When it’s time to shoot a penalty kick for St. Charles East, senior forward Omar Ontiveros has learned over the years that it’s much better to “panenka” than to panic.
The panenka is a different technique than usual for taking PKs, and when Ontiveros stepped up with 6:18 left in a tie game Monday night, that word was going through his mind.
“You fake like you’re going to shoot to the sides and you slow your shot down as soon as you’re going to hit the ball,” Ontiveros said. “You hit under it, and it just spins backward.
“I’ve seen a lot of videos of it.”
Hopefully, a camcorder was rolling as Ontiveros slid his PK past Metea Valley goalkeeper Patrick Maroney for the winning goal in a 2-1 victory at the St. Charles Invitational.
It was the second goal of the game — and second of the season — for Ontiveros. And for Saints coach Vince DiNuzzo, it was an easy decision to make in picking his shooter.
“Until he misses, he’s our guy,” DiNuzzo said of Ontiveros. “He panenka’d it, which takes some guts to just chip the ball down the middle in that situation with six minutes left.”
That wasn’t all for Ontiveros. With 11:49 left in the second half, he took a cross from Marc Walker and tapped in a shot to help St. Charles East (3-0) force a 1-1 tie.
“He’s been in and out in terms of consistency, but in the second half, he was a different player,” DiNuzzo said of Ontiveros. “He made some great runs in the first half, started to attack the space behind (the defense), but wasn’t asking for the ball at his feet as much.
“There was space behind the play, and we saw that as we got behind a couple times in the second half.”
But with 35:36 left in the second half, Metea (0-2) caught senior goalkeeper Jordan Rolon out of the net. Abel Lopez cashed in, getting around Rolon to score and open a 1-0 lead.
“I saw the goalie call off his defender,” Lopez said. “I just went around him, put it outside and shot it.”
It was the first goal the Saints have allowed on the young season.
“It felt very self-inflicted,” DiNuzzo said. “They played better than us in the first half. I think at halftime we just thought if we don’t win this, it’s going to be very hard to reach the finals of this tournament.
“That’s something that they want to do. I think they all individually, every single one of them, got up for it and played much better in the second half in terms of energy and enthusiasm. It was all better.”
DiNuzzo was quick to praise Metea, however. The Mustangs controlled the run of play for most of the first half and led for 24 minutes in the second half.
“That’s a good team,” DiNuzzo said. “They’re going to win a lot of games. They’re tough. They’re disciplined. They’re organized.
“A couple calls here and there, a couple bounces here and there, it’s a different game.”
Rolon made eight saves for the Saints, though. Ontiveros said seeing the veteran goalkeeper controlling the back end is comforting for the whole team.
“Good defense and a good goalie give us a lot of confidence,” Ontiveros said.
He chalked up the increased offensive intensity in the second half to a simple concept.
“I think the difference we made was communicating more as a team in the midfield,” Ontiveros said. “Playing the ball to feet, just pretty much executing.”
DiNuzzo is expecting more of what Ontiveros provided Monday.
Being the Saints’ striker will open up plenty of scoring chances for Ontiveros, especially when Logan Lewarchick returns from injury.
“It’s amazing,” Ontiveros said. “My role is scoring. I’m the striker, so executing the goals, making sure we get those scored, is my role.”
Paul Johnson is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
