Lake Park's Nocek saves day
against Wheaton North
Defender replaces injured GK Lekki, pair shine in 1-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
ROSELLE – It would be hard for any goalkeeper to upstage the performance that Lake Park’s Christian Lekki turned in Tuesday night.
Somehow, Daniel Nocek managed to do just that. He had to.
Nocek, usually a starting defender, had to put on the goalie jersey when Lekki suffered an ankle injury with 4:30 left in the game against visiting Wheaton North.
But the senior was up to the task, making three point-blank saves on breakaways in the final two minutes to preserve Lake Park’s 1-0 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
It was a wild ending to a wild game that could have seen a dozen goals, but finished with a lone tally on Matteo Costa’s penalty kick with 14:28 left in the second half.
The wildest part is Nocek isn’t even a goalie by trade.
“I used to play goalie when I was little, and I play goalie now and then in practice,” Nocek said. “I just had a little natural luck.”
And more than a little fearlessness. Nocek has put out fires before, having come into Lake Park’s game against York and immediately stopping a penalty kick after Lekki was ejected.
So he wasn’t nervous to go between the pipes during a time when the Falcons were breathing down the Lancers’ necks?
“I felt confident because we have a good backline to back us up,” Nocek said. “All it was was a couple minutes in net.”
But what a couple minutes.
Nocek first stopped a partial breakaway with 1:45 remaining, then leaped to tip Jake Dzarnowski’s 45-yard shot over the crossbar at the 1:05 mark.
Wheaton North (3-9-2, 1-2-1) had one last chance when Nathan Heyen got loose eight yards from the goal, but his shot was parried by Nocek with 35 seconds to go.
The Falcons were left hanging their heads after a game in which they squeezed off 12 shots, nine of which were on frame. One other hit the post and one hit the crossbar.
Wheaton North forward Alex Beausoleil, who saw one of his point-blank shots hit the crossbar and another wide-open volley go over the bar, said the result was a disappointment after the Falcons had defeated Metea Valley 2-1 in overtime for their first DVC victory in two years.
“I thought we were (going to get the equalizer) but kudos to (Nocek),” said Beausoleil, who scored both goals against Metea Valley. “He made some great saves.
The goalies played great. We just need to focus on (finishing).
“We’re playing well in the defense, playing well in the midfield, our attack we just need to put the ball away. If we put the ball away it would have been a completely different story.”
At least it would have been a happier ending for the Falcons, who dropped their second 1-0 decision to the Lancers this year.
“That’s the game of soccer,” Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen said. “Our first half today was pretty awful.
“We weren’t in it, but I counted 12 shots, basically all open goals. Their goalkeeper was lights out but that close, no goalkeeper should be stopping them.”
The Lancers (8-4-1, 2-2-0) controlled the play in an uneventful first half, earning an 8-3 edge in shots. Wheaton North goalkeeper Harrison Thompson made four of his six saves before intermission, but it was the Falcons who had the better chances.
The first scoring opportunity came when Jack Morrissey intercepted a poor clearance from Lekki and fired a shot from the top of the box that squarely hit the left post before being booted out of harm’s way.
Morrissey later had another great chance when he got free in the right side of the box, only to have Lekki take the ball off his foot. Then with 6:05 left Dzarnowski’s perfectly timed lead pass sprung Beausoleil free inside the 6, but the resulting point-blank shot was blocked by Lekki.
“This is a great Lake Park team,” Stassen said. “We knew it was going to be a battle.
“It would have been great if we had played both halves they way we finished. We need to finish these goals.
“You play some of these other teams, and they’ll finish 1 of 1. We can’t finish 0 of 12 (tonight). They did a good job against the backline, but their goalkeeper was lights out. He was absolutely fantastic. He’s the real deal.”
