Plainfield S. comes up short at Romeoville
Cougars drop conference-opener 3-0
By Matt Le Cren
ROMEOVILLE – Coaches are fond of saying teams play like they practice.
Plainfield South did exactly that Wednesday.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
The Cougars’ drive to their stated goal of winning the Suburban Prairie Conference championship got off to a rocky start with a 3-0 loss at unbeaten Romeoville.
The host Spartans (4-0-0, 1-0-0) scored all three of their goals in a dominant first half and then held off the resurgent Cougars to record a significant shutout.
“It’s exciting,” Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione said. “I told the guys this is the first time we’ve ever shut (the Cougars) out since I’ve been here and this is my seventh year.
“It’s been a battle every year, same as this game. They easily could have had three or four goals themselves. We scored when we had chances, and we were on the good end of the stick this time.”
The Spartans came into the match on a high after winning the Evergreen Park Tournament, defeating a relatively weak field that included UNO Garcia, Good Stem and Evergreen Park.
Plainfield South presented a bigger and more athletic team. The Cougars (2-3-0, 0-1-0) field a fairly experienced team including eight returning seniors and two sophomores who were on the roster as freshmen.
But after earning a pair of corner-kicks in the opening 10 minutes, the visitors found themselves chasing first the ball and then the scoreboard.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Leandro Deagueros tallied the only goal the Spartans would need with 24:28 left in the first half on a rebound.
An attack around the left end led to a cross to Ondre Olvera just inside the 6. Plainfield South goalkeeper Francisco Lomeli made a reflex save on Olvera’s point-blank attempt, but the rebound squirted loose toward the far post.
Deagueros alertly rushed in and delivered an emphatic finish for his fourth goal of the season.
“I knew that was going to happen,” Deagueros said. “If (Olvera) didn’t score, I knew I would have the chance to get the rebound, so I just went for it.”
It was a sign of things to come for the Spartans, who kept attacking and scoring. Olvera made it 2-0 when he ran onto a lead pass from Edwin Arcos and rolled a 17-yard shot between Lomeli and the left post.
David Cahue then put the dagger in the Cougars when he drilled a 23-yard free-kick off the inside of the right post and in for his fifth goal with 5:16 to go in the half.
“I don’t think we were surprised,” Deagueros said. “I think we have a good team, and we were ready.”
He was right about that. The Spartans hustled throughout and that allowed them to preserve the shutout despite being outshot 6-3 in the second half.
“I like how we keep possession,” Cahue said. “In the first half, we were having a lot of possession. We got our goals, and I feel really confident that we can control games.”
That’s something the Cougars can’t say about themselves yet. Their offense has been inconsistent and their preparation, by all accounts, was lacking Wednesday.
“I just don’t think we were ready,” Plainfield South senior defender Jeff Mickow said. “We had a bad day of practice yesterday, and we need to get ourselves together and start working hard.”
First-year Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams had a similar assessment.
“I just felt like we didn’t have a good practice yesterday,” Williams said. “Monday night we couldn’t practice because of the heat index, so we lost Monday night.
“I think having Sunday and Monday off, when we came back yesterday I don’t feel like we were ready. It was tough to get everybody back on the same page, and I think today was kind of a byproduct of what we did.”
Of course, the Spartans had something to do with the outcome.
“Take nothing away from Romeoville,” Williams said. “Those guys played well.
“Nick had those guys ready to go, and they created their opportunities. They took advantage, and they didn’t let us score.”
The Cougars did have two golden scoring opportunities that didn’t pan out late in the first half.
On the first chance, sophomore Anthony Marmolejo fired an open shot in the box which Romeoville goalkeeper Joel Toro made a diving stop on. Toro left a rebound sitting on the doorstep for Ramon Ochoa, but the junior forward blasted his shot over the bar.
A similar scenario played itself out in reverse in the final minute. This time Ochoa broke free in the right side of the box and sent a bullet past Toro toward the left post.
Marmolejo was open on the back post but his sliding effort popped the shot up and over the pipe from three yards out 25 seconds before intermission.
“I think we need to score more goals,” Mickow said. “You can’t win without goals. You can’t be winning games when you’re 3-0 down.”
A comeback from such a deficit was unlikely, but the Cougars didn’t let it snowball.
