Oak Park and River Forest stuns St. Patrick
Brown’s goal gives Huskies a 2-1 win over top-ranked Shamrocks
By Gary Larsen
OAK PARK — A senior on Senior Night getting a game-tying assist and then a game-winning goal is special, but doing it against the previously unbeaten, top-ranked team in Illinois?
“It’s euphoric,” Oak Park and River Forest senior Evan Brown said. “It’s incredible.”
Brown assisted on a Ben Ryan goal and then scored one himself in the Huskies’ 2-1 win over high-flying St. Patrick, handing the Shamrocks their first loss of the season.
And it could have been worse.
“To be honest, they could have scored a couple more on us,” St. Patrick coach Kyle McClure said. “You have to give them credit. They flat-out outplayed us tonight.”
St. Patrick (19-1-2) is ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 and Oak Park and River Forest (11-3-2) is ranked no. 23. Both teams like to play a wide-open attacking style and through 40 minutes, St. Patrick held the edge and led 1-0 on a Josh Torres penalty kick.
But the second half belonged to the host Huskies.
“We knew we had chances, and we knew we could keep up with them,” Huskies senior mid Mateja Tadic said. “We just had to keep pushing them. They were a little on their heels so we used that as motivation to keep pushing at them.”
St. Patrick applied good pressure to open Thursday’s game and earned multiple set piece chances built on that attacking pressure through 40 minutes. Still, the Shamrocks struggled to turn those set pieces into bona fide scoring chances.
“We weren’t aggressive enough in the offensive box,” McClure said. “We had a lot of corners, throw-ins, and free kicks, and we just weren’t physical enough against a physical team. That’s something we have to learn from because if we do that in the playoffs, we’ll have the same result. So this will be a learning experience for us.”
Oak Park and River Forest nearly struck first in the game at 30 minutes, but Zaahir Hall’s shot from 14 yards hit the post, and St. Patrick keeper Jorge Cebrero quickly pounced on the rebound.
The final minute of the first half contained more high drama than typically happens during the final ticks of the clock.
For starters, Torres was fouled in the box at 39 minutes and converted a penalty kick to give the Shamrocks a 1-0 lead. On their ensuing trip upfield, the Huskies earned a free kick and with time running down, Tadic lined it up from 23 yards.
Tadic bent a perfect kick headed inside the near post, but Cebrero went airborne to make a fine diving stop just before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Cebrero’s play between the pipes all day wasn’t lost on Huskies coach Jason Fried.
“Their keeper was incredible today,” Fried said. “He made some great saves.”
St. Patrick’s Aaron Moreno-Lopez has a good chance on his foot from 22 yards but Huskies keeper Sam Pecenka saved it at 43 minutes, and soon thereafter Oak Park and River Forest seemed to find its groove.
The Huskies have been working on using the space on the field better, and for most of the second half they implemented what has been a focal point in practice recently.
“We came and worked hard in practice and made some adjustments,” Tadic said. “Today we executed what the coaches told us for two halves against a great team.”
A wild scrum in front of the St. Patrick goal culminated in a shot sent high by Tadic at 48 minutes. The Shamrocks found a few deep throw-ins leading to the 53rd minute, before the Huskies began finding dangerous space in their final third.
Paul Garcia nearly got on the end of a Daniel Karkut cross at 55 minutes, and Tadic sent a good chance from distance off frame at 56 minutes.
Cebrero pounced on a goalmouth serve from Brown at 61 minutes, before Brown made his first stamp on the box score.
At 62 minutes, Tadic found Brown up the left touchline and Brown sent a long serve to the far post, where a hard-charging Ryan got to it and deposited the game-tying goal.
Pecenka made a quality kick-save of a shot taken in the box by St. Patrick’s Sebastian Estrada, and Cebrero save a good shot from distance taken at 66 minutes by Oak Park and River Forest’s Antony Silvetti-Schmitt.
Brown’s game-winner came at 69 minutes. Tadic unleashed him on another run up the left side. Brown looked up and didn’t hesitate.
