Thrill of the chase gets
Lake Park even with SCN
2 goals in last 6 minutes ties league leaders 2-2
By Jared Birchfield
ROSELLE – Sometimes, it is just a matter of finding the right incentive for a team to score goals. For Lake Park in its recent matches, that motivation seems to be the opposition getting ahead.
On Tuesday, for the second time in two days, the Lancers came from behind to earn a draw, this time 2-2 with DuKane Conference leader St. Charles North. The North Stars are ranked fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
After two strikes from star Luke Persenico, St. Charles North led for the first 73 minutes of the match. The Lancers finally got on the board with 6:47 left to play when Frank Caira found the back of the net. Teammate Max Panek followed with a goal in the 76th minute.
“I hate being down, but somehow it turns us on and fires us up. We certainly kept fighting,” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “To be two down and to keep fighting the way we did is even more inspiring for our team, so it was a great comeback.”
St. Charles North coach Eric Willson felt his squad let up its intensity in the final 40 minutes.
“I think when you get into a tough conference game, you’ve got to be able to close the deal. We weren't able to do that. We kind of went away from some of the things that we’re doing,” the North Stars coach said. “I think we started to struggle to keep possession and when you just defend for periods of time and commit too many fouls and give up some free kicks against a good team like this one, it is a matter of time before they get back in the game.”
Persenico scored his first goal in the 12th minute. He and fellow forward Sam Strader advanced down the pitch passing the ball back and forth. Just outside the penalty box, Persenico sent a strike that went just left of Lancer goalkeeper Andrew Swacha.
“North is the best attacking group you're going to see on our schedule. We could have adjusted on the first goal and not made it as easy for them,” said Crosby “But they're a good team, and they capitalized on mistakes, and so they did just that.”
Persenico, a Clarke University commit, scored his second goal of the game and 20th of the season at the 24:49 mark of the second half. He dribbled the ball being pursued by Panek. His boot from the right corner of the penalty box found the back of the net.
Caira halved the deficit on Anthony Bartlett’s free kick from 23 yards in the 74th minute. North Stars keeper Colin Baloun deflected the kick, but Caira connected on the bounce.
“I told number 10 (Bartlett) to put it on target,” Caira said. “There was a deflection, and I was there for the rebound. We got lucky there.”
“That first goal is us turning the ball over and compounding it with a foul,” said Willson. “We talked about limiting fouls at halftime, and I don't think we did a good enough job of doing that (in the second half). That set up the free kick, and they score the goal.”
Panek scored the equalizer three minutes later on a header from a Bartlett corner kick. The senior blamed himself for St. Charles North’s second goal and felt he needed to atone for it.
“After the second goal Saint Charles got, I knew that was a giveaway for me. I knew I had to make up for it right away. I was thinking in my head that on the next set piece I'm going to go up and put one away,” the senior center back said. “Bartlett and I have always been trying to find each other on those corners, and today it finally worked out in the perfect moment. It's definitely a great ball for me.”
Willson conceded that goal.
“The second goal he was on a mission, and there was not anything our goalkeeper or anybody could have done about it,” he said. “It was a fantastic header. So you tip your cap on something like that.”
St. Charles North (10-2-1, 9-1-1) had a chance to regain the lead on its first possession after Panek’s goal. Persenico was fouled in the box and took the penalty kick. His shot went to right of the net.
Both teams took a lot of shots, but they either went wide or high. Willson was OK with his team’s attempts.
“Sometimes we've been asking some of our guys to pull the trigger from little bit further out from time to time. I think what they did was coachable, and they’re doing what we asked,” the North Stars coach said. “We just could have executed a bit more in the first half and got a few on frame, I think we would have been a little bit better off. I liked what I saw from our offense today. The movement was good. We move the ball around from time to time, and we had the lead.”
Playing back-to-back matches with ranked teams (after a 1-1 tie with no. 14 Timothy on Monday) did not cause any major issues for Lake Park (3-4-4, 3-4-3). Crosby felt playing a quality team like the North Stars gave his team the extra boost it needed.
“I think they were confident. They want to compete with the best teams in our conference and with the best teams in the state and I certainly think that's what we had today,” the Lake Park coach said.
“We try to move players around. It's tough; you don't want to sacrifice certain things. The good thing is every guy jumped on the field and gave us a little boost and a little bit of legs,” he continued. “We got numbers yesterday and numbers in today, but there's no way to get full fitness out of everybody in a shortened season and going back-to-back, there certainly was some fatigue.”
Panek’s score and defense earned him the Man of the Match award,
“He scores the game tying goal and works incredibly hard as a center back, running up and back for us,” said Crosby.
As the conference race enters the homestretch, St. Charles North faces crosstown foe St. Charles East on Thursday, while Lake Park travels to Carol Stream to take on Glenbard North.
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK: Josh Springer
D: Drew Balster
D: Michael DePasquale
D: Zach Curtis
D: John Kirby
M: Collin Michels
M: Jared Sinnaeve
M: Brandon Collins
F: Sam Strader
F: Nathan Hanselman
F: Luke Persenico
Lake Park
GK: Andrew Swacha
D: Max Panek
D: Anthony Mager
D: Aidan Kilmer
D: Logan Pobloske
M: Frank Caira
M: Jakub Zych
M: Edgar Villagran
F: Anthony Bartlett
F: Biagio Lerario
F: Christopher Payne
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Max Panek, sr, D, Lake Park
Scoring Summary
First half
SCN – Persenico (Strader) 12 minute
Second half
SCN – Persenico (UA) 55th minute
LP – Caira (Bartlett) 74th minute
LP – Panek (Bartlett) 76th minute
Lake Park even with SCN
2 goals in last 6 minutes ties league leaders 2-2
By Jared Birchfield
ROSELLE – Sometimes, it is just a matter of finding the right incentive for a team to score goals. For Lake Park in its recent matches, that motivation seems to be the opposition getting ahead.
