Metea Valley falls to
Huntley on highlight reel goal
Unlucky Mustangs fall on Zobott's beauty
By Dave Owen
LA GRANGE -- Sometimes amazing things only happen when it matters.
A back-to-the-goal reverse kick by Huntley’s Jason Zobott with 30:42 left broke a 1-1 tie in the Warriors’ 2-1 win over Metea Valley in the PepsiCo Showdown consolation pool.
But Zobott admitted the highlight film goal went better than usual.
“During practices it’s funny because we run that play a lot, called ‘Fox,’ and I try that (shot) all the time and I miss,” said Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “Today I got something on it, and it went right inside the net.”
Teammate Michael Zembrzuski’s free kick right of the box reached Zobott at the left side of the crease. With his back to the goal and one foot on the ground, he extended his other foot backward to redirect the ball inside the left corner of the net.
That nice finish proved to be the game-winner for Huntley (8-2-1), and added to a frustrating second half for Metea Valley (3-6).
“In the second half the goal they got was great,” Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. "But 30 seconds earlier their goalie (Andrew Fulcer) saves everything off the line (two Mustangs shots off a scramble in front). It could be 2-1 us and suddenly it’s 2-1 them.
“And then the game’s a battle the rest of the game. They have big guys in the back that are winning free kicks and headers, and their goalie made a couple big saves.”
The first half started with a Huntley barrage, and ended with a Metea Valley response.
Mustangs goalkeeper Joey Coryell faced four shots in the first 3:20 of play, including diving catches of shots by Allan Barrientos and Michael Zembrzuski.
Huntley’s next big chance paid off. In the seventh minute, Travis Walsh dribbled up the middle and lined a low 22-yard shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
But the Metea Valley went quickly on the offensive.
In the 11th minute, Brandon Howard’s 8-yard header off a throw-in marked the first attempt on goal.
Then just 55 seconds later, Jacob Kellogg’s pass found Michael Adams racing in open on the left wing. Adams lined a low 15-yarder inside the right post to the score 1-1.
“We were hard pressing, and it was a good ball,” Adams said. “We won it in the midfield, and Jacob played a great ball through. At that moment their defenders weren’t tracking me, so I was able to get in behind them and finish it.”
Adams’ second goal of 2015 tilted the momentum to the Mustangs. The next 20 minutes produced chances for Howard, Ryan Donovan and Alfonso Castillo. Then 1:15 before halftime, two straight Metea Valley corner kicks (taken by Adams) were denied.
“I was happy with the way we played in the first half,” Robinson said. “We had a really good last 20 minutes.
“Michael Adams had a great game today. He’s stepped up the last couple of games. And we’ve called up a couple kids (from JV) that have done some good stuff. Nathan Barrett has had a quite a bit of success in his first three varsity games.”
With Metea Valley entering the Huntley match on a two-game winning streak, one defender has stood out.
“Ryan Donovan has been stellar all year,” Robinson said. “You could see today that he’s a little fatigued. We’ve asked him to do work beyond what we would expect out of players, but he’s been phenomenal.”
Zobott’s long send to the goal as the first half ended resulted in a collision in the box between Huntley’s Diego Cazares and Coryell.
But the next two plays at the net would be decisive. First came Fulcer’s denial of a goal on the scrum in front. Then came Zobott’s nice finish.
“We got a dead ball, and I knew we had the height on our team,” Zobott said. “We have great services from Michael (Zembrzuski), and I know if we can get a lot of dead balls it can push us through a lot of games.”
The Metea Valley offense again responded well after the Huntley goal.
A strong Donovan direct kick from midfield was caught by Fulcer with 25:50 left, and Fulcer grabbed a John Lynch try right of the goal one minute later.
Great chances for both sides came in the final eight minutes.
For Metea Valley, a nice midfield steal and send by Ryan Barry was narrowly denied when Fulcer beat Dominic Duffy to the loose ball in the box. Then off a Donovan throw-in with 5:40 to play, an open 35-yard blast by Lynch was deflected over the crossbar by a leaping Fulcer.
On the ensuing Adams corner kick, Lynch drove a shot wide left of the net.
A big Huntley chance came with 2:20 left after a corner kick was initially deflected by Metea Valley’s Tony Sanchez. Huntley forward Walsh recovered the ball and lined a 10-yarder inches wide of the right post.
In the desperate last seconds, Metea Valley's Coryell smothered Walsh’s dribble on his breakaway into the box with 35 seconds left. A Huntley foul 40-yards out came too late -- Adams lined a hurried free kick well wide as time expired.
“I thought we worked really hard,” Adams said. “The result’s unfortunate, but we did well for the week so we can keep our heads up and look forward to next week when new challenges come.”
It’s those upcoming challenges that make Metea Valley’s emerging depth a critical factor.
