Leyden's scoring, 'D' doom Von Steuben
4-1 win sets up rematch vs. Maine West in regional title game
By Gary Larsen
NORTHLAKE — Intensity in soccer goes from a coach’s plea during the regular season to a downright requirement once the state playoffs begin.
“It’s win or go home,” Leyden senior striker Lalo Hernandez said. “And if you don’t play at your highest level, you’re going home.”
Leyden (17-3-2) sent visiting Von Steuben (9-7-3) packing thanks to a 4-1 home win Tuesday in the Eagles Class 3A regional. The win sent Leyden to the title game against Maine West on Friday.
The Eagles spent most of Tuesday embracing intensity, but there was one Eagle who exemplified it throughout the game: senior outside mid Oscar Cifuentes. Cifuentes assisted on a goal, his hustle earned a free kick that led to another -- he was relentless up and down the left side of the field all day.
“Oscar always plays like that, and today he stepped it up a notch,” Hernandez said. “That’s good because in the state playoffs, you have to bring your highest performance. He brought his today, and that’s an example we all have to follow.”
Leyden got first half goals from Francisco Toral and Marco Villalobos and two more after halftime from Hernandez and Carlos Garcia.
Like Leyden, Von Steuben has no shortage of attacking players capable of finishing, leaving coach Vedad Serancic to summarize a near total shutdown of his skilled team in stark terms.
“(Leyden) came ready to play, and we didn’t,” Serancic said. “I said it was going to be the good, the bad, or the ugly. And today, it was very ugly.”
The Panthers’ coach believed the roots of his side’s play Tuesday could be traced to a 3-0 loss to Solorio in the Chicago Public League tournament Oct. 7.
“It’s impossible to read (kids), but I almost feel like they checked out last week and got disappointed they didn’t get to go to the city (championship). That was a letdown, and then it seemed like they just closed down,” Serancic said.
And when a coach’s best attacking player agrees with that summation, it becomes a conclusion.
“They were more motivated than us. They were the better team today,” Von Steuben senior striker Ricky Luna said. “Every time we get knocked out of the city (tournament), we put our heads down and that’s been it. It was a good season. We just should have done more.”
Co-captains Luna and midfielder Cesar Mejia, along with midfielders Rambert Ramos and Dane Hoare, presented Leyden with a quartet of attacking players all capable of putting the ball in the net.
And that is where the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match entered the picture in the form of Leyden central defender Danny Kulawiak. The big, rangy senior played in his first game back after missing a handful of games due to injury and orchestrated the stifling of Von Steuben’s attack.
“I don’t think we win this game without (Kulawiak),” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “We struggled in the games he missed this year. He brings leadership, a calmness, and an attitude of ‘I’ll take care of everything.’ And that’s what you want out of a goalie or a center back.”
Kulawiak and his backline stood tall in front of a quality effort by Leyden keeper David Duwal.
A main concern was Luna, who led Von Steuben in points this year with 10 goals and six assists. His quickness and foot skills were obvious quickly after the opening whistle.
“Once we started playing I noticed that he was moving around a lot, making the runs, so we just had to adjust,” Kulawiak said. “But as a defender you can’t treat him any different. You play the same way you play against anyone.”
Valintis was pleased how his boys in back handled Luna and company in the win.
“Defending those four players together took a collective effort on our part,” Valintis said. “We had to adjust and make sure we had a little bit of extra help on that right side. They had an awful lot of talent, so to limit them the way we did, I’m pretty happy.”
Toral’s 13th goal of the year came five minutes in. Moreno swept up the right side in transition and centered a pass that Toral buried inside the box past charging Panthers keeper Jakub Rojak. It was also Moreno’s team-leading 12th assist of the season.
Midway through the half, Hernandez took a ball deep on the left side and centered to Villalobos, who stretched the back netting from 12 yards.
Von Steuben picked up its play to halftime but beyond a few dangerous looks on net for Luna that resulted in a Duwal save and a shot sent wide, and a blistered shot by Ramos from distance that Duwal fielded, the Panthers struggled to find truly dangerous space.
Cifuentes spent the first half fighting hard up the left side, winning a ball near the corner before sending a shot just wide at 22 minutes.
