Espinoza comes home and saves Young
Late penalty kick results in Dolphins 2-2 draw with Kelly
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- In the Chicago Public League everything connects, and the past is always superimposed over the present. Josue Espinoza knows that history, particularly any time the Young senior plays Kelly.
His father Juan Espinoza was a star player at Kelly and later coached there for two seasons with the Trojans’ legendary manager Stan Mietus. In the twilight here Wednesday afternoon in the Brighton Park neighborhood, Mietus sought out the younger Espinoza and gave him a big hug.
Despite the fact Josue Espinoza helped seal the Trojans’ immediate future, Mietus is the sort who always looks beyond the present.
“It was a classic Young and Kelly game,” Mietus said. “City soccer at its best with a great atmosphere and a beautiful setting.”
Espinoza deprived the Trojans of their high-energy upset bid with an assist and penalty kick goal in the 71st minute that pulled Young to a 2-2 draw against the Trojans in the final Premier Division game for each team this season Wednesday afternoon at Kelly Park.
The Dolphins’ five-game winning streak was stalled, but the team remains hot, running its unbeaten streak to seven games. Young (8-4-4, 3-1-3) is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. The Dolphins entered the game one point behind Washington at the top of the Premier standings. The Patriots were upset by Sullivan and Lane dominated Hubbard, giving the Indians the regular season title.
Young and Washington, who also played to a 2-2 draw last Friday, finished in a second place conference tie with 12 points.
Click here to see the final 2017 CPL Premier Division standings
For seniors like Espinoza, the game proved a gratifying conclusion. Two years ago, a young Dolphins team playing for the future was relegated to the First Division. The team regrouped and won the league last season to gain re-entry into the Premier.
“Last year we were all devastated that we got relegated,” Espinoza said. “We moved up, and we are pretty happy right now. I think we played well as a team, especially since the game was so close. Kelly also played pretty well. I think we have to start finishing our chances.”
Young had the Trojans on the ropes early, stringing together strong combination play that featured Espinoza and senior forward Evan Wimberly making deep runs into the the Trojans’ final third. Kelly keeper David Gutierrez made several outstanding stops in the first half -- moving quickly to his right on a laser shot by Jake Gerenraich and aggressively moving off his line to stop a rocket ball by Espinoza.
Young’s season is bifurcated into two very distinct movements. The first documented its scoring difficulties as the Dolphins managed only three goals in its first six games. During the vastly improved playing over the final 10 games, Young has scored 25 goals.
“We have better chemistry,” Espinoza said.
Young coach Ian McCarthy also unleashed Evan Wimberly, the team’s most explosive athlete. Since shifting to forward in the team’s new 4-4-2 formation, Wimberly has been virtually unstoppable. Espinoza and Wimberly finally broke through in the game’s 39th minute.
Espinoza pushed the ball down the left edge and slotted a ball to the liquid quick Wimberly, who made a stutter step move to free himself and create separation before he finished with a quick one-touch from about 12 yards inside the near post for the Dolphins.
“It has changed for me, because usually when I am on the wing I have a lot of space,” Wimberly said. “But now that we switched the formation, I like playing forward, because I can make runs easier. I can support the defense, but I don’t necessarily have to come back as much. It’s pretty much about me getting more space forward in order to make runs.”
Wimberly’s emergence has steadied the team and provided that symbolic lightning effect, the person whose demeanor, style and play elevates the rest of the side. It was just the jolt the Dolphins needed.
“We were playing teams, and we realized we were good but we just could not get over that final edge,” he said. “We pretty much kept working. We kept working, and it finally just clicked, and it kept coming.”
By the Trojans’ standards, the year has been an exceptionally difficult one. Kelly (5-10-2, 1-4-2) is used to fighting for the top of the Premier, not struggling to stay in the division. Kelly was playing with a lot of pride and emotion. Mietus is the pragmatist.
