Glenbard North breaks into DVC
win column in big way vs. Metea Valley
New formation suits Panthers, aids 6-1 victory
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Jacob Scheufler can work a little magic with his left foot.
The Glenbard North senior demonstrated that Saturday with a highlight reel goal, bending in a corner kick with 12:30 remaining in the first half against Metea Valley.
Unfortunately for the host Mustangs, Scheufler and his teammates were only halfway done. Eduardo Guereca had two goals and an assist, while Danny Koeller, Livre Emena and Danny Le also scored as the Panthers routed Metea Valley 6-1 in DuPage Valley Conference action.
Scheufler’s goal, which gave Glenbard North a 3-1 lead, was a thing of beauty which prompted the Metea Valley public address announcer to say off the air that it deserved to be on ESPN.
Taking the kick with his left foot from the right corner, Scheufler bent the ball over the head of Metea Valley goalkeeper Kevin Branch, under the crossbar and inside the far post.
The rare play was exceptional in its execution but the attempt should not have come as a surprise. Scheufler had tried to score from the same spot earlier in the game, with the ball skimming the crossbar and over the net.
“I don’t know if it was intentional, but he’ll tell you it was,” Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller said. “We did say that we wanted to get the ball in the 6 as much as possible to make their keeper play the ball.
“(Scheufler) had one before that that skimmed off the crossbar. That’s a dangerous play because everybody’s assuming the ball’s coming out a little further, so it’s a surprise when you put it on frame.”
Scheufler said he has scored on corner-kicks twice before.
“I was trying to play it kind of on frame because I knew that the goalie wouldn’t really come out,” Scheufler said. “If it went a little either way, then my team would have been there to finish it.
“I kind of just can feel when it’s on and take advantage of it.”
The Panthers (6-4-0, 1-3-0) took advantage of nearly every Metea Valley mistake. The biggest play came with 32:35 to go in the first half.
Each team had scored on penalty kicks in the early going, with Danny Koeller converting for the Panthers at the 32:25 mark before Dominic Duffy answered for the Mustangs (2-7-2, 1-4-0) with 26:51 to go.
Branch, who finished with six saves, couldn’t hang onto a shot at the edge of the 6 and Guereca alertly pounced on it for a tap-in goal to put the visitors up 2-1.
“We tried (Branch) out for a little bit and figured out that he couldn’t catch too much,” Guereca said with a grin. “I just noticed that he was probably going to end up dropping the ball.”
The Panthers had already been putting a lot of pressure on Branch and his defenders, with Emena heading a ball off the crossbar after Branch gave up a rebound on Isaac Manuel’s long free-kick in the fifth minute.
But Guereca’s tally turned the tide permanently in Glenbard North’s favor.
“That was a big goal,” Gregg Koeller said. “We talk all the time to our strikers about finishing your run, you have nothing to lose. (You can’t) just assume that’s going to be an easy save.
“That gave us momentum, and I think it deflated them.”
Koeller was right about that. The Panthers dominated the rest of the first half, with Guereca springing Emena for a breakaway goal that made it 4-1 with 3:15 remaining.
The Mustangs mounted a bit of an attack in the second half, earning two corner kicks and forcing Glenbard North goalie Martin Lopez to make three saves, but none of the stops were difficult.
Guereca, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, bagged his second goal with a short shot at the 22:29 mark of the second half and Le finished the scoring when he knocked home Emrah Suljanovic’s 38-yard free-kick six minutes later.
Gregg Koeller was not surprised by his team’s victory, but the margin was a stunner.
“We got on the board early, and I thought we got going on offense early,” he said. “Even when they tied it I was confident if we continued to move the ball.
“They’re a good defensive team, so to be able to break them down six times was surprising, and I’m pleased for our guys.”
The Panthers now have scored 15 goals in four games since switching to a 4-3-3 formation. They’ve won three of those, with the only defeat a 3-2 setback to Wheaton Warrenville South.
“We’ve been getting used to the new formation, but after a couple games we started figuring out where we have to be and what we have to do,” Guereca said. “They’re a pretty decent team, but I think we handled them pretty well.”
Scheufler said there's more to come for Glenbard North.
“It took a couple games, but now I think we’re starting to get the hang of it,” Scheufler said. “We’ve still got a couple things to fix.”
Metea Valley, which was eliminated from the DVC title race with the loss, appear to have even more things to fix. This was the second time they have surrendered six goals in a league game. The result was especially more disheartening after their first league win Thursday -- a 2-1 decision over Wheaton North.
