Riverside-Brookfield's 4 goals
not enough vs. Carmel
Bulldogs fall in PKs despite Ferguson hat-trick
By Dave Owen
SCHAUMBURG – Sunrise soccer can produce some wide-awake offensive play.
The 8 a.m. BodyArmor tournament match Saturday between Riverside-Brookfield and Carmel featured eight goals between the two teams and countless more quality scoring chances.
When 80 minutes were completed and the two sides had played to a 4-4 tie, the game perhaps fittingly came down to a penalty kick session.
Carmel (2-3-2) converted four of its five kicks, while Riverside-Brookfield conversions by Hunter Ferguson and Manny Tovar were followed by a shot wide and a save by Carmel goalkeeper Luke Reynolds as the Corsairs won the PK session 4-2.
“Sometimes you have to pick a side (to dive for), and you hope to get lucky and he shoots it that way,” Reynolds said of his PK strategy as a goalkeeper.
“It was rough during the game (defensively), but coming through at the end with a win, it's a big deal -- a big weight off the shoulders.”
That weight for 80 minutes was a Riverside-Brookfield offense that was relentless. And even in a high-scoring game, Bulldogs assistant coach Carlos Hernandez could point to squandered scoring chances as a factor in the outcome.
“We missed opportunities,” Hernandez said. “That's one thing we still have to find. Our offense has to get hungry to get the ball in the back of the net. We move the ball nicely, we open up. But when it comes to finishing, we haven't found that.
“Today we're there, but we can't finish enough. And then what happens is, when you make a mistake in the back the other team takes advantage of it and you give up the momentum.”
Riverside-Brookfield senior forward Ferguson had a banner game in the scoring column with three goals and an assist, but he shared his coach’s frustrations.
“We were playing our way in the first half,” Ferguson said, “then we let them come back and let some stupid mistakes happen in the back, and that cost us the game.
“We should have put them away in the first half. We were the better team throughout the whole game. We possessed the ball better than them; we did everything better than them. It just comes down to little mistakes, and that's what is going to lose the game for us.”
Carmel actually had the first big chance six minutes into the game on a Rolando Colin shot off the crossbar.
But Ferguson began to assert himself in the 11th minute, taking a Dante Moscosa pass and powering a left-side drive that Carmel starting goalkeeper Diego Medina blocked aside.
Ferguson was also dangerous all day on throw-ins, with one in the 17th minute grabbed by Medina at the back post.
A 24th-minute threat for Riverside-Brookfield began with a Max Swicionis liner juggled by Medina, with Xavier Salamanca’s close-in rebound try then blocked by a defender.
The Bulldogs’ persistent threats paid off in the 27th minute, when Ferguson’s left-side rush drew Medina out of the net. Ferguson’s ensuing cross to the front found Salamanca, who eluded a defender and tucked a shot inside the post for a 1-0 lead.
It was a theme of Ferguson pressuring the Carmel defense that would replay over and over all morning.
“We were playing long balls to Hunter,” Riverside-Brookfield midfielder Diego Villegas said, “and Hunter was winning 1-v-1s and scoring.”
Reynolds entered at goalkeeper after the first Riverside-Brookfield goal, and Carmel faced three big tests the rest of the half. The first came on a Ferguson eight-yard shot off an Ari Noel Juarez Martinez pass that he nicely blocked away in the 34th minute.
Then in the 38th minute, consecutive blocks in the box on shots by Ferguson and Manny Tovar were followed by a subsequent Villegas try in front that went just wide left.
Sandwiched in between those latest Riverside-Brookfield chances, Carmel had one good threat denied on a sliding clear by Bulldogs senior Sam Royer. But the Corsairs made another scoring bid count in the 37th minute to produce a 1-1 halftime tie.
After an initial cross was steered away by Omar Vidales, Carmel’s Bryan Orozco fielded the loose ball and volleyed a 10-yard shot into the net.
A first half of multiple chances ended in a 1-1 tie, and there was much, much more offense to come.
Riverside-Brookfield resumed its attack three minutes in when passes by Tomas Kunickas and Ferguson set up David Carrillo in front. But Reynolds made a point-blank save.
The badgering Bulldogs found their mark in the 47th minute on a nice set piece.
