York storms past Wheaton North for crown
Meade leads charge with 2 goals, 2 assists in 5-1 win
By Ken Keenan
ROSELLE -- Ignited by a ferocious attack, York exploded for four goals in the first 40 minutes en route to a commanding 5-1 win over Wheaton North in the title match of the 28th annual Hillner Classic on Saturday morning at Lake Park.
York (4-2-0 overall) and the Falcons (4-2-0) both entered the match with identical 3-1-0 marks in the six-team Hillner.
Senior forward Joe Meade led the Dukes' charge, netting two goals and adding a pair of assists to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
"We knew we'd win the tournament with a win, so we came out excited," Meade said. "We saw we could get on (the Falcons) hard and started getting more confident from there. We have a senior-heavy team ... a lot of chemistry. We can feed off each other and create a lot of space on the attack."
Meade tallied his first goal in the 4th minute to open the scoring. Following a multi-touch possession, Meade raced to the left and finished a perfect cross from the right side by fellow senior forward Parker Gawne.
Wheaton North answered quickly, tying the match at 1-1 just two minutes later on a goal by junior forward Jarrett Baumgartner. After nabbing a long ball sent by senior midfielder Garrett Robinson, Baumgartner danced around York senior goalkeeper Mario Aguilar at the top of the box and tapped the ball home.
Less than four minutes later, Meade and Gawne teamed up again to give York the lead for good. This time, Meade sent a long ball to Gawne, who sprung ahead on a breakaway before firing a 10-yard strike that bounced in off the left hand of diving Falcons senior keeper Ray Min.
In the 23rd minute, York made it 3-1 when Meade took a pass from senior mid Paolo Favuzzi and then sent the ball back to Favuzzi, who finished far-left with a shot from a wide angle on the right side.
The Dukes increased the margin to 4-1 with 4:17 remaining in the first half. After settling a free kick from midfield by senior defender Kalvin Glodz, York junior mid Chase McNeill tipped a pass to senior mid Erwin Morales for a tap-in on the left side.
"Our goal, with any game, is to get as many goals as we can and keep the pressure on," Favuzzi said. "And we really wanted to get this title."
York head coach Lukasz Majewski certainly was pleased not only with his team's aggressive approach up-front but also with the Dukes' consistent play across the board.
"All season, we've talked about the fact that we have the people to be successful at both ends and the midfield," Majewski said. "So I challenged the boys to put the ball in the back of the net, and they responded. Defensively, they responded to the challenge as well. Today (Saturday), we had crisp ball movement ... unselfishness.
Majewski continued: "We were able to spread the ball wide and find gaps, and we didn't take the foot off the pedal. You have to have that killer mentality and know when to put a team away. That was our mentality (Saturday) from the first whistle into the second half. We put together a complete game ... a lot of positives."
York put the icing on its Hillner Classic cake with 29:40 to go in the second half. Meade's second goal concluded the scoring, coming on a one-timer in-close to finish a deep free kick -- along the goal line on the left side -- by senior mid Kol Rollins.
Five minutes prior, Wheaton North had a chance to cut into the lead on a penalty kick, set up by a York foul in the box. Junior midfielder Graham Stephenson took the PK and shot low-left, but his strike hit Dukes junior keeper Mario Aguilar's right hand and deflected off the left post before bouncing away.
It was just that kind of day for the Falcons, leaving skipper Rob Stassen and his troops to process the lopsided defeat in stride rather than point fingers or offer excuses.
"We got our butts kicked, but we'll learn from this," Stassen said. "It's a good group. We'll recover. No need to worry or stress out. We have to come out next time and prove a point."
Added Wheaton North senior defender Tyler Larsen: "We have to keep our cool and our focus. When the goals keep racking up, we have to play our game and not get lost in theirs. We could have done a better job of slowing it down today. But we'll learn from this and take it into practice ... work on our skills and keep going."
Falcons middie Robinson said, "It's tough to keep fighting down so many goals, but you have to keep playing all the way through. We'll learn from this game and make sure this doesn't happen again. We'll remember how it feels and keep fighting."
Meanwhile, the Dukes boisterously celebrated their well-earned tourney title as they gathered for a team photo on the sideline.
"Results matter, but not as much as quality of play," Majewski said. "Today, everyone was working together, and the more we share, the better we are as a team. You can't finish 100 percent of the time. It's about creating. You create the opportunity."
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
G: Ray Min
D: Kyle Schauer
D: Crystian Powell
D: Tyler Larsen
D: Tristan Mackay
M: Garrett Robinson
M: Erik Rozanski
M: Gyan Patel
M: Graham Stephenson
F: Jarrett Baumgartner
F: Ethan Martinez
York
G: Mario Aguilar
D: Boyd Puckett
D: Kalvin Glodz
D: George Nolley
D: Sebastian Benavides
M: Jack Musial
M: Ethan Oder
M: Paolo Favuzzi
M: Kol Rollins
F: Joe Meade
F: Parker Gawne
Officials: Joe Skaja, Mitch Billimack, Harry Anestopoulos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joe Meade, sr., F. York
Scoring summary
First half
York: Joe Meade (assisted by Parker Gawne) in 4th minute
Wheaton North: Jarrett Baumgartner (assisted by Garrett Robinson) in 6th minute
York: Gawne (assisted by Meade) in 10th minute
York: Paolo Favuzzi (assisted by Meade) in 23rd minute
York: Erwin Morales (assisted by Chase McNeill) in 36th minute
Second half
York: Meade (assisted by Kol Rollins) in 51st minute
Meade leads charge with 2 goals, 2 assists in 5-1 win
By Ken Keenan
ROSELLE -- Ignited by a ferocious attack, York exploded for four goals in the first 40 minutes en route to a commanding 5-1 win over Wheaton North in the title match of the 28th annual Hillner Classic on Saturday morning at Lake Park.
