Gricus sparks Brother Rice,
but Stagg rallies for victory
Chargers score 3 in less than 8 minutes to take opening night win
By Steve Millar
CHICAGO – Jimmy Gricus is only a sophomore, but the midfielder was named as one of two captains for Brother Rice this season alongside senior Roman Harris.
It’s an honor Gricus does not take lightly.
“I’m very proud to be one of two captains of this great program that has a lot of great history,” Gricus said. “It means a lot to wear the captain’s armband and lead the team.
“I know that I have to make sure guys are getting along and doing the right thing.”
Gricus got the Crusaders’ season off to a fast start, scoring less than three minutes into Monday’s opening match. But visiting Stagg quickly rallied for three goals in an eight-minute span and held on for a 3-1 victory.
“Stagg has some guys who pose some real problems in the box and when we don’t track runners, we’re making things easy for them,” Brother Rice coach Matt Prunckle said. “Going forward, we’ve got to focus on keeping that goals-against average at one or below.”
Stagg (1-0-0) got goals from junior midfielder Piotr Zawislan, junior defender Steven Potoczny and senior forward Abdallah Omar to erase the early lead for the Crusaders (0-1-0). The two sides combined for four goals in the opening 18 minutes.
Potoczny, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, helped Stagg’s defense clamp down after allowing the opening goal. He also played several dangerous balls on set pieces, including his free-kick goal in the 13th minute that put the Chargers ahead for good.
“After they scored, we just picked our heads up and played on for the rest of the game and turned things into our favor, scoring those three goals,” Potoczny said.
“Because it happened so early, we decided we had to step up and do something about it. That’s exactly what we did, and I was really proud of how we played.”
Gricus delivered on Brother Rice’s first scoring chance of the season. On a free kick from 20 yards, just to the right of the box, he ripped a shot high and inside the near post to put the Crusaders in front.
“I just hit it, and it went in,” Gricus said. “It’s great. It was a great start to the season. It would have been even better if we could have ended up with a win, but I have something to build on and hopefully the team has something to build on.”
Brother Rice struggled to score at times during a 9-13-2 season in 2021, so Prunckle knows it’s imperative to take advantage of chances like the one Gricus got early Monday.
“That was our one shot on goal in the first half,” Prunckle said. “We had a few in the second half but not many that challenged their goalkeeper. So, it’s huge to put away those opportunities when we get them. That’s what Jimmy’s going to have to do. It’s a big question mark in terms of who is going to be our goal-scorer.”
Prunckle said Gricus earned the captain’s armband, impressing teammates and coaches as a freshman last season and in offseason training.
“Hopefully his character can be contagious to the other guys,” Prunckle said. “That’s why he’s captain. We’ve got mostly all sophomores and juniors, anyway, and I think all of them look up to the seniors and down to (him). We have real respect for Jimmy and what he’s all about.”
Prunckle said Gricus reminds him of former Crusaders all-stater Jack Finnegan, who is now playing at Wisconsin.
“He’s not where Jack is in terms of a technical skill player, but he’s got that same fight and grit,” Prunckle said. “He’s coming off a little bit of an injury and didn’t play in our scrimmage Friday, but he wanted to get out there. He knows a lot of the guys from Stagg. Him putting one away early was great.”
However, motivated Stagg was quick to respond.
In the 10th minute, Nick Soto’s free kick from 35 yards was deflected and ended up on the left side of the box, where Zawislan tracked it down and ripped it in to tie the game.
Less than three minutes later, the Chargers earned another free kick opportunity, this one along the right sideline near the corner.
Potoczny sent in a bouncing ball that snuck its way through traffic and into the far side of the net to give Stagg the lead for good.
“I was really looking to cross it; but I guess I got a lucky bounce, and it happened to find its way into the back of the net,” Potoczny said.
Stagg coach Mike Kealy said Potoczny brings a variety of skills to the team.
“Steven played left back for us last year,” Kealy said. “He’ll play center back and some left back for us this year. But he plays on the flank for club, so he’s definitely skilled in his attack. He’s very athletic, very fast, very strong.
“He’s very confident on the ball under pressure in the back, so that’s why we’ve got to keep him back there.”
Omar continued Stagg’s surge in the 18th minute as he found himself unmarked in front of the goal off Bart Jaskowski’s long free kick from just past midfield. Omar headed it home to make it 3-1.
“It was great communication,” Omar said. “I knew it was a long kick, but I knew Bart was going to get me the ball. He did, and I hit it in.”
Down 3-1 at halftime, Prunckle was happy with Brother Rice’s effort in the second half. The Crusaders created some scoring opportunities but could not connect.
