Genoa-Kingston scorches
Rockford Lutheran
Cogs score 7 times in opening half vs. young Crusaders
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- The only thing hotter than the temperature on the field was the Genoa-Kingston offense. The home team scored early and often to take down visiting conference foe Rockford Lutheran 8-2 in the season-opener for both teams.
With a game time temperature in the 90s and a real-feel index over 100, the Cogs beat back the heat and their opponent with a blistering offensive attack.
“We’re pretty happy with the way we started,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We wanted to start fast and score as many goals as we could. ‘Attack, Attack’ is our theme for the season. We want to attack as much as we can and score as many as we can as quick as possible.”
After sending in a few entry passes long that went to Crusaders goalkeeper Cole Lemmers, the Cogs (1-0-0 overall and in the Big Northern Conference) opened the scoring with a 15-foot blast off the right side from junior forward Junior Leon on a pass from junior midfielder Leonardo Rocha three minutes into the game.
Leon and his high-scoring teammate, senior forward Eagan Reams, picked up right where they left off last season. Each notched two goals and an assist.
“Over the summer we took our advantages,” Reams said. “We came out and practiced as much as we could as a team. I think we still have a lot to improve on. I think we can improve our chemistry, but this was a good showing for our first game.”
Less than two minutes later, senior midfielder Aiden Tomlinson rifled a shot from 18 feet on the left side after a pass from Reams to put the Cogs up 2-0 with just under five minutes of game time elapsed.
Tomlinson, who missed all of last season, put his mark on the game in the first half with two goals and an assist.
Nine minutes later, Reams got behind the Crusaders defense off a goal kick from fellow team captain, defenseman Ben Younker. That led to a one-on-one against Rockford Lutheran keeper Lemmers, who plays baseball at the school and volunteered to play against the Cogs.
Reams put a quick move on the keeper and knocked in the goal from 10 feet in for his first of the season.
Less than four minutes later, the Cogs quick-strike offense hit on another goal, this time by junior midfielder Diego Espinoza.
Espinoza corralled a pass from Tomlinson and smashed it into the back of the net from 15 feet to put the Cogs up 4-0 just over midway through the first half.
Already clicking on offense in the early going, Genoa-Kingston got a break with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Tomlinson was tripped up by the Crusaders defense about a foot inside the box, which led to the season’s first penalty kick for the Cogs. Tomlinson put the ball in the top right corner of the net for a 4-0 lead.
The Crusaders (0-1-0, 0-1-0) finally got on the board after a few close misses when star forward and junior Dasha Curiel dribbled through the Cogs’ defense and slammed the ball into the net from 10 feet on the left side.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted. But at the end of the day, you’ve always got to push yourself to be the best out there,” Curiel Said. “Even though it wasn’t the result we wanted, I don’t give up. I never have. I always want to be the best out there.”
The Crusaders’ scoring excitement was short-lived. Less than two minutes later, defenseman Ben Younker came charging from the backline to bring the ball into the offensive zone. He passed the ball to Leon who quickly fed the ball back to the streaking Younker for the give-and-go goal from 10 feet out.
“It felt pretty good,” Younker said. “It’s my senior season and to get that first goal on the board, it felt good to get the pass from my friend and teammate Junior Leon. I was thankful that he could get the ball to me in that position and thankful that my teammates could cover for me on defense back there.”
Even though the Cogs led 6-1 nearing the end of the first half, their attack never stopped.
Jorge Leon finished the half the same way he started it, attacking and scoring again.
With just over two minutes left before halftime, Leon employed some fancy footwork to sneak around the Crusaders defense and blast another goal into the net from 12 feet on the left side. Rocha picked up his third assist of the game on the play.
The opening of the second half mirrored the first half for the Cogs, with Reams taking a long pass from Younker after getting behind the defense and booting home his second goal of the game for an 8-1 lead.
Reams had a shot at the hat-trick on another breakaway but tried to get his teammate Brayan Garcia involved in the scoring. He crossed the ball across the goal, but Garcia couldn’t get a handle on the pass and the shot fired off course and out of bounds.
“I was just trying to be unselfish and get my teammate a goal,” Reams said. “I thought it was the right play, and it was just unfortunate that he missed it.”
With the seven-goal lead, Genoa-Kingston cut the remaining in half. Despite its deficit, Rockford Lutheran kept fighting.
Curiel picked the pocket of the Cogs defense and snuck in his second goal of the game from 15 feet on the left side t end the scoring with 9:38 left.
“We’re a young team with freshmen playing on varsity,” Crusaders coach Samir Romero said. “It is difficult to ask them to play at the level of Genoa-Kingston, who are mostly seniors and juniors who are well-developed players.”
While the Cogs offense was the story of the game, the Cogs new goalkeeper, junior Aaron Acosta, played a solid game. He made some diving stops and charged an attacker for a kick-save.
Starting lineups
Rockford Lutheran
GK Cole Lemmers
D Cade Patkus
D Jerzy Davis
D Santana Dixon
D Trystan Zeller
MF Jahir Hernandez
MF Colin Jones
MF Maxton Lall
MF Diego Hernandez
F Liam Keller
F Dasha Curiel
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Breck Pearson
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Reams
FW Junior Leon
FW John Wolcott
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Eagan Reams, sr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring Summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Rocha) 3rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Tomlinson (Reams) 4th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Rocha) 13th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Tomlinson) 17th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Tomlinson (PK) 31st minute
Rockford Lutheran - Curiel (UA) 34th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Younker (Leon) 35th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Rocha) 37th minute
Second half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Younker) 43rd minute
Rockford Lutheran - Curiel (UA) 60th minute
Rockford Lutheran
Cogs score 7 times in opening half vs. young Crusaders
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- The only thing hotter than the temperature on the field was the Genoa-Kingston offense. The home team scored early and often to take down visiting conference foe Rockford Lutheran 8-2 in the season-opener for both teams.