“(At halftime) we just talked about how we need to get our stuff together,” Mickow said. "We didn’t play like we usually do in the first half.”
It wasn’t Mickow’s fault. The co-captain was part of a backline that actually performed well. Jair Moreno, Josh Dimick and Reid Childs were also solid; the problem came from farther up the field, where the Spartans dominated the midfield in the first 40 minutes.
“Those four are pretty solid back there,” Williams said. “We’re just in a situation where we made some mistakes and gave up goals, but it’s our young kids with the learning curve.
“It’s not necessarily those senior guys. It’s nice to have those guys to count on.”
Mickow was arguably the Cougars’ most dangerous offensive weapon. He put several long free-kicks into dangerous spots in the Romeoville box, but no teammates could get a head on them.
Three of Mickow’s attempts were on goal, including a 45-yarder that was tipped around the post by Oscar Guzman, who took over for Toro at halftime.
“Jeff’s really been a spark back there for us,” Williams said. “Jeff just has a no-quit attitude, which is great for the kids to see. They elected him one of our team captains and all three of our captains come from the backline.”
Despite the loss, Williams was pleased with the second half effort.
“I like the fact that they don’t quit,” Williams said. “The young kids all want to show that they can play.
“I’ve got 25 guys fighting for playing time so that helps as well. I’ve always got somebody who is willing to step up.”
Now the Cougars need more players stepping up at the same time.
“The ultimate goal is to win conference and then make a state run,” Mickow said. “We got a while to go, but we’ve got to start building up now.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Francisco Lomeli
D Josh Demik
D Reid Childs
D Jeff Mickow
D Jair Moreno
M Anury Carreto
M Kevin Garcia
M Israel Arechiga
M Lucas Heaton
F Ramon Ochoa
F Anthony Marmolejo
Romeoville
GK Joel Toro
D Edwin Nava
D Mickey Flores
D Will Martinez
D Ondre Olvera
M Leandro Deagueros
M Christian Galvan
M Anthony Duarte
M Sebastian Aguello
F David Cahue
F Edwin Arcos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Leandro Deagueros, MF, Romeoville.
Cougars drop conference-opener 3-0
By Matt Le Cren
ROMEOVILLE – Coaches are fond of saying teams play like they practice.
Plainfield South did exactly that Wednesday.
It wasn’t a pretty sight.
The Cougars’ drive to their stated goal of winning the Suburban Prairie Conference championship got off to a rocky start with a 3-0 loss at unbeaten Romeoville.
The host Spartans (4-0-0, 1-0-0) scored all three of their goals in a dominant first half and then held off the resurgent Cougars to record a significant shutout.
“It’s exciting,” Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione said. “I told the guys this is the first time we’ve ever shut (the Cougars) out since I’ve been here and this is my seventh year.
“It’s been a battle every year, same as this game. They easily could have had three or four goals themselves. We scored when we had chances, and we were on the good end of the stick this time.”
The Spartans came into the match on a high after winning the Evergreen Park Tournament, defeating a relatively weak field that included UNO Garcia, Good Stem and Evergreen Park.
Plainfield South presented a bigger and more athletic team. The Cougars (2-3-0, 0-1-0) field a fairly experienced team including eight returning seniors and two sophomores who were on the roster as freshmen.
But after earning a pair of corner-kicks in the opening 10 minutes, the visitors found themselves chasing first the ball and then the scoreboard.
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Leandro Deagueros tallied the only goal the Spartans would need with 24:28 left in the first half on a rebound.
An attack around the left end led to a cross to Ondre Olvera just inside the 6. Plainfield South goalkeeper Francisco Lomeli made a reflex save on Olvera’s point-blank attempt, but the rebound squirted loose toward the far post.
Deagueros alertly rushed in and delivered an emphatic finish for his fourth goal of the season.
“I knew that was going to happen,” Deagueros said. “If (Olvera) didn’t score, I knew I would have the chance to get the rebound, so I just went for it.”
It was a sign of things to come for the Spartans, who kept attacking and scoring. Olvera made it 2-0 when he ran onto a lead pass from Edwin Arcos and rolled a 17-yard shot between Lomeli and the left post.
