Wild finish leaves Reavis, Oak Forest even
Late Rams goal overturned, undefeated streak at 5 after 1-1 draw
By Dave Owen
BURBANK – It took near darkness, a bad bounce and a questionable call to end Reavis’ four-game winning streak.
As it was, the host Rams (6-3-5, 3-1-4 in the South Suburban Conference) endured those late-game obstacles to earn a 1-1 tie with Oak Forest (11-2-2, 4-1-1) on Wednesday.
And while the Rams’ postgame frustration boiled in seeing a potentially big conference win dissolve into a wishy-washy tie, coach Mark Gniadek’s message was clear.
“We have to learn to move on,” Gniadek said. “Sometimes we dwell on it a little bit. You see it when a call or a play doesn’t go our way. We’ve been getting better at it, and we have to keep getting better at it.
“When things don’t go your way, you have to be able to move on. That was the message I sent them: use this as motivation for the rest of the season. Because it’s October soccer – here we go.”
Reavis had closed September in style: a four-game winning streak, with a 15-0 scoring advantage in those games.
The first 70 minutes of October soccer looked similar: a 1-0 lead over Oak Forest on a Juan Cedillo header goal, and another strong defensive effort.
Then as darkness closed in and the game-long intermittent rains returned, the Rams had to deal with proverbial storm clouds as well.
With 9:11 left, Reavis standout defender Christian Garcia had to briefly leave the game after a collision on an Oak Forest throw-in.
A Rams foul on the play added insult to the injury. Jackson Flores’ ensuing right-side, 20-yard free kick towards the right post deflected off a Reavis player and into the net for an own-goal and a 1-1 tie.
After not allowing a goal since Sept. 19, it was a tough end to the Rams’ scoreless streak.
“Four games with no goals conceded,” Garcia said. “We always try to work our hardest. We work in practice on clearing the ball. We do set pieces where (opponents) cross the ball, and we get it out and everyone pushes up. We just work on tactics.
“We had a few good clearances (Wednesday), but unfortunately we had a play there that ended up in an own-goal.”
Reavis appeared to have overcome that game-tying bad bounce with 46 seconds left. A Rams throw-in deflected to star striker Jose Rico in the box. After his first shot was blocked, Rico rocketed the rebound into the net to set off an apparent game-winning goal.
Instead, an offside ruling nullified the score and turned the Reavis frustration levels to the boiling point.
“The flag went up for offsides,” Gniadek said, “but the kid that was offsides wasn’t the kid that finished, so with (46) seconds left everyone thought we took the lead.
“But it got called back, which was unfortunate. There was a kid in the offside position, but he was out of the play.”
Oak Forest nearly added another dagger to the Rams’ pain with a counterattack with 15 seconds left. Dorian Perez’s shot on the right side run was saved by Reavis goalkeeper Kamil Steszel, but a botched ensuing clearing attempt resulted in a scramble and a Rams clear on the side.
The ensuing Bengals throw-in bounced over the end line as time expired. And a Rams team that had four ties in five games in mid-September had to deal with another day in that valley between victory and defeat.
On the Oak Forest side, rallying for the tie was more of a cause for celebration.
“They’re a quality team,” Bengals coach Kieran Byrne said of Reavis, “and anytime you come here it’s going to be very difficult.
“We made a couple changes formation-wise (late in the game), and went to a 4-4-2 from a 5-4-1. We switched a couple players around when we saw them getting tired. We kind of opened up a little bit, and we got ourselves more in the game.”
After a scoreless first half of evenly divided chances for both sides, a perfectly executed Reavis set piece would produce a 1-0 Rams lead with 33:09 left.
A Rico rush created a corner kick chance. Diego Porras’ ensuing corner send found Cedillo, whose 12-yard header rocketed inside the right post for his fourth goal of 2019.
“Every 50-50 and set piece,” Cedillo said, “our coach always tells us ‘If you want it, you’ve got to go get it.’
“This one I was like ‘Yeah, I want this one, and I’m going to get this one and put my team up 1-0.’
Beyond his header goal and equally attention-grabbing sliding knee celebration after the score, Cedillo was a major impact player throughout the game en route to Man of the Match honors.
