Hultgren leads Lane over Washington
Senior's brace all Indians need in shutout win
By Dave Owen
CHICAGO -- Whether from the doorstep or distance, Lane's Seth Hultgren had the finishing touch at crunch time Wednesday.
With his team locked in a 0-0 tie against visiting Washington through 67 minutes of play, Hultgren finally broke the deadlock as the finisher on a textbook passing sequence that put Lane ahead 1-0 with 12:47 left.
Just 77 seconds later, Hultgren provided insurance with a perfectly struck 28-yard drive just under the crossbar. The senior forward’s two scores made the difference in a 2-0 Chicago Public League Premier Division win for the Indians (9-1-2, 4-0-1) over Washington (5-4-0, 1-3-0).
“I think it was just about work ethic,” said Hultgren, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “We had to go hard. It seemed like our confidence was down. We weren’t going nearly 100 percent, so I think a burst of energy and just pressing as a team brought home the win.
“It was just our all-out pressure on them. I think they were being worn down. As coach (Andrew Ricks) talks about a lot, our conditioning really helps us because we can just outrun teams at the end of the day.”
Precision passing, high energy and speed all went into the game-winning goal.
Alex Mezyk was the instigator, threading a low pass at perfect speed from the 40-yard-line towards Kamil Piotrowski up the right side.
Piotrowski reached the ball right of the net and sent a cross towards the far post, where a sprinting Hultgren arrived to tip it home for a picture-perfect play and a 1-0 lead.
“Eventually we kept more possession and kept getting closer to the goal,” Ricks said, “and the first goal to break them down was a great soccer goal.
“It was desire, skill involved on the ball, a run off the ball, a third guy putting it all on the line to finish it. As a coach it’s super fulfilling.”
Mezyk’s initial impact on the Washington defense began a domino effect.
“Alex Mezyk, the guy who played the hockey assist on that goal – he broke them down,” Ricks said. “He ... beat a guy, saw a run. That stuff is special, that talent on the ball plus the vision. He’s our leading scorer and has a part in most of our offense.
“That ball didn’t get touched in, it got lasered in,” Ricks added. “And Washington I feel was playing to try to win 1-0, pack in and counterattack. When that (goal) happened, that really broke their back.
“Then we put the second one in a minute later because the effort and desire again from Seth – that was the difference in the game.”
On Hultgren’s rapid-fire second goal with 11:30 to play, Brandon Rivera won a ball at midfield and hit Hultgren up the middle. With the Washington goalkeeper off his line to cut down the angle, Hultgren tucked away a high shot to effectively ice the Lane win.
If the Indians finished Wednesday’s win with a sense of urgency, a similar live-for-the-moment aura is beginning to form regarding the season.
Voting among Chicago Public School teachers is being conducted this week on whether to go on strike, a scenario that would throw the entire fall sports season into limbo.
“Dark clouds on the horizon politically,” Ricks said. “It’s not like we don’t always put energy into the moment, but this especially – I want to be first in conference in case anything happens going forward.”
Shift focus back from the sordid boardroom negotiations to the uncomplicated beauty of the pitch, Lane was able to seize control of events Wednesday.
But not without an all-out battle most of the match from defending Class 2A semifinalist Washington.
Lane had the first chance of the match, a Jose Terrazas offensive zone steal that set up Marcin Kieta’s chip wide right six minutes in.
But Washington had the first two top quality chances.
In the 11th minute, a high send towards the crease by Washington’s Diego Larios set up a 6-yard header by Juan Garibay.
But Lane goalkeeper Simon Jillson (who earned his third shutout in a row) made a reaching catch to deny the chance.
Then 22:50 before halftime, a foul just outside the box set up a 19-yard Washington direct kick. But as part of a wall of Lane defenders, Charlie Bauer both blocked the shot and cleared the ball upfield.
Efforts like that were the norm all night for the Lane defense. And it was former Chicago Fire Academy defender Alfredo Guzman who was usually the main repellant of Washington chances in the box.
“He’s an academy player – the first time he tried out for Lane soccer was Aug. 10,” Ricks said of the senior. “His speed, desire and knowledge back there – he solves so many problems. He’s another key piece of the puzzle.
“When he’s out we have guys that can fill in for sure, but they can’t cover so much ground with that speed. How many fires did he put out?”
A Lane student since freshman year, he took an unusual path in soccer.
