Young stays cool, finds answers vs. Mather
Gerenraich leads 3-goal assault at start of 2nd half for 5-2 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Ian McCarthy is never one to get overly concerned if his team goes down a goal -- not with the scorers he has at his command this year.
“Scoring goals has not really been an issue with us,” said McCarthy, the Young coach. “We have only been shutout one time so far, and we have a the personnel to score goals. If anything, with this year’s group, we seem to have adopted the Brazilian mentality that our only objective is scoring more goals than the other team.”
The Dolphins went down on two separate occasions only to answer with authority and style in blowing up a tight game with three goals in an eight-minute flurry to defeat Mather 5-2 in Chicago Public League Premier Division North play here in West Ridge on the Northwest Side on Friday.
Young senior midfielder Jake Gerenraich scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the second half to break the 2-2 tie. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction in recording his eighth and ninth goals of the year.
“Mather is an extremely aggressive team, and we had to match that in the second half as well as pick up our composure,” Gerenraich said.
Mather (0-6-1, 0-2-0) is a proud program. Over the field atop the school entrance is a banner honoring the 2011 Class AA state championship team. The Rangers are one of three Chicagso Public League programs to win state titles in the last seven years, joined by Washington and reigning Class AA champion Solorio, which is ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Ernesto Aguinaga-Hernandez is a first-year head coach after serving his apprentice as an assistant. “Even though our results are not what we have been looking for so far, I am very pleased with how hard the kids have worked and how they have represented themselves at school and the program,” he said.
Young (5-2-0, 3-1-0) started the game aggressively attacking the Rangers. Senior midfielder Gabriel Regalado blasted three early shots directly at freshman Rangers’ keeper Jaime Adame. The frosh denied each one.
Mather utilized the Dolphins’ aggressiveness to their own ends in stunning Young with a bold counter as junior forward Mushota Kakenta exploded from the pack to create his own breakout. Dolphins’ keeper Dan Moderhack bolted off his line to take away the angle. Kakenta beat him to the ball and finessed a first touch in the sixth minute for the Mather goal.
“We have five or six returning players from last year, and they are the strength of the team so far,” Aguinaga-Hernandez said. “I thought we did a great job at the start in matching Young’s energy and intensity. We were able to pressure them and develop our counter.”
Young is a smart and savvy team. Gerenraich, for instance, scored a perfect 36 on his ACT. The Dolphins recognized the Rangers’ style and defensive alignment.
“They were playing a high trap line, and we recognized it and more important did a wonderful job of figuring out how to beat it,” McCarthy said. “We made some good adjustments.”
Part of those adjustments was tooling the Dolphins’ speed game to the narrow confines of the Mather field, which is much tighter and narrower than a regulation-sized space.
Just two minutes after the Rangers’ score, Regalado found himself in an identical position he encountered at the start, a direct line to the Mather goal from the left edge. Rather than take Adame on, Regalado slipped a beautiful cross that rangy midfielder Rodney Bejabeng finished into a virtually open net.
Young enjoyed the better play. Mather played tough and aggressively. The Rangers took their final lead, 2-1 on a gorgeous free kick by Jesse Alcantar in the 30th minute.
“What a free kick,” McCarthy marveled. “I don’t care what their record was. Mather was one of the better teams we have played. They forced us into trying to be perfect.”
Just as encouraging for the Dolphins, Young did not tighten up confronting a deficit. Like the opening minutes, Young made sure the Rangers’ lead was brief. As Young pushed numbers forward, sophomore reserve forward Leo Juarez got into the mix. He drilled home a short rebound in the 32nd minute.
Young went into the break knowing it had to elevate its game.
“We talked about the challenges we were having, both with our possession and finding attacking outlets,” Gerenraich said. “We did exactly that, and started the second half with speed, strength and high pressure.”
Mather was knocked out by the Dolphins’ early second half push.
