Genoa-Kingston roars
to win over Westminster
Reams hits hat-trick, Leon scores 100th varsity goal in 6-1 win
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- The final tune-up before the postseason found Genoa-Kingston rumbling like a muscle car against a team they could face in the sectional semifinal – Westminster.
The Cogs drove the Warriors to only their second defeat of the season in a 6-1 victory.
“That’s a big boost for us, knowing that we can play a tough team and hang with them and actually play pretty well against them,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “That’s a big morale booster, right there.”
Genoa-Kingston improved to 18-1-0 and set a school record for most wins in a season.
Jorge Leon also achieved a personal milestone with the 100th goal of his prep career.
The junior is the second member of the team to reach that lofty accomplishment this season. He joins Eagan Reams, who hit the mark earlier this season, in the exclusive club.
Reams led the team in scoring in the win with a first half hat trick after a pair of penalty kicks and a header off a corner kick.
“We’re peaking right now,” Reams said. “We have the chemistry going. To win 6-1 against a quality opponent is good.”
In the seventh minute, Julian Lara-Para lofted a corner kick that curved toward the back post and found Reams, who snuck in behind the defense and nodded in the goal from two yards.
“My teammates try to find me on corners,” Reams said. “I can finish pretty good with my head. Julian found me, and the goalie was off his line a little bit. So I just slotted it home.”
Reams again hit the back of the net after a push in the back inside the box set him up for a penalty kick. Reams ran up to the ball and smashed it on the ground to Westminster goalkeeper Jack Layne’s left side. Layne guessed correct, but the ball skidded past his outstretched arms for the 2-0 Cogs lead.
The home team padded its lead with a goal, this time from midfielder Diego Espinoza. He dribbled around the outside of the box, turned and ripped a high shot that flew into the top right corner of the net from 25 yards.
Reams picked up the fourth and final goal of the half on his second penalty kick. He was knocked over by Layne on a one-on-one scoring attempt with less than a minute before intermission.
Reams finished the opportunity with another strong smash into the net.
Westminster dropped to 11-2-2 with the loss.
“It was a rough start, but we responded better in the second half,” Warriors coach David Siers said. “It was a good learning experience for us, I guess. Unfortunately, you hate to learn (that), because it was a hard learning experience for sure.”
The Warriors came bursting out of halftime to put themselves on the scoreboard. Midfielder Nathan Siers, who could be found around the ball all game when the Warriors were on the attack, struck the only goal for the visitors.
“We knew he was going to score, but we were trying to keep him down to as few as possible,” Tate said.
Siers dribbled and ducked away from the Cogs defenders then laced a shot from seven yards from the left just barely inside the right post. Genoa-Kingston goalkeeper Aaron Acosta made a diving attempt to stop the shot, but the ball was just out of his reach as he charged toward Siers.
“We were just moving the ball,” Warriors senior captain Griffin Bayer said. “We moved it up very quickly.
“We counterattacked very quickly off of that. I don’t think they were set up for it, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
The relentless Cogs offense didn’t let up after the setback. Leon added his landmark goal from 15 yards.
He steadied a pass from Leonardo Rocha and fired a shot across the goal from right to left that hit the inside netting to reclaim the four-goal lead.
“It feels really great because not many people accomplish that goal,” Leon said, holding the history-making ball after the game. “I’m glad I did it as a junior. I’m also glad we did it as a whole. These goals don’t just mean something for me, but for the whole team. It’s just amazing.”
Larda-Para finished off the scoring for the Cogs with a left-side shot from 16 yards.
The Cogs offense clicked as usual, but the defense and goalkeeping were a big part of the win.
“Defense has been a big, key factor for us this year.” Tate said. “They’ve stepped us for us this year. Aaron has improved his game 100 percent.
“A big key we talked about before the game, and I think we executed pretty well, was to win the middle third of the field and disrupt their offense. That’s team defense right there.”
Acosta normally doesn’t face many shots with the dominance of the Cogs offense, but he proved up to the task against the Warriors offense. He had eight saves on the day, including a nice diving stop and a grab off a header attempt from Westminster.
Layne, despite the score, played tough. The Warriors keeper finished with six saves and plenty of spectacular plays to deny shot attempts by rushing out to meet oncoming attackers.
“They were a great team,” Leon said. “It just gave us a really good tough test and how we’re ready for the postseason.”
Starting lineups
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Jonny Vasquez
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Ream
FW Junior Leon
FW Julian Lara-Para
Westminster
G Jack Layne
D Nathaniel Ephrem
D Charles Richardson
D Tyler Casado
D Timmy Schuld
M Stephen Boldt
M Justin Glanzer
M Griffin Bayer
F Nathan Siers
F Cal Hoon
F Peter DiNapoli
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eagan Reams, sr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Lara-Para) 7th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (PK) 21st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Lara-Para) 34th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (PK) 40th minute
Second half
Westminster - Siers (UA) 46th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Rocha) 53rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Lara-Para (Leon) 31st minute
to win over Westminster
Reams hits hat-trick, Leon scores 100th varsity goal in 6-1 win
By Len Eisele
GENOA -- The final tune-up before the postseason found Genoa-Kingston rumbling like a muscle car against a team they could face in the sectional semifinal – Westminster.
