Young lacks knockout punch vs. Lockport
Porters' late goals doom Dolphins
By Steve Millar
LOCKPORT - When you have an opportunity to put a good team away and fail to do so, more times than not it will come back to haunt you.
Young found that out Thursday when it took on Lockport in the PepsiCo Showdown’s Michele Bingham Bracket semifinals.
The Dolphins struck first, but missed opportunities to extend the lead. The host Porters made them pay, rallying for a pair of goals over the final 25 minutes to claim a 2-1 win.
“We were mentally soft at points,” Young coach Ian McCarthy said. “We had some plays where we could have finished and didn’t. We had the run of play, but finishing has been an issue for us. Their goals were just on hustle plays.”
While Lockport (4-2-3) advanced to take on Bulls Prep in the championship match on Sept. 24, Young (3-4-2) will play a consolation game Saturday against a team to be determined.
After an evenly-matched first half, Young took control early in the second half and seemed ready to punch its ticket to the final when it took advantage of a big break in the 43rd minute.
Lockport senior goalkeeper Dominic Wistocki, a member of the 2016 Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List, made a rare mistake and paid for it.
Young’s Josue Espinoza made a strong run down the right side of the field, cut down the end line and sent in a cross that Wistocki attempted to grab, only to have it slip through his hands.
Sophomore midfielder Rodney Bejabeng was there for a tap-in into an empty net to give the Dolphins the lead with 37:06 to go.
It was the first career varsity goal for Bejabeng, a reserve.
“It’s definitely a moment I’ll remember,” he said. “(Espinoza) put in a really good cross and when the goalie missed it, I just put it in. I’m always trying to attack and go after every ball. I know that’s what coach wants me to do.”
For the Dolphins, the goal was certainly a gift, but one that was capitalized on because of Bejabeng’s alertness.
“That’s what we’re looking to do on that play, get down the end line and cross it in,” McCarthy said. “Someone’s got to get to that spot in case the goalie coughs it up, and (Bejabeng) got where he needed to be.”
Young nearly went up 2-0 just three minutes later when Espinoza set up Leo Daley for a good look, but Wistocki redeemed himself with a diving save.
With 26 minutes to go, Elias Guzman fired just wide on another good chance for the Dolphins.
Lockport, meanwhile, had generated some offensive momentum in the first half, but had put no shots on goal, then went without a scoring chance over the first 15 minutes of the second half.
That all mattered little after one brilliant connection in the 56th minute.
Eric Keta made a strong run down the left sideline and sent a cross toward Jose Mendoza at the far post.
The pass was a little behind Mendoza, but he jumped back and played a volley off one bounce, ripping a shot into the top left corner to tie the game.
“Jose’s goal was a game-changer,” Lockport senior Zac Fox said. “I was upset with him when he was going to shoot it, because I was open in the middle, but then he smacks it in top left. It’s all about the confidence you have within yourself. I feel that’s our biggest issue sometimes is having that confidence, but he had it there.”
Fox, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, was plenty confident in his own right when he produced the game-winner with 9:04 to go.
Justin Biela took a corner kick and found Fox with some open space near the top of the box. Fox unleashed a quick shot toward the left post.
A Young defender desperately tried to clear the ball off the goal line with a diving kick attempt, and got a piece of the shot, but not enough to keep it out.
“Justin crossed it in,” Fox said. “My defender stepped off a little bit, so I just went up and smacked it in. It was exciting to score that goal and get us back to the championship.”
Lockport played in the PepsiCo Showdown’s ATI Bracket championship last year, falling to Fenwick.
“We’ve done well in this tournament,” Lockport coach Chris Beal said. “This year, we need to go one step further. We’re excited. I think we’re ready.
“In this game, we weren’t playing well. It looked like we were low on confidence and we weren’t playing our normal game. Then you concede a goal and you worry that you’re not going to be able to raise your game, but it showed character that we were able to fight back.”
