Boys soccer: Maine West breaks through with win against Maine East
Maine West's boys soccer team needed to respond after three shutout losses to Fenton, Glenbrook South and Evanston.
And the Warriors indeed had a winning plan Monday night in Des Plaines.
Jonathan Reynoso and Emerson Herrera both scored twice and the Warriors' midfield led by Reynoso excelled in the second half of soccer as Maine West topped Maine East 5-2 in a Central Suburban North opener.
"We haven't been playing very well in our last three games, so it felt good to come out and score some goals, and finally beat Maine East, which is a great thing since we haven't beaten them in my first two years on the varsity," said Reynoso, a senior.
The victory ends a three-year losing streak in the CSL North for Maine West.
"It's good to finally get that monkey of our backs - three years is a long time to go without a win our division," said Matan, who last saw the Warriors earn a win the CSL North when Emerson Herrera's brother Nelson led a record-setting season in 2013.
"The last three games we just haven't played the way we're capable of," Matan said. "But tonight we did all of the little things real well, plus we defended the way we should. Our midfield distributed and played end-to-end, and our keeper, Elmer Vega, put into our starting lineup for tonight, was strong throughout."
Things did not start the way they would end for the Warriors (4-3-1, 1-0-0). Maine West conceded an early goal to Maine East (2-5-0, 0-1-0) in the ninth minute when a failure to cleanly clear the area resulted in Nikolaus Ryczek finding the back of the net at the end of a scrum in close.
"Yes, it was a good start for us," said Demons coach Jeff Bishop, who started just three seniors. "In fact, the first half was a pretty good one all the way around. But our inexperience jumped up and got us for 2 goals. And in the second half, we gave their goal-scorers too many chances. They punished us for those mistakes, and we continue to go through our growing pains."
The Warriors created their first opening when Reynoso hit the back post with his cross from near the flag. Moments later, the talented midfielder wisely chipped Demons keeper Ramy Atia, who'd ventured far off his line in the 24th minute.
Soon after, Jason Martinez set Herrera free with Atia out of his box - but one too many touches allowed the freshmen keeper to retreat in time to corral Herrera's attempt.
Herrera didn't miss on his next chance, which came three minutes later. He followed the flight of a wonderful ball from Ozzie Espinoza, then timed his header to beat Atia at the near post.
The visitors were forced to sit a little deeper than they'd have liked when the Warriors attacked with plenty of pace and energy after the break. But a counter which led to a long throw from Aleksandar Gligorevic resulted in Danny Herrera equalizing in the 57th minute.
Chances for the Demons proved few and far between after the 57th-minute goal, as it became plenty of one-way traffic for the Warriors. They played through their midfield consistently, generating plenty of chances.
Connor Hilliard, Jason Ibarra, Alex Marron, Ordonez and Reynoso were too much for the Demons to handle. And when Ibarra won a 50-50 ball and quickly played to Herrera up the right side, the home fans were treated to a sensational goal.
The Demons' hopes of a comeback were spoiled five minutes later on a cool finish by Alex Marron after he calmly touched away from his defender, leading to the final goal of the night in the 76th minute from Reynoso.
"This was a good all-around effort, one that we needed to have, and one that I know the guys were capable of having," said Matan.
The Warriors travel to Glenbrook North on Wednesday, then host Von Steuben of the Chicago Public League on Friday.