Bassier’s PK kicks Warren in gear
Blue Devils top Harlem 2-0 at McHenry Invitational
By Patrick Z. McGavin
McHENRY -- Mike Bassier has seen pretty much everything imaginable in his time playing for Warren. He has dealt with the expectations, the pride, the disappointment, in other words, the gamut of emotions. As an eighth grader, he saw the Blue Devils win a Class 3A state championship.
Now he is the team’s elder statesman -- an all-purpose player holding the parts together, shaping the team in a manner best suited to his low-key, common sense approach to the game.
“Mike is our only returning starter from last year,” Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. “He works terribly hard, and he puts himself in good spots. He is the guy who does not lead by yelling. He leads by example. He just goes out there and plays his game. He has logged a lot of minutes this season, and we are going to need him to log even more going forward given we lost some starters with concussions.”
Warren’s season has been anything but linear though Bassier brought shape and direction by converting a penalty kick in the 18th minute and sparking the team with high pressure and a distinctive effort as the Blue Devils knocked off Harlem 2-0 at the McHenry Invitational on Saturday morning.
Warren (8-7-2) finished 1-1-1 in the four-team, three game round-robin tournament. The Blue Devils got clipped by the host Warriors 2-0 in the final game.
Led by Bassier, the Blue Devils demonstrated resolve and toughness in battling through the extreme heat that surpassed more than 90 degrees in the late morning. A rough, pock-marked surface and a shallow field that did not play to the team’s strengths.
“I think (this year) has definitely been a learning experience,” said Bassier, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “ I think we all jumped into it and slowly but surely have gotten things together day-by-day. I think the heat wave was the most difficult part of playing out there (today), but fortunately everybody got minutes and everybody stepped up and played well.”
Warren was out of rhythm at the start, trying to get a feel for how the officials would call the game -- they were called offside four times in the first five minutes of the match. The team started out aggressively and displayed that intensity throughout.
The penalty kick developed out of Bassier’s high pressure and the ability of players like freshman midfielder Ishaan Shah and sophomore forward Cris Medina to create some exciting combination play. Bassier was fouled inside the box, and awarded the penalty kick -- surprisingly the first one of the season for the Blue Devils.
“That was the first one we had all season, so it felt kind of weird,” Bassier said. “I stepped up, and I hit it pretty well.” He caught Huskies’ keeper Hunter McClusky angling toward his right and then reversed the ball to the other side for a 1-0 Warren advantage.
The Blue Devils’ rejiggered lineup, with some younger players brought up for reinforcements, featured two freshmen and six sophomores.
“We have a lot of young guys this season,” Ahonen said. “It’s an evaluation, to see where we are now and where we are going to be in 2018 and 2019. We even have some freshmen up, so it is also a chance to see where we are going to be in 2020. The amount of games we have played has definitely tried the depth we have in the program.
“A lot of the younger guys are getting the chances they would not normally get, so it is good to see that.”
One of the freshmen, Giovanni Juarez, a small though lightning-quick forward, introduced some speed and an edge to his game that benefitted the Blue Devils. He generated consistent pressure and the ability to find the ball or play off to his teammates’ feet. Sophomore midfielder Josh Segura also flashed some promise, helping the Blue Devils push numbers and force the Huskies into a backwards, defensive posture.
“I feel, in order for us to be successful, we just need to do what we are doing and continue to grow,” Bassier said. “We have to continue to do the things right now.”
Warren optimized the promise and excitement of its youth by securing a crucial second goal at the end of the half. Off a corner kick by junior forward Cristian Fajardo, the elusive and alert Shah directed a ball inside the box that junior midfielder Jovan Selakovic finished with a quick one-touch in the 39th minute.
The game conformed to an too familiar thread for the Huskies (1-13-0). They battled hard and generated some decent pressure in the second half, especially forward Omar Ramirez. He got behind the Blue Devils back but could not summon enough velocity on a short ball that Warren keeper Austen Cortes cradled in his arms.
“That is the frustrating part,” Harlem coach David Chu said. “We have enough skill on the team to be dangerous. It’s just sometimes our energy level dips a little. This heat today did not help. When we get down a goal, we struggle to find that extra gear to get it back. I felt like we kept ourselves in the game into the very end. I think it’s just a matter of being confident when we get into those situations.
“We are used to being on our back foot. It catches us a little off-guard when we have those opportunities and we have to put them away.”
