Shorthanded Lyons digs in, fends off OPRF
Early PK, late stand lift Lions to key league win
By Dave Owen
LA GRANGE – Lyons figured to have its hands full this week starting Tuesday with a game against 13th-ranked conference foe Oak Park and River Forest.
But to get the result the Lions wanted, they had to finish up strong while shorthanded.
When one official failed to show up for the huge West Suburban Conference Silver Division match against the visiting Huskies, a two-man crew was left to try to have the visual power of a telescope or Clark Kent.
Their effort and ability to see as much activity on the field was generally A-plus but then was maybe a bit too good for the Lions’ faithful with 10:27 left in the game.
A foul on Lyons offensive hero Jonny Gray, whose penalty kick in the sixth minute had given the Lions a 1-0 lead, marked his second yellow card. The subsequent soft-red card ruling left the Lions, ranked 14th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, one man short the rest of the way.
But like the officiating crew, Lyons (8-4-0, 2-0-0) calmly met the challenge. The 1-0 result cooled off the sizzling Huskies (9-2-1, 1-1-0) and provided a huge lift entering the equally epic test Thursday of the Lions’ trip to face archrival Hinsdale Central.
“What really helped was what coach (Paul Labbato) was saying at the end,” Lyons senior Ty Williams said. “Even though we were all really tired, he kept that core group in for the last 10 minutes, because we were working super well together.
“We were shifting, stepping up, dropping, sliding as a team, and everyone was in tune. There just wasn’t any room for mistakes. Everyone was at their best really. It was very good work from everybody for sure.”
Against a skilled, experienced OPRF side, the Lions incredibly allowed zero shots in that potentially disastrous final 10-plus minutes.
“Communication was obviously key,” Lions defender Jason Lichtenauer said. “Our coach didn’t want to disrupt that flow we had together. So we just stuck together.”
Said Williams: “Each guy was covering for the other person’s mistake. Once one guy got past, another guy was there to step. We were doubling on every ball that they had, and it was just a solid overall effort by our defense winning almost all 50-50 balls.”
And as a bookend of sorts to that late stand, Lyona was in top form early to create a big break and produce what would be the deciding goal.
Already having produced a Williams free kick in the third minute, the Lions continued the pressure with a Jake Fraser throw-in deep in the offensive zone.
An ensuing foul in the box on the Huskies gave Gray a penalty kick just 5:12 into the match, which he drove into the net for a quick 1-0 lead.
“It (the PK) was a good call,” Fried said. “From our view it looked like we (fouled). I would have called it. It was a tough thing but…
“They did a fantastic job for two refs out there. They to me definitely didn’t impact (the game). They let the game play.”
That PK would eventually prove critical to the outcome of a battle between top teams.
“It’s a tough loss when the one goal was a PK, just because you never want a game to go like that,” Fried said. “But they pressured (the net), we didn’t react fast enough, and it was unfortunate when he went for the ball. He missed the ball and got the (Lyons) player. But the big thing is preventing the ball to get in there in the first place.”
The grass field and close proximity of fans at the Lyons soccer field can be a huge obstacle for visitors, even before a quick 1-0 deficit is created.
But the Huskies endured, answering with two strong chances.
In the 11th minute, a Blake Soto cross from the right connected with a flying header by Colin McKitrick which went inches wide of the right post.
Six minutes later, Lyons goalkeeper Gavin Fertitta came off his line nicely to punch out of traffic a 28-yard free kick by OPRF’s Jaime Guillen. It led to a Lions counterattack initiated by Nolan O’Malley.
But the Lions closed the first half as they began it.
A last-second rush produced an O’Malley corner kick and a near buzzer-beater. With five seconds left in the half, O’Malley’s cross produced a Rory McLean 15-yard header that OPRF goalkeeper Sam Pecenka leaped to deflect just over the crossbar.
“I thought our keeper Sam played fantastic,” Fried said. “Besides the PK they had a couple opportunities, and he made one really huge save in the first half. And he took away a lot of good opportunities.”
The next such chance came just 45 seconds into the second half, when Pecenka came off his line to grab Williams’ 45-yard free kick over a crowd in the box.
But OPRF was soon back on the offensive.
With 30:15 to go, Brody Bliss’ cross set up a Guillen 15-yard shot just wide.
Such chances in the box were generally limited over the next stretch, as tight defense kept that area off limits.
“It’s always a physical game against OPRF,” Williams said. “They’re kind of our rivals. Last year we knocked them off in the playoffs after losing to them in the season, so they were out here for redemption.
