Oswego East turns back the clock
with win over Oswego
Wolves post 3-0 win for 1st cross-town win since 2016
By Chris R. Walker
OSWEGO -- You filled your tank with $2-a-gallon gas the last time Oswego East beat Oswego.
Barack Obama was POTUS.
Cristiano Ronaldo played for Real Madrid.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were still a couple.
The Cubs still hadn’t won a World Series in 108 years. As a matter of fact, pitchers were still ballplayers and hit for themselves just like the game was invented.
No one had heard of COVID-19.
Without a doubt, a lot has happened in the world since Oswego East last beat Oswego 2-0 in 2016. On Monday, it finally happened again. The Wolves snapped a five-game losing streak to the Panthers with a 3-0 victory on a cool and windy fall day in Southwest Prairie Conference action in front of a large crowd. In addition to filling the bleachers, fans lined the west sideline with lawn chairs covering the length of the field.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “I think they were a little nervous; I really do.
“They talk to these (Oswego) guys. It’s not like when I was in school, when you didn’t care and weren’t friends with any of them. They all know each other and with social media I’m sure they chirp and talk back and forth. You know you want to get that one-up on them so I’m happy for them.”
Oswego (5-7-5, 3-2-1) was more dangerous than its host in the first half. But the Panthers had nothing to show for it. To add insult to injury, they trailed at halftime.
“They’re a good team,” Panthers coach Gaspar Arias said. “We played well. I believe we pretty much dominated the game. We were playing really well.
“We don’t have a player who can score goals for us up-top. We missed a lot of chances and then we gave up those goals at the end. I believe we played well. They took advantage of the opportunities, and that’s how they beat us.”
Finding a consistent scorer has eluded the Panthers this fall, but it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. Arias has gotten creative and sought solutions by moving players around the field.
“We’re just missing that goal scorer up-top, that player who can do finishing for us,” he said. “We just don’t have that, so no striker the whole season. So we’ve been moving players around – midfielders to strikers, defenders to strikers, outside mids to strikers. We’ve been doing a lot of movement of players, and we just can’t find that player yet.”
Oswego East (7-4-2, 4-2-0) had a lot of roles to fill this season after losing 17 of 21 players to graduation but was able to transition fairly quickly. While not entirely seamless, the adjustment period has been less bumpy thanks to the strong play of its sophomores along, the returnees and the addition of senior Israel “Izzy” Torres.
“Izzy (Torres) has fit in really well, especially being a little bit older because we’re young with playing so many sophomores,” Szymanski said.
“Josh (Lopez) and M.J. (Hoffman) and Dylan (Drendel) have really carried a lot and then in back Diego (Godinez) and Caleb (Pankiewicz) have been awesome. That’s five sophomores that are really playing 70-80 minutes for us pretty much every game, and we’ve had a pretty successful run. We’re not rebuilding, we’re reloading.”
It seems only fitting that Chicagoland Soccer would award its Man of the Match honor to Torres for scoring the first goal of the game and the only one the Wolves needed to get their long overdue cross-town victory.
Oswego holds the series lead at 13-9-0.
Torres enrolled at Oswego East after moving from Arizona. He , struck with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
“I dribbled it and saw a kid coming so I faked it and shot it with my left to the bottom right,” Torres said. “It was nice. Exciting.”
And now was it playing in Illinois in late September rather than Arizona?
“It’s a big difference, it’s really cold here,” he said. “To me, this is like really cold.”
Up until the Torres goal, the Wolves hadn’t put much of a scare into Oswego, which couldn’t finish any of its own opportunities, including a solid header from Salvador Martinez.
Oswego East knew things had to change after the break.
“I thought we played with low energy, and I felt like they dominated the play in the first half,” Szymanski said. “But I think in the second half we came out with a lot more energy. For us right now with a young team, it’s putting it together for a full 80 minutes and doing that consistently, because when we’re good, we’re really good.”
Szymanski pointed out that the Wolves have split the two games they’ve played with no. 9 Plainfield North (13-3-0). That included a 2-1 conference win on Sept. 22. That shows they can hang with and beat top-ranked squads.
“We’ve played Plainfield North for 160 minutes, and we were tied with them 3-3 because we lost 2-1 and won 2-1,” he said.
“I think having the same energy and effort every single game and understanding what our job is on the field and just executing is that we can lose to anybody in the playoffs, but also beat anybody in the playoffs. We could lose to a 16th seed. We could upset a top seed.”
Oswego had a shot carom off the crossbar with 23:10 left in the game that came inches away from knotting the game at 1-1.
That would be the last excellent chance the Panthers created.
Oswego remained within striking distance, just one play from drawing even, until the Panthers left the hosts’ Drew Karg with the ball at his feet. The senior made something happen with 14:24 remaining.
“They gave me a lot of time with the ball and I cut back and pounded it as hard as I could at frame and it luckily went in the back of the net,” he said. “Off of a corner I just try to find the back of the net, that’s what I did on that goal.”
