Cozuc plays through pain,
Payton gains city title over Washington
Senior scores brace, Grizzlies take 1st city title
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Lucas Cozuc is unsure about what his soccer future holds.
The Payton senior is capable of playing at the highest level in college. He combines size and shot creativity with next-level speed. He is the classic “quick-twitch player,” explosive off the dribble and possessed of an assured sense of what to do with the ball in space.
The limits of his body are the only possible drawback.
“I’ve been playing through a knee injury this entire year,’ he said. “I might have to get surgery.”
He never gave a serious thought to shutting down the season.
“This was my senior year.”
He was not going to be denied. He experienced a different level of difficulty and frustration at the start of his career. Those images carried him forward.
“I have been on the varsity team since my freshman year, and I’ve seen all of the downs we’ve had,” Cozuc said.
Now he is the gilded one.
Cozuc scored two goals and Bobby Cupps generated three assists as the Grizzlies, ranked 25th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, defeated Washington 3-1 in the Chicago Public League playoff championship game Thursday night at Lane.
Payton (18-1-3) won its 15th-consecutive game. The game set the high-water mark in program history -- the Grizzlies first city title.
Paul Escobar, who coached the girls to a Class AA supersectional appearance in the spring, achieved the rare double of reaching the girls and boys city title games in the same calendar year.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Escobar said. “These guys have been working for this the whole year, achieving the goals we wanted to achieve. The way we did it has been amazing.”
The game featured the top divisional teams from the CPL’s top league, the Premier. Payton won the North, and Washington took the South.
The Patriots (13-4-3) won the Class AA state tournament in 2013 and finished fourth in 2015. Washington won the city title in 2017 and finished runner-up in 2018.
“They were definitely the most talented team we’ve played the whole season, so I think we relied a lot more on our physicality, our fitness and our strength to go after them,” Cupps said.
“Lucas deserves this. He was injured for a good part of the season. I’m very happy for him.”
Cupps has amassed a team-best 30 goals. Despite his missed time, Cozuc scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season.
The two form a devastating up-top combination with Cozuc’s speed and acceleration in space an ideal counterpoint to the possessive and creative Krupps.
“We play club together, so we have been playing together for a while, and we have that chemistry,” Cozuc said. “We’re both really unselfish, and we find each other in the right spaces. We create for each other.”
Defender Blair Warren, who keyed the Grizzlies’ 2-0 semifinal victory over Lane on Tuesday, also played a prominent role in the attack. A set piece specialist, his throw-ins are an efficient and dangerous method for the Grizzlies to attack.
Payton had the advantage from the start.
In the 18th minute, Warren helped create the early advantage. Standing on the right flank about 35 yards from the goal, his throw-in found Cupps near the top of the box.
Cupps executed a deft flick that senior defender David McLone smashed inside the back post from five feet for the 1-0 Payton lead.
“We’ve been working on that a lot in practice,” McLone said. “We’ve got Blair with the long throw-ins. We also have me or Bobby flick in on, and we try to put it in after that.”
The early psychological breakthrough of the moment is hard to overstate. After some difficulty inside the box, Payton broke the ice.
“We’ve had some games this season where we struggled finishing a bit,” McLone said. “It was easy after that. We were really hyped after that. We had a lot of adrenaline, and the first five minutes after that I thought we were really on top of them to get that second goal.”
Payton did not relent, and the crucial second goal quickly followed.
Cupps and Cozuc performed their dual magic show once again. With the ball on the left edge, Cupps drove hard down the line and slotted the ball to Cozuc, now stationed in the middle.
Cozuc unleashed his howitzer shot from about 26 yards. The ball handcuffed Washington keeper Brayan Lozano.
The power and torque Cozuc put on the shot pushed Lozano back, and the ball slipped through his grasp and over the line for the 2-0 Payton lead in the 21st minute.
Some may call it an unforced error, like in tennis, but the ball came in screaming hard.
With Payton seemingly on the verge of a blowout, Washington fought back. The Patriots recovered their equilibrium and created a free kick about 30 yards out on the right edge.
Sophomore Cesar Martinez delivered a terrific service ball that Payton keeper Alex Freehling blocked. Midfielder Raul Flores made a brilliant reverse tap from about five feet that caught the inside post and rolled in in the 23rd minute.
Martinez is heir to a great soccer tradition at Washington. His two oldest brothers Sergio and Miguel were standouts on the Patriots’ state championship team.
Julian Martinez, a senior midfielder, is the Patriots’ best player.
“We had to keep going,” Cesar Martinez said. “You can’t give up, even though we were down. There was plenty of time for us to come back. We felt like we were still in the game.
“I’m always taking the free kicks and doing whatever I can to get a good ball into the box for our players to get it in there.”
Julian Martinez scored two goals in the Patriots’ quarterfinal win over Taft. Just moments after the Patriots cut the lead in half, he got free on the right wing and had a ball that just skipped over the top of the bar.
Game on.
“I think there were a couple of moments where we sat back and gave them a few more opportunities than they should have had,” Cupps said. “Credit to our midfielders and defenders who picked their heads back up and pushed them back into their own half again.”
