LINCOLNSHIRE -- Anxious to erase a dreadful 4-0 loss two nights earlier at Mundelein, Warren arrived at Stevenson on Thursday evening to challenge the co-North Suburban Conference leaders.

This night, much to the delight of Warren fans and dismay of the home crowd, saw the visitors stand out.

Nick Boba stung Stevenson, ranked 13th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, with a late game-winner that capped a dominating second half Blue Devils performance in a 1-0 victory.

"If I had to guess, I'd say Warren enjoyed 60-65 minutes of the play tonight. They deserved the result," said gracious Stevenson manager PepeJon Chavez.

"Jason and Ryan do a great job at Warren, and it was obvious that they prepared really well for us. We just were not up to the challenge."

The loss dropped the Patriots (6-2-5, 2-1-2) just behind the league-leading trio of Lake Forest, Lake Zurich and Libertyville, who sit at 3-0-2.

"It's disappointing, because we only really played 15-20 minutes of solid soccer, were outplayed and outsmarted, and did not have the fighting spirit that we normally have, that PepeJon asks that we have," said Mohit Damodaran, the Patriots superb backline senior.

Warren displayed winning energy.

"One of the most important things we ask our guys is to not leave anything out there," said pleased Blue Devils manager Jason Ahonen. “Play with heart, energy and play for each other, and tonight that's exactly what we did.

"There are not too many times that Warren soccer has been drubbed like we were the other night at Mundelein. So yesterday (Sept. 25) we had the boys design our training session.

"Ryan (McCabe, Blue Devils assistant) and I can watch film and put together training (from the Mundelein game), but we thought it might be a good idea to provide the boys more ownership of themselves and each other in that particular training session.

"McCabe oversaw things. They had a fantastic training session, and it certainly carried over tonight."

The Warren roster didn’t need to be reminded of its performance in the shutout loss.

"That Mundelein game was not a very good one for us," said senior Ethan Cole. “We had breakdowns in every part of our game. We all knew we had to get it back together if we wanted to compete with Stevenson tonight.”

The performances of the Blue Devils co-captain and keeper, and Charlie Crowson stood out. For their efforts, the pair shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.

"Our work-rate and energy was just amazing tonight," said Cole.

A nodding Gunnar Zajac agreed: "We didn't have the type of work-rate or energy against Mundelein like we did tonight. I really feel like that was a big difference in this game."

The visitors had a nervous moment just 60 seconds into the contest. The Blue Devils avoided a disastrous start when Cole defused a strong, long-range effort from Lincoln Ponce.

Stevenson’s bright start continued for the first quarter hour or so with much of the play going through Navaan Kistanna, Tony Mo and Matthew Roehl, who targeted Ponce and Jack Bacher up-top.

Damodaran went wide with a one-timer at 13 minutes, and Bacher did the same with his angled effort off a Patriots counter. On an ensuing chance, a sharp tackle from Crowson denied Bacher time to turn and fire on frame.

"We moved Charlie to the six tonight, because we were looking to fortify that spot in front of our back three. We asked him to tackle, challenge and win as many first- and second-balls as he could," said Ahonen.

"He did just that. He was a key figure in this win tonight."

"Charlie was amazing all night long," added Cole.

An innocent-enough looking sequence might have provided the inspiration for Warren (6-4-2, 1-2-1) in their power grab of the festivities.

Austin Wiltse drove his 35-yard freekick deep into the Stevenson box where keeper Matthew Rutcosky punched the ball out with authority.

Seconds later, Wiltse dispossessed his opponent sent a lovely ball to Christian Albarran. Despite the fact it didn’t lead to an attempt on frame, the sequence gave the visitors more confidence going forward.

Warren’s first big play of the match came after a communications breakdown in the Blue Devils end led to Stevenson’s Alexander Mihaylov getting hauled down inside the box for an easy PK call for referee Alex Mavros.

Keeper Cole guessed correctly that Mihaylov would send his spot-kick toward his right post, which he covered with full extension to keep things level.

"Ethan's save on that PK was huge," offered Zajac. “It was a big moment in this game. Who knows? Maybe it's a different game after that.”

"(Their) keeper made a big stop during a crucial part of the game," added Chavez. “Really, the entire night he commanded his box and played with a lot of confidence.”

