We have an athletic defense and stay disciplined in the back,” Parry said. “We just try to hold them (opposing attackers) up and wait for help to come from behind. And then break out.”
In a showdown of teams that have been somewhat snakebitten in the early season, bad luck added to Oswego East’s frustration.
“Our defense is getting better,” Szymanski said. “That’s the one thing I’m upset about today. They played hard enough where we should have at least got a draw. I know you don’t want a tie, but for as hard as they worked today I thought they at least deserved a tie.”
Meanwhile, good fortune literally landed at the doorstep for East Aurora.
“We’ll take it,” Parry said. “We’ve kind of been unlucky the last three or four games. I thought we had more chances than the other teams and just didn’t capitalize.
“So I’m glad he (Ferrer) was in the right place at the right time. It’s stuff that (assistant) coach (James) Ross and I are always telling them to do, put the ball in the zone, anticipate a follow-up and be there to tap it in.
“We’ve been on the wrong end of some close games,” Parry added. “I’m glad we could work hard for all 80 (minutes) and get the win.”
Starting lineups
Oswego East
GK Owen Kiilsgaard
D Zach Seidel
D Jack Conway
D Nathan Cziepel
D Ethan Klosterman
M Dimitri Huitron
M Sahil Sethi
M Carter Boberg
M Kellen Klosterman
F Decarlos Parodis-Yu
F Andre Casas
East Aurora
GK Raul Escobar
D Gabriel Gutierrez
D Alexis Araiza
D Jesus Nicacio
D Toni Benigno
M Danny Ramos
M German Casas
M Salvador Aguilera
F Jose Sanchez
F Giovanni Villegas
F Adrian Ferrer
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Owen Kiilsgaard, jr. GK, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
EA- Adrian Ferrer (Jose Sanchez assist), 78th min