advertisement

Impressive wins for Schaumburg, Conant

Coach Hamid Mehreioskouei said before the match that his team from Schaumburg has been exemplary so far this season when it comes to combining good housekeeping with highly technical and entertaining boys soccer.

A 1-0 victory over St. Charles East to begin the Northside College Showcase tourney is unlikely to change anybody's mind, as the Saxons improved to 3-0-0 following a first-round win in Northfield on Saturday.

Jessie Lopez steered in the game-winner at 20 minutes, and the Saxons defense, along with keeper Edgar Avila, stayed clean the rest of the way to secure a hard-fought win over the Saints (1-1-0).

St. Charles East faces Niles West on Monday in pool play, while Schaumburg meets Glenbrook North.

"Our back line has been rock-solid thus far, and Edgar has been just as good along with that unit, and that's usually a recipe for success in this sport," said Mehreioskouei, whose club has not conceded a goal in its first three matches of the year.

Saints coach Paul Jennison said goodbye to 19 seniors off a wonderfully talented roster that went 15-3-2 one year ago.

"Their big lads up top gave us trouble," he said, "and their big lads in the back made it near impossible to get anything serious at their keeper. If not for a brilliant performance from our keeper, it easily could have been a 4-0, 5-0 result.

"Steven (Owens) made a couple of spectacular saves to help keep us in it, and we had a chance or two in that second half to get back even. But to be truthful, a 1-1 result wouldn't have been a fair result. Schaumburg was clearly the better side today."

The Saxons had Lopez running the show in the middle of the park, regularly finding Eddie Gomez, Alexis Flores and Noah Kostkiewicz free in the Saints' end.

"Our combination work between the midfield and our forwards has greatly improved each time out," said Schaumburg co-captain Jason Schoo, who ensured his side would win most of the first and second midfield balls on this dreary, muggy afternoon.

Jasminko Dizdarevic stung the glove of Avila when the Saints senior was put through in the 13th minute. Not to be outdone, Owens stopped a close range smash from Kostkiewicz to keep things goal-less.

Minutes later, Owens had no chance to stop Lopez, who tricked his way clear into the box before directing his well-paced shot in for the lone goal of the match.

Owens was at it again, turning around a welll-aimed blast from Flores, then another from Gomez just before the break to keep things a 1-0 after 40 minutes.

"If anything, we've got to finish our chances," Mehreiouskouei said. "If you keep a quality team like St. Charles East in it, that usually that comes back to bite you later on."

Owens stopped a PK attempt in the 45th minute, then watched his counterpart react to potential danger on a giveaway in the Saxons' by before racing off his line to cut the angle on an in-close strike from Justin Stepien teammate Evan DiLeonardi put him through with a lovely ball.

"We saw how the guys could manage a 1-0 lead after the break, and what we saw was very good," said Mehreiouskouei. "But we still have to finish our chances, that's the key."

- Mike Garofola

Conant 5, Wheaton North 0: Saturday morning was a day of satisfaction for Conant, which put a pair of early season draws behind it with a 5-0 rout of Wheaton North at Krupke Memorial Stadium in Roselle as day No. 2 of the Hillner Invite came to a close.

The Cougars (1-0-2 overall) improved to 1-0-1 in pool play, with York up next on Tuesday as tourney play continues.

"Except for the last 10-15 minutes of the first half when North really put us under, I thought we had the run of play for most of the game, and especially in the second half, after we scored our second goal," said Conant coach Jason Franco, whose team had opened the season with a 2-2 draw against a talented Evanston team.

"This was a good week for us," said Conant captain Kevin Sindewald. "We've got a big roster, and everyone has played a lot in these first three games. Today I thought we played with a lot of energy, which became contagious after we went up 2-0 just after the break."

The Cougars kept up the pressure in the second period, taking advantage of some inexperience on first-year Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen's roster to pry things open against the Falcons (1-2-0) three more times.

Conant got started quickly as Nico Scimeca drove his angled shot past a diving Connor Reece in the fourth minute.

"We're very young and inexperienced this season, and Conant did a good job of exposing our weaknesses today," said Stassen. "I don't believe Conant is 5-0 better than us, but to be fair, they played well and finished the chances we gave them. But we'll rebound and be better next time out."

The fortunes of the Falcons improved after Stassen dropped striker Cooper Winckler into the middle, and with teammates Joe Simon and Jorge Petino pitching in, Wheaton North's attack came alive.

"The best part of our game came during the last 20 minutes," Stassen said. "We spread them out with some good ball movement, but just weren't sharp enough in the final third to be dangerous."

Jon Duncan went wide on the half-hour, and minutes later, Cougars keeper Christian Hyde pushed Winckler's drive over the bar.

"We almost seemed to have an easy time of it in the early going, but we didn't play our best, and had our troubles leading into the break," Franco said. "But Biernat's goal really opened things up, and it was great to see us put a few into the back of the net."

Matt Biernat's long free kick from just inside the mid-line found its way in before an enterprising run down the left side from Franco Lazzarra ended with the senior driving in the Cezar Alfaro's wonderful serve to the back post.

The Falcons gave Sam Barajas enough room to collect and turn, and the senior took full advantage before going past Reece, who had no chance on the 67th-minute attempt.

Brian Rodela ended the scoring three minutes from time, with Noah Ozbag registering the helper.

  Prospect's Yaroslav Snihur, left, and St. Viator's Tom Scully make contact as they pursue the ball during Saturday's game in Arlington Heights. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  St. Viator's Patrick Hickey, left, leaps for a header in front of the Prospect goal as the Knight's Eryk Soltys defends during Saturday's game in Arlington Heights. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Yaroslav Snihur, left, tries to get past St. Viator's Sean Lonigro during Saturday's game in Arlington Heights. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Max Pacini, front, and St. Viator's Miles McDonnell leap for a header during Saturday's game in Arlington Heights. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Prospect's Patrick Walsh, left, tries to direct the ball past St. Viator's Anthony Pineda during Saturday's game in Arlington Heights. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.