Shah hat-trick powers Warren win over Z-B
Blue Devils score flurry of goals in convincing victory
By Nick Frazier
GURNEE -- After Warren won the coin toss prior to its game against Zion-Benton on Wednesday, the Blue Devils chose to kick off with the wind blowing at their backs.
Gusts of wind were a constant throughout the first half, but Warren struggled to convert scoring chances despite the assist from Mother Nature. Head coach Jason Ahonen said the situation was similar to the team’s comeback win against Stevenson on March 18.
“You would think that you have the advantage with the wind blowing this hard, but we actually play better with the wind going into our face,” Ahonen said. “I always let the boys pick what they want if we win the toss, and they said they wanted the wind, and we took it again.”
Once the two teams switched sides in the second half, Warren showed why it’s one of the top teams in Lake County. The Blue Devils (4-0-0, 3-0-0) tripled their lead in the first 10 minutes of the period en route to a 4-0 victory over the Zee-Bees (1-1-0, 0-1-0) at O’Plaine Stadium.
Senior midfielder Ishaan Shah recorded his first career hat-trick, and classmate Max Floriani added a goal and assist in the win. Spanning the break, Warren scored four goals in 15 minutes to quickly turn a close game into a dominant showcase.
Ahonen, who played and began his coaching career at Zion-Benton, says every North Suburban Conference game is a battle, and Wednesday’s outing was no different.
“Obviously conference games are always challenging no matter who you’re playing,” Ahonen said. “When you can put up a crooked number and build on that crooked number, it makes things a little bit easier. We’ve had some tight games so far, so it was nice to get some of our guys who are working so hard in practice who haven’t seen a lot of minutes, getting some minutes today.”
In the 35th minute, Shah ouleapt Zion-Benton goalkeeper Kurtis Gustowski and teammate Cael Harris for a volley from Floriani. The three players collided in midair, and Harris and Gustowski both came away hurt, but the ball still managed to dribble into the net.
“[Alex] Senko threw the ball in, Max flicked it on, it ended up in front of me,” Shah said. “I took a touch and another touch to head it in. One of my teammates actually hit my head and broke his nose too. It was a collision.”
Harris went to the hospital to have the injury checked. Ahonen shuffled his lineup and placed Floriani, traditionally a defensive midfielder, to the backline.
“We had to make some adjustments,” Ahonen said. “We prefer to have Max in that six spot, allowing him freedom to go forward. When Cael went down, we knew Max could solidify the backline, and we were happy with what we had in the midfield play. Right now, I don’t care if we win by one or four, I just wanted to get a win tonight.”
The Blue Devils, who moved from ninth to third this week in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, excelled in the second half with the wind blowing against them. Forward Gio Juarez drew a penalty in the box in the 42nd minute, and Shah calmly converted the penalty kick to double Warren’s lead.
Six minutes later, midfielder Sebastian Rodriguez sent a perfectly-placed corner into the box, and Shah was at the right place at the right time to tap the ball in from close range.
“That was a beautiful whipped-in ball in the corner where [Ishaan] walked right into it and found the back of the net,” Ahonen. “We’ve been focusing a lot on corners and set pieces lately, it was good to see us score two of them today, which really made the difference.”
Then, in the 50th minute, Floriani drilled a free kick past a diving Gustowski from 28 yards. The Saint Louis commit said the team’s connection improved once they switched sides.
“We couldn’t really get anything going in the first half, we were just missing the final pass,” Floriani said. “It was good to find our groove in the second half and bag some goals.”
Wednesday’s game was only the second of the year for Zion-Benton. The Zee-Bees bested Cristo Rey St. Martin 2-0 in their season-opener on March 17.
Though things didn’t go his team’s way versus Warren, Zion-Benton head coach Cliff Pontillo hopes to get a rematch in the conference tournament in April.
“I have a lot of respect for Jason and his teams over the years,” Pontillo said. “Jason and I have a good thing. We’ve known each other for a long time; it’s always fun. It’s one of those love-hate things. When you’re family you like to beat up on each other, but you love them at the end of the day.”
Leading the way for the Zee-Bees are defensive backs Osmar Barajas, Luis Flores and Zeke Brown. Barajas and Flores are senior captains; Brown is a junior. Both Barajas and Brown played extensive minutes against the Blue Devils and made solid defensive plays.
With such veteran leaders along the backline, Pontillo likes where his team stands at this point of the season.
“I got a really good group of leaders,” he said. “Even though the score was what it was, we’re still positive; we’re still pushing guys at the end. The culture of our team is strong. We learned some things, and we’ll go from there.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK Nicholas Diana
D Bradley Strauss
D Alex Senko
D Cael Harris
D Chris Aldazaba
M Max Floriani
M Ishaan Shah
M Edward Luna
F Noe Martinez
F Sebastian Rodriguez
F Miguel Garcia
Zion-Benton
GK Kurtis Gustowski
D Eric Barajas
D Osmar Barajas
D Zeke Brown
D Booker Brown
D Jose Matute
M Bryan Bielma
M Denny Matute
F Joseph Veloza
F Javier Gonzalez
F Akcel Guadarrama
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ishaan Shah, sr. M, Warren
Scoring Summary
First Half
W - Ishaan Shah (Floriani, Senko), 36’
Second Half
W - Ishaan Shah (PK), 42’
W - Ishaan Shah (Rodriguez), 48’
W - Max Floriani (FK), 50’’
Blue Devils score flurry of goals in convincing victory
By Nick Frazier
GURNEE -- After Warren won the coin toss prior to its game against Zion-Benton on Wednesday, the Blue Devils chose to kick off with the wind blowing at their backs.
