Senior-laden Oswego E. blanks WV
Wolves score twice in final half to beat Warriors in opener
By Curt Herron
OSWEGO -- It's not often that you see a team that features seniors as 80 percent of its roster. But when a coach assembles a group that has that type of makeup and features many individuals who can contribute in a significant way, it's easy to be very optimistic about the prospects for a successful season.
That's just what coach Steve Szymanski has going for him this season at Oswego East, where he has 17 seniors on a 21-man squad. That experience paid off in a good way when the Wolves played host to Waubonsie Valley on Thursday in both teams' season debut.
Two days after the schools saw their scheduled openers postponed due to weather, the Wolves started slowly and staved off some early Warriors threats.
They put things together in the final half with a well-executed combination shortly after the break that proved to be the catalyst that helped them to capture a 2-0 nonconference home victory.
Possessing a strong bench also proved to be an important factor on a hot and muggy afternoon. The Wolves had more left in the tank during the final 40 minutes of the well-played match against coach Jose Garcia's Waubonsie squad, which was hampered by some injuries.
"In the first match you're always a little anxious, and I think a lot of the guys were, since they're excited about the season," Szymanski said. "Waubonsie came out really tough, and I like to say that they're a down-the-street rivalry. They've had our number for the last couple of years, so I knew that our guys were excited.
"I think our depth really helped us today. I'm able to play 18 guys, and we don't lose much. We won the battle of attrition with them cramping up so much. It's a credit to our guys since they play unselfish. If I put in one guy, he's able to step in and do just as well as the next guy, which is a luxury that I haven't had much here. We've never been as deep as we are.
"We got production from two juniors and our sophomore goalie got a shutout. We're a senior team but more than anything, we're a team.
“Our guys come in every day and are excited to be around each other and to play together. We've had some good seasons in the past but in the playoffs, we've stumbled or been shut down. I tell our guys that our goal is conference first and build toward the playoffs.
“We have to be our best each night and try to get the best seed and in our conference games, take down everybody."
After a scoreless first half, Oswego East (1-0-0) moved in front for good in the 42nd minute on a series of well-executed efforts. John Danison started the sequence with a long throw-in that went to DuPablo Parodis-Yu, whose close-range attempt was deflected over the end line by keeper Jason Michalek. Carter Boberg directed the subsequent corner kick across the front of the net and Drew Karg headed the ball in for the goal.
"We've been working on set pieces and set pieces win the game, so we've really been focusing on that and putting those together today was really beneficial," Karg said. "I felt that we really did well with that. The set pieces came together in the second half, and it really picked up our energy. I think the humidity got to us, but we picked it up in the second half. We really combined well and played well.
"This is a great group of guys. They're very welcoming, and it's really fun. I'm looking forward to the season, I think it will be a fun season. They're really positive and energetic. That brings up my mood and my energy to play."
Karg, a junior, was one of three non-seniors in the starting lineup. He joined seniors Mauro Hernandez-Montes, Gilberto Mijarez and Danison as starters along the backline. Their efforts helped sophomore keeper Javier Ruiz to record the shutout while facing only a handful of serious threats.
Junior Parodis-Yu and senior Ben Burns started at forward. Seniors Josh Frank, Grant Glorioso, Kellen Klosterman and Boberg drew starts in the midfield for the Wolves.
"They definitely had the better in the first half, which is why we kind of rallied at halftime," Boberg said. "We were like, 'Alright, we have to change some stuff, play more simple and stop playing around.’
“We practice our corners, and I'm always looking for Drew or Kellen, and he was on the back post so I just found him in there. You win games off set pieces. A corner was our first goal, and we had some dangerous free kicks.
"I'm really excited for this season because we have 17 seniors on the team. We've all played club together for a long time so we all know how each other play. And then getting people like Drew and the twins (DuPablo and ZeDaniel Parodis-Yu) in are more pieces to the puzzle. I feel like we're going to have a real dangerous team this season."
Also in the final half, Matt Watson bounced one off of the frame and Klosterman fired a liner that was halted by a defender. The Wolves capped the scoring in the 74th minute when Danison sent a long pass to DuPablo Parodis-Yu, who drove toward the net and put one in from close range.
Waubonsie Valley (0-1-0) had several good opportunities in the match's opening minutes and kept the pressure on Ruiz with a few more good chances before the break.
In the match's first good threat, Alan Sanchez sent a corner to Michael Cullen, whose short try was thwarted. A bit later, Ruiz made a kick save on an attempt by Sanchez. Then Sanchez found Gean Riberio Scarpell, whose header was denied.
