Set pieces, defense lead
Warren past Hersey
Blue Devils shut down Huskies star Wilcox for 2-0 victory
By Dave Owen
ROLLING MEADOWS – Warren’s mission to turn the lessons of last year into 2019 magic continued in style in Tuesday’s postseason opener.
Facing Hersey in the Class 3A regional semifinal at Rolling Meadows, the Blue Devils (13-3-4) grabbed the lead 3:30 into the match on a Noe Martinez goal.
Then in the second half, an Ishaan Shah insurance goal and a last-minute incredible leaping save by goalkeeper Nic Diana cinched a 2-0 Warren win over the Huskies (10-7-2).
Sixth-seeded Warren, ranked 13th in the final regular-season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, advances to face third seed and no. 14 Round Lake in the Rolling Meadows regional final at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
“This is huge, especially coming off of last year,” Shah said of Warren’s 7-7-5 record in 2018.
“We wanted to improve and have a better season, a better postseason run, so this means a lot to us. And we know it’s not over yet. We’re going to keep working.”
Speaking of working, any mention of Warren’s great team effort Tuesday has to start with the defensive performance of Josh Segura and later Shah on Hersey star junior midfielder Ronan Wilcox.
Assigned to mark Wilcox for most of the match, Segura’s efforts were pivotal in keeping Hersey from hitting its stride.
“Josh did a tremendous job marking him up, and then Ishaan Shah finishing it off (in the final minutes),” Warren coach Jason Ahonen said.
Segura embraced the grueling but vital assignment.
“Coach just told me to man mark him, and that’s what I did,” Segura said. “I just tried to do my job and help my team out.
“He (Wilcox) was really good, and it was hard because I’m not used to it. But I got used to it later in the game.”
Those who want to emulate Wilcox’s Tuesday night are urged to tie a mannequin with a Warren jersey to their right arm for 80 minutes.
That close proximity and ensuing battle for 50-50 balls eventually led to yellow cards for both Segura and Wilcox. To avert the risk of Segura drawing a second yellow, Shah took over his pesky assignment for the last 13 minutes.
“We know that’s their best player,” Shah said, “and that was a team that ran right through him. So we knew if we could take him out of the game, then the game is ours. That was our motive the whole match.”
Wilcox traveled to Spain this year as part of Illinois’ Olympic Development Program team, and likely found Rolling Meadows on Tuesday far more congested than bustling Barcelona.
“Obviously they knew who I was coming into the game,” said Wilcox. “But I feel like (as a team) we never really got into a rhythm.”
When huge chances did come for the Huskies, Warren goalkeeper Nic Diana went to extraordinary lengths to seal the Blue Devils’ seventh shutout of 2019.
Diana’s low save on Oscar Garcia Bello’s 15-yarder with 5:10 left was the appetizer to the main course that came in the frenzied final minute.
With 50 seconds left, Diana’s diving deflection swatted aside a well-struck Wilcox 25-yard free kick.
The ensuing Hersey corner kick then led to the save of the night (or maybe the year).
Off an initial clear of the corner send,Patrick Klem’s 18-yard drive appeared destined for the upper right corner of the net. But Diana sprung into action with a soaring fingertip deflection just over the net to preserve the 2-0 win.
“It’s unbelievable,” Shah said of Diana’s save. “I play club with him too and have known the guy for many years. He’s outstanding. I wouldn’t want anybody else in the goal but him.”
Diana has the same opinion of the defenders in front of him.
“Nolan (Ehlers), Max (Floriani), Cory (Melchor), Alex (Senko) – I love those boys,” Diana said. “I’ll do anything for them.
“I wanted that shutout so bad. But my defense, there would be so many more shots if not for them blocking shots, winning head balls and not letting balls get through.”
While great marking of superstar players and amazing saves carried Warren at one end of the field, Blue Devils set pieces ignited the offense.
The eventual game-winner came in the fourth minute.
Edward Luna’s corner kick send found Martinez in front near the goal line, whose point-blank putaway quickly made it 1-0 Warren.
“My boy Edward sent me a good cross,” Martinez said. “Easy tap in.
“I was standing next to the goalkeeper (on the corner kick), so I could flash open. The ball came to me, and I scored.”
The goal not surprisingly had a deflating effect on Hersey.
