York finally finds way
past Glenbard North on late spot-kick
Kohl's 74th-minute penalty advances defending champs
By Mike Garofola
ROSELLE -- Ryder Kohl's late penalty kick broke the hearts of the Glenbard North faithful, while helping top-seed York avoid a disaster Saturday afternoon at Lake Park's Krupke Memorial Stadium.
The Dukes all-state candidate hammered his spot-kick into the back of the net in the 74th minute to dash the hopes of the no. 9-seeded Panthers, whose tactical approach to this regional final was played to near perfection until Kohl fired in his sixth goal of the season.
With its sixth regional plaque safely back home in Elmhurst after the 1-0 win, the Dukes (17-0-3) will now turn their attention to a Wednesday afternoon sectional contest against 13th-seeded Addison Trail (12-8-1). The Trail Blazers will look to fell their tallest giant after postseason victories over fourth-seed West Chicago (1-0, Oct. 18) and then no. 6-seed St. Charles North (1-0, Oct. 21) in the North Stars’ regional final.
Addison Trail may have picked up some pointers from the Lake Park final.
"Glenbard North played us really well today, used the smaller (grass) field to its advantage, showed a tremendous work-rate and really forced us to play their game," began relieved Dukes manager Jordan Stopka.
"The playoffs, anything can happen, and fortunately for us we kept our heads to get the result we came here for."
Glenbard North was left to ponder what might have been.
"I am so proud of this team right now. We played well enough to win, used the hours of film to prepare for them as best we could. The guys did exactly what we wanted them to. It's just too bad (that) we had to lose this game on a PK," said disappointed Panthers manager Spero Mandakas, whose club did not play anything like a ninth-seed, or for that matter a team that finished with a 9-9-3 overall record.
"We watched so much film on York," said senior Stavros Veremis, the Panthers classy keeper who spoke through the emotional heartbreak of seeing his prep career come to an end.
“We knew they are dangerous when allowed to play quick-touch, possession soccer. (Mandakas) put together a great game plan for us to follow. Everyone followed it so well. In soccer, sometimes it's just not enough."
Veremis turned in a strong effort, as did his counterpart, York's Diego Ochoa. The Glenbard North keeper guessed to his left on the game-winning spot-kick, but Kohl fired his attempt the other way.
"The second that Jayden (Waski) was brought down in the box, there was no doubt in my mind that Kohl was headed to the spot," said Stopka.
"Jayden did all the work on the for us, so I knew I had to finish what he started," said Kohl.
The senior once again was magnificent as the Dukes center back in a three-man backline formation that saw Mateusz Janowski and Soren Moore put in for overtime for the extra work they supplied against a Glenbard North attack that countered with speed and plenty of pace.
"They put so much pressure on us all throughout this game," Kohl said. “We never really had very much time on the ball. They clogged things up in the middle, and we just didn't adapt well to playing wide on this narrow field. They made us work for everything all day.
"They had a lot of talent, and we definitely had to defend way more than we wanted to today."
Mandakas played with two men up-top in a traditional 4-4-2 formation. But he asked his farthest-up man to pressure the Dukes' backline, chasing touchline-to-touchline while instructing his withdrawn forward to be more of a facilitator.
Junior Jorge Roman embraced the role of the man up-high, while teammate Christian Escobedo handled things just behind him along with the midfield quartet of Pablo DeLaCruz, Andy Pena, Andy Rodriguez and Luis Roman.
The Panthers strategy made life miserable for the highly favored Dukes.
"Their midfield totally outworked us in that first half, but we finally found ourselves in the second half to even out the game," said Stopka.
"Everyone came to play today," said Mandakas. “So we constantly kept fresh legs out there up-top and in the middle to help us keep the pressure on them hoping to create a chance or two."
The first opportunity of the game fell to York’s Waski, who rattled the bar and forced Veremis to collect the rebound before Waski or Joe Hernandez could reach the spilled ball in the 11th minute.
Roman would dispossess a York player but went wide with an effort moments later. That signaled the start of an impressive 25 minutes of play from Glenbard North leading up to the intermission.
