Oak Lawn senior Giovanni Gonzalez has been a three-year varsity starter at goalkeeper. He has stepped up in a big way for the Spartans again and again over his career.
It all started for Gonzalez with an emergency position switch when he was 8 years old.
“I was a striker, but I moved to goalie in a championship game and I made one big save,” Gonzalez said. “After that, I just fell in love with it.”
Gonzalez came up huge again Tuesday night, making seven saves to record the shutout as visiting Oak Lawn earned a 2-0 South Suburban Red win over Reavis in Burbank.
Dylan Walsh and Tristan Kamarz scored goals for the Spartans (12-4-2, 7-2-2). Bart Obrochta made three saves for Reavis (8-4-5, 5-1-1).
Now, back to the transformative game that happened when Gonzalez was 8 years old.
“Our goalie got a red card with like two minutes left in the game,” Gonzalez said. “It was a championship game and there were a lot of parents there. They put me in. It was a free kick. I dove and I saved it.
“After that, I loved it. I love diving to make saves.”
Walsh first met Gonzalez a few years after he made the move to goalkeeper.
“My connection with Gio goes back before high school,” Walsh said. “I met him on a club team called Fusion. I came in as the new kid and I remembered Gio diving all over the net, saving everything. I was like, ‘This kid is something special.’
“I found out that he went to Oak Lawn, and I was so excited to keep playing with him in high school.”
The Spartans spent much of Tuesday’s game under attack from the Rams, but Gonzalez — along with a defense led by Simon Komperda, Isaac Ramos, Edgar Prudencio and William Stachovic — was up for the challenge.
Gonzalez’s biggest save came on a free kick in the first half as he lunged to his right to knock a shot wide by Juvenal Padilla.
Gonzalez also helped shut down 12 corner kicks from the Rams, often intercepting or punching out crossing attempts.
“The six-yard box is always my box,” Gonzalez said. “No matter what comes my way, I’m always going to try my hardest to get there. I trust my teammates 100% and know they’ve always got me in the penalty box, but the six-yard box is mine.”
Gonzalez is a three-sport athlete who also plays basketball and volleyball for the Spartans.
“It’s great,” Gonzalez said. “I love it. I can take my hops from playing goalie into volleyball and basketball and playing those sports helps me as a goalie.”
Oak Lawn coach Nate Joiner knows he can always count on Gonzalez.
“When he came to us, he was so good already,” Joiner said. “He’s always been a leader. He always had that in him. He’s just a steady force.
“Reavis could have put us away in the first half if it wasn’t for him.”
The game was scoreless until 14:28 remained when Walsh got behind the defense off a pass from Abel Herrera and delivered his 21st goal of the season.
Kramarz added a goal with 15 seconds left.
Oak Lawn is now done with conference games and will wait to see how the Rams and Argo, which is 6-2 in conference, finish to decide the championship.
“We gained a lot of confidence when we beat Argo (4-2 on Sept. 26) and it showed us that we’re not just one of these little teams out there,” Walsh said. “We saw we can play with the big dogs.
“So, coming into this game, we weren’t scared. We came out and showed what we can do.”
Gonzalez continues to show he is capable of shutting down anyone.
“I like the pressure,” Gonzalez said. “Before I didn’t like the pressure and I’d be scared of it, but now I love it. I love all eyes on me.”
