Better late than never
for OPRF against Saint Ignatius
2 Hauck CKs lead Huskies to win over shorthanded Wolfpack
By Curt Herron
OAK PARK -- Playing its home opener on Tuesday, unbeaten Oak Park and River Forest fell behind Saint Ignatius early and still trailed 1-0 just over an hour into the match.
The visitors led for nearly 50 minutes, with more than10 of those coming while they were down a man due to a red card, But the Huskies found the catalyst that they needed in order to help them capture their third-straight win.
Senior captain Alex Hauck served up a pair of corner kicks that resulted in goals by seniors Lindsey Foster and Ben Nisbet during a five-minute span to help them grab a 2-1 advantage in the battle of teams ranked in the special mention section of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. The hosts added two more late scores to capture a 4-1 victory at historic Oak Park Stadium.
Oak Park and River Forest (3-0-0) received late goals from junior Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey off of an assist from Foster and later from sophomore Easton Bogard to claim its first win against Illinois competition. The squad kicked off its season with a pair of victories against Indiana teams on Saturday in Indianapolis.
"It wasn't really working for us," Hauck said. "We were getting some half-chances in open play, but it was just a killer to score on two corners.
“The first one opened up everything for us since they realized that they weren't in their safety zone any more. And the second corner defeated them since 10 men knew that they had to get a goal.
"We were solid through basically two full games in Indianapolis where we didn't concede and a team scored off a set piece. And today was our fight. At halftime, I didn't think that we would lose. We won as a team, and we're celebrating as a team."
Huskies coach Jason Fried is not only pleased to see his team get off to a 3-0 start but also with how they performed Tuesday against the Wolfpack (0-1-1), a team that came off a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Stagg on Friday.
"When you play solid teams like Saint Ignatius and the teams that we do, you're probably going to be down at some points," Fried said. "I told them afterward that I was proud of them. They stayed calm, and they just worried about themselves and what they could control and kept going at it.
"And we were patient because it's hard to score against Saint Ignatius. Their goalie was great, and they have really good defenders. We created a lot of good opportunities but struggled a little bit getting shots on net.
“You can get easily frustrated when that happens, but they didn't tonight. We give our guys options and let them call them. They were really good and focused and used their brain and called the right plays and good things will happen, especially when you get the ball in the box with a plan."
The Huskies came out strong with good opportunities by Charlie Maguire and Sebastian Aguilar-Ripley during the opening 10 minutes, but it was St. Ignatius that struck first.
The Wolfpack made the most of their first good scoring chance and moved in front in the 14th minute when senior Jack Regan connected from about 10 yards following a throw-in from senior Isaac Rice.
"We scored a good goal, and I was proud of that one. It was nice to silence the crowd for a few minutes," Regan said. "It was unfortunate that we got the two yellows that sent off one of our players.
“That probably changed our entire momentum and confidence. I think from that point on, we let the crowd get in our head and kind of stopped playing our game that we know that we're good at where we are moving it around. I'm proud of us and things can only get better in the future."
Later in the opening half, Oak Park and River Forest’s Bogard and Hauck had shots cleared by defenders before St. Ignatius saw Oscar Quinn-Pasin and Lucas Hanna denied by Huskies keeper Clark Turk on long free kicks.
The home team threatened again shortly before the break when Hauck sent a corner to Nisbet, whose header was hauled in by Wolfpack keeper Liam McConnell.
Saint Ignatius' fortunes suddenly took a turn for the worse in the 52nd minute when Quinn-Pasin drew a second yellow card, leaving the visitors a man down the rest of the way.
"We had to persevere as soon as we had to play down," said Wolfpack coach Matt Miller, whose team opens Chicago Catholic League Blue Division play on Tuesday when they host Mount Carmel. "It changed the entire flow of the game.
“We were 1-nil up, I thought we were covering well with some good defensive plays, and we weren't being exposed too much and the game-changer was the red card. At that point, we had to adjust and changed our system and had some leaks.
"In the first 10 minutes, OPRF came out firing on all cylinders. Then we made a couple of adjustments and in the next 20 minutes we created a lot of problems and got the goal and really carried that momentum through to halftime."
In the 63rd minute, Bogard got free in front of the net and McConnell dove to deflect the attempt, which set up a corner kick. Hauck placed the ball in the box, and Foster connected for the equalizer.
Shortly after Bogard was denied, Hauck connected again on a corner kick, this time with Nisbet, who headed it in to put his team in front for good in the 68th minute.
"I really liked this game a lot," Nisbet said. "Our coach was talking at the half about how this was our first test of the year. We were at home and were down 1-0 in the first half after a friend of ours scored.
