Taft posts payback win at Loyola
Eagles secure 2-0 win in battle of unbeatens to ease bad memory
By Mike Garofola
GLENVIEW -- Goals on either side of the half helped Taft secure a 2-0 nonconference road victory over Loyola on Tuesday night at the Ramblers Munz athletic campus.
The Eagles (3-0-1) gained the upper hand on a sensational strike in the second minute by Augustin Gallo, then doubled their advantage near the hour to give Loyola, ranked no. 23 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, its first loss in three matches this season.
The Taft win, its third consecutive clean-sheet, avenged its heartbreaking 2-1 OT loss to Loyola in the teams' 2016 regional semifinal.
"For those of us who were on this team last year, it felt good to come out here and beat the team who ended our season," said senior Alexis Sanchez, who along with teammate Marek Klimek wore the captains armband for manager Jeff Lucco and his staff. "(But) truthfully, it's all about playing for each other and not ourselves. And if we play that way all season, we can win our regional, and hopefully much more after that.
"We've played Loyola (now) three years in a row, but last year year was a tough one for all of us. So to see the guys come out of the break and play with a lot of energy and confidence was a good thing, (especially) after a first half in which I thought Loyola had most of the play after we scored that early goal."
Gallo unleashed his unstoppable 40-yard missile into the upper-right corner, and, at least for the next 5-6 minutes, the momentum was clearly in favor of the visiting Eagles.
"I think a lot of us came into this game scared because of what happened to us with Loyola last year, but Gallo's goal really got us up and running, (but) it didn't last (long) before Loyola took things over," said Klimek, who headlines a strong backline of four returnees.
"Marek is right," agreed Lucco. "We didn't play very well in that first at all. A lot of that was Loyola, and lot was on us.
"We couldn't connect, our possession was terrible, and there really wasn't much purpose in our game for the first 40 minutes."
That early sequence in which Klimek spoke of saw the visitors create a handful of half-chances, plus one quality opportunity in the 5th minute.
That's when the Ramblers failed to get hold of the ball in the midfield, and Mateusz Koziara instantly split the visitors defense with a first-time ball to Jesus Perez, who in turn found Gallo, who in turn put Sanchez clean through.
If not a concerted effort from Loyola's Jonas Madison and his mates, Sanchez would have been in a 1-v.-1 with Ramblers' keeper Frank Baio.
"We played pretty well as a unit in the first half, doing some good things, going forward and defending well at times," said the senior Madison. "But the second half was the complete opposite. (We) panicked and just didn't do the things we're capable of doing."
For the first half hour, the home side put their guests under pressure with some combination play, which was initiated in the middle of the park by Nick Lew, Christian Jimenez and David Gripman. But it was the dynamic duo of Collin Leider and Ford Peterson up top that gave Taft most of its first half problems.
If the pair wasn't running hard at the Eagles backline in hopes of creating a turnover or space for themselves or others, they were stretching and opening up areas for themselves with their pace and work rate.
"That first goal was a great shot, so credit their guy for that," began the junior Leider.
"After that we did some good things with our attack, but as the half went on, we got away from our game -- playing too direct and not playing through out midfield."
David Gripman tricked his way past the Eagles defense on his side of the park to get to the endline, but a sharp tackle from Kacper Spiewak saved the day in the 22nd minute.
Four minutes later, Luke Phillips provided a wonderful ball to Leider, who broke free before connecting with Gripman, but the Ramblers failed to get into the box.
There was no stopping the home side at this point, and a short corner executed magnificently by Leider and Gripman nearly saw Gripman's angled shot find the back post.
Two more corners, plus a long free kick into the box from Daniel Montaquila brought the first period to an end with the promise of better things ahead for coach Baer Fisher's young club.
"It was a good first half of soccer for us. But unfortunately, youth and inexperience, something we have both of, (may) have caught up to us after the break because we were nowhere near the soccer team we were in the first half," said the Loyola manager, who started one freshman and two sophomores, and played four freshmen on the night.
The Ramblers' problems including leaving Taft's Melvin Zamora alone just long enough to measure his header from just outside the box before steering it in at 55 minutes for the Taft insurance goal.
"We didn't defend well as a team at all in the second half, and that second goal was all on me -- didn't mark that guy close enough," said Leider, who showed the character of being one of Fisher's captains for this match.
There was a lot of one-way traffic after the Zamora goal, and the visitors produce a handful of chances.
A freekick from the midline by Byron Abayya nearly found Patrick Knap if not for a fearless 50-50 challenge by Ramblers' keeper, Frank Baio, who moments later pushed a close-range attempt from Joshua Andreu over the bar.