“I understand the bottom two teams in Premier get relegated,” he said. “If that’s the case, we drop. The city's so competitive. Premier is the most prestigious, but it’s soccer, and First Division is also very good. We will be back again.”
Kelly demonstrated its resolve and desire in the second half. The Trojans stunned the Dolphins right at the start of the second half in creating the equalizer just seconds after the intermission. Midfielder Fernando Conejo popped a ball up-top to forward Stiven Gonzalez and he took advantage of a Young mistake to send home a short volley.
“The key was our forwards staying on the sweeper,” Mietus said. “Even if we are playing five in the midfield, they have this tendency to not want to guard the forward and that leaves him wide open. Stiven played at that forward, and he stayed out there.”
McCarthy called it a mistake of aggression.
“It was just a mistake in the back, a guy trying to do too much instead of just making the simple play and clearing the ball or sending it long,” he said. “We appreciate that out of our guys. We don’t want them just to be clearing or just doing the same thing over and over again. We want to be less predictable. He tried to make a play, and it sort of backfired on us. We are going to learn from this.”
The game settled into a strong back-and-forth affair with both sides presenting dangerous chances over the next 20 minutes. Espinoza and Wimberly each got to the edge and delivered crosses into the box that Young could not quite finish. During one breathtaking sequence, Espinoza had back-to-back hard balls inside the box that got deflected, one by Gutierrez and another by a Kelly defender.
Kelly made its move off a counter in the 63rd minute, but it came at a huge cost. Gonzalez, who had a team-best 11 goals and 14 assists, took a hard foul from behind inside the box on the left edge. He landed awkwardly and never returned. Mietus learned after the game Gonzalez suffered a third degree separation of his collarbone and is out for the remainder of the year.
Senior midfielder Daniel Cruz stepped up and converted the penalty kick for the Trojans.
“When I see the people around me I just pretend like there’s nobody there,” Cruz said. “When I go up to the ball, I look one way and go to the left side. I pretend I am going right and then I shoot left. Young was really good and fast, and we had to focus on that defending them. We played well against a good team, and hopefully we are able to compete more and get some more wins this year.”
As a sign of its growing maturity and confidence, Young never panicked and continued to drive and work the ball on the Trojans’ side of the field. It resulted in the Dolphins’ own penalty kick opportunity following a Kelly hand ball inside the box.
For their work rate and effectiveness during the game, Espinoza and Gonzalez shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match prize.
Now the two teams move to the next phase of the city schedule, the beginning of the league tournament group play. The city tournament is composed of eight three-team pools. The top eight Premier teams are grouped, by division standings, with the inversely placed First Division. A third school, randomly drawn from one of the city’s other divisions, is added to the mix.
“There is a lot of parity in the city,” McCarthy said. “When we won it in 2009 we were coming out of the First Division. I think Lake View a a couple of years ago won it playing out of the Second Division. With boys soccer in the city you never know, but I like our chances right now.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Dixon O’Banion
D: Esme McCarthy
D: Christion Rice
D: Alex Espino
D: Jonathan Perez
MF: Leo Daley
MF: Josue Espinoza
MF: Francisco Rojas
MF: Elias Guzman
F: Evan Wimberly
F: Aidan Chapman
Kelly
GK: David Gutierrez
D: Gilberto Munoz
D: Brian Cruz
D: Raul Cruz
D: Saul Leyva
MF: Hector Rabadan
MF: Aldo Vasquez
MF: Daniel Cruz
MF: Fernando Conejo
MF: Ruben Patino
F: Stiven Gonzalez
Men of the Match: Josue Espinoza, sr., MF, Young
Stiven Gonzalez, sr. F, Kelly
Scoring summary
First half
Young—Evan Wimberly (Josue Espinoza), 39th minute
Second half
Kelly—Stiven Gonzalez (Fernando Conejo), 41st minute
Kelly— Daniel Cruz (penalty kick), 63rd minute
Young—Espinoza (penalty kick), 71st minute
Late penalty kick results in Dolphins 2-2 draw with Kelly
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- In the Chicago Public League everything connects, and the past is always superimposed over the present. Josue Espinoza knows that history, particularly any time the Young senior plays Kelly.