Less than a minute into the second half, Gerenraich made a hard run and finished another beautiful pass from Regalado. The Dolphins put the game away minutes later as Gerenraich and forward Aidan Chapman put away rebound shots from point-blank range.
“We were finally able to truly break through their backline and finish our opportunities,” Gerenraich said. “They did not have the composure to withstand our high pressure.”
Mather was stunned.
“Again, I think it goes back to the experience thing,” Aguinaga-Hernandez said. “We were at the half sitting 2-2 with a program like Young that historically is one of the best teams in the city. It’s as if we just got too comfortable with how we were playing.
“In that second half we just got too disconnected.”
Young’s experience turned the tide.
“The guys who are the leaders of this team understand what we are trying to do out there, on our play, in our possession style, how technical we want to play,” McCarthy said.
“That is what is exciting about this team. We have 11 guys who understand their place and are showing up in the right places at the right time.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Dan Moderhack
D: Jake Davidson
D: Jonathan Perez
D: Alex Espino
D: Joshua Meyer
MF: Owen Anderson
MF: Jake Gerenraich
MF: Gabriel Regalado
MF: Rodney Bejabeng
F: Aidan Chapman
F: Elias Guzman
Mather
GK: Javier Adame
D: Luis Funes
D: Alexis Vidrio
D: Kilmar Alvarez-Orellano
D: Jonathan De La Cruz
MF: Berkan Gundogdu
MF: Ghazwan Hamza
MF: Jesus Rodriguez
MF: Arath Mercado
MF: Jesse Alcantar
F: Mushota Kakenta
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jake Gerenraich, sr., MF, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Mather—Mushota Kakenta (unassisted), sixth minute
Young—Rodney Bejabeng (Gabriel Regalado), eighth minute
Mather—Jesse Alcantar (free kick), 30th minute
Young—Leo Juarez (unassisted), 32nd minute
Second half
Young—Jake Gerenraich (Regalado), 41st minute
Young—Gerenraich (unassisted), 47th minute
Young—Aidan Chapman (rebound), 49th minute
Gerenraich leads 3-goal assault at start of 2nd half for 5-2 win
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO -- Ian McCarthy is never one to get overly concerned if his team goes down a goal -- not with the scorers he has at his command this year.
“Scoring goals has not really been an issue with us,” said McCarthy, the Young coach. “We have only been shutout one time so far, and we have a the personnel to score goals. If anything, with this year’s group, we seem to have adopted the Brazilian mentality that our only objective is scoring more goals than the other team.”
The Dolphins went down on two separate occasions only to answer with authority and style in blowing up a tight game with three goals in an eight-minute flurry to defeat Mather 5-2 in Chicago Public League Premier Division North play here in West Ridge on the Northwest Side on Friday.
Young senior midfielder Jake Gerenraich scored two goals in the first seven minutes of the second half to break the 2-2 tie. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction in recording his eighth and ninth goals of the year.
“Mather is an extremely aggressive team, and we had to match that in the second half as well as pick up our composure,” Gerenraich said.
Mather (0-6-1, 0-2-0) is a proud program. Over the field atop the school entrance is a banner honoring the 2011 Class AA state championship team. The Rangers are one of three Chicagso Public League programs to win state titles in the last seven years, joined by Washington and reigning Class AA champion Solorio, which is ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Ernesto Aguinaga-Hernandez is a first-year head coach after serving his apprentice as an assistant. “Even though our results are not what we have been looking for so far, I am very pleased with how hard the kids have worked and how they have represented themselves at school and the program,” he said.
Young (5-2-0, 3-1-0) started the game aggressively attacking the Rangers. Senior midfielder Gabriel Regalado blasted three early shots directly at freshman Rangers’ keeper Jaime Adame. The frosh denied each one.
Mather utilized the Dolphins’ aggressiveness to their own ends in stunning Young with a bold counter as junior forward Mushota Kakenta exploded from the pack to create his own breakout. Dolphins’ keeper Dan Moderhack bolted off his line to take away the angle. Kakenta beat him to the ball and finessed a first touch in the sixth minute for the Mather goal.