Lopez completed the scoring and put an exclamation point on the victory with a header that he finished off a cross from senior DuPablo Parodis-Yu with 5:43 left to play.
“DuPablo is always someone I can trust to get the ball from,” Lopez said. “He’s always doing that, so whenever I see him have that breakaway, I always try my best to get up there as fast as I can and time my run so I can hopefully finish. It was a beautiful ball, so I was able to have that easy finish.”
Oswego East didn't get too carried away after the win. The Wolves still have a lot of work to do.
“I just come out every game, bring high energy, high effort and just try to work with my team the best I can to win every game,” Karg said. “Every conference game is the same to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s Oswego or Plainfield North. We have to come out for every conference game with the same energy. That’s what we did today.”
While last year’s edition of Oswego East was all about the seniors and making history, this year’s group is writing their own tale. The two latest chapters -- beating a Top 10 ranked team and finally knocking off their biggest rival -- are page turners for sure.
“I’m really happy for us,” Lopez said. “I’m really excited to be on this team with all these new players. I’m excited to see all of us grow together. We have a lot of young people, so I’m excited to see us grow as a team.”
Both clubs are back in Southwest Prairie Conference action on Tuesday. Oswego draws a tough road assignment against conference-leading and 11th-ranked Romeoville (16-0-1, 5-0-1). The Spartans haven’t lost a conference game since Sept. 7, 2021.
Oswego East plans to keeps its conference title hopes alive at Plainfield Central (3-7-3, 0-4-1).
Starting lineups
Oswego
GK: Colby Nance
D: Benjamin Sobecki
D: Ryan Walsh
D: Joseph Walters
D: Jack Wentzell
MF: Noah Abbas
MF: Mikey Kroll
MF: Killyan Avila
MF: Alexander Mathew
F: Lucas Ensign
F: Salvador Martinez
Oswego East
GK: Javier Ruiz
D: Drew Karg
D: Celesmar Herrera
D: Diego Godinez
D: ZeDaniel Parodis-Yu
MF: Dylan Drendel
MF: Israel Torres
MF: Caleb Pankiewicz
F: DuPablo Parodis-Yu
F: M.J. Hoffman
F: Josh Lopez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Israel Torres, sr., MF, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
OE - Israel Torres (Landon Kangas), 30:58
Second half
OE – Drew Karg (unassisted), 65:36
OE – Josh Lopez (DuPablo Parodis-Yu), 74:17a
with win over Oswego
Wolves post 3-0 win for 1st cross-town win since 2016
By Chris R. Walker
OSWEGO -- You filled your tank with $2-a-gallon gas the last time Oswego East beat Oswego.
Barack Obama was POTUS.
Cristiano Ronaldo played for Real Madrid.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were still a couple.
The Cubs still hadn’t won a World Series in 108 years. As a matter of fact, pitchers were still ballplayers and hit for themselves just like the game was invented.
No one had heard of COVID-19.
Without a doubt, a lot has happened in the world since Oswego East last beat Oswego 2-0 in 2016. On Monday, it finally happened again. The Wolves snapped a five-game losing streak to the Panthers with a 3-0 victory on a cool and windy fall day in Southwest Prairie Conference action in front of a large crowd. In addition to filling the bleachers, fans lined the west sideline with lawn chairs covering the length of the field.
“I’m proud of the guys,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanski said. “I think they were a little nervous; I really do.
“They talk to these (Oswego) guys. It’s not like when I was in school, when you didn’t care and weren’t friends with any of them. They all know each other and with social media I’m sure they chirp and talk back and forth. You know you want to get that one-up on them so I’m happy for them.”
Oswego (5-7-5, 3-2-1) was more dangerous than its host in the first half. But the Panthers had nothing to show for it. To add insult to injury, they trailed at halftime.
“They’re a good team,” Panthers coach Gaspar Arias said. “We played well. I believe we pretty much dominated the game. We were playing really well.
“We don’t have a player who can score goals for us up-top. We missed a lot of chances and then we gave up those goals at the end. I believe we played well. They took advantage of the opportunities, and that’s how they beat us.”
Finding a consistent scorer has eluded the Panthers this fall, but it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. Arias has gotten creative and sought solutions by moving players around the field.
“We’re just missing that goal scorer up-top, that player who can do finishing for us,” he said. “We just don’t have that, so no striker the whole season. So we’ve been moving players around – midfielders to strikers, defenders to strikers, outside mids to strikers. We’ve been doing a lot of movement of players, and we just can’t find that player yet.”
Oswego East (7-4-2, 4-2-0) had a lot of roles to fill this season after losing 17 of 21 players to graduation but was able to transition fairly quickly. While not entirely seamless, the adjustment period has been less bumpy thanks to the strong play of its sophomores along, the returnees and the addition of senior Israel “Izzy” Torres.
“Izzy (Torres) has fit in really well, especially being a little bit older because we’re young with playing so many sophomores,” Szymanski said.
