Lyons puts Mazur pressure on Saint Viator
Position switch yields goals in 2-0 win
By Brian Thomas
LA GRANGE -- With senior John Mazur back in his natural position Saturday, the Lyons offense got back on track. Mazur put constant pressure on Saint Viator’s defense and ultimately scored two goals to lift the homestanding Lions to a 2-1 nonconference victory over the visiting Lions.
Lyons head coach Paul Labbato made the decision to move Mazur to forward after suffering a 2-0 shorthanded defeat at the hands of Downers Grove North on Tuesday.
“John is a force up top,” Labbato said of Mazur, whose brace earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors. “Earlier this week we took a loss and we had to play him at center-back, so we didn’t have him up top making things happen. Today we decided to put someone else in the back and let John get up top and attack.”
Scoring chances were limited for both teams in the first half. Saint Viator (11-9-0) senior defender Patrick Hickey had a scoring opportunity in the 22nd minute following a foul. On a free kick, senior forward Anthony Pineda sent a cross to the right side of the box where Hickey sent a header on goal that Lyons keeper Donald Darrus saved.
After scoring four goals off of headers and set pieces in their conference victory Thursday against Marian Catholic, Saint Viator failed to get anything going offensively through the air, which is where they have been most effective.
“I think we’re most dangerous on our set pieces, that’s where we thrive,” said Saint Viator assistant coach Bryan Dahlquist, who led the team while head coach Mike Taylor was away on business in California. “They were doing a good job of double-teaming Patrick Hickey, he’s obviously one of our go-to-guys, but at the same time we have to give ourselves a chance and a lot times we’re not giving a good ball in, and it starts from there.”
Despite double-teaming Hickey, Labbato needed to implement another plan to slow down Saint Viator’s vertical attack.
“Every time they had a set piece they won the ball,” Labbato explained. “We talked about how we had to try and defend him, but we really didn’t do a great job defending him. Every time they had a long throw he did get his head on it.
"What we did talk about was limiting long throws by trying to keep the ball under possession and limit their time with the ball in our half, which will limit their set pieces around the goal.”
Lyons, ranked no. 3 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, took control and played with the ball in their zone for most of the first half. At the 35th minute, Mazur struck for his first goal. He battled with a defender at the top of the box and fired a shot that snuck just past the goalie and inside of the left post post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
“The first goal was a great effort, he (Mazur) kept working,” Labbato said. “We were pressed in, and we got a little ball to squeak out to him and he buried it.”
Mazur’s second goal of the game came 10 minutes later in the 45th minute of the match. On a corner kick, junior forward Isiah Nieves sent a pass to the short post where Mazur flashed across to the ball and redirected it into the left corner of the goal to take a 2-0 lead.
“We had been talking about this all day,” Labatto said. “With Saint Viator we wanted to move guys off the post, and then exploit that spot and he (Mazur) got there before another kid. He hit a ball that he could handle; I think he took it off his foot.”
After that goal it seemed as if the match had been decided. Lyons (13-4-2) continued to control the ball and attack Saint Viator’s defense. Mazur came up short of a hat trick on two subsequent shots: one was saved by senior goalkeeper Kevin Napoleon; and another shot missed just left of the goal.
But in the 70th minute Saint Viator made it interesting.
Hickey took the ball up the right sideline, dribbled into the box and sent a pass across the middle to freshman forward William Hartman who sent a no-doubter into the net.
“I knew Hickey was going to beat him (the defender),” Hartman said of the goal. “He’s got that skill. I was just in the middle, we practiced all week, that one drill -- guy would run in, cross it in and I just finished it. I didn’t really look at the goal; I just saw the ball coming and said, ‘I gotta put this one away.’”
Following the goal Saint Viator had the momentum and went on the attack. In the 76th minute, Napoleon came up from the goal to midfield to take a free kick. Saint Viator put everyone in the box, but Napoleon's boot didn't find a friend.
Saint Viator had one last chance on a corner kick in the 78th minute when Pineda tried to connect with Hickey, who just couldn’t get his head on it.
Despite coming up short, Dahlquist was pleased with the effort his team gave.
“I give our guys a lot of credit because it’s easy to go into a shell when you’re down 2-0 to a good team like that,” Dahlquist said. “But they showed a little bit of grit and fought back, stuck with the game plan, got one late but we just couldn’t get the second one.”
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK Donald Darrus
D Thomas Stenner
D Alec Gilchrist
D Dylan Jones
D Nikolas Darrus
M Alex Contreras
M Charles Hall
M Camilo Drobny
F Isiah Nieves
F Adrian Valadez
F John Mazur
Saint Viator
GK Kevin Napoleon
D Patrick Hickey
D Ryan McMahon
D Kyle Borst
D Sean Lonigro
M Patrick Bottcher
M Michael Tangredi
M Mile McDonnell
M Zach Wolf
F William Hartman
F Anthony Pineda
Man of the Match: John Mazur, F Lyons
Position switch yields goals in 2-0 win
By Brian Thomas
LA GRANGE -- With senior John Mazur back in his natural position Saturday, the Lyons offense got back on track. Mazur put constant pressure on Saint Viator’s defense and ultimately scored two goals to lift the homestanding Lions to a 2-1 nonconference victory over the visiting Lions.
