Bremen edges Plainfield S. in tourney semi
Lopez’s 2 goals lift Braves into Windy City Ram Classic title game
By Steve Millar
BURBANK - With a trip to Toyota Park for the Windy City Ram Classic championship game on the line, Bremen and Plainfield South staged a back-and-forth battle filled with momentum swings and heroics from both sides Tuesday at Reavis High School.
Senior forward Anthony Marmolejo starred for the Cougars, scoring twice. It was Braves senior midfielder Fabian Lopez, though, who provided the decisive blow.
Lopez scored his second goal with 9:46 left in the match to lift Bremen to a 3-2 win and earned a noon date with Argo for the tourney title at the Chicago Fire home pitch.
“I’ve got to give Bremen credit,” said Plainfield South assistant coach Lauren Solomon, who ran the team with head coach Bryant Williams away on a family matter.
“Something clicked with them. They kept getting the ball into our box. They were dribbling around us, and we couldn’t get it out. They tied the game, and then it was easy enough for them to get another goal.”
Bremen (4-0-0) scored twice in a seven-minute span to earn its third-consecutive trip to the tournament final. The Braves won the tournament in 2015 and lost to Oak Lawn in last season’s championship game.
“We’re really excited to be back,” Lopez said. “We’ve got to win it this time.”
Lopez, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, gave the Braves the lead in the 16th minute, scoring off a nifty pass from Brandon Martinez-Moreno.
Bremen took the 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Cougars (3-1-0) came out fast in the second half.
The key was the speed of Marmolejo, who got behind the Bremen defense on multiple occasions.
The senior broke free down the left sideline, took a long pass from Anthony Cervelli and scored the equalizer with 29:58 left.
“I created space on the outside,” Marmolejo said. “They weren’t really watching me. I just used that space and took off, and used my speed to get us back in the game.”
With the Cougars struggling to outpossess the Braves, Marmolejo’s ability to rapidly stretch the field was vital.
“We like to use his speed,” Solomon said. “Knowing he’s one of our fastest players, we know we always have that option when we need it to play the ball through to him and use his speed.”
Marmolejo gave Plainfield South the lead a little more than six minutes later. Christian Gonzalez sent a long pass into the box where Marmolejo flicked the ball into the air to get past a defender and finished with a strong strike.
The Braves, though, unleashed a fury of offensive pressure over the final 20 minutes. Plainfield South goalkeeper Quinton Rose kept the lead intact with a sprawling save on Lopez with 19:10 to go and a leaping save to rob Donato Lagunas with 17 minutes to go.
Rose, who finished with eight saves, came up big again to stop Lagunas’ initial shot off a corner kick, but Lagunas poked in the rebound to tie it 2-2 with 16:46 left.
Seven minutes later, Lopez was left open in the middle of the box and scored off a Martinez-Moreno pass.
It was the fourth goal of the season for Lopez, who has emerged as a top scoring threat for a team that had to replace much of its firepower from last year.
Lopez’s older brother Cristian, who was a Chicagoland Soccer special mention performer last season, was a four-year star midfielder for the Braves who graduated along with Chicagoland Soccer All-State forward Ricardo Avalos.
“I was looking forward to stepping up for my team,” Fabian Lopez said. “I knew I had to take leadership this year. I was motivated to step up with Cristian gone. I learned a lot from him.”
First-year Bremen coach Tom Piotrowski, a former assistant and lower-level coach, has been thrilled with Lopez’s play.
“Fabian’s really stepped up,” he said. “He’s a versatile player, and he’s the one who gets everyone going.”
Bremen navigated a difficult road to reach the Ram Classic championship, defeating 2016 sectional finalist Bloom in the first round and solid sides from Lincoln-Way West and Reavis in rounds two and three.
“I think the biggest thing is the chemistry that we have,” Piotrowski said. “In practice, we play a lot of possession and get used to working with each other. That’s paying off.”
Marmolejo felt Plainfield South let up down the stretch.
“I think we thought we kind of had it,” he said. “We settled down a little bit, and we just got beat in the back.”
Despite the loss, the Cougars have plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Their three 2017 wins are half of the team total from last season, when they finished 6-14-0.
“Last year, it was a disappointment how we started,” Solomon said. “This year, to be 3-0 going into this game was big. One loss isn’t that bad. We’re just trying to work our way up and be ready for conference.
“We need to work on our focus. We basically played half of a good soccer game, and a full game is what we’re going for.”
The Cougars will conclude tournament play by taking on University (Chicago) in the third place game Thursday.
Marmolejo expects them to bounce back.
“We’re a strong team,” he said. “We all bond good together, and we know we can play together. These first few games have definitely given us confidence for the rest of the season.”
Starting lineups
Bremen
GK: Giovanny Martinez
D: Aldo Lagunas
D: Edgar Esparza
D: Elian Reyes
M: Donato Lagunas
M: Fabian Lopez
M: Osmar Marquina-Reyes
M: Diego Reyes
M: Brandon Martinez-Moreno
F: Juan Batrez
F: Jorge Gomez
Plainfield South
GK: Quinton Rose
D: Xavier Ordaz
D: David Chavez
D: Ryan Kabaker
M: Griffin Lapp
M: Josue Jimenez
M: Dominick Skrip
M: Christian Gonzalez
F: Anthony Marmolejo
F: Ramon Ochoa
F: Anthony Cervelli
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Fabian Lopez, MF, Bremen
Scoring summary
Bremen: Lopez (Martinez-Moreno) 16’, D. Lagunas (unassisted) 54’, Lopez (Martinez-Moreno) 61’
Plainfield South: Marmolejo (Cervelli) ’41, Marmolejo (Gonzalez) ‘47
Lopez’s 2 goals lift Braves into Windy City Ram Classic title game
By Steve Millar
BURBANK - With a trip to Toyota Park for the Windy City Ram Classic championship game on the line, Bremen and Plainfield South staged a back-and-forth battle filled with momentum swings and heroics from both sides Tuesday at Reavis High School.