On Tuesday, for the second time in two days, the Lancers came from behind to earn a draw, this time 2-2 with DuKane Conference leader St. Charles North. The North Stars are ranked fifth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
After two strikes from star Luke Persenico, St. Charles North led for the first 73 minutes of the match. The Lancers finally got on the board with 6:47 left to play when Frank Caira found the back of the net. Teammate Max Panek followed with a goal in the 76th minute.
“I hate being down, but somehow it turns us on and fires us up. We certainly kept fighting,” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “To be two down and to keep fighting the way we did is even more inspiring for our team, so it was a great comeback.”
St. Charles North coach Eric Willson felt his squad let up its intensity in the final 40 minutes.
“I think when you get into a tough conference game, you’ve got to be able to close the deal. We weren't able to do that. We kind of went away from some of the things that we’re doing,” the North Stars coach said. “I think we started to struggle to keep possession and when you just defend for periods of time and commit too many fouls and give up some free kicks against a good team like this one, it is a matter of time before they get back in the game.”
Persenico scored his first goal in the 12th minute. He and fellow forward Sam Strader advanced down the pitch passing the ball back and forth. Just outside the penalty box, Persenico sent a strike that went just left of Lancer goalkeeper Andrew Swacha.
“North is the best attacking group you're going to see on our schedule. We could have adjusted on the first goal and not made it as easy for them,” said Crosby “But they're a good team, and they capitalized on mistakes, and so they did just that.”
Persenico, a Clarke University commit, scored his second goal of the game and 20th of the season at the 24:49 mark of the second half. He dribbled the ball being pursued by Panek. His boot from the right corner of the penalty box found the back of the net.
Caira halved the deficit on Anthony Bartlett’s free kick from 23 yards in the 74th minute. North Stars keeper Colin Baloun deflected the kick, but Caira connected on the bounce.
“I told number 10 (Bartlett) to put it on target,” Caira said. “There was a deflection, and I was there for the rebound. We got lucky there.”
“That first goal is us turning the ball over and compounding it with a foul,” said Willson. “We talked about limiting fouls at halftime, and I don't think we did a good enough job of doing that (in the second half). That set up the free kick, and they score the goal.”
Panek scored the equalizer three minutes later on a header from a Bartlett corner kick. The senior blamed himself for St. Charles North’s second goal and felt he needed to atone for it.
“After the second goal Saint Charles got, I knew that was a giveaway for me. I knew I had to make up for it right away. I was thinking in my head that on the next set piece I'm going to go up and put one away,” the senior center back said. “Bartlett and I have always been trying to find each other on those corners, and today it finally worked out in the perfect moment. It's definitely a great ball for me.”
Willson conceded that goal.
“The second goal he was on a mission, and there was not anything our goalkeeper or anybody could have done about it,” he said. “It was a fantastic header. So you tip your cap on something like that.”
St. Charles North (10-2-1, 9-1-1) had a chance to regain the lead on its first possession after Panek’s goal. Persenico was fouled in the box and took the penalty kick. His shot went to right of the net.
Both teams took a lot of shots, but they either went wide or high. Willson was OK with his team’s attempts.
“Sometimes we've been asking some of our guys to pull the trigger from little bit further out from time to time. I think what they did was coachable, and they’re doing what we asked,” the North Stars coach said. “We just could have executed a bit more in the first half and got a few on frame, I think we would have been a little bit better off. I liked what I saw from our offense today. The movement was good. We move the ball around from time to time, and we had the lead.”
Playing back-to-back matches with ranked teams (after a 1-1 tie with no. 14 Timothy on Monday) did not cause any major issues for Lake Park (3-4-4, 3-4-3). Crosby felt playing a quality team like the North Stars gave his team the extra boost it needed.
“I think they were confident. They want to compete with the best teams in our conference and with the best teams in the state and I certainly think that's what we had today,” the Lake Park coach said.
“We try to move players around. It's tough; you don't want to sacrifice certain things. The good thing is every guy jumped on the field and gave us a little boost and a little bit of legs,” he continued. “We got numbers yesterday and numbers in today, but there's no way to get full fitness out of everybody in a shortened season and going back-to-back, there certainly was some fatigue.”
Panek’s score and defense earned him the Man of the Match award,
“He scores the game tying goal and works incredibly hard as a center back, running up and back for us,” said Crosby.
As the conference race enters the homestretch, St. Charles North faces crosstown foe St. Charles East on Thursday, while Lake Park travels to Carol Stream to take on Glenbard North.
Starting lineups
St. Charles North
GK: Josh Springer
D: Drew Balster
D: Michael DePasquale
D: Zach Curtis
D: John Kirby
M: Collin Michels
M: Jared Sinnaeve
M: Brandon Collins
F: Sam Strader
F: Nathan Hanselman
F: Luke Persenico
Lake Park
GK: Andrew Swacha
D: Max Panek
D: Anthony Mager
D: Aidan Kilmer
D: Logan Pobloske
M: Frank Caira
M: Jakub Zych
M: Edgar Villagran
F: Anthony Bartlett
F: Biagio Lerario
F: Christopher Payne
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Max Panek, sr, D, Lake Park
Scoring Summary
First half
SCN – Persenico (Strader) 12 minute
Second half
SCN – Persenico (UA) 55th minute
LP – Caira (Bartlett) 74th minute
LP – Panek (Bartlett) 76th minute