Lyons head coach Paul Labbato made the decision to move Mazur to forward after suffering a 2-0 shorthanded defeat at the hands of Downers Grove North on Tuesday.
“John is a force up top,” Labbato said of Mazur, whose brace earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors. “Earlier this week we took a loss and we had to play him at center-back, so we didn’t have him up top making things happen. Today we decided to put someone else in the back and let John get up top and attack.”
Scoring chances were limited for both teams in the first half. Saint Viator (11-9-0) senior defender Patrick Hickey had a scoring opportunity in the 22nd minute following a foul. On a free kick, senior forward Anthony Pineda sent a cross to the right side of the box where Hickey sent a header on goal that Lyons keeper Donald Darrus saved.
After scoring four goals off of headers and set pieces in their conference victory Thursday against Marian Catholic, Saint Viator failed to get anything going offensively through the air, which is where they have been most effective.
“I think we’re most dangerous on our set pieces, that’s where we thrive,” said Saint Viator assistant coach Bryan Dahlquist, who led the team while head coach Mike Taylor was away on business in California. “They were doing a good job of double-teaming Patrick Hickey, he’s obviously one of our go-to-guys, but at the same time we have to give ourselves a chance and a lot times we’re not giving a good ball in, and it starts from there.”
Despite double-teaming Hickey, Labbato needed to implement another plan to slow down Saint Viator’s vertical attack.
“Every time they had a set piece they won the ball,” Labbato explained. “We talked about how we had to try and defend him, but we really didn’t do a great job defending him. Every time they had a long throw he did get his head on it.
"What we did talk about was limiting long throws by trying to keep the ball under possession and limit their time with the ball in our half, which will limit their set pieces around the goal.”
Lyons, ranked no. 3 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, took control and played with the ball in their zone for most of the first half. At the 35th minute, Mazur struck for his first goal. He battled with a defender at the top of the box and fired a shot that snuck just past the goalie and inside of the left post post to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
“The first goal was a great effort, he (Mazur) kept working,” Labbato said. “We were pressed in, and we got a little ball to squeak out to him and he buried it.”
Mazur’s second goal of the game came 10 minutes later in the 45th minute of the match. On a corner kick, junior forward Isiah Nieves sent a pass to the short post where Mazur flashed across to the ball and redirected it into the left corner of the goal to take a 2-0 lead.
“We had been talking about this all day,” Labatto said. “With Saint Viator we wanted to move guys off the post, and then exploit that spot and he (Mazur) got there before another kid. He hit a ball that he could handle; I think he took it off his foot.”
After that goal it seemed as if the match had been decided. Lyons (13-4-2) continued to control the ball and attack Saint Viator’s defense. Mazur came up short of a hat trick on two subsequent shots: one was saved by senior goalkeeper Kevin Napoleon; and another shot missed just left of the goal.
But in the 70th minute Saint Viator made it interesting.
Hickey took the ball up the right sideline, dribbled into the box and sent a pass across the middle to freshman forward William Hartman who sent a no-doubter into the net.
“I knew Hickey was going to beat him (the defender),” Hartman said of the goal. “He’s got that skill. I was just in the middle, we practiced all week, that one drill -- guy would run in, cross it in and I just finished it. I didn’t really look at the goal; I just saw the ball coming and said, ‘I gotta put this one away.’”
Following the goal Saint Viator had the momentum and went on the attack. In the 76th minute, Napoleon came up from the goal to midfield to take a free kick. Saint Viator put everyone in the box, but Napoleon's boot didn't find a friend.
Saint Viator had one last chance on a corner kick in the 78th minute when Pineda tried to connect with Hickey, who just couldn’t get his head on it.
Despite coming up short, Dahlquist was pleased with the effort his team gave.
“I give our guys a lot of credit because it’s easy to go into a shell when you’re down 2-0 to a good team like that,” Dahlquist said. “But they showed a little bit of grit and fought back, stuck with the game plan, got one late but we just couldn’t get the second one.”
Starting lineups
Lyons
GK Donald Darrus
D Thomas Stenner
D Alec Gilchrist
D Dylan Jones
D Nikolas Darrus
M Alex Contreras
M Charles Hall
M Camilo Drobny
F Isiah Nieves
F Adrian Valadez
F John Mazur
Saint Viator
GK Kevin Napoleon
D Patrick Hickey
D Ryan McMahon
D Kyle Borst
D Sean Lonigro
M Patrick Bottcher
M Michael Tangredi
M Mile McDonnell
M Zach Wolf
F William Hartman
F Anthony Pineda
Man of the Match: John Mazur, F Lyons
