Taft, Crystal Lake South draw
lessons from scoreless draw
Teams take positives from nonconference match
By Bobby Narang
CRYSTAL LAKE — Nothing frustrates soccer players and coaches more than a draw.
A scoreless tie can be even more irritating.
That’s what happened on Saturday morning at Crystal Lake South’s soccer complex.
After making a 40-mile early morning trek to the far northwest suburbs from the city, Taft walked off the pitch feeling a bit down.
The immediate post-game reaction of several players was various levels of anger or disappointment after the final buzzer showed zeroes on the scoreboard. Taft junior defender Victor Lewicki decided to sit down on the plush grass.
Other teammates stood still in shock.
Several minutes later, however, the Eagles were smiling thanks to a nice gesture from their host. Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen informed Taft’s coaches and players that he ordered 10 pizzas for them to devour for a postgame meal.
Taft senior goalie Sebastian Rodriguez recorded five saves to earn another clean-sheet. He admitted the postgame pizza was a nice consolation prize.
After a few moments, things came into a clearer perspective.
“I’m asking where that pizza is, because I’m hungry after this game,” Rodriguez said. “This is the farthest road trip for us. This was a good game to test ourselves.
“Going into this game, I knew both teams were good. They were definitely (strong) toward the end. We were struggling to get the ball out there. Both teams were good at attacking.
“I definitely think we should’ve had a goal since we had balls hit the post and crossbar. They had some chances at the end, so it was kind of scary.”
The match was the first between Crystal Lake South (6-3-2) and Taft (9-3-2).
The za was something Allen wanted to do to show appreciation to the Eagles for traveling so far from their roost.
“We did this in 2017 when Chicago Washington came out here,” Allen said. “We know that it’s a long hike, and we want to treat them well, especially knowing those guys. That’s the least we can do for making the long trek, making sure this game even happened.
“It was a great game. I’m sure they’re going to say they learned some stuff, and we definitely learned some stuff about ourselves.”
Taft coach Jeff Lucco said the nonconference game was an ideal midseason tune-up for both programs.
Although no goals were scored, each team played with high energy throughout the morning game despite the wet and slippery grass and chilly conditions.
Lucco said the Gators were a good prep for the pivotal Chicago Public League Premier Division Northwest battle of undefeated league teams when the Eagles travel to Young (7-3-2, 3-0-0) at 6:15 p.m. Monday. The Dolphins upset 20th-ranked Evanston 2-1 Saturday.
“Overall, it was a good game, an intense game with a playoff atmosphere,” Lucco said. “The city tournament is big for us, which starts a week from Monday. (Crystal Lake South) is a very similar team to Whitney (Young) —- big, physical and wants to get you on long throws and set pieces and is going to defend you well.
“This prepares us well for that game. There’re no negatives. We didn’t lose, but can we get that final touch? Can we get guys who are little more selfish in scoring position? It’s a good thing and a bad thing. They were great hosts, buying us pizza after driving all the way out here.”
Crystal Lake South wasn’t happy with the draw either, especially after its strong second half possession. The Gators closed the game with the last four shot attempts, including a corner kick seconds before the end of the game.
Still, after a tough double overtime defeat in Fox Valley Conference play to Dundee-Crown on Thursday, the Class AA Gators were happy to battle the highly talented Class 3A Eagles wire-to-wire for a draw.
“You saw two teams putting themselves on the line, even in a nonconference friendly,” Allen said. “It was a nice physical game. Both teams had chances, Logan made a great save, and they had another one off the post. We had a couple on set pieces that we came really close to sniffing the goal on.
“That’s what makes it exciting even in a 0-0 draw. I’m satisfied. Sometimes you look at draws as being disappointing, but not against a quality opponent. And the way we were able to battle, I thought we also played better in the second half. We got a couple of chances.
“Allowing zero goals against a skillful team like that is a big plus.”
The Gators played two goalies: senior Logan Vargas tallied five saves in the first half; junior goalie Chris Slawek had an easier time in the net, notching two saves in the final 40 minutes.
Allen said he was happy with Vargas, who thrilled the home crowd with a leaping stop in the 37th minute.
“Logan is super athletic,” Allen said. “He was super disappointed with his performance against Dundee-Crown. Today we were already prearranged, and we were going to get both keepers in the game. He knew I wanted him to step up, and he did that today with that zero. And then Chris came in and kept that shutout in the second half.
“We’ve got a really good goalkeeping core, so this really helps their confidence and the backline. Everybody played for us except for our third-string keeper. We got some big minutes from some players that need that experience against a quality opponent.”