With help from Warren and Cupps, Cozuc put the game out of reach about midway through the second half.
Off a deep Freehling punt, Warren played a through-ball up the right flank to a streaking Cozuc, who immediately slotted the ball to Cupps.
He returned the ball to Cozuc, who had his back to the goal. From about 26 yards, he took a quick reverse step and drilled a left-footed ball that beautifully arced beyond the reach of Lozano in the 57th minute.
Cozuc earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his two goals.
“It’s the talent we had on this team,” he said. “We show up in the big moments, and we make it happen. Coach gives us a lot of freedom, since we know what we’re doing. We just come out and we know what we are going to do with a game plan.
“All the experience and the years we have been playing together. Everybody here plays outside, in club programs. We are like a summer team, very disciplined, and we stick to our formation.”
The teams could meet again.
Payton is the top-seed of the St. Laurence Sectional, and Washington is the third-seed at its still-to-be named host site. The two could clash at the Class AA Brother Rice Supersectional.
“In the end, even though we were disappointed with the outcome, I think we gave it our all,” Cesar Martinez said. “We left our hearts on the field.
“This is definitely going to be a big boost for us. We’re not going to forget about this day. We are going to make sure we push hard through the state playoffs and give it our all.”
Payton is two thirds of the way down its list of goals.
“We wanted to be conference champions and city champions,” Cupps said. “We’ve done both of those, and the next one is state champions.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position to go forth and do that.”
The Payton girls won the city title in 2009. Now the boys join the elite club.
“It feels great to make history at our school,” Cozuc said.
Starting lineups
Washington
GK: Brayan Lozano
D: Christian Ramirez
D: Giovanni Rosas
D: Raul Flores
D: Sebastian Ramirez
MF: Christopher Gomez
MF: Cesar Martinez
MF: Christian Aparicio
MF: Angelo Williams
F: Leonardo Solis
F: Julian Martinez
Payton
GK: Alex Freehling
D: Evan Rainville
D: Sam McIllrath
D: Carlos Pichardo
D: Blair Warren
MF: Olivier Bruce
MF: David McLone
MF: Brit Rothstein
MF: Gabriel Kai Torres
F: Robert Cupps
F: Lucas Cozuc
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Lucas Cozuc, sr., F, Payton
Scoring summary
First half
Payton—David McLone (Bobby Cupps), 18th minute
Payton—Lucas Cozuc (Cupps), 21st minute
Washington—Raul Flores (Cesar Martinez), 23rd minute
Second half
Payton—Cozuc (Cupps), 57th minute
Payton gains city title over Washington
Senior scores brace, Grizzlies take 1st city title
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Lucas Cozuc is unsure about what his soccer future holds.
The Payton senior is capable of playing at the highest level in college. He combines size and shot creativity with next-level speed. He is the classic “quick-twitch player,” explosive off the dribble and possessed of an assured sense of what to do with the ball in space.
The limits of his body are the only possible drawback.
“I’ve been playing through a knee injury this entire year,’ he said. “I might have to get surgery.”
He never gave a serious thought to shutting down the season.
“This was my senior year.”
He was not going to be denied. He experienced a different level of difficulty and frustration at the start of his career. Those images carried him forward.
“I have been on the varsity team since my freshman year, and I’ve seen all of the downs we’ve had,” Cozuc said.
Now he is the gilded one.
Cozuc scored two goals and Bobby Cupps generated three assists as the Grizzlies, ranked 25th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, defeated Washington 3-1 in the Chicago Public League playoff championship game Thursday night at Lane.
Payton (18-1-3) won its 15th-consecutive game. The game set the high-water mark in program history -- the Grizzlies first city title.
Paul Escobar, who coached the girls to a Class AA supersectional appearance in the spring, achieved the rare double of reaching the girls and boys city title games in the same calendar year.
“I’m kind of speechless,” Escobar said. “These guys have been working for this the whole year, achieving the goals we wanted to achieve. The way we did it has been amazing.”
The game featured the top divisional teams from the CPL’s top league, the Premier. Payton won the North, and Washington took the South.
The Patriots (13-4-3) won the Class AA state tournament in 2013 and finished fourth in 2015. Washington won the city title in 2017 and finished runner-up in 2018.
“They were definitely the most talented team we’ve played the whole season, so I think we relied a lot more on our physicality, our fitness and our strength to go after them,” Cupps said.
“Lucas deserves this. He was injured for a good part of the season. I’m very happy for him.”
Cupps has amassed a team-best 30 goals. Despite his missed time, Cozuc scored his 13th and 14th goals of the season.
The two form a devastating up-top combination with Cozuc’s speed and acceleration in space an ideal counterpoint to the possessive and creative Krupps.
“We play club together, so we have been playing together for a while, and we have that chemistry,” Cozuc said. “We’re both really unselfish, and we find each other in the right spaces. We create for each other.”
Defender Blair Warren, who keyed the Grizzlies’ 2-0 semifinal victory over Lane on Tuesday, also played a prominent role in the attack. A set piece specialist, his throw-ins are an efficient and dangerous method for the Grizzlies to attack.