“We have five or six returning players from last year, and they are the strength of the team so far,” Aguinaga-Hernandez said. “I thought we did a great job at the start in matching Young’s energy and intensity. We were able to pressure them and develop our counter.”
Young is a smart and savvy team. Gerenraich, for instance, scored a perfect 36 on his ACT. The Dolphins recognized the Rangers’ style and defensive alignment.
“They were playing a high trap line, and we recognized it and more important did a wonderful job of figuring out how to beat it,” McCarthy said. “We made some good adjustments.”
Part of those adjustments was tooling the Dolphins’ speed game to the narrow confines of the Mather field, which is much tighter and narrower than a regulation-sized space.
Just two minutes after the Rangers’ score, Regalado found himself in an identical position he encountered at the start, a direct line to the Mather goal from the left edge. Rather than take Adame on, Regalado slipped a beautiful cross that rangy midfielder Rodney Bejabeng finished into a virtually open net.
Young enjoyed the better play. Mather played tough and aggressively. The Rangers took their final lead, 2-1 on a gorgeous free kick by Jesse Alcantar in the 30th minute.
“What a free kick,” McCarthy marveled. “I don’t care what their record was. Mather was one of the better teams we have played. They forced us into trying to be perfect.”
Just as encouraging for the Dolphins, Young did not tighten up confronting a deficit. Like the opening minutes, Young made sure the Rangers’ lead was brief. As Young pushed numbers forward, sophomore reserve forward Leo Juarez got into the mix. He drilled home a short rebound in the 32nd minute.
Young went into the break knowing it had to elevate its game.
“We talked about the challenges we were having, both with our possession and finding attacking outlets,” Gerenraich said. “We did exactly that, and started the second half with speed, strength and high pressure.”
Mather was knocked out by the Dolphins’ early second half push.
Less than a minute into the second half, Gerenraich made a hard run and finished another beautiful pass from Regalado. The Dolphins put the game away minutes later as Gerenraich and forward Aidan Chapman put away rebound shots from point-blank range.
“We were finally able to truly break through their backline and finish our opportunities,” Gerenraich said. “They did not have the composure to withstand our high pressure.”
Mather was stunned.
“Again, I think it goes back to the experience thing,” Aguinaga-Hernandez said. “We were at the half sitting 2-2 with a program like Young that historically is one of the best teams in the city. It’s as if we just got too comfortable with how we were playing.
“In that second half we just got too disconnected.”
Young’s experience turned the tide.
“The guys who are the leaders of this team understand what we are trying to do out there, on our play, in our possession style, how technical we want to play,” McCarthy said.
“That is what is exciting about this team. We have 11 guys who understand their place and are showing up in the right places at the right time.”
Starting lineups
Young
GK: Dan Moderhack
D: Jake Davidson
D: Jonathan Perez
D: Alex Espino
D: Joshua Meyer
MF: Owen Anderson
MF: Jake Gerenraich
MF: Gabriel Regalado
MF: Rodney Bejabeng
F: Aidan Chapman
F: Elias Guzman
Mather
GK: Javier Adame
D: Luis Funes
D: Alexis Vidrio
D: Kilmar Alvarez-Orellano
D: Jonathan De La Cruz
MF: Berkan Gundogdu
MF: Ghazwan Hamza
MF: Jesus Rodriguez
MF: Arath Mercado
MF: Jesse Alcantar
F: Mushota Kakenta
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jake Gerenraich, sr., MF, Young
Scoring summary
First half
Mather—Mushota Kakenta (unassisted), sixth minute
Young—Rodney Bejabeng (Gabriel Regalado), eighth minute
Mather—Jesse Alcantar (free kick), 30th minute
Young—Leo Juarez (unassisted), 32nd minute
Second half
Young—Jake Gerenraich (Regalado), 41st minute
Young—Gerenraich (unassisted), 47th minute
Young—Aidan Chapman (rebound), 49th minute