Young still had a couple good chances late to tie it, but Wistocki made a diving save on Espinoza’s shot with 4:30 to go and made a stop on Christion Rice’s last-ditch effort from 40 yards in the final seconds.
Wistocki finished with five saves.
“We were able to put aside that little mistake that Dominic made, put him on our back and take us to the championship game,” Fox said.
McCarthy, meanwhile, was disappointed that Young didn’t produce more chances after falling behind.
“We go down 2-1 and still have over eight minutes left and some of the guys on the field were just waiting for something to happen rather than making it happen,” he said.
“I think we did a good job with possession. I just wish sometimes we could play a little more simply in the final third. Sometimes we’re trying to combine on a ball or thread a ball in and it doesn’t always have to be so complex. Sometimes we could just take it to the end line and get a better chance at goal.”
Bejabeng sees areas where the Dolphins can improve going forward.
“I don’t think we pressured defensively enough,” he said. “We were giving up 50-50 balls. Our passing was off in this game, too, and I think we need to be more dangerous in the final third.”
McCarthy hopes to see some changes in mentality as well.
“I think skill-wise, we’re as good as most teams,” he said. “In order to be a champion, you have to have the belief and sometimes you have to beat someone mentally. I think sometimes we beat ourselves up mentally.”
Starting lineups
Lockport:
GK: Dominic Wistocki
D: David Napoli
D: Justin Biela
D: Charlie Garcia
D: Quinn Roth
M: Nick Kowalczyk
M: Dan Blaszkiewicz
M: Zac Fox
M: Eric Keta
F: Jose Mendoza
F: David Panszczyk
Young:
GK: Dixon O’Banion
D: Jonathan Perez
D: Esme McCarthy
D: Christion Rice
D: Alex Espino
M: Leo Daley
M: Elias Guzman
M: Jake Gerenraich
M: Josue Espinoza
F: Evan Wimberly
F: Aidan Chapman
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Zac Fox, M, Lockport
Porters' late goals doom Dolphins
By Steve Millar
LOCKPORT - When you have an opportunity to put a good team away and fail to do so, more times than not it will come back to haunt you.
Young found that out Thursday when it took on Lockport in the PepsiCo Showdown’s Michele Bingham Bracket semifinals.
The Dolphins struck first, but missed opportunities to extend the lead. The host Porters made them pay, rallying for a pair of goals over the final 25 minutes to claim a 2-1 win.
“We were mentally soft at points,” Young coach Ian McCarthy said. “We had some plays where we could have finished and didn’t. We had the run of play, but finishing has been an issue for us. Their goals were just on hustle plays.”
While Lockport (4-2-3) advanced to take on Bulls Prep in the championship match on Sept. 24, Young (3-4-2) will play a consolation game Saturday against a team to be determined.
After an evenly-matched first half, Young took control early in the second half and seemed ready to punch its ticket to the final when it took advantage of a big break in the 43rd minute.
Lockport senior goalkeeper Dominic Wistocki, a member of the 2016 Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch List, made a rare mistake and paid for it.
Young’s Josue Espinoza made a strong run down the right side of the field, cut down the end line and sent in a cross that Wistocki attempted to grab, only to have it slip through his hands.
Sophomore midfielder Rodney Bejabeng was there for a tap-in into an empty net to give the Dolphins the lead with 37:06 to go.
It was the first career varsity goal for Bejabeng, a reserve.
“It’s definitely a moment I’ll remember,” he said. “(Espinoza) put in a really good cross and when the goalie missed it, I just put it in. I’m always trying to attack and go after every ball. I know that’s what coach wants me to do.”
For the Dolphins, the goal was certainly a gift, but one that was capitalized on because of Bejabeng’s alertness.
“That’s what we’re looking to do on that play, get down the end line and cross it in,” McCarthy said. “Someone’s got to get to that spot in case the goalie coughs it up, and (Bejabeng) got where he needed to be.”