Christian Escobedo sent Andy Rodriguez through, and if not for a clean, sharp tackle from Kohl, the Panthers sophomore would have been in on Ochoa at 20 minutes.
Glenbard North created six corners in the first half, three were consecutive and forced Ochoa to react to each with a confident punch.
Joe Hernandez burst through in one of the rare instances York was able to pry open the Panthers backline and forced Veremis into action. When the senior’s wicked strike was stopped and the ball spilled freely to the back post, Glenbard North freshman Diego Navarro was there to parry the ball out of the area.
"They doubled the ball really well, never really let us turn and took a foul here and there to slow us down,” said Waski. “They also had a great freshmen defender, who could not only win a lot of balls but had a great touch."
Outside back Navarro rarely missed a tackle, was airtight in his 1-v-1 defending and used a deft touch to join the Panthers attack or distribute to his mates in the middle of the park.
York let out a collective sigh of relief when the halftime siren sounded.
"We were happy to get to the half after playing into a strong wind, defending in our own end, playing negative too much and not wide due to their pressure," offered Stopka.
"But the break allowed us to regroup, and the guys came out with more energy and urgency. We slowly got back to the playing the way we know we can."
The Dukes made an aggressive, fast start to the second half. That caused a few problems for Glenbard North’s deep defending.
Off a nicely played counter, Gustavo Herrera went wide in the 45th minute. On the tail-end of an enterprising run into the box from Joe Hernandez, the senior was forced to take a break after a hard-but-clean tackle ended his chance to put something on frame.
Stopka brought on Arlind Methoxha for his fallen teammate, and the senior made an immediate impact on the game. He went just wide with a left-footed smash after a lovely ball from Waski.
Moments later, Gustavo Herrara returned and linked to a Dukes counter that ended with Methoxha's close-range effort saved by Veremis.
The Dukes attacked with more numbers and created another chance. This one fell to leading scorer Jose Herrera, who missed wide in his attempt to add to his season goal-total of 13 in the 50th minute.
"After not having much going in our attack in the first half, we came out with more urgency, playing wide, and with quick touches, and doing our best to test their backline and keeper," said Waski.
Glenbard North’s all-state defender candidate and captain Mark Sczklarczyk, who’s handled the center back role with poise and composure, nearly missed hitting the opener when he thumped his redirected header just wide off a Christian Escobedo corner in the 52nd minute.
Then York just missed. Methoxha ran freely onto a superb ball from Frank Rofrano via Waski and fired his one-timer over the bar, missing an open net.
"Both Frankie (Rofrano) and Arlind gave us great minutes, energy, and pace in the second half. They made a lot happen for us," said Stopka.
With Glenbard North thinking about force overtime, York preferred to eschew the drama of extra time and brought more numbers into the attack in search of the opener/game-winner.
Gustavo Herrera dribbled free of his mark before finding Waski, whose blazing effort went just wide in the 66th minute.
Kohl, whose trademark inch-perfect service from out of the back has led to countless chances for his teammates this season, watched his long ball find Hernandez to create a 50-50 situation with Stavros Veremis, whose brave challenge took Hernandez out of the play in his box which caused the York bench to beg for a PK.
Referee Roman Benjamin denied that request, but minutes later pointed to the spot when Waski, working with just a hint of space, tricked his way past two Panthers, before being taken down.
"I saw that I had a little room and their center back was slightly out of position,” said Waski. “I attacked with speed, knowing I had the advantage, megged a guy, then got fouled."
The decision was not what Glenbard North wanted to see.
"When you play so hard, for so long, you just hate the fate of the game decided on a penalty," began Mandakas. "I am not really sure it was the proper call. We were obviously disappointed in the call.
"The guys today bought completely into what we had mapped out from a tactical standpoint, which I am extremely proud of.
"We held a team that had scored nearly 70 goals on the season to nothing. The effort of everyone, and guys like Mark Sczklarczyk, Tyler Nack, Diego (Navarro) and Michael Bonsi along the back is something they should all be proud of."