“(Cebrero) was shifted to the near post, and I always like to shoot at the far post,” Brown said. “So that was my trigger point. Seeing that gap, it’s automatic.
“After I hit it, I was looking away. I thought it was going to hit the post or even go a little bit wide. Then I took a peak back and saw it was going inside the post.”
Brown’s big night earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.
The final 10 minutes were heated and the Huskies missed a penalty kick that would have made it 3-1 in the waning minutes.
That penalty was earned by Garcia, who went in alone on net and was tripped from behind. Garcia didn’t earn a spot in Thursday’s scoring summary but his play stood out.
“(Garcia) played center forward for us tonight, and he really showed up,” Fried said. “He pressured really well and was fighting guys off. He’s not a big kid, but he’s really strong, and he’s so talented. I thought today he was zoned in and focused. He’s a great player, and I thought he made a huge difference tonight.”
At the final buzzer, both teams had exactly the correct reaction to the final result: the host Huskies celebrated wildly for beating no. 1 St. Patrick; and the Shamrocks were dejected over the loss and a little bit angry.
Mainly at themselves.
The Shamrocks went into Thursday’s game feeling good after a dominant 10-1 win over Saint Viator one day earlier, but that win may have instilled a bit of overconfidence.
“I think we thought we had this in the bag, especially after yesterday,” St. Patrick captain Adam Przytula said. “We played a pretty decent team in Saint Viator and played one of our better games of the season. We played well, and I think we got too comfortable, thinking every game’s going to be like that.
“Oak Park is a very good team. They’re not ranked as high as us so we thought it was going to be the same thing as yesterday. We need to humble ourselves. We can’t think everything is going to be handed to us.”
Things will get no easier moving forward for St. Patrick. The Shamrocks have no. 2 Morton and no. 5 Benet as the final games on their regular. season schedule. Then they embark to the postseason as the no. 1 seed in the Class 3A Glenbrook South Sectional.
“It sucks to lose but if we’re going to lose, now is the time to do it because we’ve got Morton on Sunday in a (PepsiCo) tournament championship game, Benet on Tuesday in what will probably be (an East Suburban Catholic conference) championship game, and then we’re into playoff games," McClure said.
“We need to be at our best during the playoffs so it’s about learning from this and getting better because of it. We made some of the mistakes we’ve made all season but have been talented enough to overcome them.”
For Oak Park and River Forest, one of the night’s biggest tips of the hat went to the Huskies’ bench players, who entered the game and kept the team’s play and intensity at a high level.
“(Brown) came off the bench and played lights out today,” Fried said. “Dan Karkut, a defender, he didn’t start but played a lot of the game and he played lights out, too. He’s a great defender, and he got a moment like this and was one of our best defenders today. Then Caleb Pacheco was in the middle helping us out a ton. Nothing dropped off today.”
Tadic agreed.
“No matter who came in, everyone worked and the intensity never dropped,” Tadic said. “If we made mistakes, everyone was fighting back, and we all kept pushing, and that’s what we needed.”
Oak Park and River Forest has York and Fenwick left to play in the regular season before opening postseason play as the no. 3 seed of the 3A Lyons Sectional.
Starting lineups
OPRF
GK: Sam Pecenka
D: Jai Hsieh-Bailey
D: Bram Lebovitz
D: Zeke Rivera
D: Zach Buchta
M: Antony Silvetti-Schmitt
M: Miles Hirshman
M: Ben Ryan
M: Mateja Tadic
M: Zaahir Hall
F: Paul Garcia
St. Patrick
GK: Jorge Cebrero
D: Adam Przytula
D: Collin Kroeger
D: Leonardo Magana
M: Angel Adame
M: Luis Angel Saucedo
M: Jonathan Rodriquez
M: Jaden Buelvas
M: Aaron Moreno-Lopez
F: Sebastian Modrzejewski
F: Joshua Torres
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Evan Brown, sr., F, Oak Park and River Forest
Scoring summary
First half
St. Patrick — Torres (PK) 39 minutes
Second half
Oak Park and River Forest — Ryan (Brown) 62 minutes
Oak Park and River Forest — Brown (Tadic) 69 minutes
Brown’s goal gives Huskies a 2-1 win over top-ranked Shamrocks
By Gary Larsen
OAK PARK — A senior on Senior Night getting a game-tying assist and then a game-winning goal is special, but doing it against the previously unbeaten, top-ranked team in Illinois?
