Lane takes down Taft
Host Indians use early 2nd half goal to post 2-1 Premier North win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- If ever a game constitutes its own entity, any game between Taft and Lane contains multitudes arranged from intricate patterns of games within games that jam together every conceivable variable of history, culture, geography and pure emotion.
“Whenever we play Lane, it’s a battle,” Taft forward Benjamin Granados said.
“We are huge rivals.”
The recent history has only intensified the conflict. Two years ago, in one of the greatest title games in Chicago Public League history, Taft scored on an 80th-minute goal by its keeper that eventually led to a dramatic victory by the Indians on penalty kicks.
Last year, the teams played in the city quarterfinals. Again the game was decided in Lane’s favor by shootout. “Every time we play them it is a one-goal game, or decided by penalty kicks,” Taft coach Jeff Lucco said.
Lane is a magnet school able to cull students throughout the city and has the largest enrollment in the league. Taft is a northwest side neighborhood school. Often some of Lane’s best players are from Taft’s district.
By culture and demographics, many of the players are first-generation, primarily the children of Polish or Mexican émigrés. Added to the intrigue is the realigned Chicago Public League divisions that return the programs to the same conference for the first time in three years.
Throw that all together and the game is never just a game. The passion often leads to thrilling and beautiful soccer -- once more into the breach.
Two teams on the discovery toward a concrete identity took turns influencing the flow of the game. Both programs exhibited resilience, toughness and skill. As expected the game was not decided until the final moments. As the rivalry has long served as an ideal platform for a new player to emerge, David Arroyo came of age.
A junior forward at Lane making his start in the series, Arroyo set the tone with a beautiful goal at the start of the game and facilitated the game-winner by Fernando Alvarado early in the second half as Lane edged the Eagles 2-1 in the conference opener for both programs here Monday night.
Arroyo scored his second goal of the year and recorded his second assist. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match prize for his outstanding play.
He is explosive and quick, and he has the kind of separation speed that proves a difference-maker for the Indians (2-1-1, 1-0-0 Premier North).
“I have to be up at 5 every day because we practice at 6 in the morning Monday through Saturday,” he said. “It’s tiring but worth it at the end of the day.”
His emergence also testifies to his work and dedication.
“He has an old-time striker mentality,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said. “He’s the target guy. He can come back to the ball, hold it to get us up a little bit or make the right pass to the midfield and go up-back, up-back, in order to advance the ball that way. He can also do the straight-line ball. He can also pressure off the ball. He’s got the beast mentality.
“It’s a beautiful thing to have on your team when you see somebody work so hard.”
In the fifth minute, Arroyo made his move. He ran free and controlled a through-ball from senior Oswaldo Alfaro that gave him a breakaway. With just Taft keeper Michael Pierri in his path, Arroyo made a quick juke move and blasted the ball from about 20 yards for the game-opening score.
The game was played in the hot and humid late summer air with gusting northern winds pushing hard and consistently more than 20 miles an hour.
“What helped us was creating the long balls that skipped the defensive lines,” Arroyo said. “Playing the ball and passing from the back was not really working for us. Ozzie saw me run from the left side, and he sent the ball through the back post. The defender missed it, and I just had to be ready for the ball.
“It was a perfect opportunity, and I had to take it from there, and I made it.”
Though Taft (1-3-0, 0-1-0) was stunned, the Eagles responded in impressive fashion. “The first half was the best soccer we have played the whole year,” Lucco said. “I really felt we had the better play in the first half, and they had the better play in the second half -- interestingly, both teams playing against the wind.”
Taft is talented though young. “We really only have one senior who has varsity experience,” Lucco said. “We have a lot of alumni come and watch our games, and they say we play like a really young team. We have some really good soccer players. Right now, we have guys not quite ready for this speed and younger guys not being up to it yet.”
Youth or not, several Taft players excelled and illustrated the promise of a young team finding itself. Christopher Reynoso, a sophomore forward, created several standout sequences by pressuring the ball and moving deep into the Indians’ backline. Midfielder Dominik Burda also impressed with his technical abilities and ability to play with pace and maintain a solid shape.
“We left a few chances on the field in the first half,” Lucco said.
In the 30th minute, the Eagles pieced together a superb sequence. The build-up and pressure against the Indians’ backline resulted in a throw-in from the right edge in the final scoring third.
Midfielder Brandon Tovar caught Granados at a perfect angle.
Granados pushed the ball wide and delivered a laser shot from about 12 yards inside the near post that evened the score.
“Tovar made a great throw, and I was able to get there and get the shot off,” Granados said. “That play really pumped us up, and we were fired up going into halftime.”
What remained impressive from both sides was in the heat of the moment, the teams struck the tricky balance of fire and ice, playing with passion and emotion though also staying composed and ready for any scenario.
