Crystal Lake South outlasts
Jacobs in grueling conference opener
Early Gator goal holds up in playoff atmosphere
By Matt Misiek
ALGONQUIN- If every Fox Valley Conference game brings the atmosphere like the one on display at Jacobs on Tuesday evening, area fans of the beautiful game are in for an exciting season.
A lot of people could have easily mistaken this September conference opener for a regional or sectional contest with supporters from both schools being extremely vocal during the contest. After Crystal Lake South and Jacobs slugged it out for 80 minutes, with the visitors squeaked out a 1-0 victory.
“This is a very big rivalry,” said Crystal Lake South forward Andrew Grabowski. “It’s always noisy with their (Jacobs) fans, we have fans that are noisy as well. It just comes down to everyone putting in that perfect effort.”
Composure, discipline and defense were the key for the Gators in holding off a potent Jacobs attack. Ten minutes into the match, Gator goalie Spencer Traub responded with a big opening save on Jacobs midfielder Christopher Rigby from the right just inside the 18.
Being motivated by his keeper’s big save, Grabowski, after making a nice offensive run of his own on the previous Gator rush, took a defensive approach in the 11th minute. The Golden Eagles had a free kick from the top left, behind the 18. The touch was short to Rigby whose blast was blocked by Grabowski back to midfield.
Grabowski was rewarded at the other end a few minutes later. With Crystal Lake South (6-5-3 overall, 1-0-0 in FVC Valley Division) maintaining possession, defender Jeffrey Kirshenbaum took the ball off of sliding Jacobs defender and captain Daniel Kim and poked a short pass to Grabowski in plenty of space.
Grabowski took two touches and slotted a shot past goalie Eduardo Guimaray into the bottom right corner to give South the lead in the 13th minute.
Both Kirshenbaum and Grabowski knew that each person was key in that sequence.
“There were two defenders, one behind me and one in front to me, said Grabowski. “One defender stuck to my teammate, and I got the ball and was wide open. I took a touch and just took a shot towards the corner.”
Kirshenbaum was more complementary to where his forward was on the field.
“He (Grabowski) was in a fantastic position," Kirshenbaum said. “He really knows the game, so him being there really helped. I won the ball, and I immediately saw him and got it to him right away.”
Kirschenbaum, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, was immediately called into action after the goal, making two outstanding defensive plays to keep Crystal Lake South in front at the 15-minute mark.
Jacobs (10-3-0 overall, 0-1-0 in the division) had their chances to respond in the first half. A drive from sophomore midfielder Colin Walsh sailed narrowly over in the 22nd minute. Five minutes later, a Rigby corner was headed over by sophomore Noah Melick.
Rigby and Melick teamed up in the 36th minute off of another set piece. Melick darted through the 18 and rang a volley off of the near post, inches away from an equalizer right before the halftime break.
The contest shifted into overdrive in the 64th minute. Jacobs had a solid five minutes of possession and numerous opportunities. A Melick shot right in front of goal was blocked by Gator defender Jacob Canfield. Immediately after, Walsh has his opportunity saved by Traub which resulted in a corner. The corner had Rigby and Melick working again but unable to convert.
Another free kick for Jacobs was blocked by Gator midfielder Michael Woeste and two additional corner kicks were cleared with the help of Zachary Schmidt, keeping Jacobs goalless.
“It was really intense out there, said Traub, who actually came off the field briefly in the second half due to an injury. “I got knocked in a jaw a little bit, but I am OK. It’s always tough against any conference opponent especially Jacobs. We rose up to that challenge today, and our backline rose up to that challenge today as well.”
Crystal Lake South head coach Brian Allen summed up the defensive performance.
“Bend, but not break mentality," Allen said. “But to see that senior backline put up a zero, I was pleased to see that. We can put up a zero like that against almost anybody if we play the same way.”
The final 10 minutes saw Jacobs get good penetration on the Gators. Daniel Kim had a good cross opportunity scuffed wide in the 73rd minute. Senior forward Konrad Wasilewski had a run deep into Gator territory snuffed out a few minutes later. A late header by Walsh was met with applause by a hopeful Jacobs cheering section but went over the net.
