Genoa-Kingston fires up offense vs. Oregon
Cogs record 2 hat-tricks in 8-0 conference win
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- Genoa-Kingston continued its offensive onslaught on the season with an 8-0 win over conference foe Oregon on Tuesday. The Cogs came out with their signature attacking style to bury the visitors with seven goals in the first half.
“They played a great first half,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We weren’t really on, and we weren’t finishing early on. Once we got rolling again, they were finding their shots. That was an awesome first half for us. The passing, movement, everybody was in the right place and right time. I couldn’t say anything better.”
The Cogs (6-0-0, 2-0-0 in Big Northern Conference) are definitely on a roll, which included the Colin Smith Invitational title at Stillman Valley over the weekend.
Eagan Reams once again led the offensive charge for the Cogs with his third hat-trick of the season. He assisted on two other goals.
Reams scored the opener in the sixth minute off a corner kick by Aiden Tomlinson. Tomlinson put the ball into the air, and Reams headed it home just behind the goalkeeper from 10 feet.
“It’s a good feeling,” Reams said. “We’re in a good rhythm right now. We’re undefeated right now. I feel like all of our passes are clicking. We’re looking up and finding our teammates.”
Reams scored his second goal of the game on the assist from Junior Leon in the 29th minute. Leon skipped the ball past the Oregon defense, which left Reams one-on-one against Miley Smith, the Oregon goalkeeper. Reams knocked it in from 12 feet to put the Cogs up 5-0 at that point.
Reams final goal came in the second half on another nice assist, this time from senior Geraldo Morales, who scooted the ball between two Oregon defenders. Reams came in from 15 feet on the left side and fired it into the back of the net to put the finishing touches on the scoring.
“Every one was doing their roles, and we got the result we wanted to day,” Reams said.
Cogs midfielder Diego Espinoza had a big day. He notched the natural hat-trick in less than seven minutes in the first half.
Espinoza started his scoring flurry in the 17th minute with a screamer from 14 feet on the set up from Reams.
Espinoza’s second goal came on quick pass from Reams in the 21st minute. Espinoza booted the ball from 18 feet in the center right of the box for the second leg of his goal trio.
The hat-trick was complete two minutes later from 16 feet after a pass from Julian Lara-Para.
“This team the last couple of years has been the best possessive team, as far as possessing the ball and moving the ball, that I’ve had," Tate said. "It’s been even better this year. I think everybody is playing unselfish and looking for each other. That’s what makes a good team.”
The goal of the game came off the flying foot of Leon late in the first half. With a 5-0 lead already, Leon got creative with a pass high in the air from Javier Pizano. The lofted ball fell to earth in the middle of the box where Leon stood with his back to the goal. He leapt to smash a whirling bicycle kick into the back of the net from 16 feet.
“It felt really good, I’m going to be honest,” Leon said. “I’ve been practicing it all summer, and I’ve been working on it. All the guys were giving me stuff about it, saying ‘You’ll never do that in a game.’ And look, I did it.”
Oregon coach Seger Larson was caught up in the excitement and yelled “Nice goal” to congratulate Leon on his acrobatic score.
Pizano also got into the first half goal party, scoring right before the half to put the Cogs up 7-0 with just over a minute to play. He took a pass from senior Jacob Barton on the left side and slammed it home from 12 feet.
Oregon will reassess its back third after the result.
“Over the weekend we had a tournament, and we played pretty good defensively,” Larson said. “So this is a wake-up call for our defense.”
With the Genoa-Kingston offense in overdrive, the Cogs defense simply pushed the ball back into the offensive zone whenever it squirted out.
Goalkeeper Aaron Acosta earned a shutout without facing a single shot.
“So far the defense has been playing really good,” Tate said. “They’re starting to gel.”
Despite the lopsided score, Smith played a strong game in goal for Oregon (3-5-0, 0-2-0). He made some exceptional diving saves, especially early.
He made four stops in four minutes after the clock started, including a diving save against an Espinoza rifle shot and a slap-away save off a header attempt from Reams. He finished with 14 saves after being under siege all game.
“I was kind of nervous,” Smith said. “I don’t really get that many shots in most games. They’re better than most teams, so they just picked apart the defense.”
Larson was pleased with his keeper’s performance under duress.
“He did great,” Larson said. “When you get 40 shots in a game, it’s not bad that you only let in eight. I’m happy with Miley as a keeper.”
Starting lineups
Oregon
GK Miley Smith
FB Levi Eden
FB Liam Dickson
FB Ethan Schafer
FB Grant Stender
MF Jacob Vegliando
MF Tyler Ferris
MF Manuel Tabeuero
FW Joey Gelander
FW Gavin Morrow
FW Rivers Schafer
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Breck Pearson
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Reams
FW Junior Leon
FW Julian Lara-Para
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eagan Reams, sr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Tomlinson) 6th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Reams) 17th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Reams) 21st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Lara-Para) 23rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Leon) 29th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Pizano) 36th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Pizano (Barton) 38th minute
Second half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Morales) 56th minute
Cogs record 2 hat-tricks in 8-0 conference win
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- Genoa-Kingston continued its offensive onslaught on the season with an 8-0 win over conference foe Oregon on Tuesday. The Cogs came out with their signature attacking style to bury the visitors with seven goals in the first half.
