Goliath (Lane) holds off David (Sullivan)
Feel-good Tigers’ upset attempt comes up short against no. 20 Indians
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Public League, as they say, contains multitudes. Outside the city it is perceived as a sole entity, or hegemony. The reality is something else. It is closer to a federation of independent states with little internal rhyming or consistency.
While numbers matter, they can also lie. With just 611 students, Sullivan seemingly had no business occupying the same field at defending city champion Lane, a school with nearly 4,000 students on campus. That grows further, after applying the IHSA multiplier as a magnet school, to an adjusted enrollment of 6,505.
Talk about David and Goliath.
“We are the smallest school in the history of Chicago Public Schools to play in the Premier (Division),” Tigers’ coach Migurt Baburi said. “I took over the program seven years ago, in 2010, and we came from the Third Division, Second Division, and now the First Division last year. We are back-to-back champions. I’d love to have [Lane’s] options with the number of kids.”
Count Lane coach Andrew Ricks among the impressed by what the Tigers have accomplished.
“Credit to Sullivan,” he said. “On paper, Lane Tech, a Class 3A school, with 4,500 kids, and Sullivan, a Class A school, with 500 students, should not be a match, but that is a darn good soccer team.”
The Tigers showed excellent speed, size and athleticism and took the fight to the Indians until no. 20 Lane’s poise and leadership emerged as star forward Alex Mezyk scored an early goal and keeper Fabian Venegas preserved the 1-0 Premier Division victory with some superb second half play Wednesday night.
Sullivan hung tough with the Indians despite playing its first game of the year. Public League schools returned to the classroom Tuesday, and Baburi did not have a traditional training camp and early schedule.
“I have only had the kids for a couple of days,” he said. “We lacked a little bit of discipline. Besides that, Lane is a very good team. We’d never played on this field before. It was new to a lot of the kids, and we made some mistakes, like our keeper (out of position) on that early free kick. We gave a goal away too early. Other than that, I have to give my kids a lot of credit.
“They played with a lot of heart.”
Sullivan has a fantastic player who could play anywhere in the form of athletic and rangy midfielder Freddy Irakiza. He is nearly 6-foot-3 with a very powerful left-foot and is blessed with explosive quickness. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for other Premier teams. He arrived in Chicago from the Congo four years ago.
“I am kind of surprised how well we played tonight,” Irakiza said. “I did not think we were going to be able to do this, being at our best, because we have not had much time for practice. Most of us just came back from the summer, and most of the guys are not used to playing with each other.”
Lane (4-1-1, 2-0-1) took advantage of the early Tigers’ breakdown as Mezyk scored his sixth goal on a beautiful free kick about 19 yards out in the third minute. The city’s best player, Mezyk has refined and diversified his game. Already fast, powerful and explosive in space, he has become highly accurate on his free kicks.
“In the last couple of years I have started to take free kicks, and this year I have done pretty well,” Mezyk said. “This was my second free kick goal already, and I hit the post later in the game on another one. I think it is a scary moment for the other team, because I am right there every time.”
His approach is similar to that of penalty kicks; he is trying to gauge the reaction of the keeper. He also looks for vulnerabilities in the defensive wall.
“You have to look where the keeper is standing, whether he is occupying the whole far post or if he is in the middle of the goal,” Mezyk said. “Wherever he is standing that is where I am going to go with it. Also, their wall was not really set up well, and I went far post, and he had no chance of saving that.”
Sullivan (0-1-0, 0-1-0) overcame the early pressure and was able to get through the rest of the half unscathed. The Tigers’ confidence and offensive fluency developed the further the game progressed. Having regrouped at the break, the Tigers played very sharp and aggressive soccer in the second half.
Irakiza had two dangerous free kicks of his own in the 48th and 51st minute that Venegas either tipped or snared the ball. A header off a cross by midfielder Simon Aye hit off the near post.
Irakiza also hit a ball from the left wing that was wide off the mark.
Venegas earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his five second half saves. The Indians’ backline of Arnel Sinanagic, Jack Erickson, Greg Golba and Zach Rogers did a superb job of swarming the ball and depriving the Tigers of rebound or second-touch chances.
Lane was without crucial midfielder Marcin Kieta, a three-year starter out with a hamstring injury. He is the lynchpin of their possession style. Brandon Rivera, another midfielder, performed well in his absence. The Indians did just enough to protect the lead.