"It's tough going out this way," said Veremis, who wore the captains armband proudly with Sczklarczyk for the final time under Mandakas. “Although it has hit all of us real hard right now, in a day or two we'll realize we played the top seed and defending state champs even for 75 minutes. We showed we could play with the best.”
York lives to play another day.
"We're the top seed, so there's a target on our backs," said Kohl, who shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor with Glenbard North’s Navarro. “We have to come out and play our best from here on out.”
His coach agreed.
"Our energy, and focus at the start was nowhere near what it needs to be at this time of the year,” Stopka said. “Credit Glenbard North for some of that, but we have to expect teams to come at us right from the opening whistle, and be ready for whatever they throw at us."
Starting lineups
Glenbard North (4-4-2)
G- Stavros Veremis
D- Diego Navarro
D- Michael Bonsi
D- Mark Sczklarczyk
D- Diego Chicas
MF- Andy Rodriguez
MF- Andy Pena
MF- Luis Roman
MF- Pablo DeLaCruz
F- Jorge Roman
F- Christian Escobedo
York (3-4-3)
G- Diego Ochoa
D- Mateusz Janowski
D- Ryder Kohl
D- Soren Moore
MF- Drew Ebner
MF- Joe Hernandez
MF- Gustavo Herrrera
MF- Michael Greco
F- Jose Herrera
F- Frank Rofrano
F- Jayden Waski
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Ryder Kohl, sr., D, York;
Diego Navarro, fr., D, Glenbard North
REFEREE:
Roman Benjamin
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
York: Kohl (PK), 74'
Statistics
Shots on goal
Glenbard North: 2
York: 6
Shots off
Glenbard North: 7
York 10
Corner kicks
Glenbard North: 7
York: 3
Offsides
Glenbard North:0
York: 0
Fouls
Glenbard North: 13
York: 8
Blocks
Glenbard North: 3
York: 2
Yellow cards
Glenbard North: 1
York: 1
past Glenbard North on late spot-kick
Kohl's 74th-minute penalty advances defending champs
By Mike Garofola
ROSELLE -- Ryder Kohl's late penalty kick broke the hearts of the Glenbard North faithful, while helping top-seed York avoid a disaster Saturday afternoon at Lake Park's Krupke Memorial Stadium.
The Dukes all-state candidate hammered his spot-kick into the back of the net in the 74th minute to dash the hopes of the no. 9-seeded Panthers, whose tactical approach to this regional final was played to near perfection until Kohl fired in his sixth goal of the season.
With its sixth regional plaque safely back home in Elmhurst after the 1-0 win, the Dukes (17-0-3) will now turn their attention to a Wednesday afternoon sectional contest against 13th-seeded Addison Trail (12-8-1). The Trail Blazers will look to fell their tallest giant after postseason victories over fourth-seed West Chicago (1-0, Oct. 18) and then no. 6-seed St. Charles North (1-0, Oct. 21) in the North Stars’ regional final.
Addison Trail may have picked up some pointers from the Lake Park final.
"Glenbard North played us really well today, used the smaller (grass) field to its advantage, showed a tremendous work-rate and really forced us to play their game," began relieved Dukes manager Jordan Stopka.
"The playoffs, anything can happen, and fortunately for us we kept our heads to get the result we came here for."
Glenbard North was left to ponder what might have been.
"I am so proud of this team right now. We played well enough to win, used the hours of film to prepare for them as best we could. The guys did exactly what we wanted them to. It's just too bad (that) we had to lose this game on a PK," said disappointed Panthers manager Spero Mandakas, whose club did not play anything like a ninth-seed, or for that matter a team that finished with a 9-9-3 overall record.
"We watched so much film on York," said senior Stavros Veremis, the Panthers classy keeper who spoke through the emotional heartbreak of seeing his prep career come to an end.
“We knew they are dangerous when allowed to play quick-touch, possession soccer. (Mandakas) put together a great game plan for us to follow. Everyone followed it so well. In soccer, sometimes it's just not enough."
