Glenbard North upstages Glenbard East
Panthers 2-1 win dampens host's Senior Day
By Ken Keenan
LOMBARD -- Glenbard East, after capturing the first boys conference title in school history, was looking to put a little icing on the cake with a Senior Day win over district rival Glenbard North on Saturday.
But the visiting Panthers had other ideas and emerged with a 2-1 victory in the nonconference tilt.
"It was their Senior Day, so there was a lot of emotion," said Glenbard North head coach Gregg Koeller, whose crew improved to 9-5-1 overall with the win and is now on a 5-1-1 run in its last seven matches. "(The Rams) came out with a lot of fire, especially in the first 10 minutes of the second half. I knew this would be a close game, and it was a good, clean game.
"These types of games -- nonconference at the end of the season -- you want to escape without an injury, play a strong game and use as many guys as possible. And we did all three."
Glenbard East, champion of the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division, fell to 6-5-3 overall with the loss.
"It was a well-played game -- two even sides," said Rams head coach Josh Adler. "It's nice to have matches like this to get ready for the next step."
Glenbard East senior midfielder Pawel Wilisowski said. "I grew up with some of those (Glenbard North) guys. It was a tough game. It's unfortunate we lost, but you just have to look forward to the next one. It was good practice for the playoffs."
Following a scoreless first half, Glenbard North drew first blood with 33:25 remaining in the second session.
The play started with a deep throw-in by senior forward Michael Botchev, which found senior midfielder Jacob Scheufler in-close. Scheufler's attempt was stopped by Glenbard East senior goalkeeper Jose Carillo, but Panthers' senior forward Eduardo Guereca quickly pounced on the rebound and fired the ball in from the left side.
The host Rams responded and netted the equalizer less than four minutes later on a thing of beauty.
A give-and-go rush between speedy senior forward Belgoni Basunda and equally fast-moving senior midfielder Librado Olivares resulted in a corner-kick. Junior defender Brandon Pineda's serve in the box led to a wild scramble. Olivares emerged with the ball at his feet, spun and smacked a bicycle-kick past Panthers' senior keeper Martin Lopez to knot the score at 1-1. Basunda was credited with the assist.
"All I know is, the ball came to my feet and I tried to bicycle-kick it," Olivares said. "Luckily, it went in. It felt good."
"(Olivares) is a great finisher," Adler said. "He knows how to knock the ball in the back of the net."
Rams' senior mid Pawel Wilisowski said, "We had a lot of fans today, and when we scored, that pumped us up even more."
Glenbard North senior forward Livre Emena then scored what proved to be the game-winner with 18:49 to go. Taking a pass from Scheufler, Emena burst through a crowd, cut to the middle and fired into the lower right side of the cage from about 20 yards.
"A lot of guys were challenging, but Jacob (Scheufler) got the ball to me, and I had an open space," Emena said. "My first intent was to go hard and beat the keeper. Credit goes to my teammate for getting the ball to me."
Emena, a threat on the attack all day with a combination of pure speed and fearless dribbling, earned Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match honor.
"He's blessed with a ton of natural ability, and now he's learning to play with his body," coach Koeller said. "He's just gonna get better and better."
Glenbard North created the first scoring opportunity of the back-and-forth match when Danny Koeller corralled a free-kick by senior defender Isaac Manuel in the 4th minute and fired from in close, only to be stopped by Carillo.
Two minutes later, a multi-touch possession by Glenbard East ended with a wide-angle shot from the right side by Olivares that hit the side of the net. With 32:05 left in the first half, Basunda fired wide-right from 20 yards.
Less than a minute elapsed before Glenbard East senior mid Anthony O'Brien put a header over the crossbar. Soon after, Rams' senior mid Pawel Wilisowski unleashed a hard, 15-yard try that Lopez handled.
Glenbard North responded with a trio of chances during a 4-minute stretch. They began with a shot by Emena from in front that was nabbed by Carillo with 29:55 left in the first half. Three minutes later, Scheufler uncorked a left-footed strike from 25 yards that sailed wide-left, and he followed that up in the 16th minute with a long run before the ball rolled off his foot to a waiting Carillo.
