'Best game' for WWS spoiled
by late Glenbard East strike
Goal with 2:22 left ends Tigers' season in regional semis
By Dave Owen
LOMBARD – Everything was coming together at the perfect time for Wheaton Warrenville South.
Then one imperfect moment on a Glenbard East set piece with just 2:22 left happened in Tuesday’s Class 3A Glenbard East Regional semifinal.
Ian Moran opted for a short pass on a 26-yard free kick, finding Brandon Pineda running into the left side of the box. Pineda made the plan work, lining a low 12-yard shot into the net to give the Rams (7-6-3) a 1-0 win over the Tigers (7-12-2).
“To all accounts we did everything we had mapped out in the game plan, but unfortunately it all came down to a missed read and a good finish on their part,” WWS coach Guy Callipari said. “They took advantage of some complacency in that moment, and consequently that’s the winner.”
Tigers senior co-captain Will Buxton combined pride in his team’s effort and devastation over the result in his postgame comments.
“The way we played tonight, I’ll never forget this game,” Buxton said. “It’s the last game I’ll probably ever play in soccer.
“Playing with all these guys is amazing, and playing our best game of the season in our last game of the season is the way to go out. We wanted to get one in and just couldn’t.”
As for the game’s lone goal, practice and a premonition paid off for Glenbard East.
“I was thinking, ‘Today I’m going to have my moment,’ and I did,” said Pineda. “I knew it was my moment. I was the only left-footer, so they put me on the wall on that side.
“With two minutes left, I knew my senior year I had to make something happen. This couldn’t have been my last game, no way. And with the angle that ball was at, I just let it loose and hoped it would make the back of the net. Thankfully it did.”
As for the practice part …
“We have an emphasis on free kicks at least once a week or more,” Rams coach Josh Adler said.
“It’s such a critical element of the game that is sometimes forgotten about. Day before game that’s what we’re doing. Yesterday we went through all our situational stuff because it could come down to that moment. You want to capitalize on that one opportunity, and we did.”
Said Pineda: “Actually we just started working on that play (the short pass of the restart) last week. We were like, ‘Let’s try something new, we haven’t really scored much on free kicks and set pieces this year, we’ll try something new.’ And I guess it paid off.”
Callipari noticed the Rams had a trick planned on the deciding play.
“They’d been on the ball (pre-free kick) for a long time, so I thought that might happen,” he said. “I was trying to change the way we lined up. (Our players) were a little surprised by it.
“I was trying to get guys off the wall (and outside), but it was too late. They played it, and Joe’s (goalkeeper Joe Adamek’s) hand-eye coordination is quick and typically spot on, so it had to be a great finish.”
Much of the night, it appeared the benefits of the 11th-seeded Tigers’ tough DVC schedule were paying off against the sixth-seeded Rams.
Adamek’s catch of a cross to the crease nine minutes in and a Fabian Aranda corner kick headed wide in the 11th minute were part of early back-and-forth chances.
The Tigers then produced a solid 10-minute stretch of command. Rams goalkeeper Gerardo Galvez barely won the race to an Unla Husseini cross at the 6-yard line in the 15th minute, then made a diving one-hop catch of a Barrios cross to the crease 50 seconds later.
In the 23rd minute, WWS had an offensive zone possession that lasted nearly two minutes – but without a shot. Still, that stretch epitomized the Tigers’ early control of play.
After Galvez’s diving save at the right post of a Unla Husseini 20-yard shot in the 30th minute, Glenbard East’s own great chance came in the 35th minute when Nick O’Brien won a race for a send and tipped a shot just wide of the right post.
An interception and send by Tigers defender Sam Schlegel with 2:50 left denied the last Rams chance of the first half.
As has been the case all year, defenders Buxton and Gabby Lazcano were key to the Tigers’ control of opposing offenses.
“Will and Gabby as a tandem were on point, Callipari said. “You have to work in twos in that role, and they can’t make a mistake.
“I thought they were pretty clean 99 percent of the time tonight. And that’s a high level of thinking and cohesiveness that I was hoping for. And they’re our captains. Their maturity and leadership prevailed, and they were exactly the way I would have hoped them to play.”
Playing against all the Tigers was the challenge the Rams expected.