York (4-2-0 overall) and the Falcons (4-2-0) both entered the match with identical 3-1-0 marks in the six-team Hillner.
Senior forward Joe Meade led the Dukes' charge, netting two goals and adding a pair of assists to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors.
"We knew we'd win the tournament with a win, so we came out excited," Meade said. "We saw we could get on (the Falcons) hard and started getting more confident from there. We have a senior-heavy team ... a lot of chemistry. We can feed off each other and create a lot of space on the attack."
Meade tallied his first goal in the 4th minute to open the scoring. Following a multi-touch possession, Meade raced to the left and finished a perfect cross from the right side by fellow senior forward Parker Gawne.
Wheaton North answered quickly, tying the match at 1-1 just two minutes later on a goal by junior forward Jarrett Baumgartner. After nabbing a long ball sent by senior midfielder Garrett Robinson, Baumgartner danced around York senior goalkeeper Mario Aguilar at the top of the box and tapped the ball home.
Less than four minutes later, Meade and Gawne teamed up again to give York the lead for good. This time, Meade sent a long ball to Gawne, who sprung ahead on a breakaway before firing a 10-yard strike that bounced in off the left hand of diving Falcons senior keeper Ray Min.
In the 23rd minute, York made it 3-1 when Meade took a pass from senior mid Paolo Favuzzi and then sent the ball back to Favuzzi, who finished far-left with a shot from a wide angle on the right side.
The Dukes increased the margin to 4-1 with 4:17 remaining in the first half. After settling a free kick from midfield by senior defender Kalvin Glodz, York junior mid Chase McNeill tipped a pass to senior mid Erwin Morales for a tap-in on the left side.
"Our goal, with any game, is to get as many goals as we can and keep the pressure on," Favuzzi said. "And we really wanted to get this title."
York head coach Lukasz Majewski certainly was pleased not only with his team's aggressive approach up-front but also with the Dukes' consistent play across the board.
"All season, we've talked about the fact that we have the people to be successful at both ends and the midfield," Majewski said. "So I challenged the boys to put the ball in the back of the net, and they responded. Defensively, they responded to the challenge as well. Today (Saturday), we had crisp ball movement ... unselfishness.
Majewski continued: "We were able to spread the ball wide and find gaps, and we didn't take the foot off the pedal. You have to have that killer mentality and know when to put a team away. That was our mentality (Saturday) from the first whistle into the second half. We put together a complete game ... a lot of positives."
York put the icing on its Hillner Classic cake with 29:40 to go in the second half. Meade's second goal concluded the scoring, coming on a one-timer in-close to finish a deep free kick -- along the goal line on the left side -- by senior mid Kol Rollins.
Five minutes prior, Wheaton North had a chance to cut into the lead on a penalty kick, set up by a York foul in the box. Junior midfielder Graham Stephenson took the PK and shot low-left, but his strike hit Dukes junior keeper Mario Aguilar's right hand and deflected off the left post before bouncing away.
It was just that kind of day for the Falcons, leaving skipper Rob Stassen and his troops to process the lopsided defeat in stride rather than point fingers or offer excuses.
"We got our butts kicked, but we'll learn from this," Stassen said. "It's a good group. We'll recover. No need to worry or stress out. We have to come out next time and prove a point."
Added Wheaton North senior defender Tyler Larsen: "We have to keep our cool and our focus. When the goals keep racking up, we have to play our game and not get lost in theirs. We could have done a better job of slowing it down today. But we'll learn from this and take it into practice ... work on our skills and keep going."
Falcons middie Robinson said, "It's tough to keep fighting down so many goals, but you have to keep playing all the way through. We'll learn from this game and make sure this doesn't happen again. We'll remember how it feels and keep fighting."
Meanwhile, the Dukes boisterously celebrated their well-earned tourney title as they gathered for a team photo on the sideline.
"Results matter, but not as much as quality of play," Majewski said. "Today, everyone was working together, and the more we share, the better we are as a team. You can't finish 100 percent of the time. It's about creating. You create the opportunity."
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
G: Ray Min
D: Kyle Schauer
D: Crystian Powell
D: Tyler Larsen
D: Tristan Mackay
M: Garrett Robinson
M: Erik Rozanski
M: Gyan Patel
M: Graham Stephenson
F: Jarrett Baumgartner
F: Ethan Martinez
York
G: Mario Aguilar
D: Boyd Puckett
D: Kalvin Glodz
D: George Nolley
D: Sebastian Benavides
M: Jack Musial
M: Ethan Oder
M: Paolo Favuzzi
M: Kol Rollins
F: Joe Meade
F: Parker Gawne
Officials: Joe Skaja, Mitch Billimack, Harry Anestopoulos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Joe Meade, sr., F. York
Scoring summary
First half
York: Joe Meade (assisted by Parker Gawne) in 4th minute
Wheaton North: Jarrett Baumgartner (assisted by Garrett Robinson) in 6th minute
York: Gawne (assisted by Meade) in 10th minute
York: Paolo Favuzzi (assisted by Meade) in 23rd minute
York: Erwin Morales (assisted by Chase McNeill) in 36th minute
Second half
York: Meade (assisted by Kol Rollins) in 51st minute