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Lake Park battles hard but can't find a goal against Wheaton North By Gary Larsen The state playoffs have a way of wringing 80 minutes of soccer from a team, and Lake Park gave all of that in Wednesday’s regional match. The Lancers lost 1-0 to Wheaton North in a Class 3A regional semifinal, but coach Norm Hillner’s squad left it all on the field. “They worked hard tonight,” Hillner said. “I think our effort tonight was much greater than it’s been in a long time, but the state tournament has a way of doing that, getting kids to play harder than they normally do.” “We need to carry that effort and that attitude over into the regular season.” With the wind at its back through the first 40 minutes, Lake Park came out hard and applied pressure to Wheaton North’s back line. Dewey Admire and Mike Keane each sent good chances on net, but Falcons’ keeper Nick Barry was there to thwart them both. “They kind of put us on our heels, and they generated some opportunities,” North coach Bryce Cann said. Two teams that played to a 1-1 tie in early September figured to compete in another close game on Wednesday. The Lancers (10-11-4) were seeded No. 5 in the Hoffman Estates sectional, while the Falcons (6-9-5) were named the No. 9 seed. After a scoreless first half it was North’s turn to attack with the wind at its back. The Falcons earned a series of restarts on the Lancers’ half of midfield, and got one to pay off in the game’s 57th minute. A free kick from midfield resulted in North’s Josh Bennett running onto a flick and scoring the game’s lone goal. “It was a simple flick in the middle, and there was nobody around him,” Hillner said. “You can’t stand and watch him. You’ve got to mark him, but we kind of fell asleep.” Lake Park played without the services of some key players, as Stephen Durante, Sal Cali, and a few others sat out Wednesday due to the flu virus that has been hitting area schools hard. Lake Park will bid farewell to a swarm of seniors in captain and midfielder Keane, Durante, Marty Lupou, Andy Mele, Lou Cesario, Dewey Admire, Piotr Gorecki, Dave Tobon, Nick Ricciardi, Matt Voris, Matt Graf, Ariel Noel, and Michael Gallo. "Mike Keane was the only starter was had coming back (from 2008) and he took a real leadership role," Hillner said. "He provided a lot of direction for the team. We went 1-5 when he was out with an injury this year." "He was our attacking midfielder and he had a lot of offensive responsibilities for us. He's skilled, talented, deceptively quick, and he has a real calmness to him out there." Hillner said he'll also miss the efforts he received all year from departing seniors, Durante, Mele, and Gallo. "They all played within their limitations and they did a nice job for us," Hillner said. "Even Piotr Gorecki, who maybe didn't play as much as he would have liked but worked hard and was another good kid." The Lancers will return a strong core of returnees, and Hillner cited consistent efforts put forth this year by players like Cali, Lou Cesario, Jimmy Albright, Eric Ahrens, Chris Mash, Tyler Sadowski, Nick Zanghi, and Tim Adelman. All will return next season. They need to get used to (a high) level of competition. We do all kinds of stuff in the summer but they need to more on top of that. You have to face the higher competition if you want to compete with the Neuqua Valleys and teams like that. They need to be playing in the spring.”
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Lake Park's 2009 results
Postseason play
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