Guzman spent his first three years of high school in the academy program, developing high-level soccer skills but missing the camaraderie of playing with his Lane classmates.
“Changing from Fire to Lane was kind of weird,” Guzman said. “I was used to practicing a lot more. But I really like playing with the school team. It helps me get to know more people, and I feel like this team is my family now.
“I like communicating with the defense a lot. I feel like I can help shape the defense, especially in this game because in the first half they (Washington) were dominating a lot in the forward.
“But in the second half after Seth scored that first goal we got a boost of energy,” Guzman added, “and we started communicating more in the back. That’s how we stopped the forwards.”
Guzman shut down several Washington chances in or near the box, epitomized by his last great effort. He won a 50/50 ball 20 yards out with 2:05 left, cooly headed the ball to open space and dribbled upfield to deny the Patriots’ last chance of the night.
As for Lane scoring chances, the number and quality grew as the match progressed.
Off a Piotrowski cross in the 38th minute, Hultgren turned and sent an 18-yard one-timer just wide of the net.
Then with 37:40 left in the match, Tiago Franco took a pass from Rivera and lined a shot off the crossbar and over the endline.
Five minutes later, a Hultgren 10-yard shot off a Piotrowski pass was deflected just wide of the right post on a sliding kick save by Washington goalkeeper Raymon Rosas. On the ensuing corner kick, Rosas stopped a header redirect by Mezyk.
Those early threats set a tone that would eventually pay off.
“Fitness and desire,” Ricks said of keys to his team’s strong second half. “We pride ourselves on being fit, and the high tempo was working. They (Washington) could knock the ball around, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“They never really got behind us – if they were it was wide. They were never really 1-on-1 on goal, kind of some half chances.”
Washington’s Jose Flores had the Patriots’ last bid to snap the 0-0 tie, but his burst up the middle ended with his 18-yard shot going wide of the right post with 15:20 left.
Four minutes later, Lane led 2-0 and the entire complexion of the match had changed.
“It wasn’t because of lack of chances,” Washington coach Alvaro Perez said of the result. “Kudos to their guys – those were two nice goals. You can’t do much about those, especially the second one.”
Perez coached Washington to the 2013 Class 2A state title, and a long tournament run last year. Battling Lane toe-to-toe most of Wednesday bodes well for later this fall.
“Playing 3A schools is the best thing that can happen to our program,” Perez said. “When we switch over (to 2A for the playoffs) it works to our advantage.”
After a five-win season last fall, Lane has benefitted from its own switch in fortunes.
“One year older for a lot of players,” Ricks said, “and then four key players who didn’t play last year – the guy who scored two goals tonight (Hultgren), the defender who put the fires out (Guzman), No. 7 Brandon (Rivera) and Kamil (Piotrowski) No. 20. That’s a spine right in there.
“(Last fall) Alfredo was at the Academy, Kamil had a knee injury, Seth was injured as well and Brandon didn’t come out last year. So those four key players, that makes a huge difference.”
Intangibles also play a role.
“The desire to win was there, and that’s something you can’t always instill in kids,” Ricks said. “That’s really pleasing to be a part of.
“The beauty is that this is a team with great depth. It was a great team effort. We’re playing well. The guys are buying into it.”
Barring boardroom events, Lane has soaring hopes for the rest of the fall.
“We’re having a great season,” Hultgren said. “I’m super happy with the way things are going. Hopefully without the teachers’ strike we can make a great state run, if we stay together as a team and stay positive.
“I think we have a very versatile team. We can kind of change our system depending on who we play. Sometimes we play down to teams, and I think if we find our game every game we can play the way we know how to play, we can be successful anywhere.”
Starting lineups
Washington
GK- Raymon Rosas
D- Felipe Ramirez
D- Eduardo Alfaro
D- Jose Valadez
D- Oscar Padilla
MF- Diego Larios
MF- Angel Arismendiz
MF- Carlos Martinez
MF- Alberto Solis
F- Adrian Yanez
F- Juan Garibay
Lane
GK- Simon Jillson
D- Zachary Rogers
D- Alfredo Guzman
D- Charlie Bauer
D- Arnel Sinanagic
MF- Marcin Kieta
MF- Alex Rydberg
MF- Kamil Piotrowski
MF- Jose Terrazas
F- Seth Hultgren
F- Alex Mezyk
Man of the Match: Seth Hultgren, Lane, F
Senior's brace all Indians need in shutout win
By Dave Owen
CHICAGO -- Whether from the doorstep or distance, Lane's Seth Hultgren had the finishing touch at crunch time Wednesday.