“Juan plays his heart out every single game,” Gniadek said. “It comes out in ways sometimes I agree with, sometimes I don’t. He’s definitely fiery, but the passion is there, and he has it every single game.
“He wins every 50-50 ball that comes his way. He clears the ball; he does the dirty work. And he gets up and finishes on corner kicks and throw-ins, which is nice.”
Cedillo was just one Reavis player worthy of special praise Wednesday, and during the recent Rams surge.
“Christian (Garcia) is a sophomore, and he’s the good-vibes guy,” Gniadek said. “He is positive; he has high energy and as a sophomore to see him be a leader is really cool. You’re going to hear about him for a while.
“Julian Ochoa in the middle controls the ball and does a lot of things to get us in a position to score. He plays the through-balls. He keeps it; he gets it back.
“He did great,” Gniadek added, “and our two forwards (Marek Judka and Rico) have been busting. They’ve really bought in to being that first line of defense. When we lose the ball, they’re the first two to get it back.”
That commitment to possession and defense all over the field has led to Reavis allowing just five goals in its last nine games and a 4-1-4 record in that span.
“We’ve done a great job all year possessing,” Gniadek said. “When we lose the ball we fight really hard to get it back. We’ve been just trying to keep it simple. When you have the ball keep it, when you don’t have it, get it back. And they’ve really bought in. Especially when we’re trying to get it back in our attacking third, so we’re not defending so much.
“And our backline has been solid all year,” Gniadek added. “We’ve only given up 12 goals. A ton of credit to our keeper and our backline. This team has been fun, and it’s going to cause a little bit of havoc going forward.”
Havoc came in many forms Wednesday.
In the 18th minute of the first half, a stray dog sprinting onto the field caused a brief delay.
That speedy canine’s brief elusiveness was matched all game by dueling forwards Rico and Oak Forest’s Jonathan Landa.
The biggest scoring bid of the first half came 8:35 before halftime, when Landa launched a 25-yard shot off the crossbar and over the net.
Rico was the spark for a Reavis threat in the 19th minute. Off a throw-in, Rico’s shot was deflected to Ochoa, whose rebound try went just wide.
Cedillo’s early second half goal gave the Rams a 1-0 lead, but Oak Forest was relentless in its bids to tie.
Reavis goalkeeper Kamil Staszel came off his line with 30:20 left to grab Landa’s 40-yard free kick.
Then with 29:15 to go, Landa’s header off a 35-yard free kick was deflected just wide – prompting a corner kick bid that ended with Landa’s dribble into the box denied on a combined steal and clear by Reavis’ Ochoa and Daniel Rosado.
“What was working for us was our energy,” Cedillo said. “If the ball was in a dangerous area, we kept clearing it good. And we kept dropping and didn’t give up at all.”
Staszel followed with saves on low Landa shots with 27:20 left and 24:30 to go, and an Alex Froylan blocked shot near the top of the box with 13:30 left denied another Bengals bid.
“We always work on our defensive line,” Garcia said. “We try to stay focused and try to shift onto the side the ball is on.”
Dwindling daylight and Garcia’s brief exit with injury contributed to the own-goal that tied the game. But the Oak Forest coach also saw that lucky break as a payoff for persistence and hard work.
“We always talk to parents about the process,” Byrne said, “that you have to love the process. And we’re engaged in that. We were more concerned about our performance and how hard we work and how we apply ourselves. Then the results will come if we do that.”
Suddenly tied 1-1, Reavis wasn’t fazed by the own goal adversity.
With six minutes left, Cedillo’s nice sliding blocked shot at the 15 denied an Oak Forest offensive bid.
Then with 2:55 to go, Rico was fouled to set up a 50-yard free kick. Judka’s strong send was juggled in the crowd by the Bengals goalkeeper, resulting in two Rams rebound tries (the first blocked, the second sent wide).
Oak Forest’s response with 1:45 left was denied by a Carlos Guzman blocked shot, followed by Staszel’s save on the 15-yard rebound try by Gavin Gilman.
