Rams use Shungu goal to rally past Warriors

By Dave Owen

 

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Glenbard East put a French spin on Thursday’s postgame “faire une fete” against Willowbrook.

That’s celebration in English, but it and a 2-1 Rams' win wouldn’t have been possible in any language without big plays down the stretch by sophomore Joel Shungu.

Having recently moved to Lombard from France, Shungu pounded home the point-blank rebound of a Samir Ghiasi shot with 6:03 left to break a 1-1 tie.

Then defensively, Shungu twice nicely cleared the zone in the final 30 seconds to repel Willowbrook attacks (the first on an Erik Lukitsh direct kick) and ice the win for the Rams (3-9-1).

“Joel transferred in this year and is only a sophomore,” Glenbard East coach Josh Adler said. “He’s a crafty and sneaky little guy, and what he lacks in size he has in his heart.

“He followed the play well there (on the goal), got back into it and put himself right in front of the net. That loose ball was there and he capitalized on his opportunity. He’s an attacking player. He finds seams and makes things happen.”

Still trying to fully master English after his recent arrival, Shungu got an assist from senior teammate/translator Ammar Al-Ghoul (a future international business major who speaks four languages) in relaying his emotions.

“It’s good to know that the coach believes in me and trusts me,” Shungu said via Al-Ghoul. “I capitalized on my opportunity and we were able to score a goal and win it.”

“Soccer’s a team sport. You have to work as a team to win as a team.”

The Rams’ team effort was needed after Willowbrook (3-10-1) put them on their heels thanks to the latest brilliant offensive play by Warriors’ striker Ben Draus.

With 24:05 left in regulation, Tim Weyer’s cross from right of the net connected with Draus, whose 12-yard blast produced his ninth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead.

Nick Williams’ initial pass up the wing initiated the play.

“We’ve been working on that play a lot, trying to tell them to send the ball to the corner, take the ball to the line and angle a pass back on the ground,” Willowbrook coach Peter Ginter said. “And they did it exactly the way we practiced it.

“(Weyer) didn’t get a lot of playing time, but he made a nice play. Ben was hanging at the top of the box, he wasn’t too deep, and he was in the right position to one-time that shot. We were very pleased with that goal.”

Ginter has had plenty to be pleased with in Draus’ play all year.

“He’s scored virtually all our goals,” Ginter said, “but he can’t do it by himself coming up the middle. We need to get the ball to the wing to spread out the defense and opens things up for him. That’s when he gets his scoring chances, when we take it to the wing and bring it in.”

Host Glenbard East scheduled a halftime youth soccer scrimmage, jersey giveaways and a postgame autograph session to mark the battle with their non-conference neighbors – and didn’t want a loss to dampen the occasion.

“The biggest thing we feared was their counterattack building through the middle of the field, and that’s where it led to things (with Draus’ goal),” Adler said. “But I think we stayed calm. It’s easy to get a little deflated and lose your rhythm when you give up the goal, and I think the guys are learning how to bounce back a little better.

“I think they showed more resilience after they gave up the goal. We’d been there and had opportunities, now we had to go finish the goal and be right back where we need to be.”

A momentum-turning finish came with 19:56 to go, when Cesar Infante corralled a loose ball 30 yards out on the left side and perfectly angled a high shot into the upper far corner of the net to tie the score 1-1.

“I saw the space, I saw the goalie out so I took the shot,” Infante said. “Once it hit the net I was excited.”

“Cesar did a great job of stepping in the space, finding that loose ball and striking a heck of a ball one time to the back side,” Adler said. “It’s one of those things where you put it on frame and you never know what’s going to happen.

“It’s nice when he comes in and gives us that spark off the bench. That was probably within five minutes of him stepping on the field – that’s a major contribution on his part.”

Infante was denied another goal by Willowbrook goalkeeper Luke Ruszkowski’s nice save of a point-blank shot from the end line two minutes later. But Glenbard East pressure would soon pay off.

Shungu’s game-winner ended a flurry that began with Willowbrook defender Tito Cabral’s block of Ghiasi’s initial shot. Ghiasi’s rebound attempt from 12 yards was stopped by Ruszkowski, but Shungu was at the doorstep to finish.

“We needed to play harder and step it up (down 1-0),” Infante said. “But we knew it was our game.”

Adler praised Trevor Cook and Carlos Urbina in particular as other key contributors to the win.

“My central defender Trevor Cook had a really solid game,” Adler said. “He stepped into balls and kept the pressure going forward for us to help us build the attack from the very beginning.

“And Carlos Urbina didn’t get a goal tonight, but he creates a lot with his hard work off the ball. He puts teams under pressure and helps us maintain the play when the ball is going to his feet.”

Down 2-1, Willowbrook’s chances for a comeback essentially ended with 4:38 left when Cabral exited the game with a red card for a hard foul. That left the Warriors short one player, and without an elite defender.

“I actually changed our formations a little bit to be more defensive and fortify the middle,” Ginter said, “but then I lost my sweeper so that changed the whole strategy around. It wasn’t a red card of dissent, but what they call a professional foul. It was a tough one to take, but if he doesn’t do it the guy would have probably scored. But we paid the price for not having him on the field.”

Cabral was strong all night clearing threats in the box. Most notable was in the 24th minute of play, when he cleared the rebound out of bounds from the crease after the Rams’ Hugo Aguilar hit the post with a 20-yard shot.

Both goalkeepers also made nice early saves: Ruszkowski with a one-handed reach to deny Aguilar in the 16th minute, and Glenbard East’s Seth Quam on a 20-yard Draus drive eight minutes later.

When the night ended, Glenbard East celebrated with autographs and high fives – while improved but frustrated Willowbrook suffered a low five of sorts. The last five Warriors’ games have all been one-goal losses.

“It’s getting to the point that losing games like this is unacceptable,” Ginter said. “We’re so close, but I think we’ll get there. The one thing we have to learn is how to finish our games. We had a 1-0 lead and the momentum, and we just kind of lost our concentration. Some of the guys took a foot off the gas and we just can’t let that happen.

“That was one of our best first halves of the entire season, and this was a good team we played against. We’re looking forward to our games coming up (starting Saturday against Glenbard South). The guys are excited. They know they can play.”

Entering Thursday with a 1-6-1 record in its last eight games, Glenbard East hopes to continue the momentum.

“It was nice because we’ve been going through a lot of losses and we needed this win to get our confidence up,” Infante said. “We’ll go for another win on Saturday (at Hinsdale South) and hopefully improve our (1-3) record in the DVC, too.”

“You need these kinds of emotional wins sometimes to help jump start things for the latter part of the season,” Adler said. “I’m hoping this can be a nice little catalyst to build our confidence, and at the same time realize that the difference in the way we’re playing is rewarding us right now.”