Mihalylov did not hang his head after the PK stop. Later, he called Cole into action with a wicked 35-yard left-footed cracker.

Mo, through Kistanna and Victor Landa, burrowed in deep, but the ever-present duo of Crowson and Zajac were there to end that threat just before the intermission.

"(Coach) reminded us at the half to go out and outwork Stevenson, and that's what we did," said Zajac.

"Our work-rate was tremendous in the second half, we won so many first- and second-balls, especially Crowson, who won a ton of tackles also. Our attack just never seemed to stop," added Cole.

Off the whistle, Albarran went wide after Quinn Lockwood and Boba did the work to set him free.

A looping effort from Stevenson’s Zachary Aaron was easily collected by Cole moments later.

Warren nearly found the opener at 50 minutes.

That's when some nice play from Wiltse ended with the senior placing an inch-perfect ball to junior Brandon Ostrowski, who was wrong-footed at the spot and denied an attempt on frame.

Stevenson answered the try when Ponce headed straight-on to Ethan Cole after meeting a wonderful ball from Mo in the 57th minute.

"We did some good things with the ball, but it was too much individual play instead of building through the run of play or in our possession," said Damodaran.

Warren continued to play purposeful soccer. It’s second-best chance of the second half arrived on the hour.

Possession fell to Chris Olmos-Rojas after the ball stayed for far too long in the Patriots end. He quickly turned and fired just wide of an open back-post.

The Blue Devils created plenty more one-way traffic after the play. A handful of deep throws came from the inspired effort.

"We're still a very young group as far as having varsity experience, so a game like this one is a good reminder to all that a strong work-rate, high energy and intensity can bring positive results," said Ahonen.

When it appeared this contest would end in a draw, up stepped Boba.

Stevenson might have been caught stretched and out of shape when a Gericho Navarro serve allowed Boba to smash home a driving header high into the back of the net just two minutes from time.

"I've known Nick for a while. He can be quite hard on himself at times, but he's a terrific young man and player," said Ahonen. “To see him come through to take advantage of that opportunity was good for him and, of course, the team.”

Stevenson was left to lament its lost league lead.

"Defensively we got lost a little bit. It was long enough to really cost us tonight," said a disappointed Damodaran.

"Losing Brady (Meng) along our backline to an injury during the game didn't help us either, but this defeat is all on us. We'll just have to get ourselves back together and ready for Saturday."

"Could we have been up maybe 1-0, or 2-0? Perhaps," suggested Chavez.

"(But) those last 10-15 minutes were all Warren. On a night when we asked someone, anyone, to step up because they had Jack Bacher (13 goals), our leading scorer locked down, nobody stepped forward."

Warren savored its quality win.

"It was a good overall effort from everyone tonight against a top-table, quality opponent," began Ahonen.

"We moved Crowson to the six and Brandon Ostrowski to the 10, and both of those guys were very good. So was Gericho (Navarro), whose has an incredible work-rate and attitude.

"This is a great group of guys who really enjoy each other and playing together. That makes coaching a whole lot more fun and enjoyable."

The Blue Devils travel to LaGrange on Sunday to face Metea Valley (6-6-2) in a BodyArmor final.

Stevenson saw its winless streak (0-2-1) continue Saturday at Hersey, where the 20th-ranked and Mid-Suburban League-leading Huskies prevailed 3-1. 

The Patriots will plan to regroup against league foe Zion-Benton on Oct. 1 before a tough tilt with no. 3 Evanston on Oct. 5. 

Starting lineups

Warren (3-5-2)
GK- Ethan Cole
D- Austin Pyrek
D- Gunnar Zajac
D- Austin Wiltse
M- Charlie Crowson
M- Quinn Lockwood
M- Pablo Garcia
M- Gericho Navarro
M- Brandon Ostrowski
F- Christian Albarran
F- Nick Boba

Stevenson (3-5-2)
GK- Matthew Rutcosky
D- Cole Dirks
D- Brady Meng
D- Daniel Pryor
M- Mohit Damodaran
M- Zachory Aaron
M- Navaan Kistanna
M- Tony Mo
M- Matthew Roehl
F- Jack Bacher
F- Lincoln Ponce

Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Ethan Cole, sr., GK, Warren; Chris Crowson, jr., MF, Warren

Referee: Alex Mavros

Scoring summary

First half
No scoring

Second half
Warren: Boba (Navarro), 78'