Veremis turned in a strong effort, as did his counterpart, York's Diego Ochoa. The Glenbard North keeper guessed to his left on the game-winning spot-kick, but Kohl fired his attempt the other way.
"The second that Jayden (Waski) was brought down in the box, there was no doubt in my mind that Kohl was headed to the spot," said Stopka.
"Jayden did all the work on the for us, so I knew I had to finish what he started," said Kohl.
The senior once again was magnificent as the Dukes center back in a three-man backline formation that saw Mateusz Janowski and Soren Moore put in for overtime for the extra work they supplied against a Glenbard North attack that countered with speed and plenty of pace.
"They put so much pressure on us all throughout this game," Kohl said. “We never really had very much time on the ball. They clogged things up in the middle, and we just didn't adapt well to playing wide on this narrow field. They made us work for everything all day.
"They had a lot of talent, and we definitely had to defend way more than we wanted to today."
Mandakas played with two men up-top in a traditional 4-4-2 formation. But he asked his farthest-up man to pressure the Dukes' backline, chasing touchline-to-touchline while instructing his withdrawn forward to be more of a facilitator.
Junior Jorge Roman embraced the role of the man up-high, while teammate Christian Escobedo handled things just behind him along with the midfield quartet of Pablo DeLaCruz, Andy Pena, Andy Rodriguez and Luis Roman.
The Panthers strategy made life miserable for the highly favored Dukes.
"Their midfield totally outworked us in that first half, but we finally found ourselves in the second half to even out the game," said Stopka.
"Everyone came to play today," said Mandakas. “So we constantly kept fresh legs out there up-top and in the middle to help us keep the pressure on them hoping to create a chance or two."
The first opportunity of the game fell to York’s Waski, who rattled the bar and forced Veremis to collect the rebound before Waski or Joe Hernandez could reach the spilled ball in the 11th minute.
Roman would dispossess a York player but went wide with an effort moments later. That signaled the start of an impressive 25 minutes of play from Glenbard North leading up to the intermission.
Christian Escobedo sent Andy Rodriguez through, and if not for a clean, sharp tackle from Kohl, the Panthers sophomore would have been in on Ochoa at 20 minutes.
Glenbard North created six corners in the first half, three were consecutive and forced Ochoa to react to each with a confident punch.
Joe Hernandez burst through in one of the rare instances York was able to pry open the Panthers backline and forced Veremis into action. When the senior’s wicked strike was stopped and the ball spilled freely to the back post, Glenbard North freshman Diego Navarro was there to parry the ball out of the area.
"They doubled the ball really well, never really let us turn and took a foul here and there to slow us down,” said Waski. “They also had a great freshmen defender, who could not only win a lot of balls but had a great touch."
Outside back Navarro rarely missed a tackle, was airtight in his 1-v-1 defending and used a deft touch to join the Panthers attack or distribute to his mates in the middle of the park.
York let out a collective sigh of relief when the halftime siren sounded.
"We were happy to get to the half after playing into a strong wind, defending in our own end, playing negative too much and not wide due to their pressure," offered Stopka.
"But the break allowed us to regroup, and the guys came out with more energy and urgency. We slowly got back to the playing the way we know we can."
The Dukes made an aggressive, fast start to the second half. That caused a few problems for Glenbard North’s deep defending.
Off a nicely played counter, Gustavo Herrera went wide in the 45th minute. On the tail-end of an enterprising run into the box from Joe Hernandez, the senior was forced to take a break after a hard-but-clean tackle ended his chance to put something on frame.
Stopka brought on Arlind Methoxha for his fallen teammate, and the senior made an immediate impact on the game. He went just wide with a left-footed smash after a lovely ball from Waski.
Moments later, Gustavo Herrara returned and linked to a Dukes counter that ended with Methoxha's close-range effort saved by Veremis.
The Dukes attacked with more numbers and created another chance. This one fell to leading scorer Jose Herrera, who missed wide in his attempt to add to his season goal-total of 13 in the 50th minute.
