PK hero O’Banion leads Young to win
Keeper stops 4 LWE shooters in shootout
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Twelve yards separate the keeper and the shooter on a penalty kick. Perspective colors everything, at times altering the spatial dynamic so that the pressure accelerates the distance from the intimate to as vast as a canyon or ocean.
Young goalkeeper Dixon O’Banion is cagey, even sly, about the direct encounter between shooter and stopper. From the outside the shot appears so normal, even easy. The senior knows all the pressure is on the shooter. Unlike a penalty kick awarded during the run of play, the shootout format also favors the keepers, in the sense the teams alternate shooters and by expanding time, the pressure thickens.
O'Banion set the best kind of personal record by blocking a stunning four Lincoln-Way East shooters in overshadowing an equally skilled performance by Griffiths’ keeper Victor Porada as the Dolphins won the shootout 2-1 in the sixth round in a PepsiCo Showdown quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon at Rockne Stadium.
The game ended 2-2 in regulation. Under tournament rules, the game went directly to the shootout, bypassing any overtime. The Dolphins -- the 11th-seed in the Michele Bingham Memorial bracket -- travel to meet 15th-seeded Lockport in a semifinal on Thursday.
“The goalies came up huge,” Young coach Ian McCarthy said. “The Lincoln-Way East keeper was phenomenal. Mentally we had shooters going up there, and they were second-guessing themselves. (Porada) kept us off-balance there. When you are making saves or hitting posts, that next shooter coming up is questioning everything about his ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Dixon came up with some huge saves in the second half and saved the game for us.”
A two-year starter, Dixon recorded three saves in the second half for the Dolphins (3-3-2). Young counted on his remarkable play after the Dolphins failed to convert on their first three attempts. Porada blocked the first two and the third effort was pushed wide left.
“First thing I try to do is (clear) my head,” O’Banion said. “I try to focus on their eyes and see where their eyes are looking. If they are not looking anywhere, I look at their hip and body position. I judge it based off of that. I try to get a good read on the ball, a good jump on the ball, so I can hopefully get to it.”
O’Banion blocked the first Lincoln-Way East shooter and the second attempt repelled off the far post. Griffiths’ forward Jordan Abbasi finally broke the stalemate by drilling one inside the near post for a temporary advantage. O’Banion blocked the last two East shooters. Young forward Aidan Chapman, the fourth shooter, broke the ice for the Dolphins.
In the sixth round, sophomore Young forward Aidan Chapman drilled his attempt in the left corner. He was formally credited with the game-winner. O’Banion punctuated the majestic performance by lunging to his left for the final save. He did not get caught up with his own shooters.
“I stuck to what I know how to do,” he said. “Obviously it worked out today.”
Dixon O’Banion earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his accomplishments.
“The goalies did a great job,” Lincoln-Way East coach Ryan Decker said. “Those moments are pressure-filled, and it is difficult to step up there and take care of business, even though it is 12 yards away. I think that’s what we saw a little bit.”
Lincoln-Way East (4-4-0) had a late goal negated by an offsides call. O’Banion also stopped two dangerous plays and extended the match.
“I think they felt the frustration in that we never should have gotten to this (shootout),” Decker said. “We had a couple of opportunities inside the 12 in the last couple of minutes, and that is where it should have been. That’s not how it ended. I give Whitney Young a lot of credit. They battled really hard. I thought we were really evenly matched tonight. I had a fun time.
“It was great to watch that match tonight.”
Lincoln-Way East fought off two separate one-goal deficits. After back-and-forth forays from each side, the Dolphins struck first. Sophomore Esme McCarthy -- the coach’s son -- slotted a ball that junior midfielder Jake Gerenraich blasted for the 1-0 Dolphins’ lead in the 22nd minute.
Esme McCarthy is a first-year starter who blends excellent size, at 5-foot-11, with speed, quickness and a good skill level. He has provided a bounce to the Dolphins’ attack of late. In several previous games the Dolphins dominated possession but struggled to put that finishing scoring sequence together.
