Playoff opener rejuvenates Lane
Finn leads charge, Indians start CPL
title defense with rousing 5-1 win over Amundsen
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — The opportunity for a clean slate energized Lane.
Its disappointing regular season perched squarely in the rear view mirror, Lane opened pool play in the Chicago Public League tournament focused and ready to defend its city championship.
The state of mind was completely different. The Indians conjured a new state of being that erased the cumulative disappointments that saw little go according to expectations before Oct. 5. “I think we’re going to rally and play very well throughout the city tournament,” star senior forward Owen Finn said.
Finn has played in three consecutive city title games and scored the game-winner in last year’s 1-0 championship over Kelly. That pedigree is important to draw on. Lane has appeared in an unprecedented four consecutive city title games.
“Even though we didn’t finish the way we should have during the season, I feel like as a team we gathered and motivated each other to really push one another and play very hard,” Finn said.
A different campaign and a more charged and direct approach to the game benefited the Indians enormously.
Finn scored two goals in the opening minutes and assisted forward Jose Terrazas on two other first half goals as the Indians blitzed Amundsen with all of its scoring in the opening 28 minutes of a 5-1 trouncing in the opening of tournament pool play at Lane Stadium on Monday night.
For his accomplishments Finn was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
The tournament bracket features eight pools of three teams. The eight winners of pool play make up the quarterfinal bracket set to play Saturday. The semifinals and championship are next week at Lane. Kennedy is the other participant in the three-team pool. The Crusaders travel to Amundsen today. Lane plays at Kennedy on Thursday.
Lane was a different side Monday -- confident, ready and highly motivated. Finn was a one-man wrecking crew who drilled a ball in the second minute past an overmatched Amundsen defense. “The thing is, a goal in the first two minutes,” Amundsen coach Alex Perez said. “You do that and you’re already behind the eight ball. Most of the kids, as soon as they saw the first one, they dropped their heads right off the bat.
“So it was something that affected them mentally and emotionally.”
Finn is the team’s most explosive player. His sharp play and ability to finish and create for teammates elevated the team’s offensive striking capabilities. “I think my strengths as a player are my speed, quick shots and making runs on the side and just trying to be in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Six minutes into the game, Lane (3-8-4) held a 2-0 lead. “They didn’t seem ready or prepared for our intensity at the start of the game,” Finn said. “We really wanted to win.”
Shell-shocked at the start, Amundsen recovered after Finn’s early barrage with some better possession. Forward Faruk Dzambegovic provided a burst of optimism with a strong left-footed blast that was just off frame.
Lane vanquished the threat and deepened their hold as Finn ignited another explosive run as the Indians throttled the Vikings by scoring three goals in a six-minute stretch.
Finn flicked a header that a streaking Terrazas caught up with on the left edge in stride. He broke into the middle and forced Amundsen’s sophomore keeper Arturo Peralta to commit. Breaking off the line, Peralta tried to cut off Terrazas from the ball.
The Lane forward was too quick to the ball and he chipped a ball past Peralta for the 3-0 lead in the 22nd minute. In the 27th minute, Finn played a ball over the top that again Terrazas finished with authority.
Lanky midfielder George Ivanov punctuated the dominant show with a rocket ball off a deflection in the 28th minute as the Indians set a new season-high for goals in a game. Lane dodged one bullet last week by edging Taft 1-0 that avoided the dreaded relegation out of the Premier Division.
The relief was palpable. “We don’t need to worry about that,” forward Damian Pikul said. “But now there’s even more pressure on us because we’re playing teams that we played in our season, except now it’s for the city title.
“We’re confident we can compete with any of them.”
Lane keeper Simon Jillson recorded two outstanding saves at the end of the first half, beating Vikings’ midfielder Meris Halilovic with a decisive block and then adding another superb kick save at the beginning of the second half.
“The way we played in the first half definitely boosted our moral,” Pikul said.