“We knew we had to come out with an extra bit of aggressiveness, and hats off to Warren,” Hersey coach Michael Rusniak said. “They’re a strong soccer team.
“The 'Be ready to play' aspect is something that, you can’t wait and let a game come to you. You need to be ready to go right away, and that’s something with a younger team with only three seniors that we’re slowly getting the hang of.”
Hersey was on track in the 10th minute, but Diana made a block and catch at the near post on Blake Johnson’s end line shot.
The next eight minutes of the half featured two Warren free kicks just inside midfield (the second resulting in a Shah 18-yard header wide) before Wilcox turned rare daylight into a good chance in the 24th minute.
Wilcox’s long rush in on left wing was denied when Diana came out to dive on the ball near the post.
The few scares aside, Warren had a textbook first half.
“We contained the ball, we got (a goal) early and we just played our game,” Segura said. “We didn’t let them score or do much of anything.”
Warren would have the edge of the rest of the half. In the 29th minute, a Segura send from near midfield sprung Clayton Mobile in on an odd-man rush that ended with Mobile’s deflected shot on goal from 10 yards.
A Warren 36th-minute corner kick was denied on a nice block and clear by Hersey’s Tommy Steger.
Then in the 38th minute, a prolonged threat began with a Floriani header win of a Hersey midfield throw-in. Melchor’s try off a Luke Schoenbrunn shot was headed away, but Sebastian Rodriguez’s shot required a right-post deflection by Hersey goalkeeper Reece Delahanty.
Luna’s ensuing corner kick deflected to Rodriguez, whose tough angle 6-yard chip went over the net.
That corner kick threat to end the half was a prelude to a quick series of Warren set pieces after the break that would pay off for a 2-0 lead.
Two free kicks just inside midfield in the first 2:30 of the half generated trouble, with Floriani’s 25-yard shot off the latter send curling just wide of the right post.
Then with 34:36 to go, Martinez was fouled to set up a much more imposing 18-yard free kick just left of the box.
Senko’s initial free kick send towards the net deflected off a defender to Rodriguez, whose cross to the front found Shah for a header putaway and a 2-0 Warren lead.
“Sebastian Rodriguez played a nice ball in, and I was just right there and put it in with my head,” Shah said. “It felt really good.
“I saw him (Rodriguez) get it and put it in the middle, and I knew I would be right there.”
The game’s two goals had nice symmetry for Warren: both on set pieces, and both came early in each half to have tone-setting implications.
“Set pieces are what we’ve been focusing on for the last few weeks,” Ahonen said. “And that (the two goals Tuesday) is a prime example why. Those are important opportunities that allow us to set up and create some chances. We were fortunate enough to score both of our goals on set pieces tonight and go home with a victory.”
More set piece magic nearly came with 32:05 left. Segura’s right sideline 10-yard indirect kick produced a Senko try in front that went just over the crossbar.
But with the 2-0 lead, the main Warren mission the rest of the way was defense.
A Wilcox corner kick with 29:10 left was initially headed out by Nolan Ehlers, and Senko and Ehlers had subsequent clears on Hersey follow-up sends to the box.
A Schoenbrunn shot caught by Delahanty at the right post with 23:25 to go would mark Warren’s last decent chance.
Hersey began to dial up the heat with 11:50 left when Eric Worwa’s 12-yarder went just over the net.
A nice Floriani steal and clear of a Hersey pass three minutes later briefly detered the Huskies, but the final five-minute push became a tribute to Diana and the Warren defense.
“Conditions of play (wind and cold) were less than perfect,” Ahonen said, “and their (Hersey’s) style of play is get it up the lines and put pressure on our backline.
“Our backline didn’t fold. They held their own, and we got a clean-sheet. If you don’t get scored on, you have a really good chance of moving on.”
On the Hersey side, the final minutes understandably produced similar reasons for pride.
“When they’re down in a deficit, it’s almost like they like the adversity,” Rusniak said of his team. “They’ve been out to prove something all season, and to finish that way in the second half with a strong effort and lay it on the line, that’s the best you can ask for as a coach.
“It makes me really proud that they didn’t pack it in and say ‘This game’s over.’”
Prior to Warren's meeting with Round Lake in the regional final Friday, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 15.