“I love playing Guy’s teams,” Adler said, “because they’re such a determined, scrappy group of players that are very patient. They have a good technical side, a good awareness of the game. They’re going to present different directional play with certain balls at certain angles.
“It’s fun. They attack you different ways and force you to be organized and aware of how the game’s changing around you.”
Heading into the second half, the Tigers sought to continue that formula.
“We wanted to maintain the tempo and not lose that from the first half,” Callipari said. “We felt that’s what carried us. They (the Rams) were aggressive in their pursuit. If we could continue to move the ball into gaps and angles, we could elude that pressure comfortably and transition comfortably, which created opportunity after opportunity.
“We needed to maintain a good work rate by everyone on the field. We wanted to be persistent in what we were doing. And even when we had a few chances we didn’t finish, we needed to be positive in our attitude and come back and generate three or four more. And I thought we did that.”
The first big Tigers chance after the break came with 33:40 left. Off a Buxton throw-in, Barrios won a 50-50 ball at the 25-yard line and sent a liner just wide of the right post.
Then off a Barrios 45-yard free kick with 24:30 to go, Unla Husseini rocketed a 20-yard one-timer over the net.
Threats continued from Barrios (high 25-yarder stopped by Galvez with 16:30 left) and Unla Husseini (drive over the net on a left wing run with 13:30 to go). Then a Buxton throw-in with 11:09 left produced an elite chance, a Barrios low 15-yard one-hop liner that Galvez dove to deny at the left post.
“We had one on the post, we had a couple more shots that went over,” Buxton said. “It’s just the way the game goes, you know? It happens. It’s happened all season.
“But we kept our heads up, tried to keep going but sometimes it just isn’t there.”
A Lazcano long send became more dangerous with a Declin Ermer header towards the net with 6:40 left. But Galvez barely beat Ryan Dufty to the ball, summing up a night of so-close threats for the Tigers.
Then came the Rams free kick, and Pineda’s decisive finish.
But even the goal-scoring hero noted the test his team had endured.
“When we play teams that go hard at us and make us work, that brings out the best of us,” Pineda said. “Props to them, they played really great. Their hard work kind of pushed our hard work.”
In the heartbreak of the tough season-ending loss, the Tigers expressed pride in their efforts.
“I honestly believe our team has it,” Lazcano said. “We proved that many times during the season when we had to. It’s just mentally we kind of slip at some moments, it results in those goals, and it causes the losses. It was never a lack of effort or spirit. We all played for each other. Even though we had to do some learning the first few games, we all learned to play for each other and love this game together. It was all good; it was a good season, I love these guys to death.
“It’s a great group of individuals, the biggest senior class in our history. And most of us have played together since freshmen or younger. We’ve grown as a family.”
The Tigers’ 13 varsity seniors left an impression.
“We have some big shoes to fill,” Callipari said. “Gabby and Will will be difficult to replace, Marco, Fabian (Aranda) as well, Jesus (Martinez), Unla – they’re all game-changers.”
The 1-0 loss hardly dampened Callipari’s pride in the effort by his team.
“This was as good or better than how I’ve seen us perform as a group from the first whistle to the last,” he said. “It all came in the moment I hoped it would (the postseason), so I’m very pleased with that.
“It didn’t serve us well in the result, but I shared with them ‘We’re here. This is what we’ve been hoping for the whole time.’ We wanted to control the tempo and come at people in a variety of ways, and we did all that. We were disciplined in what we did, and not individualistic which has sometimes been our demise.
“They showed cohesiveness, spirit. They were motivated. I can walk away knowing with this as the last snapshot that will carry me. I’m just hoping that carries to the younger guys who will return and build on what it took.”
Starting lineups
WWS
GK Joe Adamek
D Sam Schlegel
D Spencer Follett
D Will Buxton
D Gabby Lazcano
M Nick McGrath
M Unla Husseini
M Marco Barrios
M Fabian Aranda
F Sumani Husseini
F Declin Ermer
Glenbard East
GK Gerardo Galvez
D Alex Johnson
D Dillon Dana
D Adler Joiner
D Clay Kepuraitis
M Brandon Pineda
M Nick O’Brien
M Ronnie Avalos
M Ian Moran
F Axel Albarran
F Patrick Campuzano
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brandon Pineda, sr. M, Glenbard E.