The second half was anticlimatic. Lane played more tentatively and Amundsen fought hard to register some level of an attack. Perez switched to a more experienced keeper with Enrique Espinosa Navarettete, and he registered several accomplished stops. Lane failed to convert two penalty kicks in the second half, as coach Andrew Ricks allowed the players to determine the shooters and they elected little used defenders who were popular bench players. Both players missed badly on their shots.
Amundsen midfielder Bryan Saca averted the shutout by finishing a ball in the 78th minute for the Vikings (3-9-0).
The less-than-sharp conclusion left some of the players and Ricks concerned. “I’m sometimes a little bit of a perfectionist,” Ricks said. “We definitely achieved the objective of winning the game. But we also wanted to have the maximum number of points, which was a six-goal differential.
“We took our foot off the pedal in the second half, and Amundsen decided to play because we were really taking it to them. In the case of those penalty kicks, I choose not to overcoach in those moments. I hope it’s not the deciding factor.”
At the moment, Lane only rejoiced. The Indians (3-8-4) have won twice as many games in the last six days as the first six weeks of the season. Kennedy is the next focus. “We have a lot of young players, freshmen and sophomores, and now we want to help get their mindset ready for the next group of games,” Finn said.
Starting lineups
Amundsen
GK: Arturo Peralta
D: Eduardo Vaca
D: Luis Torres
D: Alan Bahena
D: Giovanni Trejo
M: Victor Bonilla
M: Gustavo Macedo
M: Alexis Berrios
M: Meris Halilovic
F: Jesus Lovera
F: Faruk Dzambegovic
Lane
GK: Simon Jillson
D: Cesar Garza
D: Stevan Bajich
D: Oscar Garcia
M: Marcin Kieta
M: Alex Rydberg
M: Nestor Aviles
M: George Ivanov
F: Kevin Mienta
F: Owen Finn
F: Damian Pikul
Man of the Match: Owen Finn, F, Lane
Finn leads charge, Indians start CPL
title defense with rousing 5-1 win over Amundsen
By Patrick Z. McGavin
CHICAGO — The opportunity for a clean slate energized Lane.
Its disappointing regular season perched squarely in the rear view mirror, Lane opened pool play in the Chicago Public League tournament focused and ready to defend its city championship.
The state of mind was completely different. The Indians conjured a new state of being that erased the cumulative disappointments that saw little go according to expectations before Oct. 5. “I think we’re going to rally and play very well throughout the city tournament,” star senior forward Owen Finn said.
Finn has played in three consecutive city title games and scored the game-winner in last year’s 1-0 championship over Kelly. That pedigree is important to draw on. Lane has appeared in an unprecedented four consecutive city title games.
“Even though we didn’t finish the way we should have during the season, I feel like as a team we gathered and motivated each other to really push one another and play very hard,” Finn said.
A different campaign and a more charged and direct approach to the game benefited the Indians enormously.
Finn scored two goals in the opening minutes and assisted forward Jose Terrazas on two other first half goals as the Indians blitzed Amundsen with all of its scoring in the opening 28 minutes of a 5-1 trouncing in the opening of tournament pool play at Lane Stadium on Monday night.
For his accomplishments Finn was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
The tournament bracket features eight pools of three teams. The eight winners of pool play make up the quarterfinal bracket set to play Saturday. The semifinals and championship are next week at Lane. Kennedy is the other participant in the three-team pool. The Crusaders travel to Amundsen today. Lane plays at Kennedy on Thursday.
Lane was a different side Monday -- confident, ready and highly motivated. Finn was a one-man wrecking crew who drilled a ball in the second minute past an overmatched Amundsen defense. “The thing is, a goal in the first two minutes,” Amundsen coach Alex Perez said. “You do that and you’re already behind the eight ball. Most of the kids, as soon as they saw the first one, they dropped their heads right off the bat.
“So it was something that affected them mentally and emotionally.”
