Aggressive Lake Park runs past St. Francis
Lancers rush to 4 goal lead, 4-2 win clinches Hillner Classic
By Gary Larsen
ROSELLE -- Asked about Lake Park’s fast start on Tuesday in its 4-2 win over St. Francis, Lancers junior forward Jesus Juarez answered like he belonged to a pack of ravenous wolves.
“We wanted to attack, attack, attack,” Juarez said.
Lake Park (3-0-1) used a suffocating attack from the outset to build a 4-0 lead before St. Francis (1-1-0) knocked in two second half goals in a game played as part of Lake Park’s Hillner Classic.
The win gave the Lancers a 3-0 record and the tournament title, while the Spartans fell to 1-1.
Resulting in plentiful corner kicks, free kicks, and throw-ins deep in its attacking third, Lake Park’s pressure through 40 minutes put St. Francis in a defensive crouch from the opening whistle.
“We didn’t play our game the whole first half. Lake Park played possession and attacked, and we didn’t defend very well," Spartans coach Kevin Ward said. "They played well and took advantage of that and we did not have it today. We did not show up."
Of course, the winning coach was happy to concede Ward’s point.
“That’s how we want to start a game,” Lancers coach Sean Crosby said. “Our guys know the level they’re at, and they have a focus. They know what they can achieve when they come together, play as one, and try to dictate the game like that early on.
“When they dictate the game and go out and take it, and press, and don’t let up — for a coach, it’s great when you see that. It definitely gives you an advantage.”
A dominant opening 10 minutes for Lake Park built to a quality save in the 12th minute by Spartans keeper Ryan Scharf, who did just about all a keeper could do in the face of Lake Park’s intense attack.
But after the Lancers’ fourth corner kick arrived and went uncleared in the box in the 13th minute, Lake Park junior midfielder Matteo Costa sprung free behind a crowd and poked it past a charging Scharf from six yards out.
Costa has now scored a goal in each of Lake Park’s four games.
The Lancers continued to pressure and went up 2-0 in the 26th minute when junior defender Tom Zakic pounced on a ball near the goalmouth. The tally was set up by a free kick sent in by senior mid Sebastian Glodz.
After playing well in a 4-1 season-opening win over Wheaton North, St. Francis was stunned.
“We were prepared, but I don’t think our minds were in the place they needed to be,” Spartans junior mid Sean Conley said. “We lost focus and after this game, we need to find it again.”
After halftime, Lake Park sidestepped the complacency that sometimes comes with a 2-0 lead and kept attacking.
“We got two goals in the first half, and we had the mental approach to get two more in the second,” Juarez said. “We stayed hungry for more goals.”
In the 52nd minute, Scharf made a fine diving save to his left near the post, with the deflection rolling along the endline. Glodz hustled after it and served a perfect feed to the far post, where Juarez calmly tapped it in to give the Lancers a 3-0 lead.
With his second assist on the day and for keying a vital third goal for Lake Park, Glodz was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“(Glodz) read it and pounced on it,” Crosby said. “He gets (forward) for us quite a bit and when he does that at the right moments, it’s great for us. And he’s composed enough to help us defensively, too. But for him to pounce on that and slot it across, that was great vision and something we’ve been working on. If we can re-create that and find that spot-ball and get chances through that, we’ll be tough to defend.”
Junior mid Gabriel Mendrano took a pass deep on the right side from senior mid Brent Hatfield and his goal at 55 minutes finished the day’s scoring for Lake Park.
“We were just really focused to possess today and we applied pressure really quick,” Juarez said. “We play as a team, and we train how we play. There are times when you have to be selfish, like when you’re alone in front of the goal. We’ve won every game in the tournament so far, and we’re hoping to win it.”
“It was probably our best attacking game as a unit,” Crosby said. “We were unselfish, played the ball better, and played it quicker in the attacking third. The first two goals were kind of scrums in the box and we put them in, but the next two came on great attacking plays when we shared the ball, played it quick, and pretty much had one-touch finishes in danger areas.”
While Ward was unhappy with the way his boys played overall, the Spartans’ attack did come to life during the game’s final 20 minutes.
Senior defender Ethan Grosam ripped a shot right at the chest and into the hands of Lake Park freshman keeper Kyle Czeremuga at 60 minutes, before the Spartans finally ended their drought at 64 minutes.
Czeremuga made a solid save on a Grosam penalty kick but Conley followed it up to tap in the rebound.
“We came out flat, and it took four (Lake Park) goals for us to play hard,” Conley said. “We turned it on at the end and had a lot more chances. In the first half we probably only had three or four shots.
“We were outnumbered in the midfield in the first half, but we figured it out towards the end of the game, and started moving the ball instead of dribbling so much.”
Grosam finished the scoring late in the game, chasing down a through-ball behind the defense and finishing past Czeremuga from 10 yards. Ward acknowledged his side’s better play down the stretch but bemoaned the lack of energy the Spartans displayed for 60 minutes.
Ward wondered if the Spartans’ quality win over Wheaton North didn’t play a role in Tuesday’s loss.