“It’s really good to see we are getting more and more chances in front of the goal,” Esme McCarthy said. “That is what it is coming down to. We were dominating in those other games, where we possess the ball and possess the ball, but this difference today was we were actually dangerous in this game.”
Some players, especially young performers getting their first exposure of playing varsity, might find the prospect of playing for their father an added burden. Esme McCarthy has sharply defused any potential complications.
“Right when the game starts, he just becomes another coach,” he said. “I am very comfortable with him. During practice, in games, once things start, he becomes my coach. Off the field he’s dad. Once we are on the field he is the coach.”
Lincoln-Way East fought back in the 32nd minute as sophomore midfielder Cory Pitlik smashed a long free kick just inside the post that deflected off a Young defender. Pitlik was credited with the goal as the teams played to a 1-1 draw at the half.
Senior midfielder Josue Espinoza pushed Young up 2-1 in the 51st minute. After an initial Dokphins ball was cleared about 40 yards outside the Griffiths’ goal, sophomore midfielder Elias Guzman delivered a return service that Porada overran and the ball bounded over his head. Espinoza cleaned it up with a header for the closing touch.
True to its own unflagging spirit, Lincoln-Way East again found a way to equalize. Abbasi, the team’s most dangerous player, deftly intercepted a Young ball in the final third and wove down the left side and hammered a left-footed ball inside the near post in the 58th minute.
“I think, defensively speaking for both teams, there were some mistakes today,” Ian McCarthy said. “They took us out of our possession game quite a bit with hustle. We played long, and that is really not our game. We scored an own goal, but we came back and got a loose ball, and Josue was able to finish it. The second goal, on their part, a great strike, but I think it was a defensive breakdown, a lack of communication, and a guy got free and was able to rip a shot.”
Each coach found positives to build off. Young has now scored five goals in regulation during its two-game winning streak. Lincoln-Way East fought back twice from deficits, evidence its developing maturity.
“We saw a lot about ourselves that we needed to, and I think there is a lot to take away that is positive,” Decker said. “I am not happy with the result, but I am happy with the effort and what we did as a group tonight. We have four sophomores who start and play a lot, so there is some youthful inexperience at times. I think we are finally starting to understand each other as a group, in defending together. We are still letting up way too many goals. You saw today, we allowed two that we should not have allowed. If we stop doing those things, we are going to win a lot more games.”
The day after playing Von Steuben to a scoreless draw September 6, Ian McCarthy staged a practice tryout to determine the team’s best shooters as preparation for the PepsiCo Showdown. It paid off.
“The five guys we sent up were five of our top six,” Ian McCarthy said. “Jake Gerenraich, he is usually is one of our shooters, but he had some injuries during the game, and he was just not up to taking one afterwards. We looked stellar in practice, and you come out here and it’s a different environment. The last two weeks we only have the one loss to Oak Park and River Forest. Putting the ball in the net always helps. I tell the boys, you can’t expect to play a flawless defensive game, you can’t always expect a shutout. It’s time to put the ball in the net.
“Ultimately they fought back time and time again.”
Starting lineups
Lincoln-Way East
GK: Victor Porada
D: Ethan Barranca
D: Isaac Cahue
D: Dylan Leyden
D: Antonio Mavrogiannis
MF: Tannor Hurst
MF: Ryan Corydon
MF: Frank Dicosola
MF: Cory Pitlik
F: Davis Feehery
F: Jordan Abbasi
Young
GK: Dixon O’Bannion
D: Jonathan Perez
D: Jake Davidson
D: Christion Rice
D: Alex Espino
MF: Evan Wimberly
MF: Leo Daley
MF: Esme McCarthy
MF:Jake Gerenraich
MF: Josue Espinoza
F: Aidan Chapman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Dixon O’Bannion, sr., GK, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Young:Jake Gerenraich (Esme McCarthy), 22nd minute
Lincoln-Way East: Cory Pitlik, 32nd minute
Second half
Young: Josue Espinoza (Elias Guzman), 51st minute
Lincoln-Way East: Jordan Abbasi, 58th minute
Keeper stops 4 LWE shooters in shootout
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Twelve yards separate the keeper and the shooter on a penalty kick. Perspective colors everything, at times altering the spatial dynamic so that the pressure accelerates the distance from the intimate to as vast as a canyon or ocean.