The missed chances were summed up in a brief statement from Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello.
“We just were not tough enough inside the box, he said.” That’s being honest, we were not good enough. They (Crystal Lake South) were tough in their box. They got behind some balls and made some tackles. They cleaned up everything. We were jumping out of the way of balls coming onto the box.”
Cappello also will have a message to his team for the next match.
“Nothing’s easy, he said. “Nothing’s handed to you, everything has to be earned.”
Rigby was also disappointed that a breakthrough did not happen for the Golden Eagles.
“We had good crosses, Rigby said. “They (Crystal Lake South) played really good defense, and we just got unlucky with our chances and that was the difference.”
Coach Allen summed up the flavor of the evening brilliantly.
“The message was to go out there and give everything you have”, he said. “For a lot of our guys, it was their first Fox Valley experience and this was intense. This was a playoff game. The intensity, the physicalness of the game, Jacobs is a great team. You have to give credit to Jacobs for a great game. It was a total team effort on our part, and we needed everyone tonight.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake South
GK 0 Spencer Traub
D 2 Jeffrey Kirshenbaum
D 3 Zachary Schmidt
D 8 Jacob Canfield
D 11 Kennan Grissom
MF 9 Ryan Coughlin
MF 7 Skyler Pentico
MF 10 Nikolas Getzinger
MF 6 Michael Woeste
MF 13 Carlos Merida
F 23 Andrew Grabowski
Jacobs
GK 1 Eduardo Guimaray
D 3 Daniel Kim
D 13 Jacob Moser
D 17 Michael Pasetes
M 19 Ean Wilson
M 2 Gabriel Swarthout
M 5 Colin Walsh
M 8 Christopher Rigby
M 9 Nicholas Voss
F 6 Noah Melick
F 11 Konrad Wasilewski
Man of the Match: Jeffery Kirshenbaum, D, Crystal Lake South
Officials: Jim Spangler (center); Glen Sogge; Bob Hansen
Jacobs in grueling conference opener
Early Gator goal holds up in playoff atmosphere
By Matt Misiek
ALGONQUIN- If every Fox Valley Conference game brings the atmosphere like the one on display at Jacobs on Tuesday evening, area fans of the beautiful game are in for an exciting season.
A lot of people could have easily mistaken this September conference opener for a regional or sectional contest with supporters from both schools being extremely vocal during the contest. After Crystal Lake South and Jacobs slugged it out for 80 minutes, with the visitors squeaked out a 1-0 victory.
“This is a very big rivalry,” said Crystal Lake South forward Andrew Grabowski. “It’s always noisy with their (Jacobs) fans, we have fans that are noisy as well. It just comes down to everyone putting in that perfect effort.”
Composure, discipline and defense were the key for the Gators in holding off a potent Jacobs attack. Ten minutes into the match, Gator goalie Spencer Traub responded with a big opening save on Jacobs midfielder Christopher Rigby from the right just inside the 18.
Being motivated by his keeper’s big save, Grabowski, after making a nice offensive run of his own on the previous Gator rush, took a defensive approach in the 11th minute. The Golden Eagles had a free kick from the top left, behind the 18. The touch was short to Rigby whose blast was blocked by Grabowski back to midfield.
Grabowski was rewarded at the other end a few minutes later. With Crystal Lake South (6-5-3 overall, 1-0-0 in FVC Valley Division) maintaining possession, defender Jeffrey Kirshenbaum took the ball off of sliding Jacobs defender and captain Daniel Kim and poked a short pass to Grabowski in plenty of space.
Grabowski took two touches and slotted a shot past goalie Eduardo Guimaray into the bottom right corner to give South the lead in the 13th minute.
Both Kirshenbaum and Grabowski knew that each person was key in that sequence.
“There were two defenders, one behind me and one in front to me, said Grabowski. “One defender stuck to my teammate, and I got the ball and was wide open. I took a touch and just took a shot towards the corner.”
Kirshenbaum was more complementary to where his forward was on the field.