Young nearly went up 2-0 just three minutes later when Espinoza set up Leo Daley for a good look, but Wistocki redeemed himself with a diving save.
With 26 minutes to go, Elias Guzman fired just wide on another good chance for the Dolphins.
Lockport, meanwhile, had generated some offensive momentum in the first half, but had put no shots on goal, then went without a scoring chance over the first 15 minutes of the second half.
That all mattered little after one brilliant connection in the 56th minute.
Eric Keta made a strong run down the left sideline and sent a cross toward Jose Mendoza at the far post.
The pass was a little behind Mendoza, but he jumped back and played a volley off one bounce, ripping a shot into the top left corner to tie the game.
“Jose’s goal was a game-changer,” Lockport senior Zac Fox said. “I was upset with him when he was going to shoot it, because I was open in the middle, but then he smacks it in top left. It’s all about the confidence you have within yourself. I feel that’s our biggest issue sometimes is having that confidence, but he had it there.”
Fox, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, was plenty confident in his own right when he produced the game-winner with 9:04 to go.
Justin Biela took a corner kick and found Fox with some open space near the top of the box. Fox unleashed a quick shot toward the left post.
A Young defender desperately tried to clear the ball off the goal line with a diving kick attempt, and got a piece of the shot, but not enough to keep it out.
“Justin crossed it in,” Fox said. “My defender stepped off a little bit, so I just went up and smacked it in. It was exciting to score that goal and get us back to the championship.”
Lockport played in the PepsiCo Showdown’s ATI Bracket championship last year, falling to Fenwick.
“We’ve done well in this tournament,” Lockport coach Chris Beal said. “This year, we need to go one step further. We’re excited. I think we’re ready.
“In this game, we weren’t playing well. It looked like we were low on confidence and we weren’t playing our normal game. Then you concede a goal and you worry that you’re not going to be able to raise your game, but it showed character that we were able to fight back.”
Young still had a couple good chances late to tie it, but Wistocki made a diving save on Espinoza’s shot with 4:30 to go and made a stop on Christion Rice’s last-ditch effort from 40 yards in the final seconds.
Wistocki finished with five saves.
“We were able to put aside that little mistake that Dominic made, put him on our back and take us to the championship game,” Fox said.
McCarthy, meanwhile, was disappointed that Young didn’t produce more chances after falling behind.
“We go down 2-1 and still have over eight minutes left and some of the guys on the field were just waiting for something to happen rather than making it happen,” he said.
“I think we did a good job with possession. I just wish sometimes we could play a little more simply in the final third. Sometimes we’re trying to combine on a ball or thread a ball in and it doesn’t always have to be so complex. Sometimes we could just take it to the end line and get a better chance at goal.”
Bejabeng sees areas where the Dolphins can improve going forward.
“I don’t think we pressured defensively enough,” he said. “We were giving up 50-50 balls. Our passing was off in this game, too, and I think we need to be more dangerous in the final third.”
McCarthy hopes to see some changes in mentality as well.
“I think skill-wise, we’re as good as most teams,” he said. “In order to be a champion, you have to have the belief and sometimes you have to beat someone mentally. I think sometimes we beat ourselves up mentally.”
Starting lineups
Lockport:
GK: Dominic Wistocki
D: David Napoli
D: Justin Biela
D: Charlie Garcia
D: Quinn Roth
M: Nick Kowalczyk
M: Dan Blaszkiewicz
M: Zac Fox
M: Eric Keta
F: Jose Mendoza
F: David Panszczyk
Young:
GK: Dixon O’Banion
D: Jonathan Perez
D: Esme McCarthy
D: Christion Rice
D: Alex Espino
M: Leo Daley
M: Elias Guzman
M: Jake Gerenraich
M: Josue Espinoza
F: Evan Wimberly
F: Aidan Chapman
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Zac Fox, M, Lockport