York continues to flash
promise in win at Lake Park
Dukes take tourney opener in style with 5-0 win
By Bobby Narang
ROSELLE -- York’s Ryder Kohl celebrated his first career goal in high school in grand style.
The junior defender blasted a shot from 30 yards into the near corner to highlight York’s 5-0 victory over host Lake Park in the 30th-annual Norm Hillner Classic on Saturday.
The Dukes (2-0-0) dominated the match from the opening minutes and scored two goals before the half and three after.
Kohl, in his first year on the team after playing club soccer, cherished the victory — and his goal.
After expanding the score to 4-0 with 26:41 left in the match, he caused another stir with a skilled gymnastic move — a roundoff to a backflip — that led to a loud applause from the York crowd on the steamy early afternoon.
cont
“The ball got deflected out to me, and I just shot it in the upper 90,” Kohl said. “I was planning that celebration forever, too. That was my first goal on the varsity. That was the goal of a lifetime for me, because I normally play outside back and don’t get up this much.”
It’s safe to say Kohl enjoyed his first week of high school soccer.
“I just wanted to have some fun with my buddies from high school, so I joined the team,” he said. “I like the competition in high school. We can go state-bound.”
York, which is ranked 27th in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 state-wide preseason poll, showed why coach Jordan Stopka was so optimistic about his team’s ability to make some noise in the Class 3A playoffs.
The Dukes defeated St. Patrick 3-1 on Thursday in their season-opener. They continue tournament play against South Elgin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lake Park, while the host Lancers take on St. Francis at 6:30 p.m.
“We rotated a lot of kids in, because of how hot it was, and our starting keeper actually overheated,” Stopka said. “It was nice to get everyone in. We played our entire bench today. It was a good game. It was nice to see us play on a grass field.
“We started a bit slow, but after we scored that first goal, we started playing just fine. We’re excited to see how we do the rest of the tournament.”
The Lancers (0-1-1) suffered a tough loss on a day that featured the celebration of the 50th year of the program. The Lancers rarely threatened. York’s two goalies, Ricardo Torres and Anthony Kroumov, combined for three saves.
“York is a tremendous team with a lot of talent,” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “They were physical and very unselfish. It’s great to get a test like that early. Hopefully, we can grow from this and develop and pick our game up. We certainly weren’t our sharpest, definitely we weren’t at 80-minute match fitness. To play a team like this will help us.
“We played better in our (3-3) tie against South Elgin. We attacked better, had better tempo on the ball and were more technical and moved better in space and were unselfish.
“Today, it was more individual and, we didn’t get in tempo. But that's a credit to York, because they did a good job frustrating and disrupting us. We have to do a better job of keeping our heads up and work through it.
“We have to take every pass little by little and try and break it down. The anniversary was great, but this was a tough one.”
York senior forward Kevin Gliatis provided quick relief for the visitors when he dribbled through a scrum and knocked in a shot from seven yards for the opener with 32:03 left.
“It was bouncing around, and I got the ball off the defender,” Gliatis said. “I took the keeper on and was able to get the ball in the back of the net. It felt really good to put us up and get the lead and take the nerves off.
“This was a good win. We have high expectations. We believe we can be a strong team this year and are just getting better every game and practice.”
The Dukes had two other chances for a second goal, but came up empty until Yael Silvestre’s free kick from the corner sailed into the back of the net untouched with 32 seconds left until halftime.
A minute after Sam Musial drilled a shot over the crossbar, Jose Herrera took a nifty pass from Gliatis from the corner to tap in a shot from directly in front of the goal to pad the lead to 3-0 early in the second half.
“Kevin had the ball, and I saw the opportunity to run it. I just had to tap it in,” Herrera said. “It was an easy goal. It was a great win as a team. We have to keep working and improving. We have some new players from the spring, and this year that are really talented. We’re excited about the season.”
Despite the large deficit, Lake Park kept fighting. The Lancers maintained a solid attitude and nearly knocked one in, but Kroumov’s full-length dive stopped Josh Ortega’s shot.
Lake Park did get some good news in the defeat with the return of Chris Payan. The junior midfielder was slated to miss significant time with a left ankle injury but got into the game Saturday.
“I was supposed to be out for six weeks, but I’ve been feeling better, and this was my first game back,” Payan said. “We came out and weren’t ready. The heat goes both ways, so there’s no excuse to lose like that.
“It was a horrible game, but we will bounce back. By the end of the season, we’re going to come back better as a unit.”
Starting lineups
York
GK Ricardo Torres
D Ryder Kohl
D Brendan Haran
D Connor Bare
D Yael Silvestre
D Kacper Janowski
M Sam Musial
M Gustavo Herrera
M Kevin Gliatis
F Jose Herrera
F Henry Yrmaj
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Aidan Killmer
D Oscar Sagan
D Shane Donnelly
D Erik Reyes
M Frankie Caira
M Edgar Villagran
M Jason Salwach
M Angel Maldonado
M Erdet Agaj
F Raim Ramani
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match
Kevin Gliatis, sr., F, York
Scoring summary
First half
York— Kevin Gliatis (Sam Musial), 8th minute
York — Yael Silvestre (unassisted), 40th minute
Second half
York — Jose Herrera (Kevin Gliatis), 45th minute
York — Ryder Kohl (Sam Musial), 56th minute
York —Erik Barishman (Cameron Oder), 66th minute
promise in win at Lake Park
Dukes take tourney opener in style with 5-0 win
By Bobby Narang
ROSELLE -- York’s Ryder Kohl celebrated his first career goal in high school in grand style.