Indeed, Lekki finished with eight saves, including diving stops in the second half on Ajay Patel and Beausoleil, who was denied on two golden chances at the 7:03 mark and again with 4:30 to go. On the latter play, Lekki lunged to his right to make a stop near the post and injured his ankle. He was carted off by the trainer and not around to see the end of the game.
"Lekki was favoring a hip flexor/groin injury. It was re-aggravated in yesterday's game and (led to) ... an ankle injury late in the second half," said Crosby. "He will most likely be off for training today and we will take his condition day-by-day.
"It doesn't look like a serious injury but definitely one that limits his mobility in net. Our training staff is monitoring it today to determine if any additional treatments/tests are needed, but they put his ankle in a splint, and he was able to walk on it at the end of the night."
His teammates hope he is back soon.
“We trust him,” Nocek said. “He’s like a brick wall, one of our best players.”
That’s unquestionably so when Lekki is performing at peak level.
“When he commits to it, his fearlessness (is his strength),” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “When he gets himself in the games early on and make that first play where he’s in the air and calling for it and being in command of his box, I think his confidence comes up and the rest of the 79 minutes after that he really gets himself plugged in, and he’s not afraid to take chances.
“I’m sure there are times he wished he had made better plays in our game against Naperville North a week ago. I think he’s had a personal vendetta to get back to his best play.”
Lekki, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his play, was at this best, but so was Nocek, who ironically did not start the game because of a minor injury. Nocek did come off the bench and played in both halves and was on the field when Lekki went down.
“The saves he made were fantastic,” Crosby said of Nocek. “And as I told the guys at the end of the game, it might be unconventional but it’s the same sort of thing (as with Lekki)
“He’s fearless, and he just stands his ground and someway, somehow he finds a way to get on the end of these (shots).
“He’s most days our starting right back, and he’s our backup goalkeeper because we don’t have a true backup (for Lekki). Thank God he was ready to come in and be engaged in the way the game was going.”
After the lackluster first half, the game was actually starting to tilt Wheaton North’s way until the Lancers scored against the run of play. Forward Jesus Juarez got around the left end and was in the process of advancing on Thompson when he was tripped from behind.
Costa stepped up and sent the ensuing penalty into the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
At the time it looked like that would stand up. In the end, it nearly didn’t.
“I would have been completely OK with the most boring 1-0 win ever,” Crosby said. “There’s no reason that North’s guys shouldn’t have gotten one.
“They were pressing so hard and counterattacking well. They had such good chances.
“We’ve been on both ends of it. So you can feel how it must be on the other side because we’ve been on the losing end, and it’s crummy. A win is a win and we’ll take it, but we did not make it easy on ourselves, that’s for sure.”
The loss, of course, wasn’t easy for the Falcons to take, especially after the big win over Metea.
“It’s good that we can now actually win games in the DVC and compete in the DVC a lot better, but (this loss) does (stink) and it does kind of hurt our confidence to lose a game like this 1-0 when virtually all of our forwards – me, Joe Gaither and Jack Morrissey – could have had a hat trick at least,” Beausoleil said. “But I do think we are (improving).
“Since we didn’t start off the season too hot we just needed that one win to be our turning point, and that was our win against Metea. After that we’ve been playing consistently pretty good.
“I feel we did pretty good in this game. We just got unlucky.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Harrison Thompson
D Carlos Saavedra
D Jack Mancuso
D Jack Tegart
D Nathan Heyen
M Jack Dzarnowski
M Jorge Petino
M Ajay Patel
F Joe Gaither
F Alex Beausoleiel
F Jack Morrissey
Lake Park
GK Christian Lekki
D Victor Pawlik
D Thomas Zakic
D Sebastian Augustyn
D Max Ellenbecker
M Gabriel Mendrano
M Andrew Eliopoulos
M Matteo Costa
M Franco Presta
F Sebastian Glodz
F Jesus Juarez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Christian Lekki, jr., GK, Lake Park
Scoring summary
2nd Half
Lake Park – Matteo Costa (PK) 14:28
against Wheaton North
Defender replaces injured GK Lekki, pair shine in 1-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
ROSELLE – It would be hard for any goalkeeper to upstage the performance that Lake Park’s Christian Lekki turned in Tuesday night.