“They definitely wanted to beat us, and we didn’t want to let up. It’s always a tough game against them. They’re really a good team. It’s always competitive, but a fun game though.”
The fun for Lyons almost stopped with 10:27 left, when Gray’s not-so hard foul brought a potentially bruising result.
But the Lions endured the test with great discipline and teamwork.
Fraser was one of the individual notables, even generating a right side attack that led to a Lyons corner kick with 4:10 left.
“Jake Fraser who had the throw (that led to the goal) just did tireless work getting down that line and trying to kill some clock on the dribble,” Labbato said. “He was someone I was very pleased with.”
That list of names grew in the final two minutes.
First, Skip Locke had a nice clear to midfield to repel an OPRF bid in the box. Fraser followed with a midfield win with 1:25 to go, milking more time off the clock.
Then after a frenetic final 30 seconds – a Lichtenauer clear to midfield, a Huskies resend, followed by a Tommy Abbs partial clear, a Fraser partial block in the box, and another Lyons denial on the ensuing throw-in as time elapsed.
Surviving the one man down in the final minutes was just the latest test for the Lions.
“This is a tough stretch,” Labbato said. “We’re just playing big game after big game against quality teams with no breaks. I feel like we responded well to a 10-men, 12-minute kill of the game after the red card came in.
“They were in tune with one another, they worked together as a group of nine and killed the game off.”
The result left the Lions with a four-match winning streak.
“I just think we’ve improved on our work rate,” Williams said. “It’s 100 percent every single game now, and we’re all communicating and playing super well together. We’ve figured out the chemistry and figured out what works, so we’re all playing really well together now.”
And cooling off OPRF made Tuesday’s effort even more impressive.
“They had like 10 wins in a row, and now we have a little streak going,” LIchtenauer said. “This was huge for conference and for us to keep going for a conference title. It’s really good to beat a team like that.”
For the Huskies, a rough first few minutes of play was the difference maker.
“I just thought the start of the game that we didn’t come out as strong as we needed to,” OPRF’s Blake Soto said. “Coach got our heads where they needed to be at halftime, and we came out stronger and focused on playing a better 40 minutes.
“I think we need to come out more mentally focused, practice harder for big games and come out the way that we practiced,” Soto added. "Unfortunately the offense and defense just couldn’t click together, but we’ll be back.”
The 1-0 match was typical of the recent Lyons-OPRF series.
“It shows how even we are,” Fried said. “They’re a great squad; I feel we’re a great squad. The last four games we’ve met, every game has been like this (close and hard-fought). I give them credit.”
In a season of strong performances, the Huskies had another player emerge Tuesday.
“Ryan Stutz came off the bench today and played lights out. He’s played left back and right back for us. One big thing is you have to win the second and third (balls). Just being on the grass there’s a lot of mishits and stuff, and you’ve got to win that next ball.
“We knew we would make mistakes, and these guys weren’t used to playing on (grass). We made errors in passes, but it’s how you follow up on them. And I thought he did a good job of playing body today.
“It’s a hard one to swallow,” Fried added, “but we’ll move on and be fine.”
Lyons moves right on to another huge match, playing at 6:30 Thursday at neighboring archrival and seventh-ranked Hinsdale Central.
“We’re just going to try to bring it to them,” Lichtenauer said. “Right now we have a really good streak going and have a lot of confidence. We want to keep that going, and we don’t want to change anything. We just want to keep playing hard and keep playing our game, and try not to let them (Hinsdale Central) get any momentum.”
Said Williams: “We just have to keep the same mentality, working hard, making sure everyone is ready to play on Thursday,” Williams said. “It’s going to be a lot of practice, recover, and Thursday stay focused and be ready for a game that’s going to be just like the one we just played.”
Starting lineups
OPRF
GK: Sam Pecenka
D: Bram Lebovitz
D: Blake Soto
D: Zeke Rivera
D: Jai Hsieh-Bailey
M: Antony Silvetti-Schmitt
M: Jaime Guillen
M: James Maguire
F: Brody Bliss
F: Grant Kindler
Lyons
GK: Gavin Fertitta
D: Alex Jumic
D: Jason Lichtenauer
D: Rory McLean
D: Tommy Abbs
M: Ty Williams
M: Skip Locke
M: Jake Fraser
M: Julio Torres
F: Jonny Gray
F: Nolan O’Malley
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jason Lichtenauer, sr. D, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
LT – Jonny Gray (penalty kick), 6th minute
Second half
None
Early PK, late stand lift Lions to key league win
By Dave Owen
LA GRANGE – Lyons figured to have its hands full this week starting Tuesday with a game against 13th-ranked conference foe Oak Park and River Forest.