Payton had the advantage from the start.
In the 18th minute, Warren helped create the early advantage. Standing on the right flank about 35 yards from the goal, his throw-in found Cupps near the top of the box.
Cupps executed a deft flick that senior defender David McLone smashed inside the back post from five feet for the 1-0 Payton lead.
“We’ve been working on that a lot in practice,” McLone said. “We’ve got Blair with the long throw-ins. We also have me or Bobby flick in on, and we try to put it in after that.”
The early psychological breakthrough of the moment is hard to overstate. After some difficulty inside the box, Payton broke the ice.
“We’ve had some games this season where we struggled finishing a bit,” McLone said. “It was easy after that. We were really hyped after that. We had a lot of adrenaline, and the first five minutes after that I thought we were really on top of them to get that second goal.”
Payton did not relent, and the crucial second goal quickly followed.
Cupps and Cozuc performed their dual magic show once again. With the ball on the left edge, Cupps drove hard down the line and slotted the ball to Cozuc, now stationed in the middle.
Cozuc unleashed his howitzer shot from about 26 yards. The ball handcuffed Washington keeper Brayan Lozano.
The power and torque Cozuc put on the shot pushed Lozano back, and the ball slipped through his grasp and over the line for the 2-0 Payton lead in the 21st minute.
Some may call it an unforced error, like in tennis, but the ball came in screaming hard.
With Payton seemingly on the verge of a blowout, Washington fought back. The Patriots recovered their equilibrium and created a free kick about 30 yards out on the right edge.
Sophomore Cesar Martinez delivered a terrific service ball that Payton keeper Alex Freehling blocked. Midfielder Raul Flores made a brilliant reverse tap from about five feet that caught the inside post and rolled in in the 23rd minute.
Martinez is heir to a great soccer tradition at Washington. His two oldest brothers Sergio and Miguel were standouts on the Patriots’ state championship team.
Julian Martinez, a senior midfielder, is the Patriots’ best player.
“We had to keep going,” Cesar Martinez said. “You can’t give up, even though we were down. There was plenty of time for us to come back. We felt like we were still in the game.
“I’m always taking the free kicks and doing whatever I can to get a good ball into the box for our players to get it in there.”
Julian Martinez scored two goals in the Patriots’ quarterfinal win over Taft. Just moments after the Patriots cut the lead in half, he got free on the right wing and had a ball that just skipped over the top of the bar.
Game on.
“I think there were a couple of moments where we sat back and gave them a few more opportunities than they should have had,” Cupps said. “Credit to our midfielders and defenders who picked their heads back up and pushed them back into their own half again.”
With help from Warren and Cupps, Cozuc put the game out of reach about midway through the second half.
Off a deep Freehling punt, Warren played a through-ball up the right flank to a streaking Cozuc, who immediately slotted the ball to Cupps.
He returned the ball to Cozuc, who had his back to the goal. From about 26 yards, he took a quick reverse step and drilled a left-footed ball that beautifully arced beyond the reach of Lozano in the 57th minute.
Cozuc earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his two goals.
“It’s the talent we had on this team,” he said. “We show up in the big moments, and we make it happen. Coach gives us a lot of freedom, since we know what we’re doing. We just come out and we know what we are going to do with a game plan.
“All the experience and the years we have been playing together. Everybody here plays outside, in club programs. We are like a summer team, very disciplined, and we stick to our formation.”
The teams could meet again.
Payton is the top-seed of the St. Laurence Sectional, and Washington is the third-seed at its still-to-be named host site. The two could clash at the Class AA Brother Rice Supersectional.
“In the end, even though we were disappointed with the outcome, I think we gave it our all,” Cesar Martinez said. “We left our hearts on the field.
“This is definitely going to be a big boost for us. We’re not going to forget about this day. We are going to make sure we push hard through the state playoffs and give it our all.”
Payton is two thirds of the way down its list of goals.
“We wanted to be conference champions and city champions,” Cupps said. “We’ve done both of those, and the next one is state champions.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position to go forth and do that.”
The Payton girls won the city title in 2009. Now the boys join the elite club.
“It feels great to make history at our school,” Cozuc said.
Starting lineups
Washington
GK: Brayan Lozano
D: Christian Ramirez
D: Giovanni Rosas
D: Raul Flores
D: Sebastian Ramirez
MF: Christopher Gomez
MF: Cesar Martinez
MF: Christian Aparicio
MF: Angelo Williams
F: Leonardo Solis
F: Julian Martinez
Payton
GK: Alex Freehling
D: Evan Rainville
D: Sam McIllrath
D: Carlos Pichardo
D: Blair Warren
MF: Olivier Bruce
MF: David McLone
MF: Brit Rothstein
MF: Gabriel Kai Torres
F: Robert Cupps
F: Lucas Cozuc
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Lucas Cozuc, sr., F, Payton
Scoring summary
First half
Payton—David McLone (Bobby Cupps), 18th minute
Payton—Lucas Cozuc (Cupps), 21st minute
Washington—Raul Flores (Cesar Martinez), 23rd minute
Second half
Payton—Cozuc (Cupps), 57th minute