Somehow, Daniel Nocek managed to do just that. He had to.
Nocek, usually a starting defender, had to put on the goalie jersey when Lekki suffered an ankle injury with 4:30 left in the game against visiting Wheaton North.
But the senior was up to the task, making three point-blank saves on breakaways in the final two minutes to preserve Lake Park’s 1-0 DuPage Valley Conference victory.
It was a wild ending to a wild game that could have seen a dozen goals, but finished with a lone tally on Matteo Costa’s penalty kick with 14:28 left in the second half.
The wildest part is Nocek isn’t even a goalie by trade.
“I used to play goalie when I was little, and I play goalie now and then in practice,” Nocek said. “I just had a little natural luck.”
And more than a little fearlessness. Nocek has put out fires before, having come into Lake Park’s game against York and immediately stopping a penalty kick after Lekki was ejected.
So he wasn’t nervous to go between the pipes during a time when the Falcons were breathing down the Lancers’ necks?
“I felt confident because we have a good backline to back us up,” Nocek said. “All it was was a couple minutes in net.”
But what a couple minutes.
Nocek first stopped a partial breakaway with 1:45 remaining, then leaped to tip Jake Dzarnowski’s 45-yard shot over the crossbar at the 1:05 mark.
Wheaton North (3-9-2, 1-2-1) had one last chance when Nathan Heyen got loose eight yards from the goal, but his shot was parried by Nocek with 35 seconds to go.
The Falcons were left hanging their heads after a game in which they squeezed off 12 shots, nine of which were on frame. One other hit the post and one hit the crossbar.
Wheaton North forward Alex Beausoleil, who saw one of his point-blank shots hit the crossbar and another wide-open volley go over the bar, said the result was a disappointment after the Falcons had defeated Metea Valley 2-1 in overtime for their first DVC victory in two years.
“I thought we were (going to get the equalizer) but kudos to (Nocek),” said Beausoleil, who scored both goals against Metea Valley. “He made some great saves.
The goalies played great. We just need to focus on (finishing).
“We’re playing well in the defense, playing well in the midfield, our attack we just need to put the ball away. If we put the ball away it would have been a completely different story.”
At least it would have been a happier ending for the Falcons, who dropped their second 1-0 decision to the Lancers this year.
“That’s the game of soccer,” Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen said. “Our first half today was pretty awful.
“We weren’t in it, but I counted 12 shots, basically all open goals. Their goalkeeper was lights out but that close, no goalkeeper should be stopping them.”
The Lancers (8-4-1, 2-2-0) controlled the play in an uneventful first half, earning an 8-3 edge in shots. Wheaton North goalkeeper Harrison Thompson made four of his six saves before intermission, but it was the Falcons who had the better chances.
The first scoring opportunity came when Jack Morrissey intercepted a poor clearance from Lekki and fired a shot from the top of the box that squarely hit the left post before being booted out of harm’s way.
Morrissey later had another great chance when he got free in the right side of the box, only to have Lekki take the ball off his foot. Then with 6:05 left Dzarnowski’s perfectly timed lead pass sprung Beausoleil free inside the 6, but the resulting point-blank shot was blocked by Lekki.
“This is a great Lake Park team,” Stassen said. “We knew it was going to be a battle.
“It would have been great if we had played both halves they way we finished. We need to finish these goals.
“You play some of these other teams, and they’ll finish 1 of 1. We can’t finish 0 of 12 (tonight). They did a good job against the backline, but their goalkeeper was lights out. He was absolutely fantastic. He’s the real deal.”
