Fast start lifts Plainfield Central
over Plainfield South
South's mastery of Central ends
By Derek Wolff
PLAINFIELD — For Plainfield Central’s senior class, Tuesday was a day many thought might never come.
The Wildcats (7-4-2 overall) beat rivals Plainfield South (4-6-1) 3-1 at home on Tuesday evening for the first time in midfielder Jarod Petrovic’s career.
“I’ve never beaten South until tonight,” Petrovic said, recounting a story of a sophomore year game against the Cougars that the Wildcats blew a 2-0 lead and went on to lose. “That was a big thing for me, that was a really big thing for me.”
A pair of first half goals from Petrovic had Central in the driver’s seat.
Petrovic was stopped in the 12th minute on a penalty kick by South goalkeeper Quentin Rose, who dove to his left to make the save. Zach Bargas’ shot off the rebound rang off the far goalpost and went out for a goal kick.
Central forward Max Woodward won the ensuing 50-50 ball, dribbled up the left side of the field and fired a shot towards the near post.
Woodward’s shot connected with the crossbar and ricocheted out to a waiting and onside Petrovic, whose diving header finally got the Wildcats on the board.
“I kind of know what he’s going to do every time he gets the ball,” said Petrovic, Chicagoland
Soccer’s Man of the Match. “I just try to do what I can to help him out and help the team up in general.”
Petrovic was the beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time again in the 24th, with Woodward doing most of the work.
Rose came off his line to try and cut off the angle on a streaking Woodward but the latter’s shot towards net got through the keeper’s fingertips.
The rolling ball looked like it was already destined to find the net but Petrovic knocked it in for good measure.
Petrovic laughed when asked if he had ever had two easier scoring chances and was still thinking about an earlier saved penalty kick.
“I missed the easier one too, could have had three,” he said. “But it happens, you know. I hit my spot and he made a good save.”
South fought back and Wyatt Gallt’s searching header in the 26th minute just missed the near post as South tried to get on the board.
From there on out, Central created a bevy of opportunities to close out the first half and forced Rose to work the box. The Cougar keeper scrambled to collect saves and denied several point-blank shots to keep his side down by just a pair entering the half.
“At halftime we talked about it,” Plainfield South coach Dave Brown said of Rose’s performance. “He kept us in the game for sure, and if he doesn’t show up in the first half it’s a completely different game. That’s who he is, he’s a great goalkeeper. He’s starting as a sophomore for a reason.”
Brown was disappointed with the amount of play his side had in its own end in the first half.
“I thought we were a little tentative in the first half,” he said. “Playing a little bit on our heels and maybe a little bit indecisive. We knew they were going to come out hard; they’re in the thick of the conference race. They’re having a good year, and we knew they were going to play with confidence and be ready to play. Unfortunately, we spent 40 minutes kind of working backwards instead of stepping up the field and making positive plays.”
Central renewed its attack as the second half started, finally breaking through for a third goal in the 54th minute when Joel Sanchez knocked in a ball in front after a pass from Ish Contreras.
Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald spoke about the importance of getting the third goal.
“2-0, we’ve given up 2-0 leads,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been there at least twice this year so when it’s 2-0, I don’t buy into the whole ‘that’s the most dangerous lead in soccer’. I’d still rather have it than a 1-0 lead, but the third goal is huge. Whoever gets it is big because that’s the momentum.”
The Cougars couldn’t convert on a pair of back-to-back corners in the 57th minute but finally got on the board when South was assessed a penalty kick in the 79th minute.
Senior midfielder Rocky Del Real calmly spotted his kick into the right side of the net as Plainfield Central goalkeeper Shane Badertscher guessed the wrong way.
Senior captain Chase Cleasby said that Plainfield South has suffered this season by not playing with the same urgency and intensity at the start of games as they have at the end.
“I think we just need to compete from the first whistle,” Cleasby said. “We haven’t been our very best at the beginning of the games. We play hard at the end, but we just need to push through all the way and it comes from the middle, from our captains.”
The Cougars will look to rebound quickly with a conference home match against Minooka on Thursday.
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Quentin Rose
D Chase Cleasby
D Kyle Klonicki
D Jeff Mickow
D Reid Childs
D Juan Guzman
M Dominick Christiansen
M Rocky Del Real
M Wyatt Gallt
M Jose Guzman
F Ramon Ochoa
Plainfield Central
GK Shane Badertscher
D Gustavo Sanchez
D Jose Cardenas
D Matt Geib
D Phil Garcia
M Ish Contreras
M Ricky Garcia
M Jarod Petrovic
M Josh De Avila
F Max Woodward
F Joel Sanchez
Man of the Match: Jarod Petrovic, MF, Plainfield Central
over Plainfield South
South's mastery of Central ends
By Derek Wolff
PLAINFIELD — For Plainfield Central’s senior class, Tuesday was a day many thought might never come.
