2nd half goal from Calix
tips Taft past Rauner
Senior's 1st goal in 2 campaigns delivers season-opening 1-0 win
By Michael Wojtychiw
CHICAGO -- The start of a new season brings new hope, excitement, new dreams and new beginnings.
For Taft it meant a chance to turn around its fortunes from the 2021 season, one in which it struggled to put the ball into the net. The Eagles scored only 25 goals in 19 games while allowing the same number.
For the first half Monday, it seemed as if that trend would continue, but a second half goal by senior Hansel Calix gave the hosts a 1-0 win over visiting Rauner at Read-Dunning Field.
"We have guys who are talented finishers, but they also love passing and dribbling," Taft manager Jeff Lucco said. "Two weeks in preseason, we did a lot of attacking and shooting, so I think they just need to break into those habits and not look for the perfect look. Sometimes you just need to put the foot on the ball."
"At first we couldn't find the ball in the right area and get any shots off," Calix said. "Our shots seemed sloppy. I think we were just rushed. We needed to collect ourselves to be able to put the ball into the back of the net."
Taft's starting keeper Sebastian Rodriguez came out of the game in the 18th minute when a Rauner player tried to attack the goal but ran into Rodriguez, who was sliding to make a save. Fellow senior keeper John Skelton came on in relief.
Even in the first game of a season that is only 18 minutes old, coming off the bench at a moment's notice can be a difficult task.
"It comes with the territory, especially as a keeper," Skelton said about being ready to jump into a game. "You're always there, not only if someone gets injured, but there for moral support as well."
Even though his team couldn't put the ball into the back of the net in the first half, Lucco liked what he saw.
"I liked how hard we worked." he said. "We talked before the game about finding ways to win games when we weren't playing well, and I don't think we played well in the first half. The strengths of our team are possession and being able to move between positions. I don't think we did a good job of that tonight, but it was our first game, first time we played someone besides our own guys.
"Rauner played at a speed we didn't expect, and they were super direct so that threw us off too. We played a lot of guys, and they all did a pretty good job when out there."
Even though her team didn't come out on top, Rauner manager Maggie Orlowski wasn't exactly disappointed with her team's play.
"We did a really good job of playing whistle-to-whistle," she said. "They gave 110 percent effort and couldn't have asked more for that. I wish we had more chances at goal, but we know what we need to work on."
After struggling to get its offense going in the opening half, the Eagles got on the board when Matej Sokola went down the middle of the field and dropped a beautiful pass to Calix, who slotted it past the Rauner keeper with 33 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the match.
The goal is Calix's first goal since his sophomore year, when he scored four times in the abbreviated spring of 2021 season.
"It was all about communication," Calix said. "We've been playing together since freshman year, and Matt understands me very well, knows my play style, where I like the ball. And he saw I asked for it at my feet so I can take that finish."
Lucco is excited to see what his team has this year. He saw differences from last season immediately.
"I saw the difference physically from the first preseason meeting we had to last year, guys were in better shape, bigger, ready to play," Lucco said. "I think even the guys that were on the team last year are just such better players now."
Rauner, on the other, hand brings back a rather experienced squad, having graduated only four seniors from the 2021-22 season. Last year's Wildcats squad finished 9-12-3 but advanced to both the PepsiCo Showdown bracket final and Lisle Regional finals.
A big thing for the Wildcats will be the play of their defense.
"We focus on our defense so we can play through, play through possession," Orlowski said. "We do a better job of playing the ball through the middle and playing the through-balls, but our defense is really tough.
"We're going to really rely on them this year."
Like its opponent, Taft will hope to find some leadership from its defense, as it looks too looks to build through it this season.
Twenty-four of the 25 players on Taft's squad this year are either juniors or seniors and most of them have played together for at least three years. That's something that Calix feels will only help the team as it navigates through a tough schedule.
"It's very important for us this year to have that connection," he said. "We know how we play, where we're going to be on the field.
"Last year we have to look at the fact that we kept up with teams that placed at the top in the state, we just struggled to score. But now we've got guys that can finish, so we'll be ok and able to do that."
Starting lineups
Rauner
GK: Xavier Pina
D: Alfonso Bahena-Bautista
D: Sergio Gutierrez
D: Brian Chimborazo
MF: Aaron Ortiz
MF: Andy Martinez
MF: Joel Vazquez-Ramirez
MF: Diego Farfan
MF: Luis Hernandez
F: Angel Vasquez
F: Marco Moreno
Taft
GK: Sebastian Rodriguez
D: Max Denkovych
D: Matthew Gruszka
D: Jakub Kieras
D: Maciej Polinski
MF: Bart Wojda
MF: Daniel Korniat
MF: Adrian Grden
MF: Damien Giczewski
MF: Sergio Suarez
F: Kevin Grden
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Hansel Calix, sr. F, Taft
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Taft - Hansel Calix (Matej Sokola), 47th minute
tips Taft past Rauner
Senior's 1st goal in 2 campaigns delivers season-opening 1-0 win
By Michael Wojtychiw
CHICAGO -- The start of a new season brings new hope, excitement, new dreams and new beginnings.
