Downers Grove South edges
Willowbrook to reach .500 mark
Mustangs push unbeaten skein to 3 matches with 1-0 victory
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – The deflection was so slight that hardly anyone saw it.
Downers Grove South defender Matt Crowley went up in a crowd and barely nicked the 33-yard free kick from Julian Lopez, but it was just enough to get it past Willowbrook goalkeeper Jack Voss.
That goal, which came 52 seconds after halftime, was all the host Mustangs needed to notch a 1-0 West Suburban Conference Gold Division victory Monday night.
The goal initially was awarded to Lopez, but the Downers Grove South captain gave credit where it was due.
“I would love to claim it, but it was definitely Matt Crowley’s goal,” Lopez said. “I saw him tip the ball, so I’m not going to claim it. It’s all his.”
Crowley got the job done at both ends. He teamed with fellow fullbacks Michael Mendoza, Emiliano Lagunas and Victor Carrasco to help goalkeeper Andrik Vidaurri post his third shutout of the season.
Crowley was the only player able to solve Voss, a senior whose outstanding play included five saves and earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors in a losing effort.
“I saw three or four players go for the ball, and it just got through all of them,” Voss said. “I anticipated them to get a touch on it and react with the save, but it just went straight through. It was an unlucky goal.”
Good players, however, tend to make their own luck. In this case, Lopez changed tactics after Voss had cut off one of his free kicks earlier in the game.
“I learned from that first one where he caught the ball,” Lopez said. “It kind of went a little too much to the goalie side, and he caught it easily.
“So, I adjusted to more of the front post and even told my guys before the free kick to run a little more diagonal toward the front post side. I just put it right there for him to touch it, and obviously it worked.”
While the ball was close enough to the net to consider striking it on frame, Lopez said he wasn’t intending to score.
“I was definitely looking for a header,” Lopez said. “We’ve been practicing those crosses a lot in practice, even with the tight schedule that we have.
“I pride myself on those free kicks, to try to find those headers.”
Whether shooting or passing, Lopez is consistently dangerous for the Mustangs (6-6-1, 2-1-x), who prize the senior midfielder’s abilities on and off the field.
“Julian is a special player,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “It’s not just his technical ability.
“It’s also all the intangibles that he brings to our team as a leader. He’s a coach on the field. He just reads the game so well. He’s been tremendous for us.”
Voss has been just as tremendous for the Warriors (6-5-3, 1-2-x).
“He’s been doing great the whole season,” Willowbrook coach Julio DelReal said. “He’s been a huge part of the success that we’ve had.
“He brings a lot of intensity. He’s been helping us a lot in all the games in all aspects.
“He’s a great leader; he’s a great kid to have. He’s a great example for our team.”
Voss kept the Warriors in the game, especially early, when he made three standout stops within a 20-second span.
First, he made a kick save on Lopez’s open shot from the right side of the box. After the Mustangs held the ball in the attack zone, Voss covered the right post and twice denied Jonathan Venouziou from point-blank range.
The Mustangs sprung Crowley on a pair of breakaways midway through the second half. Crowley missed wide left on the first one, but Voss had to make a tremendous diving save to thwart the second one.
“Oh, he had a great game,” Lopez said. “Phenomenal hands.
“He’s a great 1-v-1 goalkeeper. We had many chances. We definitely should have put more in the back of the net, but it was great goalkeeping and also great defending from us.”
Indeed, Willowbrook got nothing going offensively, which has been a bugaboo this season. This was the 10th match in which the Warriors have scored one or fewer goals.
“We played pretty good overall,” Voss said. “We just need to finish more.
“Defensively we’re playing pretty well. We’re staying with almost every team we’re playing.”
Those efforts drew praise from Stapleton.
“I thought their defense played well,” Stapleton said. “If you look at their scores there have been a lot of 0-0, 1-0, 2-1 games.
“I thought their goalkeeper played well. I thought we had opportunities, especially in the first half, where we got to the final third but just couldn’t put it away. That’s a credit to him.”
Because of that, the Warriors stayed in this one right until the end. Though they were outshot 13-5, the visitors got one solid scoring chance in the final minute when they were awarded a corner kick with 57 seconds remaining.
The serve was put in front of the net and headed out of a scrum. A few tense moments ensued before Mendoza cleared it out of danger.
“At first it came from a deflection,” Mendoza said. “Then after that it hit the goalie and then after that I tried going after the ball, and I cleared it.
“I saw the other players behind me, and they were calling out ‘Get it out! Get it out!’ And I just cleared it.”
It was one of the few scoring chances allowed by the Mustangs, who have allowed 16 goals on the season, or just over one per game. Vidaurri had to make only two other saves.
“I’m actually very proud of the defense,” Mendoza said. “We’re actually doing very well at practice.
“We give it our all. I think we have a very good chemistry on defense. That’s a major key.”
Starting lineups
Willowbrook
GK: Jack Voss
D: Dean Romano
D: Luke Ceplecha
D: Adrian Gesiki
D: Evan Havorth
M: Maximiliano Solis
M: Adin Amin
M: Lucas Bohn
F: Liron Ebema
F: Armando Martinez
F: Vinicius DaSilva
Downers Grove South
GK: Andrik Vidaurri
D: Michael Mendoza
D: Emiliano Lagunas
D: Victor Carrasco
D: Matt Crowley
M: Karol Niziolek
M: Julian Lopez
M: Jorge Alcantara
M: Jonathan Venouiziou
M: Aleck Galvez
F: Paul Kruszewski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Jack Voss, sr., GK, Willowbrook
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
DGS: Matt Crowley (Julian Lopez) 39:08 remaining
Willowbrook to reach .500 mark
Mustangs push unbeaten skein to 3 matches with 1-0 victory
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – The deflection was so slight that hardly anyone saw it.
