Missed early opportunities
cost Reavis in loss to Shepard
Defense leads Astros to 2-0 win, WCRC championship game
By Steve Millar
BURBANK – Playing in the Final Four of its own tournament, Reavis came out fast against South Suburban Conference Red Division rival Shepard on Tuesday night.
Unable to capitalize on some early chances, though, the Rams fell behind and could not recover.
Aidan Breslin and Zach Soltysiak scored to lead Shepard to a 2-0 win over host Reavis in a Windy City Ram Classic semifinal.
The Astros (4-1-0) advanced to take on Lockport (4-0-0) in the championship match of the 32-team tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday at Reavis.
Reavis (3-1-0) will take on crosstown rival St. Laurence (3-2-0) in the third place match set at 5:30 p.m.
“I thought we had a really, really good first half,” Reavis coach Mark Gniadek said. “We had two chances right in front of the goal that we couldn’t put in. Shepard is a good team, though. They’ve beaten some really good teams on their way to this game.
“They had some momentum going pretty good, and I’m sure they felt pretty good about themselves coming into this game. They played well.”
Shepard felt like it had earned redemption after also reaching the semifinals last season only to fall to Joliet West and settle for a win in the third place game.
“Last year we got third place. It was disappointing, because we thought we could be in the final against Lockport,” Zaid Jaber said. “Now we’re in the final against them, and we’ll see what happens.”
The senior defender earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his command of a backline that included Dimitri Latka, Ryan Plowman and Michael Rantisi.
Astros keeper Gannon Marin made five saves to record the shutout.
“The main thing was keeping our line straight,” Jaber said. “We struggled in the first half. The second half was better. We switched it up; we got a little stronger. We got the ball up the field. Guys started scoring up-top. That got us momentum and got the feel going.”
Reavis knew it could have been a different game if some early chances were finished.
Emanuel Montero and Diego Corona fired high and wide, respectively, on a couple good looks in the first 10 minutes.
“There were a couple balls we crossed in that we could have finished, but that happens,” Montero said. “It’s stuff that we can fix. We have to work on it in practice.”
Shepard capitalized on one of its first prime scoring chances and broke through in the 11th minute.
Shifty midfielder Aidan Breslin took a pass from Filip Zawodniak 40 yards from goal and weaved his way through multiple defenders down the left side of the field before ripping a shot from 15 yards inside the right post for the opening goal.
“I got the pass, and I was in open space,” Breslin said. “I knew I could take a couple of those guys. I got past them, shot for the far post and it went in.
“It felt good to score early. I should have had a goal three minutes in and missed it, so it was good to get that goal a few minutes later.”
On the Reavis side, Gniadek saw a failure to adjust to Shepard attacking in different ways.
“Shepard is the first team that started attacking us really through the middle,” Gniadek said. “Our first three opponents hit it more over the top. Our guys didn’t mark (Breslin) in the middle, and he’s a good player. He got in and was able to bury one.”
Reavis’ Diego Ochoa had a couple chances to equalize later in the first half. He hit a high, looping shot that Marin had to leap to save in the 20th minute. A minute later, Ochoa fired another shot on goal from 20 yards that Marin was able to catch.
Shepard took momentum into the second half and Montero was not happy with how the Rams responded.
“I feel like we played well in the first half,” Montero said. “We were fighting. But in the second half, we just started giving up. We weren’t doing much. The middle started shutting down and that created a domino effect and got to everyone else.”
Montero did get a couple chances over the final 35 minutes, including less than two minutes into the second half when Galileo Figueroa’s free kick from 40 yards found him in front of the net. Montero’s shot was deflected by a defender and went just wide.
Shepard got some cushion with 18:30 to play when Damyan Villanueva tracked the ball down just shy of the left sideline and quickly played a well-placed cross into the box, where Soltysiak headed it home.
“I think we have one of the most dangerous fronts in the area right now,” Breslin said. “Our team chemistry has been huge. Everyone gets along on the field, off the field. Everyone likes each other. That’s something that not everyone has.”
