Lemont, Oak Forest clash
in key divisional showdown
By Curt Herron
The South Suburban Conference Blue Division match that features Lemont at Oak Forest at 6 p.m. Thursday is a major clash among the four squads that are battling for the title in the five-school grouping.
Bremen took over first place with a 4-2-1 record and 13 points after claiming a 3-1 win over Argo on Tuesday. The Braves moved in front of Lemont (3-1-2, 7-2-2 overall) which saw its Tuesday game against Eisenhower postponed until Oct. 13. Since dropping a 1-0 decision at Lemont on September 10, Bremen has gone 3-0-1 against league foes.
Meanwhile, fourth place Oak Forest is 2-1-1 with seven points, which is one point behind 2-2-2 T.F. United. The Bengals (6-2-2 overall) saw their Tuesday match with 11-1-1 Oak Lawn postponed until October 1 while T.F. United beat Evergreen Park to get back into the mix.
Coach Rick Prangen's Lemont squad, the defending Blue Division champion, is on pace to finish strong. It follows its matchup with the Bengals by facing only one other team with a winning league record, Richards, on September 29. It also meets Reavis and Tinley Park, who are both currently winless in South Suburban Conference play.
After battling Lemont, coach Kieran Byrne's Bengals have some tough assignments among their final six league matches. They host district rival Bremen on October 4 and still have to face the top four teams in the Red Division: Eisenhower (4-1-1, 13 points); Oak Lawn (3-0-1, 10): Shepard (3-0-0, 9); and Richards (3-2-0, 9).
Oak Forest, which took second in the Blue Division a year ago, followed its 3-0-2 start to the season with losses in two of its next three matches.
The Bengals have won their last two against Tinley Park and T.F. United entering tonight’s match.
Lemont started the season off 4-0-1 before going 0-1-1 in its first two South Suburban Conference matches. Then the squad went 3-0-1 while recording shutout wins over Bremen, Evergreen Park and T.F. United and settling for a scoreless draw against Argo.
In last season's match, visiting Lemont dominated the play but the Bengals took advantage of one of their few good chances to earn a 1-1 draw.
Prangen's boys teams have won 12 conference titles during his successful tenure at Lemont. He's one of three active coaches in Illinois who have 400 or more victories in girls soccer as well as 300 or more wins in boys soccer, joining current Downers Grove North girls coach Brian Papa and Wheaton Warrenville South boys and girls coach Guy Callipari in that prestigious club.
"Tonight's conference game is an absolutely crucial conference game," Prangen said. "If either team is able to get three points, they will go to the top of the conference standings. Oak Forest will be well organized and well-coached. It will be a difficult task to go on the road and get a positive result. I fully expect a very tight and competitive game."
The Oak Forest offense is led by senior forward Ian Plancarte, who has team-high totals of six goals and 13 points. Others with multiple goals are sophomore midfielder Lennon Flores (four), senior midfielder Marcos Sandoval Lucas (four), senior forward Jhan Ruiz (two) and senior forward Jose Vega (two).
Oak Forest players with multiple assists are the Stacy twins, Alex (three) and Brandan (two), who are both junior midfielders, and another junior midfielder, Ian Evans (two).
Sophomore Adam Jedrzejczyk (0.649 GAA), who lost time due to a concussion, and senior Giovanni Cabrera (1.053 GAA) have split the work in goal for the Bengals.
The Bengals are a veteran squad. The 13 seniors on their 22-man roster include defenders Diego Damian, Nolan Price, Michael Speaker and Miguel Zavala, midfielders Brayden Edge and Matthew Zozobrado and forwards Ghaalib Qudus and Adam Wiseman.
Lemont only has eight seniors on its 26-man roster; freshmen and sophomores comprising half of the team. Lemont's senior players are defenders Adam Briestensky, Ben Kittridge and Lucas Urban, midfielders Sebastian Delatorre and Marek Skotnicki and forwards Franco Calcagno, Lukas Rabianski and Mahmoud Yacoub.
Oak Forest joins Bremen High School District 228 schools Bremen and Tinley Park as well as South Suburban Conference teams Richards and Evergreen Park and 10 Chicago schools in a Class AA sectional that feeds into the St. Laurence Super-ectional. Kankakee is the only school set as a regional host at this time. The Bengals, who lost in their regional opener a year ago, hope to add to regional titles that they won in 2018 and 2019.
Lemont will compete in a sub-sectional of the Class AA Glenbard South Sectional, which feeds into the Sterling Supersectional. That sub-sectional features regionals that are scheduled for Hinsdale South and St. Francis. Lemont won a regional last season before falling to eventual Class AA champion Boylan in the sectional semifinals.
in key divisional showdown
By Curt Herron
The South Suburban Conference Blue Division match that features Lemont at Oak Forest at 6 p.m. Thursday is a major clash among the four squads that are battling for the title in the five-school grouping.