After Kunickas was fouled, Vidales rocketed a free kick from just inside midfield that bounced free into the right edge of the box. Ferguson did the rest, hustling to beat a defender and chipping it in for a 2-1 Riverside-Brookfield lead.
That was the beginning of a wild span of six goals in 17 minutes between the two teams. Even wilder, two players (Ferguson and Carmel’s Sammy Arroyo) would net all six for dueling hat-tricks. They shared Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“Hunter played really well,” Hernandez said. “He's very aggressive up-top. You can tell right away he's a natural forward -- he has that urge for the ball on his foot and to go, go, go. He's out there giving 100 percent.”
After Arroyo’s liner high inside the left post in the 51st minute drew Carmel even at 2-2, Ferguson showed another wrinkle to his and the Bulldogs’ game: an ability to instantly answer an opponent’s goal with their own.
Just 15 seconds after the Arroyo goal, Riverside-Brookfield raced on the attack, and Noah Berndt’s pass found Ferguson for a chip just inside the right post to put the Bulldogs back up 3-2.
“That was just the fire we have inside us,” Ferguson said. “Somebody scores on us, and we're not going to hang our heads and cry about it. We're going to get back and punch you right back in the mouth.
“We don't give up. We're going to keep fighting no matter what. Down 1-0 or 3-0, we don't give up.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they would soon be down a goal, and need to deliver another quick answer.
Carmel evened the score again in the 60th minute when Arroyo was fouled on his dribble into the box. His ensuing penalty kick finish tied the score 3-3.
Then in the 63rd minute, a Riverside-Brookfield threat on a 20-yard Ferguson top of the box free kick was blocked by the Carmel wall. A long rebound was blocked as well and caromed farther downfield, and the ensuing Carmel counterattack ended with a cross to Arroyo in front for his third goal and a 4-3 Corsairs lead.
Arroyo had entered the day without a goal this season, and suddenly had three in 13 minutes.
“We just had a streak of losing games, and we just needed to turn it up,” Arroyo said. “We always play the right way. All we needed to do was get the ball in the back of the net. And when it finally happened, I feel like we deserved it.
“This whole season we've been working hard. I'm happy that we see the results now.”
But the winning result would take time, thanks to another quick answer by Ferguson and Riverside-Brookfield.
Less than a minute after falling behind 4-3, the Bulldogs used a Tovar back to Ferguson give-and-go sequence to produce a Ferguson 8-yard liner under the crossbar and a 4-4 tie with 16 minutes left in regulation.
While the Bulldogs’ knack for quick answers to Carmel goals was impressive, coach Hernandez offered a question.
“It’s what we're trying to get the guys to understand: why do we need to be down to get that hunger?,” he asked. “Why can't we just finish from the beginning, take care of business and then relax.
“Instead, you put yourself in the situation where you make mistakes, they take advantage of it and now you have to come back.”
While regulation would end 4-4, many more threats came late.
In the 66th minute, Riverside-Brookfield’s Eric Ruiz lined a cross to the box over the net.
Ferguson briefly left with leg cramps in the 68th minute, but was back for a trio of dangerous throw-ins.
One toss was headed just wide by Ruiz, and another throw-in from 6 yards out had partial redirects in the box by Swicionis and Tovar blocked before Carmel’s Andres Tellez cleared the area.
Ferguson’s third throw in the 38th minute from 15 yards off the end line was grabbed by Reynolds near the post, and two additional corner kicks in the final five minutes by Riverside-Brookfield’s Villegas and Kunickas were defended well by Carmel without shot attempts.
Then came the PK session, and a tough, narrow loss for the Bulldogs.
“We should hae kept that foot on the pedal and put them away early,” Ferguson said. “We have to close out. Our mistakes were killer.
“Number 17 (Arroyo) had some great goals. It was a great game overall, but we should have won.”
The early start likely didn’t help Riverside-Brookfield’s postgame disposition.
“We were up at 6 in the morning, and at 6:30 on the way here,” Ferguson said. “It was worth it though. It was a good game. We could have played better, but early mornings are tough.”
Teammate Villegas sees one key takeaway from Saturday’s game.
“I think we need to communicate more in the back and play more as a team,” he said.
As for their coaches, the focus remains on the bigger picture.
