Lockport soccer continues to roll

Plainfield South's Chris Tejeda attempts to split Lockport's Bradon Hodolitz (5) and Ryan Turner to get to the ball.
(John Patsch/Herald News)

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JOLIET — The Lockport High School boys soccer team was so excited about the opportunity to set a school record for wins that the Porters players did some homework. Then they went out and set the record.

Lockport posted its school record 14th victory with a 2-1 win over host Plainfield South in a nonconference clash on Monday.

With the victory, the Porters (14-1) won for the 13th straight time, which is certainly a school record that just keeps going.

"We all looked it up and 13 wins from the season two years ago was the record," Lockport senior forward Ryan Turner said. "So this is the school record and it feels great to know that we'll go down in history."

The Porters accomplished the record despite missing senior All-State candidate, senior forward Bob Novak -- who received a red card in Lockport's 2-1 win over Lemont last Saturday.

"He's definitely the leader of our team," Ryan said of Novak. "Even today he was yelling, making sure everyone was sharp and doing his part from the sideline.

"The key has been our experience. We have 15 seniors and we were all on the varsity last year. We work off each other and pick each other up," Lockport first-year coach Dam Baumhardt said.

"We're really balanced and when someone goes down, we tow the line and get the job done," he said. "Plainfield South played hard, we just had kids step up at the right times.

"We have an attitude that it's not about me as an individual. It's all about staying together as a group and doing the job to the best of our ability."

While the Porters have played to the best of their ability, Plainfield South (7-9-1) has struggled this season.

"They were minus their big player, but we've had people out with some injuries and there's no excuse," South coach Michael Freitag said. "We have a pretty good team, we just have to score."

In the first half the Cougars had those opportunities to score, but couldn't convert. First, a close range restart by senior midfielder Nate Jakusz went wide. Then shots by junior midfielder Jacob Burt, senior forward Efrain Sanchez, junior midfielder Noe Flores and sophomore midfielder Antonio Rodriguez were either deflected out or missed the mark.

In the meantime, the Porters didn't have many first-half chances, but they cashed in on one of them. Senior midfielder Lucas Zeiler zipped a off a shot from 22 yards out or so that went into the left corner of the net. Senior midfielder Steven Monte assisted on the play that came with 9:41 remaining in the first half.

At halftime, South switched goalkeepers. Sophomore Wojiech Gacek started and senior Kel Markert replaced him for the second half.

"Kel was our starter the first seven games but then he broke his wrist," Freitag said. "This was the first game that he was cleared to play since then and we put him in the second half. Wojiech did a good job for us and having depth at keeper is always a good thing."

The Cougars opened the second half with an opportunity. But junior forward Chris Tejeda, who along with Sanchez are the leading scores for South, couldn't get a strong touch on a shot and Lockport senior goalie Brian Quane made the save.

Lockport countered with shots by senior defender Mike Diaz-DeLeon and senior forward Raul Vigil that sailed too high. But the Porters did find the back of the net again when Turner turned on a ball in front and knocked it in to give them a 2-0 lead with 17:46 to play in the game.

"Luke (Zeiler) had played me the ball and they gave me 10 yards of space," said Turner of his team-leading 12th goal. "I got by the defender and saw the goalie come out. The far post was open and I put it in."

That looked like a comfortable lead for Lockport. But back came the Cougars as junior defender Collin Taylor found himself in the right place at the right time and ripped off a right-side shot from 25 yards out that went top-shelf in the middle of the goal and South was back within 2-1 with 14:12 left to play.

But that would be the last actual shot on goal for the Cougars. Jakusz and Sanchez had opportunities, but couldn't get off a clean shot or the ball was deflected out. South had a corner kick with just over 2 minutes remaining, but didn't get a shot off that either.

In the meantime, Markert made some nice saves on shots by Vigil and Turner to keep the score where it was.

"That's been the story of our year," lamented Freitag. "We haven't finished and got the ball in the net. We've been shutout 7 times so it's either been feast or famine. This is only the second game when we've scored that we lost and the other was also 2-1 to Plainfield Central.

"We just seem to make a bad foul or something preventable. These are things we have to get mentally tough about. Until then we find ways to lose instead of ways to win."

In the meantime, Lockport keeps winning and that was its third straight by a 2-1 score. But one victory the Porters really want to get is tomorrow when they host Sandburg, which knocked the Porters out in the sectional semifinals by a score of 2-1 last fall, in a match that could decide the Southwest Suburban Blue title.

"Our guys have looked forward to that game since last year," said Baumhardt of the Sandburg game. "Our strength is our offense and theirs is defense, so it'll be strength against strength.

"We've won close games and set a school record for wins. That shows our senior leadership. I'm proud of what the team has done, but we want to focus on one thing at a time and not have a let down."