Leyden aims to stay unbeaten in WSG play
Eagles host Proviso East at season's mid-point
By Gary Larsen
Leyden has finished near the top of the West Suburban Conference’s Gold Division for years, while Proviso East has struggled to compete with the upper-tier teams of the conference.
But the Eagles, ranked 18th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, don’t ever look past the Pirates.
“Our guys know a lot of their guys from indoor leagues, and from growing up in the same general area; and (Proviso East) always gets up to play us,” Valintis said. “We hope things go our way, but we always approach this game like we do every other game. It’s a good, friendly rivalry.”
Leyden (4-1-0, 2-0-0) enters Tuesday’s game in Franklin Park against the Pirates on the heels of two shutout wins over division foes — 3-0 over Downers Grove South and 5-0 over Willowbrook.
In lieu of a state tournament, this year’s Gold title stands as the chief objective for teams in the WSG. A win over Proviso East would set Leyden up well for the final stretch against Hinsdale South (0-2-0 in WSG play), Addison Trail (3-1-0), and Morton (3-0-0) in divisional competition
“This was going to be a year we were looking forward to, with six guys in their third years of varsity soccer,” Valintis said. “It’s a good group of kids with good chemistry. But Addison Trail is tough, Morton is always going to be Morton, and it’s getting to the point where there are just no off days in the the conference. And that makes it fun.”
An Eagles’ team that’s long on experience and playing together has scored 18 goals through five games. Leyden has surrendered six, four of which came in one bad half of a shutout loss to a Lyons team ranked no. 1 at the time.
“We’ve had six different guys score, which is always nice,” Valintis said. “And we’re scoring in different ways — some longer-range shots, crosses through the middle, individual one-on-one moves — so it’s nice to see us create a lot of different kinds of chances.”
Forwards Javier Solis, Pablo Mancha, Chris Hernandez and Alan Vazquez have all contributed in the scoring column this season; Vazquez has five goals, Mancha and Hernandez have three apiece, and Solis has a goal and four assists.
“They’re all different,” Valintis said. “Mancha has strength and technical ability, Javier is doing a lot of his damage running off the ball, and we call Alan ‘the Fox in the Box.’ He just finds ways to get goals. He always seems to know where the ball is going to go and he just gets there.
“There are times he’s playing on the left side, and he’s all the way on the right side at the near post. He’s proven for four years that he can find space and score. So even though it can put him out of position defensively at times, I don’t get too mad when he’s making his creative runs offensively -- as long as he’s scoring goals.”
A backline featuring Jesus Recendez, Kristin Martinez, Matt Espinoza, and Edgar Orozco have also been rock-solid in front of keeper Kai Kopera and Isael Marin.
“Matt and Jesus have been on varsity since their sophomore year, and Edgar and Krystian came on last year,” Valintis said. “Matt played more in the midfield for us last year, but he’s come into the middle in back and that allows Jesus and Edgar to run up and down the sidelines, and get more involved in the attack. That’s something we weren’t able to do last year. And it’s a real tough group to score against.”
The Eagles’ attack from the backline to the forwards goes through midfield, and Leyden’s three-man crew of Dylan Santamaria, Ozzie Pacheco, and Alan Jacinto are getting the job done.
“They’ve played well. Ozzie and Alan have been with us for three years,” Valintis said. “Alan is an all-state caliber player. He’s not going to get the stats that other midfielders might, but boy does he control the game. He just operates at another level than other high school players. He does things that even amaze me, like ‘How did he even think to do something like that?’ He’s able to see things and anticipate things really, really well.”
The Eagles have played on their grass home field at the West Leyden campus for years but have been playing games this season on the new turf field located at the East Leyden campus, where they’ll take on Proviso East today at 6:30.
And an Eagles team that likes to move the ball around the pitch is enjoying the new artificial field.
“It’s seventy-five yards wide so it’s a little different. That extra 10 yards of width makes a difference,” Valintis said. “We’ve gotten used to it and when you add that 10 yards, some of the running you have to do changes. Team also have a tough time adjusting to it so it is a bit of a home-field advantage."ntage.”d
Eagles host Proviso East at season's mid-point
By Gary Larsen
Leyden has finished near the top of the West Suburban Conference’s Gold Division for years, while Proviso East has struggled to compete with the upper-tier teams of the conference.
