Hornets struggle to finish at Glenbard East

CLICK HERE FOR HINSDALE SOUTH'S TEAM PAGE
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE GAME

By Gary Larsen

Tough-as-nails defenders are a commodity in soccer, and Glenbard East coach Josh Adler is grateful to have Gio Guerrero roaming his back line.

“Gio’s just been a stud this year,” Adler said. “He plays hard, he steps in hard, he steps in smart, and uses his body really well in fifty-fifty situations, where he’s the one who walks away a lot with the ball on his foot. He’s been really, really steady for us.”

Guerrero helped oversee the host Rams’ second consecutive shutout, a 2-0 win over Hinsdale South in Lombard. The outside defender slid to the middle of the defense for much of the game, and earned a clean sheet along with keeper Cody Hallcox and defenders Mike Hansen, Gabe Munoz, and Matt Rossetti.

“I don’t mind any position in the back. I’ve got confidence that I can do the work,” Guerrero said. “You just have to be mentally strong. I like winning the ball and I don’t like people scoring on my goalkeeper.”

A strike in each half from Hugo Aguilar and Ivan Surlina got the Rams (4-5-3) the goals they needed, against a Hornets (2-8-2) team that came out hard and applied pressure, but couldn’t close the deal on a goal.

South went into Saturday’s game on the heels of a 2-1 loss to highly-touted Morton, in which coach James VanDenburgh’s side battled well.

“I was fairly pleased with that result,” VanDenburgh said. “Morton dominated the way they do against most teams, but we were trying to build on the last 15 minutes we played in that game, when we got the goal against them.

“What we wanted to avoid was giving up goals and then being forced to climb back into the game today, but it seems like we dig ourselves that hole and we did that again today. We dig that hole and then can’t get out of it. But Glenbard East played well. They play a good, physical brand of soccer and I can respect that, so I’ll hand it to them.”

South’s pressure resulted in shots on and off frame, and the Hornets forced Hallcox to made a few quality saves in the first half. Adler saw his side losing the middle of the pitch to a South midfield led by TJ Kubiesa.

“In the first half I thought their central mids really won the battle. (Kubiesa) is relentless,” Adler said. “He works hard off the plays and puts himself in positions to make things happen. He’s very dangerous and effective coming through the middle of the field, and we never really found him real well. He had a lot of opportunities and touches on the ball, and he keyed their attack a lot.”

Despite their first-half struggles, East found a goal just before the halftime whistle.

Aguilar ran down a ball in the box sent ahead by Kyle Ricely and then, with a defender on his back, volleyed it behind, spun around the defender to track it down, and then buried a shot to the far post.

“That works about half the time,” Aguilar said, in describing the move he used to set up the shot. “But we weren’t going hard enough in the first half. We just weren’t ready. In the second half we started to go forward, and we didn’t stop, and we defended really hard.”

For the Hornets, questions with frustrating answers met them at the break.

“At halftime we said, are we dominating in the air? Are we doing the things we like to do? Yes, but they weren’t producing anything on the offensive end,” VanDenburgh said. “That’s when the frustration level can set it. But we’ll take the positives we saw in this game and move on to the next one.”

“(Matt) Schuster played well at the beginning of the game, Paras (Patel) always does a great job in net, keeping us in games, and I thought Ernie (Yanez) controlled the middle in the air. TJ (Kubiesa) had some good touches and Joe (Gangiochiodo) played well on the outside today.”

Gangiochiodo bemoaned his side’s inability to find a goal, particularly during its early spurt of attacking pressure.

“I felt that we played a good all-around game but the little mistakes changed the result of the game,” Gangiochiodo said. “I thought we controlled a majority of the game but couldn’t put one away. It was tough not getting an early goal but that’s what soccer is all about, and you’ve just got to keep fighting through for eighty minutes.”

The Rams grabbed a 2-0 lead at 53 minutes when Surlina fired from near the top of the penalty area on the left side. The junior’s shot was headed for the far post, where a South defender got a foot on it but redirected it into the net.

“I thought once we got the goal, it shifted the momentum a little bit and got us playing the way we wanted to play,” Adler said. “And in the second half I thought we really won the battle in most areas of the field. Our backs did a better job of linking with the midfield and getting the play going forward.

“We attacked really hard up the right side of the field, with Matt Rossetti, Victor Aguilar, and I thought our central mids – Miguel (Godoy) and Tyler (Ford) – did a good job of holding things and letting plays develop a little better, and being patient. And Ivan (Surlina) is a good enough player that wherever we use him, he’s skilled and smart enough to have an impact for us.”

Even though the Hornets found another gear down the game’s stretch, it didn’t satisfy VanDenburgh or Gangiochiodo.

“The intensity has to be there for the whole game, not just the last fifteen minutes when it’s too late,” Gangiochiodo said. “When we’ve won we’ve started out strong and maintained it for the whole game. That’s what we need to do.”

South hosts Downers Grove South on Tuesday in West Suburban Conference, Gold Division play before traveling to West Aurora on Thursday for a non-conference game.

The Rams play at West Chicago for a DuPage Valley Conference match on Tuesday before hosting Elk Grove on Thursday in a non-conference game.

“We’ve been working hard to get back to .500,” Guerrero said. “Today our midfield and defense started working harder, and working together better. We’ve started practicing harder, talking more to each other, and working on our mistakes. We just have to have a better work rate and stay positive on the field.
 
“Our guys in back are doing their best and getting used to playing at a high level. They’re doing an outstanding job.”