"After not having much going in our attack in the first half, we came out with more urgency, playing wide, and with quick touches, and doing our best to test their backline and keeper," said Waski.
Glenbard North’s all-state defender candidate and captain Mark Sczklarczyk, who’s handled the center back role with poise and composure, nearly missed hitting the opener when he thumped his redirected header just wide off a Christian Escobedo corner in the 52nd minute.
Then York just missed. Methoxha ran freely onto a superb ball from Frank Rofrano via Waski and fired his one-timer over the bar, missing an open net.
"Both Frankie (Rofrano) and Arlind gave us great minutes, energy, and pace in the second half. They made a lot happen for us," said Stopka.
With Glenbard North thinking about force overtime, York preferred to eschew the drama of extra time and brought more numbers into the attack in search of the opener/game-winner.
Gustavo Herrera dribbled free of his mark before finding Waski, whose blazing effort went just wide in the 66th minute.
Kohl, whose trademark inch-perfect service from out of the back has led to countless chances for his teammates this season, watched his long ball find Hernandez to create a 50-50 situation with Stavros Veremis, whose brave challenge took Hernandez out of the play in his box which caused the York bench to beg for a PK.
Referee Roman Benjamin denied that request, but minutes later pointed to the spot when Waski, working with just a hint of space, tricked his way past two Panthers, before being taken down.
"I saw that I had a little room and their center back was slightly out of position,” said Waski. “I attacked with speed, knowing I had the advantage, megged a guy, then got fouled."
The decision was not what Glenbard North wanted to see.
"When you play so hard, for so long, you just hate the fate of the game decided on a penalty," began Mandakas. "I am not really sure it was the proper call. We were obviously disappointed in the call.
"The guys today bought completely into what we had mapped out from a tactical standpoint, which I am extremely proud of.
"We held a team that had scored nearly 70 goals on the season to nothing. The effort of everyone, and guys like Mark Sczklarczyk, Tyler Nack, Diego (Navarro) and Michael Bonsi along the back is something they should all be proud of."
"It's tough going out this way," said Veremis, who wore the captains armband proudly with Sczklarczyk for the final time under Mandakas. “Although it has hit all of us real hard right now, in a day or two we'll realize we played the top seed and defending state champs even for 75 minutes. We showed we could play with the best.”
York lives to play another day.
"We're the top seed, so there's a target on our backs," said Kohl, who shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor with Glenbard North’s Navarro. “We have to come out and play our best from here on out.”
His coach agreed.
"Our energy, and focus at the start was nowhere near what it needs to be at this time of the year,” Stopka said. “Credit Glenbard North for some of that, but we have to expect teams to come at us right from the opening whistle, and be ready for whatever they throw at us."
Starting lineups
Glenbard North (4-4-2)
G- Stavros Veremis
D- Diego Navarro
D- Michael Bonsi
D- Mark Sczklarczyk
D- Diego Chicas
MF- Andy Rodriguez
MF- Andy Pena
MF- Luis Roman
MF- Pablo DeLaCruz
F- Jorge Roman
F- Christian Escobedo
York (3-4-3)
G- Diego Ochoa
D- Mateusz Janowski
D- Ryder Kohl
D- Soren Moore
MF- Drew Ebner
MF- Joe Hernandez
MF- Gustavo Herrrera
MF- Michael Greco
F- Jose Herrera
F- Frank Rofrano
F- Jayden Waski
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Ryder Kohl, sr., D, York;
Diego Navarro, fr., D, Glenbard North
REFEREE:
Roman Benjamin
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
York: Kohl (PK), 74'
Statistics
Shots on goal
Glenbard North: 2
York: 6
Shots off
Glenbard North: 7
York 10
Corner kicks
Glenbard North: 7
York: 3
Offsides
Glenbard North:0
York: 0
Fouls
Glenbard North: 13
York: 8
Blocks
Glenbard North: 3
York: 2
Yellow cards
Glenbard North: 1
York: 1