Cifuentes got rewarded for his effort in the second half. At 48 minutes, he took a ball up the touchline before cutting towards the middle and drawing a foul 25 yards from goal. Rojak stopped Toral’s ensuing free kick but gave away the deflection, and Garcia was there to put it into the goal.
Cifuentes then centered a ball from the left side to Hernandez, who spun and blasted his 16th goal of the season inside the near post from 18 yards. Valintis was not surprised with the effort Cifuentes gave Tuesday.
“(Mejia) was a pretty physical player but Oscar stepped it up,” Valintis said. “He’s just that guy who will leave everything on the field, and that’s nice to have.”
Von Steuben avoided the shutout on a late goal from Ramos.Tuesday starters Luna, Mejia, and Ivan Vega lead a group of six seniors departing Serancic’s program.
“I’m very happy with the season we had, and I’m sad to be losing some of the key seniors,” Serancic said. “There are four senior starters leaving, but we also have a good core of players coming back for next year. Hopefully, they’ll learn from their mistakes.”
Fourth-seeded Leyden, meanwhile, lived to fight another day and will take on a 12th-seeded Maine West team that upset sixth-seeded Maine South 1-0 in Tuesday’s second game in Northlake. Leyden and Maine West played to a draw on Sept. 23.
“We tied 0-0, and that was a hard game,” Hernandez said. “But if we play the way we can, I think we’ll get the result.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK David Duwal
D Danny Kulawiak
D Dennis Arreaza
D Abel Estrada
D Marcelo Garcia
M Andy Moreno
M Marco Villalobos
M Oscar Cifuentes
M Adrian Flores
F Francisco Toral
F Lalo Hernandez
Von Steuben
GK Jakub Rojak
D Devin Lopez
D Jonathan Holcomb
D Sebastian Tovar
M Cesar Mejia
M Dane Hoare
M Gabriel Edstrom
M Juan Valencia
M Ivan Vega
F Ricky Luna
F James Malutan
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Danny Kulawiak, sr., D, Leyden
Scoring summary
First half
Leyden — Toral (Moreno); Villalobos (Hernandez)
Second half
Leyden — C. Garcia (Toral), Hernandez (Cifuentes)
Von Steuben — Ramos (UA)
4-1 win sets up rematch vs. Maine West in regional title game
By Gary Larsen
NORTHLAKE — Intensity in soccer goes from a coach’s plea during the regular season to a downright requirement once the state playoffs begin.
“It’s win or go home,” Leyden senior striker Lalo Hernandez said. “And if you don’t play at your highest level, you’re going home.”
Leyden (17-3-2) sent visiting Von Steuben (9-7-3) packing thanks to a 4-1 home win Tuesday in the Eagles Class 3A regional. The win sent Leyden to the title game against Maine West on Friday.
The Eagles spent most of Tuesday embracing intensity, but there was one Eagle who exemplified it throughout the game: senior outside mid Oscar Cifuentes. Cifuentes assisted on a goal, his hustle earned a free kick that led to another -- he was relentless up and down the left side of the field all day.
“Oscar always plays like that, and today he stepped it up a notch,” Hernandez said. “That’s good because in the state playoffs, you have to bring your highest performance. He brought his today, and that’s an example we all have to follow.”
Leyden got first half goals from Francisco Toral and Marco Villalobos and two more after halftime from Hernandez and Carlos Garcia.
Like Leyden, Von Steuben has no shortage of attacking players capable of finishing, leaving coach Vedad Serancic to summarize a near total shutdown of his skilled team in stark terms.
“(Leyden) came ready to play, and we didn’t,” Serancic said. “I said it was going to be the good, the bad, or the ugly. And today, it was very ugly.”
The Panthers’ coach believed the roots of his side’s play Tuesday could be traced to a 3-0 loss to Solorio in the Chicago Public League tournament Oct. 7.
“It’s impossible to read (kids), but I almost feel like they checked out last week and got disappointed they didn’t get to go to the city (championship). That was a letdown, and then it seemed like they just closed down,” Serancic said.
And when a coach’s best attacking player agrees with that summation, it becomes a conclusion.
“They were more motivated than us. They were the better team today,” Von Steuben senior striker Ricky Luna said. “Every time we get knocked out of the city (tournament), we put our heads down and that’s been it. It was a good season. We just should have done more.”