“You go through Pepsi and now we go back to a week of three DVC games,” Robinson said. “It keeps our guys on their toes. We used 20 different players on Thursday and 17 today. We’re going to keep using players and find the guys that click a little bit and go from there.”
Several recent freshmen and sophomore additions from junior varsity are making an impact.
“We brought some kids up that are starting,” Robinson said. “Ethan Williams has played well in the back, and Nathan Barrett and Lucas Francisco have really stepped up for us. And (freshman) Tony Sanchez has come in and filled in well too.
“We preach to kids in the program to be ready, there are going to be opportunities for you. When we weren’t finding that scoring touch we brought up some kids and got a couple of goals from Nathan, which has been good.”
The Mustangs’ challenging schedule cast the lone cloud over Robinson’s postgame thoughts.
“It was a little bit of fatigue from the week,” Robinson said of the loss, “but I think like we said to the team, if we were sitting at 6-3 at this point of the year and we lose today, we’d say ‘you’re battling, awesome, it was a good week.’
“But being 3-5 and trying to dig ourselves out of a hole, it feels like a little bit of a step back. It’s a circumstance of the season, that it’s a little bit more frustrating than if you were having a ton of success. But more than anything else I’m happy with how we played today.”
Huntley comes away with a hard-fought lift at the end of the PepsiCo Showdown.
“We lost a tough one in the first (PepsiCo) game,” Zobott said. “We were seeded and got upset by West Chicago, but they’re a good team. We had to come back.
“Even though these games are maybe not as important as when we were in the actual tournament (winners’ bracket), it’s great for the mentality of our team because these are great teams out here. You see good talent as you go into conference play, and we have to work through that and hopefully we can get some good wins next week.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK- Joey Coryell
D- Ethan Williams
D- Brandon Howard
D- Ryan Donovan
D- John Lynch
M- Jacob Kellogg
M- Lucas Francisco
M- Esteban Castillo
M- Michael Adams
F- Dominic Duffy
F-Nathan Barrett
Huntley
GK- Andrew Fulcer
D- Irwin Bhathal
D- Kyle Carberry
D- Zack Whitaker
D- Alex Ligeza
M- Michael Zembrzuski
M- Jason Zobott
M- Diego Cazzaras
M- Allesandro Vergara
F- Allan Barrientos
F- Travis Walsh
Man of the Match: Jason Zobott, MF, Huntley
Huntley on highlight reel goal
Unlucky Mustangs fall on Zobott's beauty
By Dave Owen
LA GRANGE -- Sometimes amazing things only happen when it matters.
A back-to-the-goal reverse kick by Huntley’s Jason Zobott with 30:42 left broke a 1-1 tie in the Warriors’ 2-1 win over Metea Valley in the PepsiCo Showdown consolation pool.
But Zobott admitted the highlight film goal went better than usual.
“During practices it’s funny because we run that play a lot, called ‘Fox,’ and I try that (shot) all the time and I miss,” said Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “Today I got something on it, and it went right inside the net.”
Teammate Michael Zembrzuski’s free kick right of the box reached Zobott at the left side of the crease. With his back to the goal and one foot on the ground, he extended his other foot backward to redirect the ball inside the left corner of the net.
That nice finish proved to be the game-winner for Huntley (8-2-1), and added to a frustrating second half for Metea Valley (3-6).
“In the second half the goal they got was great,” Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. "But 30 seconds earlier their goalie (Andrew Fulcer) saves everything off the line (two Mustangs shots off a scramble in front). It could be 2-1 us and suddenly it’s 2-1 them.
“And then the game’s a battle the rest of the game. They have big guys in the back that are winning free kicks and headers, and their goalie made a couple big saves.”
The first half started with a Huntley barrage, and ended with a Metea Valley response.
Mustangs goalkeeper Joey Coryell faced four shots in the first 3:20 of play, including diving catches of shots by Allan Barrientos and Michael Zembrzuski.
Huntley’s next big chance paid off. In the seventh minute, Travis Walsh dribbled up the middle and lined a low 22-yard shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
But the Metea Valley went quickly on the offensive.
In the 11th minute, Brandon Howard’s 8-yard header off a throw-in marked the first attempt on goal.
Then just 55 seconds later, Jacob Kellogg’s pass found Michael Adams racing in open on the left wing. Adams lined a low 15-yarder inside the right post to the score 1-1.
“We were hard pressing, and it was a good ball,” Adams said. “We won it in the midfield, and Jacob played a great ball through. At that moment their defenders weren’t tracking me, so I was able to get in behind them and finish it.”
Adams’ second goal of 2015 tilted the momentum to the Mustangs. The next 20 minutes produced chances for Howard, Ryan Donovan and Alfonso Castillo. Then 1:15 before halftime, two straight Metea Valley corner kicks (taken by Adams) were denied.