“Those are the moments that judge the character of your team,” Ricks said. “Taft was praising their character, because they got a goal against the wind at the end of the half, and we were praising our character for coming out to play at the start of the second half. We are learning about the team and trying to jell.”
Playing into the wind to start the second half, Arroyo orchestrated the game-winner right off the jump. Controlling the ball in the middle, he slotted a pass wide to midfielder Drew Kelner, who pushed the ball toward the endline before serving a terrific cross that Alvarado got just enough of a touch on for the decisive goal in the 42nd minute.
“I had to basically slide in, or I was not going to make it,” he said. “Drew made an amazing cross, and I was able to beat the keeper. At halftime [Ricks] wanted us to change up our play. He basically wanted to play the ball up and see what happens from there.”
Taft’s inexperience in the back has shaped its early-season storylines. This was an example of superior offense and sharp execution.
“I saw Drew running down the line, and I had to wait that pass and I saw him outpace the right back and Fernando was right in the middle,” Arroyo said.
“It’s just like we practice.”
Taft managed several telling sequences in its own effort at a comeback. The best scoring chance happened late, following a mistake by Lane keeper Jakub Bozek that gave the Eagles an indirect free kick just outside the box in the 78th minute.
The shot by Byron Abayay sailed just over the bar. Lane survived. Taft saw tremendous growth. Despite the result, the game was far being just the same old song.
“We are still figuring out our best 11 and our best formation,” Lucco said.
Starting lineup
Taft
GK: Michael Pierri
D: Dominik Cieply
D: Byron Abayay
D: Kaiden Brinson
MF: Matthew Davila
MF: Sergio Diaz
MF: Brandon Tovar
MF: Jonathan Salgado
MF: Filippo Maida
F: Jakub Lapinski
F: Christopher Reynoso
Lane
GK: Jakub Bozek
D: Matt Bozek
D: Jae Ryding
D: Oswaldo Alfaro
D: Daniel Rau
MF: Grant Nagle
MF: Cathal O’Connor
MF: Fernando Alvarado
MF: Drew Kelner
MF: Omar Divanovic
F: David Arroyo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: David Arroyo, jr., F, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane: David Arroyo (Oswaldo Alfaro), fifth minute
Taft: Benjamin Granados (Brandon Tobar), 30th minute
Second half
Lane: Fernando Alvarado (Arroyo and Drew Kelner), 42nd minute
Host Indians use early 2nd half goal to post 2-1 Premier North win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- If ever a game constitutes its own entity, any game between Taft and Lane contains multitudes arranged from intricate patterns of games within games that jam together every conceivable variable of history, culture, geography and pure emotion.
“Whenever we play Lane, it’s a battle,” Taft forward Benjamin Granados said.
“We are huge rivals.”
The recent history has only intensified the conflict. Two years ago, in one of the greatest title games in Chicago Public League history, Taft scored on an 80th-minute goal by its keeper that eventually led to a dramatic victory by the Indians on penalty kicks.
Last year, the teams played in the city quarterfinals. Again the game was decided in Lane’s favor by shootout. “Every time we play them it is a one-goal game, or decided by penalty kicks,” Taft coach Jeff Lucco said.
Lane is a magnet school able to cull students throughout the city and has the largest enrollment in the league. Taft is a northwest side neighborhood school. Often some of Lane’s best players are from Taft’s district.
By culture and demographics, many of the players are first-generation, primarily the children of Polish or Mexican émigrés. Added to the intrigue is the realigned Chicago Public League divisions that return the programs to the same conference for the first time in three years.
Throw that all together and the game is never just a game. The passion often leads to thrilling and beautiful soccer -- once more into the breach.
Two teams on the discovery toward a concrete identity took turns influencing the flow of the game. Both programs exhibited resilience, toughness and skill. As expected the game was not decided until the final moments. As the rivalry has long served as an ideal platform for a new player to emerge, David Arroyo came of age.
A junior forward at Lane making his start in the series, Arroyo set the tone with a beautiful goal at the start of the game and facilitated the game-winner by Fernando Alvarado early in the second half as Lane edged the Eagles 2-1 in the conference opener for both programs here Monday night.
Arroyo scored his second goal of the year and recorded his second assist. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match prize for his outstanding play.
He is explosive and quick, and he has the kind of separation speed that proves a difference-maker for the Indians (2-1-1, 1-0-0 Premier North).
“I have to be up at 5 every day because we practice at 6 in the morning Monday through Saturday,” he said. “It’s tiring but worth it at the end of the day.”
His emergence also testifies to his work and dedication.
“He has an old-time striker mentality,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said. “He’s the target guy. He can come back to the ball, hold it to get us up a little bit or make the right pass to the midfield and go up-back, up-back, in order to advance the ball that way. He can also do the straight-line ball. He can also pressure off the ball. He’s got the beast mentality.
