Eagles us quick goal, good defense to edge Lions

By Curt Herron

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For those who didn't get to Leyden's stadium on time for Monday's nonconference match against Lyons Township, they missed the lone goal.

But even those who arrived after the Eagles connected in the initial minute were able to witness a contest that featured plenty of drama.

While LT kept up the pressure on the hosts as it sought the equalizer, Leyden was able to fend off everything that got thrown its way.

Despite the Lions' best efforts at evening things on a variety of threatening restarts, Leyden made sure that the early score would hold.

Thanks to the efforts of keeper Konrad Dziedzic and his backline, the Eagles won 1-0 in Northlake to remain unbeaten in the early going.

Helping to secure the fourth straight shutout for the hosts were defenders Tony Guzman, Moises Merlos, Ricky Pimentel and Anyer Gonzalez.

Leyden (3-0-1) connected on a counterattack just 29 seconds into the match to record the only goal for the afternoon against LT (2-2).

Albert Arabik lined a try from the side that went off keeper David Fiflis' hand and went to Christian Hernandez, who put in the rebound.

"There's no doubt that I'm happy since this was a big team win for us," Leyden coach Mark Valintis said. "Everybody did their job and played their role and some how, some way, we kept them from scoring, even though they had a lot of chances on set pieces.

"LT is strong, tall and physical and they play so hard and their coaches do a great job year after year of getting them ready. They're a tough, tough, team to play against, not only from one to 11 but also their subs. We got lucky today, but I'll take it.

"With a young team, getting a quick goal made everybody a little more at ease and focused. Our defense started with Konrad, who did a great job commanding the box. Tony and Moises are on the outside and Ricky plays in the middle and it's fun to see them work together."

Leyden opened with wins over Larkin and Riverside-Brookfield and a draw with Oak Park and River Forest to claim its own Challenge Cup.

The Eagles' starting 11 reflects the young squad. There were five juniors, three sophomores and a freshman on the field at the outset.

Only two seniors, Juan Recendez and Gonzalez, joined them. That pair, along with Guzman, are tri-captains for the Eagles this season.

"We're young and inexperienced," Valintis said. "But I think our kids are starting to believe that even though we're not there yet, we're pretty good. The question with a young team is will get big heads and then all of a sudden get thumped by somebody soon.

"So we have to coach into them is that we can get better and there's ways to improve. This early in the season we're still trying to mix and match people. We had a good run of it against R-B and Oak Park but today Lyons had the better run so we have to make adjustments.

"When I saw the team that was out there today in June and July and preseason, I didn't think that we had this kind of game in us, where we could really play with a quality team and stay disciplined with the game plan, but they did that. So I wonder what else they can do."

Freshman Arabik, who scored twice in the R-B win, set up Monday's goal with a cross that deflected toward Hernandez, who connected.

While LT coach Paul Labbato was obviously unhappy with that start, he clearly liked how his squad responded to the quick deficit.

He was also pleased with the way that his backline of Ben Larson, Emilio Godinez, Peter Kass, Joe Lupano and Dustin Warf performed.

"We might not have come out to play at the start, but we played real tough for 79 minutes and put a ton of pressure on their goal," Labbato said. "Their keeper is very good and difficult to beat and he kept them in the game by controlling his box like a good keeper should.

"I don't know how many corner kicks and throw-ins we had today. The opportunities were there, but we just couldn't get it done. We got our center back, Joe Lupano, back and over the course of the last two games our back four were very solid, beside the early counterattack.

"We had our spacing on Saturday against Neuqua, but we didn't have it today. We couldn't get that extra pass and Leyden played very tough to the ball and they're a strong team that really works hard, so we struggled. We continue to learn as we play against these good teams.

"We picked up Leyden, Naperville North and Rockford Boylan this year as nonconference games to see who we are and what kind of team we can be. We've played on the turf and football fields and just have to keep learning from all of the different environments that we're in."

LT responded to its early deficit with several good chances, beginning with a header by Brett Heimerdinger that Dziedzic grabbed.

Before the mipoint of the half, Cristian Sanchez was denied by the keeper and Frankie Kocimski had a try cleared by a defender.

A few minutes later, Larson sent a free kick to Dziedzic and not long after that, LT had an apparent goal waved off due to a foul.

So despite the early disadvantage in good chances, the Eagles took their 1-0 advantage into the second half, which was more even.

"Communication is the most important part of our defense," Guzman said. "Our center back, Ricky, is only a sophomore, but by putting him back there shows how much trust we have in him as the last man.

"And Konrad did an amazing job and helped us by coming out of the net and punching balls away. The early goal motivated us. We're young and still haven't learned how to play with each other, so we have a long ways to go."

Following the intermission, Hernandez greeted new LT keeper Peter Nolan with a line drive during the opening 10 minutes of play.

After Spiros Kass forced a corner kick by Larson, Kocimski was denied by a defender and then Dziedzic stopped Nikola Kaplarevic.

Not long after that dangerous sequence, Sanchez sent a cross to Collin Smothers, whose header was grabbed by the Eagles keeper.

Leyden began to get some good chances shortly after the half's midpoint, starting with a Recendez liner that went over the net.

After Pimentel sent a long free kick to Nolan, Arabik had a short try deflected away and the keeper stopped a Recendez liner.

"We're going hard in every game and trying our best and hopefully we'll keep on winning," Recendez said. "Our defense has been real solid so far and we're trying not to let any goals be scored against us.

"All of the credit today goes to our defense, which did an outstanding job. We're starting the season off on the right foot and we have potential to do great things since we have a lot of depth and energy."

In the final 10 minutes, LT had a couple of good chances, beginning with a short try by Sanchez that was grabbed by Dziedzic.

A bit later, Leyden threatened when Merlos found Miguel Gonzalez on a throw-in but Nolan stopped the header which followed.

With about half a minute left, Smothers had LT's last good chance but his attempt from the side was cleared by Freddy Suarez.

"A lot of guys stepped up in this game," Anyer Gonzalez said. "We defended well, which is what allowed us to keep a zero on the scoreboard, which was our fourth in a row, so hopefully we can keep rolling.

"Coming into the match, I was a little intimidated, but after getting that goal right away, it gave me inspiration to play well. We've done a good job of bonding together and that's really helping us now."

Both squads compete again on Wednesday in nonconference matches. LT hosts St. Charles East while Leyden plays at Maine West.