Lions beat Red Devils for WSC Silver lead

By Curt Herron

Although most coaches would prefer a less dramatic scenario, they'll gladly take a situation where their team has a two-goal lead despite having far fewer opportunities.

That was precisely the position that Lyons Township coach Paul Labbato and his squad found themselves in during Tuesday's West Suburban Silver first-place showdown with Hinsdale Central.

A huge gathering of supporters from both sides got to see plenty of exciting moments during an eventful first half, with the Red Devils getting many more scoring chances than the Lions.

But LT made the best of the situation by scoring a pair of goals to grab a 2-0 halftime lead which helped it to capture a 3-0 win over rival Hinsdale at Bennett Field in Western Springs.

The Lions (12-3, 3-0) relied on a strong first-half performance in the net from Sully Fox, as well as a stout defensive effort throughout from the Billy McGuinness-led backline.

As the Red Devils (7-6-2, 2-1) kept throwing their best at LT during the first 40 minutes, the hosts were able to weather the storm as Fox came up with one big save after another.

In addition, McGuinness was joined by Dan Wielgos and Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr throughout while Chris Meingast alternated between the back and midfield with Hamdija Fejzic stepping in for him.

After Fox went down with an injury with 27 minutes remaining, Kevin Beglen stepped in and was able to basically watch an uneventful second half thanks to an all-field defensive effort.

With midfielders such as Brian Heimerdinger, Zach Pearsall, Andrew Aviles, Kyle Kurfirst and Meingast controlling the play, Lyons was able to wrap up its tenth shutout of the season.

That allowed LT's players to walk away with the Silver Brick, which was painted red in honor of the Red Devils' victory last season, that is awarded to the winner of the matchup.

"We were definitely looking to defend since we knew that Hinsdale was going to play very direct," Labbato said, "They were going to play into alleys and run after it and win long throws, corner kicks and free kicks to put us under pressure.

"That's been going on for the last few years and we've been on the downside of every one of those games so we were a little more defensive-minded today. We wanted to hold off those opportunities and we did a good job with our counter-attack.

"We definitely have a lot of defenders and we have a lot of choices as to how we can move kids around. We were able to move Chris in and out of defense to outside mid to give him some runs at the goal since he's so good at pushing forward.

"As we were carrying Sully off the field, I overheard our kids saying that they were going to allow no more shots on goal and our defense and midfield closed everything down. And Kevin also did a good job of filling in for us in a big game."

After Pearsall sent in a free kick about three minutes into the match for the initial threat of the evening, the Red Devils began their spirited attack on LT's goal.

Cameron Legan started things off with the first of a steady diet of dangerous free kicks, corner kicks and throw ins when he put a free kick on net just over nine minutes in.

About two minutes after that, Mitch Reavis sent a grounder to Fox before a flurry of activity with about 25 minutes left in the half nearly gave the visitors the early lead.

Eric Loebig sent in a shot that was cleared away by a defender before Reavis headed an attempt that bounced off of the crossbar.

After LT's Horacio Sanchez and Hinsdale's Lenny Zavala exchanged shots on goal a few minutes later, the Red Devils threatened again just past the first half's midpoint.

Legan's throw in was headed by a Red Devil toward the net but Wielgos was able to clear it away to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

The Lions found the net with 16:09 left before the break when Kralovec-Kirchherr had a throw in that flicked off of Elliot Borge to Luke Skertich, who scored from close range.

A short time later, Legan supplied another long free kick and teammate Taylor Cole fired in a corner kick which were both halted by Fox.

With just under nine minutes remaining before the break, Mike Bucheleres sent a pass to Legan, whose short attempt was deflected away by the LT keeper.

Red Devil Mike Oleszkiewicz was stopped by Fox with about six minutes left in the half and the Lions got back on the scoreboard a short time later.

Borge supplied a pass to Fejzic, who was able to put in a short shot past Red Devil keeper Jack O'Donnell with 3:19 remaining in the initial half.

The with just under two minutes left, Red Devil Andrew Worthington hit the crossbar before his rebound effort was deflected away by Fox.

"Every time that we play these guys it's a battle so to get a win really means a lot to us," McGuinness said. "Credit to them since they put a lot of pressure on us in the first half and making it hard for us to settle the play down, which is what we like to do.

"Sully made some big saves and we some people who were making big tackles in the box. They were getting chances and we got a tad bit lucky since the ball bounced our way a few times. It was great to be able to get ahead after we took so much pressure from them.

"I think we have a very strong team this year and have done well so far with only a few losses against some top teams. But we have more conference matches that we have to win so we're looking forward and hope that we can continue on the success that we've had."

By comparison, the second half was very uneventful, especially after Fox was helped off the field about 13 minutes after the break.

Pearsall sent in a long free kick in the early going but little happened until Fox was hurt while stopping a Loebig header with 27 minutes left.

As LT's senior keeper sat on the bench with his left ankle covered in ice and propped up on a water container, Beglen stepped in for him.

About all that the junior had to defend against was another long free kick from Legan with less than 14 minutes remaining in the match.

LT closed out the scoring with 9:32 to go when Fejzic sent a cross to Sanchez, who headed a shot that found the opposite side of the net.

"It was a fun game since you have a lot of your classmates out here to support you and cheer for you," Sanchez said. "It's a big rivalry and we both tried our hardest and I think the better team won.

"We knew that as soon as we got the chance to capitalize that we had to do it because they weren't doing it. The way that we were going to win the game was to be able to score the first goal.

"It feels good to get this win but we know that we can't hang our hats onto that since we have another tough team to play on Friday when we see Oak Park-River Forest and we're looking forward to that."

Men of the match:
Sully Fox and Billy McGuinness

Photo courtesy of Ken Fox

Sully Fox and Billy McGuinness were two calming forces in the storm for Lyons Township in its clash with rival Hinsdale Central on Tuesday.

With bragging rights as well as first place in the West Suburban Silver at stake, the Red Devils came out strong and put the pressure on the Lions from the outset.

But Fox stopped everything that came his way while McGuinness led a fine defensive effort that helped LT post its tenth shutout of the season.

Joining in the cause in the back were Dan Wielgos, Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr, Chris Meingast and Hamdija Fejzic, who came in when Meingast moved up to the midfield.

Despite getting many fewer good scoring chances than the Red Devils during the opening half, the Lions managed to grab a 2-0 halftime lead.

LT added another score in the final 10 minutes to wrap up a 3-0 victory, which was a far cry from the last three meetings, which were all 1-0 matches.

Fox got injured with 27 minutes left and replaced by Kevin Beglen, who only faced one long free kick as LT's defense clamped down the rest of the way.

"Sully kept us in the match during the first half," Lions coach Paul Labbato said. "And Billy also did a great job of directing the defense and cleaning up messes."

Lions starters vs. Red Devils

Lions Schedule