"We should have had our first game on Tuesday against Benet, and I feel like if we'd have played that game that we would have done a lot better in this game," Sanchez said. "This is definitely a game to learn from. Oswego East is always a good team, so it's a good first match. We'll look at the tape and see what we can improve on from this game.
"We have a lot of new talent on our team, so we want to get them up to date on our tactics. I think our main goal is to teach the young people on our team how to team up with us so that we can all do better on the pitch."
Oswego East countered in the opening half with good threats from DuPablo Parodis-Yu, Watson and Frank. The Warriors also had good chances from Anuj Buch, Stephen Thomas and Sanchez but neither side was able to place one in the net.
"Of course it was a tough match since we know a lot of Oswego East players and today was not our day," Riberio Scarpell said. "We have speed and skills, too, and our players want to win."
The Warriors went with a starting lineup which featured seven seniors, Kadin Feese, Joseph Haddad, Callum Keller, Zach Stanley, Buch, Michalek and Sanchez.
"I think our boys played well in our first game," Garcia said. "We had a whole bench full of injuries, so that didn't help. The boys are really trying hard, and they really want to succeed this season.
“There are definitely things that we can work on but I feel like we got more positives out of this. Give it to Oswego East since they played extremely well.
“I think we have a great potential to do really well, especially with so many games on our schedule."
Starting lineups
Waubonsie Valley
G - Jason Michalek
D - Joseph Haddad
D - Kadin Feese
D - Cade Valek
D - Callum Keller
M - Yahir Rodriguez
M - Alan Sanchez
M - Zach Stanley
M - Michael Cullen
F - Gean Riberio Scarpell
F - Anuj Buch
Oswego East
G - Javier Ruiz
D - Drew Karg
D - Mauro Hernandez-Montes
D - John Danison
D - Gilberto Mijarez
M - Carter Boberg
M - Josh Frank
M - Grant Glorioso
M - Kellen Klosterman
F - Ben Burns
F - DuPablo Parodis-Yu
Chicagoland Soccer man of the match:
Drew Karg, jr., D, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Oswego East - Drew Karg (Carter Boberg), 42
Oswego East - DuPablo Parodis-Yu (John Danison), 74
Wolves score twice in final half to beat Warriors in opener
By Curt Herron
OSWEGO -- It's not often that you see a team that features seniors as 80 percent of its roster. But when a coach assembles a group that has that type of makeup and features many individuals who can contribute in a significant way, it's easy to be very optimistic about the prospects for a successful season.
That's just what coach Steve Szymanski has going for him this season at Oswego East, where he has 17 seniors on a 21-man squad. That experience paid off in a good way when the Wolves played host to Waubonsie Valley on Thursday in both teams' season debut.
Two days after the schools saw their scheduled openers postponed due to weather, the Wolves started slowly and staved off some early Warriors threats.
They put things together in the final half with a well-executed combination shortly after the break that proved to be the catalyst that helped them to capture a 2-0 nonconference home victory.
Possessing a strong bench also proved to be an important factor on a hot and muggy afternoon. The Wolves had more left in the tank during the final 40 minutes of the well-played match against coach Jose Garcia's Waubonsie squad, which was hampered by some injuries.
"In the first match you're always a little anxious, and I think a lot of the guys were, since they're excited about the season," Szymanski said. "Waubonsie came out really tough, and I like to say that they're a down-the-street rivalry. They've had our number for the last couple of years, so I knew that our guys were excited.
"I think our depth really helped us today. I'm able to play 18 guys, and we don't lose much. We won the battle of attrition with them cramping up so much. It's a credit to our guys since they play unselfish. If I put in one guy, he's able to step in and do just as well as the next guy, which is a luxury that I haven't had much here. We've never been as deep as we are.
"We got production from two juniors and our sophomore goalie got a shutout. We're a senior team but more than anything, we're a team.
“Our guys come in every day and are excited to be around each other and to play together. We've had some good seasons in the past but in the playoffs, we've stumbled or been shut down. I tell our guys that our goal is conference first and build toward the playoffs.
“We have to be our best each night and try to get the best seed and in our conference games, take down everybody."
After a scoreless first half, Oswego East (1-0-0) moved in front for good in the 42nd minute on a series of well-executed efforts. John Danison started the sequence with a long throw-in that went to DuPablo Parodis-Yu, whose close-range attempt was deflected over the end line by keeper Jason Michalek. Carter Boberg directed the subsequent corner kick across the front of the net and Drew Karg headed the ball in for the goal.