“He (Grabowski) was in a fantastic position," Kirshenbaum said. “He really knows the game, so him being there really helped. I won the ball, and I immediately saw him and got it to him right away.”
Kirschenbaum, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, was immediately called into action after the goal, making two outstanding defensive plays to keep Crystal Lake South in front at the 15-minute mark.
Jacobs (10-3-0 overall, 0-1-0 in the division) had their chances to respond in the first half. A drive from sophomore midfielder Colin Walsh sailed narrowly over in the 22nd minute. Five minutes later, a Rigby corner was headed over by sophomore Noah Melick.
Rigby and Melick teamed up in the 36th minute off of another set piece. Melick darted through the 18 and rang a volley off of the near post, inches away from an equalizer right before the halftime break.
The contest shifted into overdrive in the 64th minute. Jacobs had a solid five minutes of possession and numerous opportunities. A Melick shot right in front of goal was blocked by Gator defender Jacob Canfield. Immediately after, Walsh has his opportunity saved by Traub which resulted in a corner. The corner had Rigby and Melick working again but unable to convert.
Another free kick for Jacobs was blocked by Gator midfielder Michael Woeste and two additional corner kicks were cleared with the help of Zachary Schmidt, keeping Jacobs goalless.
“It was really intense out there, said Traub, who actually came off the field briefly in the second half due to an injury. “I got knocked in a jaw a little bit, but I am OK. It’s always tough against any conference opponent especially Jacobs. We rose up to that challenge today, and our backline rose up to that challenge today as well.”
Crystal Lake South head coach Brian Allen summed up the defensive performance.
“Bend, but not break mentality," Allen said. “But to see that senior backline put up a zero, I was pleased to see that. We can put up a zero like that against almost anybody if we play the same way.”
The final 10 minutes saw Jacobs get good penetration on the Gators. Daniel Kim had a good cross opportunity scuffed wide in the 73rd minute. Senior forward Konrad Wasilewski had a run deep into Gator territory snuffed out a few minutes later. A late header by Walsh was met with applause by a hopeful Jacobs cheering section but went over the net.
The missed chances were summed up in a brief statement from Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello.
“We just were not tough enough inside the box, he said.” That’s being honest, we were not good enough. They (Crystal Lake South) were tough in their box. They got behind some balls and made some tackles. They cleaned up everything. We were jumping out of the way of balls coming onto the box.”
Cappello also will have a message to his team for the next match.
“Nothing’s easy, he said. “Nothing’s handed to you, everything has to be earned.”
Rigby was also disappointed that a breakthrough did not happen for the Golden Eagles.
“We had good crosses, Rigby said. “They (Crystal Lake South) played really good defense, and we just got unlucky with our chances and that was the difference.”
Coach Allen summed up the flavor of the evening brilliantly.
“The message was to go out there and give everything you have”, he said. “For a lot of our guys, it was their first Fox Valley experience and this was intense. This was a playoff game. The intensity, the physicalness of the game, Jacobs is a great team. You have to give credit to Jacobs for a great game. It was a total team effort on our part, and we needed everyone tonight.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake South
GK 0 Spencer Traub
D 2 Jeffrey Kirshenbaum
D 3 Zachary Schmidt
D 8 Jacob Canfield
D 11 Kennan Grissom
MF 9 Ryan Coughlin
MF 7 Skyler Pentico
MF 10 Nikolas Getzinger
MF 6 Michael Woeste
MF 13 Carlos Merida
F 23 Andrew Grabowski
Jacobs
GK 1 Eduardo Guimaray
D 3 Daniel Kim
D 13 Jacob Moser
D 17 Michael Pasetes
M 19 Ean Wilson
M 2 Gabriel Swarthout
M 5 Colin Walsh
M 8 Christopher Rigby
M 9 Nicholas Voss
F 6 Noah Melick
F 11 Konrad Wasilewski
Man of the Match: Jeffery Kirshenbaum, D, Crystal Lake South
Officials: Jim Spangler (center); Glen Sogge; Bob Hansen