Things would only get crazier, with the goal reversed by an offside call and a mad scramble on Oak Forest’s last-second bid wrapping up an otherwise uneventful last 45 seconds.
And though the game ended in a draw and some postgame frustration, the Rams’ five-game unbeaten streak continues.
“These kids play with a ton of heart, a ton of passion,” Gniadek said. “We’ve been working on controlling it a little bit – their tempers sometimes flare up a little bit, but those are the type of kids they are.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d rather have a kid that was fiery than a kid that you have to try to motivate. I don’t have to motivate these kids at all. Every day of the week they come out here ready to go. It doesn’t have to come from me, which is the best thing I can ask for as a coach.”
And the results of late have been great.
“The last four games we just started finishing – that was the big difference,” Gniadek said. “We lost a kid who graduated with a whole bunch of goals, and these guys are stepping up into that role now. It just took them a little time to figure it out.”
Wednesday’s tie doesn’t figure to derail the Rams’ enthusiasm or confidence.
“Whatever happens, don’t give up,” Cedillo said. “Keep fighting and never quit.
“It’s just good vibes,” Cedillo added about Reavis’ strength. “Everybody gets along; we have good energy. And we just don’t give up – that’s what it is.
“We’ll use this (game) and push forward. We use this as motivation – we can’t let it bring us down. We’ll push it toward games going forward.”
Starting lineups
Oak Forest
GK: Gio Cabrera
D: Bruno Carrillo
D: Gavin Collery
D: Declan Collery
D: John Cooke
D: Alejandro Rodriguez
M: Gavin Gilman
M: Jackson Flores
M: Jake Phillips
M: Luis Rosales
F: Jonathan Landa
Reavis
GK: Kamil Staszel
D: Christian Garcia
D: Patrick Mrowca
D: Julian Ochoa
D: Alex Froylan
M: Diego Porras
M: Juan Cedillo
M: Diego Rodriguez
M: Kevin Ibarra
F: Jose Rico
F: Marek Judka
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Juan Cedillo, sr. M, Reavis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Reavis- Juan Cedillo (Diego Porras assist), 47’
OF- own goal (Jackson Flores free kick), 71’
Late Rams goal overturned, undefeated streak at 5 after 1-1 draw
By Dave Owen
BURBANK – It took near darkness, a bad bounce and a questionable call to end Reavis’ four-game winning streak.
As it was, the host Rams (6-3-5, 3-1-4 in the South Suburban Conference) endured those late-game obstacles to earn a 1-1 tie with Oak Forest (11-2-2, 4-1-1) on Wednesday.
And while the Rams’ postgame frustration boiled in seeing a potentially big conference win dissolve into a wishy-washy tie, coach Mark Gniadek’s message was clear.
“We have to learn to move on,” Gniadek said. “Sometimes we dwell on it a little bit. You see it when a call or a play doesn’t go our way. We’ve been getting better at it, and we have to keep getting better at it.
“When things don’t go your way, you have to be able to move on. That was the message I sent them: use this as motivation for the rest of the season. Because it’s October soccer – here we go.”
Reavis had closed September in style: a four-game winning streak, with a 15-0 scoring advantage in those games.
The first 70 minutes of October soccer looked similar: a 1-0 lead over Oak Forest on a Juan Cedillo header goal, and another strong defensive effort.
Then as darkness closed in and the game-long intermittent rains returned, the Rams had to deal with proverbial storm clouds as well.
With 9:11 left, Reavis standout defender Christian Garcia had to briefly leave the game after a collision on an Oak Forest throw-in.
A Rams foul on the play added insult to the injury. Jackson Flores’ ensuing right-side, 20-yard free kick towards the right post deflected off a Reavis player and into the net for an own-goal and a 1-1 tie.
After not allowing a goal since Sept. 19, it was a tough end to the Rams’ scoreless streak.
“Four games with no goals conceded,” Garcia said. “We always try to work our hardest. We work in practice on clearing the ball. We do set pieces where (opponents) cross the ball, and we get it out and everyone pushes up. We just work on tactics.
“We had a few good clearances (Wednesday), but unfortunately we had a play there that ended up in an own-goal.”