“It's a long season,” Hernandez said, “and it's usually not about how you start but how you finish. Hopefully we learn from everything.
“And it's a great tournament. It's only going to give you an opportunity to play good competition, and from there get ready for what’s more important, the state series.”
For Carmel, enduring the waves of Riverside-Brookfield threats and leaving the pitch with a PK win was a big boost.
“It was just possession and being confident,” Arroyo said. “We were down so many times our last two games (a 3-2 loss to Stevenson, then a 4-2 loss to St. Patrick on Wednesday).
“We didn't want it to happen again, and we did something about it today. I'm proud of the team.”
Starting lineups
Riverside-Brookfield
GK: Aidan Hernandez
D: Sam Royer
D: Omar Vidales
D: Massimo Francechina
D: Mak Scheuermann
M: Noah Berndt
M: Dante Moscosa
M: Manny Tovar
M: Max Swicionis
F: Hunter Ferguson
F: Xavier Salamanca
Carmel
GK: Diego Medina
D: B.J. Mensah
D: Augie Lombardo
D: Josh Kietlyka
D: Mathew Gonzalez
M: Rolando Collin
M: Aiden Fendel
M: Roman Lynch
M: Cooper Riley
F: Sammy Arroyo
F: Sandro Pineda
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Hunter Ferguson, sr., F, Riverside-Brookfield;
Sammy Arroyo, jr., F, Carmel
Scoring summary
First half
RB: Xavier Salamanca (Hunter Ferguson), 27’
Carmel: Bryan Orozco, 37’
Second half
RB- Ferguson (Omar Vidales free kick), 47’
Carmel- Sammy Arroyo, 51’
RB- Ferguson (Noah Berndt), 51’
Carmel- Arroyo (penalty kick), 60’
Carmel- Arroyo, 63’
RB- Ferguson (Manny Tovar), 64’
Shootout
Carmel (4): Sandro Pineda (goal); Roman Lynch (off post); Aiden Fendel (goal); Augie Lombardo (goal); Rolando Colin (goal)
RB (2): Ferguson (goal); Tovar (goal); Eric Ruiz (shot wide left); Max Swicionis (saved)
not enough vs. Carmel
Bulldogs fall in PKs despite Ferguson hat-trick
By Dave Owen
SCHAUMBURG – Sunrise soccer can produce some wide-awake offensive play.
The 8 a.m. BodyArmor tournament match Saturday between Riverside-Brookfield and Carmel featured eight goals between the two teams and countless more quality scoring chances.
When 80 minutes were completed and the two sides had played to a 4-4 tie, the game perhaps fittingly came down to a penalty kick session.
Carmel (2-3-2) converted four of its five kicks, while Riverside-Brookfield conversions by Hunter Ferguson and Manny Tovar were followed by a shot wide and a save by Carmel goalkeeper Luke Reynolds as the Corsairs won the PK session 4-2.
“Sometimes you have to pick a side (to dive for), and you hope to get lucky and he shoots it that way,” Reynolds said of his PK strategy as a goalkeeper.
“It was rough during the game (defensively), but coming through at the end with a win, it's a big deal -- a big weight off the shoulders.”
That weight for 80 minutes was a Riverside-Brookfield offense that was relentless. And even in a high-scoring game, Bulldogs assistant coach Carlos Hernandez could point to squandered scoring chances as a factor in the outcome.
“We missed opportunities,” Hernandez said. “That's one thing we still have to find. Our offense has to get hungry to get the ball in the back of the net. We move the ball nicely, we open up. But when it comes to finishing, we haven't found that.
“Today we're there, but we can't finish enough. And then what happens is, when you make a mistake in the back the other team takes advantage of it and you give up the momentum.”
Riverside-Brookfield senior forward Ferguson had a banner game in the scoring column with three goals and an assist, but he shared his coach’s frustrations.
“We were playing our way in the first half,” Ferguson said, “then we let them come back and let some stupid mistakes happen in the back, and that cost us the game.
“We should have put them away in the first half. We were the better team throughout the whole game. We possessed the ball better than them; we did everything better than them. It just comes down to little mistakes, and that's what is going to lose the game for us.”
Carmel actually had the first big chance six minutes into the game on a Rolando Colin shot off the crossbar.
