Prospect KOs Taft with late shot
Knights unbeaten streak stretches to 4 with 1-0 victory
By Mike Garofola
MT. PROSPECT -- With this nonconference contest seemingly headed to a goal-less draw, up stepped Peyton Myers. The senior forward drove home the game-winner nine minutes from time to give host Prospect a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Taft on Saturday at George Gattas Memorial Stadium.
The big, strong Knight's delicate side-footed finish put an end to a back-and-forth affair that would have been a fair result at 0-0 but was a win that Prospect manager Mike Andrews was thrilled to earn on this blustery day in the northwest suburbs.
"One thing that I am continually impressed with is the spirit of this team, and its ability to never let up," said Andrews. "So it was a good win for us as the guys battled hard. It's just that we had a little more at the end with Peyton getting his late goal."
"I guess I was just in the right place at the right time," said Myers, who in theory was correct with his assessment of the timing of his 71st-minute strike.
In truth, Myers was rewarded for his day-long effort, using his 6-foot-4 frame to run hard at the Eagles backline with the hope of forcing a turnover in the visitors end, or to just test the nerve of his opponents, who might then surrender a chance or two for himself or his teammates.
"Peyton has been a nice surprise thus far after coming to us as a first year player from our JV a year ago," began Andrews. "Obviously, with his size and surprising speed, he can present problems up-top in a lot of ways. But today he came through when we needed him most."
The loss was the second-consecutive 1-0 defeat for the Eagles (2-7-1). The visitors failed to build on their 2-0 win in the rain at home on Thursday over Chicago Public League Premier Division North rival Lincoln Park that ended a five-game losing streak.
"Your chances to win are almost nothing when you don't score, and it's something we haven't done the past two days and on two other occasions this season," lamented Taft manager Jeff Lucco.
"I felt as if we were the better side, and (could have) won this game, but Prospect did something we tried to do all day long, and that's how we go home with another loss."
The ball might have been moving all over the park during the first quarter hour, but neither side distinguished itself with its play. That was aided by a strong wind and some less than dazzling touches on the ball.
"We didn't really have a very good start," admitted Knights senior Patrick Limanowka, who would be the central playmaking figure for Andrews on this day. "Even though it looked as if (Taft) was going to sit back early on, we didn't put much together with our possession or connecting passes for awhile."
Lucco was forced to tweak his backline unit due to the absence of Byron Abayay. While most of this new group had not played together before, as the match went on they would enjoy a passing grade for their ability to stay organized and keep defensive shape.
Lucco would sent out Andy Perez, Sergio Diaz, Kaiden Brinson and Matthew Davila in front of his keeper Michael Pierri, who turned in a magnificent performance to help his new backline get more comfortable with each passing minute.
"Michael had a great game for us," offered Lucco. "He made some terrific saves and was very active in and around our box."
Pierri's counterpart, Szymon Mocarski, whom Andrews has praised from the very start of the 2018 campaign, was forced out of action for nearly 20 minutes when he and Taft's Motea Nassar met in a 50-50 challenge inside the Knights box on the eighth minute.
Mocarski took the brunt of the collision and left with a nonstop bloody nose, while Nassar eventually popped up no worse for wear.
"We really felt that we should have been awarded a PK on that play and later on another one. We didn't get either call today on those two," lamented Lucco.
Prospect's Julian Zavala would step between the sticks for Mocarski, and would not be challenged with another chance of serious nature before his teammate returned in the 28th minute.
Previous to the Mocarski-Nassar exchange, and immediately after, the home side slowly gained control of the game. Much of that was due to a high percentage of touches from the aforementioned Limanowka Declan Flanagan and Chris Rubio becoming more involved in the game.
That, and the now ever-present presence of senior midfielder Daniel LaCost, who was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his high work rate, and impressive interception and ball-winning percentage from his spot in the Knights formation.
"Daniel was the ultimate defensive mid for us today," beamed Andrews. "He worked and worked all throughout, won so many balls, many of them in the air, and his decision-making was outstanding."
A quick decision come off his lne from Taft's Pierri's took the angle away from Limanowka and likely stopped a quality chance in the 18th minute. Four minutes later, the Taft keeper was at it again, this time doing the same against Angel Velazquez after Limanowka put his teammate through.
Nice work by Flanagan led to Limanowka having a go on frame, and another moments later when a quick turn from Flanagan opened up enough space to allow the sophomore to find his captain.
