ELGIN – Young was all smiles following Monday’s 1-0 victory over St. Charles East in the Streamwood Fall Classic.

The Dolphins, one by one, took their time gathering their backpacks and soccer balls following their brief postgame chat with coach Nick Maksa, who kept things brief due to the long drive back to the city.

As the Dolphins (5-3-2) slowly walked off the field, several smiled and joked about which players habitually left their backpacks following games, and some players tossed a few jokes at each other.

St. Charles East spent an extended postgame sitting on the turf at Memorial Stadium at Elgin High School.

The Saints were in the midst of a heart-to-heart with their esteemed coach, Vince DiNuzzo. The squad lost a strong senior class from a highly successful team last fall. It’s led to an unusual season in St. Charles, a rebuilding one.

The Saints (1-7-1) have fought well and shown improvement against their usual gauntlet of tough competition.

Maksa praised the Saints for pushing his team throughout the 80-minute game, which started 23 minutes late due to the opening game running late. 

Young will battle tournament host Streamwood at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday for the right to represent Group A in the Thursday semifinals. The pair are currently tied with four points.

St. Charles East faces Elgin at 6 p.m. The newly 20th-ranked Maroons have locked up the Group B berth.

“St. Charles East is a good team,” Maksa said. “They have the pieces, but you could tell they are young. 

“We’re struggling to score. We also lost some key players. I wouldn’t want to play that group in the first round of regionals when they figure it out. That’s a classy group with great kids who work hard and a great program. I’m proud of my guys for the way they battled tonight.

“We have to keep it going and pounding the stone when we get frustrated, when we don’t get those three or four (early) goals. We have to keep at it. Leo did a great job with his goal. 

“Defensively, we’re always solid; and my guys are going to work for me. Sam Henle does such a great job slowing the game for us. The group is starting to mesh, and we are picking up some wins. I’m happy with the effort.”

DiNuzzo said it was a tough defeat, but he liked how his team battled until the end. The Saints dominated possession in the final 11 minutes, pushing against the backline of the Dolphins with their aggressiveness. 

Defender Abe Leidig was a standout for the Saints. He helped keep Young’s John Stanton in check until leaving the game for good after a free kick smacked him hard in his upper body in the second half.

“Obviously, every game has been really close for us, but the results have not been going in our favor,” DiNuzzo said. “We have to fix a few things and details, but the boys played hard today and had a good performance. 

“Their player (John Stanton) is a very good player. We did a nice job on him. I thought we competed tonight. 

“It’s a game of marginal errors. We made one in the back, and they punished us. We didn’t finish our chances. It’s kind of our story now on not being able to finish the chances we create. 

“The bright side is we’re developing opportunities to score. We had a few chances at the end. We had one right over the crossbar. I liked the way we responded after we let in the goal. It showed some maturity, and hopefully we can build on that and turn some of these narrow losses into ties and wins.”

Young controlled the ball for most of the first 65 minutes, missing numerous shots by a few feet or inches, including a missed cross that looked to be a golden chance for a goal.

St. Charles East played two keepers. Kyle Sliwa showed off his skills with a solid first half effort, which included three saves. The senior notched a save off a Stanton shot 10 minutes into the game, then got some help when Stanton had a close attempt blocked by a defender just four minutes later.

“We tried to give Kyle some time today, and he did a great job shutting them out, DiNuzzo said.

Sliwa, who played on the JV team last season, said he was happy to keep his team in the game and gain valuable varsity minutes against a quality opponent.

“I thought it was a very even game in the first half,” Sliwa said. “Obviously, their threat was deep balls and (Stanton). For the most part, Abe had a great run against (Stanton). 

“Overall, we worked hard and played good. The defense was solid, just an unlikely goal in the second half. For me, it was great to get out here. I’ve been working hard in training. 

“Getting minutes I’ve learned, it’s all about communication. As a team, we have to communicate. I try to bring that out and also use my distribution to keep us solid in the back.”

Ivan Campobasso played the second half in the net and compiled six saves.

Young ‘s Leo Antoniewicz continued his masterful season by scoring the game-winner and earning the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.

The senior midfielder received an excellent pass from captain Henle, and used his left foot to drill home a shot from 14 yards with 32:40 left in regulation. Antoniewicz raised his goal total this season to four, to go along with six assists.

“Sam gave me a great pass, and I’m naturally a righty,” Antoniewicz said. “He drove, and I called for it. That’s the chemistry; we’ve played together so much. 

“I was able to take a touch and fit it in between the keeper’s legs. I definitely had a few chances, like in the first half, but I passed it. We created a lot of chances, especially in the first half.

“We just were little bit off. I think we got a good talk by our coach and what we should do better.”

Young junior forward Evan Lee, a first-time varsity player, said the game was hard-fought.

“I think we got a really good win and did a nice job in the second half,” Lee said. “We worked hard and mostly defended in the last 15 minutes. We have a good record now, which we’re pretty happy about.”

Young goalie Tommy Lyons, a senior captain, left the stadium with a clean jersey and a clean-sheet. Lyons needed to make just two saves in the game. He stopped a free kick with 2:37 for his toughest challenge.

“I didn’t have to do much, so credit to the (backline) on this game,” Lyons said, smiling ear-to-ear. “It was a nice, easy game for me. We stayed organized in the middle. That was key for us.

“I think we’ve finally figured out our offense. We were trying to do too much in the beginning.”

Lyons said his season has been good “pretty good” personally.

“I’m improving, so I’m happy about that so far,” Lyons said.

 
Starting lineups
 
St. Charles East
GK: Kyle Sliwa
D: Jack Fitzgerald
D: Dylan Carey
D: Will Wade
D: Abe Leidig
MF: Volodymyr Pauchok
MF: Braden Arville
MF: Connor Sychowski
MF: Garrett Melton
MF: Aiden Richbell
F: Huxley Kapoor
 
Young
GK: Tommy Lyons
D: Haiden Negrillo
D: Toby Anthony
D: Aidan Leatourneau
MF: Leo Antoniewicz
MF: John Stanton
MF: Sam Henle
MF: Oren Epstein
MF: Enrique Teles
F: Kevin Moreno
F: Evan Lee
 
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Leo Antoniewicz, sr., MF, Young
 

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring
 
Second half
Young – Antoniewicz (Henle), 48’