Downers Grove South,
Hinsdale Central battle to draw
Neither team produces many chances in early tournament clash
By Chris Walker
HINSDALE – Losing at home isn’t a common occurrence for Hinsdale Central.
It still hasn’t happened in a long time.
The Red Devils, whose last loss at home came against Downers Grove South on Aug. 23, 2012, were unable to find the back of the net, settling for a scoreless draw against those same Mustangs in Tuesday’s Hinsdale Central tournament game.
“I thought we put their keeper under a lot of stress, which was encouraging to see in terms of keeping the pressure on,” Red Devils coach Michael Wiggins said. “I thought we did a really good job of keeping ourselves in the attack and in continuing to pressure them, regardless of the outcome.”
Hinsdale Central (1-1-1) had undoubtedly its best chance of the night with 32:52 left in the game when senior Evan Floersch stepped up to attempt a penalty kick.
Floersch was unable to convert it, sending his shot too far right, much to the delight of the visitors.
“That was big, especially with him being their center back,” Downers Grove South sophomore Nicholas Rohl said. “You know he’s down after that so you’ve got to go at him and hope someone makes a mistake, and you can capitalize.”
Downers Grove South (1-0-1) didn’t back down from a Hinsdale Central team that is coming off a single-loss season.
“I think the big thing for us is that it’s early in the season and Hinsdale Central is a very good team, so I think we look at the result as a positive,” Mustangs coach Jon Stapleton said. “We definitely had some positives in the way we were organized and our defense.”
The Mustangs have yet to surrender a goal. They shut out Fremd in their season opener last week.
Junior goalkeeper Sam Dumford, who played at the lower levels last season, has stepped in nicely. He showed why Stapleton has faith in him. He organized the defense, communicated and also was physical when he needed to be, making plays with his hands and his feet. He was selected as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his ability to rise to the occasion, especially with one of the state best’s goalies, Wes Bergevin, in the opposing net.
There was no doubt that Dumford was pumped up to play a team like the Red Devils.
“Most people have had them as the No. 1 team for the beginning of the season, so I’ll take this,” Dumford said. “These guys and Morton are the games I look forward to the most, and that started during freshman year. I like playing these good teams. It’s the best soccer.”
Andrew Dobosenski, Griffin Overbeck and Ryan Strelau provided great protection for Dumford as part of a formidable backline.
“Andrew is one of the better players on the field,” Dumford said. “He’s one of the better defenders I’ve ever played with. Matt (Buczko) is out with ankle injury, so once we get him back that’ll help a lot. Griffin (Overbeck) and Ryan (Strelau) are guys I’ve played with for a while. I’ve very comfortable playing with those guys.”
Another player who was unable to suit up for the Mustangs was senior forward Matt Diaz, an all-sectional and all-conference player the past two seasons.
“We’re still figuring some things out, and we’ll see what happens when Eric comes back, but this was a good test for us mentally and physically without him,” Stapleton said. “We still had a couple chances, not too dangerous, from Jason Galik and Nick Rohl.”
Despite not heading home with a victory, the Red Devils continued their dominant play at home. They did see their scoring streak come to an end, as they were held scoreless for the first time since a 2-0 loss against Naperville Central on Sept. 15, 2012.
“I’m proud of them and am going to tell them they represented the program well, they continued to fight and they played with passion,” Wiggins said. “They played smart, they connected passes and they stuck with the system, and we put them in some tough spots."
In addition to Floersch coming up empty on the penalty kick, the Red Devils had a few other near misses, including a shot off the cross bar from sophomore Jake Semba.
“We created some chances, and I thought our backs did extremely well,” Wiggins said. “All in all, this is about what we were looking to get out of a game at this time of the year.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
GK Sam Dumford
D Andrew Dobosenski
D Kevin Harty
D Griffin Overbeck
D Ryan Strelau
M John Parilla
M Hunter Thoren
M Peter Fish
M Jason Galik
F Alex Escamilla
F Nick Rohl
Hinsdale Central
GK Wes Bergevin
D Nick Silva
D Daniel Lillard
D Evan Floersch
M Jack Baderman
M Bryan Loebig
M Jimmy Walker
M Justin Yi
M Sebastian Skiba
F Sam Johnson
F Jake Semba
Man of the Match: Sam Dumford, Downers Grove South
Officials: Steve Barker, Harold Cooker, Eric Krygier
Hinsdale Central battle to draw
Neither team produces many chances in early tournament clash
By Chris Walker
HINSDALE – Losing at home isn’t a common occurrence for Hinsdale Central.
