It’s full speed ahead for Leyden

Krystian Drozdz and Juan Recendez each scored a goal and had a hand in another as Leyden earned a 6-1 win over St. Ignatius in a nonconference soccer match Saturday afternoon in Northlake.

The Eagles finished the week with a perfect 3-0 spurt and have won seven straight. They enter Tuesday’s match brimming with confidence. It’s a key date, as a showdown at Morton will likely decide the West Suburban Gold championship between the two rivals.

“We’ve been getting better and better with each match, and now the game we’re all looking forward to play is almost here. I really feel all of us are ready to play on Tuesday,” said the Eagles’ top defender, Fernando Camacho, who along with Drozdz and Josh Ponce wear the captain armbands for coach Mark Valintis.

“This team has really come together,” said Valintis. “Not only during training or our matches, but also away from the game where they’re a very tight group. I feel that is the main reason we are playing as well as we are right now.”

The visiting Wolfpack (8-7-0) found itself in trouble from the outset, as the hosts weren’t the least bit hesitant in going forward from the opening whistle. Leyden found Drozdz and Recendez on a regular basis and dominated at midfield to help keep the pressure on its opponents up through the first goal of the game at eight minutes and up until a 3-goal advantage just before the break.

“We were very careless in our own end with turnovers, and in our decision making, and (Leyden) really took advantage of us because of it,” said coach Jim Luzzi, who began his career at St. Ignaitus in 1970 and has recorded over 400 victories since then. “When they scored the late goal before (the) half, I could sense during the break that our guys were struggling with their confidence.”

The hosts scored again when sophomore Christian Hernandez, on the end of a nice 1-2 combination with Drozdz, fired past keeper Zak Allen.

The Eagles doubled their lead at 16 minutes with the senior Drozdz hitting a one-timer in from 12 yards after his teammate Oscar Chavarria kept things alive following a free kick from Volodymyr Bereskky.

“Ever since Juan (Recendez) was moved up top from the middle, we’ve been scoring and creating more than ever,” said Drozdz, who leads Leyden with 12 goals.

Allen stopped Recendez near the 6 after he was sent through with a lovely chip over the backline from sophomore Tony Guzman, but the Wolfpack keeper could do nothing when his defense failed to communicate on a troublesome ball sent in by Chavarria which fell to Daniel Bielak for an easy goal at 38 minutes.

The entire first half was played in a driving, cold rain. Fortunately for the hearty faithful in attendance, the sun broke through after intermission, making it a little bit easier for the St. Ignatius fans to watch their favorite team concede another 3 goals.

Dan McIlhattan broke the shutout at 75 minutes.

Recendez and Kevin Ziobro scored the final 2 goals for Leyden, and Bereskky earlier supplied a 30-yard free kick missile.

“We’ve been playing pretty good soccer of late, and we had hoped to come in (here) and give Leyden a good match, but we didn’t begin the day very well, and things went from bad to worse afterwards,” said Luzzi.