With the Windy City Ram Classic bracket decided by random draw, many may have thought Shepard got the short straw when they were matched up against Lincoln-Way Central in the first round.
The Knights went 17-2-2 in 2021, but the Astros knocked them off 2-1, prevailing in a nine-round shootout.
That started Shepard’s journey to the championship game.
“As long as we get the momentum going early in games, we’re good,” Shepard coach Zeno Toscas said. “I think the momentum has been rolling for us ever since Lincoln-Way Central.”
Reavis, meanwhile, will try to get some momentum of its own back, starting with Thursday’s Battle of Burbank against St. Laurence for third place.
“We played them twice in the summer,” Gniadek said of the Vikings. “The kids all know each other. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, for sure.”
Further down the line, the Rams will now have Sept. 20 circled. That’s when they will get a rematch against Shepard, this time with a key conference win on the line.
“We have potential,” Montero said. “I still think we can win conference. We’re going to keep this loss in the back of our heads and when the day the conference game against them comes, hopefully we can build up the rage and fight back.”
Starting lineups
Shepard
GK: Gannon Marin
D: Zaid Jaber
D: Dimitri Latka
D: Ryan Plowman
D: Michael Rantisi
MF: Filip Zawodniak
MF: Stanley Plaza
MF: Carlos Martinez
MF: Damyan Villanueva
MF: Aidan Breslin
F: Zach Soltysiak
Reavis
GK: Jacob Nosek
D: Julian Menchaca
D: Magic Figueroa
D: Joseph Munoz
D: Uriel Urbina
MF: Emanuel Montero
MF: Carlos Ramos
MF: Galileo Figueroa
MF: Diego Ochoa
F: Diego Corona
F: Nikolas Rimsky
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Zaid Jaber, sr., D, Shepard
Scoring summary
First half
Shepard: Breslin (Zawodniak), 11’
Second half
Shepard: Soltysiak (Villanueva), 52’
cost Reavis in loss to Shepard
Defense leads Astros to 2-0 win, WCRC championship game
By Steve Millar
BURBANK – Playing in the Final Four of its own tournament, Reavis came out fast against South Suburban Conference Red Division rival Shepard on Tuesday night.
Unable to capitalize on some early chances, though, the Rams fell behind and could not recover.
Aidan Breslin and Zach Soltysiak scored to lead Shepard to a 2-0 win over host Reavis in a Windy City Ram Classic semifinal.
The Astros (4-1-0) advanced to take on Lockport (4-0-0) in the championship match of the 32-team tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday at Reavis.
Reavis (3-1-0) will take on crosstown rival St. Laurence (3-2-0) in the third place match set at 5:30 p.m.
“I thought we had a really, really good first half,” Reavis coach Mark Gniadek said. “We had two chances right in front of the goal that we couldn’t put in. Shepard is a good team, though. They’ve beaten some really good teams on their way to this game.
“They had some momentum going pretty good, and I’m sure they felt pretty good about themselves coming into this game. They played well.”
Shepard felt like it had earned redemption after also reaching the semifinals last season only to fall to Joliet West and settle for a win in the third place game.
“Last year we got third place. It was disappointing, because we thought we could be in the final against Lockport,” Zaid Jaber said. “Now we’re in the final against them, and we’ll see what happens.”
The senior defender earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his command of a backline that included Dimitri Latka, Ryan Plowman and Michael Rantisi.
Astros keeper Gannon Marin made five saves to record the shutout.
“The main thing was keeping our line straight,” Jaber said. “We struggled in the first half. The second half was better. We switched it up; we got a little stronger. We got the ball up the field. Guys started scoring up-top. That got us momentum and got the feel going.”
Reavis knew it could have been a different game if some early chances were finished.
Emanuel Montero and Diego Corona fired high and wide, respectively, on a couple good looks in the first 10 minutes.