Bremen took over first place with a 4-2-1 record and 13 points after claiming a 3-1 win over Argo on Tuesday. The Braves moved in front of Lemont (3-1-2, 7-2-2 overall) which saw its Tuesday game against Eisenhower postponed until Oct. 13. Since dropping a 1-0 decision at Lemont on September 10, Bremen has gone 3-0-1 against league foes.
Meanwhile, fourth place Oak Forest is 2-1-1 with seven points, which is one point behind 2-2-2 T.F. United. The Bengals (6-2-2 overall) saw their Tuesday match with 11-1-1 Oak Lawn postponed until October 1 while T.F. United beat Evergreen Park to get back into the mix.
Coach Rick Prangen's Lemont squad, the defending Blue Division champion, is on pace to finish strong. It follows its matchup with the Bengals by facing only one other team with a winning league record, Richards, on September 29. It also meets Reavis and Tinley Park, who are both currently winless in South Suburban Conference play.
After battling Lemont, coach Kieran Byrne's Bengals have some tough assignments among their final six league matches. They host district rival Bremen on October 4 and still have to face the top four teams in the Red Division: Eisenhower (4-1-1, 13 points); Oak Lawn (3-0-1, 10): Shepard (3-0-0, 9); and Richards (3-2-0, 9).
Oak Forest, which took second in the Blue Division a year ago, followed its 3-0-2 start to the season with losses in two of its next three matches.
The Bengals have won their last two against Tinley Park and T.F. United entering tonight’s match.
Lemont started the season off 4-0-1 before going 0-1-1 in its first two South Suburban Conference matches. Then the squad went 3-0-1 while recording shutout wins over Bremen, Evergreen Park and T.F. United and settling for a scoreless draw against Argo.
In last season's match, visiting Lemont dominated the play but the Bengals took advantage of one of their few good chances to earn a 1-1 draw.
Prangen's boys teams have won 12 conference titles during his successful tenure at Lemont. He's one of three active coaches in Illinois who have 400 or more victories in girls soccer as well as 300 or more wins in boys soccer, joining current Downers Grove North girls coach Brian Papa and Wheaton Warrenville South boys and girls coach Guy Callipari in that prestigious club.
"Tonight's conference game is an absolutely crucial conference game," Prangen said. "If either team is able to get three points, they will go to the top of the conference standings. Oak Forest will be well organized and well-coached. It will be a difficult task to go on the road and get a positive result. I fully expect a very tight and competitive game."
The Oak Forest offense is led by senior forward Ian Plancarte, who has team-high totals of six goals and 13 points. Others with multiple goals are sophomore midfielder Lennon Flores (four), senior midfielder Marcos Sandoval Lucas (four), senior forward Jhan Ruiz (two) and senior forward Jose Vega (two).
Oak Forest players with multiple assists are the Stacy twins, Alex (three) and Brandan (two), who are both junior midfielders, and another junior midfielder, Ian Evans (two).
Sophomore Adam Jedrzejczyk (0.649 GAA), who lost time due to a concussion, and senior Giovanni Cabrera (1.053 GAA) have split the work in goal for the Bengals.
The Bengals are a veteran squad. The 13 seniors on their 22-man roster include defenders Diego Damian, Nolan Price, Michael Speaker and Miguel Zavala, midfielders Brayden Edge and Matthew Zozobrado and forwards Ghaalib Qudus and Adam Wiseman.
Lemont only has eight seniors on its 26-man roster; freshmen and sophomores comprising half of the team. Lemont's senior players are defenders Adam Briestensky, Ben Kittridge and Lucas Urban, midfielders Sebastian Delatorre and Marek Skotnicki and forwards Franco Calcagno, Lukas Rabianski and Mahmoud Yacoub.
Oak Forest joins Bremen High School District 228 schools Bremen and Tinley Park as well as South Suburban Conference teams Richards and Evergreen Park and 10 Chicago schools in a Class AA sectional that feeds into the St. Laurence Super-ectional. Kankakee is the only school set as a regional host at this time. The Bengals, who lost in their regional opener a year ago, hope to add to regional titles that they won in 2018 and 2019.
Lemont will compete in a sub-sectional of the Class AA Glenbard South Sectional, which feeds into the Sterling Supersectional. That sub-sectional features regionals that are scheduled for Hinsdale South and St. Francis. Lemont won a regional last season before falling to eventual Class AA champion Boylan in the sectional semifinals.