Chicago House AC Ousts Stumptown 2-1: Moves Up To 4th In The Standings

Thirty-seven degrees, snow, rain, doesn't matter. Chicago House AC (7-2-8, 23 pts) secured their second win in a row against Stumptown AC (4-8-5, 20 pts). With the help of the Man of the Match, Michael Novotny making phenomenal saves, and max effort throughout the game from players like Ian Cerro and Matteo Kidd, the House ensured an exciting victory, 2-1.

As the House looks to end the season on a positive note, here are some takeaways:

Chicago House AC Has Committed To Ball Pressure

To start the match, the House put high pressure on Stumptown AC and never let up. They knew this game against Stumptown AC would not be an easy victory, and they fought hard from beginning to end. The House played cleanly and never allowed Stumptown any opportunities to score. Ian Cerro could be seen all over the field, disrupting Stumptown, invariably irritating their defense, almost like a piranha.

Michael Novotny Continues to Shine For The House

The House goalkeeper, Novotny, has been the most consistent player for the House this season, and he continued his streak of dominance tonight. He finished, earning player of the match and making a few miraculous saves. Novotny, on one play, was set to block an opposing team's shot attempt, realized he had the wrong angle, turned his entire body in the air, blocking the shot over the net with one hand.

When asked about arguably his best performance of the year, humble Novotny said, "I thought it was a big team performance, we kept the pressure on [Stumptown AC], and I think that's what we need to do when it comes to a team like that, that loves to play. You just press them as much as you, when you can, at the right moment."

Wojciech Wójcik Does It Again

As the game went on, Wójcik had been quite quiet; the striker had been invisible, and it seemed like he would have a rough day at the office. But, right when Stumptown AC thought they shut "Woj" down, he showed them they, can not stop him, they can only hope to contain him. He quickly reacted to a loose ball in the box and snuck the ball right past the weak goalie, knocking it right in the bottom corner of the net, winning the game with a go-ahead goal in the final minutes of the match.

"Woj" talked about what happened during the play when he scored his goal, "I don't know how [the ball] ended up ricocheting and finding its way in front of me. I knew I didn't have a lot of time to pull the trigger, so I just took it with whatever I could and just tried to put it on target"... "At the end of the day, a goal is a goal, and I'll take it however it comes."

He also made sure to shine a light on all of his teammates, saying, "Overall great team effort; that play was not individually just me, it was a collection of great passes and a great play overall; as I said, I scored it but, it was a total team effort."

Communication Is Key For The House's Success

The House was on point on the defensive end throughout the entire match. They were inserting themselves on the defensive end, putting in maximum effort, and forcing turnovers. But, they seemed to never be able to capitalize on the key turnovers. In the first half, they seemed to struggle on the left side of the field. In the second half, they couldn't figure out how to stick to Stumptown's Robert Hines on the right side. The game ended in the House's favor but, going on, communication is crucial, especially as they look to improve their goal differential.

Chicago House AC head coach CJ Brown spoke on the team's goal to be at the top, "When I was hired, I was told you gotta be at the top. It's a lot to take in but, it's expected. So, we're happy but, we want to be at the top; we know we can't be much further than that." Coach Brown noted exactly what the team is aiming to improve, their goal differential, "We're trying to get as many points as we can, and the other part to that is changing up that goal differential; we put ourselves in a little bit of a hole. Hopefully, we change that up a little bit as we go."

The Chicago House AC are on a roll right now, winning two games in a row and moving up into 4th place. Next week, they will look to finish the season on a three-game winning streak as they face the 3rd seed Cal United Strikers FC.

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