“It’s euphoric,” Oak Park and River Forest senior Evan Brown said. “It’s incredible.”
Brown assisted on a Ben Ryan goal and then scored one himself in the Huskies’ 2-1 win over high-flying St. Patrick, handing the Shamrocks their first loss of the season.
And it could have been worse.
“To be honest, they could have scored a couple more on us,” St. Patrick coach Kyle McClure said. “You have to give them credit. They flat-out outplayed us tonight.”
St. Patrick (19-1-2) is ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 and Oak Park and River Forest (11-3-2) is ranked no. 23. Both teams like to play a wide-open attacking style and through 40 minutes, St. Patrick held the edge and led 1-0 on a Josh Torres penalty kick.
But the second half belonged to the host Huskies.
“We knew we had chances, and we knew we could keep up with them,” Huskies senior mid Mateja Tadic said. “We just had to keep pushing them. They were a little on their heels so we used that as motivation to keep pushing at them.”
St. Patrick applied good pressure to open Thursday’s game and earned multiple set piece chances built on that attacking pressure through 40 minutes. Still, the Shamrocks struggled to turn those set pieces into bona fide scoring chances.
“We weren’t aggressive enough in the offensive box,” McClure said. “We had a lot of corners, throw-ins, and free kicks, and we just weren’t physical enough against a physical team. That’s something we have to learn from because if we do that in the playoffs, we’ll have the same result. So this will be a learning experience for us.”
Oak Park and River Forest nearly struck first in the game at 30 minutes, but Zaahir Hall’s shot from 14 yards hit the post, and St. Patrick keeper Jorge Cebrero quickly pounced on the rebound.
The final minute of the first half contained more high drama than typically happens during the final ticks of the clock.
For starters, Torres was fouled in the box at 39 minutes and converted a penalty kick to give the Shamrocks a 1-0 lead. On their ensuing trip upfield, the Huskies earned a free kick and with time running down, Tadic lined it up from 23 yards.
Tadic bent a perfect kick headed inside the near post, but Cebrero went airborne to make a fine diving stop just before the halftime buzzer sounded.
Cebrero’s play between the pipes all day wasn’t lost on Huskies coach Jason Fried.
“Their keeper was incredible today,” Fried said. “He made some great saves.”
St. Patrick’s Aaron Moreno-Lopez has a good chance on his foot from 22 yards but Huskies keeper Sam Pecenka saved it at 43 minutes, and soon thereafter Oak Park and River Forest seemed to find its groove.
The Huskies have been working on using the space on the field better, and for most of the second half they implemented what has been a focal point in practice recently.
“We came and worked hard in practice and made some adjustments,” Tadic said. “Today we executed what the coaches told us for two halves against a great team.”
A wild scrum in front of the St. Patrick goal culminated in a shot sent high by Tadic at 48 minutes. The Shamrocks found a few deep throw-ins leading to the 53rd minute, before the Huskies began finding dangerous space in their final third.
Paul Garcia nearly got on the end of a Daniel Karkut cross at 55 minutes, and Tadic sent a good chance from distance off frame at 56 minutes.
Cebrero pounced on a goalmouth serve from Brown at 61 minutes, before Brown made his first stamp on the box score.
At 62 minutes, Tadic found Brown up the left touchline and Brown sent a long serve to the far post, where a hard-charging Ryan got to it and deposited the game-tying goal.
Pecenka made a quality kick-save of a shot taken in the box by St. Patrick’s Sebastian Estrada, and Cebrero save a good shot from distance taken at 66 minutes by Oak Park and River Forest’s Antony Silvetti-Schmitt.
Brown’s game-winner came at 69 minutes. Tadic unleashed him on another run up the left side. Brown looked up and didn’t hesitate.
