Chicagoland Soccer

Banged-up Huskies get it done vs. York

By Dave Owen

“Of Mice and Men” might be a fitting title for Oak Park-River Forest’s 2-0 win Tuesday at York.

Minutes after the injury-depleted Huskies (9-1-1) stood tall in finishing off their fifth shutout of the season, a field mouse made an unlikely sprint through the victors’ postgame huddle and onto the field.

Clearly the fan base is expanding like the Huskies’ win total.

“It’s a conference opener, and it’s always nice to get that first (WSC Silver) win,” said Oak Park coach Paul Wright, whose team’s only loss was by a 1-0 score to St. Charles North at the Pepsi Showdown.

“I thought we had a lot of opportunities we didn’t finish. But we did a really good job moving the ball around and creating opportunities. The finishing touch wasn’t there, but it’s good to get a first conference win.”

Especially with the adversity faced in the wake of two key defensive absences due to bad bruises.

“We were down,” Oak Park defender Max Menzies said. “Zack Weigel who’s a key defender kind of leads us back there, and we were also down Max Neumann who’s key on the left side. But (Ryan) Ebersole came in and played really well, and (Nate) Mitka did great on the left too.”

Usual starters Menzies and Danny Pasternak played solid roles in repelling York’s offensive challenges, and goalkeeper Granger Sheppard came up big when needed.

Sheppard came off his line to make a nice catch of a cross 10:55 before halftime to beat a charging York player to the ball. Early in the second half, he made a similar grab in traffic of a low 15-yard York shot, then denied a 12-yard Dukes’ attempt from the right side with 34:50 left by swatting down and then catching the ball to prevent any rebound attempts.

Those chances and a York 20-yard free kick off the crossbar with 1:15 to go were the rare opportunities for the Dukes in a game otherwise controlled by the Huskies.

“That’s our goal in the back, to get shutouts,” Menzies said. “And when we do, we know we’ve done our job. It looks good for us.”

Offensively, things looked good from the early going for Oak Park.

A surge in the 13th minute of play paid off when David Leitson scored off a nice cross from Stephen Golz to put the Huskies up 1-0.

GianLuca Locasto twice nearly added to that lead, first off a Henry Burt corner kick with 8:40 left in the first half and three minutes later via a Mike Rajter cross to the front. But a sliding save on the first, then a shot just wide on the latter kept the score 2-0.

Those opportunities epitomized a night of strong ball control and chance creation for the Huskies.

“I feel that we played really well in some parts of the game, a good team effort,” Oak Park midfielder Nick Radosavlijevic said. “We moved the ball around and tried to play one and two touch, and that’s what separates the good teams from the bad teams. You watch Barcelona and they all play one-two touch.”

A nice combination play sparked by a Pasternak free kick produced a close call. Mike Bower just missed contact on a header attempt at the right post off a Golz cross, with Bower ending up in the net himself after the airborne effort in traffic.

Oak Park would put the ball in the net for a 2-0 lead with 17:16 to go, this time started by Bower. His long pass upfield was corralled by Golz, who beat two defenders and blasted a 10-yard shot that was partially deflected by the Dukes’ goalkeeper but bounced in for the insurance score.

Golz was later denied another goal on a fingertip save by York’s keeper with 14:16 left, 30 seconds before teammate Marcus Machado broke in on goal off the left wing and hit the post. Ryan Huettel, Bower and Radosavlijevic also generated scoring opportunities in the second half for the Huskies.

Radosavlijevic has come a long way to contribute to the Huskies’ success. A California native, his family moved to Toronto for eight months before he arrived in Oak Park.

“World traveler,” he joked. “I’m new to the high school thing in Illinois – I just moved here last year. They’re telling me conference is a big deal, so ‘m glad we got the win. We’re all working together. Everyone is taking it seriously. You can’t ask for more.

“Play the right way and goals will come. And shutouts send a message.”

Teamwork is helping send that message, as the Huskies have allowed just eight goals in 10 games.

“We’re like a family,” Menzies said. “Everyone gets along, we’re stepping up as a team. We’ll just hope to keep getting shutouts and scoring goals.”