“Right now it’s survive and advance,” Ahonen said. “I’m very proud, very happy, and I’m looking forward to a rematch with Round Lake on Friday.”
Said Martinez: “These next two days (in practice) we have to keep working hard so we can do good Friday.”
Round Lake fought off Rolling Meadows 3-2 in Tuesday’s opener, scoring the tiebreaker with under 10 minutes left.
“This is probably the most difficult sectional I think in the state, one through 17,” Ahonen said. “When you have Palatine and Waukegan playing the play-in game, and then Palatine taking (top seed) Libertyville to overtime, it just shows the depth of soccer in this area.”
Hersey was another example of that depth.
“We started off very strong (a 6-2-1 record) and then hit some injuries,” Wilcox said, “which kind of slowed us down and hurt us at the end. But we did pretty good on the season and had some good wins.”
Said Rusniak: “This has been a fantastic group. They play with a lot of heart and passion, and that’s all we can ask for.
“When you have leaders who are natural competitors, they’re absolutely fun to watch. They work so hard in practice. I’m fortunate enough that they’re a younger group (eight underclassmen starters), but our seniors have been phenomenal.
“It’s got to end sometime, but it’s tough.”
Warren hopes any such postseason analysis will have to wait. With a regional title one win away, the quest to continue the rebound from last fall is the focus.
“That’s all the factor,” Segura said. “We grew a lot last year, and this year we have all the motivation, everyone’s playing as a team. We’re one big family.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK Nic Diana
D Nolan Ehlers
D Edward Luna
D Cory Melchor
D Alex Senko
M Sebastian Rodriguez
M Max Floriani
M Josh Segura
M Luke Schoenbrunn
F Noe Martinez
F Ishaan Shah
Hersey
GK Reece Delahanty
D Tommy Steger
D Cade Milligan
D David Nadborski
D Nathan Solarski
M Eric Worwa
M Blake Johnson
M Ronan Wilcox
M Simon Hemenway
M Sam Schuffler
F Oscar Garcia Bello
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ishaan Shah, jr., F, Warren
Scoring summary
First half
W- Noe Martinez (Edward Luna assist), 4’
Second half
W- Ishaan Shah (Sebastian Rodriguez), 46’
Warren past Hersey
Blue Devils shut down Huskies star Wilcox for 2-0 victory
By Dave Owen
ROLLING MEADOWS – Warren’s mission to turn the lessons of last year into 2019 magic continued in style in Tuesday’s postseason opener.
Facing Hersey in the Class 3A regional semifinal at Rolling Meadows, the Blue Devils (13-3-4) grabbed the lead 3:30 into the match on a Noe Martinez goal.
Then in the second half, an Ishaan Shah insurance goal and a last-minute incredible leaping save by goalkeeper Nic Diana cinched a 2-0 Warren win over the Huskies (10-7-2).
Sixth-seeded Warren, ranked 13th in the final regular-season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, advances to face third seed and no. 14 Round Lake in the Rolling Meadows regional final at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
“This is huge, especially coming off of last year,” Shah said of Warren’s 7-7-5 record in 2018.
“We wanted to improve and have a better season, a better postseason run, so this means a lot to us. And we know it’s not over yet. We’re going to keep working.”
Speaking of working, any mention of Warren’s great team effort Tuesday has to start with the defensive performance of Josh Segura and later Shah on Hersey star junior midfielder Ronan Wilcox.
Assigned to mark Wilcox for most of the match, Segura’s efforts were pivotal in keeping Hersey from hitting its stride.
“Josh did a tremendous job marking him up, and then Ishaan Shah finishing it off (in the final minutes),” Warren coach Jason Ahonen said.
Segura embraced the grueling but vital assignment.
“Coach just told me to man mark him, and that’s what I did,” Segura said. “I just tried to do my job and help my team out.
“He (Wilcox) was really good, and it was hard because I’m not used to it. But I got used to it later in the game.”
Those who want to emulate Wilcox’s Tuesday night are urged to tie a mannequin with a Warren jersey to their right arm for 80 minutes.
That close proximity and ensuing battle for 50-50 balls eventually led to yellow cards for both Segura and Wilcox. To avert the risk of Segura drawing a second yellow, Shah took over his pesky assignment for the last 13 minutes.
