Boys soccer: In time, Leyden's trio has Proviso East's number
Esteban Hernandez, Krystian Havran and Matt Makowiec grabbed a goal apiece in the first half - and the trio from Leyden's boys soccer team was just getting started.
It was more of the same after the break as the Eagles rolled to an 8-0 victory over visiting Proviso East (0-4-0, 0-2-0) in a West Suburban Conference Gold contest Monday afternoon in Northlake.
The win begins a busy and important six-game stretch for Leyden, beginning with another division match Tuesday with Willowbrook followed a nonconference opponent in Maine West, all of which leads up to the Eagles (7-3-0, 1-0-0) meeting conference powers Downers Grove South and Morton next week.
"We came out way too slow," said Hernandez.
Damian Kosakowski, and Hernandez limited the Pirates to just a couple of scoring chances at keepers Jason Andrade and David Duwal, who shared in the fourth shutout of the season for Leyden coach Mark Valintis.
"With all due respect to David (Moss, Proviso East head coach), we're the better team - but we were so lethargic, and played with little life in the opening 15 minutes, and instead of establishing ourselves early on, we kept them in the game," said Valintis. "If we do that next week against Downers and Morton, we're going to be in trouble."
The Pirates, led by onetime Leyden basketball standout Moss, defended well in its own end during the first quarter-hour, using a high line to induce four offsides flags, while keeping most of the long balls under control thanks to the efforts of Daniel Kulawiak and Kosakowski.
"We played too much individual, and not enough team soccer in the first half, but coach reminded us at the half to get more touches and knock the ball around," Hernandez said. "And when we did, we were so much better."
"When we finally played the way we're supposed to, the goals came really fast for us," said Kosakowski, who wore the captain's armband along with Angel Lopez and Hernandez.
Proviso East felt a PK awarded to Hernandez at 29 minutes was unjust, but, nonetheless, the senior buried his spot kick. Two minutes later, Havran doubled the Leyden advantage after some crisp passing pulled the Pirates apart in their own end.
Makowiec made it 3-0 in the 40th minute when his sublime touch from in close was made possible by a Havran corner as Hernandez headed nicely to his unmarked mate.
"We rose to the level of our competition last week, yet today we dropped down a bit in that first half," said Valintis. "But those three late goals, and especially Matt's right before the half, really broke the spirit of Proviso, and after that the second half was ours."
It took just seven minutes for the Eagles to break things open, with Havran, Hernandez and Makowiec at it again to increase the lead to 6-0 at 47 minutes.
Valintis brought most of his starting lineup off after his club scored its sixth of the afternoon, with Diego Peralta and Oscar Cifuentes joining in before the final whistle sounded.