With his team locked in a 0-0 tie against visiting Washington through 67 minutes of play, Hultgren finally broke the deadlock as the finisher on a textbook passing sequence that put Lane ahead 1-0 with 12:47 left.
Just 77 seconds later, Hultgren provided insurance with a perfectly struck 28-yard drive just under the crossbar. The senior forward’s two scores made the difference in a 2-0 Chicago Public League Premier Division win for the Indians (9-1-2, 4-0-1) over Washington (5-4-0, 1-3-0).
“I think it was just about work ethic,” said Hultgren, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “We had to go hard. It seemed like our confidence was down. We weren’t going nearly 100 percent, so I think a burst of energy and just pressing as a team brought home the win.
“It was just our all-out pressure on them. I think they were being worn down. As coach (Andrew Ricks) talks about a lot, our conditioning really helps us because we can just outrun teams at the end of the day.”
Precision passing, high energy and speed all went into the game-winning goal.
Alex Mezyk was the instigator, threading a low pass at perfect speed from the 40-yard-line towards Kamil Piotrowski up the right side.
Piotrowski reached the ball right of the net and sent a cross towards the far post, where a sprinting Hultgren arrived to tip it home for a picture-perfect play and a 1-0 lead.
“Eventually we kept more possession and kept getting closer to the goal,” Ricks said, “and the first goal to break them down was a great soccer goal.
“It was desire, skill involved on the ball, a run off the ball, a third guy putting it all on the line to finish it. As a coach it’s super fulfilling.”
Mezyk’s initial impact on the Washington defense began a domino effect.
“Alex Mezyk, the guy who played the hockey assist on that goal – he broke them down,” Ricks said. “He ... beat a guy, saw a run. That stuff is special, that talent on the ball plus the vision. He’s our leading scorer and has a part in most of our offense.
“That ball didn’t get touched in, it got lasered in,” Ricks added. “And Washington I feel was playing to try to win 1-0, pack in and counterattack. When that (goal) happened, that really broke their back.
“Then we put the second one in a minute later because the effort and desire again from Seth – that was the difference in the game.”
On Hultgren’s rapid-fire second goal with 11:30 to play, Brandon Rivera won a ball at midfield and hit Hultgren up the middle. With the Washington goalkeeper off his line to cut down the angle, Hultgren tucked away a high shot to effectively ice the Lane win.
If the Indians finished Wednesday’s win with a sense of urgency, a similar live-for-the-moment aura is beginning to form regarding the season.
Voting among Chicago Public School teachers is being conducted this week on whether to go on strike, a scenario that would throw the entire fall sports season into limbo.
“Dark clouds on the horizon politically,” Ricks said. “It’s not like we don’t always put energy into the moment, but this especially – I want to be first in conference in case anything happens going forward.”
Shift focus back from the sordid boardroom negotiations to the uncomplicated beauty of the pitch, Lane was able to seize control of events Wednesday.
But not without an all-out battle most of the match from defending Class 2A semifinalist Washington.
Lane had the first chance of the match, a Jose Terrazas offensive zone steal that set up Marcin Kieta’s chip wide right six minutes in.
But Washington had the first two top quality chances.
In the 11th minute, a high send towards the crease by Washington’s Diego Larios set up a 6-yard header by Juan Garibay.
But Lane goalkeeper Simon Jillson (who earned his third shutout in a row) made a reaching catch to deny the chance.
Then 22:50 before halftime, a foul just outside the box set up a 19-yard Washington direct kick. But as part of a wall of Lane defenders, Charlie Bauer both blocked the shot and cleared the ball upfield.
Efforts like that were the norm all night for the Lane defense. And it was former Chicago Fire Academy defender Alfredo Guzman who was usually the main repellant of Washington chances in the box.
“He’s an academy player – the first time he tried out for Lane soccer was Aug. 10,” Ricks said of the senior. “His speed, desire and knowledge back there – he solves so many problems. He’s another key piece of the puzzle.
“When he’s out we have guys that can fill in for sure, but they can’t cover so much ground with that speed. How many fires did he put out?”
A Lane student since freshman year, he took an unusual path in soccer.