“I think maybe we drank our own Kool-Aid a little bit,” he said. “The effort was there (vs. Wheaton North) from the minute we stepped on. We had a good game right there and then maybe thought that things might come easy. But you need to show up every game, and focus and concentrate. Maybe we learned a lesson. We’re much better than what we showed today.”
Ward applauded Conley’s work rate in the loss, while Crosby had a large contingency of Lancers to thank for his side’s win.
Czeremuga filled in for junior keeper Christian Lekki, who sat out due to a red card infraction in the Lancers’ 2-0 win over York on Saturday. Czeremuga looked good in his first varsity start, and his confidence rose quickly from the outset.
“It was a phenomenal game by Kyle,” Crosby said. “He played fantastic, and he stepped up. The first couple plays of the game he probably had some nerves going, and he bobbled a couple of balls, but then he got plugged in and made some really nice saves. Even on (St. Francis’) penalty kick, he jumped on it right. If it wasn’t for a little bit of lazy defense, we would have kept that goal out. He played like a big-time player today.”
Crosby also liked the game junior mid Franco Presta played in connecting the defense to the attack. It was a good handful of quality diagonal balls sent forward by Presta that helped spark the Lancers’ early attacking play.
Lake Park has outscored opponents 10-4 through four games, and central defenders Zakic and junior Max Ellenbecker have keyed the backline thus far.
“Tommy and Max have great size, and they’ve come out much quicker this year,” Crosby said. “They’ve got more poise and confidence than they had last year as sophomores, too. They’re really showing the benefits of the year of varsity experience they had last year. They’ve had phenomenal games for us throughout the tournament.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Kyle Czeremuga
D: Max Ellenbecker
D: Tom Zakic
D: Sebastian Augustyn
D: Daniel Nocek
M: Sebastian Glodz
M: Matteo Costa
M: Andrew Eliopoulos
M: Franco Presta
M: Bret Hatfield
F: Jesus Juarez
St. Francis
GK: Ryan Scharf
D: Ethan Grosam
D: Trey Gora
D: Henry Roback
D: Jacob Power
M: Ryan Pennington
M: Nicholas Gulli
M: Samuel Audy
M: Frank Marsico
M: Sean Conley
F: Leo Herard
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sebastian Glodz, sr., MF, Lake Park
Scoring summary
1st half
Lake Park: Costa
Lake Park: Zakic (Glodz)
2nd half
Lake Park: Juarez (Glodz)
Lake Park: Mendrano (Hatfield)
St. Francis: Conley
St. Francis: Grosam
Lancers rush to 4 goal lead, 4-2 win clinches Hillner Classic
By Gary Larsen
ROSELLE -- Asked about Lake Park’s fast start on Tuesday in its 4-2 win over St. Francis, Lancers junior forward Jesus Juarez answered like he belonged to a pack of ravenous wolves.
“We wanted to attack, attack, attack,” Juarez said.
Lake Park (3-0-1) used a suffocating attack from the outset to build a 4-0 lead before St. Francis (1-1-0) knocked in two second half goals in a game played as part of Lake Park’s Hillner Classic.
The win gave the Lancers a 3-0 record and the tournament title, while the Spartans fell to 1-1.
Resulting in plentiful corner kicks, free kicks, and throw-ins deep in its attacking third, Lake Park’s pressure through 40 minutes put St. Francis in a defensive crouch from the opening whistle.
“We didn’t play our game the whole first half. Lake Park played possession and attacked, and we didn’t defend very well," Spartans coach Kevin Ward said. "They played well and took advantage of that and we did not have it today. We did not show up."
Of course, the winning coach was happy to concede Ward’s point.
“That’s how we want to start a game,” Lancers coach Sean Crosby said. “Our guys know the level they’re at, and they have a focus. They know what they can achieve when they come together, play as one, and try to dictate the game like that early on.
“When they dictate the game and go out and take it, and press, and don’t let up — for a coach, it’s great when you see that. It definitely gives you an advantage.”
A dominant opening 10 minutes for Lake Park built to a quality save in the 12th minute by Spartans keeper Ryan Scharf, who did just about all a keeper could do in the face of Lake Park’s intense attack.
But after the Lancers’ fourth corner kick arrived and went uncleared in the box in the 13th minute, Lake Park junior midfielder Matteo Costa sprung free behind a crowd and poked it past a charging Scharf from six yards out.
Costa has now scored a goal in each of Lake Park’s four games.
The Lancers continued to pressure and went up 2-0 in the 26th minute when junior defender Tom Zakic pounced on a ball near the goalmouth. The tally was set up by a free kick sent in by senior mid Sebastian Glodz.
After playing well in a 4-1 season-opening win over Wheaton North, St. Francis was stunned.
“We were prepared, but I don’t think our minds were in the place they needed to be,” Spartans junior mid Sean Conley said. “We lost focus and after this game, we need to find it again.”
After halftime, Lake Park sidestepped the complacency that sometimes comes with a 2-0 lead and kept attacking.