In a lengthy postgame get-together, Metea’s coaches told the Mustangs they had taken several steps back following that victory, which they hoped had been a turning point, and challenged them to turn the season around.
"I think there is something here, and we aren't settling for just competing," said Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson. " As a coaching staff we are continuing to set the expectations high with the boys and hold them accountable.
"But for them it is tough, as they see themselves in a huge hole. As a team we need to just get back to simplicity of playing and enjoying playing and only worrying about things we can control like effort, focus and playing simple.
"I believe in these boys and hope we can get them to believe in themselves."
Metea Valley will continue to search for a successful formula when it makes a Tuesday trip down Eola Road to District 204 rival Waubonsie Valley. The Mustangs have tried different formations and several lineup switches but have yet to find the right combination. But the postseason looms and with it comes a clean slate where unforgettable memories can be made.
Glenbard North, on the other hand, has benefitted from its formation change and kept its slim DVC hopes alive by finally denting the win column after three close losses.
“It feels great,” Scheufler said. “Our first three (league) games were tough one-goal losses. I feel like any of those games could have gone either way, but for it to go our way this game felt really good.”
The Panthers will have to win out and get outside help to win the league title, but a road win over first-place Naperville North on Tuesday would go a long way toward making the race interesting.
“I’m pleased with the result,” Gregg Koeller said. “We told the kids that in the DVC you’re usually looking at 2-1 or 1-0 games. We know all about that.
“I don’t know that we’re going to win the DVC but I want to be in the conversation, and we’ve still got games left against good teams. We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, but today was a nice payback for these guys because they’ve been working hard.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK Martin Lopez
D Isaac Manuel
D Evan Scott
D Isaya Ebengo
M Danny Koeller
M Erik Lopez
M Best Emena
M Jacob Scheufler
F Michael Botchev
F Livre Emena
F Eduardo Geureca
Metea Valley
GK Kevin Branch
D Michael Lothridge
D Tony Sanchez
M Aayush Kaul
M Ryan Barry
M Jaylen Brooks
M Connor Lang
M Evan Lang
F Shareef Amor
F Alfonso Castillo
F Dominic Duffy
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Eduardo Guereca, F, Glenbard North
win column in big way vs. Metea Valley
New formation suits Panthers, aids 6-1 victory
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Jacob Scheufler can work a little magic with his left foot.
The Glenbard North senior demonstrated that Saturday with a highlight reel goal, bending in a corner kick with 12:30 remaining in the first half against Metea Valley.
Unfortunately for the host Mustangs, Scheufler and his teammates were only halfway done. Eduardo Guereca had two goals and an assist, while Danny Koeller, Livre Emena and Danny Le also scored as the Panthers routed Metea Valley 6-1 in DuPage Valley Conference action.
Scheufler’s goal, which gave Glenbard North a 3-1 lead, was a thing of beauty which prompted the Metea Valley public address announcer to say off the air that it deserved to be on ESPN.
Taking the kick with his left foot from the right corner, Scheufler bent the ball over the head of Metea Valley goalkeeper Kevin Branch, under the crossbar and inside the far post.
The rare play was exceptional in its execution but the attempt should not have come as a surprise. Scheufler had tried to score from the same spot earlier in the game, with the ball skimming the crossbar and over the net.
“I don’t know if it was intentional, but he’ll tell you it was,” Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller said. “We did say that we wanted to get the ball in the 6 as much as possible to make their keeper play the ball.
“(Scheufler) had one before that that skimmed off the crossbar. That’s a dangerous play because everybody’s assuming the ball’s coming out a little further, so it’s a surprise when you put it on frame.”
Scheufler said he has scored on corner-kicks twice before.
“I was trying to play it kind of on frame because I knew that the goalie wouldn’t really come out,” Scheufler said. “If it went a little either way, then my team would have been there to finish it.
“I kind of just can feel when it’s on and take advantage of it.”
The Panthers (6-4-0, 1-3-0) took advantage of nearly every Metea Valley mistake. The biggest play came with 32:35 to go in the first half.
Each team had scored on penalty kicks in the early going, with Danny Koeller converting for the Panthers at the 32:25 mark before Dominic Duffy answered for the Mustangs (2-7-2, 1-4-0) with 26:51 to go.
Branch, who finished with six saves, couldn’t hang onto a shot at the edge of the 6 and Guereca alertly pounced on it for a tap-in goal to put the visitors up 2-1.