The Cogs drove the Warriors to only their second defeat of the season in a 6-1 victory.
“That’s a big boost for us, knowing that we can play a tough team and hang with them and actually play pretty well against them,” Cogs coach Randy Tate said. “That’s a big morale booster, right there.”
Genoa-Kingston improved to 18-1-0 and set a school record for most wins in a season.
Jorge Leon also achieved a personal milestone with the 100th goal of his prep career.
The junior is the second member of the team to reach that lofty accomplishment this season. He joins Eagan Reams, who hit the mark earlier this season, in the exclusive club.
Reams led the team in scoring in the win with a first half hat trick after a pair of penalty kicks and a header off a corner kick.
“We’re peaking right now,” Reams said. “We have the chemistry going. To win 6-1 against a quality opponent is good.”
In the seventh minute, Julian Lara-Para lofted a corner kick that curved toward the back post and found Reams, who snuck in behind the defense and nodded in the goal from two yards.
“My teammates try to find me on corners,” Reams said. “I can finish pretty good with my head. Julian found me, and the goalie was off his line a little bit. So I just slotted it home.”
Reams again hit the back of the net after a push in the back inside the box set him up for a penalty kick. Reams ran up to the ball and smashed it on the ground to Westminster goalkeeper Jack Layne’s left side. Layne guessed correct, but the ball skidded past his outstretched arms for the 2-0 Cogs lead.
The home team padded its lead with a goal, this time from midfielder Diego Espinoza. He dribbled around the outside of the box, turned and ripped a high shot that flew into the top right corner of the net from 25 yards.
Reams picked up the fourth and final goal of the half on his second penalty kick. He was knocked over by Layne on a one-on-one scoring attempt with less than a minute before intermission.
Reams finished the opportunity with another strong smash into the net.
Westminster dropped to 11-2-2 with the loss.
“It was a rough start, but we responded better in the second half,” Warriors coach David Siers said. “It was a good learning experience for us, I guess. Unfortunately, you hate to learn (that), because it was a hard learning experience for sure.”
The Warriors came bursting out of halftime to put themselves on the scoreboard. Midfielder Nathan Siers, who could be found around the ball all game when the Warriors were on the attack, struck the only goal for the visitors.
“We knew he was going to score, but we were trying to keep him down to as few as possible,” Tate said.
Siers dribbled and ducked away from the Cogs defenders then laced a shot from seven yards from the left just barely inside the right post. Genoa-Kingston goalkeeper Aaron Acosta made a diving attempt to stop the shot, but the ball was just out of his reach as he charged toward Siers.
“We were just moving the ball,” Warriors senior captain Griffin Bayer said. “We moved it up very quickly.
“We counterattacked very quickly off of that. I don’t think they were set up for it, and we were able to capitalize on it.”
The relentless Cogs offense didn’t let up after the setback. Leon added his landmark goal from 15 yards.
He steadied a pass from Leonardo Rocha and fired a shot across the goal from right to left that hit the inside netting to reclaim the four-goal lead.
“It feels really great because not many people accomplish that goal,” Leon said, holding the history-making ball after the game. “I’m glad I did it as a junior. I’m also glad we did it as a whole. These goals don’t just mean something for me, but for the whole team. It’s just amazing.”
Larda-Para finished off the scoring for the Cogs with a left-side shot from 16 yards.
The Cogs offense clicked as usual, but the defense and goalkeeping were a big part of the win.
“Defense has been a big, key factor for us this year.” Tate said. “They’ve stepped us for us this year. Aaron has improved his game 100 percent.
“A big key we talked about before the game, and I think we executed pretty well, was to win the middle third of the field and disrupt their offense. That’s team defense right there.”
Acosta normally doesn’t face many shots with the dominance of the Cogs offense, but he proved up to the task against the Warriors offense. He had eight saves on the day, including a nice diving stop and a grab off a header attempt from Westminster.
Layne, despite the score, played tough. The Warriors keeper finished with six saves and plenty of spectacular plays to deny shot attempts by rushing out to meet oncoming attackers.
“They were a great team,” Leon said. “It just gave us a really good tough test and how we’re ready for the postseason.”
Starting lineups
Genoa-Kingston
GK Aaron Acosta
FB Nate Skarzynski
FB Eduardo Mercado
FB Ben Younker
FB Jonny Vasquez
MF Aiden Tomlinson
MF Leonardo Rocha
MF Diego Espinoza
FW Eagan Ream
FW Junior Leon
FW Julian Lara-Para
Westminster
G Jack Layne
D Nathaniel Ephrem
D Charles Richardson
D Tyler Casado
D Timmy Schuld
M Stephen Boldt
M Justin Glanzer
M Griffin Bayer
F Nathan Siers
F Cal Hoon
F Peter DiNapoli
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Eagan Reams, sr., F, Genoa-Kingston
Scoring summary
First half
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (Lara-Para) 7th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (PK) 21st minute
Genoa-Kingston - Espinoza (Lara-Para) 34th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Reams (PK) 40th minute
Second half
Westminster - Siers (UA) 46th minute
Genoa-Kingston - Leon (Rocha) 53rd minute
Genoa-Kingston - Lara-Para (Leon) 31st minute