“Like everybody, we are adjusting to what we have,” Rivera said. “We have to do what we have to do with the guys we have. I think we were off our game, but toward the end we started to get better. We started to get into our rhythm. It was a good thing we got the early goal, and we were able to finish strong at the end.”
Ricks said the gamed required context. People expecting a blowout because of an unknown like Sullivan need to be made aware of the Tigers’ capabilities.
“Sullivan is a good team,” he said. “They did not have a lot of holes. ... I did feel we did not finish some key opportunities, and we let them hang around. We are not playing our best soccer. We have not figured out our best formation yet.
“A good team when they score, they either hold or they increase that score. Teams that score quickly and give up a goal right away, that shows a weakness. A team that gets scored on and comes right back and scores, that’s a strength. We scored early, and we held. Our squad has allowed us to bend and not break.”
Sullivan reached a Class A sectional final last year, where they lost 1-0 to traditional small-school power Parker. The Tigers' next quest is proving themselves on the Public League’s top soccer stage.
The past has shown that after many CPL teams and move up to the next level of competition, they often get relegated back the following season. That can be especially true of the Premier Division. But Baburi's team has a track record of success and may prove itself the outlier.
“I love the Sullivan story, being the only (Class) A team ever that size to play in Premier,” Ricks said. “They might stay up. They are a solid team.”
Starting lineups
Sullivan
GK: Jason Gonzalez
D: Ombeni Alfred
D: Destin Bibonssi
D: Shyaka Theoneste
D: Erick Morquecho
MF: Simon Aye
MF: Bawi Sang
MF: Freddy Irakiza
MF: Alejandro Duran
F: Jesus Duran
F: Jose Mora
Lane
GK: Fabian Venegas
D: Jack Erickson
D: Greg Golba
D: Zach Rogers
D: Arnel Sinanagic
MF: David de la Fuente
MF: Cathal O’Connor
MF: Brandon Rivera
MF: Aidon Swinford
F: Kamil Hochman
F: Alex Mezyk
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the <atch: Fabian Venegas, sr., GK, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Alex Mezyk (free kick), third minute
Feel-good Tigers’ upset attempt comes up short against no. 20 Indians
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Public League, as they say, contains multitudes. Outside the city it is perceived as a sole entity, or hegemony. The reality is something else. It is closer to a federation of independent states with little internal rhyming or consistency.
While numbers matter, they can also lie. With just 611 students, Sullivan seemingly had no business occupying the same field at defending city champion Lane, a school with nearly 4,000 students on campus. That grows further, after applying the IHSA multiplier as a magnet school, to an adjusted enrollment of 6,505.
Talk about David and Goliath.
“We are the smallest school in the history of Chicago Public Schools to play in the Premier (Division),” Tigers’ coach Migurt Baburi said. “I took over the program seven years ago, in 2010, and we came from the Third Division, Second Division, and now the First Division last year. We are back-to-back champions. I’d love to have [Lane’s] options with the number of kids.”
Count Lane coach Andrew Ricks among the impressed by what the Tigers have accomplished.
“Credit to Sullivan,” he said. “On paper, Lane Tech, a Class 3A school, with 4,500 kids, and Sullivan, a Class A school, with 500 students, should not be a match, but that is a darn good soccer team.”
The Tigers showed excellent speed, size and athleticism and took the fight to the Indians until no. 20 Lane’s poise and leadership emerged as star forward Alex Mezyk scored an early goal and keeper Fabian Venegas preserved the 1-0 Premier Division victory with some superb second half play Wednesday night.
Sullivan hung tough with the Indians despite playing its first game of the year. Public League schools returned to the classroom Tuesday, and Baburi did not have a traditional training camp and early schedule.
“I have only had the kids for a couple of days,” he said. “We lacked a little bit of discipline. Besides that, Lane is a very good team. We’d never played on this field before. It was new to a lot of the kids, and we made some mistakes, like our keeper (out of position) on that early free kick. We gave a goal away too early. Other than that, I have to give my kids a lot of credit.
“They played with a lot of heart.”
Sullivan has a fantastic player who could play anywhere in the form of athletic and rangy midfielder Freddy Irakiza. He is nearly 6-foot-3 with a very powerful left-foot and is blessed with explosive quickness. He is going to be a matchup nightmare for other Premier teams. He arrived in Chicago from the Congo four years ago.
