Lions kick off season with 3-0 win over Carl Sandburg

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By Curt Herron

After graduating seven starters from last year's Class 3A state champions, Lyons Township coach Paul Labbato has good reason to be nervous heading into this season.

While the Lions return seven players who each saw action in a dozen or matches last year, they clearly have some big shoes to fill in certain spots on the field.

So with his team's defense being a reason for some of his biggest concern, Labbato was anxious to see how LT would kick off a challenging first week of the campaign.

They got that chance on Wednesday when they hosted Carl Sandburg at West Field, kicking off a week where they meet Hinsdale South Thursday and host Neuqua Valley on Saturday.

While Wednesday's season opener featured a bit more drama than the Lions likely hoped for, they overcame a shaky start with a strong finish against the Eagles.

Carl Sandburg had plenty of good chances during the early going and continued to keep the pressure on while keeping the Lions off the scoreboard for over 58 minutes.

But sparked by a goal from junior Elliot Borge with 21:27 remaining in the match, LT came to life and added two more scores during the next 4:41 of play.

The other two scores were nearly identical with both ending on headers by senior Pete Gabrek that were set up on well-placed free kicks from senior Kyle Kurfirst.

That proved to be all of the scoring that was turned in by either side on the afternoon as the Lions captured a 3-0 nonconference victory over the Eagles in LaGrange.

As a result of that strong finish on offense coupled with a shutout on defense, the Lions were able to walk away fairly pleased by what they saw in their initial action.

Labbato was especially pleased with how his defense performed, especially considering that that area was a big question mark for the squad as it began practices.

With only senior Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr back from last year's defense, the LT coach had to find a couple of players to work in front of senior keeper Kevin Beglen.

Following Wednesday's match, he hopes that he's found them in senior Alex Economou and junior Matt Thomas, who performed well in their new duties along the back line.

Click to hear coach Paul Labbato interview

LT's opener was truly a match of about four different parts, with a strong finish making up for a rough start and a fairly ordinary middle of the match.

The Lions had to weather an early storm in which the Eagles collected three shots on goal plus three corner kicks during the initial 13 minutes of play.

Sandburg's speed up top caused problems for the Lion defense, but once they held off that threat, the visitors only occasionally challenged after that.

Meanwhile, LT struggled to make things click on offense as the Eagles did a good job of disrupting the host's movement of the ball up the field.

The Lions had a few good chances during the final 20 minutes of the opening half, beginning with Borge's liner from the side that was deflected away with 15:20 left.

After a shot by Gabrek was halted following the subsequent corner kick, sophomore Ben Larson had a shot try blocked by an Eagle defender a short time later.

Click to hear Pete Gabrek interview

The pace seemed to pick up for LT's offense following the break, even though it still was having a hard time finishing, thanks to several offsides calls.

Borge had a short attempt cleared by a defender in the first 10 minutes of the new half and senior Horacio Sanchez was stopped on a grounder a few minutes later.

But things suddenly began clicking for LT after Borge recorded a nice goal on a looping shot from the side that found the opposite corner of the net with 21:27 left.

Click to hear Elliot Borge interview

While the Lions were still savoring their initial goal of the match, they struck again just before the midway point of the final half to pull away a bit further.

Kurfirst sent a perfect ball on a free kick near the sideline that went directly in front of the Eagle net and Gabrek was there to head the ball in with 20:08 to go.

Then with 16:46 left in the match, Kurfirst again found Gabrek, with the only difference being that the latter free kick came a little bit closer to Sandburg's goal.

Click to hear Kyle Kurfirst interview

Sophomore Jack Thomas nearly added another score a little over a minute later but his short attempt was denied when an Eagle defender cleared away the attempt.

The Eagles threatened a few times to break up the shutout, most notably on a line drive on a corner kick that was hauled in by Beglen with about 11:00 remaining.

And LT nearly added one more goal during the final two minutes when sophomore Brett Heimerdinger lined an attempt that just sailed over the Eagles' net.

The match provided a perfect opportunity for Labbato to see what players worked well together as the Lions coach was able to go with everyone who was able to play.

Other senior members of this year's squad are Sean Davy and Pedro Fulgencio, who were both starters, plus David Ellis, Taylor Halamka, Cooper Heinz and Austin Wolff.

Additional junior players on the squad, which returns to action this afternoon at Hinsdale South, are Hector Godinez, Max Hadley, Mark Pawula and Kovas Zygas.

LT hosts Neuqua Valley on Saturday at 10 am at West Field. A year ago, the teams met three times with the Lions spoiling Neuqua's perfect season in the super-sectional.