Gusts of wind were a constant throughout the first half, but Warren struggled to convert scoring chances despite the assist from Mother Nature. Head coach Jason Ahonen said the situation was similar to the team’s comeback win against Stevenson on March 18.
“You would think that you have the advantage with the wind blowing this hard, but we actually play better with the wind going into our face,” Ahonen said. “I always let the boys pick what they want if we win the toss, and they said they wanted the wind, and we took it again.”
Once the two teams switched sides in the second half, Warren showed why it’s one of the top teams in Lake County. The Blue Devils (4-0-0, 3-0-0) tripled their lead in the first 10 minutes of the period en route to a 4-0 victory over the Zee-Bees (1-1-0, 0-1-0) at O’Plaine Stadium.
Senior midfielder Ishaan Shah recorded his first career hat-trick, and classmate Max Floriani added a goal and assist in the win. Spanning the break, Warren scored four goals in 15 minutes to quickly turn a close game into a dominant showcase.
Ahonen, who played and began his coaching career at Zion-Benton, says every North Suburban Conference game is a battle, and Wednesday’s outing was no different.
“Obviously conference games are always challenging no matter who you’re playing,” Ahonen said. “When you can put up a crooked number and build on that crooked number, it makes things a little bit easier. We’ve had some tight games so far, so it was nice to get some of our guys who are working so hard in practice who haven’t seen a lot of minutes, getting some minutes today.”
In the 35th minute, Shah ouleapt Zion-Benton goalkeeper Kurtis Gustowski and teammate Cael Harris for a volley from Floriani. The three players collided in midair, and Harris and Gustowski both came away hurt, but the ball still managed to dribble into the net.
“[Alex] Senko threw the ball in, Max flicked it on, it ended up in front of me,” Shah said. “I took a touch and another touch to head it in. One of my teammates actually hit my head and broke his nose too. It was a collision.”
Harris went to the hospital to have the injury checked. Ahonen shuffled his lineup and placed Floriani, traditionally a defensive midfielder, to the backline.
“We had to make some adjustments,” Ahonen said. “We prefer to have Max in that six spot, allowing him freedom to go forward. When Cael went down, we knew Max could solidify the backline, and we were happy with what we had in the midfield play. Right now, I don’t care if we win by one or four, I just wanted to get a win tonight.”
The Blue Devils, who moved from ninth to third this week in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, excelled in the second half with the wind blowing against them. Forward Gio Juarez drew a penalty in the box in the 42nd minute, and Shah calmly converted the penalty kick to double Warren’s lead.
Six minutes later, midfielder Sebastian Rodriguez sent a perfectly-placed corner into the box, and Shah was at the right place at the right time to tap the ball in from close range.
“That was a beautiful whipped-in ball in the corner where [Ishaan] walked right into it and found the back of the net,” Ahonen. “We’ve been focusing a lot on corners and set pieces lately, it was good to see us score two of them today, which really made the difference.”
Then, in the 50th minute, Floriani drilled a free kick past a diving Gustowski from 28 yards. The Saint Louis commit said the team’s connection improved once they switched sides.
“We couldn’t really get anything going in the first half, we were just missing the final pass,” Floriani said. “It was good to find our groove in the second half and bag some goals.”
Wednesday’s game was only the second of the year for Zion-Benton. The Zee-Bees bested Cristo Rey St. Martin 2-0 in their season-opener on March 17.
Though things didn’t go his team’s way versus Warren, Zion-Benton head coach Cliff Pontillo hopes to get a rematch in the conference tournament in April.
“I have a lot of respect for Jason and his teams over the years,” Pontillo said. “Jason and I have a good thing. We’ve known each other for a long time; it’s always fun. It’s one of those love-hate things. When you’re family you like to beat up on each other, but you love them at the end of the day.”
Leading the way for the Zee-Bees are defensive backs Osmar Barajas, Luis Flores and Zeke Brown. Barajas and Flores are senior captains; Brown is a junior. Both Barajas and Brown played extensive minutes against the Blue Devils and made solid defensive plays.
With such veteran leaders along the backline, Pontillo likes where his team stands at this point of the season.
“I got a really good group of leaders,” he said. “Even though the score was what it was, we’re still positive; we’re still pushing guys at the end. The culture of our team is strong. We learned some things, and we’ll go from there.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK Nicholas Diana
D Bradley Strauss
D Alex Senko
D Cael Harris
D Chris Aldazaba
M Max Floriani
M Ishaan Shah
M Edward Luna
F Noe Martinez
F Sebastian Rodriguez
F Miguel Garcia
Zion-Benton
GK Kurtis Gustowski
D Eric Barajas
D Osmar Barajas
D Zeke Brown
D Booker Brown
D Jose Matute
M Bryan Bielma
M Denny Matute
F Joseph Veloza
F Javier Gonzalez
F Akcel Guadarrama
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Ishaan Shah, sr. M, Warren
Scoring Summary
First Half
W - Ishaan Shah (Floriani, Senko), 36’
Second Half
W - Ishaan Shah (PK), 42’
W - Ishaan Shah (Rodriguez), 48’
W - Max Floriani (FK), 50’’