Early goal deluge drives NSCD past Parker
4 quick scores carry Raiders to 5-1 win in league-opener
By Gary Larsen
WINNETKA — On Saturday, North Shore Country Day lost 1-0 to Notre Dame in the championship game of the Don-Raider Cup. Three days later, the Raiders unleashed some pent up attacking fury on Parker.
On Tuesday the host Raiders took a 4-0 lead by the 17th minute, which included scoring three goals in a 5-minute span, en route to a 5-1 win in their first game of Independent School League play. Mason Roberts-Jones netted a hat-trick and Walter Luglio scored twice in the win.
Luglio is still rounding into form after being struck by injury and illness last season, but he showed his mettle Tuesday. The junior midfielder attacked the net hard to record his brace. He also set up a third goal when he was tripped in the box to set up one of Roberts-Jones’ two penalty kick conversions.
“Every time he gets the ball, he’s a threat,” coach Kyle Jones said of Luglio. “I’ve seen him since he was young, and he just loves taking guys on. When we can get him isolated one-on-one or two-on-one, he’s just a threat.”
Luglio is just happy to be part of an attack that has scored 25 goals through its first five games for the Raiders (5-1-0, 1-0-0).
“I’ve been playing with Mason for three years; we have Danny (Becker) at striker and Benji (Leonetti) at the other wing. We all just care about the team performance and as long as the team gets on the board, that’s all that matters,” Luglio said.
Roberts-Jones opened the scoring at 7 minutes, poking a shot past Parker keeper Pierce Geene from 12 yards. Luglio made it 2-0 at 13 minutes, charging the net on the left side to finish on a deflected cross from 5 yards.
Luglio took a ball into the penalty area and was tripped to set up a Roberts-Jones penalty kick at 14 minutes, and Luglio made it 4-0 at 17 minutes when he swooped in on the left side and finished from 7 yards.
Parker (0-3-0, 0-1-0) has good skill around the pitch, but slow starts have plagued the Colonels.
“A hundred percent, that’s the way our season has gone so far,” Parker coach Neil Curran said. “We’ve had massively slow starts and a lot of giveaways on our end that are costing us. But there are moments of brilliance with this team. When we played two-touch and played physically in the second half, we stood toe-to-toe with them.
“There’s a lot of talent there, but we just keep tying albatrosses around our necks to start games.”
After Roberts-Jones’ second penalty kick goal at 53 minutes made it 5-0, Parker earned a PK of its own two minutes later. That’s when North Shore Country Day Aram Dombaglian showed what he can do between the pipes.
With Raiders senior starting keeper Nick Potter taking the second half off after a 4-0 halftime lead, Dombaglian got the nod in the second half.
The sophomore keeper dove to his right and snared the penalty kick attempt from Parker’s Ryan Toulouse and made another outstanding save at 61 minutes, diving to his left to turn away a blistered shot from 18 yards.
“He’s a dog. I expect nothing less,” Potter said.
Dombaglian’s coach agreed.
“He’s a great goalie, and I think if you put him on any other ISL team, he’s a star,” Jones said. “He’s just had to be patient (behind Potter). But he comes in and makes great saves, and we have no worries when he’s in net. It was nice to see him get an opportunity to get in there and show what he can do.”
Parker got a goal past Dombaglian at 70 minutes but it took a perfect strike to beat him. Colonels’ forward Gray Joseph picked and danced his way deep on the left side with the ball at his feet before cutting it back to his right foot.
Joseph’s rip from a tough angle found the upper ninety at the far post, where no keeper could have reached it.
“Gray has had two goals that have been absolutely magnificent. He had one against Walter Payton that was as pretty as that,” Curran said. “When we can get him loose and he can unleash a shot, it’s nice.”
Curran has a good handful of quality attacking players who should carry them to wins once the team stops facing big early deficits.
“Tyler Maling is an outstanding talent, a guy that can be put absolutely anywhere,” Curran said. “Ryan Toulouse is a skilled player that other teams are going to target, and Marian Cozma had a great game today. He has great talent with a lot of technical ability and he’s really good, especially facing goal.”
