Slow start dooms Young
vs. Lane in city quarterfinals
Hosts build 2-0 halftime lead en route to 3-1 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Defender Nate Chmielowicz was one of the first Young players to detect a change in Lane from their previous meeting Sept. 1.
“Compared with the first time, they ran a different center midfielder with Ethan Peet,” he said. “He played a great game standing in for Kyle Hollman.
“They came out differently than we expected. Ben Dopp, who played on the left wing, scored the first goal. I think we were expecting something different.”
The early nonconference game ended in a 0-0 tie and left both sides lamenting lost opportunities and squandered chances.
For the rematch in the quarterfinals of the Chicago Public League Tournament, each came with strong convictions they were the better team.
Lane went out and proved it. The newly nicknamed Champions showed greater purpose and offensive cohesion during a dominant first half in their 3-1 home victory over the 23rd-ranked Dolphins on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the city championship.
Lane (12-3-1) will play at no. 24 Taft on Tuesday night in a semifinal.
The Eagles (13-3-3) survived defending champion Payton with a penalty kick goal in the second overtime for the 1-0 victory.
Solorio (14-3-0) and North Grand (13-2-2) fill out the Final Four. The Sun Warriors reversed a regular-season loss against Washington with a 5-1 quarterfinal victory.
North Grand is the wild card, the only team outside the Premier Division to even qualify through the second round. Those teams play at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lane.
The city final starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lane.
In the 16th minute of the semifinal match, Lane midfielder Benjamin Dopp took a ball on the left wing and worked his way parallel to the end line before drilling a ball inside the near post from about 12 yards.
The home team extended the lead to 2-0 in the 34th minute after midfielder Devin Parikh looped a header that Young keeper Jackson Sprenger could not make a clean catch on and was ruled to have crossed the goal line.
Defender Wilson Smiejek created the assist from his service into the box.
“I think we came out with a lot more intensity tonight compared to the first time we played, and that helped us get the goals,” Parikh said.
“We gained some momentum from those goals. We played them last season. We started out slow, and we lost that game. We know we have the ability of being the better team. Tonight we just had to show it.”
The explosive speed up-top of Lane forward Maurio Ruiz created the early burst and separation that left Young reeling.
The story became an uphill battle that proved insurmountable. Lane was quicker and more athletic and just faster to the ball throughout the first half.
“They changed some things from the first game,” Young coach Nick Maksa said. “They were playing a 3-5-2. They were spreading those forwards out on top, making our center backs think, am I going to pass him off to the outside back or stick with them?
“Andrew Ricks is a good coach, and he caught us off guard. The biggest thing, I think, in the first half is they smacked us in the mouth with their intensity. We had a hard time finding our legs.”
Young (10-4-3) fought back valiantly from its 2-0 halftime deficit.
“This season we haven’t been down that much,” Chmielowicz. “When we were down in those games, we were still very close.
“In this game, it felt like they were all over us the whole first half.”
The start of the second half felt different, with a sharper sense of purpose and urgency by the Dolphins. The team finally started to unlock its devastating set pieces.
Throw-in specialist Garen Petrulis had a couple of decent looks through the first half. The Dolphins never managed the necessary second or third touch to create something truly dangerous.
At the beginning of the second half, exerting pressure in the Lane’s final third, Chmielowicz created some sharp opportunities with his excellent deep free kicks.
In the 45th minute the Dolphins broke through with a deep service ball by Chmielowicz that forward Szymon Szkodon completed with a quick volley from about six yards to halve the deficit. It was his fourth goal of the season.
“It did feel a bit like a last-ditch effort there,” Szkodon said. “We were fighting. We were there, doing whatever we could. It wasn’t an effort issue.
“We had enough chances. We were just in our own heads, and we couldn’t put some of those shots away. Being down those goals, we dug ourselves a hole we could not get out of.”
The tell-tale sign was the Champions had the more effective and efficient takeaway from the first game.
“Looking back at the first game, it was almost the same story tonight,” Szkodon said. “We came out, and we didn’t perform the way we should have.
“The difference from the first game is they scored those two goals in the first half.”
Energized by the Szkodon goal, the Dolphins looked to maintain the momentum. They created some solid looks, a couple of corner kicks, and solid play in the middle with M.J. Hicks and Nikhil Bapat.
At the top of the attack, forwards Szkodon, Reese Kruschke and Cesar Lopez applied some significant movement and off-the-ball action.
Off the counter, Lane created the backbreaker. Working down the right edge, Smiejek served a deep ball that midfielder Kamil Pluta alertly finished just outside the goal in the 54th minute.
“The mark of a good team is when you score, you hold, and you score again,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said.
“A team that gives up a goal after scoring is a bad team. We scored, and we scored again. Whitney Young knew they had to throw things forward. They came out with more energy in the second half. I was pleased that we did not just sit back, or bunker in. We actually went after it.”
After restoring the two-goal advantage, Lane held off the Dolphins the balance of the match.
“Lane was great tonight,” Maksa said. “I don’t think it was anything in particular that we were doing wrong. We took too long to find ourselves in the game.