His father Juan Espinoza was a star player at Kelly and later coached there for two seasons with the Trojans’ legendary manager Stan Mietus. In the twilight here Wednesday afternoon in the Brighton Park neighborhood, Mietus sought out the younger Espinoza and gave him a big hug.
Despite the fact Josue Espinoza helped seal the Trojans’ immediate future, Mietus is the sort who always looks beyond the present.
“It was a classic Young and Kelly game,” Mietus said. “City soccer at its best with a great atmosphere and a beautiful setting.”
Espinoza deprived the Trojans of their high-energy upset bid with an assist and penalty kick goal in the 71st minute that pulled Young to a 2-2 draw against the Trojans in the final Premier Division game for each team this season Wednesday afternoon at Kelly Park.
The Dolphins’ five-game winning streak was stalled, but the team remains hot, running its unbeaten streak to seven games. Young (8-4-4, 3-1-3) is 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. The Dolphins entered the game one point behind Washington at the top of the Premier standings. The Patriots were upset by Sullivan and Lane dominated Hubbard, giving the Indians the regular season title.
Young and Washington, who also played to a 2-2 draw last Friday, finished in a second place conference tie with 12 points.
Click here to see the final 2017 CPL Premier Division standings
For seniors like Espinoza, the game proved a gratifying conclusion. Two years ago, a young Dolphins team playing for the future was relegated to the First Division. The team regrouped and won the league last season to gain re-entry into the Premier.
“Last year we were all devastated that we got relegated,” Espinoza said. “We moved up, and we are pretty happy right now. I think we played well as a team, especially since the game was so close. Kelly also played pretty well. I think we have to start finishing our chances.”
Young had the Trojans on the ropes early, stringing together strong combination play that featured Espinoza and senior forward Evan Wimberly making deep runs into the the Trojans’ final third. Kelly keeper David Gutierrez made several outstanding stops in the first half -- moving quickly to his right on a laser shot by Jake Gerenraich and aggressively moving off his line to stop a rocket ball by Espinoza.
Young’s season is bifurcated into two very distinct movements. The first documented its scoring difficulties as the Dolphins managed only three goals in its first six games. During the vastly improved playing over the final 10 games, Young has scored 25 goals.
“We have better chemistry,” Espinoza said.
Young coach Ian McCarthy also unleashed Evan Wimberly, the team’s most explosive athlete. Since shifting to forward in the team’s new 4-4-2 formation, Wimberly has been virtually unstoppable. Espinoza and Wimberly finally broke through in the game’s 39th minute.
Espinoza pushed the ball down the left edge and slotted a ball to the liquid quick Wimberly, who made a stutter step move to free himself and create separation before he finished with a quick one-touch from about 12 yards inside the near post for the Dolphins.
“It has changed for me, because usually when I am on the wing I have a lot of space,” Wimberly said. “But now that we switched the formation, I like playing forward, because I can make runs easier. I can support the defense, but I don’t necessarily have to come back as much. It’s pretty much about me getting more space forward in order to make runs.”
Wimberly’s emergence has steadied the team and provided that symbolic lightning effect, the person whose demeanor, style and play elevates the rest of the side. It was just the jolt the Dolphins needed.
“We were playing teams, and we realized we were good but we just could not get over that final edge,” he said. “We pretty much kept working. We kept working, and it finally just clicked, and it kept coming.”
By the Trojans’ standards, the year has been an exceptionally difficult one. Kelly (5-10-2, 1-4-2) is used to fighting for the top of the Premier, not struggling to stay in the division. Kelly was playing with a lot of pride and emotion. Mietus is the pragmatist.