Letting up on the gas pedal was not in the cards for either team in this match.
With 10:05 left before the break, Guereca fired high over the Rams' net, and Glenbard East countered with a low, 30-yard blast by Wilisowki that was saved by Lopez. In the 32nd minute, North's Manuel sent a 40-yard free-kick that Carillo grabbed.
Four minutes later, Carillo made a nice stop on a solid header by Glenbard North senior forward Michael Botchev off of a corner-kick by Emena. Carillo also made a leaping save on a head attempt by Botchev with 1:40 to go in the first half.
After taking the 2-1 lead, Glenbard North became a bit more defensive-minded the rest of the way.
"They were dropping back to defend the lead, but I feel we should have capitalized more," Wilisowski said.
Added Olivares: "We knew we needed more shots. We tried getting passes to the gaps to get another goal. When they got it to 2-1, they were defending more. So we tried our hardest to get another goal."
Adler said, "We continued to try to attack, and try to get in behind them."
But the Panthers collectively shut the door, allowing few opportunities as the Rams pressed the issue with time running down.
"In a match like this, both teams were going hard," Danny Koeller said. "It was a good, clean game ... a good game to prepare for the playoffs."
And a treat to defeat a local rival, with roots going back to youth soccer days.
"I played with a lot of them at a young age," Manuel said. "It is always fun to beat your buddies."
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
G: Martin Lopez
D: Isaac Manuel
D: Evan Scott
D: Best Emena
D: Isaya Ebengo
M: Danny Koeller
M: Jacob Scheufler
M: Erik Lopez
F: Michael Botchev
F: Livre Emena
F: Eduardo Guereca
Glenbard East
G: Jose Carillo
D: Rogelio Najera
D: Jason Goris
D: Brandon Pineda
D: Tommy Ochalek
M: Anthony O'Brien
M: Librado Olivares
M: Pawel Wilisowski
M: Fabian Aguirre
M: Uly Sarabia
F: Belgoni Basunda
Man of the Match: Livre Emena, F, Glenbard North
Officials: Tom Guidara, Krzysztof Bajorek, Boris Vukovic
Panthers 2-1 win dampens host's Senior Day
By Ken Keenan
LOMBARD -- Glenbard East, after capturing the first boys conference title in school history, was looking to put a little icing on the cake with a Senior Day win over district rival Glenbard North on Saturday.
But the visiting Panthers had other ideas and emerged with a 2-1 victory in the nonconference tilt.
"It was their Senior Day, so there was a lot of emotion," said Glenbard North head coach Gregg Koeller, whose crew improved to 9-5-1 overall with the win and is now on a 5-1-1 run in its last seven matches. "(The Rams) came out with a lot of fire, especially in the first 10 minutes of the second half. I knew this would be a close game, and it was a good, clean game.
"These types of games -- nonconference at the end of the season -- you want to escape without an injury, play a strong game and use as many guys as possible. And we did all three."
Glenbard East, champion of the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division, fell to 6-5-3 overall with the loss.
"It was a well-played game -- two even sides," said Rams head coach Josh Adler. "It's nice to have matches like this to get ready for the next step."
Glenbard East senior midfielder Pawel Wilisowski said. "I grew up with some of those (Glenbard North) guys. It was a tough game. It's unfortunate we lost, but you just have to look forward to the next one. It was good practice for the playoffs."
Following a scoreless first half, Glenbard North drew first blood with 33:25 remaining in the second session.
The play started with a deep throw-in by senior forward Michael Botchev, which found senior midfielder Jacob Scheufler in-close. Scheufler's attempt was stopped by Glenbard East senior goalkeeper Jose Carillo, but Panthers' senior forward Eduardo Guereca quickly pounced on the rebound and fired the ball in from the left side.
The host Rams responded and netted the equalizer less than four minutes later on a thing of beauty.
A give-and-go rush between speedy senior forward Belgoni Basunda and equally fast-moving senior midfielder Librado Olivares resulted in a corner-kick. Junior defender Brandon Pineda's serve in the box led to a wild scramble. Olivares emerged with the ball at his feet, spun and smacked a bicycle-kick past Panthers' senior keeper Martin Lopez to knot the score at 1-1. Basunda was credited with the assist.