“There were a couple balls we crossed in that we could have finished, but that happens,” Montero said. “It’s stuff that we can fix. We have to work on it in practice.”
Shepard capitalized on one of its first prime scoring chances and broke through in the 11th minute.
Shifty midfielder Aidan Breslin took a pass from Filip Zawodniak 40 yards from goal and weaved his way through multiple defenders down the left side of the field before ripping a shot from 15 yards inside the right post for the opening goal.
“I got the pass, and I was in open space,” Breslin said. “I knew I could take a couple of those guys. I got past them, shot for the far post and it went in.
“It felt good to score early. I should have had a goal three minutes in and missed it, so it was good to get that goal a few minutes later.”
On the Reavis side, Gniadek saw a failure to adjust to Shepard attacking in different ways.
“Shepard is the first team that started attacking us really through the middle,” Gniadek said. “Our first three opponents hit it more over the top. Our guys didn’t mark (Breslin) in the middle, and he’s a good player. He got in and was able to bury one.”
Reavis’ Diego Ochoa had a couple chances to equalize later in the first half. He hit a high, looping shot that Marin had to leap to save in the 20th minute. A minute later, Ochoa fired another shot on goal from 20 yards that Marin was able to catch.
Shepard took momentum into the second half and Montero was not happy with how the Rams responded.
“I feel like we played well in the first half,” Montero said. “We were fighting. But in the second half, we just started giving up. We weren’t doing much. The middle started shutting down and that created a domino effect and got to everyone else.”
Montero did get a couple chances over the final 35 minutes, including less than two minutes into the second half when Galileo Figueroa’s free kick from 40 yards found him in front of the net. Montero’s shot was deflected by a defender and went just wide.
Shepard got some cushion with 18:30 to play when Damyan Villanueva tracked the ball down just shy of the left sideline and quickly played a well-placed cross into the box, where Soltysiak headed it home.
“I think we have one of the most dangerous fronts in the area right now,” Breslin said. “Our team chemistry has been huge. Everyone gets along on the field, off the field. Everyone likes each other. That’s something that not everyone has.”
With the Windy City Ram Classic bracket decided by random draw, many may have thought Shepard got the short straw when they were matched up against Lincoln-Way Central in the first round.
The Knights went 17-2-2 in 2021, but the Astros knocked them off 2-1, prevailing in a nine-round shootout.
That started Shepard’s journey to the championship game.
“As long as we get the momentum going early in games, we’re good,” Shepard coach Zeno Toscas said. “I think the momentum has been rolling for us ever since Lincoln-Way Central.”
Reavis, meanwhile, will try to get some momentum of its own back, starting with Thursday’s Battle of Burbank against St. Laurence for third place.
“We played them twice in the summer,” Gniadek said of the Vikings. “The kids all know each other. It’s going to be a great atmosphere, for sure.”
Further down the line, the Rams will now have Sept. 20 circled. That’s when they will get a rematch against Shepard, this time with a key conference win on the line.
“We have potential,” Montero said. “I still think we can win conference. We’re going to keep this loss in the back of our heads and when the day the conference game against them comes, hopefully we can build up the rage and fight back.”
Starting lineups
Shepard
GK: Gannon Marin
D: Zaid Jaber
D: Dimitri Latka
D: Ryan Plowman
D: Michael Rantisi
MF: Filip Zawodniak
MF: Stanley Plaza
MF: Carlos Martinez
MF: Damyan Villanueva
MF: Aidan Breslin
F: Zach Soltysiak
Reavis
GK: Jacob Nosek
D: Julian Menchaca
D: Magic Figueroa
D: Joseph Munoz
D: Uriel Urbina
MF: Emanuel Montero
MF: Carlos Ramos
MF: Galileo Figueroa
MF: Diego Ochoa
F: Diego Corona
F: Nikolas Rimsky
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Zaid Jaber, sr., D, Shepard
Scoring summary
First half
Shepard: Breslin (Zawodniak), 11’
Second half
Shepard: Soltysiak (Villanueva), 52’