Indeed, Lekki finished with eight saves, including diving stops in the second half on Ajay Patel and Beausoleil, who was denied on two golden chances at the 7:03 mark and again with 4:30 to go. On the latter play, Lekki lunged to his right to make a stop near the post and injured his ankle. He was carted off by the trainer and not around to see the end of the game.
"Lekki was favoring a hip flexor/groin injury. It was re-aggravated in yesterday's game and (led to) ... an ankle injury late in the second half," said Crosby. "He will most likely be off for training today and we will take his condition day-by-day.
"It doesn't look like a serious injury but definitely one that limits his mobility in net. Our training staff is monitoring it today to determine if any additional treatments/tests are needed, but they put his ankle in a splint, and he was able to walk on it at the end of the night."
His teammates hope he is back soon.
“We trust him,” Nocek said. “He’s like a brick wall, one of our best players.”
That’s unquestionably so when Lekki is performing at peak level.
“When he commits to it, his fearlessness (is his strength),” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “When he gets himself in the games early on and make that first play where he’s in the air and calling for it and being in command of his box, I think his confidence comes up and the rest of the 79 minutes after that he really gets himself plugged in, and he’s not afraid to take chances.
“I’m sure there are times he wished he had made better plays in our game against Naperville North a week ago. I think he’s had a personal vendetta to get back to his best play.”
Lekki, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for his play, was at this best, but so was Nocek, who ironically did not start the game because of a minor injury. Nocek did come off the bench and played in both halves and was on the field when Lekki went down.
“The saves he made were fantastic,” Crosby said of Nocek. “And as I told the guys at the end of the game, it might be unconventional but it’s the same sort of thing (as with Lekki)
“He’s fearless, and he just stands his ground and someway, somehow he finds a way to get on the end of these (shots).
“He’s most days our starting right back, and he’s our backup goalkeeper because we don’t have a true backup (for Lekki). Thank God he was ready to come in and be engaged in the way the game was going.”
After the lackluster first half, the game was actually starting to tilt Wheaton North’s way until the Lancers scored against the run of play. Forward Jesus Juarez got around the left end and was in the process of advancing on Thompson when he was tripped from behind.
Costa stepped up and sent the ensuing penalty into the upper right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.
At the time it looked like that would stand up. In the end, it nearly didn’t.
“I would have been completely OK with the most boring 1-0 win ever,” Crosby said. “There’s no reason that North’s guys shouldn’t have gotten one.
“They were pressing so hard and counterattacking well. They had such good chances.
“We’ve been on both ends of it. So you can feel how it must be on the other side because we’ve been on the losing end, and it’s crummy. A win is a win and we’ll take it, but we did not make it easy on ourselves, that’s for sure.”
The loss, of course, wasn’t easy for the Falcons to take, especially after the big win over Metea.
“It’s good that we can now actually win games in the DVC and compete in the DVC a lot better, but (this loss) does (stink) and it does kind of hurt our confidence to lose a game like this 1-0 when virtually all of our forwards – me, Joe Gaither and Jack Morrissey – could have had a hat trick at least,” Beausoleil said. “But I do think we are (improving).
“Since we didn’t start off the season too hot we just needed that one win to be our turning point, and that was our win against Metea. After that we’ve been playing consistently pretty good.
“I feel we did pretty good in this game. We just got unlucky.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Harrison Thompson
D Carlos Saavedra
D Jack Mancuso
D Jack Tegart
D Nathan Heyen
M Jack Dzarnowski
M Jorge Petino
M Ajay Patel
F Joe Gaither
F Alex Beausoleiel
F Jack Morrissey
Lake Park
GK Christian Lekki
D Victor Pawlik
D Thomas Zakic
D Sebastian Augustyn
D Max Ellenbecker
M Gabriel Mendrano
M Andrew Eliopoulos
M Matteo Costa
M Franco Presta
F Sebastian Glodz
F Jesus Juarez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Christian Lekki, jr., GK, Lake Park
Scoring summary
2nd Half
Lake Park – Matteo Costa (PK) 14:28