Gricus nearly made it an opening-night brace with 32 minutes to play, ripping a free kick from 35 yards toward the inside of the right post. But Chargers goalkeeper Ryan Green (six saves) was able to punch it wide.
Off the ensuing corner kick, Javier Franco missed wide on a header.
Brother Rice had five free kicks within striking distance and two corner kicks in the second half.
With just over 26 minutes remaining, the Crusaders’ Julian Zambrano played a dangerous ball from 40 yards into the box where Jovani Zuniga was able to head it on frame, but Green made the save.
Sophomore midfielder Angelo Piech was also able to generate a couple opportunities for Brother Rice, including a rolling shot from 25 yards that Green saved in the 60th minute.
“I thought we responded well in the second half,” Prunckle said. “We kind of settled down in the back, we didn’t commit dumb fouls to give them chances. We created some chances.
“It’s just locking in. It’s simple things that cost us in the first half. It’s not tracking runners on the outside. We had a bad foul to set up their second goal. Then we can’t let the ball slip through on the free kick like that. That’s an easy one.”
With the Crusaders set to visit Sandburg on Thursday as the next part of a challenging early-season slate, Gricus knows what he and his teammates must do.
“Keep working, keep our heads down,” Gricus said. “We know we’re good. We played a tough team (Monday), but we know we can go far.’”
Starting lineups
Stagg
GK: Ryan Green
D: Steven Potoczny
D: Amr Kashour
D: Christian Nowak
D: Bart Jaskowski
MF: Kacper Dzuibek
MF: Jan Halcin
MF: Nick Soto
MF: Piotr Zawislan
F: Kamil Bak
F: Abdallah Omar
Brother Rice
GK: Joshua Harris
D: Mason Mroz
D: Roman Harris
D: Julian Cervantes
D: Jovani Zuniga
MF: Jimmy Gricus
MF: Bruce Harris
MF: Julian Zambrano
MF: Angelo Piech
F: Mateo Del Bosque
F: Salvador Perez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Steven Potoczny, jr., D, Stagg
Scoring summary
First half
Brother Rice: Gricus (free kick), 3rd minute
Stagg: Zawislan (Soto), 10th minute
Stagg: Potoczny (free kick), 13th minute
Stagg: Omar (Jaskowski), 18th minute
Second half
No scoring
but Stagg rallies for victory
Chargers score 3 in less than 8 minutes to take opening night win
By Steve Millar
CHICAGO – Jimmy Gricus is only a sophomore, but the midfielder was named as one of two captains for Brother Rice this season alongside senior Roman Harris.
It’s an honor Gricus does not take lightly.
“I’m very proud to be one of two captains of this great program that has a lot of great history,” Gricus said. “It means a lot to wear the captain’s armband and lead the team.
“I know that I have to make sure guys are getting along and doing the right thing.”
Gricus got the Crusaders’ season off to a fast start, scoring less than three minutes into Monday’s opening match. But visiting Stagg quickly rallied for three goals in an eight-minute span and held on for a 3-1 victory.
“Stagg has some guys who pose some real problems in the box and when we don’t track runners, we’re making things easy for them,” Brother Rice coach Matt Prunckle said. “Going forward, we’ve got to focus on keeping that goals-against average at one or below.”
Stagg (1-0-0) got goals from junior midfielder Piotr Zawislan, junior defender Steven Potoczny and senior forward Abdallah Omar to erase the early lead for the Crusaders (0-1-0). The two sides combined for four goals in the opening 18 minutes.
Potoczny, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, helped Stagg’s defense clamp down after allowing the opening goal. He also played several dangerous balls on set pieces, including his free-kick goal in the 13th minute that put the Chargers ahead for good.
“After they scored, we just picked our heads up and played on for the rest of the game and turned things into our favor, scoring those three goals,” Potoczny said.
“Because it happened so early, we decided we had to step up and do something about it. That’s exactly what we did, and I was really proud of how we played.”
Gricus delivered on Brother Rice’s first scoring chance of the season. On a free kick from 20 yards, just to the right of the box, he ripped a shot high and inside the near post to put the Crusaders in front.
“I just hit it, and it went in,” Gricus said. “It’s great. It was a great start to the season. It would have been even better if we could have ended up with a win, but I have something to build on and hopefully the team has something to build on.”
Brother Rice struggled to score at times during a 9-13-2 season in 2021, so Prunckle knows it’s imperative to take advantage of chances like the one Gricus got early Monday.