Baio was called into action once again, this time denying Knap once again, before watching his backline block a wicked drive on its way into the box from Jonathan Meneses.
Leider's long free kick stung the gloves of Eagles keeper Michael Pierri to produce the first corner of the half for Loyola - setting up a near-miss by Madison whose header went wide in the 71st minute.
"We didn't execute or respond well in the second half as we struggled to connect and stay organized against a team that was big and strong, and really worked hard. We've got some work ahead of us," said Fisher.
"Our inexperience is not an excuse for the result tonight," added Leider. "We'll have to get after it during our upcoming training sessions and clean some things up."
Loyola visits Lake Forest on Thursday, then hosts Schurz of the Chicago Public League on Saturday.
Taft takes its unbeaten record on the road to Niles North on Thursay, before going to Solorio for an afternoon contest Friday in the city.
"I'm an intense kind of guy, so I challenged these guys to come out and play hard, and our second half effort shows we can play soccer with a lot of the best teams around," said a pleased Lucco.
"We moved a couple of guys around, including putting Byron (Abaaya) in as our defensive midfielder, and I really feel he was the difference-maker for us in the second half because of his energy, ball winning, tackling and terrific box-to-box play."
Klimek and Sanchez wholeheartedly agreed, and with those recommedations and his strong performance, the sophomore was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
"Joshua (Andreu) did a really good job in the second half, but Byron played great as our center mid, defending everything that came his way," said Klimek with Sanchez's approval.
Starting lineups
Taft
GK- Michael Pierri
D- Melvin Zamora
D- Marek Klimek
D- Mateusz Koziara
D- Byron Abaaya
M- Alexis Sanchez
M- Brandon Tovar
M- Augustin Gallo
M- Jonathan Meneses
M- Filipo Maida
F- Patrick Knap
Loyola
GK- Frank Baio
D- Brady Reichert
D- Jonas Madison
D- Daniel Montaquila
D- Luke Phillips
M- Nick Roscoe
M- Christian Jimenez
M- Tommy Zipprich
M- David Gripman
M- Collin Leider
F- Ford Peterson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Byron Abaaya, so., DMF, Taft
Scoring Summary
Taft: Gallo (Abaaya) 2', Zamora (Meneses) 55'
Official: Tim Csula (centere)
Eagles secure 2-0 win in battle of unbeatens to ease bad memory
By Mike Garofola
GLENVIEW -- Goals on either side of the half helped Taft secure a 2-0 nonconference road victory over Loyola on Tuesday night at the Ramblers Munz athletic campus.
The Eagles (3-0-1) gained the upper hand on a sensational strike in the second minute by Augustin Gallo, then doubled their advantage near the hour to give Loyola, ranked no. 23 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, its first loss in three matches this season.
The Taft win, its third consecutive clean-sheet, avenged its heartbreaking 2-1 OT loss to Loyola in the teams' 2016 regional semifinal.
"For those of us who were on this team last year, it felt good to come out here and beat the team who ended our season," said senior Alexis Sanchez, who along with teammate Marek Klimek wore the captains armband for manager Jeff Lucco and his staff. "(But) truthfully, it's all about playing for each other and not ourselves. And if we play that way all season, we can win our regional, and hopefully much more after that.
"We've played Loyola (now) three years in a row, but last year year was a tough one for all of us. So to see the guys come out of the break and play with a lot of energy and confidence was a good thing, (especially) after a first half in which I thought Loyola had most of the play after we scored that early goal."
Gallo unleashed his unstoppable 40-yard missile into the upper-right corner, and, at least for the next 5-6 minutes, the momentum was clearly in favor of the visiting Eagles.
"I think a lot of us came into this game scared because of what happened to us with Loyola last year, but Gallo's goal really got us up and running, (but) it didn't last (long) before Loyola took things over," said Klimek, who headlines a strong backline of four returnees.
"Marek is right," agreed Lucco. "We didn't play very well in that first at all. A lot of that was Loyola, and lot was on us.
"We couldn't connect, our possession was terrible, and there really wasn't much purpose in our game for the first 40 minutes."
That early sequence in which Klimek spoke of saw the visitors create a handful of half-chances, plus one quality opportunity in the 5th minute.
That's when the Ramblers failed to get hold of the ball in the midfield, and Mateusz Koziara instantly split the visitors defense with a first-time ball to Jesus Perez, who in turn found Gallo, who in turn put Sanchez clean through.
If not a concerted effort from Loyola's Jonas Madison and his mates, Sanchez would have been in a 1-v.-1 with Ramblers' keeper Frank Baio.