Senior Harlem defender Aleksa Gligorevic, who was tasked with shadowing Bassier most of the game, admitted the early goal threw the team off. “At the end we tried to score the goal and get it back, but we just could not do it,” he said. “We were trying really hard out there. We want to turn the season around right now. We are trying to finish the ball and score.”
Despite its record, Harlem never folded. Ramirez had a shot skim off the top of the bar late in the game, indicative of the team’s fight until the very end.
A big part of the Warren's success defensively rested on the strong play of senior defender Declan Porter. A multidimensional player who has the ability to play in the middle, Porter started as a sophomore and spent his junior year away from high school soccer.
“I thought I did alright, but honestly the whole backline played well,” Porter said. “There was very good communication back there; we all worked well together. It was a team effort. We need to get that momentum (going) and working together as a team.”
With each game, the Blue Devils are looking to lock down who and what they are.
“Right now we are trying to define ourselves and (determine) where we are,” Ahonen said. “This was our first two games of the year on grass, and we play much differently there than we do on turf. It was a shorter field, and not a very wide field, and it does not fit what we try to do. We had to play more directly and improvise there. Today we showed heavy legs, after playing last night in similar temperatures, which is why we had to bring up some guys and stay as fresh as possible.
“We left some chances on the table there. Overall, when it’s September 23rd and it is a 95, probably 100 degrees out there, it is not conducive to two games of soccer, or three games in less than 18 hours, and I liked our effort and how hard we played.”.
Starting lineups
Harlem
GK: Hunter McClusky
D: Aleksa Gligorevic
D: Tanner Grabble
D: Diego Zambrano
D: Arturo Perez
MF: Othman Sahori
MF: Anthony Buffington
MF: Alex Problete
MF: Jaden Andujar
F: Raistlen Hart
F: Omar Ramirez
Warren
GK: Austin Cortes
D: Kevin Dominguez
D: Nolan Ehlers
D: Declan Porter
D: Ryley Sheehan
MF: Dylan Penarrieta
MF: Mike Bassier
MF: Josh Segura
MF: Esteban Garay
MF: Jovan Selakovic
F: Cris Medina
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Mike Bassier, sr., MF, Warren
Scoring summary
First half
Warren—Mike Bassier (penalty kick), 18th minute
Warren—Jovan Selakovic (Ishaan Shah), 39th minute
Blue Devils top Harlem 2-0 at McHenry Invitational
By Patrick Z. McGavin
McHENRY -- Mike Bassier has seen pretty much everything imaginable in his time playing for Warren. He has dealt with the expectations, the pride, the disappointment, in other words, the gamut of emotions. As an eighth grader, he saw the Blue Devils win a Class 3A state championship.
Now he is the team’s elder statesman -- an all-purpose player holding the parts together, shaping the team in a manner best suited to his low-key, common sense approach to the game.
“Mike is our only returning starter from last year,” Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. “He works terribly hard, and he puts himself in good spots. He is the guy who does not lead by yelling. He leads by example. He just goes out there and plays his game. He has logged a lot of minutes this season, and we are going to need him to log even more going forward given we lost some starters with concussions.”
Warren’s season has been anything but linear though Bassier brought shape and direction by converting a penalty kick in the 18th minute and sparking the team with high pressure and a distinctive effort as the Blue Devils knocked off Harlem 2-0 at the McHenry Invitational on Saturday morning.
Warren (8-7-2) finished 1-1-1 in the four-team, three game round-robin tournament. The Blue Devils got clipped by the host Warriors 2-0 in the final game.
Led by Bassier, the Blue Devils demonstrated resolve and toughness in battling through the extreme heat that surpassed more than 90 degrees in the late morning. A rough, pock-marked surface and a shallow field that did not play to the team’s strengths.
“I think (this year) has definitely been a learning experience,” said Bassier, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “ I think we all jumped into it and slowly but surely have gotten things together day-by-day. I think the heat wave was the most difficult part of playing out there (today), but fortunately everybody got minutes and everybody stepped up and played well.”
Warren was out of rhythm at the start, trying to get a feel for how the officials would call the game -- they were called offside four times in the first five minutes of the match. The team started out aggressively and displayed that intensity throughout.
The penalty kick developed out of Bassier’s high pressure and the ability of players like freshman midfielder Ishaan Shah and sophomore forward Cris Medina to create some exciting combination play. Bassier was fouled inside the box, and awarded the penalty kick -- surprisingly the first one of the season for the Blue Devils.