Co-captains Luna and midfielder Cesar Mejia, along with midfielders Rambert Ramos and Dane Hoare, presented Leyden with a quartet of attacking players all capable of putting the ball in the net.
And that is where the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match entered the picture in the form of Leyden central defender Danny Kulawiak. The big, rangy senior played in his first game back after missing a handful of games due to injury and orchestrated the stifling of Von Steuben’s attack.
“I don’t think we win this game without (Kulawiak),” Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. “We struggled in the games he missed this year. He brings leadership, a calmness, and an attitude of ‘I’ll take care of everything.’ And that’s what you want out of a goalie or a center back.”
Kulawiak and his backline stood tall in front of a quality effort by Leyden keeper David Duwal.
A main concern was Luna, who led Von Steuben in points this year with 10 goals and six assists. His quickness and foot skills were obvious quickly after the opening whistle.
“Once we started playing I noticed that he was moving around a lot, making the runs, so we just had to adjust,” Kulawiak said. “But as a defender you can’t treat him any different. You play the same way you play against anyone.”
Valintis was pleased how his boys in back handled Luna and company in the win.
“Defending those four players together took a collective effort on our part,” Valintis said. “We had to adjust and make sure we had a little bit of extra help on that right side. They had an awful lot of talent, so to limit them the way we did, I’m pretty happy.”
Toral’s 13th goal of the year came five minutes in. Moreno swept up the right side in transition and centered a pass that Toral buried inside the box past charging Panthers keeper Jakub Rojak. It was also Moreno’s team-leading 12th assist of the season.
Midway through the half, Hernandez took a ball deep on the left side and centered to Villalobos, who stretched the back netting from 12 yards.
Von Steuben picked up its play to halftime but beyond a few dangerous looks on net for Luna that resulted in a Duwal save and a shot sent wide, and a blistered shot by Ramos from distance that Duwal fielded, the Panthers struggled to find truly dangerous space.
Cifuentes spent the first half fighting hard up the left side, winning a ball near the corner before sending a shot just wide at 22 minutes.
Cifuentes got rewarded for his effort in the second half. At 48 minutes, he took a ball up the touchline before cutting towards the middle and drawing a foul 25 yards from goal. Rojak stopped Toral’s ensuing free kick but gave away the deflection, and Garcia was there to put it into the goal.
Cifuentes then centered a ball from the left side to Hernandez, who spun and blasted his 16th goal of the season inside the near post from 18 yards. Valintis was not surprised with the effort Cifuentes gave Tuesday.
“(Mejia) was a pretty physical player but Oscar stepped it up,” Valintis said. “He’s just that guy who will leave everything on the field, and that’s nice to have.”
Von Steuben avoided the shutout on a late goal from Ramos.Tuesday starters Luna, Mejia, and Ivan Vega lead a group of six seniors departing Serancic’s program.
“I’m very happy with the season we had, and I’m sad to be losing some of the key seniors,” Serancic said. “There are four senior starters leaving, but we also have a good core of players coming back for next year. Hopefully, they’ll learn from their mistakes.”
Fourth-seeded Leyden, meanwhile, lived to fight another day and will take on a 12th-seeded Maine West team that upset sixth-seeded Maine South 1-0 in Tuesday’s second game in Northlake. Leyden and Maine West played to a draw on Sept. 23.
“We tied 0-0, and that was a hard game,” Hernandez said. “But if we play the way we can, I think we’ll get the result.”
Starting lineups
Leyden
GK David Duwal
D Danny Kulawiak
D Dennis Arreaza
D Abel Estrada
D Marcelo Garcia
M Andy Moreno
M Marco Villalobos
M Oscar Cifuentes
M Adrian Flores
F Francisco Toral
F Lalo Hernandez
Von Steuben
GK Jakub Rojak
D Devin Lopez
D Jonathan Holcomb
D Sebastian Tovar
M Cesar Mejia
M Dane Hoare
M Gabriel Edstrom
M Juan Valencia
M Ivan Vega
F Ricky Luna
F James Malutan
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Danny Kulawiak, sr., D, Leyden
Scoring summary
First half
Leyden — Toral (Moreno); Villalobos (Hernandez)
Second half
Leyden — C. Garcia (Toral), Hernandez (Cifuentes)
Von Steuben — Ramos (UA)