Scoring summary
2nd HALF: Glen East – Pineda (Moran) 77:38
by late Glenbard East strike
Goal with 2:22 left ends Tigers' season in regional semis
By Dave Owen
LOMBARD – Everything was coming together at the perfect time for Wheaton Warrenville South.
Then one imperfect moment on a Glenbard East set piece with just 2:22 left happened in Tuesday’s Class 3A Glenbard East Regional semifinal.
Ian Moran opted for a short pass on a 26-yard free kick, finding Brandon Pineda running into the left side of the box. Pineda made the plan work, lining a low 12-yard shot into the net to give the Rams (7-6-3) a 1-0 win over the Tigers (7-12-2).
“To all accounts we did everything we had mapped out in the game plan, but unfortunately it all came down to a missed read and a good finish on their part,” WWS coach Guy Callipari said. “They took advantage of some complacency in that moment, and consequently that’s the winner.”
Tigers senior co-captain Will Buxton combined pride in his team’s effort and devastation over the result in his postgame comments.
“The way we played tonight, I’ll never forget this game,” Buxton said. “It’s the last game I’ll probably ever play in soccer.
“Playing with all these guys is amazing, and playing our best game of the season in our last game of the season is the way to go out. We wanted to get one in and just couldn’t.”
As for the game’s lone goal, practice and a premonition paid off for Glenbard East.
“I was thinking, ‘Today I’m going to have my moment,’ and I did,” said Pineda. “I knew it was my moment. I was the only left-footer, so they put me on the wall on that side.
“With two minutes left, I knew my senior year I had to make something happen. This couldn’t have been my last game, no way. And with the angle that ball was at, I just let it loose and hoped it would make the back of the net. Thankfully it did.”
As for the practice part …
“We have an emphasis on free kicks at least once a week or more,” Rams coach Josh Adler said.
“It’s such a critical element of the game that is sometimes forgotten about. Day before game that’s what we’re doing. Yesterday we went through all our situational stuff because it could come down to that moment. You want to capitalize on that one opportunity, and we did.”
Said Pineda: “Actually we just started working on that play (the short pass of the restart) last week. We were like, ‘Let’s try something new, we haven’t really scored much on free kicks and set pieces this year, we’ll try something new.’ And I guess it paid off.”
Callipari noticed the Rams had a trick planned on the deciding play.
“They’d been on the ball (pre-free kick) for a long time, so I thought that might happen,” he said. “I was trying to change the way we lined up. (Our players) were a little surprised by it.
“I was trying to get guys off the wall (and outside), but it was too late. They played it, and Joe’s (goalkeeper Joe Adamek’s) hand-eye coordination is quick and typically spot on, so it had to be a great finish.”
Much of the night, it appeared the benefits of the 11th-seeded Tigers’ tough DVC schedule were paying off against the sixth-seeded Rams.
Adamek’s catch of a cross to the crease nine minutes in and a Fabian Aranda corner kick headed wide in the 11th minute were part of early back-and-forth chances.
The Tigers then produced a solid 10-minute stretch of command. Rams goalkeeper Gerardo Galvez barely won the race to an Unla Husseini cross at the 6-yard line in the 15th minute, then made a diving one-hop catch of a Barrios cross to the crease 50 seconds later.
In the 23rd minute, WWS had an offensive zone possession that lasted nearly two minutes – but without a shot. Still, that stretch epitomized the Tigers’ early control of play.
After Galvez’s diving save at the right post of a Unla Husseini 20-yard shot in the 30th minute, Glenbard East’s own great chance came in the 35th minute when Nick O’Brien won a race for a send and tipped a shot just wide of the right post.
An interception and send by Tigers defender Sam Schlegel with 2:50 left denied the last Rams chance of the first half.
As has been the case all year, defenders Buxton and Gabby Lazcano were key to the Tigers’ control of opposing offenses.
“Will and Gabby as a tandem were on point, Callipari said. “You have to work in twos in that role, and they can’t make a mistake.
“I thought they were pretty clean 99 percent of the time tonight. And that’s a high level of thinking and cohesiveness that I was hoping for. And they’re our captains. Their maturity and leadership prevailed, and they were exactly the way I would have hoped them to play.”
Playing against all the Tigers was the challenge the Rams expected.