“It was really nice that we showed that we could overcome this and score on things that we don't score on, like set pieces, so that was satisfying.
"In Indianapolis, I was looking for headers so tonight I was really happy, and it was an unreal feeling. The quality that I like the most about this team is that I feel like we're growing into one group. I've played on a lot of teams where there were good players and egos, but this is the first time I feel like everyone is on the same page."
In the 76th minute, Hsieh-Bailey fired in a liner from about 20 yards following a pass from Foster, who recorded his fifth assist in three matches. And then after having several good chances, Bogard connected to complete the scoring.
Oak Park and River Forest hopes to continue its winning ways when it hosts Riverside-Brookfield on Thursday and then kicks off West Suburban Conference Silver Division play against no. 12 York on Tuesday in Elmhurst.
"Our starting 11 did an amazing job of keeping their cool when they scored on us," Huskies senior Caleb Robinson said. "We kept playing with a high intensity, and when we came in off the bench, we didn't slow down at all.
“We've been together through all four years of high school and even in middle school, so we have amazing chemistry with each other and are able to bond well on and off the field. Being able to have that type of bond with every person on the team is amazing, and it's what I love about this team the most."
Starting lineups
Saint Ignatius
GK - Liam McConnell
LB - Jaxson Hanlon
CB - Lucas Hanna
CB - Billy Thompson
RB - Cristian Rodriquez
DM - Jack Lowe
DM - Dillon Kraft
AM - Oscar Quinn-Pasin
LW - Jack Regan
RW - Tyler Masseur
CF - Isaac Rice
Oak Park and River Forest
G - Clark Turk
D - Sebastian Aguilar-Ripley
D - Tukura Hess
D - Josh Dennis
D - Ben Nisbet
M - Eric Jackson
M - Isaac Cummings
M - Alex Hauck
M - Charlie Maguire
F - Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey
F - Easton Bogard
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Alex Hauck, sr., MF, Oak Park and River Forest
Scoring summary
First half
SI - Jack Regan (Isaac Rice), 14
Second half
OPRF - Lindsey Foster (Alex Hauck), 63
OPRF - Ben Nisbet (Alex Hauck), 68
OPRF - Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey (Lindsey Foster), 76
OPRF - Easton Bogard, 78
for OPRF against Saint Ignatius
2 Hauck CKs lead Huskies to win over shorthanded Wolfpack
By Curt Herron
OAK PARK -- Playing its home opener on Tuesday, unbeaten Oak Park and River Forest fell behind Saint Ignatius early and still trailed 1-0 just over an hour into the match.
The visitors led for nearly 50 minutes, with more than10 of those coming while they were down a man due to a red card, But the Huskies found the catalyst that they needed in order to help them capture their third-straight win.
Senior captain Alex Hauck served up a pair of corner kicks that resulted in goals by seniors Lindsey Foster and Ben Nisbet during a five-minute span to help them grab a 2-1 advantage in the battle of teams ranked in the special mention section of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. The hosts added two more late scores to capture a 4-1 victory at historic Oak Park Stadium.
Oak Park and River Forest (3-0-0) received late goals from junior Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey off of an assist from Foster and later from sophomore Easton Bogard to claim its first win against Illinois competition. The squad kicked off its season with a pair of victories against Indiana teams on Saturday in Indianapolis.
"It wasn't really working for us," Hauck said. "We were getting some half-chances in open play, but it was just a killer to score on two corners.
“The first one opened up everything for us since they realized that they weren't in their safety zone any more. And the second corner defeated them since 10 men knew that they had to get a goal.
"We were solid through basically two full games in Indianapolis where we didn't concede and a team scored off a set piece. And today was our fight. At halftime, I didn't think that we would lose. We won as a team, and we're celebrating as a team."
Huskies coach Jason Fried is not only pleased to see his team get off to a 3-0 start but also with how they performed Tuesday against the Wolfpack (0-1-1), a team that came off a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Stagg on Friday.
"When you play solid teams like Saint Ignatius and the teams that we do, you're probably going to be down at some points," Fried said. "I told them afterward that I was proud of them. They stayed calm, and they just worried about themselves and what they could control and kept going at it.
"And we were patient because it's hard to score against Saint Ignatius. Their goalie was great, and they have really good defenders. We created a lot of good opportunities but struggled a little bit getting shots on net.
“You can get easily frustrated when that happens, but they didn't tonight. We give our guys options and let them call them. They were really good and focused and used their brain and called the right plays and good things will happen, especially when you get the ball in the box with a plan."