"We found ourselves in a 2-0 hole. A 2-0 hole against a good team is very hard to get out of.”
Lane's Smiejek earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his outstanding two-way play.
“Their individual talent just beat ours,” Chmielowicz said.
The city tournament has an outsized value and cultural importance. The moment and the pain lingered.
“The guys are super disappointed,” Maksa said. “The city championship means a lot, especially to the seniors who have never had a chance to win it.
“I could see it in their eyes tonight. Obviously you don’t want to see your guys upset. That hurts you as a coach. It lets you know how much they care. They really care. They bought in, and they really want to win.”
The first Lane game was just the fourth of the season, and the Dolphins were still finding their voice and identity under first-year coach Maksa.
The team has flourished and shown tremendous growth, evidenced by some outstanding out-of-conference results: a one-goal road loss to no. 4 Morton, a tough and competitive 1-0 loss against tenth-ranked New Trier followed by a 2-1 victory over previously ranked Evanston.
As the fifth-seed of the Class 3A sectional at Hinsdale Central, the Dolphins will play Public League rival Juarez in their state tournament opener Oct. 19.
“A good thing for us is we have a second set of playoffs,” Maksa said. “We have to get back to work. Tonight, we had a couple of mistakes on the goalkeeping end, and that is bound to happen.
“We’re done with that now. The boys kept after it for the whole 80 minutes. We have to accept the things we’re not good at, and start perfecting the things we are not good at.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Jackson Sprenger
D: Sasha Frias-Kaehler
D: Diego Delgado
D: Nate Chmielowicz
D: Garen Petrulis
MF: Alejandro Goldstein
MF: M.J. Hicks
MF: Nikhil Bapat
F: Szymon Szkodon
F: Reese Kruschke
F: Cesar Lopez
Lane
G: Gael Rodriguez
D: Emiliano Gonzalez
D: Simon Olson
D: Wilson Smiejek
MF: Benjamin Dopp
MF: Brando Diaz
MF: Ethan Peet
MF: Kamil Pluta
MF: Brando Diaz
F: Mauro Ruiz
F: Juan Garcia
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Wilson Smiejek, jr., D, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Benjamin Dopp (Simon Olson), 16th minute
Lane—Devin Parikh (Wilson Smiejek), 34th minute
Second half
Young—Szymon Szkodoń (Nate Chmielowicz), 45th minute
Lane—Kamil Pluta (Smiejek), 54th minute
vs. Lane in city quarterfinals
Hosts build 2-0 halftime lead en route to 3-1 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — Defender Nate Chmielowicz was one of the first Young players to detect a change in Lane from their previous meeting Sept. 1.
“Compared with the first time, they ran a different center midfielder with Ethan Peet,” he said. “He played a great game standing in for Kyle Hollman.
“They came out differently than we expected. Ben Dopp, who played on the left wing, scored the first goal. I think we were expecting something different.”
The early nonconference game ended in a 0-0 tie and left both sides lamenting lost opportunities and squandered chances.
For the rematch in the quarterfinals of the Chicago Public League Tournament, each came with strong convictions they were the better team.
Lane went out and proved it. The newly nicknamed Champions showed greater purpose and offensive cohesion during a dominant first half in their 3-1 home victory over the 23rd-ranked Dolphins on Saturday night in the quarterfinals of the city championship.
Lane (12-3-1) will play at no. 24 Taft on Tuesday night in a semifinal.
The Eagles (13-3-3) survived defending champion Payton with a penalty kick goal in the second overtime for the 1-0 victory.
Solorio (14-3-0) and North Grand (13-2-2) fill out the Final Four. The Sun Warriors reversed a regular-season loss against Washington with a 5-1 quarterfinal victory.
North Grand is the wild card, the only team outside the Premier Division to even qualify through the second round. Those teams play at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Lane.
The city final starts at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Lane.
In the 16th minute of the semifinal match, Lane midfielder Benjamin Dopp took a ball on the left wing and worked his way parallel to the end line before drilling a ball inside the near post from about 12 yards.
The home team extended the lead to 2-0 in the 34th minute after midfielder Devin Parikh looped a header that Young keeper Jackson Sprenger could not make a clean catch on and was ruled to have crossed the goal line.
Defender Wilson Smiejek created the assist from his service into the box.
“I think we came out with a lot more intensity tonight compared to the first time we played, and that helped us get the goals,” Parikh said.
“We gained some momentum from those goals. We played them last season. We started out slow, and we lost that game. We know we have the ability of being the better team. Tonight we just had to show it.”
The explosive speed up-top of Lane forward Maurio Ruiz created the early burst and separation that left Young reeling.
The story became an uphill battle that proved insurmountable. Lane was quicker and more athletic and just faster to the ball throughout the first half.
“They changed some things from the first game,” Young coach Nick Maksa said. “They were playing a 3-5-2. They were spreading those forwards out on top, making our center backs think, am I going to pass him off to the outside back or stick with them?