For Taft it meant a chance to turn around its fortunes from the 2021 season, one in which it struggled to put the ball into the net. The Eagles scored only 25 goals in 19 games while allowing the same number.
For the first half Monday, it seemed as if that trend would continue, but a second half goal by senior Hansel Calix gave the hosts a 1-0 win over visiting Rauner at Read-Dunning Field.
"We have guys who are talented finishers, but they also love passing and dribbling," Taft manager Jeff Lucco said. "Two weeks in preseason, we did a lot of attacking and shooting, so I think they just need to break into those habits and not look for the perfect look. Sometimes you just need to put the foot on the ball."
"At first we couldn't find the ball in the right area and get any shots off," Calix said. "Our shots seemed sloppy. I think we were just rushed. We needed to collect ourselves to be able to put the ball into the back of the net."
Taft's starting keeper Sebastian Rodriguez came out of the game in the 18th minute when a Rauner player tried to attack the goal but ran into Rodriguez, who was sliding to make a save. Fellow senior keeper John Skelton came on in relief.
Even in the first game of a season that is only 18 minutes old, coming off the bench at a moment's notice can be a difficult task.
"It comes with the territory, especially as a keeper," Skelton said about being ready to jump into a game. "You're always there, not only if someone gets injured, but there for moral support as well."
Even though his team couldn't put the ball into the back of the net in the first half, Lucco liked what he saw.
"I liked how hard we worked." he said. "We talked before the game about finding ways to win games when we weren't playing well, and I don't think we played well in the first half. The strengths of our team are possession and being able to move between positions. I don't think we did a good job of that tonight, but it was our first game, first time we played someone besides our own guys.
"Rauner played at a speed we didn't expect, and they were super direct so that threw us off too. We played a lot of guys, and they all did a pretty good job when out there."
Even though her team didn't come out on top, Rauner manager Maggie Orlowski wasn't exactly disappointed with her team's play.
"We did a really good job of playing whistle-to-whistle," she said. "They gave 110 percent effort and couldn't have asked more for that. I wish we had more chances at goal, but we know what we need to work on."
After struggling to get its offense going in the opening half, the Eagles got on the board when Matej Sokola went down the middle of the field and dropped a beautiful pass to Calix, who slotted it past the Rauner keeper with 33 minutes, 23 seconds remaining in the match.
The goal is Calix's first goal since his sophomore year, when he scored four times in the abbreviated spring of 2021 season.
"It was all about communication," Calix said. "We've been playing together since freshman year, and Matt understands me very well, knows my play style, where I like the ball. And he saw I asked for it at my feet so I can take that finish."
Lucco is excited to see what his team has this year. He saw differences from last season immediately.
"I saw the difference physically from the first preseason meeting we had to last year, guys were in better shape, bigger, ready to play," Lucco said. "I think even the guys that were on the team last year are just such better players now."
Rauner, on the other, hand brings back a rather experienced squad, having graduated only four seniors from the 2021-22 season. Last year's Wildcats squad finished 9-12-3 but advanced to both the PepsiCo Showdown bracket final and Lisle Regional finals.
A big thing for the Wildcats will be the play of their defense.
"We focus on our defense so we can play through, play through possession," Orlowski said. "We do a better job of playing the ball through the middle and playing the through-balls, but our defense is really tough.
"We're going to really rely on them this year."
Like its opponent, Taft will hope to find some leadership from its defense, as it looks too looks to build through it this season.
Twenty-four of the 25 players on Taft's squad this year are either juniors or seniors and most of them have played together for at least three years. That's something that Calix feels will only help the team as it navigates through a tough schedule.
"It's very important for us this year to have that connection," he said. "We know how we play, where we're going to be on the field.
"Last year we have to look at the fact that we kept up with teams that placed at the top in the state, we just struggled to score. But now we've got guys that can finish, so we'll be ok and able to do that."
Starting lineups
Rauner
GK: Xavier Pina
D: Alfonso Bahena-Bautista
D: Sergio Gutierrez
D: Brian Chimborazo
MF: Aaron Ortiz
MF: Andy Martinez
MF: Joel Vazquez-Ramirez
MF: Diego Farfan
MF: Luis Hernandez
F: Angel Vasquez
F: Marco Moreno
Taft
GK: Sebastian Rodriguez
D: Max Denkovych
D: Matthew Gruszka
D: Jakub Kieras
D: Maciej Polinski
MF: Bart Wojda
MF: Daniel Korniat
MF: Adrian Grden
MF: Damien Giczewski
MF: Sergio Suarez
F: Kevin Grden
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Hansel Calix, sr. F, Taft
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Taft - Hansel Calix (Matej Sokola), 47th minute