Warriors' scoring woes continue at Lake Park
Waubonsie Valley fails to finish in 1-0 loss

CLICK HERE FOR GAME PHOTOS

By Gary Larsen

Waubonsie Valley has hit a scoring draught and that doesn’t bode well for a team carrying the Warriors’ annually tough schedule.

Lake Park’s 1-0 win over Waubonsie on Wednesday marked the fourth consecutive game the Warriors (2-7-1, 1-3-1 in UEC play) have been kept out of net. They’ve scored 7 goals through 10 games this year.

“It’s been the story of our season, not being able to finish,” the Warriors’ Sam Bell said. “I should have finished the chances I had. It could have put the game in a different (direction).”

Bell and his teammates struck several good scoring chances on and off net through 40 minutes of the Upstate Eight battle in Roselle.

Bell sent a shot wide in the 17th minute, and he sent one high three minutes later. Waubonsie Valley’s Tyler Yanisch took a ball deep up the left side and centered a ball in the 30th minute, and Bell sent it high of net.

Steven Turcios also sent a ball wide in the first half, and Bell forced Lancers keeper Eric Ahrens to make a diving save at the post just before halftime. Ahrens handled a late Jason O'Brien shot near the post in the second half.

“We’re just hoping that luck starts to bounce our way a little bit,” Warriors coach Angelo DiBernardo said. “We know that we can play with most of these teams. We can hang in there. But you’ve got to finish your chances and we’re just not doing that.

We’re still looking for a little bit more possession in the middle of the field, and not kicking the ball up so much. We did a better job of that today. In the first half we created a little bit more than usual, but the creation is not enough. You’ve got to put them away.”

If not for a few nifty saves by Ahrens, the Warriors might have done just that and grabbed a lead by halftime.

“We had some breakdowns in the back and they had some chances,” Lancers coach Norm Hillner said. “Ahrens had two or three great saves. He made some huge saves today.”

Defensive stopper O’Brien was solid in the air throughout the first half, sending balls back over the midfield stripe and allowing his side to maintain pressure.

Lake Park (8-4-1, 2-0) sent a head shot off the crossbar in the first half and managed the game’s lone goal in the second. Lake Park’s Sal Cali turned the corner at the end line on the right side and centered a pass in the 63rd minute, and Oliver Huerta buried it from 8 yards out.

“Good goal and a nice play,” DiBernardo said. “(Cali) took a ball to the end line and crossed it, and they had the runners in the right place, and they finished it. Poor defense on our side because we had a couple guys out of position, chasing.”

“But other than the one where they hit the crossbar with a header, and the one they put away, we didn’t give them much. At one-for-two you’re batting .500. You’d make a lot of money in baseball doing that, while we were 0-for-5 or 6.”

The veteran Waubonsie coach was glad to see that after Huerta’s goal, his side showed fight to the final buzzer in chasing an equalizing goal.

The schedule won’t get any easier for the Warriors, whose next three opponents are Geneva, East Aurora, and Plainfield Central, so they’ll continue to fight the good fight and hope that wins start breaking their way.
 
“There were a few teams that definitely deserved to beat us, but our record definitely doesn’t show how good we are,” Bell said. “We’ve been trying people in different positions and we’re just trying to find the right team to finally put it in the goal.”