Hornets still seeking the beast within
By Dave Owen

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Glenbard West was back on track Saturday, which turned out to be a “beast” of a challenge for Hinsdale South.

After falling 2-1 to Lyons Township in Thursday’s showdown of 2011 WSC Silver co-champions, the Hilltoppers (5-1) returned to the dominant defense and sharp offense of their season-opening, four-game shutout streak by defeating host Hinsdale South 3-1.

Glenbard West’s bounce-back continued early season frustration for the Hornets (1-7).

“We’re not getting the effort that I think we need,” Hornets’ coach James VanDenburgh said. “We need to play in beast mode, and I didn’t see any beasts out there, which is frustrating. We’re searching for consistency from half to half and game to game.”

The Hilltoppers’ waves of offensive attacks Saturday didn’t make things easy.

“We try to play to our strengths,” Glenbard West coach Maciek Kusmierz said. “We have a few players that are technically sound and are quick-thinking when they can utilize their abilities to our advantage. We’re creating opportunities to score, and today we had quite a few.”

The offensive started in the 14th minute, when Nathan Hall hit the post with a point blank header of a powerful Jack Emanuel throw-in.

The same duo combined on another near miss six minutes later, when Hall’s cross led to a 6-yard blast by Emanuel that Hinsdale South goalkeeper Jose Moreno nicely saved with his upper chest and chin.

Hall’s third time in a big scoring opportunity would be the charm.

With 13:14 left in the first half, David Ortega’s pass to Hall breaking down the left side ignited the play.  Hall then sent a cross to the far post, where a sprinting Eduardo Gonzalez tipped the ball inside the right corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Another nice combination followed 3:38 before halftime. Shawn Herrera chipped a nice ball to Jimmy Hernandez in on left wing, and Hernandez put away a low 10-yard blast to put the Hilltoppers in control at halftime up 2-0.

“Mostly you just find the open space and see what the team can accomplish,” Hernandez said. “You try to get open and when you have the chance, take it. If you score, you score. If you don’t, keep trying.

“It’s a team. We all know we can play, and when somebody’s open we pass it to that person. It’s all about the team, when to let it go and when you take it.”

Hernandez took his best shot again with 29:12 left in the game. Barely onside for a breakaway off a perfect chip upfield by Herrera, Hernandez blasted a shot into the lower right corner of the net for a 3-0 lead.

“The key is working together and talking,” Hernandez said. “Play as a team and pass. Don’t try to take everybody – one or two (defenders) if you can. Otherwise pass the ball.”

“They distribute the ball really well and work really well together,” Glenbard West senior co-captain Andrew O’Connell said of the Hilltoppers’ offensive playmakers. “They find good openings for Nate Hall to shoot through and put it in.”

Inserted at goalkeeper at the start of the second half, Hinsdale South’s Grant Morford came up big on multiple occasions to stop Hall and other Hilltoppers.

Morford dove to his left to rob Herrera on a 25-yard straight on shot early in the second half. Hall was denied twice in quick succession, first with 16:40 left when he sent his second header of the game off metal (this time the crossbar, via another Emanuel throw in) and 40 seconds later when Morford made a diving catch to his right of a Hall shot.

“Grant definitely had some very good point blank saves that I wish I could say kept us in the game,” VanDenburgh said. “But it is what it is.”

“Jeremy Leganski has been our most consistent player in terms of effort and making good decisions and leading the team,” VanDenburgh added. “I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s a leader and he wants it every game.

“If everyone wanted it as much as Jeremy does and played as hard as Javier Solis, who goes out and plays as hard as he can, we’d be playing better as a team. Those two gave us the effort today we’re looking for, but nobody stands out in that beast mode we were talking about.”

The Hornets’ offense did begin to bare its fangs in the final 15 minutes on Saturday.
After two good threats (one denied on a  nice defensive play by Glenbard West’s Dylan Koehler, and the second resulting in a Jordan Wood shot wide of the net), Hinsdale South drew within 3-1 with 9:14 left on a nice restart.

Off a 50-yard free kick, Nathaniel Michaelis passed to George Carioscia, whose cross from the left wing was headed into the net from the right side of the crease by freshman Marko Ristic.

“That was one spark, a very nice play with George coming up the side and Marko really doing a nice header and finishing well,” VanDenburgh said. “Besides that, our guys aren’t playing hard enough for each other. Until we do that, I don’t think we’re going to have the success that we’re striving for.”

Glenbard West is enjoying success, starting from the defensive corps of O’Connell, co-captain Aaron Griffin, Gonzalo Villa, Ivan Barajas, Ortega and goalkeeper Robbie White. The Hilltoppers have allowed just three goals on the season.

“The defenders in the middle communicate really well,” O’Connell said, “and we swing the ball back and forth really well keeping it out of pressure.  We’ve been pretty consistent throughout the year.”

Consistency and teamwork will be keys to building on the successful start.

“We just have to keep working as a team,” O’Connell said, “keeping it simple and passing instead of trying to take everyone on one-and-one.”

“Our finishing still leaves a lot to wish for,” Kusmierz said, “because we missed a handful of very good chances today. We just have to keep working at it at both ends.”