It was at this point that the visitors slowly got themselves into the game. Much of that due to the now more active Brandon Tovar, as well as work from Ben Granados, Jonathan Salgado and the aforementioned Nassar up-top.
"After losing so many seniors from a really great team we had a year ago, it's still taking us time to learn to play together," said Tovar. "Usually it's at the start of our games where we have the most trouble until we finally get things going."
The sophomore used his delicate touch and excellent vision from his place in the center of the park to help pick apart the Knights (3-1-2) in their own end during a much improved final 10 minutes of soccer before the intermission.
Tovar sent a nice ball over the top to Granados, who forced Mocarski to save. Then it was the same pair at it again, but this time Granados' offering got closer than the previous attempt.
"It was in the second half that I felt like we had a lot of the play (we) started to get more guys involved," said Lucco. "But again, we just coulnd't finish the chances we created."
Most of the second period was played at breakneck speed. While it was not always aesthetically pleasing to the eye, it was, nontheless, wide open and fast.
Taft's Christopher Reynoso opened the second period with a shot on frame followed by one on the other end from Flanagan.
Pierri, again strong off his line in all of his challenges, ended a potential advantage in the 50th minute by Alex Predescu who was sent through by Myers.
Pierri was at his best when his last-second leap prevented a well-paced and wind-aided Jacob Keil attempt from sneaking in under the woodwork.
The action continued to heat up. It was a well-executed, one-two combination from Davila and Tovar which seemed to provide the inspiration for Taft and kept the Knights under pressure for nearly 10 minutes.
"That's when I felt that we really stepped up with our defensive play," Andrews said. "We had to because Taft was coming at us and playing with more confidence.
"Jacob (Keil) had a strong all-around game along the back; Jonny Keane came off the bench to play well. LaCost was big for us during that stretch, as was Mocarski."
Tovar whipped a ball into the six-yard box for Davila that Mocarski grabbed with confidence. Then it was a solo effort from Davila which ended with the sophomore going over from 20 yards.
Prospect got a key block in the box from Tengis Tulga on a Tomek Mieczkowski try that kept things even at 63 minutes before another terrific save by Mokarski against Tovar from a Nassar send ended a long stretch of wonderful attacking soccer by the Eagles.
"The effort was there, especially in the second half, where our work rate was sky-high," said Lucco. "Our inability to finish is just not very good."
The gamechanger came from positional awareness from Prospect's Myers, who followed the flight of a long throw from the near flag by Keil that went just off the tip of Pierri's gloves - spilling free to the goal-scoring hero.
"There was no way I could miss a sitter like that," said Myers.
His smart finish stunned the Eagles, who then nearly conceded another by Myers. But the strike minutes later was turned away by Pierri.
It was good day for Prospect.
"Our overall effort was good, not as good as it was in our (2-1) win over Saint Viator, but I feel as if we're getting better each time out," said Limanowka.
The Knights have an important week ahead of them with two key fixtures. The first comes on the road against division-leading Buffalo Grove on Tuesday and is followed by a quick turnaround contest with reigning MSL champion Barrington at home on Wednesday.
"It took us nearly 15 minutes to get our heads into this game. If we do that against Buffalo Grove or Barrington, we'll be in for a long night," said Andrews.
"We're quite capable of playing quality soccer for 80 minutes, so this is the week to do just that."
Taft will host league rival Von Steuben on Wednesday, then go on the road next weekend to Bolingbrook.
"We really are getting better, and on turf we show we can play and use our technical skills to attack," Tovar said. "But it's just going to take us a little longer to play better as a team because of all the new faces we have here this year."
Starting lineups
Taft (4-3-3)
G- Michael Pierri
D- Andy Perez
D- Sergio Diaz
D- Kaiden Brinson
D- Matthew Davila
M- Jakub Lapinski
M- Amer Al Jundi
M- Brandon Tovar
F- Motea Nassar
F- Christian Reynoso
F- Jonathan Salgado
Prospect (4-5-1)
G- Szymon Mocarski
D- Bryan Morrison
D- Tengis Tulga
D- Colin Sand
D- Jacob Keil
M- Joe Boduch
M- Daniel LaCost
M- Patrick Limanowka
M- Declan Flanagan
M- Chris Rubio
F- Peyton Myers
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Daniel LaCost, sr., DMF, Prospect
Referee: Mohammed Mushtaq
Scoring Summary
First half
None
Second half
Prospect: Myers (Keil), 71'
Knights unbeaten streak stretches to 4 with 1-0 victory
By Mike Garofola
MT. PROSPECT -- With this nonconference contest seemingly headed to a goal-less draw, up stepped Peyton Myers. The senior forward drove home the game-winner nine minutes from time to give host Prospect a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Taft on Saturday at George Gattas Memorial Stadium.