Lucco’s postgame assessment was spot on. It was a physical, playoff-like game. The two teams were constantly prodded by their coaches to play with more intensity — and they did. The game was physical, and the officials let them play.
At 6-foot-3, Lewicki benefitted from the lack of whistles, relying on his height and bulk to knock over several players. He was all over the field, especially sticking to Crystal Lake South sophomore forward Ali Ahmed.
Several inches shorter than Lewicki, Ahmed said he enjoyed battling the bigger and taller defender.
“He was coming at me, and I was going at him. I took him, and he stopped me a few times. It will definitely help me playing him. I don’t think there’s many defenders like him in our conference. It will help me grow and play against stronger defenders.”
Ahmed nearly scored in the first half. He leapt for a free kick from Andrew Smart and o sent an acrobatic kick toward the net but Rodriguez grabbed the ball in the 13th minute.
“This (draw) against a really good team shows us how good we are, and we have to take this momentum and start believing,” Ahmed said. “I don’t think we played well against Dundee-Crown, but we improved today and showed a lot of growth and showed that (Thursday) was an off night.”
With just over 12 minutes left in regulation, the sun popped out of the clouds to shed some light and warmth on the field. The Eagles’ Jakub Kieras had designs on the first goal. He dribbled left to right, but his soft shot was easily saved by Slawek.
Kieras admitted the Eagles failed to take advantage of several chances in the opening half.
“It’s disappointed for us,” he said. “in the first half I was confident, and we were on top. In the second half, they definitely came out with more energy and caught us off-guard. We didn’t take advantage of our chances. Hopefully, we can bounce back against Whitney Young on Monday.
“We knew Crystal Lake South was a good, team and this was a good test for us. We’re building up more confidence.”
In the final seconds, Crystal Lake South almost failed to set up in time for a corner kick. The Gators got off the kick, but the ball was deflected out to secure the draw. Rodriguez admitted he had some tense moments late in the game.
“I had a good save near the end, but that corner was pretty scary with 30 seconds left,” Rodriguez said. “I had a lot going through my mind, almost the whole team was on our half. We had to get the ball out, but they had a good chance at the end.”
Crystal Lake South sophomore midfielder Hayden Stone, a first-year varsity player, had his shot near the end of the game also easily saved by Rodriguez. Stone said the game was a strong bounce-back showing by the Gators.
“(Taft) is a really good team and came all the way out here this morning from Chicago,” Stone said. “I thought it was a really good game, a hard battle that was pretty even. I almost got one in at the end.
“It was a good response from the team. Obviously, we were disappointed on Thursday with the loss, but I think we bounced back. We had a pretty rough first half, but we improved a lot in the second half.”
Senior midfielder Kevin Cardoso agreed with Stone.
“They were a really good team, in my opinion, one of the best we’ve played,” Cardoso said. “Overall, it was a really good game. This game was another chance to get better, and now we’re on to the next game. We have a lot of potential with a lot of great players.”
Taft, which has allowed just six goals this season, extended their shutout streak to four straight after notching their 10th clean-sheet of the season. Lucco said his team must improve on finishing in the final third.
“I think we had more run of the play in the second half but better chances in the first half,” Lucco said. “I think a tie is obviously better than a loss, but I think we’re quality enough that I think we should’ve won.
“I was happy because it was good to see them perform at this level. I do think most of the guys are disappointed, because this was a chance for us to get a good win, especially with sectional voting this week.
“We had good energy and the defense played well, but up-top we lack the final creative touch. At times, I think we shut off and ball watch too much. But even with that, we played well and got a clean-sheet, You can never get mad when you give up zero goals.
“We have to find a way to break other teams down more consistently. We’re a team where when we score once, we usually score more. We’re not going to beat teams 1-0 usually. We were missing a few guys, two of our primary attackers, but we have enough talent that we should’ve scored.”
Starting lineups
Taft
GK: Sebastian Rodriguez
D: Victor Lewicki
D: Jakub Kieras
D: Daniel Korniat
D: Max Denkovych
MF: Mohamed Abbad
MF: Bart Wojda
MF: Matej Sokola
MF: Roy Molina
F: Kevin Frden
F: Jair Duenas
Crystal Lake South
GK: Logan Vargas
D: Blake Marunde
D: Josh Washington
D: Pierce Johnson
D: Andrew Smart
MF: Kevin Cardoso
MF: Brendan Lewis
MF: Nolan Getzinger
MF: Nick Prus
F: Ali Ahmed
F: Mason Ross
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Logan Vargas, sr., GK, Crystal Lake South
Victor Lewicki, jr., D, Taft
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
lessons from scoreless draw
Teams take positives from nonconference match
By Bobby Narang
CRYSTAL LAKE — Nothing frustrates soccer players and coaches more than a draw.
