Jacobs rally falls short as
Elk Grove wins 3rd straight
Early Grenadiers goal by Suarez holds up, but just barely
By Derek Wolff
ELK GROVE VILLAGE — Elk Grove and Jacobs might have been playing an early season, nonconference game Saturday morning, but it certainly looked like more was on the line.
The home side was able to take a 1-0 victory after the final whistle thanks to an Oscar Suarez goal in the 17th minute, but it wasn’t without a few close calls in the end.
Trailing late in the game, Jacobs midfielder Chris Rigby blasted a free kick from 45 yards out into the box, connecting with a teammate. The redirected shot arched just over the net, striking the woodwork moments before the final whistle.
It was the end to a somewhat frustrating loss for the Golden Eagles, who pushed forward frequently in the second half.
Jacobs midfielder Andrew Craig had an excellent chance to equalize in the 65th minute after he was pulled down from behind with a rough challenge 10 yards out.
Craig’s free kick went straight into the defensive wall in front of him and bounced away harmlessly.
Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello said his side made needed adjustments at halftime to move the ball out of its defensive third.
“We just talked about getting a little more creative to help us get the ball up a little bit,” Cappello said. “Even in the first half, even though we were in our back third we still had a lot of possession in the midfield. We just weren’t connecting to get up into their third, so it kept coming right back at us. We cleaned up the middle third, and that helped us move forward instead of keeping us coming back to our end.”
The Grenadiers had close to sole possession of the ball in the first half, prompting a plethora of early saves from goalkeeper Eduardo Guimaray.
Finally, Suarez broke the deadlock with a beautiful volley from 25 yards out that floated over Guimaray’s head to give the home side the 1-0 lead.
“I’ve had a couple of opportunities to go to the right and I usually just cut back,” said Suarez, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “I just followed their (the coaches') advice. They told me if I had the open shot to just go for it. There’s no other way to score if you don’t shoot, so I just went for an open shot and it went in.”
Ten minutes later, a poor throw-in by Elk Grove led a chance to equalize for the Golden Eagles when Rigby found space and shot a sinking line drive toward the net.
But Grenadiers goaltender Alberto Centeno was up to the task, diving to his left to make a brilliant save and keep his side up a goal.
“I didn’t really see a cross,” Rigby said. “The goalkeeper was far post, so I just tried to bend it near post. Hopefully if I missed it I’d get a corner, which we did. I was just looking for the shot and to get shots on.”
Despite not getting the desired result, Rigby said the game would encourage his side to work even harder for results next week.
“We take this as a learning experience. No one likes losing, and that just means Monday we’re going to come out harder to practice and Tuesday come out to the game and win.”
For Elk Grove, it was the third win in a row. Grenadiers coach Rob Shepard was pleased with the result but said his side still needs to make minor adjustments late in games to continue to improve.
“We’re at the point with a young team when you have a lead it’s how do you kind of finish it,” Shepard said. “The killer instinct still isn’t there. I thought we opened up some space in the middle for them, and they did a good job of attacking that space and they were getting some free hits. We did better this game than we did the game before.”
Shepard cited his side’s next game against Barrington as being a tough challenge and said his side needs to shoot a little more.
“I think sometimes they think they have to dance with it, they have to do something more than just keep it simple for themselves," Shepard said. "In a little bit of space when the gaps open it’s about taking opportunity and getting the good-looking goal or getting the dirty goal coming off the rebound. I don’t think we’re getting enough shots, and when we do that we’ll get more goals, bottom line.”
The match against Barrington might be a tall order, but it’s one that Suarez thinks Elk Grove will be ready for.
“It builds up our faith because this week we’re facing one of the toughest teams in Barrington,” he said. “It builds up our confidence and it’s a great way to end the week on a three-win streak.”
His teammate, forward Edgar Soto, echoed his sentiments on the win streak.
“I think it brings a lot of confidence,” Soto said. “We struggled in this game a little, but at the end we played together and got the outcome.”
Starting lineups
Jacobs
G-Eduardo Guimaray
D-Jacob Moser
D-Kyle Wolinski
D-Erik Merdinger
M-Andrew Craig
M-Dan Kim
M-Gustavo Valdez
M-Chris Rigby
M-Nick Voss
F-Noah Melick
F-Konrad Wasilewski
Elk Grove Village
G-Alberto Centeno
D-Connor Emmerich
D-Alexis Tijerin
D-Bobby Hlavin
D-Daniel Hadler
M-Ivan Corona
M-Noe Centeno
M-Oscar Suarez
M-Joey Weber
F-Michael Contreras
F-Edgar Soto
Referees: Steve Sarto, Krzysztof Bajorek
Man of the Match: Oscar Suarez, Elk Grove
Elk Grove wins 3rd straight
Early Grenadiers goal by Suarez holds up, but just barely
By Derek Wolff
ELK GROVE VILLAGE — Elk Grove and Jacobs might have been playing an early season, nonconference game Saturday morning, but it certainly looked like more was on the line.