The big, strong Knight's delicate side-footed finish put an end to a back-and-forth affair that would have been a fair result at 0-0 but was a win that Prospect manager Mike Andrews was thrilled to earn on this blustery day in the northwest suburbs.
"One thing that I am continually impressed with is the spirit of this team, and its ability to never let up," said Andrews. "So it was a good win for us as the guys battled hard. It's just that we had a little more at the end with Peyton getting his late goal."
"I guess I was just in the right place at the right time," said Myers, who in theory was correct with his assessment of the timing of his 71st-minute strike.
In truth, Myers was rewarded for his day-long effort, using his 6-foot-4 frame to run hard at the Eagles backline with the hope of forcing a turnover in the visitors end, or to just test the nerve of his opponents, who might then surrender a chance or two for himself or his teammates.
"Peyton has been a nice surprise thus far after coming to us as a first year player from our JV a year ago," began Andrews. "Obviously, with his size and surprising speed, he can present problems up-top in a lot of ways. But today he came through when we needed him most."
The loss was the second-consecutive 1-0 defeat for the Eagles (2-7-1). The visitors failed to build on their 2-0 win in the rain at home on Thursday over Chicago Public League Premier Division North rival Lincoln Park that ended a five-game losing streak.
"Your chances to win are almost nothing when you don't score, and it's something we haven't done the past two days and on two other occasions this season," lamented Taft manager Jeff Lucco.
"I felt as if we were the better side, and (could have) won this game, but Prospect did something we tried to do all day long, and that's how we go home with another loss."
The ball might have been moving all over the park during the first quarter hour, but neither side distinguished itself with its play. That was aided by a strong wind and some less than dazzling touches on the ball.
"We didn't really have a very good start," admitted Knights senior Patrick Limanowka, who would be the central playmaking figure for Andrews on this day. "Even though it looked as if (Taft) was going to sit back early on, we didn't put much together with our possession or connecting passes for awhile."
Lucco was forced to tweak his backline unit due to the absence of Byron Abayay. While most of this new group had not played together before, as the match went on they would enjoy a passing grade for their ability to stay organized and keep defensive shape.
Lucco would sent out Andy Perez, Sergio Diaz, Kaiden Brinson and Matthew Davila in front of his keeper Michael Pierri, who turned in a magnificent performance to help his new backline get more comfortable with each passing minute.
"Michael had a great game for us," offered Lucco. "He made some terrific saves and was very active in and around our box."
Pierri's counterpart, Szymon Mocarski, whom Andrews has praised from the very start of the 2018 campaign, was forced out of action for nearly 20 minutes when he and Taft's Motea Nassar met in a 50-50 challenge inside the Knights box on the eighth minute.
Mocarski took the brunt of the collision and left with a nonstop bloody nose, while Nassar eventually popped up no worse for wear.
"We really felt that we should have been awarded a PK on that play and later on another one. We didn't get either call today on those two," lamented Lucco.
Prospect's Julian Zavala would step between the sticks for Mocarski, and would not be challenged with another chance of serious nature before his teammate returned in the 28th minute.
Previous to the Mocarski-Nassar exchange, and immediately after, the home side slowly gained control of the game. Much of that was due to a high percentage of touches from the aforementioned Limanowka Declan Flanagan and Chris Rubio becoming more involved in the game.
That, and the now ever-present presence of senior midfielder Daniel LaCost, who was named Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his high work rate, and impressive interception and ball-winning percentage from his spot in the Knights formation.
"Daniel was the ultimate defensive mid for us today," beamed Andrews. "He worked and worked all throughout, won so many balls, many of them in the air, and his decision-making was outstanding."
A quick decision come off his lne from Taft's Pierri's took the angle away from Limanowka and likely stopped a quality chance in the 18th minute. Four minutes later, the Taft keeper was at it again, this time doing the same against Angel Velazquez after Limanowka put his teammate through.
Nice work by Flanagan led to Limanowka having a go on frame, and another moments later when a quick turn from Flanagan opened up enough space to allow the sophomore to find his captain.
