Trojans pick up the pace in the second half and score 2-0 victory over Illiana Christian, the No. 3-ranked school in the 2A poll, on goals by freshman Tyler Hecimovich and senior Zarek Sierazy

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

To shake a physical Illiana Christian team Tuesday night at home, Chesterton was going to need to play a second half with more zip and connectivity and do it without their leading goal scorer.
Defending Northwest Indiana region player of the year, Trojans senior Cal Stuckert, went of the game with an upper-leg injury and never returned.
Savvy seniors Zarek Sierazy and Alex Amaya, steady junior Tyler Racette and feisty freshmen Tyler Hecimovich and Mikey Roberts put coach Lucas Sabedra’s halftime words into action and the Trojans played easily their best half of the season to defeat the third-ranked team in the 2A poll, 2-0, sending the home crowd home happy.
It was a particularly special night for Hecimovich, whose first goal as a high school player was a big one because it broke a scoreless tie.
Hecimovich used his speed to jet down the left wing and was rewarded.
Sierazy willed an insurance goal through a lot traffic in front of the net and talked about Hecimovich’s big goal after the game.
“It was great,” Sierazy said. “He made a great run, sprinted all the way up the field. Alex (Amaya) laid him a nice ball. He just bombed it in. He’s good on his feet, turns quickly, can pass it off and has a good shot, too.”
Hecimovich explained how playing with the likes of an up-tempo player of Sierazy’s ability already has rubbed off on him.
“I’ve learned that it’s a quick game out here,” he said. “It’s a lot different. It’s a lot faster and how fast he moves on the ball, keeping up with his pace is different.”
So, he has figured out a way to keep up with him, which is always better than being left behind.
The second half looked so much better than the first for the victors, who evened their record at 1-1 three days after losing the season-opener, 2-1 at Northridge.
“We raised the energy,” Hecimovich said of wha the team did differently in the second half. “We knew what we had to get done, what job we had to do, and we finished.”
Added Sierazy: “Coach gave us some wise words,” at halftime.”
Such as?
“Move the ball quickly through the middle, side to side, put in early crosses, and that killed them,” Sierazy said.
In successful high school sports programs, upperclassmen don’t need to be nagged to make sure talented freshmen feel included because they remember when older players did that for them. Sierazy, a varsity player from the beginning, remembers when older players formed a welcome wagon for him.
“The more bonded we are, the better we play on the field,” Sierazy said. “I went to Sebastian Kogl’s house a lot. He had a nice pool.”
Hecimovich said the upperclassmen have made him feel welcome by “inviting me to stuff, letting me come everywhere with them, like out to eat or going to someone’s house.”
Talent likes playing with talent, regardless of any age gaps. And when that talent connects the way it did in the second, it can be a beautiful thing to watch.
Sierazy predicts it will be a long while before his young teammate with bleached blond hair forgets what it felt like to score his first high school goal.
“It’s amazing,” Sierazy said “You felt like you merged with the team. I’m sure he’s feeling it.”
The details?
“I think it was against Penn in a friendly,” he said. “The ball just skipped through on a free kick, put it around the goalie.”
A friendly? More soccer jargon?
“It’s just a non-conference game,” Sierazy said. “That’s what we call it.”
Everything sounds better after a win against a tough team, even calling a non-conference match on a pitch replete with touchlines a “friendly,” on a night the defense, seniors Elliott McEvoy, the goalkeeper, and Nate Kitchell, the center-back, and outside backs Racette and Roberts in the team’s new 3-6-1 formation made big contributions toward keeping a clean sheet.
The Trojans had to play fast to compensate for a size disadvantage and they did that in the second half.
Roberts goes through a soccer game the way a chihuahua goes through life, by getting in the face of a rottweiler, barking his brains out and making the big dog back up.
As Roberts was jogging off the field after drawing a yellow card, the line of the night was delivered from the stands in a voice that suggested it just might have belonged to a relative of Mikey’s: “Hmmm, I wonder where he learned that?”
Does anybody believe he really wondered that.? Didn’t think so. Anyway, he can take pride that the boy is a good learner, and already a good varsity soccer player.
The coaches were pleased with the efficiency and pace with which the two freshmen played, and Racette drew praise for his “mistake-free” night. It was needed.
“They’re good,” Sabedra said of the Vikings from Dyer. They’ve got some good players, big, big boys.”
Sabedra, who has two state titles and is 7 for 7 in DAC championships since ascending to the head coaching job explained what he talked to his players about at halftime. He was pleased with their listening skills.
“Switching the field quicker, having the vision through the midfield, picking your head up, instead of putting it down and dribbling through everybody,” he said. “We did that so much in the first half. They put their heads down and tried to do it all on their own. We have more guys in the middle (in a new formation), so we’ve got to use each other. We have to move the ball quickly, side to side, because we have the wide players. Once we started doing that, we created gaps, and we were able to create opportunities.”
And Hecimovich the freshman and Sierazy the senior cashed in on them.
Next up is today’s DAC opener vs. LaPorte, another home game for the Trojans.