“We know that’s their best player,” Shah said, “and that was a team that ran right through him. So we knew if we could take him out of the game, then the game is ours. That was our motive the whole match.”
Wilcox traveled to Spain this year as part of Illinois’ Olympic Development Program team, and likely found Rolling Meadows on Tuesday far more congested than bustling Barcelona.
“Obviously they knew who I was coming into the game,” said Wilcox. “But I feel like (as a team) we never really got into a rhythm.”
When huge chances did come for the Huskies, Warren goalkeeper Nic Diana went to extraordinary lengths to seal the Blue Devils’ seventh shutout of 2019.
Diana’s low save on Oscar Garcia Bello’s 15-yarder with 5:10 left was the appetizer to the main course that came in the frenzied final minute.
With 50 seconds left, Diana’s diving deflection swatted aside a well-struck Wilcox 25-yard free kick.
The ensuing Hersey corner kick then led to the save of the night (or maybe the year).
Off an initial clear of the corner send,Patrick Klem’s 18-yard drive appeared destined for the upper right corner of the net. But Diana sprung into action with a soaring fingertip deflection just over the net to preserve the 2-0 win.
“It’s unbelievable,” Shah said of Diana’s save. “I play club with him too and have known the guy for many years. He’s outstanding. I wouldn’t want anybody else in the goal but him.”
Diana has the same opinion of the defenders in front of him.
“Nolan (Ehlers), Max (Floriani), Cory (Melchor), Alex (Senko) – I love those boys,” Diana said. “I’ll do anything for them.
“I wanted that shutout so bad. But my defense, there would be so many more shots if not for them blocking shots, winning head balls and not letting balls get through.”
While great marking of superstar players and amazing saves carried Warren at one end of the field, Blue Devils set pieces ignited the offense.
The eventual game-winner came in the fourth minute.
Edward Luna’s corner kick send found Martinez in front near the goal line, whose point-blank putaway quickly made it 1-0 Warren.
“My boy Edward sent me a good cross,” Martinez said. “Easy tap in.
“I was standing next to the goalkeeper (on the corner kick), so I could flash open. The ball came to me, and I scored.”
The goal not surprisingly had a deflating effect on Hersey.
“We knew we had to come out with an extra bit of aggressiveness, and hats off to Warren,” Hersey coach Michael Rusniak said. “They’re a strong soccer team.
“The 'Be ready to play' aspect is something that, you can’t wait and let a game come to you. You need to be ready to go right away, and that’s something with a younger team with only three seniors that we’re slowly getting the hang of.”
Hersey was on track in the 10th minute, but Diana made a block and catch at the near post on Blake Johnson’s end line shot.
The next eight minutes of the half featured two Warren free kicks just inside midfield (the second resulting in a Shah 18-yard header wide) before Wilcox turned rare daylight into a good chance in the 24th minute.
Wilcox’s long rush in on left wing was denied when Diana came out to dive on the ball near the post.
The few scares aside, Warren had a textbook first half.
“We contained the ball, we got (a goal) early and we just played our game,” Segura said. “We didn’t let them score or do much of anything.”
Warren would have the edge of the rest of the half. In the 29th minute, a Segura send from near midfield sprung Clayton Mobile in on an odd-man rush that ended with Mobile’s deflected shot on goal from 10 yards.
A Warren 36th-minute corner kick was denied on a nice block and clear by Hersey’s Tommy Steger.
Then in the 38th minute, a prolonged threat began with a Floriani header win of a Hersey midfield throw-in. Melchor’s try off a Luke Schoenbrunn shot was headed away, but Sebastian Rodriguez’s shot required a right-post deflection by Hersey goalkeeper Reece Delahanty.
Luna’s ensuing corner kick deflected to Rodriguez, whose tough angle 6-yard chip went over the net.
That corner kick threat to end the half was a prelude to a quick series of Warren set pieces after the break that would pay off for a 2-0 lead.
Two free kicks just inside midfield in the first 2:30 of the half generated trouble, with Floriani’s 25-yard shot off the latter send curling just wide of the right post.
Then with 34:36 to go, Martinez was fouled to set up a much more imposing 18-yard free kick just left of the box.
Senko’s initial free kick send towards the net deflected off a defender to Rodriguez, whose cross to the front found Shah for a header putaway and a 2-0 Warren lead.
