Hilltoppers win 1st night game at Memorial Field
By Bill Hupp

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Glenbard West played its first home night game under the lights in program history on Thursday night, and the play on the pitch befitted the special occasion.

The action between the Hilltoppers and visiting Lake Park was entertaining, end-to-end stuff and featured plenty of shots, saves, goals and fouls.

When it was all said and done, the more veteran and physically mature home team simply wore down the visiting Lancers and pulled away in the second half for a 5-1 win at Memorial Field.

Lake Park played with energy from the start, but Glenbard West’s aggressive play led to a couple first half goals. Less than three minutes into the game, junior striker Jack Emanuel raced after a loose ball and arrived at the same time as Lake Park goalie Zach Czesak. The ball popped out to senior forward Nathan Hall, who coolly popped it into the open net for an early 1-0 lead.

“It was very important,” Glenbard West right fullback and captain Aaron Griffin said of the quick strike. “We’re not the best team playing from behind, so it’s really good for us to get ahead early.”

Lake Park responded well, however, and quickly settled into the game. They had a good spell of possession and sophomore striker Oliver Horgan hit a couple of swerving shots on volleys that just missed the right post. Horgan eventually tied it up in the 17th minute of play when the ball fell to his feet after a long throw-in. With West goalie Robbie White down on the turf, Horgan side-footed a point-blank shot into the net to knot the game at 1.

The Lancers would have taken the lead in the 23rd minute was it not for a brilliant save by White. Senior fullback Dom Azzolin hit a curling left-footed shot from 25 yards out that was bound for the upper right corner of the goal, but White made an athletic diving punch save with his right hand to keep the ball out.

West would regain the lead for good in the 28th minute when Hall ran onto a beautiful through ball, kept his nerve and slid it into the bottom right corner of the net.

In the second half, the Hilltoppers continued to be on the front foot and again hit paydirt early. With just a minute gone by, Lake Park failed to clear a West corner kick and junior midfielder David Ortega tapped the ball in at the far post to make it 3-1.

“When they bagged that third goal, you could just tell the wind went out of our sails,” Lake Park Coach Anthony Passi said. “That second half we couldn’t match their energy and they wore on us. They just were a little bit more aggressive and they were able to put the ball away in the net.”

It didn’t help Lake Park that their most dangerous offensive player had to leave the game with an injury. Horgan caught an accidental blow to the head early in the second half, lay on the field for several minutes and eventually went to the hospital for treatment of a possible concussion.

For the remainder of the game, West kept attacking down the right wing, possessing the ball and peppering both Czesak and back-up goalie Stephen Mack with 15 shots. Kevin Coria and Joe DeSario were strong in the back for the Lancers as they tried to fight off the Hilltoppers attack.

Glenbard West’s fourth goal was a thing of beauty. Hall and Shawn Herrera played beautiful combination soccer on a counterattack down the left wing. Just outside the box, Hall laid it off to Herrera, who was making a clever diagonal run across Hall’s face. The junior midfielder whirled and fired a one-touch blast into the left corner.

The Hilltoppers added a late exclamation point with under a minute left when Hall headed home a corner kick to officially notch a hat trick.

“Last year, these guys were part of the team that tied Lyons for the conference championship and I think that was the biggest boost of confidence for the kids,” Glenbard West Coach Maciek Kusmierz said. “They saw that they could compete and now they’re playing with that mentality. We step on the field, try to do our best and play with confidence and believe in our potential.”

Fullbacks Griffin, Andrew O’Connell and Connor Kinna were very organized in the back and really prevented the Lancers from creating many dangerous scoring opportunities in the box. Lake Park’s best chances came from set pieces, of which they earned plenty thanks to Glenbard West’s 21 fouls in the game.

For Lake Park (8-7), meanwhile, an up-and-down season continues. They’ve defeated conference heavyweights Waubonsie Valley and Metea Valley this season, but also lost four of their last five games. Still, Passi understands that these kinds of non-conference challenges will only help his team come playoff time.

“We’re 8-7 now and we just need to be more consistent,” Coach Passi said. “Our kids play with a lot of heart, we just need to get that varsity experience. Our team’s lack of experience shows against a team like [Glenbard West].”