Illinois Lutheran
                                                                                                   High School
Charger Soccer Report

Chargers Finish 4th in Shootout
Record:  1-3-0

The Chargers opened the season on Monday, August 27 against the Grant Park Dragons.  Throughout the contest, the Dragons were able to counter-attack with pressure on the Charger net putting 9 shots on goal with 14 overall attempts.  The Charger keeper was unable to handle one of the shots in the 47th minute of play as it slipped between his legs for the only score of the game.  The Chargers only managed 7 shots putting 2 on goal despite being able to control the ball for the majority of the contest.  The Chargers will get another shot at the Dragons in mid September and try to even the season series.

On Wednesday, the Chargers began play in the 5th annual Charger Shootout at Illinois Lutheran.  The contest was against Kankakee High School and was scoreless at the half with the Chargers holding a 11 to 1 shot advantage.  Throughout the second half, the Chargers were able to keep pressure on the Kankakee defense but were unable to find the back of the net until the 77th minute of play when sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE crossed a ball into the front of the net that was deflected by the Kankakee keeper and returned to the back of the net by freshman forward EVAN TESKE.  This gave the Chargers their first win of the season and a chance to play for the tournament championship with a win against Tinley Park on Thursday.

On Thursday, both the Tinley Park Titans and the Illinois Lutheran Chargers seemed determined to come away with the victory.  In the first half of play Illinois Lutheran held a marginal shot advantage putting 7 of 8 on goal compared to 6 of 7 for the Titans.  However, as the second half began it was the Titans who came out firing.  They managed two goals in the 51st and 55th minute to take a seemingly insurmountable lead on the Chargers.  With a personnel change for the Chargers in the 65th minute came a renewed attack that finally netted a goal in the 77th minute from sophomore midfielder SETH McGATHEY assisted by midfielder BEN WALLACE.  Now down only one goal, the Chargers almost evened the score in the 79th minute but for a tremendous save by the Titan keeper to save the attempt and the game for Tinley Park.

The Chargers met the Rich East Rockets on Saturday in the 3rd Place contest.  The first half belonged to the Rockets as they peppered the Charger goal with 10 shots compared to 4 for Illinois Lutheran.  Despite their aggressive attack, the Rockets were unable to capitalize and the score was knotted 0-0 at the half.  In the second half, the Chargers seemed to pick up the intensity and were able to get several early chances, though nothing extremely threatening.  In the 57th minute the Rockets headed down on the counter-attack and broke down the Charger defense with a nifty cross.  As the ball came into the net area, the Charger defense was not able to clear it adequately to prevent the score.  The contest ended with a 1-0 advantage for the Rockets, leaving the Chargers with a 4th place finish in the tournament.  The Chargers will also get another shot at the Rockets in Park Forest in early October.

SCORING LEADERS

                                                                             Illinois Lutheran
                                                                                                   High School
Charger Soccer Report

Chargers Play Crete-Monee to a Tie
Record:  2-3-1

The Illinois Lutheran Chargers hosted the Beecher Bobcats on Wednesday.  The Chargers took an early lead in the 3rd minute of play when freshman forward EVAN TESKE followed up a deflected pass from deep in the Bobcats goal area and beat the keeper to finish the shot.  The Chargers didn’t seem to play with any intensity from that point on as Beecher was able to outshoot the hosts 8-2 for the remainder of the half.  In the 34th minute the Bobcats were able to knot the score at 1-1 closing out the first half of play.  In the second half, the Chargers showed a little more enthusiasm, though the game remained a stalemate with most of the play in the middle of the field.  It wasn’t until the 77th minute of action that junior midfielder JON BOERSEMA fought through the Bobcat defense to wrestle away the ball that popped out to the foot of sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE, who put away the game winner for the Chargers.  Though the Chargers won the contest, it was an even match that could have gone either way on the scoreboard.

On Saturday evening, the Chargers headed across town for a rivalry game with the Warriors of Crete-Monee.  This was the first meeting of the schools since 1992.  In the early going and throughout the first half the Chargers displayed better control of the ball and dictated the pace of play.  Freshman forward EVAN TESKE put away the first goal for the Chargers in the 4th minute on a ball that the Warrior keeper was unable to handle cleanly.  Despite the Chargers ability to control the ball, the Warriors were able to mount several counter-attacks that resulted in two or three narrow misses at the Charger net.  In the 22nd minute, it was TESKE again who netted the Chargers second goal on a feed from junior midfielder JON BOERSEMA.  As the half ended the Chargers held a 2-0 advantage with 11 shots to 6 for the Warriors.