“I was happy with the way we played in the first half,” Robinson said. “We had a really good last 20 minutes.
“Michael Adams had a great game today. He’s stepped up the last couple of games. And we’ve called up a couple kids (from JV) that have done some good stuff. Nathan Barrett has had a quite a bit of success in his first three varsity games.”
With Metea Valley entering the Huntley match on a two-game winning streak, one defender has stood out.
“Ryan Donovan has been stellar all year,” Robinson said. “You could see today that he’s a little fatigued. We’ve asked him to do work beyond what we would expect out of players, but he’s been phenomenal.”
Zobott’s long send to the goal as the first half ended resulted in a collision in the box between Huntley’s Diego Cazares and Coryell.
But the next two plays at the net would be decisive. First came Fulcer’s denial of a goal on the scrum in front. Then came Zobott’s nice finish.
“We got a dead ball, and I knew we had the height on our team,” Zobott said. “We have great services from Michael (Zembrzuski), and I know if we can get a lot of dead balls it can push us through a lot of games.”
The Metea Valley offense again responded well after the Huntley goal.
A strong Donovan direct kick from midfield was caught by Fulcer with 25:50 left, and Fulcer grabbed a John Lynch try right of the goal one minute later.
Great chances for both sides came in the final eight minutes.
For Metea Valley, a nice midfield steal and send by Ryan Barry was narrowly denied when Fulcer beat Dominic Duffy to the loose ball in the box. Then off a Donovan throw-in with 5:40 to play, an open 35-yard blast by Lynch was deflected over the crossbar by a leaping Fulcer.
On the ensuing Adams corner kick, Lynch drove a shot wide left of the net.
A big Huntley chance came with 2:20 left after a corner kick was initially deflected by Metea Valley’s Tony Sanchez. Huntley forward Walsh recovered the ball and lined a 10-yarder inches wide of the right post.
In the desperate last seconds, Metea Valley's Coryell smothered Walsh’s dribble on his breakaway into the box with 35 seconds left. A Huntley foul 40-yards out came too late -- Adams lined a hurried free kick well wide as time expired.
“I thought we worked really hard,” Adams said. “The result’s unfortunate, but we did well for the week so we can keep our heads up and look forward to next week when new challenges come.”
It’s those upcoming challenges that make Metea Valley’s emerging depth a critical factor.
“You go through Pepsi and now we go back to a week of three DVC games,” Robinson said. “It keeps our guys on their toes. We used 20 different players on Thursday and 17 today. We’re going to keep using players and find the guys that click a little bit and go from there.”
Several recent freshmen and sophomore additions from junior varsity are making an impact.
“We brought some kids up that are starting,” Robinson said. “Ethan Williams has played well in the back, and Nathan Barrett and Lucas Francisco have really stepped up for us. And (freshman) Tony Sanchez has come in and filled in well too.
“We preach to kids in the program to be ready, there are going to be opportunities for you. When we weren’t finding that scoring touch we brought up some kids and got a couple of goals from Nathan, which has been good.”
The Mustangs’ challenging schedule cast the lone cloud over Robinson’s postgame thoughts.
“It was a little bit of fatigue from the week,” Robinson said of the loss, “but I think like we said to the team, if we were sitting at 6-3 at this point of the year and we lose today, we’d say ‘you’re battling, awesome, it was a good week.’
“But being 3-5 and trying to dig ourselves out of a hole, it feels like a little bit of a step back. It’s a circumstance of the season, that it’s a little bit more frustrating than if you were having a ton of success. But more than anything else I’m happy with how we played today.”
Huntley comes away with a hard-fought lift at the end of the PepsiCo Showdown.
“We lost a tough one in the first (PepsiCo) game,” Zobott said. “We were seeded and got upset by West Chicago, but they’re a good team. We had to come back.
“Even though these games are maybe not as important as when we were in the actual tournament (winners’ bracket), it’s great for the mentality of our team because these are great teams out here. You see good talent as you go into conference play, and we have to work through that and hopefully we can get some good wins next week.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK- Joey Coryell
D- Ethan Williams
D- Brandon Howard
D- Ryan Donovan
D- John Lynch
M- Jacob Kellogg
M- Lucas Francisco
M- Esteban Castillo
M- Michael Adams
F- Dominic Duffy
F-Nathan Barrett
Huntley
GK- Andrew Fulcer
D- Irwin Bhathal
D- Kyle Carberry
D- Zack Whitaker
D- Alex Ligeza
M- Michael Zembrzuski
M- Jason Zobott
M- Diego Cazzaras
M- Allesandro Vergara
F- Allan Barrientos
F- Travis Walsh
Man of the Match: Jason Zobott, MF, Huntley