“That was the first one we had all season, so it felt kind of weird,” Bassier said. “I stepped up, and I hit it pretty well.” He caught Huskies’ keeper Hunter McClusky angling toward his right and then reversed the ball to the other side for a 1-0 Warren advantage.
The Blue Devils’ rejiggered lineup, with some younger players brought up for reinforcements, featured two freshmen and six sophomores.
“We have a lot of young guys this season,” Ahonen said. “It’s an evaluation, to see where we are now and where we are going to be in 2018 and 2019. We even have some freshmen up, so it is also a chance to see where we are going to be in 2020. The amount of games we have played has definitely tried the depth we have in the program.
“A lot of the younger guys are getting the chances they would not normally get, so it is good to see that.”
One of the freshmen, Giovanni Juarez, a small though lightning-quick forward, introduced some speed and an edge to his game that benefitted the Blue Devils. He generated consistent pressure and the ability to find the ball or play off to his teammates’ feet. Sophomore midfielder Josh Segura also flashed some promise, helping the Blue Devils push numbers and force the Huskies into a backwards, defensive posture.
“I feel, in order for us to be successful, we just need to do what we are doing and continue to grow,” Bassier said. “We have to continue to do the things right now.”
Warren optimized the promise and excitement of its youth by securing a crucial second goal at the end of the half. Off a corner kick by junior forward Cristian Fajardo, the elusive and alert Shah directed a ball inside the box that junior midfielder Jovan Selakovic finished with a quick one-touch in the 39th minute.
The game conformed to an too familiar thread for the Huskies (1-13-0). They battled hard and generated some decent pressure in the second half, especially forward Omar Ramirez. He got behind the Blue Devils back but could not summon enough velocity on a short ball that Warren keeper Austen Cortes cradled in his arms.
“That is the frustrating part,” Harlem coach David Chu said. “We have enough skill on the team to be dangerous. It’s just sometimes our energy level dips a little. This heat today did not help. When we get down a goal, we struggle to find that extra gear to get it back. I felt like we kept ourselves in the game into the very end. I think it’s just a matter of being confident when we get into those situations.
“We are used to being on our back foot. It catches us a little off-guard when we have those opportunities and we have to put them away.”
Senior Harlem defender Aleksa Gligorevic, who was tasked with shadowing Bassier most of the game, admitted the early goal threw the team off. “At the end we tried to score the goal and get it back, but we just could not do it,” he said. “We were trying really hard out there. We want to turn the season around right now. We are trying to finish the ball and score.”
Despite its record, Harlem never folded. Ramirez had a shot skim off the top of the bar late in the game, indicative of the team’s fight until the very end.
A big part of the Warren's success defensively rested on the strong play of senior defender Declan Porter. A multidimensional player who has the ability to play in the middle, Porter started as a sophomore and spent his junior year away from high school soccer.
“I thought I did alright, but honestly the whole backline played well,” Porter said. “There was very good communication back there; we all worked well together. It was a team effort. We need to get that momentum (going) and working together as a team.”
With each game, the Blue Devils are looking to lock down who and what they are.
“Right now we are trying to define ourselves and (determine) where we are,” Ahonen said. “This was our first two games of the year on grass, and we play much differently there than we do on turf. It was a shorter field, and not a very wide field, and it does not fit what we try to do. We had to play more directly and improvise there. Today we showed heavy legs, after playing last night in similar temperatures, which is why we had to bring up some guys and stay as fresh as possible.
“We left some chances on the table there. Overall, when it’s September 23rd and it is a 95, probably 100 degrees out there, it is not conducive to two games of soccer, or three games in less than 18 hours, and I liked our effort and how hard we played.”.
Starting lineups
Harlem
GK: Hunter McClusky
D: Aleksa Gligorevic
D: Tanner Grabble
D: Diego Zambrano
D: Arturo Perez
MF: Othman Sahori
MF: Anthony Buffington
MF: Alex Problete
MF: Jaden Andujar
F: Raistlen Hart
F: Omar Ramirez
Warren
GK: Austin Cortes
D: Kevin Dominguez
D: Nolan Ehlers
D: Declan Porter
D: Ryley Sheehan
MF: Dylan Penarrieta
MF: Mike Bassier
MF: Josh Segura
MF: Esteban Garay
MF: Jovan Selakovic
F: Cris Medina
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Mike Bassier, sr., MF, Warren
Scoring summary
First half
Warren—Mike Bassier (penalty kick), 18th minute
Warren—Jovan Selakovic (Ishaan Shah), 39th minute