“Andrew Ricks is a good coach, and he caught us off guard. The biggest thing, I think, in the first half is they smacked us in the mouth with their intensity. We had a hard time finding our legs.”
Young (10-4-3) fought back valiantly from its 2-0 halftime deficit.
“This season we haven’t been down that much,” Chmielowicz. “When we were down in those games, we were still very close.
“In this game, it felt like they were all over us the whole first half.”
The start of the second half felt different, with a sharper sense of purpose and urgency by the Dolphins. The team finally started to unlock its devastating set pieces.
Throw-in specialist Garen Petrulis had a couple of decent looks through the first half. The Dolphins never managed the necessary second or third touch to create something truly dangerous.
At the beginning of the second half, exerting pressure in the Lane’s final third, Chmielowicz created some sharp opportunities with his excellent deep free kicks.
In the 45th minute the Dolphins broke through with a deep service ball by Chmielowicz that forward Szymon Szkodon completed with a quick volley from about six yards to halve the deficit. It was his fourth goal of the season.
“It did feel a bit like a last-ditch effort there,” Szkodon said. “We were fighting. We were there, doing whatever we could. It wasn’t an effort issue.
“We had enough chances. We were just in our own heads, and we couldn’t put some of those shots away. Being down those goals, we dug ourselves a hole we could not get out of.”
The tell-tale sign was the Champions had the more effective and efficient takeaway from the first game.
“Looking back at the first game, it was almost the same story tonight,” Szkodon said. “We came out, and we didn’t perform the way we should have.
“The difference from the first game is they scored those two goals in the first half.”
Energized by the Szkodon goal, the Dolphins looked to maintain the momentum. They created some solid looks, a couple of corner kicks, and solid play in the middle with M.J. Hicks and Nikhil Bapat.
At the top of the attack, forwards Szkodon, Reese Kruschke and Cesar Lopez applied some significant movement and off-the-ball action.
Off the counter, Lane created the backbreaker. Working down the right edge, Smiejek served a deep ball that midfielder Kamil Pluta alertly finished just outside the goal in the 54th minute.
“The mark of a good team is when you score, you hold, and you score again,” Lane coach Andrew Ricks said.
“A team that gives up a goal after scoring is a bad team. We scored, and we scored again. Whitney Young knew they had to throw things forward. They came out with more energy in the second half. I was pleased that we did not just sit back, or bunker in. We actually went after it.”
After restoring the two-goal advantage, Lane held off the Dolphins the balance of the match.
“Lane was great tonight,” Maksa said. “I don’t think it was anything in particular that we were doing wrong. We took too long to find ourselves in the game.
"We found ourselves in a 2-0 hole. A 2-0 hole against a good team is very hard to get out of.”
Lane's Smiejek earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his outstanding two-way play.
“Their individual talent just beat ours,” Chmielowicz said.
The city tournament has an outsized value and cultural importance. The moment and the pain lingered.
“The guys are super disappointed,” Maksa said. “The city championship means a lot, especially to the seniors who have never had a chance to win it.
“I could see it in their eyes tonight. Obviously you don’t want to see your guys upset. That hurts you as a coach. It lets you know how much they care. They really care. They bought in, and they really want to win.”
The first Lane game was just the fourth of the season, and the Dolphins were still finding their voice and identity under first-year coach Maksa.
The team has flourished and shown tremendous growth, evidenced by some outstanding out-of-conference results: a one-goal road loss to no. 4 Morton, a tough and competitive 1-0 loss against tenth-ranked New Trier followed by a 2-1 victory over previously ranked Evanston.
As the fifth-seed of the Class 3A sectional at Hinsdale Central, the Dolphins will play Public League rival Juarez in their state tournament opener Oct. 19.
“A good thing for us is we have a second set of playoffs,” Maksa said. “We have to get back to work. Tonight, we had a couple of mistakes on the goalkeeping end, and that is bound to happen.
“We’re done with that now. The boys kept after it for the whole 80 minutes. We have to accept the things we’re not good at, and start perfecting the things we are not good at.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Jackson Sprenger
D: Sasha Frias-Kaehler
D: Diego Delgado
D: Nate Chmielowicz
D: Garen Petrulis
MF: Alejandro Goldstein
MF: M.J. Hicks
MF: Nikhil Bapat
F: Szymon Szkodon
F: Reese Kruschke
F: Cesar Lopez
Lane
G: Gael Rodriguez
D: Emiliano Gonzalez
D: Simon Olson
D: Wilson Smiejek
MF: Benjamin Dopp
MF: Brando Diaz
MF: Ethan Peet
MF: Kamil Pluta
MF: Brando Diaz
F: Mauro Ruiz
F: Juan Garcia
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Wilson Smiejek, jr., D, Lane
Scoring summary
First half
Lane—Benjamin Dopp (Simon Olson), 16th minute
Lane—Devin Parikh (Wilson Smiejek), 34th minute
Second half
Young—Szymon Szkodoń (Nate Chmielowicz), 45th minute
Lane—Kamil Pluta (Smiejek), 54th minute