It still hasn’t happened in a long time.
The Red Devils, whose last loss at home came against Downers Grove South on Aug. 23, 2012, were unable to find the back of the net, settling for a scoreless draw against those same Mustangs in Tuesday’s Hinsdale Central tournament game.
“I thought we put their keeper under a lot of stress, which was encouraging to see in terms of keeping the pressure on,” Red Devils coach Michael Wiggins said. “I thought we did a really good job of keeping ourselves in the attack and in continuing to pressure them, regardless of the outcome.”
Hinsdale Central (1-1-1) had undoubtedly its best chance of the night with 32:52 left in the game when senior Evan Floersch stepped up to attempt a penalty kick.
Floersch was unable to convert it, sending his shot too far right, much to the delight of the visitors.
“That was big, especially with him being their center back,” Downers Grove South sophomore Nicholas Rohl said. “You know he’s down after that so you’ve got to go at him and hope someone makes a mistake, and you can capitalize.”
Downers Grove South (1-0-1) didn’t back down from a Hinsdale Central team that is coming off a single-loss season.
“I think the big thing for us is that it’s early in the season and Hinsdale Central is a very good team, so I think we look at the result as a positive,” Mustangs coach Jon Stapleton said. “We definitely had some positives in the way we were organized and our defense.”
The Mustangs have yet to surrender a goal. They shut out Fremd in their season opener last week.
Junior goalkeeper Sam Dumford, who played at the lower levels last season, has stepped in nicely. He showed why Stapleton has faith in him. He organized the defense, communicated and also was physical when he needed to be, making plays with his hands and his feet. He was selected as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match for his ability to rise to the occasion, especially with one of the state best’s goalies, Wes Bergevin, in the opposing net.
There was no doubt that Dumford was pumped up to play a team like the Red Devils.
“Most people have had them as the No. 1 team for the beginning of the season, so I’ll take this,” Dumford said. “These guys and Morton are the games I look forward to the most, and that started during freshman year. I like playing these good teams. It’s the best soccer.”
Andrew Dobosenski, Griffin Overbeck and Ryan Strelau provided great protection for Dumford as part of a formidable backline.
“Andrew is one of the better players on the field,” Dumford said. “He’s one of the better defenders I’ve ever played with. Matt (Buczko) is out with ankle injury, so once we get him back that’ll help a lot. Griffin (Overbeck) and Ryan (Strelau) are guys I’ve played with for a while. I’ve very comfortable playing with those guys.”
Another player who was unable to suit up for the Mustangs was senior forward Matt Diaz, an all-sectional and all-conference player the past two seasons.
“We’re still figuring some things out, and we’ll see what happens when Eric comes back, but this was a good test for us mentally and physically without him,” Stapleton said. “We still had a couple chances, not too dangerous, from Jason Galik and Nick Rohl.”
Despite not heading home with a victory, the Red Devils continued their dominant play at home. They did see their scoring streak come to an end, as they were held scoreless for the first time since a 2-0 loss against Naperville Central on Sept. 15, 2012.
“I’m proud of them and am going to tell them they represented the program well, they continued to fight and they played with passion,” Wiggins said. “They played smart, they connected passes and they stuck with the system, and we put them in some tough spots."
In addition to Floersch coming up empty on the penalty kick, the Red Devils had a few other near misses, including a shot off the cross bar from sophomore Jake Semba.
“We created some chances, and I thought our backs did extremely well,” Wiggins said. “All in all, this is about what we were looking to get out of a game at this time of the year.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
GK Sam Dumford
D Andrew Dobosenski
D Kevin Harty
D Griffin Overbeck
D Ryan Strelau
M John Parilla
M Hunter Thoren
M Peter Fish
M Jason Galik
F Alex Escamilla
F Nick Rohl
Hinsdale Central
GK Wes Bergevin
D Nick Silva
D Daniel Lillard
D Evan Floersch
M Jack Baderman
M Bryan Loebig
M Jimmy Walker
M Justin Yi
M Sebastian Skiba
F Sam Johnson
F Jake Semba
Man of the Match: Sam Dumford, Downers Grove South
Officials: Steve Barker, Harold Cooker, Eric Krygier