The Wildcats (7-4-2 overall) beat rivals Plainfield South (4-6-1) 3-1 at home on Tuesday evening for the first time in midfielder Jarod Petrovic’s career.
“I’ve never beaten South until tonight,” Petrovic said, recounting a story of a sophomore year game against the Cougars that the Wildcats blew a 2-0 lead and went on to lose. “That was a big thing for me, that was a really big thing for me.”
A pair of first half goals from Petrovic had Central in the driver’s seat.
Petrovic was stopped in the 12th minute on a penalty kick by South goalkeeper Quentin Rose, who dove to his left to make the save. Zach Bargas’ shot off the rebound rang off the far goalpost and went out for a goal kick.
Central forward Max Woodward won the ensuing 50-50 ball, dribbled up the left side of the field and fired a shot towards the near post.
Woodward’s shot connected with the crossbar and ricocheted out to a waiting and onside Petrovic, whose diving header finally got the Wildcats on the board.
“I kind of know what he’s going to do every time he gets the ball,” said Petrovic, Chicagoland
Soccer’s Man of the Match. “I just try to do what I can to help him out and help the team up in general.”
Petrovic was the beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time again in the 24th, with Woodward doing most of the work.
Rose came off his line to try and cut off the angle on a streaking Woodward but the latter’s shot towards net got through the keeper’s fingertips.
The rolling ball looked like it was already destined to find the net but Petrovic knocked it in for good measure.
Petrovic laughed when asked if he had ever had two easier scoring chances and was still thinking about an earlier saved penalty kick.
“I missed the easier one too, could have had three,” he said. “But it happens, you know. I hit my spot and he made a good save.”
South fought back and Wyatt Gallt’s searching header in the 26th minute just missed the near post as South tried to get on the board.
From there on out, Central created a bevy of opportunities to close out the first half and forced Rose to work the box. The Cougar keeper scrambled to collect saves and denied several point-blank shots to keep his side down by just a pair entering the half.
“At halftime we talked about it,” Plainfield South coach Dave Brown said of Rose’s performance. “He kept us in the game for sure, and if he doesn’t show up in the first half it’s a completely different game. That’s who he is, he’s a great goalkeeper. He’s starting as a sophomore for a reason.”
Brown was disappointed with the amount of play his side had in its own end in the first half.
“I thought we were a little tentative in the first half,” he said. “Playing a little bit on our heels and maybe a little bit indecisive. We knew they were going to come out hard; they’re in the thick of the conference race. They’re having a good year, and we knew they were going to play with confidence and be ready to play. Unfortunately, we spent 40 minutes kind of working backwards instead of stepping up the field and making positive plays.”
Central renewed its attack as the second half started, finally breaking through for a third goal in the 54th minute when Joel Sanchez knocked in a ball in front after a pass from Ish Contreras.
Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald spoke about the importance of getting the third goal.
“2-0, we’ve given up 2-0 leads,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been there at least twice this year so when it’s 2-0, I don’t buy into the whole ‘that’s the most dangerous lead in soccer’. I’d still rather have it than a 1-0 lead, but the third goal is huge. Whoever gets it is big because that’s the momentum.”
The Cougars couldn’t convert on a pair of back-to-back corners in the 57th minute but finally got on the board when South was assessed a penalty kick in the 79th minute.
Senior midfielder Rocky Del Real calmly spotted his kick into the right side of the net as Plainfield Central goalkeeper Shane Badertscher guessed the wrong way.
Senior captain Chase Cleasby said that Plainfield South has suffered this season by not playing with the same urgency and intensity at the start of games as they have at the end.
“I think we just need to compete from the first whistle,” Cleasby said. “We haven’t been our very best at the beginning of the games. We play hard at the end, but we just need to push through all the way and it comes from the middle, from our captains.”
The Cougars will look to rebound quickly with a conference home match against Minooka on Thursday.
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Quentin Rose
D Chase Cleasby
D Kyle Klonicki
D Jeff Mickow
D Reid Childs
D Juan Guzman
M Dominick Christiansen
M Rocky Del Real
M Wyatt Gallt
M Jose Guzman
F Ramon Ochoa
Plainfield Central
GK Shane Badertscher
D Gustavo Sanchez
D Jose Cardenas
D Matt Geib
D Phil Garcia
M Ish Contreras
M Ricky Garcia
M Jarod Petrovic
M Josh De Avila
F Max Woodward
F Joel Sanchez
Man of the Match: Jarod Petrovic, MF, Plainfield Central