Reavis appeared to have overcome that game-tying bad bounce with 46 seconds left. A Rams throw-in deflected to star striker Jose Rico in the box. After his first shot was blocked, Rico rocketed the rebound into the net to set off an apparent game-winning goal.
Instead, an offside ruling nullified the score and turned the Reavis frustration levels to the boiling point.
“The flag went up for offsides,” Gniadek said, “but the kid that was offsides wasn’t the kid that finished, so with (46) seconds left everyone thought we took the lead.
“But it got called back, which was unfortunate. There was a kid in the offside position, but he was out of the play.”
Oak Forest nearly added another dagger to the Rams’ pain with a counterattack with 15 seconds left. Dorian Perez’s shot on the right side run was saved by Reavis goalkeeper Kamil Steszel, but a botched ensuing clearing attempt resulted in a scramble and a Rams clear on the side.
The ensuing Bengals throw-in bounced over the end line as time expired. And a Rams team that had four ties in five games in mid-September had to deal with another day in that valley between victory and defeat.
On the Oak Forest side, rallying for the tie was more of a cause for celebration.
“They’re a quality team,” Bengals coach Kieran Byrne said of Reavis, “and anytime you come here it’s going to be very difficult.
“We made a couple changes formation-wise (late in the game), and went to a 4-4-2 from a 5-4-1. We switched a couple players around when we saw them getting tired. We kind of opened up a little bit, and we got ourselves more in the game.”
After a scoreless first half of evenly divided chances for both sides, a perfectly executed Reavis set piece would produce a 1-0 Rams lead with 33:09 left.
A Rico rush created a corner kick chance. Diego Porras’ ensuing corner send found Cedillo, whose 12-yard header rocketed inside the right post for his fourth goal of 2019.
“Every 50-50 and set piece,” Cedillo said, “our coach always tells us ‘If you want it, you’ve got to go get it.’
“This one I was like ‘Yeah, I want this one, and I’m going to get this one and put my team up 1-0.’
Beyond his header goal and equally attention-grabbing sliding knee celebration after the score, Cedillo was a major impact player throughout the game en route to Man of the Match honors.
“Juan plays his heart out every single game,” Gniadek said. “It comes out in ways sometimes I agree with, sometimes I don’t. He’s definitely fiery, but the passion is there, and he has it every single game.
“He wins every 50-50 ball that comes his way. He clears the ball; he does the dirty work. And he gets up and finishes on corner kicks and throw-ins, which is nice.”
Cedillo was just one Reavis player worthy of special praise Wednesday, and during the recent Rams surge.
“Christian (Garcia) is a sophomore, and he’s the good-vibes guy,” Gniadek said. “He is positive; he has high energy and as a sophomore to see him be a leader is really cool. You’re going to hear about him for a while.
“Julian Ochoa in the middle controls the ball and does a lot of things to get us in a position to score. He plays the through-balls. He keeps it; he gets it back.
“He did great,” Gniadek added, “and our two forwards (Marek Judka and Rico) have been busting. They’ve really bought in to being that first line of defense. When we lose the ball, they’re the first two to get it back.”
That commitment to possession and defense all over the field has led to Reavis allowing just five goals in its last nine games and a 4-1-4 record in that span.
“We’ve done a great job all year possessing,” Gniadek said. “When we lose the ball we fight really hard to get it back. We’ve been just trying to keep it simple. When you have the ball keep it, when you don’t have it, get it back. And they’ve really bought in. Especially when we’re trying to get it back in our attacking third, so we’re not defending so much.
“And our backline has been solid all year,” Gniadek added. “We’ve only given up 12 goals. A ton of credit to our keeper and our backline. This team has been fun, and it’s going to cause a little bit of havoc going forward.”
Havoc came in many forms Wednesday.
In the 18th minute of the first half, a stray dog sprinting onto the field caused a brief delay.
That speedy canine’s brief elusiveness was matched all game by dueling forwards Rico and Oak Forest’s Jonathan Landa.
The biggest scoring bid of the first half came 8:35 before halftime, when Landa launched a 25-yard shot off the crossbar and over the net.