“I love playing Guy’s teams,” Adler said, “because they’re such a determined, scrappy group of players that are very patient. They have a good technical side, a good awareness of the game. They’re going to present different directional play with certain balls at certain angles.
“It’s fun. They attack you different ways and force you to be organized and aware of how the game’s changing around you.”
Heading into the second half, the Tigers sought to continue that formula.
“We wanted to maintain the tempo and not lose that from the first half,” Callipari said. “We felt that’s what carried us. They (the Rams) were aggressive in their pursuit. If we could continue to move the ball into gaps and angles, we could elude that pressure comfortably and transition comfortably, which created opportunity after opportunity.
“We needed to maintain a good work rate by everyone on the field. We wanted to be persistent in what we were doing. And even when we had a few chances we didn’t finish, we needed to be positive in our attitude and come back and generate three or four more. And I thought we did that.”
The first big Tigers chance after the break came with 33:40 left. Off a Buxton throw-in, Barrios won a 50-50 ball at the 25-yard line and sent a liner just wide of the right post.
Then off a Barrios 45-yard free kick with 24:30 to go, Unla Husseini rocketed a 20-yard one-timer over the net.
Threats continued from Barrios (high 25-yarder stopped by Galvez with 16:30 left) and Unla Husseini (drive over the net on a left wing run with 13:30 to go). Then a Buxton throw-in with 11:09 left produced an elite chance, a Barrios low 15-yard one-hop liner that Galvez dove to deny at the left post.
“We had one on the post, we had a couple more shots that went over,” Buxton said. “It’s just the way the game goes, you know? It happens. It’s happened all season.
“But we kept our heads up, tried to keep going but sometimes it just isn’t there.”
A Lazcano long send became more dangerous with a Declin Ermer header towards the net with 6:40 left. But Galvez barely beat Ryan Dufty to the ball, summing up a night of so-close threats for the Tigers.
Then came the Rams free kick, and Pineda’s decisive finish.
But even the goal-scoring hero noted the test his team had endured.
“When we play teams that go hard at us and make us work, that brings out the best of us,” Pineda said. “Props to them, they played really great. Their hard work kind of pushed our hard work.”
In the heartbreak of the tough season-ending loss, the Tigers expressed pride in their efforts.
“I honestly believe our team has it,” Lazcano said. “We proved that many times during the season when we had to. It’s just mentally we kind of slip at some moments, it results in those goals, and it causes the losses. It was never a lack of effort or spirit. We all played for each other. Even though we had to do some learning the first few games, we all learned to play for each other and love this game together. It was all good; it was a good season, I love these guys to death.
“It’s a great group of individuals, the biggest senior class in our history. And most of us have played together since freshmen or younger. We’ve grown as a family.”
The Tigers’ 13 varsity seniors left an impression.
“We have some big shoes to fill,” Callipari said. “Gabby and Will will be difficult to replace, Marco, Fabian (Aranda) as well, Jesus (Martinez), Unla – they’re all game-changers.”
The 1-0 loss hardly dampened Callipari’s pride in the effort by his team.
“This was as good or better than how I’ve seen us perform as a group from the first whistle to the last,” he said. “It all came in the moment I hoped it would (the postseason), so I’m very pleased with that.
“It didn’t serve us well in the result, but I shared with them ‘We’re here. This is what we’ve been hoping for the whole time.’ We wanted to control the tempo and come at people in a variety of ways, and we did all that. We were disciplined in what we did, and not individualistic which has sometimes been our demise.
“They showed cohesiveness, spirit. They were motivated. I can walk away knowing with this as the last snapshot that will carry me. I’m just hoping that carries to the younger guys who will return and build on what it took.”
Starting lineups
WWS
GK Joe Adamek
D Sam Schlegel
D Spencer Follett
D Will Buxton
D Gabby Lazcano
M Nick McGrath
M Unla Husseini
M Marco Barrios
M Fabian Aranda
F Sumani Husseini
F Declin Ermer
Glenbard East
GK Gerardo Galvez
D Alex Johnson
D Dillon Dana
D Adler Joiner
D Clay Kepuraitis
M Brandon Pineda
M Nick O’Brien
M Ronnie Avalos
M Ian Moran
F Axel Albarran
F Patrick Campuzano
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brandon Pineda, sr. M, Glenbard E.
Scoring summary
2nd HALF: Glen East – Pineda (Moran) 77:38