Young goalkeeper Dixon O’Banion is cagey, even sly, about the direct encounter between shooter and stopper. From the outside the shot appears so normal, even easy. The senior knows all the pressure is on the shooter. Unlike a penalty kick awarded during the run of play, the shootout format also favors the keepers, in the sense the teams alternate shooters and by expanding time, the pressure thickens.
O'Banion set the best kind of personal record by blocking a stunning four Lincoln-Way East shooters in overshadowing an equally skilled performance by Griffiths’ keeper Victor Porada as the Dolphins won the shootout 2-1 in the sixth round in a PepsiCo Showdown quarterfinal Tuesday afternoon at Rockne Stadium.
The game ended 2-2 in regulation. Under tournament rules, the game went directly to the shootout, bypassing any overtime. The Dolphins -- the 11th-seed in the Michele Bingham Memorial bracket -- travel to meet 15th-seeded Lockport in a semifinal on Thursday.
“The goalies came up huge,” Young coach Ian McCarthy said. “The Lincoln-Way East keeper was phenomenal. Mentally we had shooters going up there, and they were second-guessing themselves. (Porada) kept us off-balance there. When you are making saves or hitting posts, that next shooter coming up is questioning everything about his ability to put the ball in the back of the net. Dixon came up with some huge saves in the second half and saved the game for us.”
A two-year starter, Dixon recorded three saves in the second half for the Dolphins (3-3-2). Young counted on his remarkable play after the Dolphins failed to convert on their first three attempts. Porada blocked the first two and the third effort was pushed wide left.
“First thing I try to do is (clear) my head,” O’Banion said. “I try to focus on their eyes and see where their eyes are looking. If they are not looking anywhere, I look at their hip and body position. I judge it based off of that. I try to get a good read on the ball, a good jump on the ball, so I can hopefully get to it.”
O’Banion blocked the first Lincoln-Way East shooter and the second attempt repelled off the far post. Griffiths’ forward Jordan Abbasi finally broke the stalemate by drilling one inside the near post for a temporary advantage. O’Banion blocked the last two East shooters. Young forward Aidan Chapman, the fourth shooter, broke the ice for the Dolphins.
In the sixth round, sophomore Young forward Aidan Chapman drilled his attempt in the left corner. He was formally credited with the game-winner. O’Banion punctuated the majestic performance by lunging to his left for the final save. He did not get caught up with his own shooters.
“I stuck to what I know how to do,” he said. “Obviously it worked out today.”
Dixon O’Banion earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his accomplishments.
“The goalies did a great job,” Lincoln-Way East coach Ryan Decker said. “Those moments are pressure-filled, and it is difficult to step up there and take care of business, even though it is 12 yards away. I think that’s what we saw a little bit.”
Lincoln-Way East (4-4-0) had a late goal negated by an offsides call. O’Banion also stopped two dangerous plays and extended the match.
“I think they felt the frustration in that we never should have gotten to this (shootout),” Decker said. “We had a couple of opportunities inside the 12 in the last couple of minutes, and that is where it should have been. That’s not how it ended. I give Whitney Young a lot of credit. They battled really hard. I thought we were really evenly matched tonight. I had a fun time.
“It was great to watch that match tonight.”
Lincoln-Way East fought off two separate one-goal deficits. After back-and-forth forays from each side, the Dolphins struck first. Sophomore Esme McCarthy -- the coach’s son -- slotted a ball that junior midfielder Jake Gerenraich blasted for the 1-0 Dolphins’ lead in the 22nd minute.
Esme McCarthy is a first-year starter who blends excellent size, at 5-foot-11, with speed, quickness and a good skill level. He has provided a bounce to the Dolphins’ attack of late. In several previous games the Dolphins dominated possession but struggled to put that finishing scoring sequence together.