It was at this point that the visitors slowly got themselves into the game. Much of that due to the now more active Brandon Tovar, as well as work from Ben Granados, Jonathan Salgado and the aforementioned Nassar up-top.
"After losing so many seniors from a really great team we had a year ago, it's still taking us time to learn to play together," said Tovar. "Usually it's at the start of our games where we have the most trouble until we finally get things going."
The sophomore used his delicate touch and excellent vision from his place in the center of the park to help pick apart the Knights (3-1-2) in their own end during a much improved final 10 minutes of soccer before the intermission.
Tovar sent a nice ball over the top to Granados, who forced Mocarski to save. Then it was the same pair at it again, but this time Granados' offering got closer than the previous attempt.
"It was in the second half that I felt like we had a lot of the play (we) started to get more guys involved," said Lucco. "But again, we just coulnd't finish the chances we created."
Most of the second period was played at breakneck speed. While it was not always aesthetically pleasing to the eye, it was, nontheless, wide open and fast.
Taft's Christopher Reynoso opened the second period with a shot on frame followed by one on the other end from Flanagan.
Pierri, again strong off his line in all of his challenges, ended a potential advantage in the 50th minute by Alex Predescu who was sent through by Myers.
Pierri was at his best when his last-second leap prevented a well-paced and wind-aided Jacob Keil attempt from sneaking in under the woodwork.
The action continued to heat up. It was a well-executed, one-two combination from Davila and Tovar which seemed to provide the inspiration for Taft and kept the Knights under pressure for nearly 10 minutes.
"That's when I felt that we really stepped up with our defensive play," Andrews said. "We had to because Taft was coming at us and playing with more confidence.
"Jacob (Keil) had a strong all-around game along the back; Jonny Keane came off the bench to play well. LaCost was big for us during that stretch, as was Mocarski."
Tovar whipped a ball into the six-yard box for Davila that Mocarski grabbed with confidence. Then it was a solo effort from Davila which ended with the sophomore going over from 20 yards.
Prospect got a key block in the box from Tengis Tulga on a Tomek Mieczkowski try that kept things even at 63 minutes before another terrific save by Mokarski against Tovar from a Nassar send ended a long stretch of wonderful attacking soccer by the Eagles.
"The effort was there, especially in the second half, where our work rate was sky-high," said Lucco. "Our inability to finish is just not very good."
The gamechanger came from positional awareness from Prospect's Myers, who followed the flight of a long throw from the near flag by Keil that went just off the tip of Pierri's gloves - spilling free to the goal-scoring hero.
"There was no way I could miss a sitter like that," said Myers.
His smart finish stunned the Eagles, who then nearly conceded another by Myers. But the strike minutes later was turned away by Pierri.
It was good day for Prospect.
"Our overall effort was good, not as good as it was in our (2-1) win over Saint Viator, but I feel as if we're getting better each time out," said Limanowka.
The Knights have an important week ahead of them with two key fixtures. The first comes on the road against division-leading Buffalo Grove on Tuesday and is followed by a quick turnaround contest with reigning MSL champion Barrington at home on Wednesday.
"It took us nearly 15 minutes to get our heads into this game. If we do that against Buffalo Grove or Barrington, we'll be in for a long night," said Andrews.
"We're quite capable of playing quality soccer for 80 minutes, so this is the week to do just that."
Taft will host league rival Von Steuben on Wednesday, then go on the road next weekend to Bolingbrook.
"We really are getting better, and on turf we show we can play and use our technical skills to attack," Tovar said. "But it's just going to take us a little longer to play better as a team because of all the new faces we have here this year."
Starting lineups
Taft (4-3-3)
G- Michael Pierri
D- Andy Perez
D- Sergio Diaz
D- Kaiden Brinson
D- Matthew Davila
M- Jakub Lapinski
M- Amer Al Jundi
M- Brandon Tovar
F- Motea Nassar
F- Christian Reynoso
F- Jonathan Salgado
Prospect (4-5-1)
G- Szymon Mocarski
D- Bryan Morrison
D- Tengis Tulga
D- Colin Sand
D- Jacob Keil
M- Joe Boduch
M- Daniel LaCost
M- Patrick Limanowka
M- Declan Flanagan
M- Chris Rubio
F- Peyton Myers
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Daniel LaCost, sr., DMF, Prospect
Referee: Mohammed Mushtaq
Scoring Summary
First half
None
Second half
Prospect: Myers (Keil), 71'