Tuesday’s game marked only the second time this season that North Shore Country Day has given up a goal, giving the team a 0.4 goals-against average to start the season.
Starting defenders Finn Doornweerd, Ahan Jain, Eric Johnson, and Tae Won Lillig kept Potter and Dombaglia well-protected Tuesday.
“They’re strong; they communicate, and they can play with their feet,” Potter said of his backline. “They trust me; I trust them. It’s the kind of relationship where I know I can count on them.”
Lillig played particularly well against Parker.
“Tae Won was good in the back today, and he’s always rock-solid,” Jones said. “He recognized (Parker) was playing a somewhat high line, and he’s able to drop it on a dime from all over the field.
“(Senior) Jibraan Ghazi also came in and calmed us down. He reads the game, makes good decisions, and he played really well for us today.”
The Raiders placed fourth in Illinois in Class A in 2019 and have another balanced team capable of another deep playoff run.
“If we can keep them interested and engaged and healthy and working hard, we can do some good things,” Jones said. “But we’ll just take it one game at a time.”
Starting lineups
Parker
GK Pierce Geene
D Joshua Ijiwola
D Charles Fardon
D Akeem Griffin
D Q Stauber
M Ryan Toulouse
M Tyler Maling
M Finn Hall
M Mortimer Buckley
M Marian Cozma
F Gray Joseph
North Shore Country Day
GK Nick Potter
D Tae Won Lillig
D Finn Doornweerd
D Ahan Jain
D Eric Johnson
M Mason Roberts-Jones
M Walter Luglio
M Benji Leonetti
M Teddy Gallun
M Leif Steele
F Danny Becker
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Walter Luglio, jr., MF, North Shore Country Day
Scoring summary
First half
NSCD — Roberts-Jones (UA) 7 minutes
NSCD — Luglio (UA) 13 minutes
NSCD — Roberts-Jones (PK) 14 minutes
NSCD — Luglio (UA) 17 minutes
Second half
NSCD — Roberts-Jones (PK) 53 minutes
Parker — Joseph (UA) 70 minutes
4 quick scores carry Raiders to 5-1 win in league-opener
By Gary Larsen
WINNETKA — On Saturday, North Shore Country Day lost 1-0 to Notre Dame in the championship game of the Don-Raider Cup. Three days later, the Raiders unleashed some pent up attacking fury on Parker.
On Tuesday the host Raiders took a 4-0 lead by the 17th minute, which included scoring three goals in a 5-minute span, en route to a 5-1 win in their first game of Independent School League play. Mason Roberts-Jones netted a hat-trick and Walter Luglio scored twice in the win.
Luglio is still rounding into form after being struck by injury and illness last season, but he showed his mettle Tuesday. The junior midfielder attacked the net hard to record his brace. He also set up a third goal when he was tripped in the box to set up one of Roberts-Jones’ two penalty kick conversions.
“Every time he gets the ball, he’s a threat,” coach Kyle Jones said of Luglio. “I’ve seen him since he was young, and he just loves taking guys on. When we can get him isolated one-on-one or two-on-one, he’s just a threat.”
Luglio is just happy to be part of an attack that has scored 25 goals through its first five games for the Raiders (5-1-0, 1-0-0).
“I’ve been playing with Mason for three years; we have Danny (Becker) at striker and Benji (Leonetti) at the other wing. We all just care about the team performance and as long as the team gets on the board, that’s all that matters,” Luglio said.
Roberts-Jones opened the scoring at 7 minutes, poking a shot past Parker keeper Pierce Geene from 12 yards. Luglio made it 2-0 at 13 minutes, charging the net on the left side to finish on a deflected cross from 5 yards.
Luglio took a ball into the penalty area and was tripped to set up a Roberts-Jones penalty kick at 14 minutes, and Luglio made it 4-0 at 17 minutes when he swooped in on the left side and finished from 7 yards.
Parker (0-3-0, 0-1-0) has good skill around the pitch, but slow starts have plagued the Colonels.