“They played a great first half,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We weren’t really on, and we weren’t finishing early on. Once we got rolling again, they were finding their shots. That was an awesome first half for us. The passing, movement, everybody was in the right place and right time. I couldn’t say anything better.”
The Cogs (6-0-0, 2-0-0 in Big Northern Conference) are definitely on a roll, which included the Colin Smith Invitational title at Stillman Valley over the weekend.
Eagan Reams once again led the offensive charge for the Cogs with his third hat-trick of the season. He assisted on two other goals.
Reams scored the opener in the sixth minute off a corner kick by Aiden Tomlinson. Tomlinson put the ball into the air, and Reams headed it home just behind the goalkeeper from 10 feet.
“It’s a good feeling,” Reams said. “We’re in a good rhythm right now. We’re undefeated right now. I feel like all of our passes are clicking. We’re looking up and finding our teammates.”
Reams scored his second goal of the game on the assist from Junior Leon in the 29th minute. Leon skipped the ball past the Oregon defense, which left Reams one-on-one against Miley Smith, the Oregon goalkeeper. Reams knocked it in from 12 feet to put the Cogs up 5-0 at that point.
Reams final goal came in the second half on another nice assist, this time from senior Geraldo Morales, who scooted the ball between two Oregon defenders. Reams came in from 15 feet on the left side and fired it into the back of the net to put the finishing touches on the scoring.
“Every one was doing their roles, and we got the result we wanted to day,” Reams said.
Cogs midfielder Diego Espinoza had a big day. He notched the natural hat-trick in less than seven minutes in the first half.
Espinoza started his scoring flurry in the 17th minute with a screamer from 14 feet on the set up from Reams.
Espinoza’s second goal came on quick pass from Reams in the 21st minute. Espinoza booted the ball from 18 feet in the center right of the box for the second leg of his goal trio.
The hat-trick was complete two minutes later from 16 feet after a pass from Julian Lara-Para.
“This team the last couple of years has been the best possessive team, as far as possessing the ball and moving the ball, that I’ve had," Tate said. "It’s been even better this year. I think everybody is playing unselfish and looking for each other. That’s what makes a good team.”
The goal of the game came off the flying foot of Leon late in the first half. With a 5-0 lead already, Leon got creative with a pass high in the air from Javier Pizano. The lofted ball fell to earth in the middle of the box where Leon stood with his back to the goal. He leapt to smash a whirling bicycle kick into the back of the net from 16 feet.
“It felt really good, I’m going to be honest,” Leon said. “I’ve been practicing it all summer, and I’ve been working on it. All the guys were giving me stuff about it, saying ‘You’ll never do that in a game.’ And look, I did it.”
Oregon coach Seger Larson was caught up in the excitement and yelled “Nice goal” to congratulate Leon on his acrobatic score.
Pizano also got into the first half goal party, scoring right before the half to put the Cogs up 7-0 with just over a minute to play. He took a pass from senior Jacob Barton on the left side and slammed it home from 12 feet.
Oregon will reassess its back third after the result.
“Over the weekend we had a tournament, and we played pretty good defensively,” Larson said. “So this is a wake-up call for our defense.”
With the Genoa-Kingston offense in overdrive, the Cogs defense simply pushed the ball back into the offensive zone whenever it squirted out.
Goalkeeper Aaron Acosta earned a shutout without facing a single shot.
“So far the defense has been playing really good,” Tate said. “They’re starting to gel.”
Despite the lopsided score, Smith played a strong game in goal for Oregon (3-5-0, 0-2-0). He made some exceptional diving saves, especially early.
He made four stops in four minutes after the clock started, including a diving save against an Espinoza rifle shot and a slap-away save off a header attempt from Reams. He finished with 14 saves after being under siege all game.
“I was kind of nervous,” Smith said. “I don’t really get that many shots in most games. They’re better than most teams, so they just picked apart the defense.”
Larson was pleased with his keeper’s performance under duress.
“He did great,” Larson said. “When you get 40 shots in a game, it’s not bad that you only let in eight. I’m happy with Miley as a keeper.”
Starting lineups
Oregon
GK Miley Smith
FB Levi Eden
FB Liam Dickson
FB Ethan Schafer
FB Grant Stender
MF Jacob Vegliando
MF Tyler Ferris
MF Manuel Tabeuero
FW Joey Gelander
FW Gavin Morrow
FW Rivers Schafer
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Breck Pearson
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Reams
FW Junior Leon
FW Julian Lara-Para
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eagan Reams, sr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Tomlinson) 6th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Reams) 17th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Reams) 21st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Lara-Para) 23rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Leon) 29th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Pizano) 36th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Pizano (Barton) 38th minute
Second half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Morales) 56th minute