Rico was the spark for a Reavis threat in the 19th minute. Off a throw-in, Rico’s shot was deflected to Ochoa, whose rebound try went just wide.
Cedillo’s early second half goal gave the Rams a 1-0 lead, but Oak Forest was relentless in its bids to tie.
Reavis goalkeeper Kamil Staszel came off his line with 30:20 left to grab Landa’s 40-yard free kick.
Then with 29:15 to go, Landa’s header off a 35-yard free kick was deflected just wide – prompting a corner kick bid that ended with Landa’s dribble into the box denied on a combined steal and clear by Reavis’ Ochoa and Daniel Rosado.
“What was working for us was our energy,” Cedillo said. “If the ball was in a dangerous area, we kept clearing it good. And we kept dropping and didn’t give up at all.”
Staszel followed with saves on low Landa shots with 27:20 left and 24:30 to go, and an Alex Froylan blocked shot near the top of the box with 13:30 left denied another Bengals bid.
“We always work on our defensive line,” Garcia said. “We try to stay focused and try to shift onto the side the ball is on.”
Dwindling daylight and Garcia’s brief exit with injury contributed to the own-goal that tied the game. But the Oak Forest coach also saw that lucky break as a payoff for persistence and hard work.
“We always talk to parents about the process,” Byrne said, “that you have to love the process. And we’re engaged in that. We were more concerned about our performance and how hard we work and how we apply ourselves. Then the results will come if we do that.”
Suddenly tied 1-1, Reavis wasn’t fazed by the own goal adversity.
With six minutes left, Cedillo’s nice sliding blocked shot at the 15 denied an Oak Forest offensive bid.
Then with 2:55 to go, Rico was fouled to set up a 50-yard free kick. Judka’s strong send was juggled in the crowd by the Bengals goalkeeper, resulting in two Rams rebound tries (the first blocked, the second sent wide).
Oak Forest’s response with 1:45 left was denied by a Carlos Guzman blocked shot, followed by Staszel’s save on the 15-yard rebound try by Gavin Gilman.
Things would only get crazier, with the goal reversed by an offside call and a mad scramble on Oak Forest’s last-second bid wrapping up an otherwise uneventful last 45 seconds.
And though the game ended in a draw and some postgame frustration, the Rams’ five-game unbeaten streak continues.
“These kids play with a ton of heart, a ton of passion,” Gniadek said. “We’ve been working on controlling it a little bit – their tempers sometimes flare up a little bit, but those are the type of kids they are.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’d rather have a kid that was fiery than a kid that you have to try to motivate. I don’t have to motivate these kids at all. Every day of the week they come out here ready to go. It doesn’t have to come from me, which is the best thing I can ask for as a coach.”
And the results of late have been great.
“The last four games we just started finishing – that was the big difference,” Gniadek said. “We lost a kid who graduated with a whole bunch of goals, and these guys are stepping up into that role now. It just took them a little time to figure it out.”
Wednesday’s tie doesn’t figure to derail the Rams’ enthusiasm or confidence.
“Whatever happens, don’t give up,” Cedillo said. “Keep fighting and never quit.
“It’s just good vibes,” Cedillo added about Reavis’ strength. “Everybody gets along; we have good energy. And we just don’t give up – that’s what it is.
“We’ll use this (game) and push forward. We use this as motivation – we can’t let it bring us down. We’ll push it toward games going forward.”
Starting lineups
Oak Forest
GK: Gio Cabrera
D: Bruno Carrillo
D: Gavin Collery
D: Declan Collery
D: John Cooke
D: Alejandro Rodriguez
M: Gavin Gilman
M: Jackson Flores
M: Jake Phillips
M: Luis Rosales
F: Jonathan Landa
Reavis
GK: Kamil Staszel
D: Christian Garcia
D: Patrick Mrowca
D: Julian Ochoa
D: Alex Froylan
M: Diego Porras
M: Juan Cedillo
M: Diego Rodriguez
M: Kevin Ibarra
F: Jose Rico
F: Marek Judka
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Juan Cedillo, sr. M, Reavis
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Reavis- Juan Cedillo (Diego Porras assist), 47’
OF- own goal (Jackson Flores free kick), 71’