"We've been working on set pieces and set pieces win the game, so we've really been focusing on that and putting those together today was really beneficial," Karg said. "I felt that we really did well with that. The set pieces came together in the second half, and it really picked up our energy. I think the humidity got to us, but we picked it up in the second half. We really combined well and played well.
"This is a great group of guys. They're very welcoming, and it's really fun. I'm looking forward to the season, I think it will be a fun season. They're really positive and energetic. That brings up my mood and my energy to play."
Karg, a junior, was one of three non-seniors in the starting lineup. He joined seniors Mauro Hernandez-Montes, Gilberto Mijarez and Danison as starters along the backline. Their efforts helped sophomore keeper Javier Ruiz to record the shutout while facing only a handful of serious threats.
Junior Parodis-Yu and senior Ben Burns started at forward. Seniors Josh Frank, Grant Glorioso, Kellen Klosterman and Boberg drew starts in the midfield for the Wolves.
"They definitely had the better in the first half, which is why we kind of rallied at halftime," Boberg said. "We were like, 'Alright, we have to change some stuff, play more simple and stop playing around.’
“We practice our corners, and I'm always looking for Drew or Kellen, and he was on the back post so I just found him in there. You win games off set pieces. A corner was our first goal, and we had some dangerous free kicks.
"I'm really excited for this season because we have 17 seniors on the team. We've all played club together for a long time so we all know how each other play. And then getting people like Drew and the twins (DuPablo and ZeDaniel Parodis-Yu) in are more pieces to the puzzle. I feel like we're going to have a real dangerous team this season."
Also in the final half, Matt Watson bounced one off of the frame and Klosterman fired a liner that was halted by a defender. The Wolves capped the scoring in the 74th minute when Danison sent a long pass to DuPablo Parodis-Yu, who drove toward the net and put one in from close range.
Waubonsie Valley (0-1-0) had several good opportunities in the match's opening minutes and kept the pressure on Ruiz with a few more good chances before the break.
In the match's first good threat, Alan Sanchez sent a corner to Michael Cullen, whose short try was thwarted. A bit later, Ruiz made a kick save on an attempt by Sanchez. Then Sanchez found Gean Riberio Scarpell, whose header was denied.
"We should have had our first game on Tuesday against Benet, and I feel like if we'd have played that game that we would have done a lot better in this game," Sanchez said. "This is definitely a game to learn from. Oswego East is always a good team, so it's a good first match. We'll look at the tape and see what we can improve on from this game.
"We have a lot of new talent on our team, so we want to get them up to date on our tactics. I think our main goal is to teach the young people on our team how to team up with us so that we can all do better on the pitch."
Oswego East countered in the opening half with good threats from DuPablo Parodis-Yu, Watson and Frank. The Warriors also had good chances from Anuj Buch, Stephen Thomas and Sanchez but neither side was able to place one in the net.
"Of course it was a tough match since we know a lot of Oswego East players and today was not our day," Riberio Scarpell said. "We have speed and skills, too, and our players want to win."
The Warriors went with a starting lineup which featured seven seniors, Kadin Feese, Joseph Haddad, Callum Keller, Zach Stanley, Buch, Michalek and Sanchez.
"I think our boys played well in our first game," Garcia said. "We had a whole bench full of injuries, so that didn't help. The boys are really trying hard, and they really want to succeed this season.
“There are definitely things that we can work on but I feel like we got more positives out of this. Give it to Oswego East since they played extremely well.
“I think we have a great potential to do really well, especially with so many games on our schedule."
Starting lineups
Waubonsie Valley
G - Jason Michalek
D - Joseph Haddad
D - Kadin Feese
D - Cade Valek
D - Callum Keller
M - Yahir Rodriguez
M - Alan Sanchez
M - Zach Stanley
M - Michael Cullen
F - Gean Riberio Scarpell
F - Anuj Buch
Oswego East
G - Javier Ruiz
D - Drew Karg
D - Mauro Hernandez-Montes
D - John Danison
D - Gilberto Mijarez
M - Carter Boberg
M - Josh Frank
M - Grant Glorioso
M - Kellen Klosterman
F - Ben Burns
F - DuPablo Parodis-Yu
Chicagoland Soccer man of the match:
Drew Karg, jr., D, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Oswego East - Drew Karg (Carter Boberg), 42
Oswego East - DuPablo Parodis-Yu (John Danison), 74