Libertyville, Warren roll at Pepsi Showdown
The field belonged to Lloyd Chatfield.
His first career hat trick led defending Pepsi Showdown champion Libertyville to a 5-0 win over Lisle in an opening-round match at Lyons Township Soccer Complex in LaGrange Saturday.
Warren’s Aunor Solis earned a tip of the hat, too.
Solis scored 4 goals, as the Blue Devils hammered Hubbard 8-1. Lake Zurich nudged past Oswego 2-1 in penalty kicks.
Libertyville (3-1, 1-0) got its first three tallies from Chatfield. The senior veteran and his teammates remind themselves to “fear no one and respect everyone” when playing an unfamiliar opponent.
“We had never played (Lisle) and didn’t know what to expect,” Chatfield said. “Being the defending champions, everyone wants to knock off Libertyville.”
Second-seeded Libertyville will next host West Chicago (6-1) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Libertyville Township Soccer Complex in the Round of 16.
Chatfield put the Wildcats up 1-0 in the 10th minute. Austin Bitta had chipped a ball that Chatfield ran onto and finished.
“Having Austin in the midfield is invaluable,” said Chatfield, who has 6 goals in 4 games. “The balls he can play to me or any other guy are unlike any other from a center mid that I’ve ever played with.”
Chatfield scored his second goal off a rebound in the 33rd minute. He notched his hat-trick goal off a long service from Ralf Zehnter in the 44th minute.
Libertyville got its other goals from Nathan Edmunds, off an assist from Zehnter, and Ryan Dawson, who buried a penalty kick.
“We had to get used to playing on grass. It took us a little while,” Libertyville coach Andy Bitta said. “Once we started two-touching, we looked really good. (Lisle) couldn’t handle our speed with the way we were moving the ball, and that was the big difference.”
Lisle (6-2, 0-1) came out with the attitude that it could play with Libertyville from start to finish.
“From the beginning, I thought we brought the ball to (Libertyville),” Lisle coach Kevin Perez said. “We were aggressive and were attacking with intensity. We played a great team in Libertyville. We knew what was expected in a fast-paced game. Our goal was to come out better and learn from experience.”
For the second time this season, Solis struck for four goals in a contest. He scored four against Wheeling in the Glenbrook South Invite a couple of weeks ago.
“Everything just seemed to get going,” said Solis, who also added an assist. “Other players are playing the ball and crossing it in to me.”
Solis spent most of last season on crutches with a MCL injury. He tried to return later in the season and hurt his ankle.
“Last year wasn’t my year,” said Solis, who has 11 goals and 4 assists in 9 games. “This year, I want to make it a better year. We’ll see what happens.”
Nick Wegrznowicz added a pair of goals for Warren goals. Daniel Szczepanek and Sean Kirwan also found the back of the net. Tony Severini and Szczepanek each had a couple of assists. Solis and Ben Skelton also assisted on goals.
Top-seeded Warren (8-1, 1-0) will next host Wheaton Academy at 6 p.m. Tuesday in Gurnee.
“We haven’t had a game where we put the pedal down and finished our chances,” Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. “Granted, we scored a lot of goals, but we scored on a lot of chances. We really needed a game like this to boost our confidence after a slow week.”
Lake Zurich got past Oswego in penalty kicks. Bears did it with a 4-2 advantage after being tied 1-1 in regulation.
Will O’Brien scored for the 14th-seeded Bears (3-5-1, 1-0) in the 10th minute. O’Brien, Tim Burroughs, Kevin Loch and Ian Murray netted the kicks.
Lake Zurich keeper Braven Bacardi made 8 stops, including one in the penalty kick shootout.
The Bears will travel to play at No. 3 Larkin on Tuesday night.
“It’s nice to start with a win and give yourself an opportunity to move on,” Lake Zurich coach Michael Schmitz said. “We would have liked to have finished better and been more consistent. Sometimes you do what you have to do. Kicks are never a good way to end a game.”