Lyons Township tops York to claim the WSSC title

By Gary Larsen

Before the season started, Lyons Township coach Paul Labbato said this:

“Leadership will be the biggest thing this year. Seasons are made and broken on how well kids gel. You can have all the talent in the world but you have to have kids willing to keep everyone together.”

After the Lions won 3-1 over visiting York on Tuesday, sophomore Elliot Borge brought his coach’s preseason concern full circle in pointing out the roles that team captains Billy McGuinness, Zach Pearsall, Chris Meingast, and Andrew Aviles have played this year.

“Day in and day out, our four captains keep everything going,” Borge said.

Borge has been one of the answers to another preseason question that Labbato posed, as to whether this year’s squad full of rock-solid defensive players would find ways to score.

In 20 games the Lions have only given up 12 goals, and netted 52 in another season of top-shelf competition.

The Lions improved to 17-3 overall and won the West Suburban Silver with their win over York, posting a perfect 6-0 conference record. They beat Downers Grove North 4-3, topped a rugged Hinsdale Central team 3-0, and posted shutout wins over Glenbard West, Proviso West, and Oak Park-River Forest.

York and LT shared the WSS title last year, and this year’s outright title was the first in Labbato’s tenure as head coach.

The Lions got goals from Luke Skertich, Meingast, and McGuinness in Tuesday’s win, with Horacio Sanchez posting two assists and Borge posting another.

York (10-7-1) came out hard on Tuesday, sending a pair of good chances just wide of net, closing space quickly and challenging every ball.

“They’re solid,” Borge said of York. “They’ve got some players that can do some stuff with the ball. They’re definitely dangerous at all times. But we always do a good job in the back.”

The game went scoreless until Pearsall sent a through-ball up the left side to Meingast in the 25th minute of play. Meingast angled the ball in and it popped up to Borge, who headed it to the goalmouth where Skertich buried it to the back netting.

The game turned on two quick Lions goals to start the second half. First Meingast finished at the post on a Sanchez feed, and then McGuinness did the same by the game’s 42nd minute.

“We got caught watching a little and I think those two goals affected us mentally a little bit,” York coach Markus Roy said. “We managed to score after that but hats off to Lyons. They’re the deal. We put the effort in but we just came up short.”

Roy got exceptional efforts from Stefan Salzano, Eric Moreau, and Cody Kliethermes, with Kliethermes busting up the right side into the box in the game’s 59th minute and finishing on a shot from 14 yards out.

“You don’t score a lot against LT, so that was good to see,” Roy said.

Goalkeeper Sully Fox and the Lions’ defense have posted 14 shutouts in 20 games, and the Lions’ only losses all season have come to a pair of big dogs in two different states.

“We’ve been in pretty good form all season, and never really let up,” Borge said. “Obviously we’ve lost to (top-ranked) Neuqua twice, and there’s no shame in that, and we lost to Marquette (Wisconsin), who is also nationally-ranked.”

Labbato was happy to get his entire bench involved in Tuesday’s win, and similarly happy to see his boys avoid getting carded in an always-heated WSS game.

“Our kids stayed calm and we’re trying to get through the week with no cards,” he said. “We have no one in danger of carrying cards, but you never know with three tough games in the last week.”

“You get a couple in the last week and all of a sudden you could get suspended in the playoffs, so we just wanted to de-escalate and stay calm. We want the emotion. We just don’t want the bad emotion.”

Man of the match: Elliot Borge

By Gary Larsen

Elliot Borge's name seemed to get mentioned with regularity by the student broadcast team working the press box for Lyons Township's 3-1 win over York.

And with good reason.

Borge was prominent throughout the Lions' cliniching victory for the West Suburban Silver title.

“He checked to the ball well, he was able to hold the ball, and he was able to turn and beat his player constantly today," LT coach Paul Labbato said.

"And he was just unlucky on a couple balls in the first half. He slid the ball just outside the post.”

As it was, Borge provided the assist on the game's first goal when he headed a ball over to Luke Skertich, who headed it into the net at the goal line.

"(Zach) Pearsall played a through-ball to (Chris) Meingast on the outside. The ball ended up popping up to my head and I just tried to head it over the keeper to where our other players were,” Borge said.

“I did better today at holding guys off, keeping the ball down, and not trying to do too much. Playing the ball back and trying to find it again.”

Borge moved up top from the central midfield this year, and the sophomore has posted 6 goals and 11 assists to lead the Lions in overall points through Tuesday’s game.

Horacio Sanchez has scored 8 goals this year, while Meingast and Brian Heimerdinger have netted 6 apiece.