“It’s really good to see we are getting more and more chances in front of the goal,” Esme McCarthy said. “That is what it is coming down to. We were dominating in those other games, where we possess the ball and possess the ball, but this difference today was we were actually dangerous in this game.”
Some players, especially young performers getting their first exposure of playing varsity, might find the prospect of playing for their father an added burden. Esme McCarthy has sharply defused any potential complications.
“Right when the game starts, he just becomes another coach,” he said. “I am very comfortable with him. During practice, in games, once things start, he becomes my coach. Off the field he’s dad. Once we are on the field he is the coach.”
Lincoln-Way East fought back in the 32nd minute as sophomore midfielder Cory Pitlik smashed a long free kick just inside the post that deflected off a Young defender. Pitlik was credited with the goal as the teams played to a 1-1 draw at the half.
Senior midfielder Josue Espinoza pushed Young up 2-1 in the 51st minute. After an initial Dokphins ball was cleared about 40 yards outside the Griffiths’ goal, sophomore midfielder Elias Guzman delivered a return service that Porada overran and the ball bounded over his head. Espinoza cleaned it up with a header for the closing touch.
True to its own unflagging spirit, Lincoln-Way East again found a way to equalize. Abbasi, the team’s most dangerous player, deftly intercepted a Young ball in the final third and wove down the left side and hammered a left-footed ball inside the near post in the 58th minute.
“I think, defensively speaking for both teams, there were some mistakes today,” Ian McCarthy said. “They took us out of our possession game quite a bit with hustle. We played long, and that is really not our game. We scored an own goal, but we came back and got a loose ball, and Josue was able to finish it. The second goal, on their part, a great strike, but I think it was a defensive breakdown, a lack of communication, and a guy got free and was able to rip a shot.”
Each coach found positives to build off. Young has now scored five goals in regulation during its two-game winning streak. Lincoln-Way East fought back twice from deficits, evidence its developing maturity.
“We saw a lot about ourselves that we needed to, and I think there is a lot to take away that is positive,” Decker said. “I am not happy with the result, but I am happy with the effort and what we did as a group tonight. We have four sophomores who start and play a lot, so there is some youthful inexperience at times. I think we are finally starting to understand each other as a group, in defending together. We are still letting up way too many goals. You saw today, we allowed two that we should not have allowed. If we stop doing those things, we are going to win a lot more games.”
The day after playing Von Steuben to a scoreless draw September 6, Ian McCarthy staged a practice tryout to determine the team’s best shooters as preparation for the PepsiCo Showdown. It paid off.
“The five guys we sent up were five of our top six,” Ian McCarthy said. “Jake Gerenraich, he is usually is one of our shooters, but he had some injuries during the game, and he was just not up to taking one afterwards. We looked stellar in practice, and you come out here and it’s a different environment. The last two weeks we only have the one loss to Oak Park and River Forest. Putting the ball in the net always helps. I tell the boys, you can’t expect to play a flawless defensive game, you can’t always expect a shutout. It’s time to put the ball in the net.
“Ultimately they fought back time and time again.”
Starting lineups
Lincoln-Way East
GK: Victor Porada
D: Ethan Barranca
D: Isaac Cahue
D: Dylan Leyden
D: Antonio Mavrogiannis
MF: Tannor Hurst
MF: Ryan Corydon
MF: Frank Dicosola
MF: Cory Pitlik
F: Davis Feehery
F: Jordan Abbasi
Young
GK: Dixon O’Bannion
D: Jonathan Perez
D: Jake Davidson
D: Christion Rice
D: Alex Espino
MF: Evan Wimberly
MF: Leo Daley
MF: Esme McCarthy
MF:Jake Gerenraich
MF: Josue Espinoza
F: Aidan Chapman
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Dixon O’Bannion, sr., GK, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Young:Jake Gerenraich (Esme McCarthy), 22nd minute
Lincoln-Way East: Cory Pitlik, 32nd minute
Second half
Young: Josue Espinoza (Elias Guzman), 51st minute
Lincoln-Way East: Jordan Abbasi, 58th minute