Kleczynski's goal lifts Westminster Christian
A Robert Kleczynski goal at 35 minutes stood up the rest of the way for Westminster Christian's boys soccer team against host Christian Liberty Academy in a hard-fought 1-0 decision Tuesday in Arlington Heights.
The Northeastern Athletic Conference finale for both clubs was a wide-open match right from the start. After several opportunities for both teams, Kleczynski made his statement, turning and firing in the game-winner just in front of Chargers keeper Jack Matthews, who had no chance to stop the left-footed smash.
"It's too bad we allowed that goal right before the half, because I thought we had played a pretty even game with them up to that point, but that's the way things have gone for us this year," said Chargers coach Eric Jaime. "We have so many young players, and sometime, it's our youth that does us in. But that's not an excuse either, and we have to learn from those mistakes."
Westminster Christian (4-9-0, 0-5-0), which was without center midfielder Noah Gannon, played a more direct game than usual, targeting Kleczynski while teammates Will DeHann and Michael Beusse provided quality service from out of the middle to test the Chargers' back line.
"When Noah is in there, we play more possession soccer than direct, but without him, we had to play a different style, which worked well at times but not enough to allow us to keep the ball longer," said Westminster Christian coach Erik Schwartz.
Chad Thomason nearly struck a spectacular goal for Westminster in the 14th minute when his half-volley one-timer rattled the post after Beusse set up the sophomore from just inside the box.
The hosts found their form shortly after the Thomason attempt, and with the quartet of Grant Sutherland, Jon Patterson, Josh Tolford and Matt Schuster earning more touches, the Chargers' attack gained some steam.
"They were such a big team, but I felt that we were able to be better technically while moving the ball around," said Jaime. "But we just weren't able to be as good as we need to be in the final third in order to score."
There wasn't much life in the game during the first 10 minutes after the break, although freshman Lee Graseman of Westminster did deliver a trio of well-paced dangerous balls to put the Chargers' defense under pressure.
Quick touches from Sutherland, then Aaron Lauby nearly found Jesse Castro in the 53rd minute. Some seven minutes later it was Lauby once again, this time forcing Warriors keeper Ben Versluys into action.
The best chance of the half came in the 66th minute when a long ball out of the ball pulled Versluys far off his line in a challenge. If not for a well timed retrieving mission from Josh Funhouser, who took Lauby's shot off the line, the Chargers might have equalized.
"They played a much better second half than we did, and forced us to hang on during the last 10-15 minutes," said Schwartz.
The Warriors open the Class 1A state series in their own regional next Wednesday against St. Edward.
"We finally settled in and began to play better soccer about two weeks ago when I told the boys to relax, and remember our motto here: P4G (Play for God)," Schwartz said. "And I think it has taken the pressure off a little bit as it is a reminder of what it's all about."
The Chargers finish their regular season Thursday before preparing for a postseason opener against Northridge Prep in the Guerin Prep regional.