A scoreless tie can be even more irritating.
That’s what happened on Saturday morning at Crystal Lake South’s soccer complex.
After making a 40-mile early morning trek to the far northwest suburbs from the city, Taft walked off the pitch feeling a bit down.
The immediate post-game reaction of several players was various levels of anger or disappointment after the final buzzer showed zeroes on the scoreboard. Taft junior defender Victor Lewicki decided to sit down on the plush grass.
Other teammates stood still in shock.
Several minutes later, however, the Eagles were smiling thanks to a nice gesture from their host. Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen informed Taft’s coaches and players that he ordered 10 pizzas for them to devour for a postgame meal.
Taft senior goalie Sebastian Rodriguez recorded five saves to earn another clean-sheet. He admitted the postgame pizza was a nice consolation prize.
After a few moments, things came into a clearer perspective.
“I’m asking where that pizza is, because I’m hungry after this game,” Rodriguez said. “This is the farthest road trip for us. This was a good game to test ourselves.
“Going into this game, I knew both teams were good. They were definitely (strong) toward the end. We were struggling to get the ball out there. Both teams were good at attacking.
“I definitely think we should’ve had a goal since we had balls hit the post and crossbar. They had some chances at the end, so it was kind of scary.”
The match was the first between Crystal Lake South (6-3-2) and Taft (9-3-2).
The za was something Allen wanted to do to show appreciation to the Eagles for traveling so far from their roost.
“We did this in 2017 when Chicago Washington came out here,” Allen said. “We know that it’s a long hike, and we want to treat them well, especially knowing those guys. That’s the least we can do for making the long trek, making sure this game even happened.
“It was a great game. I’m sure they’re going to say they learned some stuff, and we definitely learned some stuff about ourselves.”
Taft coach Jeff Lucco said the nonconference game was an ideal midseason tune-up for both programs.
Although no goals were scored, each team played with high energy throughout the morning game despite the wet and slippery grass and chilly conditions.
Lucco said the Gators were a good prep for the pivotal Chicago Public League Premier Division Northwest battle of undefeated league teams when the Eagles travel to Young (7-3-2, 3-0-0) at 6:15 p.m. Monday. The Dolphins upset 20th-ranked Evanston 2-1 Saturday.
“Overall, it was a good game, an intense game with a playoff atmosphere,” Lucco said. “The city tournament is big for us, which starts a week from Monday. (Crystal Lake South) is a very similar team to Whitney (Young) —- big, physical and wants to get you on long throws and set pieces and is going to defend you well.
“This prepares us well for that game. There’re no negatives. We didn’t lose, but can we get that final touch? Can we get guys who are little more selfish in scoring position? It’s a good thing and a bad thing. They were great hosts, buying us pizza after driving all the way out here.”
Crystal Lake South wasn’t happy with the draw either, especially after its strong second half possession. The Gators closed the game with the last four shot attempts, including a corner kick seconds before the end of the game.
Still, after a tough double overtime defeat in Fox Valley Conference play to Dundee-Crown on Thursday, the Class AA Gators were happy to battle the highly talented Class 3A Eagles wire-to-wire for a draw.
“You saw two teams putting themselves on the line, even in a nonconference friendly,” Allen said. “It was a nice physical game. Both teams had chances, Logan made a great save, and they had another one off the post. We had a couple on set pieces that we came really close to sniffing the goal on.
“That’s what makes it exciting even in a 0-0 draw. I’m satisfied. Sometimes you look at draws as being disappointing, but not against a quality opponent. And the way we were able to battle, I thought we also played better in the second half. We got a couple of chances.
“Allowing zero goals against a skillful team like that is a big plus.”
The Gators played two goalies: senior Logan Vargas tallied five saves in the first half; junior goalie Chris Slawek had an easier time in the net, notching two saves in the final 40 minutes.
Allen said he was happy with Vargas, who thrilled the home crowd with a leaping stop in the 37th minute.
“Logan is super athletic,” Allen said. “He was super disappointed with his performance against Dundee-Crown. Today we were already prearranged, and we were going to get both keepers in the game. He knew I wanted him to step up, and he did that today with that zero. And then Chris came in and kept that shutout in the second half.
“We’ve got a really good goalkeeping core, so this really helps their confidence and the backline. Everybody played for us except for our third-string keeper. We got some big minutes from some players that need that experience against a quality opponent.”
