Warren forces tie with Lake Zurich
North Suburban Conference battle ends 1-1 on Macheras goal
By Rusty Silber
LAKE ZURICH -- So far this season, Warren has shown that it can be one of the better teams in the state. Over the last week, however, the Blue Devils have found out how tough each match can be in the formidable North Suburban Conference.
The Blue Devils, currently ranked 8th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had to pull themselves together and settle for a 1-1 draw with host Lake Zurich Thursday night, as Warren’s Thomas Macheras scored the game-tying goal in the second half.
Just a week ago, Warren (10-1-2) suffered a 2-0 defeat on the road at Libertyville. Thursday’s tie thus leaves the Blue Devils with an 0-1-1 record in the competitive NSC.
In Lake Zurich, they had to deal with another team that caused them some difficulty on the field.
"(Lake Zurich) was a high pressure team and we struggled with it," Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. "We talked about it in our pre-game meeting. Everything (Lake Zurich) did, we spoke about.
“They strictly went to what they wanted to do, and they did it. You can talk all you want on a whiteboard, but until you see it in person it's all high pressure. (Lake Zurich) was looking for that turnover in the defensive third to go forward. It's good for them, and it's something we had to see this year, and we struggled with it."
The game was intense on both sides, and a battle between the 18's gave the feeling of a first or second round playoff match-up. Warren managed to stay within striking distance after a strong first half showing by Lake Zurich.
"We were lucky to be down 1-0 at half," Ahonen said. "We did miss two golden opportunities in the first half, which could have put us in a good spot."
Eventually achieving the tie showed what Warren is made of, and Ahonen hopes his boys learned a lesson from Thursday’s game.
“To play as poor as we did, compared to how we've been playing, and to get tie out of it will make us better down the road,” Ahonen said. “If it does, then it was worth it.
“It's all about learning how to cope with situations and how teams play, and then implementing them into what we do to gain knowledge and move forward.
“If we have blow-out games, what are we learning from that? If we’re putting the ball into the back of the net four times, how is that making us better? That won't make us better."
The Blue Devils' Macheras earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match honors with his game-tying goal in the 59th minute on a shot that went in from 35 yards. His work effort on the field stood out all game long.
"I looked for a pass and looked for a deflection," Macheras said. "It just bounced from the 20-yard line and then I saw the goal right in front of me. I just took a shot at it over the goalie's head into the corner. It was a big goal on the road for us, and we needed it."
Macheras started the game in the center-back position on defense, but he moved forward toward the midfield to help out the Blue Devils’ attack. He showed that he could help out the defense and help build the offense throughout the entire match.
"I moved up on the attack because during the game, when everyone is getting tired, you make a switch, and you keep the hopes up,” Macheras said. “I just like to play wherever (Ahonen) wants to play me."
Lake Zurich (2-7-1, 1-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute when Joe Heffernan scored off a pass from Zane Chung-Mehdi. The Bears had other chances in the final third but couldn't get another goal the rest of the way.
"We just couldn't put the ball away, and unfortunately it came back to bite us," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "I thought we generated a ton of chances.
“Hat's off to our guys, we've been able to put together a consistent game. I thought we played great tonight. I thought our possession game was great, and we found our forwards putting pressure on their backs.
“Everything was going well for us. Our defense did step up, it's something that's been consistent for us all year. Our backs did hold their ground and did a good job (against Warren's attack).”
Warren keeper Jeffery Pioquinto made 5 stops and provided a big one in the 78th minute, saving a point-blank shot by Lake Zurich’s Terran Loughman to preserve the tie.
“Some days, my defense can loosen up everything, but some days they rely on me to help them out," Pioquinto said. "It's not every day where I get teams that get shots on me.
“It's good to have a few on me, because my defense can have confidence in me that when they can't get the ball, I'm there to clean up after them. I was worried on that shot, but it felt good to come up with that save and keep the game level.”
Blue Devils' midfielder Hugo Flores hopes his side learned a lesson in Thursday’s game.
“It wasn't a very good game, and we weren't connecting our passes right,” Flores said. “We weren't looking at our outside mids, or our wingers. We had a pretty bad game.
“I think it was that other teams are stronger and bigger. You start mentally thinking that they might beat us and dominate us in the air. Every time, we tried to go one-on-one they would put a body on us. That was probably what bothered us.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK-Jeffery Pioquinto
D-Roman Fajardo
D-Mike Bassier
D-Tommy Travelstead
D-Thomas Macheras
MF-Niko Jokic
MF-Hugo Flores
MF-Kody Anderson
MF-Jack Tully
F-Richie Flores
F-Ruben Delgadillo
Lake Zurich
GK-Collin Furlong
D-Ty Carey
D-Andrew Pytlak
D-Kyle Schroeder
D-Joe Heffernan
MF-Trevor Niedzwicki
MF-Luke Kuhn
MF-Zane Chung-Mehdi
F-Brandon Klett
F-Jordan Fleita
F-Dylan Niedzwicki
Man of the Match: Thomas Macheras D/MF, Warren
North Suburban Conference battle ends 1-1 on Macheras goal
By Rusty Silber
LAKE ZURICH -- So far this season, Warren has shown that it can be one of the better teams in the state. Over the last week, however, the Blue Devils have found out how tough each match can be in the formidable North Suburban Conference.