Finn is the team’s most explosive player. His sharp play and ability to finish and create for teammates elevated the team’s offensive striking capabilities. “I think my strengths as a player are my speed, quick shots and making runs on the side and just trying to be in the right place at the right time,” he said.
Six minutes into the game, Lane (3-8-4) held a 2-0 lead. “They didn’t seem ready or prepared for our intensity at the start of the game,” Finn said. “We really wanted to win.”
Shell-shocked at the start, Amundsen recovered after Finn’s early barrage with some better possession. Forward Faruk Dzambegovic provided a burst of optimism with a strong left-footed blast that was just off frame.
Lane vanquished the threat and deepened their hold as Finn ignited another explosive run as the Indians throttled the Vikings by scoring three goals in a six-minute stretch.
Finn flicked a header that a streaking Terrazas caught up with on the left edge in stride. He broke into the middle and forced Amundsen’s sophomore keeper Arturo Peralta to commit. Breaking off the line, Peralta tried to cut off Terrazas from the ball.
The Lane forward was too quick to the ball and he chipped a ball past Peralta for the 3-0 lead in the 22nd minute. In the 27th minute, Finn played a ball over the top that again Terrazas finished with authority.
Lanky midfielder George Ivanov punctuated the dominant show with a rocket ball off a deflection in the 28th minute as the Indians set a new season-high for goals in a game. Lane dodged one bullet last week by edging Taft 1-0 that avoided the dreaded relegation out of the Premier Division.
The relief was palpable. “We don’t need to worry about that,” forward Damian Pikul said. “But now there’s even more pressure on us because we’re playing teams that we played in our season, except now it’s for the city title.
“We’re confident we can compete with any of them.”
Lane keeper Simon Jillson recorded two outstanding saves at the end of the first half, beating Vikings’ midfielder Meris Halilovic with a decisive block and then adding another superb kick save at the beginning of the second half.
“The way we played in the first half definitely boosted our moral,” Pikul said.
The second half was anticlimatic. Lane played more tentatively and Amundsen fought hard to register some level of an attack. Perez switched to a more experienced keeper with Enrique Espinosa Navarettete, and he registered several accomplished stops. Lane failed to convert two penalty kicks in the second half, as coach Andrew Ricks allowed the players to determine the shooters and they elected little used defenders who were popular bench players. Both players missed badly on their shots.
Amundsen midfielder Bryan Saca averted the shutout by finishing a ball in the 78th minute for the Vikings (3-9-0).
The less-than-sharp conclusion left some of the players and Ricks concerned. “I’m sometimes a little bit of a perfectionist,” Ricks said. “We definitely achieved the objective of winning the game. But we also wanted to have the maximum number of points, which was a six-goal differential.
“We took our foot off the pedal in the second half, and Amundsen decided to play because we were really taking it to them. In the case of those penalty kicks, I choose not to overcoach in those moments. I hope it’s not the deciding factor.”
At the moment, Lane only rejoiced. The Indians (3-8-4) have won twice as many games in the last six days as the first six weeks of the season. Kennedy is the next focus. “We have a lot of young players, freshmen and sophomores, and now we want to help get their mindset ready for the next group of games,” Finn said.
Starting lineups
Amundsen
GK: Arturo Peralta
D: Eduardo Vaca
D: Luis Torres
D: Alan Bahena
D: Giovanni Trejo
M: Victor Bonilla
M: Gustavo Macedo
M: Alexis Berrios
M: Meris Halilovic
F: Jesus Lovera
F: Faruk Dzambegovic
Lane
GK: Simon Jillson
D: Cesar Garza
D: Stevan Bajich
D: Oscar Garcia
M: Marcin Kieta
M: Alex Rydberg
M: Nestor Aviles
M: George Ivanov
F: Kevin Mienta
F: Owen Finn
F: Damian Pikul
Man of the Match: Owen Finn, F, Lane