In the second half, the Warriors came out a bit more aggressive and earned a PK in the 44th minute when a Charger defender tripped up a Warrior forward as he headed toward the net.  The goal cut the Charger lead to 2-1.  Only 3 minutes later, sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE placed a wonderful shot into the corner of the Warrior net on a nice ball from TESKE.  The Warriors were able to notch a second goal on what appeared to be a cross into the area that sailed at the goal and nipped in off the post in the 59th minute of play.  As time was running out on the Warriors they were able to get deep into the Charger defense and earn an indirect restart late in the game.  The cross was headed at the far post and also deflected in off the post giving the Warriors a 3-3 tie with only 5 minutes remaining.  The Chargers threatened one last time as BOERSEMA got behind the Warrior defense but was unable to get the shot past the Warrior keeper.

With the win and tie for the week, the Chargers now have a 2-3-1 season record as they head to St. Anne next Wednesday.

SCORING LEADERS

Illinois Lutheran
High School
Charger Soccer Report

Chargers Win 2 in a Row
Record:  4-3-2

Wednesday, the Chargers headed south to St. Anne to take on the Cardinals in an RVC match-up.  The contest was very close in the first half, as the Chargers were unable to capitalize on their ability to control the ball and earn quality shots on the Cardinal net.  At the half, the score was 0-0 with 5 shots for the Chargers and 3 for the Cardinals.  In the second half, the Chargers were able to get a few more shots at the St. Anne goal, but didn’t find the back of the net until the 65th minute of play on a goal by freshman forward EVAN TESKE assisted by junior midfielder JON BOERSEMA.  The Cardinals threatened one time late in the game with a break-away opportunity that was shot just over the crossbar.  The final score of 1-0 gave the Chargers freshman keeper ZACH SAGER his first career shutout.

On Friday, the Chargers hosted Grace Baptist Academy.  It didn’t take long for the Chargers to take control of the game when sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE scored in the 4th minute on a nice cross by sophomore midfielder SETH McGATHEY.  The Chargers would finish the contest with 8 goals, but were unable to shutout their opponents as they allowed a goal in the 55th minute of play.  Each of the Chargers other 7 goals were scored by 7 different players, sophomore LAUREN SADOWSKI, junior PHIL COOPER, junior CODY ODOM, senior MATT LENHARDT, freshman DAVID BECKER, junior JON BOERSEMA, and senior NATE WAGGONER.  McGATHEY notched a second assist and SADOWSKI and ODOM had one each.

TF North visited Illinois Lutheran on Saturday for a late morning contest.  For the first 15 minutes, the Meteors were in control of the match and had kept the ball in front of the Charger net but were unable to notch a goal.  About that time, the Chargers were able to find their way into the game and played the Meteors fairly even for the remainder of the half.  Only 2 seconds before the close of the half, a Charger defender went to clear a ball that deflected off one of his own players and ended up at the foot of a Meteor player who played the ball ahead for an easy score and a 1-0 lead at the half.  The Chargers stayed aggressive and continued to keep pressure on the Meteor defense.  In the 68th minute, the Chargers earned a direct restart that was played to the far post by sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE and finished by sophomore midfielder SETH McGATHEY.  Both teams struggled for energy in the remaining 10 minutes of play and each had a few opportunities for the win, but they were unable to find the net.  This gave the Chargers their second tie of the season with a 1-1 finish.

SCORING LEADERS

                                                                             Illinois Lutheran
                                                                                                   High School
Charger Soccer Report

Chargers Struggle For 1 Win in 3
Record:  5-5-2

The Manteno Panthers visited Crete for a match-up with the Chargers of Illinois Lutheran on Tuesday afternoon.  For 30 minutes the Chargers seemed to play with the heavily favored Panthers as both teams were able to control the ball at times and attack their opponents net.  In the 32nd minute, the Panthers earned a penalty shot and converted to take a 1-0 lead.  The Chargers immediately looked defeated and the Panthers added another goal only 30 seconds later.  With the score 2-0 at the half, the Chargers were unable to even earn a shot in the second half of play, while the Panthers added a third in the 61st minute.  Manteno won with a 3-0 final.

Wednesday, the Chargers hosted Heritage Christian, and in the wake of the defeat to Manteno, began the game with about as much energy and enthusiasm as they had to finish the previous match.  In the 4th minute, a Heritage Christian attacker fired a rocket from about 35 yards out into the upper 90 of the Charger goal putting Illinois Lutheran down 1-0.  The Chargers seemed unwilling to overcome the deficit and remained down by 1 at the half.  The second half proved a wake up call for the Chargers as sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE notched a goal in the 48th minute on an assist by sophomore midfielder SETH McGATHEY.  The Chargers took control of the match in the 66th minute on another goal by WALLACE this time assisted by junior defender PHIL COOPER.  Senior MATT LENHARDT recorded the final tally in the 76th minute assisted by freshman midfielder EVAN TESKE.