“Sebastian Rodriguez played a nice ball in, and I was just right there and put it in with my head,” Shah said. “It felt really good.
“I saw him (Rodriguez) get it and put it in the middle, and I knew I would be right there.”
The game’s two goals had nice symmetry for Warren: both on set pieces, and both came early in each half to have tone-setting implications.
“Set pieces are what we’ve been focusing on for the last few weeks,” Ahonen said. “And that (the two goals Tuesday) is a prime example why. Those are important opportunities that allow us to set up and create some chances. We were fortunate enough to score both of our goals on set pieces tonight and go home with a victory.”
More set piece magic nearly came with 32:05 left. Segura’s right sideline 10-yard indirect kick produced a Senko try in front that went just over the crossbar.
But with the 2-0 lead, the main Warren mission the rest of the way was defense.
A Wilcox corner kick with 29:10 left was initially headed out by Nolan Ehlers, and Senko and Ehlers had subsequent clears on Hersey follow-up sends to the box.
A Schoenbrunn shot caught by Delahanty at the right post with 23:25 to go would mark Warren’s last decent chance.
Hersey began to dial up the heat with 11:50 left when Eric Worwa’s 12-yarder went just over the net.
A nice Floriani steal and clear of a Hersey pass three minutes later briefly detered the Huskies, but the final five-minute push became a tribute to Diana and the Warren defense.
“Conditions of play (wind and cold) were less than perfect,” Ahonen said, “and their (Hersey’s) style of play is get it up the lines and put pressure on our backline.
“Our backline didn’t fold. They held their own, and we got a clean-sheet. If you don’t get scored on, you have a really good chance of moving on.”
On the Hersey side, the final minutes understandably produced similar reasons for pride.
“When they’re down in a deficit, it’s almost like they like the adversity,” Rusniak said of his team. “They’ve been out to prove something all season, and to finish that way in the second half with a strong effort and lay it on the line, that’s the best you can ask for as a coach.
“It makes me really proud that they didn’t pack it in and say ‘This game’s over.’”
Prior to Warren's meeting with Round Lake in the regional final Friday, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 15.
“Right now it’s survive and advance,” Ahonen said. “I’m very proud, very happy, and I’m looking forward to a rematch with Round Lake on Friday.”
Said Martinez: “These next two days (in practice) we have to keep working hard so we can do good Friday.”
Round Lake fought off Rolling Meadows 3-2 in Tuesday’s opener, scoring the tiebreaker with under 10 minutes left.
“This is probably the most difficult sectional I think in the state, one through 17,” Ahonen said. “When you have Palatine and Waukegan playing the play-in game, and then Palatine taking (top seed) Libertyville to overtime, it just shows the depth of soccer in this area.”
Hersey was another example of that depth.
“We started off very strong (a 6-2-1 record) and then hit some injuries,” Wilcox said, “which kind of slowed us down and hurt us at the end. But we did pretty good on the season and had some good wins.”
Said Rusniak: “This has been a fantastic group. They play with a lot of heart and passion, and that’s all we can ask for.
“When you have leaders who are natural competitors, they’re absolutely fun to watch. They work so hard in practice. I’m fortunate enough that they’re a younger group (eight underclassmen starters), but our seniors have been phenomenal.
“It’s got to end sometime, but it’s tough.”
Warren hopes any such postseason analysis will have to wait. With a regional title one win away, the quest to continue the rebound from last fall is the focus.
“That’s all the factor,” Segura said. “We grew a lot last year, and this year we have all the motivation, everyone’s playing as a team. We’re one big family.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK Nic Diana
D Nolan Ehlers
D Edward Luna
D Cory Melchor
D Alex Senko
M Sebastian Rodriguez
M Max Floriani
M Josh Segura
M Luke Schoenbrunn
F Noe Martinez
F Ishaan Shah
Hersey
GK Reece Delahanty
D Tommy Steger
D Cade Milligan
D David Nadborski
D Nathan Solarski
M Eric Worwa
M Blake Johnson
M Ronan Wilcox
M Simon Hemenway
M Sam Schuffler
F Oscar Garcia Bello
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ishaan Shah, jr., F, Warren
Scoring summary
First half
W- Noe Martinez (Edward Luna assist), 4’
Second half
W- Ishaan Shah (Sebastian Rodriguez), 46’