But the Eagles, ranked 18th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, don’t ever look past the Pirates.
“Our guys know a lot of their guys from indoor leagues, and from growing up in the same general area; and (Proviso East) always gets up to play us,” Valintis said. “We hope things go our way, but we always approach this game like we do every other game. It’s a good, friendly rivalry.”
Leyden (4-1-0, 2-0-0) enters Tuesday’s game in Franklin Park against the Pirates on the heels of two shutout wins over division foes — 3-0 over Downers Grove South and 5-0 over Willowbrook.
In lieu of a state tournament, this year’s Gold title stands as the chief objective for teams in the WSG. A win over Proviso East would set Leyden up well for the final stretch against Hinsdale South (0-2-0 in WSG play), Addison Trail (3-1-0), and Morton (3-0-0) in divisional competition
“This was going to be a year we were looking forward to, with six guys in their third years of varsity soccer,” Valintis said. “It’s a good group of kids with good chemistry. But Addison Trail is tough, Morton is always going to be Morton, and it’s getting to the point where there are just no off days in the the conference. And that makes it fun.”
An Eagles’ team that’s long on experience and playing together has scored 18 goals through five games. Leyden has surrendered six, four of which came in one bad half of a shutout loss to a Lyons team ranked no. 1 at the time.
“We’ve had six different guys score, which is always nice,” Valintis said. “And we’re scoring in different ways — some longer-range shots, crosses through the middle, individual one-on-one moves — so it’s nice to see us create a lot of different kinds of chances.”
Forwards Javier Solis, Pablo Mancha, Chris Hernandez and Alan Vazquez have all contributed in the scoring column this season; Vazquez has five goals, Mancha and Hernandez have three apiece, and Solis has a goal and four assists.
“They’re all different,” Valintis said. “Mancha has strength and technical ability, Javier is doing a lot of his damage running off the ball, and we call Alan ‘the Fox in the Box.’ He just finds ways to get goals. He always seems to know where the ball is going to go and he just gets there.
“There are times he’s playing on the left side, and he’s all the way on the right side at the near post. He’s proven for four years that he can find space and score. So even though it can put him out of position defensively at times, I don’t get too mad when he’s making his creative runs offensively -- as long as he’s scoring goals.”
A backline featuring Jesus Recendez, Kristin Martinez, Matt Espinoza, and Edgar Orozco have also been rock-solid in front of keeper Kai Kopera and Isael Marin.
“Matt and Jesus have been on varsity since their sophomore year, and Edgar and Krystian came on last year,” Valintis said. “Matt played more in the midfield for us last year, but he’s come into the middle in back and that allows Jesus and Edgar to run up and down the sidelines, and get more involved in the attack. That’s something we weren’t able to do last year. And it’s a real tough group to score against.”
The Eagles’ attack from the backline to the forwards goes through midfield, and Leyden’s three-man crew of Dylan Santamaria, Ozzie Pacheco, and Alan Jacinto are getting the job done.
“They’ve played well. Ozzie and Alan have been with us for three years,” Valintis said. “Alan is an all-state caliber player. He’s not going to get the stats that other midfielders might, but boy does he control the game. He just operates at another level than other high school players. He does things that even amaze me, like ‘How did he even think to do something like that?’ He’s able to see things and anticipate things really, really well.”
The Eagles have played on their grass home field at the West Leyden campus for years but have been playing games this season on the new turf field located at the East Leyden campus, where they’ll take on Proviso East today at 6:30.
And an Eagles team that likes to move the ball around the pitch is enjoying the new artificial field.
“It’s seventy-five yards wide so it’s a little different. That extra 10 yards of width makes a difference,” Valintis said. “We’ve gotten used to it and when you add that 10 yards, some of the running you have to do changes. Team also have a tough time adjusting to it so it is a bit of a home-field advantage."ntage.”d