David Cahue then put the dagger in the Cougars when he drilled a 23-yard free-kick off the inside of the right post and in for his fifth goal with 5:16 to go in the half.
“I don’t think we were surprised,” Deagueros said. “I think we have a good team, and we were ready.”
He was right about that. The Spartans hustled throughout and that allowed them to preserve the shutout despite being outshot 6-3 in the second half.
“I like how we keep possession,” Cahue said. “In the first half, we were having a lot of possession. We got our goals, and I feel really confident that we can control games.”
That’s something the Cougars can’t say about themselves yet. Their offense has been inconsistent and their preparation, by all accounts, was lacking Wednesday.
“I just don’t think we were ready,” Plainfield South senior defender Jeff Mickow said. “We had a bad day of practice yesterday, and we need to get ourselves together and start working hard.”
First-year Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams had a similar assessment.
“I just felt like we didn’t have a good practice yesterday,” Williams said. “Monday night we couldn’t practice because of the heat index, so we lost Monday night.
“I think having Sunday and Monday off, when we came back yesterday I don’t feel like we were ready. It was tough to get everybody back on the same page, and I think today was kind of a byproduct of what we did.”
Of course, the Spartans had something to do with the outcome.
“Take nothing away from Romeoville,” Williams said. “Those guys played well.
“Nick had those guys ready to go, and they created their opportunities. They took advantage, and they didn’t let us score.”
The Cougars did have two golden scoring opportunities that didn’t pan out late in the first half.
On the first chance, sophomore Anthony Marmolejo fired an open shot in the box which Romeoville goalkeeper Joel Toro made a diving stop on. Toro left a rebound sitting on the doorstep for Ramon Ochoa, but the junior forward blasted his shot over the bar.
A similar scenario played itself out in reverse in the final minute. This time Ochoa broke free in the right side of the box and sent a bullet past Toro toward the left post.
Marmolejo was open on the back post but his sliding effort popped the shot up and over the pipe from three yards out 25 seconds before intermission.
“I think we need to score more goals,” Mickow said. “You can’t win without goals. You can’t be winning games when you’re 3-0 down.”
A comeback from such a deficit was unlikely, but the Cougars didn’t let it snowball.
“(At halftime) we just talked about how we need to get our stuff together,” Mickow said. "We didn’t play like we usually do in the first half.”
It wasn’t Mickow’s fault. The co-captain was part of a backline that actually performed well. Jair Moreno, Josh Dimick and Reid Childs were also solid; the problem came from farther up the field, where the Spartans dominated the midfield in the first 40 minutes.
“Those four are pretty solid back there,” Williams said. “We’re just in a situation where we made some mistakes and gave up goals, but it’s our young kids with the learning curve.
“It’s not necessarily those senior guys. It’s nice to have those guys to count on.”
Mickow was arguably the Cougars’ most dangerous offensive weapon. He put several long free-kicks into dangerous spots in the Romeoville box, but no teammates could get a head on them.
Three of Mickow’s attempts were on goal, including a 45-yarder that was tipped around the post by Oscar Guzman, who took over for Toro at halftime.
“Jeff’s really been a spark back there for us,” Williams said. “Jeff just has a no-quit attitude, which is great for the kids to see. They elected him one of our team captains and all three of our captains come from the backline.”
Despite the loss, Williams was pleased with the second half effort.
“I like the fact that they don’t quit,” Williams said. “The young kids all want to show that they can play.
“I’ve got 25 guys fighting for playing time so that helps as well. I’ve always got somebody who is willing to step up.”
Now the Cougars need more players stepping up at the same time.
“The ultimate goal is to win conference and then make a state run,” Mickow said. “We got a while to go, but we’ve got to start building up now.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Francisco Lomeli
D Josh Demik
D Reid Childs
D Jeff Mickow
D Jair Moreno
M Anury Carreto
M Kevin Garcia
M Israel Arechiga
M Lucas Heaton
F Ramon Ochoa
F Anthony Marmolejo
Romeoville
GK Joel Toro
D Edwin Nava
D Mickey Flores
D Will Martinez
D Ondre Olvera
M Leandro Deagueros
M Christian Galvan
M Anthony Duarte
M Sebastian Aguello
F David Cahue
F Edwin Arcos
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Leandro Deagueros, MF, Romeoville.