“I understand the bottom two teams in Premier get relegated,” he said. “If that’s the case, we drop. The city's so competitive. Premier is the most prestigious, but it’s soccer, and First Division is also very good. We will be back again.”
Kelly demonstrated its resolve and desire in the second half. The Trojans stunned the Dolphins right at the start of the second half in creating the equalizer just seconds after the intermission. Midfielder Fernando Conejo popped a ball up-top to forward Stiven Gonzalez and he took advantage of a Young mistake to send home a short volley.
“The key was our forwards staying on the sweeper,” Mietus said. “Even if we are playing five in the midfield, they have this tendency to not want to guard the forward and that leaves him wide open. Stiven played at that forward, and he stayed out there.”
McCarthy called it a mistake of aggression.
“It was just a mistake in the back, a guy trying to do too much instead of just making the simple play and clearing the ball or sending it long,” he said. “We appreciate that out of our guys. We don’t want them just to be clearing or just doing the same thing over and over again. We want to be less predictable. He tried to make a play, and it sort of backfired on us. We are going to learn from this.”
The game settled into a strong back-and-forth affair with both sides presenting dangerous chances over the next 20 minutes. Espinoza and Wimberly each got to the edge and delivered crosses into the box that Young could not quite finish. During one breathtaking sequence, Espinoza had back-to-back hard balls inside the box that got deflected, one by Gutierrez and another by a Kelly defender.
Kelly made its move off a counter in the 63rd minute, but it came at a huge cost. Gonzalez, who had a team-best 11 goals and 14 assists, took a hard foul from behind inside the box on the left edge. He landed awkwardly and never returned. Mietus learned after the game Gonzalez suffered a third degree separation of his collarbone and is out for the remainder of the year.
Senior midfielder Daniel Cruz stepped up and converted the penalty kick for the Trojans.
“When I see the people around me I just pretend like there’s nobody there,” Cruz said. “When I go up to the ball, I look one way and go to the left side. I pretend I am going right and then I shoot left. Young was really good and fast, and we had to focus on that defending them. We played well against a good team, and hopefully we are able to compete more and get some more wins this year.”
As a sign of its growing maturity and confidence, Young never panicked and continued to drive and work the ball on the Trojans’ side of the field. It resulted in the Dolphins’ own penalty kick opportunity following a Kelly hand ball inside the box.
For their work rate and effectiveness during the game, Espinoza and Gonzalez shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match prize.
Now the two teams move to the next phase of the city schedule, the beginning of the league tournament group play. The city tournament is composed of eight three-team pools. The top eight Premier teams are grouped, by division standings, with the inversely placed First Division. A third school, randomly drawn from one of the city’s other divisions, is added to the mix.
“There is a lot of parity in the city,” McCarthy said. “When we won it in 2009 we were coming out of the First Division. I think Lake View a a couple of years ago won it playing out of the Second Division. With boys soccer in the city you never know, but I like our chances right now.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Dixon O’Banion
D: Esme McCarthy
D: Christion Rice
D: Alex Espino
D: Jonathan Perez
MF: Leo Daley
MF: Josue Espinoza
MF: Francisco Rojas
MF: Elias Guzman
F: Evan Wimberly
F: Aidan Chapman
Kelly
GK: David Gutierrez
D: Gilberto Munoz
D: Brian Cruz
D: Raul Cruz
D: Saul Leyva
MF: Hector Rabadan
MF: Aldo Vasquez
MF: Daniel Cruz
MF: Fernando Conejo
MF: Ruben Patino
F: Stiven Gonzalez
Men of the Match: Josue Espinoza, sr., MF, Young
Stiven Gonzalez, sr. F, Kelly
Scoring summary
First half
Young—Evan Wimberly (Josue Espinoza), 39th minute
Second half
Kelly—Stiven Gonzalez (Fernando Conejo), 41st minute
Kelly— Daniel Cruz (penalty kick), 63rd minute
Young—Espinoza (penalty kick), 71st minute