But to get the result the Lions wanted, they had to finish up strong while shorthanded.
When one official failed to show up for the huge West Suburban Conference Silver Division match against the visiting Huskies, a two-man crew was left to try to have the visual power of a telescope or Clark Kent.
Their effort and ability to see as much activity on the field was generally A-plus but then was maybe a bit too good for the Lions’ faithful with 10:27 left in the game.
A foul on Lyons offensive hero Jonny Gray, whose penalty kick in the sixth minute had given the Lions a 1-0 lead, marked his second yellow card. The subsequent soft-red card ruling left the Lions, ranked 14th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, one man short the rest of the way.
But like the officiating crew, Lyons (8-4-0, 2-0-0) calmly met the challenge. The 1-0 result cooled off the sizzling Huskies (9-2-1, 1-1-0) and provided a huge lift entering the equally epic test Thursday of the Lions’ trip to face archrival Hinsdale Central.
“What really helped was what coach (Paul Labbato) was saying at the end,” Lyons senior Ty Williams said. “Even though we were all really tired, he kept that core group in for the last 10 minutes, because we were working super well together.
“We were shifting, stepping up, dropping, sliding as a team, and everyone was in tune. There just wasn’t any room for mistakes. Everyone was at their best really. It was very good work from everybody for sure.”
Against a skilled, experienced OPRF side, the Lions incredibly allowed zero shots in that potentially disastrous final 10-plus minutes.
“Communication was obviously key,” Lions defender Jason Lichtenauer said. “Our coach didn’t want to disrupt that flow we had together. So we just stuck together.”
Said Williams: “Each guy was covering for the other person’s mistake. Once one guy got past, another guy was there to step. We were doubling on every ball that they had, and it was just a solid overall effort by our defense winning almost all 50-50 balls.”
And as a bookend of sorts to that late stand, Lyona was in top form early to create a big break and produce what would be the deciding goal.
Already having produced a Williams free kick in the third minute, the Lions continued the pressure with a Jake Fraser throw-in deep in the offensive zone.
An ensuing foul in the box on the Huskies gave Gray a penalty kick just 5:12 into the match, which he drove into the net for a quick 1-0 lead.
“It (the PK) was a good call,” Fried said. “From our view it looked like we (fouled). I would have called it. It was a tough thing but…
“They did a fantastic job for two refs out there. They to me definitely didn’t impact (the game). They let the game play.”
That PK would eventually prove critical to the outcome of a battle between top teams.
“It’s a tough loss when the one goal was a PK, just because you never want a game to go like that,” Fried said. “But they pressured (the net), we didn’t react fast enough, and it was unfortunate when he went for the ball. He missed the ball and got the (Lyons) player. But the big thing is preventing the ball to get in there in the first place.”
The grass field and close proximity of fans at the Lyons soccer field can be a huge obstacle for visitors, even before a quick 1-0 deficit is created.
But the Huskies endured, answering with two strong chances.
In the 11th minute, a Blake Soto cross from the right connected with a flying header by Colin McKitrick which went inches wide of the right post.
Six minutes later, Lyons goalkeeper Gavin Fertitta came off his line nicely to punch out of traffic a 28-yard free kick by OPRF’s Jaime Guillen. It led to a Lions counterattack initiated by Nolan O’Malley.
But the Lions closed the first half as they began it.
A last-second rush produced an O’Malley corner kick and a near buzzer-beater. With five seconds left in the half, O’Malley’s cross produced a Rory McLean 15-yard header that OPRF goalkeeper Sam Pecenka leaped to deflect just over the crossbar.
“I thought our keeper Sam played fantastic,” Fried said. “Besides the PK they had a couple opportunities, and he made one really huge save in the first half. And he took away a lot of good opportunities.”
The next such chance came just 45 seconds into the second half, when Pecenka came off his line to grab Williams’ 45-yard free kick over a crowd in the box.
But OPRF was soon back on the offensive.
With 30:15 to go, Brody Bliss’ cross set up a Guillen 15-yard shot just wide.
Such chances in the box were generally limited over the next stretch, as tight defense kept that area off limits.
“It’s always a physical game against OPRF,” Williams said. “They’re kind of our rivals. Last year we knocked them off in the playoffs after losing to them in the season, so they were out here for redemption.