“We tried (Branch) out for a little bit and figured out that he couldn’t catch too much,” Guereca said with a grin. “I just noticed that he was probably going to end up dropping the ball.”
The Panthers had already been putting a lot of pressure on Branch and his defenders, with Emena heading a ball off the crossbar after Branch gave up a rebound on Isaac Manuel’s long free-kick in the fifth minute.
But Guereca’s tally turned the tide permanently in Glenbard North’s favor.
“That was a big goal,” Gregg Koeller said. “We talk all the time to our strikers about finishing your run, you have nothing to lose. (You can’t) just assume that’s going to be an easy save.
“That gave us momentum, and I think it deflated them.”
Koeller was right about that. The Panthers dominated the rest of the first half, with Guereca springing Emena for a breakaway goal that made it 4-1 with 3:15 remaining.
The Mustangs mounted a bit of an attack in the second half, earning two corner kicks and forcing Glenbard North goalie Martin Lopez to make three saves, but none of the stops were difficult.
Guereca, who earned Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors, bagged his second goal with a short shot at the 22:29 mark of the second half and Le finished the scoring when he knocked home Emrah Suljanovic’s 38-yard free-kick six minutes later.
Gregg Koeller was not surprised by his team’s victory, but the margin was a stunner.
“We got on the board early, and I thought we got going on offense early,” he said. “Even when they tied it I was confident if we continued to move the ball.
“They’re a good defensive team, so to be able to break them down six times was surprising, and I’m pleased for our guys.”
The Panthers now have scored 15 goals in four games since switching to a 4-3-3 formation. They’ve won three of those, with the only defeat a 3-2 setback to Wheaton Warrenville South.
“We’ve been getting used to the new formation, but after a couple games we started figuring out where we have to be and what we have to do,” Guereca said. “They’re a pretty decent team, but I think we handled them pretty well.”
Scheufler said there's more to come for Glenbard North.
“It took a couple games, but now I think we’re starting to get the hang of it,” Scheufler said. “We’ve still got a couple things to fix.”
Metea Valley, which was eliminated from the DVC title race with the loss, appear to have even more things to fix. This was the second time they have surrendered six goals in a league game. The result was especially more disheartening after their first league win Thursday -- a 2-1 decision over Wheaton North.
In a lengthy postgame get-together, Metea’s coaches told the Mustangs they had taken several steps back following that victory, which they hoped had been a turning point, and challenged them to turn the season around.
"I think there is something here, and we aren't settling for just competing," said Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson. " As a coaching staff we are continuing to set the expectations high with the boys and hold them accountable.
"But for them it is tough, as they see themselves in a huge hole. As a team we need to just get back to simplicity of playing and enjoying playing and only worrying about things we can control like effort, focus and playing simple.
"I believe in these boys and hope we can get them to believe in themselves."
Metea Valley will continue to search for a successful formula when it makes a Tuesday trip down Eola Road to District 204 rival Waubonsie Valley. The Mustangs have tried different formations and several lineup switches but have yet to find the right combination. But the postseason looms and with it comes a clean slate where unforgettable memories can be made.
Glenbard North, on the other hand, has benefitted from its formation change and kept its slim DVC hopes alive by finally denting the win column after three close losses.
“It feels great,” Scheufler said. “Our first three (league) games were tough one-goal losses. I feel like any of those games could have gone either way, but for it to go our way this game felt really good.”
The Panthers will have to win out and get outside help to win the league title, but a road win over first-place Naperville North on Tuesday would go a long way toward making the race interesting.
“I’m pleased with the result,” Gregg Koeller said. “We told the kids that in the DVC you’re usually looking at 2-1 or 1-0 games. We know all about that.
“I don’t know that we’re going to win the DVC but I want to be in the conversation, and we’ve still got games left against good teams. We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, but today was a nice payback for these guys because they’ve been working hard.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard North
GK Martin Lopez
D Isaac Manuel
D Evan Scott
D Isaya Ebengo
M Danny Koeller
M Erik Lopez
M Best Emena
M Jacob Scheufler
F Michael Botchev
F Livre Emena
F Eduardo Geureca
Metea Valley
GK Kevin Branch
D Michael Lothridge
D Tony Sanchez
M Aayush Kaul
M Ryan Barry
M Jaylen Brooks
M Connor Lang
M Evan Lang
F Shareef Amor
F Alfonso Castillo
F Dominic Duffy
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Eduardo Guereca, F, Glenbard North