The Blue Devils, currently ranked 8th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, had to pull themselves together and settle for a 1-1 draw with host Lake Zurich Thursday night, as Warren’s Thomas Macheras scored the game-tying goal in the second half.
Just a week ago, Warren (10-1-2) suffered a 2-0 defeat on the road at Libertyville. Thursday’s tie thus leaves the Blue Devils with an 0-1-1 record in the competitive NSC.
In Lake Zurich, they had to deal with another team that caused them some difficulty on the field.
"(Lake Zurich) was a high pressure team and we struggled with it," Warren coach Jason Ahonen said. "We talked about it in our pre-game meeting. Everything (Lake Zurich) did, we spoke about.
“They strictly went to what they wanted to do, and they did it. You can talk all you want on a whiteboard, but until you see it in person it's all high pressure. (Lake Zurich) was looking for that turnover in the defensive third to go forward. It's good for them, and it's something we had to see this year, and we struggled with it."
The game was intense on both sides, and a battle between the 18's gave the feeling of a first or second round playoff match-up. Warren managed to stay within striking distance after a strong first half showing by Lake Zurich.
"We were lucky to be down 1-0 at half," Ahonen said. "We did miss two golden opportunities in the first half, which could have put us in a good spot."
Eventually achieving the tie showed what Warren is made of, and Ahonen hopes his boys learned a lesson from Thursday’s game.
“To play as poor as we did, compared to how we've been playing, and to get tie out of it will make us better down the road,” Ahonen said. “If it does, then it was worth it.
“It's all about learning how to cope with situations and how teams play, and then implementing them into what we do to gain knowledge and move forward.
“If we have blow-out games, what are we learning from that? If we’re putting the ball into the back of the net four times, how is that making us better? That won't make us better."
The Blue Devils' Macheras earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match honors with his game-tying goal in the 59th minute on a shot that went in from 35 yards. His work effort on the field stood out all game long.
"I looked for a pass and looked for a deflection," Macheras said. "It just bounced from the 20-yard line and then I saw the goal right in front of me. I just took a shot at it over the goalie's head into the corner. It was a big goal on the road for us, and we needed it."
Macheras started the game in the center-back position on defense, but he moved forward toward the midfield to help out the Blue Devils’ attack. He showed that he could help out the defense and help build the offense throughout the entire match.
"I moved up on the attack because during the game, when everyone is getting tired, you make a switch, and you keep the hopes up,” Macheras said. “I just like to play wherever (Ahonen) wants to play me."
Lake Zurich (2-7-1, 1-1-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute when Joe Heffernan scored off a pass from Zane Chung-Mehdi. The Bears had other chances in the final third but couldn't get another goal the rest of the way.
"We just couldn't put the ball away, and unfortunately it came back to bite us," Lake Zurich coach Mike Schmitz said. "I thought we generated a ton of chances.
“Hat's off to our guys, we've been able to put together a consistent game. I thought we played great tonight. I thought our possession game was great, and we found our forwards putting pressure on their backs.
“Everything was going well for us. Our defense did step up, it's something that's been consistent for us all year. Our backs did hold their ground and did a good job (against Warren's attack).”
Warren keeper Jeffery Pioquinto made 5 stops and provided a big one in the 78th minute, saving a point-blank shot by Lake Zurich’s Terran Loughman to preserve the tie.
“Some days, my defense can loosen up everything, but some days they rely on me to help them out," Pioquinto said. "It's not every day where I get teams that get shots on me.
“It's good to have a few on me, because my defense can have confidence in me that when they can't get the ball, I'm there to clean up after them. I was worried on that shot, but it felt good to come up with that save and keep the game level.”
Blue Devils' midfielder Hugo Flores hopes his side learned a lesson in Thursday’s game.
“It wasn't a very good game, and we weren't connecting our passes right,” Flores said. “We weren't looking at our outside mids, or our wingers. We had a pretty bad game.
“I think it was that other teams are stronger and bigger. You start mentally thinking that they might beat us and dominate us in the air. Every time, we tried to go one-on-one they would put a body on us. That was probably what bothered us.”
Starting lineups
Warren
GK-Jeffery Pioquinto
D-Roman Fajardo
D-Mike Bassier
D-Tommy Travelstead
D-Thomas Macheras
MF-Niko Jokic
MF-Hugo Flores
MF-Kody Anderson
MF-Jack Tully
F-Richie Flores
F-Ruben Delgadillo
Lake Zurich
GK-Collin Furlong
D-Ty Carey
D-Andrew Pytlak
D-Kyle Schroeder
D-Joe Heffernan
MF-Trevor Niedzwicki
MF-Luke Kuhn
MF-Zane Chung-Mehdi
F-Brandon Klett
F-Jordan Fleita
F-Dylan Niedzwicki
Man of the Match: Thomas Macheras D/MF, Warren