“That was our one shot on goal in the first half,” Prunckle said. “We had a few in the second half but not many that challenged their goalkeeper. So, it’s huge to put away those opportunities when we get them. That’s what Jimmy’s going to have to do. It’s a big question mark in terms of who is going to be our goal-scorer.”
Prunckle said Gricus earned the captain’s armband, impressing teammates and coaches as a freshman last season and in offseason training.
“Hopefully his character can be contagious to the other guys,” Prunckle said. “That’s why he’s captain. We’ve got mostly all sophomores and juniors, anyway, and I think all of them look up to the seniors and down to (him). We have real respect for Jimmy and what he’s all about.”
Prunckle said Gricus reminds him of former Crusaders all-stater Jack Finnegan, who is now playing at Wisconsin.
“He’s not where Jack is in terms of a technical skill player, but he’s got that same fight and grit,” Prunckle said. “He’s coming off a little bit of an injury and didn’t play in our scrimmage Friday, but he wanted to get out there. He knows a lot of the guys from Stagg. Him putting one away early was great.”
However, motivated Stagg was quick to respond.
In the 10th minute, Nick Soto’s free kick from 35 yards was deflected and ended up on the left side of the box, where Zawislan tracked it down and ripped it in to tie the game.
Less than three minutes later, the Chargers earned another free kick opportunity, this one along the right sideline near the corner.
Potoczny sent in a bouncing ball that snuck its way through traffic and into the far side of the net to give Stagg the lead for good.
“I was really looking to cross it; but I guess I got a lucky bounce, and it happened to find its way into the back of the net,” Potoczny said.
Stagg coach Mike Kealy said Potoczny brings a variety of skills to the team.
“Steven played left back for us last year,” Kealy said. “He’ll play center back and some left back for us this year. But he plays on the flank for club, so he’s definitely skilled in his attack. He’s very athletic, very fast, very strong.
“He’s very confident on the ball under pressure in the back, so that’s why we’ve got to keep him back there.”
Omar continued Stagg’s surge in the 18th minute as he found himself unmarked in front of the goal off Bart Jaskowski’s long free kick from just past midfield. Omar headed it home to make it 3-1.
“It was great communication,” Omar said. “I knew it was a long kick, but I knew Bart was going to get me the ball. He did, and I hit it in.”
Down 3-1 at halftime, Prunckle was happy with Brother Rice’s effort in the second half. The Crusaders created some scoring opportunities but could not connect.
Gricus nearly made it an opening-night brace with 32 minutes to play, ripping a free kick from 35 yards toward the inside of the right post. But Chargers goalkeeper Ryan Green (six saves) was able to punch it wide.
Off the ensuing corner kick, Javier Franco missed wide on a header.
Brother Rice had five free kicks within striking distance and two corner kicks in the second half.
With just over 26 minutes remaining, the Crusaders’ Julian Zambrano played a dangerous ball from 40 yards into the box where Jovani Zuniga was able to head it on frame, but Green made the save.
Sophomore midfielder Angelo Piech was also able to generate a couple opportunities for Brother Rice, including a rolling shot from 25 yards that Green saved in the 60th minute.
“I thought we responded well in the second half,” Prunckle said. “We kind of settled down in the back, we didn’t commit dumb fouls to give them chances. We created some chances.
“It’s just locking in. It’s simple things that cost us in the first half. It’s not tracking runners on the outside. We had a bad foul to set up their second goal. Then we can’t let the ball slip through on the free kick like that. That’s an easy one.”
With the Crusaders set to visit Sandburg on Thursday as the next part of a challenging early-season slate, Gricus knows what he and his teammates must do.
“Keep working, keep our heads down,” Gricus said. “We know we’re good. We played a tough team (Monday), but we know we can go far.’”
Starting lineups
Stagg
GK: Ryan Green
D: Steven Potoczny
D: Amr Kashour
D: Christian Nowak
D: Bart Jaskowski
MF: Kacper Dzuibek
MF: Jan Halcin
MF: Nick Soto
MF: Piotr Zawislan
F: Kamil Bak
F: Abdallah Omar
Brother Rice
GK: Joshua Harris
D: Mason Mroz
D: Roman Harris
D: Julian Cervantes
D: Jovani Zuniga
MF: Jimmy Gricus
MF: Bruce Harris
MF: Julian Zambrano
MF: Angelo Piech
F: Mateo Del Bosque
F: Salvador Perez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Steven Potoczny, jr., D, Stagg
Scoring summary
First half
Brother Rice: Gricus (free kick), 3rd minute
Stagg: Zawislan (Soto), 10th minute
Stagg: Potoczny (free kick), 13th minute
Stagg: Omar (Jaskowski), 18th minute
Second half
No scoring