But Ferguson began to assert himself in the 11th minute, taking a Dante Moscosa pass and powering a left-side drive that Carmel starting goalkeeper Diego Medina blocked aside.
Ferguson was also dangerous all day on throw-ins, with one in the 17th minute grabbed by Medina at the back post.
A 24th-minute threat for Riverside-Brookfield began with a Max Swicionis liner juggled by Medina, with Xavier Salamanca’s close-in rebound try then blocked by a defender.
The Bulldogs’ persistent threats paid off in the 27th minute, when Ferguson’s left-side rush drew Medina out of the net. Ferguson’s ensuing cross to the front found Salamanca, who eluded a defender and tucked a shot inside the post for a 1-0 lead.
It was a theme of Ferguson pressuring the Carmel defense that would replay over and over all morning.
“We were playing long balls to Hunter,” Riverside-Brookfield midfielder Diego Villegas said, “and Hunter was winning 1-v-1s and scoring.”
Reynolds entered at goalkeeper after the first Riverside-Brookfield goal, and Carmel faced three big tests the rest of the half. The first came on a Ferguson eight-yard shot off an Ari Noel Juarez Martinez pass that he nicely blocked away in the 34th minute.
Then in the 38th minute, consecutive blocks in the box on shots by Ferguson and Manny Tovar were followed by a subsequent Villegas try in front that went just wide left.
Sandwiched in between those latest Riverside-Brookfield chances, Carmel had one good threat denied on a sliding clear by Bulldogs senior Sam Royer. But the Corsairs made another scoring bid count in the 37th minute to produce a 1-1 halftime tie.
After an initial cross was steered away by Omar Vidales, Carmel’s Bryan Orozco fielded the loose ball and volleyed a 10-yard shot into the net.
A first half of multiple chances ended in a 1-1 tie, and there was much, much more offense to come.
Riverside-Brookfield resumed its attack three minutes in when passes by Tomas Kunickas and Ferguson set up David Carrillo in front. But Reynolds made a point-blank save.
The badgering Bulldogs found their mark in the 47th minute on a nice set piece.
After Kunickas was fouled, Vidales rocketed a free kick from just inside midfield that bounced free into the right edge of the box. Ferguson did the rest, hustling to beat a defender and chipping it in for a 2-1 Riverside-Brookfield lead.
That was the beginning of a wild span of six goals in 17 minutes between the two teams. Even wilder, two players (Ferguson and Carmel’s Sammy Arroyo) would net all six for dueling hat-tricks. They shared Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
“Hunter played really well,” Hernandez said. “He's very aggressive up-top. You can tell right away he's a natural forward -- he has that urge for the ball on his foot and to go, go, go. He's out there giving 100 percent.”
After Arroyo’s liner high inside the left post in the 51st minute drew Carmel even at 2-2, Ferguson showed another wrinkle to his and the Bulldogs’ game: an ability to instantly answer an opponent’s goal with their own.
Just 15 seconds after the Arroyo goal, Riverside-Brookfield raced on the attack, and Noah Berndt’s pass found Ferguson for a chip just inside the right post to put the Bulldogs back up 3-2.
“That was just the fire we have inside us,” Ferguson said. “Somebody scores on us, and we're not going to hang our heads and cry about it. We're going to get back and punch you right back in the mouth.
“We don't give up. We're going to keep fighting no matter what. Down 1-0 or 3-0, we don't give up.”
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they would soon be down a goal, and need to deliver another quick answer.
Carmel evened the score again in the 60th minute when Arroyo was fouled on his dribble into the box. His ensuing penalty kick finish tied the score 3-3.
Then in the 63rd minute, a Riverside-Brookfield threat on a 20-yard Ferguson top of the box free kick was blocked by the Carmel wall. A long rebound was blocked as well and caromed farther downfield, and the ensuing Carmel counterattack ended with a cross to Arroyo in front for his third goal and a 4-3 Corsairs lead.
Arroyo had entered the day without a goal this season, and suddenly had three in 13 minutes.
“We just had a streak of losing games, and we just needed to turn it up,” Arroyo said. “We always play the right way. All we needed to do was get the ball in the back of the net. And when it finally happened, I feel like we deserved it.
“This whole season we've been working hard. I'm happy that we see the results now.”