With a game time temperature in the 90s and a real-feel index over 100, the Cogs beat back the heat and their opponent with a blistering offensive attack.
“We’re pretty happy with the way we started,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “We wanted to start fast and score as many goals as we could. ‘Attack, Attack’ is our theme for the season. We want to attack as much as we can and score as many as we can as quick as possible.”
After sending in a few entry passes long that went to Crusaders goalkeeper Cole Lemmers, the Cogs (1-0-0 overall and in the Big Northern Conference) opened the scoring with a 15-foot blast off the right side from junior forward Junior Leon on a pass from junior midfielder Leonardo Rocha three minutes into the game.
Leon and his high-scoring teammate, senior forward Eagan Reams, picked up right where they left off last season. Each notched two goals and an assist.
“Over the summer we took our advantages,” Reams said. “We came out and practiced as much as we could as a team. I think we still have a lot to improve on. I think we can improve our chemistry, but this was a good showing for our first game.”
Less than two minutes later, senior midfielder Aiden Tomlinson rifled a shot from 18 feet on the left side after a pass from Reams to put the Cogs up 2-0 with just under five minutes of game time elapsed.
Tomlinson, who missed all of last season, put his mark on the game in the first half with two goals and an assist.
Nine minutes later, Reams got behind the Crusaders defense off a goal kick from fellow team captain, defenseman Ben Younker. That led to a one-on-one against Rockford Lutheran keeper Lemmers, who plays baseball at the school and volunteered to play against the Cogs.
Reams put a quick move on the keeper and knocked in the goal from 10 feet in for his first of the season.
Less than four minutes later, the Cogs quick-strike offense hit on another goal, this time by junior midfielder Diego Espinoza.
Espinoza corralled a pass from Tomlinson and smashed it into the back of the net from 15 feet to put the Cogs up 4-0 just over midway through the first half.
Already clicking on offense in the early going, Genoa-Kingston got a break with just over eight minutes left in the half.
Tomlinson was tripped up by the Crusaders defense about a foot inside the box, which led to the season’s first penalty kick for the Cogs. Tomlinson put the ball in the top right corner of the net for a 4-0 lead.
The Crusaders (0-1-0, 0-1-0) finally got on the board after a few close misses when star forward and junior Dasha Curiel dribbled through the Cogs’ defense and slammed the ball into the net from 10 feet on the left side.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted. But at the end of the day, you’ve always got to push yourself to be the best out there,” Curiel Said. “Even though it wasn’t the result we wanted, I don’t give up. I never have. I always want to be the best out there.”
The Crusaders’ scoring excitement was short-lived. Less than two minutes later, defenseman Ben Younker came charging from the backline to bring the ball into the offensive zone. He passed the ball to Leon who quickly fed the ball back to the streaking Younker for the give-and-go goal from 10 feet out.
“It felt pretty good,” Younker said. “It’s my senior season and to get that first goal on the board, it felt good to get the pass from my friend and teammate Junior Leon. I was thankful that he could get the ball to me in that position and thankful that my teammates could cover for me on defense back there.”
Even though the Cogs led 6-1 nearing the end of the first half, their attack never stopped.
Jorge Leon finished the half the same way he started it, attacking and scoring again.
With just over two minutes left before halftime, Leon employed some fancy footwork to sneak around the Crusaders defense and blast another goal into the net from 12 feet on the left side. Rocha picked up his third assist of the game on the play.
The opening of the second half mirrored the first half for the Cogs, with Reams taking a long pass from Younker after getting behind the defense and booting home his second goal of the game for an 8-1 lead.
Reams had a shot at the hat-trick on another breakaway but tried to get his teammate Brayan Garcia involved in the scoring. He crossed the ball across the goal, but Garcia couldn’t get a handle on the pass and the shot fired off course and out of bounds.
“I was just trying to be unselfish and get my teammate a goal,” Reams said. “I thought it was the right play, and it was just unfortunate that he missed it.”
With the seven-goal lead, Genoa-Kingston cut the remaining in half. Despite its deficit, Rockford Lutheran kept fighting.
Curiel picked the pocket of the Cogs defense and snuck in his second goal of the game from 15 feet on the left side t end the scoring with 9:38 left.
“We’re a young team with freshmen playing on varsity,” Crusaders coach Samir Romero said. “It is difficult to ask them to play at the level of Genoa-Kingston, who are mostly seniors and juniors who are well-developed players.”
While the Cogs offense was the story of the game, the Cogs new goalkeeper, junior Aaron Acosta, played a solid game. He made some diving stops and charged an attacker for a kick-save.
Starting lineups
Rockford Lutheran
GK Cole Lemmers
D Cade Patkus
D Jerzy Davis
D Santana Dixon
D Trystan Zeller
MF Jahir Hernandez
MF Colin Jones
MF Maxton Lall
MF Diego Hernandez
F Liam Keller
F Dasha Curiel
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Breck Pearson
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Reams
FW Junior Leon
FW John Wolcott
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Eagan Reams, sr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring Summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Rocha) 3rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Tomlinson (Reams) 4th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Rocha) 13th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Tomlinson) 17th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Tomlinson (PK) 31st minute
Rockford Lutheran - Curiel (UA) 34th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Younker (Leon) 35th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Rocha) 37th minute
Second half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Younker) 43rd minute
Rockford Lutheran - Curiel (UA) 60th minute