Boys soccer: Warren wins NSC championship
Warren's boys soccer team went unbeaten in the rugged North Suburban Conference Lake Division.
The Blue Devils put forth another strong effort in Thursday night's conference championship match, as they defeated Round Lake 4-1 in Gurnee.
Alex Fratila and Chris Travis each had a goal and an assist, while Kevin Penarrita and Richie Flores also scored for Warren. Mikey Pliskat had an assist as well.
Freddie Ramirez scored his 33rd goal for the only Panthers tally.
Warren (14-2-4) won its second NSC championship under coach Jason Ahonen, whose Blue Devils captured the crown in 2010 as well.
"That meant a lot to me," Ahonen said of the 2010 title. "Not that this one means any less. This one is great. These kids get along so well. It's so enjoyable to come to training. They make me laugh and they make me try to laugh. They work tremendously hard. They bought in, and they're good student-athletes."
Two years ago, the Blue Devils won the school's first team state championship. Can they do it again?
"We're a different team," Ahonen said. "Not to take anything from this team or the '12 team. We don't have guys that are going to score 20 goals in a season. We're a bunch of hard workers that put the team above themselves. Our stats don't lie. We apply ourselves to getting into our spots, putting the ball where we can be dangerous and finishing those chances."
Warren stopped Round Lake's 13-game unbeaten streak and dropped the NSC Prairie champs to 13-3-3.
Fratila opened the scoring in the 11th minute after a foul just outside the penalty area to the left, as he knocked in a free kick.
"We like to get things going early," Fratila said "I wanted to start us off strong and get us off on the right foot. I'm glad that I was able to do that for the team."
Fratila set up the second goal in the 47th minute when he hit a corner kick in front of the goal. Travis slid in and connected for a 2-0 lead.
Round Lake struck back five minutes later. Ramirez beat a couple of defenders after taking a pass from Alejandro Santelo and finished.
"That's what I had to do to get the team pumped up," Ramirez said. "I just do what I do with the ball. I don't think about it. That's what my skills are."
Warren responded with two goals in less than a minute. Penarrita knocked in the third goal off a low cross from Pliskat in the 55th minute. Then, Flores scored from 35 yards out off a pass from Travis.
Round Lake couldn't recover after that.
"I think we started to play their style," Round Lake coach Hugo Tellez said. "Then we settled down and got that (Ramirez) goal. It was one mistake that cost us. Warren is a great team. They keep things in control. I thought they had good center mids, and they might have been playing more defensive."