“I am kind of surprised how well we played tonight,” Irakiza said. “I did not think we were going to be able to do this, being at our best, because we have not had much time for practice. Most of us just came back from the summer, and most of the guys are not used to playing with each other.”
Lane (4-1-1, 2-0-1) took advantage of the early Tigers’ breakdown as Mezyk scored his sixth goal on a beautiful free kick about 19 yards out in the third minute. The city’s best player, Mezyk has refined and diversified his game. Already fast, powerful and explosive in space, he has become highly accurate on his free kicks.
“In the last couple of years I have started to take free kicks, and this year I have done pretty well,” Mezyk said. “This was my second free kick goal already, and I hit the post later in the game on another one. I think it is a scary moment for the other team, because I am right there every time.”
His approach is similar to that of penalty kicks; he is trying to gauge the reaction of the keeper. He also looks for vulnerabilities in the defensive wall.
“You have to look where the keeper is standing, whether he is occupying the whole far post or if he is in the middle of the goal,” Mezyk said. “Wherever he is standing that is where I am going to go with it. Also, their wall was not really set up well, and I went far post, and he had no chance of saving that.”
Sullivan (0-1-0, 0-1-0) overcame the early pressure and was able to get through the rest of the half unscathed. The Tigers’ confidence and offensive fluency developed the further the game progressed. Having regrouped at the break, the Tigers played very sharp and aggressive soccer in the second half.
Irakiza had two dangerous free kicks of his own in the 48th and 51st minute that Venegas either tipped or snared the ball. A header off a cross by midfielder Simon Aye hit off the near post.
Irakiza also hit a ball from the left wing that was wide off the mark.
Venegas earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his five second half saves. The Indians’ backline of Arnel Sinanagic, Jack Erickson, Greg Golba and Zach Rogers did a superb job of swarming the ball and depriving the Tigers of rebound or second-touch chances.
Lane was without crucial midfielder Marcin Kieta, a three-year starter out with a hamstring injury. He is the lynchpin of their possession style. Brandon Rivera, another midfielder, performed well in his absence. The Indians did just enough to protect the lead.
“Like everybody, we are adjusting to what we have,” Rivera said. “We have to do what we have to do with the guys we have. I think we were off our game, but toward the end we started to get better. We started to get into our rhythm. It was a good thing we got the early goal, and we were able to finish strong at the end.”
Ricks said the gamed required context. People expecting a blowout because of an unknown like Sullivan need to be made aware of the Tigers’ capabilities.
“Sullivan is a good team,” he said. “They did not have a lot of holes. ... I did feel we did not finish some key opportunities, and we let them hang around. We are not playing our best soccer. We have not figured out our best formation yet.
“A good team when they score, they either hold or they increase that score. Teams that score quickly and give up a goal right away, that shows a weakness. A team that gets scored on and comes right back and scores, that’s a strength. We scored early, and we held. Our squad has allowed us to bend and not break.”
Sullivan reached a Class A sectional final last year, where they lost 1-0 to traditional small-school power Parker. The Tigers' next quest is proving themselves on the Public League’s top soccer stage.
The past has shown that after many CPL teams and move up to the next level of competition, they often get relegated back the following season. That can be especially true of the Premier Division. But Baburi's team has a track record of success and may prove itself the outlier.
“I love the Sullivan story, being the only (Class) A team ever that size to play in Premier,” Ricks said. “They might stay up. They are a solid team.”
Starting lineups
Sullivan
GK: Jason Gonzalez
D: Ombeni Alfred
D: Destin Bibonssi
D: Shyaka Theoneste
D: Erick Morquecho
MF: Simon Aye
MF: Bawi Sang
MF: Freddy Irakiza
MF: Alejandro Duran
F: Jesus Duran
F: Jose Mora
Lane
GK: Fabian Venegas
D: Jack Erickson
D: Greg Golba
D: Zach Rogers
D: Arnel Sinanagic
MF: David de la Fuente
MF: Cathal O’Connor
MF: Brandon Rivera
MF: Aidon Swinford
F: Kamil Hochman
F: Alex Mezyk
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the <atch: Fabian Venegas, sr., GK, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Alex Mezyk (free kick), third minute