Downers Grove South defender Matt Crowley went up in a crowd and barely nicked the 33-yard free kick from Julian Lopez, but it was just enough to get it past Willowbrook goalkeeper Jack Voss.
That goal, which came 52 seconds after halftime, was all the host Mustangs needed to notch a 1-0 West Suburban Conference Gold Division victory Monday night.
The goal initially was awarded to Lopez, but the Downers Grove South captain gave credit where it was due.
“I would love to claim it, but it was definitely Matt Crowley’s goal,” Lopez said. “I saw him tip the ball, so I’m not going to claim it. It’s all his.”
Crowley got the job done at both ends. He teamed with fellow fullbacks Michael Mendoza, Emiliano Lagunas and Victor Carrasco to help goalkeeper Andrik Vidaurri post his third shutout of the season.
Crowley was the only player able to solve Voss, a senior whose outstanding play included five saves and earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors in a losing effort.
“I saw three or four players go for the ball, and it just got through all of them,” Voss said. “I anticipated them to get a touch on it and react with the save, but it just went straight through. It was an unlucky goal.”
Good players, however, tend to make their own luck. In this case, Lopez changed tactics after Voss had cut off one of his free kicks earlier in the game.
“I learned from that first one where he caught the ball,” Lopez said. “It kind of went a little too much to the goalie side, and he caught it easily.
“So, I adjusted to more of the front post and even told my guys before the free kick to run a little more diagonal toward the front post side. I just put it right there for him to touch it, and obviously it worked.”
While the ball was close enough to the net to consider striking it on frame, Lopez said he wasn’t intending to score.
“I was definitely looking for a header,” Lopez said. “We’ve been practicing those crosses a lot in practice, even with the tight schedule that we have.
“I pride myself on those free kicks, to try to find those headers.”
Whether shooting or passing, Lopez is consistently dangerous for the Mustangs (6-6-1, 2-1-x), who prize the senior midfielder’s abilities on and off the field.
“Julian is a special player,” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “It’s not just his technical ability.
“It’s also all the intangibles that he brings to our team as a leader. He’s a coach on the field. He just reads the game so well. He’s been tremendous for us.”
Voss has been just as tremendous for the Warriors (6-5-3, 1-2-x).
“He’s been doing great the whole season,” Willowbrook coach Julio DelReal said. “He’s been a huge part of the success that we’ve had.
“He brings a lot of intensity. He’s been helping us a lot in all the games in all aspects.
“He’s a great leader; he’s a great kid to have. He’s a great example for our team.”
Voss kept the Warriors in the game, especially early, when he made three standout stops within a 20-second span.
First, he made a kick save on Lopez’s open shot from the right side of the box. After the Mustangs held the ball in the attack zone, Voss covered the right post and twice denied Jonathan Venouziou from point-blank range.
The Mustangs sprung Crowley on a pair of breakaways midway through the second half. Crowley missed wide left on the first one, but Voss had to make a tremendous diving save to thwart the second one.
“Oh, he had a great game,” Lopez said. “Phenomenal hands.
“He’s a great 1-v-1 goalkeeper. We had many chances. We definitely should have put more in the back of the net, but it was great goalkeeping and also great defending from us.”
Indeed, Willowbrook got nothing going offensively, which has been a bugaboo this season. This was the 10th match in which the Warriors have scored one or fewer goals.
“We played pretty good overall,” Voss said. “We just need to finish more.
“Defensively we’re playing pretty well. We’re staying with almost every team we’re playing.”
Those efforts drew praise from Stapleton.
“I thought their defense played well,” Stapleton said. “If you look at their scores there have been a lot of 0-0, 1-0, 2-1 games.
“I thought their goalkeeper played well. I thought we had opportunities, especially in the first half, where we got to the final third but just couldn’t put it away. That’s a credit to him.”
Because of that, the Warriors stayed in this one right until the end. Though they were outshot 13-5, the visitors got one solid scoring chance in the final minute when they were awarded a corner kick with 57 seconds remaining.
The serve was put in front of the net and headed out of a scrum. A few tense moments ensued before Mendoza cleared it out of danger.
“At first it came from a deflection,” Mendoza said. “Then after that it hit the goalie and then after that I tried going after the ball, and I cleared it.
“I saw the other players behind me, and they were calling out ‘Get it out! Get it out!’ And I just cleared it.”
It was one of the few scoring chances allowed by the Mustangs, who have allowed 16 goals on the season, or just over one per game. Vidaurri had to make only two other saves.
“I’m actually very proud of the defense,” Mendoza said. “We’re actually doing very well at practice.
“We give it our all. I think we have a very good chemistry on defense. That’s a major key.”
Starting lineups
Willowbrook
GK: Jack Voss
D: Dean Romano
D: Luke Ceplecha
D: Adrian Gesiki
D: Evan Havorth
M: Maximiliano Solis
M: Adin Amin
M: Lucas Bohn
F: Liron Ebema
F: Armando Martinez
F: Vinicius DaSilva
Downers Grove South
GK: Andrik Vidaurri
D: Michael Mendoza
D: Emiliano Lagunas
D: Victor Carrasco
D: Matt Crowley
M: Karol Niziolek
M: Julian Lopez
M: Jorge Alcantara
M: Jonathan Venouiziou
M: Aleck Galvez
F: Paul Kruszewski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Jack Voss, sr., GK, Willowbrook
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
DGS: Matt Crowley (Julian Lopez) 39:08 remaining