The Grant Park Dragons were in town on Friday for a River Valley Conference match-up.  The Chargers were looking to avenge an early season loss to the Dragons in Grant Park 1-0.  The Chargers did not play with much passion in this contest as the Dragons repeatedly beat them to 50/50 balls and were clearly dictating the pace of play.  In the 24th minute a collision between junior midfielder JON BOERSEMA and sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE sent WALLACE to the sidelines with a head injury.  With WALLACE on the bench, the Dragons gained an even greater control advantage in the middle of the field and were able to break the 0-0 score in the 28th minute when they snuck behind the Charger defense and notched the first goal of the game.  In the second half, the Dragons added to their score when a throw in was sent at the net and touched by the Charger keeper and then put into the goal by a Charger defender in the 61st minute of play.  With the score 2-0 in favor of the Dragons, the Chargers showed little will to work and overcome the deficit.  The JV also lost 1-0.

The loss put the Chargers overall record at 5-5-2 as they headed into a tough week of play at Herscher on Monday, and then 4 games at the Peotone Diablo Tournament from Tuesday thru Saturday.

SCORING LEADERS

Illinois Lutheran
School
Charger Soccer Report

Chargers Finish 2-2 at Peotone
Record:  7-8-2

The Chargers traveled to Herscher on Monday to play the Tigers.  By the end of the first half, the Chargers managed a 7-2 shot advantage, yet trailed in the match 1-0.  Early into the start of the second half, the Tigers netted a second goal, which proved too much for the Chargers as they fell 2-0 for their 6 loss of the season.

Tuesday, the Chargers began play in the Peotone Diablo Tournament.  The Chargers matched up against Chicago Christian and were able to keep pace with their more physical opponents for the first half which ended with a 0-0 score.  As the second half began, the Chargers faced a Chicago Christian corner kick, which they capitalized on for a 1-0 lead.  The Chargers battled the rest of the half getting a couple of great chances to convert.  In the 66th minute, the Chargers allowed the second goal of the game on a controversial decision by the referee.  Although the Chargers outshot their opponents 8-3 in the half, they allowed the 2 goals and fell 2-0.

In their second match of the tournament the Chargers played Reed-Custer from Braidwood.  The Chargers took advantage early with sophomore defender JASON KOTECKI scoring on a crossing play from sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE.  The Chargers could not put away Reed-Custer in the first half leading only 1-0.  It wasn’t until the 64th minute that the Chargers netted their second goal when WALLACE put away a nice pass from freshman midfielder NICK DURAND.  DURAND scored in the 66th minute on an assist by sophomore forward LAUREN SADOWSKI, and WALLACE capped the scoring in the 72nd minute on an assist by junior defender PHIL COOPER.  Keeper JON BOERSEMA recorded the shutout on a 4-0 victory.

Friday evening the Chargers played Iroquois West.  Sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE opened the scoring in the 12th minute on an assist by sophomore defender SETH McGATHEY.  Freshman midfielder NICK DURAND added a goal in the 21st minute on a long throw in from senior midfielder MATT LENHARDT.  Iroquois West converted a PK in the 24th minute, but the Chargers gained the 2 goal advantage right back in the 32nd minute when WALLACE scored again on a nifty through ball by junior forward CODY ODOM.  DURAND and LENHARDT connected again in the 54th minute, and freshman midfielder ZACH SAGER capped the scoring when he buried a long cross from DURAND.  The Chargers took the match 5-1.

Saturday, the Irish of Bishop MacNamara were on deck for the Chargers.  From the outset the contest was physical and fast paced.  The Chargers fell behind during a 2 minute stretch in the first half on mental lapses by the defense in the 16th and 17th minute of play.  Trailing 2-0 at the half, the Chargers fought back to within a goal in the 46th minute when the Irish keeper fouled an attacking Charger midfielder about 10 yards from the goal.  The foul resulted in an indirect kick that was converted by senior midfielder NATE WAGGONER when sophomore midfielder BEN WALLACE tapped the ball for the scoring opportunity.  The Chargers again allowed a goal late in the 70th minute falling behind 3-1.  In the 72nd minute, the Chargers earned a PK that was converted again by WAGGONER.  That was the final tally as the Chargers fell 3-2.

SCORING LEADERS