But the winning result would take time, thanks to another quick answer by Ferguson and Riverside-Brookfield.
Less than a minute after falling behind 4-3, the Bulldogs used a Tovar back to Ferguson give-and-go sequence to produce a Ferguson 8-yard liner under the crossbar and a 4-4 tie with 16 minutes left in regulation.
While the Bulldogs’ knack for quick answers to Carmel goals was impressive, coach Hernandez offered a question.
“It’s what we're trying to get the guys to understand: why do we need to be down to get that hunger?,” he asked. “Why can't we just finish from the beginning, take care of business and then relax.
“Instead, you put yourself in the situation where you make mistakes, they take advantage of it and now you have to come back.”
While regulation would end 4-4, many more threats came late.
In the 66th minute, Riverside-Brookfield’s Eric Ruiz lined a cross to the box over the net.
Ferguson briefly left with leg cramps in the 68th minute, but was back for a trio of dangerous throw-ins.
One toss was headed just wide by Ruiz, and another throw-in from 6 yards out had partial redirects in the box by Swicionis and Tovar blocked before Carmel’s Andres Tellez cleared the area.
Ferguson’s third throw in the 38th minute from 15 yards off the end line was grabbed by Reynolds near the post, and two additional corner kicks in the final five minutes by Riverside-Brookfield’s Villegas and Kunickas were defended well by Carmel without shot attempts.
Then came the PK session, and a tough, narrow loss for the Bulldogs.
“We should hae kept that foot on the pedal and put them away early,” Ferguson said. “We have to close out. Our mistakes were killer.
“Number 17 (Arroyo) had some great goals. It was a great game overall, but we should have won.”
The early start likely didn’t help Riverside-Brookfield’s postgame disposition.
“We were up at 6 in the morning, and at 6:30 on the way here,” Ferguson said. “It was worth it though. It was a good game. We could have played better, but early mornings are tough.”
Teammate Villegas sees one key takeaway from Saturday’s game.
“I think we need to communicate more in the back and play more as a team,” he said.
As for their coaches, the focus remains on the bigger picture.
“It's a long season,” Hernandez said, “and it's usually not about how you start but how you finish. Hopefully we learn from everything.
“And it's a great tournament. It's only going to give you an opportunity to play good competition, and from there get ready for what’s more important, the state series.”
For Carmel, enduring the waves of Riverside-Brookfield threats and leaving the pitch with a PK win was a big boost.
“It was just possession and being confident,” Arroyo said. “We were down so many times our last two games (a 3-2 loss to Stevenson, then a 4-2 loss to St. Patrick on Wednesday).
“We didn't want it to happen again, and we did something about it today. I'm proud of the team.”
Starting lineups
Riverside-Brookfield
GK: Aidan Hernandez
D: Sam Royer
D: Omar Vidales
D: Massimo Francechina
D: Mak Scheuermann
M: Noah Berndt
M: Dante Moscosa
M: Manny Tovar
M: Max Swicionis
F: Hunter Ferguson
F: Xavier Salamanca
Carmel
GK: Diego Medina
D: B.J. Mensah
D: Augie Lombardo
D: Josh Kietlyka
D: Mathew Gonzalez
M: Rolando Collin
M: Aiden Fendel
M: Roman Lynch
M: Cooper Riley
F: Sammy Arroyo
F: Sandro Pineda
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Hunter Ferguson, sr., F, Riverside-Brookfield;
Sammy Arroyo, jr., F, Carmel
Scoring summary
First half
RB: Xavier Salamanca (Hunter Ferguson), 27’
Carmel: Bryan Orozco, 37’
Second half
RB- Ferguson (Omar Vidales free kick), 47’
Carmel- Sammy Arroyo, 51’
RB- Ferguson (Noah Berndt), 51’
Carmel- Arroyo (penalty kick), 60’
Carmel- Arroyo, 63’
RB- Ferguson (Manny Tovar), 64’
Shootout
Carmel (4): Sandro Pineda (goal); Roman Lynch (off post); Aiden Fendel (goal); Augie Lombardo (goal); Rolando Colin (goal)
RB (2): Ferguson (goal); Tovar (goal); Eric Ruiz (shot wide left); Max Swicionis (saved)