“They definitely wanted to beat us, and we didn’t want to let up. It’s always a tough game against them. They’re really a good team. It’s always competitive, but a fun game though.”
The fun for Lyons almost stopped with 10:27 left, when Gray’s not-so hard foul brought a potentially bruising result.
But the Lions endured the test with great discipline and teamwork.
Fraser was one of the individual notables, even generating a right side attack that led to a Lyons corner kick with 4:10 left.
“Jake Fraser who had the throw (that led to the goal) just did tireless work getting down that line and trying to kill some clock on the dribble,” Labbato said. “He was someone I was very pleased with.”
That list of names grew in the final two minutes.
First, Skip Locke had a nice clear to midfield to repel an OPRF bid in the box. Fraser followed with a midfield win with 1:25 to go, milking more time off the clock.
Then after a frenetic final 30 seconds – a Lichtenauer clear to midfield, a Huskies resend, followed by a Tommy Abbs partial clear, a Fraser partial block in the box, and another Lyons denial on the ensuing throw-in as time elapsed.
Surviving the one man down in the final minutes was just the latest test for the Lions.
“This is a tough stretch,” Labbato said. “We’re just playing big game after big game against quality teams with no breaks. I feel like we responded well to a 10-men, 12-minute kill of the game after the red card came in.
“They were in tune with one another, they worked together as a group of nine and killed the game off.”
The result left the Lions with a four-match winning streak.
“I just think we’ve improved on our work rate,” Williams said. “It’s 100 percent every single game now, and we’re all communicating and playing super well together. We’ve figured out the chemistry and figured out what works, so we’re all playing really well together now.”
And cooling off OPRF made Tuesday’s effort even more impressive.
“They had like 10 wins in a row, and now we have a little streak going,” LIchtenauer said. “This was huge for conference and for us to keep going for a conference title. It’s really good to beat a team like that.”
For the Huskies, a rough first few minutes of play was the difference maker.
“I just thought the start of the game that we didn’t come out as strong as we needed to,” OPRF’s Blake Soto said. “Coach got our heads where they needed to be at halftime, and we came out stronger and focused on playing a better 40 minutes.
“I think we need to come out more mentally focused, practice harder for big games and come out the way that we practiced,” Soto added. "Unfortunately the offense and defense just couldn’t click together, but we’ll be back.”
The 1-0 match was typical of the recent Lyons-OPRF series.
“It shows how even we are,” Fried said. “They’re a great squad; I feel we’re a great squad. The last four games we’ve met, every game has been like this (close and hard-fought). I give them credit.”
In a season of strong performances, the Huskies had another player emerge Tuesday.
“Ryan Stutz came off the bench today and played lights out. He’s played left back and right back for us. One big thing is you have to win the second and third (balls). Just being on the grass there’s a lot of mishits and stuff, and you’ve got to win that next ball.
“We knew we would make mistakes, and these guys weren’t used to playing on (grass). We made errors in passes, but it’s how you follow up on them. And I thought he did a good job of playing body today.
“It’s a hard one to swallow,” Fried added, “but we’ll move on and be fine.”
Lyons moves right on to another huge match, playing at 6:30 Thursday at neighboring archrival and seventh-ranked Hinsdale Central.
“We’re just going to try to bring it to them,” Lichtenauer said. “Right now we have a really good streak going and have a lot of confidence. We want to keep that going, and we don’t want to change anything. We just want to keep playing hard and keep playing our game, and try not to let them (Hinsdale Central) get any momentum.”
Said Williams: “We just have to keep the same mentality, working hard, making sure everyone is ready to play on Thursday,” Williams said. “It’s going to be a lot of practice, recover, and Thursday stay focused and be ready for a game that’s going to be just like the one we just played.”
Starting lineups
OPRF
GK: Sam Pecenka
D: Bram Lebovitz
D: Blake Soto
D: Zeke Rivera
D: Jai Hsieh-Bailey
M: Antony Silvetti-Schmitt
M: Jaime Guillen
M: James Maguire
F: Brody Bliss
F: Grant Kindler
Lyons
GK: Gavin Fertitta
D: Alex Jumic
D: Jason Lichtenauer
D: Rory McLean
D: Tommy Abbs
M: Ty Williams
M: Skip Locke
M: Jake Fraser
M: Julio Torres
F: Jonny Gray
F: Nolan O’Malley
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jason Lichtenauer, sr. D, Lyons
Scoring summary
First half
LT – Jonny Gray (penalty kick), 6th minute
Second half
None