"We played pretty well as a unit in the first half, doing some good things, going forward and defending well at times," said the senior Madison. "But the second half was the complete opposite. (We) panicked and just didn't do the things we're capable of doing."
For the first half hour, the home side put their guests under pressure with some combination play, which was initiated in the middle of the park by Nick Lew, Christian Jimenez and David Gripman. But it was the dynamic duo of Collin Leider and Ford Peterson up top that gave Taft most of its first half problems.
If the pair wasn't running hard at the Eagles backline in hopes of creating a turnover or space for themselves or others, they were stretching and opening up areas for themselves with their pace and work rate.
"That first goal was a great shot, so credit their guy for that," began the junior Leider.
"After that we did some good things with our attack, but as the half went on, we got away from our game -- playing too direct and not playing through out midfield."
David Gripman tricked his way past the Eagles defense on his side of the park to get to the endline, but a sharp tackle from Kacper Spiewak saved the day in the 22nd minute.
Four minutes later, Luke Phillips provided a wonderful ball to Leider, who broke free before connecting with Gripman, but the Ramblers failed to get into the box.
There was no stopping the home side at this point, and a short corner executed magnificently by Leider and Gripman nearly saw Gripman's angled shot find the back post.
Two more corners, plus a long free kick into the box from Daniel Montaquila brought the first period to an end with the promise of better things ahead for coach Baer Fisher's young club.
"It was a good first half of soccer for us. But unfortunately, youth and inexperience, something we have both of, (may) have caught up to us after the break because we were nowhere near the soccer team we were in the first half," said the Loyola manager, who started one freshman and two sophomores, and played four freshmen on the night.
The Ramblers' problems including leaving Taft's Melvin Zamora alone just long enough to measure his header from just outside the box before steering it in at 55 minutes for the Taft insurance goal.
"We didn't defend well as a team at all in the second half, and that second goal was all on me -- didn't mark that guy close enough," said Leider, who showed the character of being one of Fisher's captains for this match.
There was a lot of one-way traffic after the Zamora goal, and the visitors produce a handful of chances.
A freekick from the midline by Byron Abayya nearly found Patrick Knap if not for a fearless 50-50 challenge by Ramblers' keeper, Frank Baio, who moments later pushed a close-range attempt from Joshua Andreu over the bar.
Baio was called into action once again, this time denying Knap once again, before watching his backline block a wicked drive on its way into the box from Jonathan Meneses.
Leider's long free kick stung the gloves of Eagles keeper Michael Pierri to produce the first corner of the half for Loyola - setting up a near-miss by Madison whose header went wide in the 71st minute.
"We didn't execute or respond well in the second half as we struggled to connect and stay organized against a team that was big and strong, and really worked hard. We've got some work ahead of us," said Fisher.
"Our inexperience is not an excuse for the result tonight," added Leider. "We'll have to get after it during our upcoming training sessions and clean some things up."
Loyola visits Lake Forest on Thursday, then hosts Schurz of the Chicago Public League on Saturday.
Taft takes its unbeaten record on the road to Niles North on Thursay, before going to Solorio for an afternoon contest Friday in the city.
"I'm an intense kind of guy, so I challenged these guys to come out and play hard, and our second half effort shows we can play soccer with a lot of the best teams around," said a pleased Lucco.
"We moved a couple of guys around, including putting Byron (Abaaya) in as our defensive midfielder, and I really feel he was the difference-maker for us in the second half because of his energy, ball winning, tackling and terrific box-to-box play."
Klimek and Sanchez wholeheartedly agreed, and with those recommedations and his strong performance, the sophomore was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
"Joshua (Andreu) did a really good job in the second half, but Byron played great as our center mid, defending everything that came his way," said Klimek with Sanchez's approval.
Starting lineups
Taft
GK- Michael Pierri
D- Melvin Zamora
D- Marek Klimek
D- Mateusz Koziara
D- Byron Abaaya
M- Alexis Sanchez
M- Brandon Tovar
M- Augustin Gallo
M- Jonathan Meneses
M- Filipo Maida
F- Patrick Knap
Loyola
GK- Frank Baio
D- Brady Reichert
D- Jonas Madison
D- Daniel Montaquila
D- Luke Phillips
M- Nick Roscoe
M- Christian Jimenez
M- Tommy Zipprich
M- David Gripman
M- Collin Leider
F- Ford Peterson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Byron Abaaya, so., DMF, Taft
Scoring Summary
Taft: Gallo (Abaaya) 2', Zamora (Meneses) 55'
Official: Tim Csula (centere)