The Huskies came out strong with good opportunities by Charlie Maguire and Sebastian Aguilar-Ripley during the opening 10 minutes, but it was St. Ignatius that struck first.
The Wolfpack made the most of their first good scoring chance and moved in front in the 14th minute when senior Jack Regan connected from about 10 yards following a throw-in from senior Isaac Rice.
"We scored a good goal, and I was proud of that one. It was nice to silence the crowd for a few minutes," Regan said. "It was unfortunate that we got the two yellows that sent off one of our players.
“That probably changed our entire momentum and confidence. I think from that point on, we let the crowd get in our head and kind of stopped playing our game that we know that we're good at where we are moving it around. I'm proud of us and things can only get better in the future."
Later in the opening half, Oak Park and River Forest’s Bogard and Hauck had shots cleared by defenders before St. Ignatius saw Oscar Quinn-Pasin and Lucas Hanna denied by Huskies keeper Clark Turk on long free kicks.
The home team threatened again shortly before the break when Hauck sent a corner to Nisbet, whose header was hauled in by Wolfpack keeper Liam McConnell.
Saint Ignatius' fortunes suddenly took a turn for the worse in the 52nd minute when Quinn-Pasin drew a second yellow card, leaving the visitors a man down the rest of the way.
"We had to persevere as soon as we had to play down," said Wolfpack coach Matt Miller, whose team opens Chicago Catholic League Blue Division play on Tuesday when they host Mount Carmel. "It changed the entire flow of the game.
“We were 1-nil up, I thought we were covering well with some good defensive plays, and we weren't being exposed too much and the game-changer was the red card. At that point, we had to adjust and changed our system and had some leaks.
"In the first 10 minutes, OPRF came out firing on all cylinders. Then we made a couple of adjustments and in the next 20 minutes we created a lot of problems and got the goal and really carried that momentum through to halftime."
In the 63rd minute, Bogard got free in front of the net and McConnell dove to deflect the attempt, which set up a corner kick. Hauck placed the ball in the box, and Foster connected for the equalizer.
Shortly after Bogard was denied, Hauck connected again on a corner kick, this time with Nisbet, who headed it in to put his team in front for good in the 68th minute.
"I really liked this game a lot," Nisbet said. "Our coach was talking at the half about how this was our first test of the year. We were at home and were down 1-0 in the first half after a friend of ours scored.
“It was really nice that we showed that we could overcome this and score on things that we don't score on, like set pieces, so that was satisfying.
"In Indianapolis, I was looking for headers so tonight I was really happy, and it was an unreal feeling. The quality that I like the most about this team is that I feel like we're growing into one group. I've played on a lot of teams where there were good players and egos, but this is the first time I feel like everyone is on the same page."
In the 76th minute, Hsieh-Bailey fired in a liner from about 20 yards following a pass from Foster, who recorded his fifth assist in three matches. And then after having several good chances, Bogard connected to complete the scoring.
Oak Park and River Forest hopes to continue its winning ways when it hosts Riverside-Brookfield on Thursday and then kicks off West Suburban Conference Silver Division play against no. 12 York on Tuesday in Elmhurst.
"Our starting 11 did an amazing job of keeping their cool when they scored on us," Huskies senior Caleb Robinson said. "We kept playing with a high intensity, and when we came in off the bench, we didn't slow down at all.
“We've been together through all four years of high school and even in middle school, so we have amazing chemistry with each other and are able to bond well on and off the field. Being able to have that type of bond with every person on the team is amazing, and it's what I love about this team the most."
Starting lineups
Saint Ignatius
GK - Liam McConnell
LB - Jaxson Hanlon
CB - Lucas Hanna
CB - Billy Thompson
RB - Cristian Rodriquez
DM - Jack Lowe
DM - Dillon Kraft
AM - Oscar Quinn-Pasin
LW - Jack Regan
RW - Tyler Masseur
CF - Isaac Rice
Oak Park and River Forest
G - Clark Turk
D - Sebastian Aguilar-Ripley
D - Tukura Hess
D - Josh Dennis
D - Ben Nisbet
M - Eric Jackson
M - Isaac Cummings
M - Alex Hauck
M - Charlie Maguire
F - Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey
F - Easton Bogard
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Alex Hauck, sr., MF, Oak Park and River Forest
Scoring summary
First half
SI - Jack Regan (Isaac Rice), 14
Second half
OPRF - Lindsey Foster (Alex Hauck), 63
OPRF - Ben Nisbet (Alex Hauck), 68
OPRF - Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey (Lindsey Foster), 76
OPRF - Easton Bogard, 78