The junior defender blasted a shot from 30 yards into the near corner to highlight York’s 5-0 victory over host Lake Park in the 30th-annual Norm Hillner Classic on Saturday.
The Dukes (2-0-0) dominated the match from the opening minutes and scored two goals before the half and three after.
Kohl, in his first year on the team after playing club soccer, cherished the victory — and his goal.
After expanding the score to 4-0 with 26:41 left in the match, he caused another stir with a skilled gymnastic move — a roundoff to a backflip — that led to a loud applause from the York crowd on the steamy early afternoon.
cont
“The ball got deflected out to me, and I just shot it in the upper 90,” Kohl said. “I was planning that celebration forever, too. That was my first goal on the varsity. That was the goal of a lifetime for me, because I normally play outside back and don’t get up this much.”
It’s safe to say Kohl enjoyed his first week of high school soccer.
“I just wanted to have some fun with my buddies from high school, so I joined the team,” he said. “I like the competition in high school. We can go state-bound.”
York, which is ranked 27th in the Chicagoland Soccer First 50 state-wide preseason poll, showed why coach Jordan Stopka was so optimistic about his team’s ability to make some noise in the Class 3A playoffs.
The Dukes defeated St. Patrick 3-1 on Thursday in their season-opener. They continue tournament play against South Elgin at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lake Park, while the host Lancers take on St. Francis at 6:30 p.m.
“We rotated a lot of kids in, because of how hot it was, and our starting keeper actually overheated,” Stopka said. “It was nice to get everyone in. We played our entire bench today. It was a good game. It was nice to see us play on a grass field.
“We started a bit slow, but after we scored that first goal, we started playing just fine. We’re excited to see how we do the rest of the tournament.”
The Lancers (0-1-1) suffered a tough loss on a day that featured the celebration of the 50th year of the program. The Lancers rarely threatened. York’s two goalies, Ricardo Torres and Anthony Kroumov, combined for three saves.
“York is a tremendous team with a lot of talent,” Lake Park coach Sean Crosby said. “They were physical and very unselfish. It’s great to get a test like that early. Hopefully, we can grow from this and develop and pick our game up. We certainly weren’t our sharpest, definitely we weren’t at 80-minute match fitness. To play a team like this will help us.
“We played better in our (3-3) tie against South Elgin. We attacked better, had better tempo on the ball and were more technical and moved better in space and were unselfish.
“Today, it was more individual and, we didn’t get in tempo. But that's a credit to York, because they did a good job frustrating and disrupting us. We have to do a better job of keeping our heads up and work through it.
“We have to take every pass little by little and try and break it down. The anniversary was great, but this was a tough one.”
York senior forward Kevin Gliatis provided quick relief for the visitors when he dribbled through a scrum and knocked in a shot from seven yards for the opener with 32:03 left.
“It was bouncing around, and I got the ball off the defender,” Gliatis said. “I took the keeper on and was able to get the ball in the back of the net. It felt really good to put us up and get the lead and take the nerves off.
“This was a good win. We have high expectations. We believe we can be a strong team this year and are just getting better every game and practice.”
The Dukes had two other chances for a second goal, but came up empty until Yael Silvestre’s free kick from the corner sailed into the back of the net untouched with 32 seconds left until halftime.
A minute after Sam Musial drilled a shot over the crossbar, Jose Herrera took a nifty pass from Gliatis from the corner to tap in a shot from directly in front of the goal to pad the lead to 3-0 early in the second half.
“Kevin had the ball, and I saw the opportunity to run it. I just had to tap it in,” Herrera said. “It was an easy goal. It was a great win as a team. We have to keep working and improving. We have some new players from the spring, and this year that are really talented. We’re excited about the season.”
Despite the large deficit, Lake Park kept fighting. The Lancers maintained a solid attitude and nearly knocked one in, but Kroumov’s full-length dive stopped Josh Ortega’s shot.
Lake Park did get some good news in the defeat with the return of Chris Payan. The junior midfielder was slated to miss significant time with a left ankle injury but got into the game Saturday.
“I was supposed to be out for six weeks, but I’ve been feeling better, and this was my first game back,” Payan said. “We came out and weren’t ready. The heat goes both ways, so there’s no excuse to lose like that.
“It was a horrible game, but we will bounce back. By the end of the season, we’re going to come back better as a unit.”
Starting lineups
York
GK Ricardo Torres
D Ryder Kohl
D Brendan Haran
D Connor Bare
D Yael Silvestre
D Kacper Janowski
M Sam Musial
M Gustavo Herrera
M Kevin Gliatis
F Jose Herrera
F Henry Yrmaj
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Aidan Killmer
D Oscar Sagan
D Shane Donnelly
D Erik Reyes
M Frankie Caira
M Edgar Villagran
M Jason Salwach
M Angel Maldonado
M Erdet Agaj
F Raim Ramani
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match
Kevin Gliatis, sr., F, York
Scoring summary
First half
York— Kevin Gliatis (Sam Musial), 8th minute
York — Yael Silvestre (unassisted), 40th minute
Second half
York — Jose Herrera (Kevin Gliatis), 45th minute
York — Ryder Kohl (Sam Musial), 56th minute
York —Erik Barishman (Cameron Oder), 66th minute