Lucco’s postgame assessment was spot on. It was a physical, playoff-like game. The two teams were constantly prodded by their coaches to play with more intensity — and they did. The game was physical, and the officials let them play.
At 6-foot-3, Lewicki benefitted from the lack of whistles, relying on his height and bulk to knock over several players. He was all over the field, especially sticking to Crystal Lake South sophomore forward Ali Ahmed.
Several inches shorter than Lewicki, Ahmed said he enjoyed battling the bigger and taller defender.
“He was coming at me, and I was going at him. I took him, and he stopped me a few times. It will definitely help me playing him. I don’t think there’s many defenders like him in our conference. It will help me grow and play against stronger defenders.”
Ahmed nearly scored in the first half. He leapt for a free kick from Andrew Smart and o sent an acrobatic kick toward the net but Rodriguez grabbed the ball in the 13th minute.
“This (draw) against a really good team shows us how good we are, and we have to take this momentum and start believing,” Ahmed said. “I don’t think we played well against Dundee-Crown, but we improved today and showed a lot of growth and showed that (Thursday) was an off night.”
With just over 12 minutes left in regulation, the sun popped out of the clouds to shed some light and warmth on the field. The Eagles’ Jakub Kieras had designs on the first goal. He dribbled left to right, but his soft shot was easily saved by Slawek.
Kieras admitted the Eagles failed to take advantage of several chances in the opening half.
“It’s disappointed for us,” he said. “in the first half I was confident, and we were on top. In the second half, they definitely came out with more energy and caught us off-guard. We didn’t take advantage of our chances. Hopefully, we can bounce back against Whitney Young on Monday.
“We knew Crystal Lake South was a good, team and this was a good test for us. We’re building up more confidence.”
In the final seconds, Crystal Lake South almost failed to set up in time for a corner kick. The Gators got off the kick, but the ball was deflected out to secure the draw. Rodriguez admitted he had some tense moments late in the game.
“I had a good save near the end, but that corner was pretty scary with 30 seconds left,” Rodriguez said. “I had a lot going through my mind, almost the whole team was on our half. We had to get the ball out, but they had a good chance at the end.”
Crystal Lake South sophomore midfielder Hayden Stone, a first-year varsity player, had his shot near the end of the game also easily saved by Rodriguez. Stone said the game was a strong bounce-back showing by the Gators.
“(Taft) is a really good team and came all the way out here this morning from Chicago,” Stone said. “I thought it was a really good game, a hard battle that was pretty even. I almost got one in at the end.
“It was a good response from the team. Obviously, we were disappointed on Thursday with the loss, but I think we bounced back. We had a pretty rough first half, but we improved a lot in the second half.”
Senior midfielder Kevin Cardoso agreed with Stone.
“They were a really good team, in my opinion, one of the best we’ve played,” Cardoso said. “Overall, it was a really good game. This game was another chance to get better, and now we’re on to the next game. We have a lot of potential with a lot of great players.”
Taft, which has allowed just six goals this season, extended their shutout streak to four straight after notching their 10th clean-sheet of the season. Lucco said his team must improve on finishing in the final third.
“I think we had more run of the play in the second half but better chances in the first half,” Lucco said. “I think a tie is obviously better than a loss, but I think we’re quality enough that I think we should’ve won.
“I was happy because it was good to see them perform at this level. I do think most of the guys are disappointed, because this was a chance for us to get a good win, especially with sectional voting this week.
“We had good energy and the defense played well, but up-top we lack the final creative touch. At times, I think we shut off and ball watch too much. But even with that, we played well and got a clean-sheet, You can never get mad when you give up zero goals.
“We have to find a way to break other teams down more consistently. We’re a team where when we score once, we usually score more. We’re not going to beat teams 1-0 usually. We were missing a few guys, two of our primary attackers, but we have enough talent that we should’ve scored.”
Starting lineups
Taft
GK: Sebastian Rodriguez
D: Victor Lewicki
D: Jakub Kieras
D: Daniel Korniat
D: Max Denkovych
MF: Mohamed Abbad
MF: Bart Wojda
MF: Matej Sokola
MF: Roy Molina
F: Kevin Frden
F: Jair Duenas
Crystal Lake South
GK: Logan Vargas
D: Blake Marunde
D: Josh Washington
D: Pierce Johnson
D: Andrew Smart
MF: Kevin Cardoso
MF: Brendan Lewis
MF: Nolan Getzinger
MF: Nick Prus
F: Ali Ahmed
F: Mason Ross
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Logan Vargas, sr., GK, Crystal Lake South
Victor Lewicki, jr., D, Taft
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring