BG earns hard-fought win Warren
1-0 victory allows Bison to ward off Blue Devils upset bid
By Matt Misiek
LINCOLNSHIRE -- On paper, a matchup in a regional semifinal between a 5- and 12-seed does not always seem the most intriguing and would seem to indicate a possible talent gap between the teams.
Wednesday night’s Class 3A Stevenson Regional showcased Buffalo Grove, the fifth-seed in the Streamwood sectional, against Warren, the 12-seed.
Luckily for fans of the beautiful game, matches are not played on paper. Any gap that may have existed in print certainly did not show on the field. The two teams matched each other, play-for-play, for all of the first half and the majority of the game. However, one second half breakthrough proved the difference for Buffalo Grove, and the Bison advanced to the regional final with an intense 1-0 victory over the Blue Devils.
“A lot of people are going to look at us as the 12-seed and not think much about the result,” said Warren senior defender Declan Porter. “It gives us a lot of pride to go out the way we did. It was a long season, and we created a lot of great memories.”
The Blue Devils brought intensity to their defensive effort early, led by Porter and fellow senior Ryley Sheehan. The stand, which garnered the praises of Warren coach Jason Ahonen for its tenacity, was maintained through a scoreless first half.
Warren, which finished their season with a record of 10-11-3, got a chance in the 42nd minute as midfielder Tommy Travelstead had an opportunity inside the six near the right post, but his shot was stopped at the post by Buffalo Grove keeper Daniel Sempoch.
Buffalo Grove (15-5-1) turned the tide of the game at the 44:31 mark. Junior forward Kevin Elioza lined up over a free kick from 23 yards that clanged off the far right of the crossbar. The ball quickly found sophomore midfielder Alex Berk inside the 18. His header went past Warren keeper Hunter Faurbo and into the back of the net.
“Of course, it was by design,” kidded Buffalo Grove coach Brad Abel. “It was good awareness by Alex (Berk). “I believe it was his first goal of the season, so not a bad way to score your first goal of the season.”
Buffalo Grove's Sempoch, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, took over the rest of the way for the Bison. He protected the narrow lead with key saves and totaled 11 for the match. He dove to his right to stop a close range shot from Blue Devils forward Clayton Mobile in the 50th minute. The senior keeper than lunged to his right in the 63rd minute to stop a drive from junior Esteban Garay from 25 yards on the right hash.
“The first half, I was a bit shaky,” said Sempoch. “I wasn’t at my best state. In the second half, I came out and made a couple of saves. It got my momentum going.”
“Daniel was phenomenal,” said Abel. “This was his 11th shutout of the season. He was a little bit busier than we would have liked him to be, but we are glad to have him back there.
Warren’s attack in the final 10 minutes produced opportunities for sophomore midfielder Cris Medina, but Buffalo Grove’s defense led by Shane Adams, Jack Keady,
Christian Kozackza, and Brian Hanus, made sure those efforts were blocked and did not get on frame.
Buffalo Grove, which has won 9 of its last 11 matches, will face fourth-seeded Wheeling at 10 a.m. in Saturday’s regional final in Lincolnshire. Wheeling booked the spot with a 4-1 victory over the host Patriots on Tuesday. The Bison are well aware of their next opponent, having squared off in Mid-Suburban League play on September 29th. The Bison prevailed 1-0 in a win that was key to their MSL East Division title.
“They are a tough team both physically and technically,” said Sempoch. “Last game was only 1-0, but they had a couple of good chances. It should be an interesting game.”
Coach Abel shared a similar view.
“Wheeling is a prolific and high-scoring team,” he said. “They are going to bring it. So we need to contain quite a few of their guys. But, that’s what a regional final should be.”
Even though Warren fell one goal short on the score sheet, they gave Buffalo Grove, ranked 16th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, a real battle. Ahonen was very pleased with the complete effort of his team.
“That was fun,” he said. “That is what we have been striving to do all season long. Unfortunately it took us a long time to get to this point.”
“The last two weeks have been tremendous. The players finally figured it out and got on the same page as the coaching staff. I’m just sad to see that it is over.”
Ahonen also noted the senior leadership of the team.
“These seniors showed our under classmen how to compete, how to play, how to be tenacious,” he said.
The Blue Devils Class of '18 was made up of Anakin Arizmendi, Mike Bassier, Andre Chrinos, Daniel Colin, Austin Cortes, Kevin Dominguez, Hunter Faurbo, Porter, Sheehan, Travelstead and Anthony Zavala
“The bar has now been set for them (the returnees),” Ahonen said. “They have seen it, been with us for a couple of weeks. The future is really bright here. I just wish it was with these seniors.”
Porter left one last piece of advice for his underclassmen teammates and incoming players to the program.
“Just work hard, keep working at it,” he added. “Obviously, things aren’t always going to go your way, but you are always wearing someone else’s number. So, represent them well.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK: Hunter Faurbo
D: Kevin Dominguez
D: Jovan Selakovic
D: Declan Porter
D: Ryley Sheehan
MF: Tommy Travelstead
MF: Mike Bassier
MF: Cris Medina
MF: Nolan Ehlers
MF: Ishaan Shah
F: Clayton Mobile
Buffalo Grove
GK: Daniel Sempoch
D: Shane Adams
D: Jack Keady
D: Christian Kozaczka
D: Brian Hanus
MF: Manny Mazariegos
MF: Ryan Kim
MF: Alex Berk
MF: Michael Botello
MF: Kyle Adams
F: Kevin Elioza
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Daniel Sempoch, sr., GK, Buffalo Grove
Officials: Mike Moore, (center); Muhammad Mushtaq; Chris Rudolph
Scoring summary
Second half
Buffalo Grove: Berk (Elioza) 45th
1-0 victory allows Bison to ward off Blue Devils upset bid
By Matt Misiek
LINCOLNSHIRE -- On paper, a matchup in a regional semifinal between a 5- and 12-seed does not always seem the most intriguing and would seem to indicate a possible talent gap between the teams.
Wednesday night’s Class 3A Stevenson Regional showcased Buffalo Grove, the fifth-seed in the Streamwood sectional, against Warren, the 12-seed.
Luckily for fans of the beautiful game, matches are not played on paper. Any gap that may have existed in print certainly did not show on the field. The two teams matched each other, play-for-play, for all of the first half and the majority of the game. However, one second half breakthrough proved the difference for Buffalo Grove, and the Bison advanced to the regional final with an intense 1-0 victory over the Blue Devils.
“A lot of people are going to look at us as the 12-seed and not think much about the result,” said Warren senior defender Declan Porter. “It gives us a lot of pride to go out the way we did. It was a long season, and we created a lot of great memories.”
The Blue Devils brought intensity to their defensive effort early, led by Porter and fellow senior Ryley Sheehan. The stand, which garnered the praises of Warren coach Jason Ahonen for its tenacity, was maintained through a scoreless first half.
Warren, which finished their season with a record of 10-11-3, got a chance in the 42nd minute as midfielder Tommy Travelstead had an opportunity inside the six near the right post, but his shot was stopped at the post by Buffalo Grove keeper Daniel Sempoch.
Buffalo Grove (15-5-1) turned the tide of the game at the 44:31 mark. Junior forward Kevin Elioza lined up over a free kick from 23 yards that clanged off the far right of the crossbar. The ball quickly found sophomore midfielder Alex Berk inside the 18. His header went past Warren keeper Hunter Faurbo and into the back of the net.
“Of course, it was by design,” kidded Buffalo Grove coach Brad Abel. “It was good awareness by Alex (Berk). “I believe it was his first goal of the season, so not a bad way to score your first goal of the season.”
Buffalo Grove's Sempoch, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, took over the rest of the way for the Bison. He protected the narrow lead with key saves and totaled 11 for the match. He dove to his right to stop a close range shot from Blue Devils forward Clayton Mobile in the 50th minute. The senior keeper than lunged to his right in the 63rd minute to stop a drive from junior Esteban Garay from 25 yards on the right hash.
“The first half, I was a bit shaky,” said Sempoch. “I wasn’t at my best state. In the second half, I came out and made a couple of saves. It got my momentum going.”
“Daniel was phenomenal,” said Abel. “This was his 11th shutout of the season. He was a little bit busier than we would have liked him to be, but we are glad to have him back there.
Warren’s attack in the final 10 minutes produced opportunities for sophomore midfielder Cris Medina, but Buffalo Grove’s defense led by Shane Adams, Jack Keady,
Christian Kozackza, and Brian Hanus, made sure those efforts were blocked and did not get on frame.
Buffalo Grove, which has won 9 of its last 11 matches, will face fourth-seeded Wheeling at 10 a.m. in Saturday’s regional final in Lincolnshire. Wheeling booked the spot with a 4-1 victory over the host Patriots on Tuesday. The Bison are well aware of their next opponent, having squared off in Mid-Suburban League play on September 29th. The Bison prevailed 1-0 in a win that was key to their MSL East Division title.
“They are a tough team both physically and technically,” said Sempoch. “Last game was only 1-0, but they had a couple of good chances. It should be an interesting game.”
Coach Abel shared a similar view.
“Wheeling is a prolific and high-scoring team,” he said. “They are going to bring it. So we need to contain quite a few of their guys. But, that’s what a regional final should be.”
Even though Warren fell one goal short on the score sheet, they gave Buffalo Grove, ranked 16th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, a real battle. Ahonen was very pleased with the complete effort of his team.
“That was fun,” he said. “That is what we have been striving to do all season long. Unfortunately it took us a long time to get to this point.”
“The last two weeks have been tremendous. The players finally figured it out and got on the same page as the coaching staff. I’m just sad to see that it is over.”
Ahonen also noted the senior leadership of the team.
“These seniors showed our under classmen how to compete, how to play, how to be tenacious,” he said.
The Blue Devils Class of '18 was made up of Anakin Arizmendi, Mike Bassier, Andre Chrinos, Daniel Colin, Austin Cortes, Kevin Dominguez, Hunter Faurbo, Porter, Sheehan, Travelstead and Anthony Zavala
“The bar has now been set for them (the returnees),” Ahonen said. “They have seen it, been with us for a couple of weeks. The future is really bright here. I just wish it was with these seniors.”
Porter left one last piece of advice for his underclassmen teammates and incoming players to the program.
“Just work hard, keep working at it,” he added. “Obviously, things aren’t always going to go your way, but you are always wearing someone else’s number. So, represent them well.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK: Hunter Faurbo
D: Kevin Dominguez
D: Jovan Selakovic
D: Declan Porter
D: Ryley Sheehan
MF: Tommy Travelstead
MF: Mike Bassier
MF: Cris Medina
MF: Nolan Ehlers
MF: Ishaan Shah
F: Clayton Mobile
Buffalo Grove
GK: Daniel Sempoch
D: Shane Adams
D: Jack Keady
D: Christian Kozaczka
D: Brian Hanus
MF: Manny Mazariegos
MF: Ryan Kim
MF: Alex Berk
MF: Michael Botello
MF: Kyle Adams
F: Kevin Elioza
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Daniel Sempoch, sr., GK, Buffalo Grove
Officials: Mike Moore, (center); Muhammad Mushtaq; Chris Rudolph
Scoring summary
Second half
Buffalo Grove: Berk (Elioza) 45th