Guzman spent his first three years of high school in the academy program, developing high-level soccer skills but missing the camaraderie of playing with his Lane classmates.
“Changing from Fire to Lane was kind of weird,” Guzman said. “I was used to practicing a lot more. But I really like playing with the school team. It helps me get to know more people, and I feel like this team is my family now.
“I like communicating with the defense a lot. I feel like I can help shape the defense, especially in this game because in the first half they (Washington) were dominating a lot in the forward.
“But in the second half after Seth scored that first goal we got a boost of energy,” Guzman added, “and we started communicating more in the back. That’s how we stopped the forwards.”
Guzman shut down several Washington chances in or near the box, epitomized by his last great effort. He won a 50/50 ball 20 yards out with 2:05 left, cooly headed the ball to open space and dribbled upfield to deny the Patriots’ last chance of the night.
As for Lane scoring chances, the number and quality grew as the match progressed.
Off a Piotrowski cross in the 38th minute, Hultgren turned and sent an 18-yard one-timer just wide of the net.
Then with 37:40 left in the match, Tiago Franco took a pass from Rivera and lined a shot off the crossbar and over the endline.
Five minutes later, a Hultgren 10-yard shot off a Piotrowski pass was deflected just wide of the right post on a sliding kick save by Washington goalkeeper Raymon Rosas. On the ensuing corner kick, Rosas stopped a header redirect by Mezyk.
Those early threats set a tone that would eventually pay off.
“Fitness and desire,” Ricks said of keys to his team’s strong second half. “We pride ourselves on being fit, and the high tempo was working. They (Washington) could knock the ball around, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
“They never really got behind us – if they were it was wide. They were never really 1-on-1 on goal, kind of some half chances.”
Washington’s Jose Flores had the Patriots’ last bid to snap the 0-0 tie, but his burst up the middle ended with his 18-yard shot going wide of the right post with 15:20 left.
Four minutes later, Lane led 2-0 and the entire complexion of the match had changed.
“It wasn’t because of lack of chances,” Washington coach Alvaro Perez said of the result. “Kudos to their guys – those were two nice goals. You can’t do much about those, especially the second one.”
Perez coached Washington to the 2013 Class 2A state title, and a long tournament run last year. Battling Lane toe-to-toe most of Wednesday bodes well for later this fall.
“Playing 3A schools is the best thing that can happen to our program,” Perez said. “When we switch over (to 2A for the playoffs) it works to our advantage.”
After a five-win season last fall, Lane has benefitted from its own switch in fortunes.
“One year older for a lot of players,” Ricks said, “and then four key players who didn’t play last year – the guy who scored two goals tonight (Hultgren), the defender who put the fires out (Guzman), No. 7 Brandon (Rivera) and Kamil (Piotrowski) No. 20. That’s a spine right in there.
“(Last fall) Alfredo was at the Academy, Kamil had a knee injury, Seth was injured as well and Brandon didn’t come out last year. So those four key players, that makes a huge difference.”
Intangibles also play a role.
“The desire to win was there, and that’s something you can’t always instill in kids,” Ricks said. “That’s really pleasing to be a part of.
“The beauty is that this is a team with great depth. It was a great team effort. We’re playing well. The guys are buying into it.”
Barring boardroom events, Lane has soaring hopes for the rest of the fall.
“We’re having a great season,” Hultgren said. “I’m super happy with the way things are going. Hopefully without the teachers’ strike we can make a great state run, if we stay together as a team and stay positive.
“I think we have a very versatile team. We can kind of change our system depending on who we play. Sometimes we play down to teams, and I think if we find our game every game we can play the way we know how to play, we can be successful anywhere.”
Starting lineups
Washington
GK- Raymon Rosas
D- Felipe Ramirez
D- Eduardo Alfaro
D- Jose Valadez
D- Oscar Padilla
MF- Diego Larios
MF- Angel Arismendiz
MF- Carlos Martinez
MF- Alberto Solis
F- Adrian Yanez
F- Juan Garibay
Lane
GK- Simon Jillson
D- Zachary Rogers
D- Alfredo Guzman
D- Charlie Bauer
D- Arnel Sinanagic
MF- Marcin Kieta
MF- Alex Rydberg
MF- Kamil Piotrowski
MF- Jose Terrazas
F- Seth Hultgren
F- Alex Mezyk
Man of the Match: Seth Hultgren, Lane, F