"All I know is, the ball came to my feet and I tried to bicycle-kick it," Olivares said. "Luckily, it went in. It felt good."
"(Olivares) is a great finisher," Adler said. "He knows how to knock the ball in the back of the net."
Rams' senior mid Pawel Wilisowski said, "We had a lot of fans today, and when we scored, that pumped us up even more."
Glenbard North senior forward Livre Emena then scored what proved to be the game-winner with 18:49 to go. Taking a pass from Scheufler, Emena burst through a crowd, cut to the middle and fired into the lower right side of the cage from about 20 yards.
"A lot of guys were challenging, but Jacob (Scheufler) got the ball to me, and I had an open space," Emena said. "My first intent was to go hard and beat the keeper. Credit goes to my teammate for getting the ball to me."
Emena, a threat on the attack all day with a combination of pure speed and fearless dribbling, earned Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match honor.
"He's blessed with a ton of natural ability, and now he's learning to play with his body," coach Koeller said. "He's just gonna get better and better."
Glenbard North created the first scoring opportunity of the back-and-forth match when Danny Koeller corralled a free-kick by senior defender Isaac Manuel in the 4th minute and fired from in close, only to be stopped by Carillo.
Two minutes later, a multi-touch possession by Glenbard East ended with a wide-angle shot from the right side by Olivares that hit the side of the net. With 32:05 left in the first half, Basunda fired wide-right from 20 yards.
Less than a minute elapsed before Glenbard East senior mid Anthony O'Brien put a header over the crossbar. Soon after, Rams' senior mid Pawel Wilisowski unleashed a hard, 15-yard try that Lopez handled.
Glenbard North responded with a trio of chances during a 4-minute stretch. They began with a shot by Emena from in front that was nabbed by Carillo with 29:55 left in the first half. Three minutes later, Scheufler uncorked a left-footed strike from 25 yards that sailed wide-left, and he followed that up in the 16th minute with a long run before the ball rolled off his foot to a waiting Carillo.
Letting up on the gas pedal was not in the cards for either team in this match.
With 10:05 left before the break, Guereca fired high over the Rams' net, and Glenbard East countered with a low, 30-yard blast by Wilisowki that was saved by Lopez. In the 32nd minute, North's Manuel sent a 40-yard free-kick that Carillo grabbed.
Four minutes later, Carillo made a nice stop on a solid header by Glenbard North senior forward Michael Botchev off of a corner-kick by Emena. Carillo also made a leaping save on a head attempt by Botchev with 1:40 to go in the first half.
After taking the 2-1 lead, Glenbard North became a bit more defensive-minded the rest of the way.
"They were dropping back to defend the lead, but I feel we should have capitalized more," Wilisowski said.
Added Olivares: "We knew we needed more shots. We tried getting passes to the gaps to get another goal. When they got it to 2-1, they were defending more. So we tried our hardest to get another goal."
Adler said, "We continued to try to attack, and try to get in behind them."
But the Panthers collectively shut the door, allowing few opportunities as the Rams pressed the issue with time running down.
"In a match like this, both teams were going hard," Danny Koeller said. "It was a good, clean game ... a good game to prepare for the playoffs."
And a treat to defeat a local rival, with roots going back to youth soccer days.
"I played with a lot of them at a young age," Manuel said. "It is always fun to beat your buddies."
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
G: Martin Lopez
D: Isaac Manuel
D: Evan Scott
D: Best Emena
D: Isaya Ebengo
M: Danny Koeller
M: Jacob Scheufler
M: Erik Lopez
F: Michael Botchev
F: Livre Emena
F: Eduardo Guereca
Glenbard East
G: Jose Carillo
D: Rogelio Najera
D: Jason Goris
D: Brandon Pineda
D: Tommy Ochalek
M: Anthony O'Brien
M: Librado Olivares
M: Pawel Wilisowski
M: Fabian Aguirre
M: Uly Sarabia
F: Belgoni Basunda
Man of the Match: Livre Emena, F, Glenbard North
Officials: Tom Guidara, Krzysztof Bajorek, Boris Vukovic