In his third season on the varsity, senior defender Justas Ulinskas is one of the voices of Lockport’s boys soccer team.
It’s a powerful voice, and Ulinskas is never shy about using it as he guides the Porters from the back line.
“I love being a character on this team and leading them, telling them what to do,” Ulinskas said. “I can see the whole field from my position and I love organizing my team.
“I’m always talking the whole game.”
Ulinskas’ actions also spoke loudly Wednesday night. He led a dominant defensive performance and scored his first goal of the season to lift the host Porters to a 2-0 win over Sandburg in a Plainfield Classic pool-play game.
Aleko Kolliniatis finished with a goal and an assist for Lockport (5-3-1), while Christopher Huizar added an assist. Ben Szudy needed just one save to record the shutout, getting plenty of help from a defense led by Ulinskas, Huizar, Hector Ramirez and Vince Guerra.
Ben Knutsen made seven saves for Sandburg (2-4-1).
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Ulinskas, meanwhile, got in on the offense, too. With just over 14 minutes left to play, he broke a scoreless tie by heading home Kolliniatis’ corner kick.
“I’ve really been waiting for that goal,” Ulinskas said. “I do get some good chances in the box, but it doesn’t happen all the time, especially when they’re going to mark me close.”
Lockport coach Chris Beal has been encouraging Ulinskas to look for opportunities to score more often.
“He’s an aerial presence in the back and he’s an aerial presence in the box offensively,” Beal said. “He wants to be conservative sometimes, but we tell him, ‘No, you’ve got to get in there and try to get a goal off set pieces. We need that.’ So, it was great to see him do it.”
At 6-foot-2, Ulinskas is the tallest field player on Lockport’s roster, so he knows he’s an obvious target on set pieces and will draw the attention of defenses.
But he embraces the battles.
“I always love how it’s hard to be in the box, especially when they see a big player going in,” Ulinskas said. “They’ll be like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to play really tight on this guy.’ But I like going in and being physical.
“Even when things get chippy in there, I like being aggressive.”
And goal No. 1 couldn’t have come at a better time as far as Ulinskas is concerned.
“Doing it against Sandburg is great,” he said. “We really wanted to win against them. Our fans were here. My dad was watching. I love it.”
And Beal loves having Ulinskas on his team.
“He wins the headers,” Beal said. “He wins the one-on-one battles. He’s calm under pressure. He brings the ball out of the back and finds players’ feet. It’s the all-around package.”
Ulinskas, who has been playing soccer since he was 9 years old, quickly discovered a love for the game.
“My dad had a couple friends who had a small club,” Ulinskas said. “I played there for about five years and, eventually, my coaches saw that I was a little bit better than everybody so I started playing at a higher level and I just slowly moved up with competition and got better.”
Now, Ulinskas is someone Kolliniatis — who added an insurance goal for the Porters with just over a minute left — knows he can always depend on.
“It’s great knowing I have someone like him in the box who is tall, big and aggressive,” Kolliniatis said. “He’s fast as well. He’s got it all.”
Including that loud voice.
“I’m very passionate because I want to win every game,” Ulinskas said. “I see my character as helpful, passionate. I’m always going to be there as a captain trying to hype us up for every game.”