Offensive woes plague Niles North

SKOKIE — Niles North boys soccer coach Yoon Lee said his team’s offense has been an issue so far this season.

That was clear Tuesday in the Vikings’ 2-0 home win over Maine East.

Despite playing against the short-handed Blue Demons, who fielded 10 players for the final 43 minutes of the game because of a red card, the Vikings were not able to generate the kind of goals Lee said he wants from his offense.

Senior forward Adrian Coardos scored the first goal on a header with 8:03 remaining in the game, and senior midfielder Gianfranco DeCarne added the second with two seconds on the clock against an empty net.

“Offense is an issue, yes,” Lee said. “It paints our team unfavorably. If someone has [an] answer, I am more than willing to listen. We try to correct it in practice, and we try to drill it into them.

“It’s a work in progress.”

The Vikings, who improved to 2-4-2 overall and 1-0 in the CSL North, have eight goals through eight games. They scored a season-high Thursday in a 4-1 win over Niles West, but they’ve been shut out four times. And for much of Tuesday’s game it looked like Niles North might get blanked again.

“We had so many opportunities in the first half that did not go in, so it was unfortunate in a way,” Lee said. “But our problem is we don’t want to score simply. We want to be spectacular, and it’s costing us.

“It’s something that keeps me up at night.”

Coardos, a four-year varsity player who scored his team-best third goal Tuesday, admitted the offense needs work.

“Most players try to do too much out there, and that’s when they mess up,” said Coardos, who’s scored all three of his goals since Sept. 3. “We need to connect more as a team, not play as individuals. We need to stick to the basics, try to connect our passes and not dribble so much.”

Lee said Coardos’ goal, while good to get, was “haphazard,” and DeCarne’s goal was “awkward.” Coardos’ scored when senior forward Ashour Barcham sent a pass into the box from the corner, and DeCarne’s shot from about 50 yards away with time running out found its way into the net.

“On [Coardos’] goal we were just being aggressive, but it wasn’t in the flow of the game,” Lee said. “[DeCarne’s] goal was just something unusual. It seems if it’s too simple, we fail at it.”

Maine East

• The Blue Demons (3-6-1 overall, 0-1 CSL North) never really got anything going offensively, but their defense, led by senior Alex Lulek, turned back several Niles North scoring chances.