Senior forward Anthony Marmolejo starred for the Cougars, scoring twice. It was Braves senior midfielder Fabian Lopez, though, who provided the decisive blow.
Lopez scored his second goal with 9:46 left in the match to lift Bremen to a 3-2 win and earned a noon date with Argo for the tourney title at the Chicago Fire home pitch.
“I’ve got to give Bremen credit,” said Plainfield South assistant coach Lauren Solomon, who ran the team with head coach Bryant Williams away on a family matter.
“Something clicked with them. They kept getting the ball into our box. They were dribbling around us, and we couldn’t get it out. They tied the game, and then it was easy enough for them to get another goal.”
Bremen (4-0-0) scored twice in a seven-minute span to earn its third-consecutive trip to the tournament final. The Braves won the tournament in 2015 and lost to Oak Lawn in last season’s championship game.
“We’re really excited to be back,” Lopez said. “We’ve got to win it this time.”
Lopez, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, gave the Braves the lead in the 16th minute, scoring off a nifty pass from Brandon Martinez-Moreno.
Bremen took the 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Cougars (3-1-0) came out fast in the second half.
The key was the speed of Marmolejo, who got behind the Bremen defense on multiple occasions.
The senior broke free down the left sideline, took a long pass from Anthony Cervelli and scored the equalizer with 29:58 left.
“I created space on the outside,” Marmolejo said. “They weren’t really watching me. I just used that space and took off, and used my speed to get us back in the game.”
With the Cougars struggling to outpossess the Braves, Marmolejo’s ability to rapidly stretch the field was vital.
“We like to use his speed,” Solomon said. “Knowing he’s one of our fastest players, we know we always have that option when we need it to play the ball through to him and use his speed.”
Marmolejo gave Plainfield South the lead a little more than six minutes later. Christian Gonzalez sent a long pass into the box where Marmolejo flicked the ball into the air to get past a defender and finished with a strong strike.
The Braves, though, unleashed a fury of offensive pressure over the final 20 minutes. Plainfield South goalkeeper Quinton Rose kept the lead intact with a sprawling save on Lopez with 19:10 to go and a leaping save to rob Donato Lagunas with 17 minutes to go.
Rose, who finished with eight saves, came up big again to stop Lagunas’ initial shot off a corner kick, but Lagunas poked in the rebound to tie it 2-2 with 16:46 left.
Seven minutes later, Lopez was left open in the middle of the box and scored off a Martinez-Moreno pass.
It was the fourth goal of the season for Lopez, who has emerged as a top scoring threat for a team that had to replace much of its firepower from last year.
Lopez’s older brother Cristian, who was a Chicagoland Soccer special mention performer last season, was a four-year star midfielder for the Braves who graduated along with Chicagoland Soccer All-State forward Ricardo Avalos.
“I was looking forward to stepping up for my team,” Fabian Lopez said. “I knew I had to take leadership this year. I was motivated to step up with Cristian gone. I learned a lot from him.”
First-year Bremen coach Tom Piotrowski, a former assistant and lower-level coach, has been thrilled with Lopez’s play.
“Fabian’s really stepped up,” he said. “He’s a versatile player, and he’s the one who gets everyone going.”
Bremen navigated a difficult road to reach the Ram Classic championship, defeating 2016 sectional finalist Bloom in the first round and solid sides from Lincoln-Way West and Reavis in rounds two and three.
“I think the biggest thing is the chemistry that we have,” Piotrowski said. “In practice, we play a lot of possession and get used to working with each other. That’s paying off.”
Marmolejo felt Plainfield South let up down the stretch.
“I think we thought we kind of had it,” he said. “We settled down a little bit, and we just got beat in the back.”
Despite the loss, the Cougars have plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Their three 2017 wins are half of the team total from last season, when they finished 6-14-0.
“Last year, it was a disappointment how we started,” Solomon said. “This year, to be 3-0 going into this game was big. One loss isn’t that bad. We’re just trying to work our way up and be ready for conference.
“We need to work on our focus. We basically played half of a good soccer game, and a full game is what we’re going for.”
The Cougars will conclude tournament play by taking on University (Chicago) in the third place game Thursday.
Marmolejo expects them to bounce back.
“We’re a strong team,” he said. “We all bond good together, and we know we can play together. These first few games have definitely given us confidence for the rest of the season.”
Starting lineups
Bremen
GK: Giovanny Martinez
D: Aldo Lagunas
D: Edgar Esparza
D: Elian Reyes
M: Donato Lagunas
M: Fabian Lopez
M: Osmar Marquina-Reyes
M: Diego Reyes
M: Brandon Martinez-Moreno
F: Juan Batrez
F: Jorge Gomez
Plainfield South
GK: Quinton Rose
D: Xavier Ordaz
D: David Chavez
D: Ryan Kabaker
M: Griffin Lapp
M: Josue Jimenez
M: Dominick Skrip
M: Christian Gonzalez
F: Anthony Marmolejo
F: Ramon Ochoa
F: Anthony Cervelli
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Fabian Lopez, MF, Bremen
Scoring summary
Bremen: Lopez (Martinez-Moreno) 16’, D. Lagunas (unassisted) 54’, Lopez (Martinez-Moreno) 61’
Plainfield South: Marmolejo (Cervelli) ’41, Marmolejo (Gonzalez) ‘47