By Michael Wojtychiw

RIVER FOREST — It’s been a rough two weeks for Addison Trail.

Two of the last three games in the past week have been against York and Morton, the fourth- and second-ranked teams in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Unfortunately, for the Blazers, they were outscored 9-0 in those two games. So the squad’s nonconference game against Fenwick on Thursday, Oct. 7, afternoon was one where it hoped to get back in the win column.

The visitors did just that, walking away with a 2-0 win at Dominican University’s Priory Campus.

“We did a pretty good job of attacking,” Addison Trail manager Ryan Dini said. ” This is our 10th win of the season. We’ve had ups and downs, but I thought we played really well today as a group. We take that as a positive going into the last week before playoffs.”

For a team that had struggled to score the past two weeks, getting on the scoreboard early was key. With the way the match started, those in attendance wouldn’t have thought the Blazers (10-5-0) had been struggling offensively. They put seven shots on goal, earned three corners and took two free kicks.

“It was good to score first, because we had that momentum right away,” Addison Trail’s Nico Parente said. “We kept pressuring them, and it was a good linkup play that helped carry us throughout the rest of the game.”

“Our defense is really, really strong, when we’re playing at our best; our defense is lockdown,” Dini said. “We’re fast; we can play the physical game and getting back to the basics. I’ve seen the team turn the corner this week and it’s a good time for that to be happening.”

The Blazers’ hard work finally paid off with 12 minutes, 49 seconds remaining in the half. Sebastian Alicea knocked in a pass from Alex Sandoval to give the visitors the only goal they needed.

“I saw my teammate Alex Sandoval making a run down the line, and I knew, as a player with my killer instinct, to make sure I’m in the right spot to be able to receive a pass down the line and finish.

“I wasn’t getting too many opportunities but have to take advantage of the ones I got.”

Fenwick came off an important win over DePaul on Tuesday. The 4-1 decision ended a six-game winless streak.

The Friars (7-8-3) wanted to build on that match but couldn’t get much of anything going Thursday.

“We’re still growing,” Fenwick’s Ryan Bero said. “With playoffs coming up and a couple more tough games before that, at this point we’re preparing from the playoffs. Every win, even every loss helps, because it shows us what we have to work on.”

“Our guys have the ability to change and build off their positives, and that’s what we’re reinforcing so hopefully they can believe that,” Fenwick manager Craig Blazer said.

Halftime brought a new wrinkle to the game: rain.

Rain started about five minutes into the second half and become more of a steady rain for about 20 or so minutes, causing both teams to somewhat change up how they were playing.

The Friars were able to get their first shot on goal with 27:20 left in the match, but Addison Trial’s second half keeper, senior Mateo Gomez, picked it up.

“Their center backs played really well,” Bero said. “They’re ballhawks in a sense, really good at tracking the ball and covering for each other.

“We could have done better in building play up in the midfield. We played it fine in the back, but transitioning from the center backs and fullbacks to the final third was what we lacked today.”

Addison Trail added an insurance goal with just over 18 minutes remaining. Parente knocked home the insurance goal.

“We had a great free kick from Uriel Bibiano that came into the box,” he said. “David Peters chested it, and I finished like we talk about in practice — ‘always crash the goalie and always get the rebound.'”

The Blazers have built a program that expects double-digit wins every season. The 10 wins this year mark the sixth-consecutive full season where they’ve hit 10 or more wins; the squad won six games in the abbreviated season last spring.

The team earned the third seed in the Class 3A sectional they’ll host.

“We’ve won regional titles in ’16 and ’18, so we’ve had a good program the last five, six years here,” Dini said. “We’ve got 17 seniors on this team, so they’ve been through the grind. We just had a bad week and a half.

“But that was the plan, get tested, make ourselves ready for the playoffs, and we feel good about our chances.”

“We can use this as motivation to bounce back from the past couple weeks,” Alicea said. “This is a new week, time to start over.”

For Fenwick, Blazer is looking for consistency down the stretch. With the third seed in the Class AA Speer Sectional, he knows the team has a chance to make a run if they bring everything together like they have in games against teams like Oak Park and River Forest this season.

That game, while a 1-0 loss, was one of the better ones the coach feels his team has played.

“We want the guys to understand that the games are tough, and they can be disappointing,” he said. “But what they’ve done to play good soccer, they should be proud of. Hopefully they keep believing that they can get this done.”

Starting Lineups

Addison Trail
GK: Joey Dionne
D: Jason Valdez
MF: Brian Teran
D: David Peters
D: Luca Fischer
D: Uriel Bibiano
MF: Moises Hernandez
MF: Alex Sandoval
MF: Sebastian Alicea
MF: Nico Parente
F: Nicky Abarca

Fenwick
GK: Greg Price
D: Zach Hernandez
D: Ian MacKinnon
D: Ian Martinello
D: Max Ballarin
MF: Eric Kornowske
MF: Lucas Garcia
MF: Will Jancewicz
MF: Frank Felice
F: Jake Brecknock
F: Kamil Pilecki

Chicagoland Soccer Player of the Match: Sebastian Alicea, sr., MF, Addison Trail

Scoring summary

First half
Addison Trail – Sebastian Alicea (Alex Sandoval), 27th minute

Second half
Addison Trail – Nico Parente (David Peters), 62nd minute

Link to story: https://www.chicagolandsoccer.org/gs-at-at-fenwick-10-7-21.html