“Josh (Lopez) and M.J. (Hoffman) and Dylan (Drendel) have really carried a lot and then in back Diego (Godinez) and Caleb (Pankiewicz) have been awesome. That’s five sophomores that are really playing 70-80 minutes for us pretty much every game, and we’ve had a pretty successful run. We’re not rebuilding, we’re reloading.”
It seems only fitting that Chicagoland Soccer would award its Man of the Match honor to Torres for scoring the first goal of the game and the only one the Wolves needed to get their long overdue cross-town victory.
Oswego holds the series lead at 13-9-0.
Torres enrolled at Oswego East after moving from Arizona. He , struck with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
“I dribbled it and saw a kid coming so I faked it and shot it with my left to the bottom right,” Torres said. “It was nice. Exciting.”
And now was it playing in Illinois in late September rather than Arizona?
“It’s a big difference, it’s really cold here,” he said. “To me, this is like really cold.”
Up until the Torres goal, the Wolves hadn’t put much of a scare into Oswego, which couldn’t finish any of its own opportunities, including a solid header from Salvador Martinez.
Oswego East knew things had to change after the break.
“I thought we played with low energy, and I felt like they dominated the play in the first half,” Szymanski said. “But I think in the second half we came out with a lot more energy. For us right now with a young team, it’s putting it together for a full 80 minutes and doing that consistently, because when we’re good, we’re really good.”
Szymanski pointed out that the Wolves have split the two games they’ve played with no. 9 Plainfield North (13-3-0). That included a 2-1 conference win on Sept. 22. That shows they can hang with and beat top-ranked squads.
“We’ve played Plainfield North for 160 minutes, and we were tied with them 3-3 because we lost 2-1 and won 2-1,” he said.
“I think having the same energy and effort every single game and understanding what our job is on the field and just executing is that we can lose to anybody in the playoffs, but also beat anybody in the playoffs. We could lose to a 16th seed. We could upset a top seed.”
Oswego had a shot carom off the crossbar with 23:10 left in the game that came inches away from knotting the game at 1-1.
That would be the last excellent chance the Panthers created.
Oswego remained within striking distance, just one play from drawing even, until the Panthers left the hosts’ Drew Karg with the ball at his feet. The senior made something happen with 14:24 remaining.
“They gave me a lot of time with the ball and I cut back and pounded it as hard as I could at frame and it luckily went in the back of the net,” he said. “Off of a corner I just try to find the back of the net, that’s what I did on that goal.”
Lopez completed the scoring and put an exclamation point on the victory with a header that he finished off a cross from senior DuPablo Parodis-Yu with 5:43 left to play.
“DuPablo is always someone I can trust to get the ball from,” Lopez said. “He’s always doing that, so whenever I see him have that breakaway, I always try my best to get up there as fast as I can and time my run so I can hopefully finish. It was a beautiful ball, so I was able to have that easy finish.”
Oswego East didn't get too carried away after the win. The Wolves still have a lot of work to do.
“I just come out every game, bring high energy, high effort and just try to work with my team the best I can to win every game,” Karg said. “Every conference game is the same to me. It doesn’t matter if it’s Oswego or Plainfield North. We have to come out for every conference game with the same energy. That’s what we did today.”
While last year’s edition of Oswego East was all about the seniors and making history, this year’s group is writing their own tale. The two latest chapters -- beating a Top 10 ranked team and finally knocking off their biggest rival -- are page turners for sure.
“I’m really happy for us,” Lopez said. “I’m really excited to be on this team with all these new players. I’m excited to see all of us grow together. We have a lot of young people, so I’m excited to see us grow as a team.”
Both clubs are back in Southwest Prairie Conference action on Tuesday. Oswego draws a tough road assignment against conference-leading and 11th-ranked Romeoville (16-0-1, 5-0-1). The Spartans haven’t lost a conference game since Sept. 7, 2021.
Oswego East plans to keeps its conference title hopes alive at Plainfield Central (3-7-3, 0-4-1).
Starting lineups
Oswego
GK: Colby Nance
D: Benjamin Sobecki
D: Ryan Walsh
D: Joseph Walters
D: Jack Wentzell
MF: Noah Abbas
MF: Mikey Kroll
MF: Killyan Avila
MF: Alexander Mathew
F: Lucas Ensign
F: Salvador Martinez
Oswego East
GK: Javier Ruiz
D: Drew Karg
D: Celesmar Herrera
D: Diego Godinez
D: ZeDaniel Parodis-Yu
MF: Dylan Drendel
MF: Israel Torres
MF: Caleb Pankiewicz
F: DuPablo Parodis-Yu
F: M.J. Hoffman
F: Josh Lopez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Israel Torres, sr., MF, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
OE - Israel Torres (Landon Kangas), 30:58
Second half
OE – Drew Karg (unassisted), 65:36
OE – Josh Lopez (DuPablo Parodis-Yu), 74:17a