“It’s a beautiful thing to have on your team when you see somebody work so hard.”
In the fifth minute, Arroyo made his move. He ran free and controlled a through-ball from senior Oswaldo Alfaro that gave him a breakaway. With just Taft keeper Michael Pierri in his path, Arroyo made a quick juke move and blasted the ball from about 20 yards for the game-opening score.
The game was played in the hot and humid late summer air with gusting northern winds pushing hard and consistently more than 20 miles an hour.
“What helped us was creating the long balls that skipped the defensive lines,” Arroyo said. “Playing the ball and passing from the back was not really working for us. Ozzie saw me run from the left side, and he sent the ball through the back post. The defender missed it, and I just had to be ready for the ball.
“It was a perfect opportunity, and I had to take it from there, and I made it.”
Though Taft (1-3-0, 0-1-0) was stunned, the Eagles responded in impressive fashion. “The first half was the best soccer we have played the whole year,” Lucco said. “I really felt we had the better play in the first half, and they had the better play in the second half -- interestingly, both teams playing against the wind.”
Taft is talented though young. “We really only have one senior who has varsity experience,” Lucco said. “We have a lot of alumni come and watch our games, and they say we play like a really young team. We have some really good soccer players. Right now, we have guys not quite ready for this speed and younger guys not being up to it yet.”
Youth or not, several Taft players excelled and illustrated the promise of a young team finding itself. Christopher Reynoso, a sophomore forward, created several standout sequences by pressuring the ball and moving deep into the Indians’ backline. Midfielder Dominik Burda also impressed with his technical abilities and ability to play with pace and maintain a solid shape.
“We left a few chances on the field in the first half,” Lucco said.
In the 30th minute, the Eagles pieced together a superb sequence. The build-up and pressure against the Indians’ backline resulted in a throw-in from the right edge in the final scoring third.
Midfielder Brandon Tovar caught Granados at a perfect angle.
Granados pushed the ball wide and delivered a laser shot from about 12 yards inside the near post that evened the score.
“Tovar made a great throw, and I was able to get there and get the shot off,” Granados said. “That play really pumped us up, and we were fired up going into halftime.”
What remained impressive from both sides was in the heat of the moment, the teams struck the tricky balance of fire and ice, playing with passion and emotion though also staying composed and ready for any scenario.
“Those are the moments that judge the character of your team,” Ricks said. “Taft was praising their character, because they got a goal against the wind at the end of the half, and we were praising our character for coming out to play at the start of the second half. We are learning about the team and trying to jell.”
Playing into the wind to start the second half, Arroyo orchestrated the game-winner right off the jump. Controlling the ball in the middle, he slotted a pass wide to midfielder Drew Kelner, who pushed the ball toward the endline before serving a terrific cross that Alvarado got just enough of a touch on for the decisive goal in the 42nd minute.
“I had to basically slide in, or I was not going to make it,” he said. “Drew made an amazing cross, and I was able to beat the keeper. At halftime [Ricks] wanted us to change up our play. He basically wanted to play the ball up and see what happens from there.”
Taft’s inexperience in the back has shaped its early-season storylines. This was an example of superior offense and sharp execution.
“I saw Drew running down the line, and I had to wait that pass and I saw him outpace the right back and Fernando was right in the middle,” Arroyo said.
“It’s just like we practice.”
Taft managed several telling sequences in its own effort at a comeback. The best scoring chance happened late, following a mistake by Lane keeper Jakub Bozek that gave the Eagles an indirect free kick just outside the box in the 78th minute.
The shot by Byron Abayay sailed just over the bar. Lane survived. Taft saw tremendous growth. Despite the result, the game was far being just the same old song.
“We are still figuring out our best 11 and our best formation,” Lucco said.
Starting lineup
Taft
GK: Michael Pierri
D: Dominik Cieply
D: Byron Abayay
D: Kaiden Brinson
MF: Matthew Davila
MF: Sergio Diaz
MF: Brandon Tovar
MF: Jonathan Salgado
MF: Filippo Maida
F: Jakub Lapinski
F: Christopher Reynoso
Lane
GK: Jakub Bozek
D: Matt Bozek
D: Jae Ryding
D: Oswaldo Alfaro
D: Daniel Rau
MF: Grant Nagle
MF: Cathal O’Connor
MF: Fernando Alvarado
MF: Drew Kelner
MF: Omar Divanovic
F: David Arroyo
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: David Arroyo, jr., F, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane: David Arroyo (Oswaldo Alfaro), fifth minute
Taft: Benjamin Granados (Brandon Tobar), 30th minute
Second half
Lane: Fernando Alvarado (Arroyo and Drew Kelner), 42nd minute