“(Cebrero) was shifted to the near post, and I always like to shoot at the far post,” Brown said. “So that was my trigger point. Seeing that gap, it’s automatic.
“After I hit it, I was looking away. I thought it was going to hit the post or even go a little bit wide. Then I took a peak back and saw it was going inside the post.”
Brown’s big night earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.
The final 10 minutes were heated and the Huskies missed a penalty kick that would have made it 3-1 in the waning minutes.
That penalty was earned by Garcia, who went in alone on net and was tripped from behind. Garcia didn’t earn a spot in Thursday’s scoring summary but his play stood out.
“(Garcia) played center forward for us tonight, and he really showed up,” Fried said. “He pressured really well and was fighting guys off. He’s not a big kid, but he’s really strong, and he’s so talented. I thought today he was zoned in and focused. He’s a great player, and I thought he made a huge difference tonight.”
At the final buzzer, both teams had exactly the correct reaction to the final result: the host Huskies celebrated wildly for beating no. 1 St. Patrick; and the Shamrocks were dejected over the loss and a little bit angry.
Mainly at themselves.
The Shamrocks went into Thursday’s game feeling good after a dominant 10-1 win over Saint Viator one day earlier, but that win may have instilled a bit of overconfidence.
“I think we thought we had this in the bag, especially after yesterday,” St. Patrick captain Adam Przytula said. “We played a pretty decent team in Saint Viator and played one of our better games of the season. We played well, and I think we got too comfortable, thinking every game’s going to be like that.
“Oak Park is a very good team. They’re not ranked as high as us so we thought it was going to be the same thing as yesterday. We need to humble ourselves. We can’t think everything is going to be handed to us.”
Things will get no easier moving forward for St. Patrick. The Shamrocks have no. 2 Morton and no. 5 Benet as the final games on their regular. season schedule. Then they embark to the postseason as the no. 1 seed in the Class 3A Glenbrook South Sectional.
“It sucks to lose but if we’re going to lose, now is the time to do it because we’ve got Morton on Sunday in a (PepsiCo) tournament championship game, Benet on Tuesday in what will probably be (an East Suburban Catholic conference) championship game, and then we’re into playoff games," McClure said.
“We need to be at our best during the playoffs so it’s about learning from this and getting better because of it. We made some of the mistakes we’ve made all season but have been talented enough to overcome them.”
For Oak Park and River Forest, one of the night’s biggest tips of the hat went to the Huskies’ bench players, who entered the game and kept the team’s play and intensity at a high level.
“(Brown) came off the bench and played lights out today,” Fried said. “Dan Karkut, a defender, he didn’t start but played a lot of the game and he played lights out, too. He’s a great defender, and he got a moment like this and was one of our best defenders today. Then Caleb Pacheco was in the middle helping us out a ton. Nothing dropped off today.”
Tadic agreed.
“No matter who came in, everyone worked and the intensity never dropped,” Tadic said. “If we made mistakes, everyone was fighting back, and we all kept pushing, and that’s what we needed.”
Oak Park and River Forest has York and Fenwick left to play in the regular season before opening postseason play as the no. 3 seed of the 3A Lyons Sectional.
Starting lineups
OPRF
GK: Sam Pecenka
D: Jai Hsieh-Bailey
D: Bram Lebovitz
D: Zeke Rivera
D: Zach Buchta
M: Antony Silvetti-Schmitt
M: Miles Hirshman
M: Ben Ryan
M: Mateja Tadic
M: Zaahir Hall
F: Paul Garcia
St. Patrick
GK: Jorge Cebrero
D: Adam Przytula
D: Collin Kroeger
D: Leonardo Magana
M: Angel Adame
M: Luis Angel Saucedo
M: Jonathan Rodriquez
M: Jaden Buelvas
M: Aaron Moreno-Lopez
F: Sebastian Modrzejewski
F: Joshua Torres
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Evan Brown, sr., F, Oak Park and River Forest
Scoring summary
First half
St. Patrick — Torres (PK) 39 minutes
Second half
Oak Park and River Forest — Ryan (Brown) 62 minutes
Oak Park and River Forest — Brown (Tadic) 69 minutes