Warriors battle Leyden in 1-0 loss
By Bill Stone

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Junior Miguel Gonzalez hasn’t needed long to contribute in his new role for the Leyden soccer team.

After beginning the season as a starting center midfielder, Gonzalez recently has been coming off the bench as an outside right midfielder.

“Last week, I scored a goal that came in the same position so I’m guessing that’s my new position,” Gonzalez said.

On Tuesday, Gonzalez made what turned out to be a very important cross. It was headed home by standout senior tri-captain Juan Recendez just 2:04 before halftime for the lone goal in the Eagles’ 1-0 victory at Willowbrook in West Suburban Conference Gold Division action in Villa Park.

Leyden (12-4-2, 3-1 in Gold), which has won two in a row and five of its last six, is tied for second place with Addison Trail in the Gold behind Morton (19-1, 5-0).

Gonzalez had lost the ball and the Warriors were beginning to clear out when he regained possession along the right sideline about 28 yards out. Gonzalez quickly put a cross to the left post that Recendez headed diagonally past Willowbrook goalie Luke Ruszkowski, who had an outstanding night thwarting several of the Eagles’ chances.

“I just took a one-two touch. I saw (Recendez) open and I gave him the pass,” Gonzalez said. “(Leyden coach Mark Valintis) always tells us once they take it away from you, you have to win it back. That’s what I tried to do and I won it back. I saw Juan open and I gave him the pass.”

Leyden dominated 40-6 in shots and 14-0 in corner kicks, but Ruszkowski (12 saves) and the Warriors’ defense came through time after time and caught a couple of breaks. Willowbrook (3-14-1, 0-4) even nearly tied the game with a couple of dangerous counterattacks in the final 20 minutes.

“(Our goal was) about the only thing that caught them off guard tonight. It’s not usually the way that we score goals, either, because we’re not really that good in the air,” Valintis said.

“You know, sometimes that’s just soccer. We controlled the game and controlled the possession. I don’t know how many chances we created, but their goalie was just perfectly positioned every time, and that’s great goalkeeping by them. And those guys never quit. They play hard, if not harder, the full 80 minutes. Credit to them because I don’t think I’ve been involved in a game where a goalie has had that many saves. We’re just kind of lucky that we didn’t give up one going the other way."

The goal also was a bit unusual for Recendez. It was his sixth of the season, but the starting center midfielder usually is known more for his distribution skills.

“I usually create more opportunities to score than the goals that I make. I have already eight or nine assists,” Recendez said. “I saw the opportunity of going there and I just asked for the cross and (Gonzalez) saw me and I finished it off with a header. They weren’t expecting me. I guess I caught them off guard, running behind them, so I guess I went unmarked on that one.”

When the Eagles were unmarked otherwise, Ruszkowski or Willowbrook’s defense was there to make the save.

Plus, Leyden hit the right post in the first half and crossbar in the second. With 36:13 left, a goal by Anyer Gonzalez (no relation to Miguel), who leaped over a defender to head in a Recendez corner kick, was nullified by a foul.

Willowbrook’s defense of sweeper Tito Cabral, stopper Eric Lukitsh and outside defenders Ivan Galicia and Nick Williams got quite a workout, too. John Karcz played well at stopper in the second half when Willowbrook coach Peter Ginter moved Lukitsh up front to create scoring chances. The plan almost worked.

“Our defense played very well. Our keeper was just outstanding. Luke is getting better with every game,” Ginter said. “With a little more luck, we would have tied the game, but the effort in the kids today was just outstanding.

“I thought Leyden did a nice job. They have a very nice team, a young team. I was very impressed with some of their young players and how they handled the ball and moved the ball around. They’re a very good team. They’ve beaten a lot of good teams. For us to play with them, I thought that was pretty good.”

Willowbrook especially was in a defensive mode for the first half, often conceding the first two-thirds of the attacking area. Leyden’s defenders and midfielders passed the ball around the perimeter and attacked the middle, giving Recendez plenty of chances to pass and shoot.

“(Willowbrook) might have given us a lot of space in the middle of the field to possess, but when you get down near that box, they tighten up,” Valintis said.

“That’s when we are at our best, when (Recendez) gets the ball and then finds people to distribute. He’s very good going forward, dribbling, can use both feet. When he plays hard and he’s focused and into it, the other guys feed off of that. Especially in the first half, he created a lot of stuff for everybody else. He got his fair share of chances, too. (When he scored) credit somebody that keeps working hard and keeps playing team ball.”

Leyden freshman Albert Arabik, the team’s top scorer, gave an indication of what kind of game it was going to be in the 11th minute. His shot after a passing combination that included Recendez went off the right post.

Over the next 13 minutes, Recendez and Moises Merlos also took shots on goal that were easily stopped by Ruszkowski. With eight minutes left in the half, Recendez and Merlos had an excellent give-and-go off Recendez’s throw in only to see Recendez put his shot against the left side of the net. With 4:40 left in the half, Christian Sosnowski took a pass from Anyer Gonzalez and blasted a shot that suddenly dipped and required Ruszkowski to push it over the crossbar.

“(Ruszkowski) did an outstanding job. A lot of my shots I took, I couldn’t believe it. I thought most of them were going to go in, but he was on his game,” Recendez said. “What I think we need to practice is a little more on our shots. We had a lot of shots going at the goalie, not placed.”

Willowbrook defenders along the goal line helped. Ben Draus stopped a Merlos header in the 14th minute. Just prior to the waved off goal, Karcz thwarted Arabik’s rebound following a deflected blast by Tony Guzman.

With 13 minutes left, the Eagles’ Elvis Castaneda shook the crossbar with a blast just past the top of the box off. It was started by another Recendez throw-in moved along by Anyer Gonzalez.

“(Willowbrook) stepped it up a little bit and kept their heads up high. I give them props, but it was just that we missed a lot of chances,” Miguel Gonzalez said.”We weren’t happy with this win. We could have scored more goals.”
 
Leyden goalies Konrad Dziedzic and Oscar Puga, who each played one half, and the starting defense of sweeper Ricky Pimentel, stopper Guzman and outside defenders Merlos and Anyer Gonzalez posted the team’s second straight shutout and seventh this season.

Dziedzic handled a couple of non-threatening shots in the first half. With just less than 21 minutes left, Karcz took a free kick from just beyond midfield that found Draus, the team’s leading scorer, open near the upper-right box.

Draus immediately turned to take a right-footed blast, but the charging Puga was there to block the attempt. With 6 1/2 minutes left, Lukitsh received the ball in a similar position after a cross from Draus on a counterattack. When Lukitsh turned to shoot, Merlos was there to block the shot.

“They’re both talented keepers,” Valintis said of Dziedzic and Puga. “I have confidence in both of them. As we get closer to the playoffs, we’ll keep them both fresh, keep them both sharp, keep them both on the field. You never know what’s going to happen.”

Willowbrook suffered its ninth loss in a row and fourth straight by shutout. But with their defensive effort and second-half offensive surges, the Warriors are encouraged heading into Thursday’s conference home game against Addison Trail.

“What I liked is we didn’t give up when we were scored on. In other games, we’ve sort of let down a little bit and the other teams put one in, another one in,” Ginter said. “They played hard and that’s really good because we have a big game against Addison Trail, our rival. We want to just carry that momentum into the game. That’s a big game for our seniors so we want to do very well.” 

“That’s a team that plays with a lot of heart, lot of effort, a lot of grit,” Valintis said. “Sooner or later, the ball’s going to bounce their way and find the back of the net. I was just glad it was not against us.”