“We got two goals in the first half, and we had the mental approach to get two more in the second,” Juarez said. “We stayed hungry for more goals.”
In the 52nd minute, Scharf made a fine diving save to his left near the post, with the deflection rolling along the endline. Glodz hustled after it and served a perfect feed to the far post, where Juarez calmly tapped it in to give the Lancers a 3-0 lead.
With his second assist on the day and for keying a vital third goal for Lake Park, Glodz was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“(Glodz) read it and pounced on it,” Crosby said. “He gets (forward) for us quite a bit and when he does that at the right moments, it’s great for us. And he’s composed enough to help us defensively, too. But for him to pounce on that and slot it across, that was great vision and something we’ve been working on. If we can re-create that and find that spot-ball and get chances through that, we’ll be tough to defend.”
Junior mid Gabriel Mendrano took a pass deep on the right side from senior mid Brent Hatfield and his goal at 55 minutes finished the day’s scoring for Lake Park.
“We were just really focused to possess today and we applied pressure really quick,” Juarez said. “We play as a team, and we train how we play. There are times when you have to be selfish, like when you’re alone in front of the goal. We’ve won every game in the tournament so far, and we’re hoping to win it.”
“It was probably our best attacking game as a unit,” Crosby said. “We were unselfish, played the ball better, and played it quicker in the attacking third. The first two goals were kind of scrums in the box and we put them in, but the next two came on great attacking plays when we shared the ball, played it quick, and pretty much had one-touch finishes in danger areas.”
While Ward was unhappy with the way his boys played overall, the Spartans’ attack did come to life during the game’s final 20 minutes.
Senior defender Ethan Grosam ripped a shot right at the chest and into the hands of Lake Park freshman keeper Kyle Czeremuga at 60 minutes, before the Spartans finally ended their drought at 64 minutes.
Czeremuga made a solid save on a Grosam penalty kick but Conley followed it up to tap in the rebound.
“We came out flat, and it took four (Lake Park) goals for us to play hard,” Conley said. “We turned it on at the end and had a lot more chances. In the first half we probably only had three or four shots.
“We were outnumbered in the midfield in the first half, but we figured it out towards the end of the game, and started moving the ball instead of dribbling so much.”
Grosam finished the scoring late in the game, chasing down a through-ball behind the defense and finishing past Czeremuga from 10 yards. Ward acknowledged his side’s better play down the stretch but bemoaned the lack of energy the Spartans displayed for 60 minutes.
Ward wondered if the Spartans’ quality win over Wheaton North didn’t play a role in Tuesday’s loss.
“I think maybe we drank our own Kool-Aid a little bit,” he said. “The effort was there (vs. Wheaton North) from the minute we stepped on. We had a good game right there and then maybe thought that things might come easy. But you need to show up every game, and focus and concentrate. Maybe we learned a lesson. We’re much better than what we showed today.”
Ward applauded Conley’s work rate in the loss, while Crosby had a large contingency of Lancers to thank for his side’s win.
Czeremuga filled in for junior keeper Christian Lekki, who sat out due to a red card infraction in the Lancers’ 2-0 win over York on Saturday. Czeremuga looked good in his first varsity start, and his confidence rose quickly from the outset.
“It was a phenomenal game by Kyle,” Crosby said. “He played fantastic, and he stepped up. The first couple plays of the game he probably had some nerves going, and he bobbled a couple of balls, but then he got plugged in and made some really nice saves. Even on (St. Francis’) penalty kick, he jumped on it right. If it wasn’t for a little bit of lazy defense, we would have kept that goal out. He played like a big-time player today.”
Crosby also liked the game junior mid Franco Presta played in connecting the defense to the attack. It was a good handful of quality diagonal balls sent forward by Presta that helped spark the Lancers’ early attacking play.
Lake Park has outscored opponents 10-4 through four games, and central defenders Zakic and junior Max Ellenbecker have keyed the backline thus far.
“Tommy and Max have great size, and they’ve come out much quicker this year,” Crosby said. “They’ve got more poise and confidence than they had last year as sophomores, too. They’re really showing the benefits of the year of varsity experience they had last year. They’ve had phenomenal games for us throughout the tournament.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
GK: Kyle Czeremuga
D: Max Ellenbecker
D: Tom Zakic
D: Sebastian Augustyn
D: Daniel Nocek
M: Sebastian Glodz
M: Matteo Costa
M: Andrew Eliopoulos
M: Franco Presta
M: Bret Hatfield
F: Jesus Juarez
St. Francis
GK: Ryan Scharf
D: Ethan Grosam
D: Trey Gora
D: Henry Roback
D: Jacob Power
M: Ryan Pennington
M: Nicholas Gulli
M: Samuel Audy
M: Frank Marsico
M: Sean Conley
F: Leo Herard
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sebastian Glodz, sr., MF, Lake Park
Scoring summary
1st half
Lake Park: Costa
Lake Park: Zakic (Glodz)
2nd half
Lake Park: Juarez (Glodz)
Lake Park: Mendrano (Hatfield)
St. Francis: Conley
St. Francis: Grosam