“A hundred percent, that’s the way our season has gone so far,” Parker coach Neil Curran said. “We’ve had massively slow starts and a lot of giveaways on our end that are costing us. But there are moments of brilliance with this team. When we played two-touch and played physically in the second half, we stood toe-to-toe with them.
“There’s a lot of talent there, but we just keep tying albatrosses around our necks to start games.”
After Roberts-Jones’ second penalty kick goal at 53 minutes made it 5-0, Parker earned a PK of its own two minutes later. That’s when North Shore Country Day Aram Dombaglian showed what he can do between the pipes.
With Raiders senior starting keeper Nick Potter taking the second half off after a 4-0 halftime lead, Dombaglian got the nod in the second half.
The sophomore keeper dove to his right and snared the penalty kick attempt from Parker’s Ryan Toulouse and made another outstanding save at 61 minutes, diving to his left to turn away a blistered shot from 18 yards.
“He’s a dog. I expect nothing less,” Potter said.
Dombaglian’s coach agreed.
“He’s a great goalie, and I think if you put him on any other ISL team, he’s a star,” Jones said. “He’s just had to be patient (behind Potter). But he comes in and makes great saves, and we have no worries when he’s in net. It was nice to see him get an opportunity to get in there and show what he can do.”
Parker got a goal past Dombaglian at 70 minutes but it took a perfect strike to beat him. Colonels’ forward Gray Joseph picked and danced his way deep on the left side with the ball at his feet before cutting it back to his right foot.
Joseph’s rip from a tough angle found the upper ninety at the far post, where no keeper could have reached it.
“Gray has had two goals that have been absolutely magnificent. He had one against Walter Payton that was as pretty as that,” Curran said. “When we can get him loose and he can unleash a shot, it’s nice.”
Curran has a good handful of quality attacking players who should carry them to wins once the team stops facing big early deficits.
“Tyler Maling is an outstanding talent, a guy that can be put absolutely anywhere,” Curran said. “Ryan Toulouse is a skilled player that other teams are going to target, and Marian Cozma had a great game today. He has great talent with a lot of technical ability and he’s really good, especially facing goal.”
Tuesday’s game marked only the second time this season that North Shore Country Day has given up a goal, giving the team a 0.4 goals-against average to start the season.
Starting defenders Finn Doornweerd, Ahan Jain, Eric Johnson, and Tae Won Lillig kept Potter and Dombaglia well-protected Tuesday.
“They’re strong; they communicate, and they can play with their feet,” Potter said of his backline. “They trust me; I trust them. It’s the kind of relationship where I know I can count on them.”
Lillig played particularly well against Parker.
“Tae Won was good in the back today, and he’s always rock-solid,” Jones said. “He recognized (Parker) was playing a somewhat high line, and he’s able to drop it on a dime from all over the field.
“(Senior) Jibraan Ghazi also came in and calmed us down. He reads the game, makes good decisions, and he played really well for us today.”
The Raiders placed fourth in Illinois in Class A in 2019 and have another balanced team capable of another deep playoff run.
“If we can keep them interested and engaged and healthy and working hard, we can do some good things,” Jones said. “But we’ll just take it one game at a time.”
Starting lineups
Parker
GK Pierce Geene
D Joshua Ijiwola
D Charles Fardon
D Akeem Griffin
D Q Stauber
M Ryan Toulouse
M Tyler Maling
M Finn Hall
M Mortimer Buckley
M Marian Cozma
F Gray Joseph
North Shore Country Day
GK Nick Potter
D Tae Won Lillig
D Finn Doornweerd
D Ahan Jain
D Eric Johnson
M Mason Roberts-Jones
M Walter Luglio
M Benji Leonetti
M Teddy Gallun
M Leif Steele
F Danny Becker
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Walter Luglio, jr., MF, North Shore Country Day
Scoring summary
First half
NSCD — Roberts-Jones (UA) 7 minutes
NSCD — Luglio (UA) 13 minutes
NSCD — Roberts-Jones (PK) 14 minutes
NSCD — Luglio (UA) 17 minutes
Second half
NSCD — Roberts-Jones (PK) 53 minutes
Parker — Joseph (UA) 70 minutes