Varsity The team hosted Joliet Central on Saturday for its only game of the week. The team had a strong performance which ended in a 7-0 win. Matt Martin got the scoring started about 10 minutes into the game when he hit a shot off the post and in from the top of the box. The team continued to dominate and create chances throughout the first half, but wasn’t able to convert any and went into halftime up 1-0. The team came out flying in the second half creating chances right away. We added to the lead when Alex Damis beat his defender, got to the endline, and pulled the ball back to Jimmy Martin who finished it to the far post. Jake Lu would add the next three goals of the game, two of which were assisted by Jimmy. Jake then added an assist of his own when he crossed a free kick to the far post that was headed home by Yazeed Almatarneh. The scoring was finished off by Jimmy after a great ball over the top by Ethan Ebreo. Josh Enriquez and Matt Martin controlled the midfield for the majority of the game. Aiden LaPat and Radick Gorz-Capistran combined for the shutout in goal and made a handful of saves throughout. The defense which included Brody Hallman, Justas Gadisauskas, Yazeed, Chris Nakamura, Aaron Mendoza Lopez, Braedon Atkinson, Ayman Najjar, and John Kadolph limited Joliet Central’s scoring chances throughout the entire game. The team heads into the next week with three away games at Argo, Ridgewood, and Glenbard South.
Freshman The freshman boys began their season with an 0-2 for their first two games. On Wednesday, the Hornets took on the Oak Park River Forest Huskies and fell short with an 0-8 loss. Adriel Vazquez, goalkeeper for the Hornets, was the player to mention having saved 10+ shots during the game. Despite the result, the Hornets were buzzing into the weekend with their heads held high.
On Saturday, the Hornets traveled to the Steelman of Joliet Central. Unfortunately, the team couldn't STEEL a win on the road and lost, 0-6. Hornet forwards, Rami Yayal, Aston Floyd, and Khaled Nassif played well, connecting passes that led to dangerous opportunities in front of the Steelman goal. Khaled Nassif had one shot just wide of the far post. Rami Yayal with a few shots on goal too. Midfielders, Jose Salazar, Mason Ghrist and defenders, Andre Khasherdene and Diego Miranda all put in a shift having played almost or entirely the full game. The team moves into next week traveling to Glenbard West and hosting Willowbrook and Glenbard South.
Week of August 26th
Varsity The team started its season in the Windy City Classic with a game against Lincoln Way West. The first half was back and forth with both teams creating chances and we found ourselves down 1-0 at halftime. LWW was able to grab a second goal shortly into the second half. The team kept pressing and finally broke through when Jimmy Martin scored off of a long ball from Ethan Ebreo to cut the lead to 2-1 with about 10 minutes left. With 4 minutes left, Jimmy was on the end of a long ball from Matt Martin which he put around the goalkeeper to even the game at 2-2. We then went to penalty kicks where the team went perfect through 8 rounds. PKs were made by Jimmy, Ethan, Josh Enriquez, Diego Canas, Aaron Mendoza-Lopez, Matt Martin, Andrew Leonardson, and Alex Damis. Aiden LaPat made a great save in the 8th round of PKs to give us a 8-7 win in penalty kicks.
The team took on Thornton Fractional United the following day. Matt Martin drew a penalty kick about 10 minutes into the first half which Jimmy finished to give us a 1-0 lead. The team continued to create chances through Jimmy, Ethan, and Diego throughout the first half. We played strong defensively with a backline of Ben Bartninkas, Brody Hallman, Aaron Mendoza-Lopez, and Chris Nakamura. A couple of mistakes led to goals by TF United as the team chased a 2-1 deficit. Matt hit the post with a couple of minutes left and the team created chances up until the final seconds of the game, but wasn’t able to find an equalizer and fell 2-1.
The team finished a busy week with a Saturday morning game against Oak Forest. We made a couple of mistakes early in the game which led to a 2-0 deficit at halftime. We took control of the second half with strong build up play from Josh Enriquez, Matt Martin, and Ethan Ebreo. They helped control the ball and get us back into the game. We were able to cut the lead in half when Jake Lu scored following a nice assist from Jimmy Martin. Similar to Thursday's game, the team created a bunch of chances late, but weren’t able to convert and lost 2-1.