The home side was able to take a 1-0 victory after the final whistle thanks to an Oscar Suarez goal in the 17th minute, but it wasn’t without a few close calls in the end.
Trailing late in the game, Jacobs midfielder Chris Rigby blasted a free kick from 45 yards out into the box, connecting with a teammate. The redirected shot arched just over the net, striking the woodwork moments before the final whistle.
It was the end to a somewhat frustrating loss for the Golden Eagles, who pushed forward frequently in the second half.
Jacobs midfielder Andrew Craig had an excellent chance to equalize in the 65th minute after he was pulled down from behind with a rough challenge 10 yards out.
Craig’s free kick went straight into the defensive wall in front of him and bounced away harmlessly.
Jacobs coach Anthony Cappello said his side made needed adjustments at halftime to move the ball out of its defensive third.
“We just talked about getting a little more creative to help us get the ball up a little bit,” Cappello said. “Even in the first half, even though we were in our back third we still had a lot of possession in the midfield. We just weren’t connecting to get up into their third, so it kept coming right back at us. We cleaned up the middle third, and that helped us move forward instead of keeping us coming back to our end.”
The Grenadiers had close to sole possession of the ball in the first half, prompting a plethora of early saves from goalkeeper Eduardo Guimaray.
Finally, Suarez broke the deadlock with a beautiful volley from 25 yards out that floated over Guimaray’s head to give the home side the 1-0 lead.
“I’ve had a couple of opportunities to go to the right and I usually just cut back,” said Suarez, Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. “I just followed their (the coaches') advice. They told me if I had the open shot to just go for it. There’s no other way to score if you don’t shoot, so I just went for an open shot and it went in.”
Ten minutes later, a poor throw-in by Elk Grove led a chance to equalize for the Golden Eagles when Rigby found space and shot a sinking line drive toward the net.
But Grenadiers goaltender Alberto Centeno was up to the task, diving to his left to make a brilliant save and keep his side up a goal.
“I didn’t really see a cross,” Rigby said. “The goalkeeper was far post, so I just tried to bend it near post. Hopefully if I missed it I’d get a corner, which we did. I was just looking for the shot and to get shots on.”
Despite not getting the desired result, Rigby said the game would encourage his side to work even harder for results next week.
“We take this as a learning experience. No one likes losing, and that just means Monday we’re going to come out harder to practice and Tuesday come out to the game and win.”
For Elk Grove, it was the third win in a row. Grenadiers coach Rob Shepard was pleased with the result but said his side still needs to make minor adjustments late in games to continue to improve.
“We’re at the point with a young team when you have a lead it’s how do you kind of finish it,” Shepard said. “The killer instinct still isn’t there. I thought we opened up some space in the middle for them, and they did a good job of attacking that space and they were getting some free hits. We did better this game than we did the game before.”
Shepard cited his side’s next game against Barrington as being a tough challenge and said his side needs to shoot a little more.
“I think sometimes they think they have to dance with it, they have to do something more than just keep it simple for themselves," Shepard said. "In a little bit of space when the gaps open it’s about taking opportunity and getting the good-looking goal or getting the dirty goal coming off the rebound. I don’t think we’re getting enough shots, and when we do that we’ll get more goals, bottom line.”
The match against Barrington might be a tall order, but it’s one that Suarez thinks Elk Grove will be ready for.
“It builds up our faith because this week we’re facing one of the toughest teams in Barrington,” he said. “It builds up our confidence and it’s a great way to end the week on a three-win streak.”
His teammate, forward Edgar Soto, echoed his sentiments on the win streak.
“I think it brings a lot of confidence,” Soto said. “We struggled in this game a little, but at the end we played together and got the outcome.”
Starting lineups
Jacobs
G-Eduardo Guimaray
D-Jacob Moser
D-Kyle Wolinski
D-Erik Merdinger
M-Andrew Craig
M-Dan Kim
M-Gustavo Valdez
M-Chris Rigby
M-Nick Voss
F-Noah Melick
F-Konrad Wasilewski
Elk Grove Village
G-Alberto Centeno
D-Connor Emmerich
D-Alexis Tijerin
D-Bobby Hlavin
D-Daniel Hadler
M-Ivan Corona
M-Noe Centeno
M-Oscar Suarez
M-Joey Weber
F-Michael Contreras
F-Edgar Soto
Referees: Steve Sarto, Krzysztof Bajorek
Man of the Match: Oscar Suarez, Elk Grove