Chronicle since 1969Friday, October 14, 2011 Volume 45, No. 4

SportS

Epstein, Ventura bring new vision to Chicago

The Cubs and the White Sox just can’t seem to stay out of the news.

With the Cubs signing former Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein and the White Sox picking up another former player as their manager, Robin Ventura.

Epstein has an excellent resumé and is being brought in to re-build an orga-nization that has had their fair share of problems for about 100 years.

This is not the first team Epstein had to build from the bottom up.

He was hired by the Boston Red Sox in 2002 and was the youngest GM in Major League Baseball.

When Epstein was first hired, the pres-sure was extremely high and he delivered by building from the bottom of the minor leagues, to picking up veteran players that helped them win a world series two years after he was hired.

Epstein picked up players like Johnny Damon and redemption player Kevin Youkilis.

He also helped develop all-stars Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury.

He created magic in Boston and now he will have to do the same in Chicago.

He broke the curse in Boston and then some. He has the same pressure with the Cubs, if not more. Epstein should not come in here and sign the giant names like Albert Pujols.

He needs to be patient and clean house. All the way from player development, to the whole coaching staff.

He will have to build young talent, something the Cubs have not seen in a very long time.

The Cubs made a great business decision stealing Epstein from the Red Sox. As long as Epstein does not fall to the pressure that ignorant Cubs fans throw at him, he will do well in future years.

As for the White Sox, they found a manager pretty fast after the departure of Ozzie Guillen, when they hired a for-mer Sox third baseman Robin Ventura.

The signing quickly became question-able, considering World Series winning

manager, Terry Francona, was on the market and has close ties with the White Sox organization.

Ventura has no previous managing experience, although he has been in the White Sox player development department since June. Specula-tion concurs that the friendship be-tween General Manager Kenny Wil-liams and Ventura, was the key factor in the surprise signing.

It seems like before the signing, Wil-liams was aiming to get a manager within the system, considering he considered signing current White Sox first baseman, Paul Konerko, as a player-manager.

The Sox are not in a great position, with a questionable manager and a roster filled with bad contracts and older players. Next year’s slogan will have to change from “All In,” to “Half in.”

Both baseball teams have a long win-ter to work out the kinks and make them strong contenders for the 2012 season. Fortunately, Chicago sports fans do not have to worry too much about baseball for a while.

The Lancers find themselves second in the Skyway Confer-ence at 13-4-2 at the end of the 2011 season.

New stars have emerged over the course of the sea-son, including Michael Ha-nachek who is 12 in the na-tion in total points, 36, and in the top 25 in goals, 14, Oscar Segura, who is fifth in the nation with 11 assists, and Shane Peter, who leads a CLC defense that has notched nine shut-outs.

As playoffs loom, the team still has one obstacle to overcome. This year’s Oak-ton team is ranked eighth in the nation, clinched their second straight Skyway Conference title and has a record of 14-1-0. They also boast a 27 game conference winning streak and the na-tional leader in goals and total points, Prince Lapnet.

Lapnet has netted an as-tounding 28 goals and has a total of 66 points. If the Lancers want to win, they

will have to take Lapnet out of his game.

“Shutting down Prince will be key,” goalkeeper Jose Landa said, “but they have more than just him.”

Landa puts the task on the shoulders of his team captain.

“Peter’s leadership and shut down D will be a big factor,” Landa said, “As well as Danny O’Neill’s D.”

The Lancers have held steady through October, with a record of 2-1-1.

The Lancers forced over-time against conference foe

Moraine Valley on Oct. 4 and held on for a tie.

Then the team pulled out a close win against Harry S. Truman before dropping their fourth game of the season against Heartland.

Lancers score spot in the playoffs

Alvin Sandique• The ChronicleMichael Hanachek (16) dribbles the ball past a defender versus South Suburban Col-lege Sept. 16, 2010. The Lancers lost the game 4-3 in extra time.

SOCCER/ page 11

Athletes of the Week

Bret Bennette Managing Editor

Sam Greenberg Sports Editor

Ashley ChernichWomen’s Soccer

Foreword

Chernich is the offensive leader of the 12-2-0 Lancers

and has emerged to lead the team in goal. She has 16 shots that have found the back of the net which land

her in the top 25 in the nation. She has at

least one goal in nine games and has

scored four times in a game twice.

Mariah GarciaWomen’s Soccer

Midfielder

Garcia has dished out 15 assists, which is good for fourth in the nation. She is second

only to Chernich in goals with 14 and is

12th in the country with 43 total points. Garcia

is a leader of the sophomore class both

on and off the field.

Xochitl MezaWomen’s Soccer

Foreword

Meza has a goal in six straight games for the Lancers and has netted at least one

in nine games. She is second in assists with 11, which lands her in

the top 20 nationwide. Meza distributed a

team high four assists against Triton while

scoring one of her 12 goals.