Crystal Lake South tops Huntley,
completes perfect conference run
Gators take 1st league title since 2010
By Dave Owen
CRYSTAL LAKE -- While late-season injuries continued to agonize Huntley, Crystal Lake South celebrated its great 2014 season with another milestone.
A 3-1 win over its visitors Thursday capped a perfect 5-0 record in Fox Valley Conference play for the Gators (13-5-1 overall), and provided a textbook example of their season-long ability to bounce back.
“It was interesting because Saturday (a 2-1 loss to Prospect) was pretty similar where we had chances to open it up to a 2-0, 3-0 lead, and we didn’t do that,” Gators’ coach Brian Allen said. “So we challenged the guys at halftime (again up 1-0) to learn from that.
“That’s what we’ve been preaching all year -– get better, learn from previous games. And you can see we made a big step forward today in terms of 1-0 being able to extend it to 3-0.”
Crystal Lake South started quickly, first with a near-miss four minutes in (Orlando Tapia’s 8-yard shot off the crossbar) and then a nice finish off a restart.
After a foul right of the net 20 yards out, Tapia sent a short restart pass to Charlie Ruff to his left. Ruff dribbled toward the top of the box and lined a 20-yarder into the net just under the crossbar for a 1-0 Gators’ lead.
“We had a set piece in, a play we run a lot,” Ruff said. “We saw it was open, and Orlando Tapia hit a nice ball to me. I saw I had an open shot and hit it as hard as I could, and it happened to go over the goalie.”
Ruff (goal and an assist) was chosen as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, but top defender Andrew Perrine’s summation of all the Gators’ effort accurately portrayed how many worthy stars the day produced.
“Today we connected on all four cylinders,” Perrine said. “The midfield came back and connected with us, and the guys up top – everybody played their best today, and I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.
“Every single guy off the bench and everyone played their hardest, the midfield, we had our forwards playing defense, the goalie Dalton (Kause) talking and coming off his line today. It starts front to back with communication, and everyone I thought did unbelievable today.”
The early Gator lead which that effort produced was just one obstacle for Huntley (5-11-4), but the shorthanded Red Raiders showed grit to keep the score 1-0 at halftime.
“We’re minus three defenders and two midfielders,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said, “so we had limited subs and guys are leg weary going against a team (the Gators) that works at that (high) rate. So that was tough.”
Zack Whitaker’s 30-yard shot in the 12th minute represented Huntley’s first shot on goal, but the Red Raiders finished the half with just a 6-5 deficit in shots on goal.
One good chance came with 17:15 left, when Gators’ goalkeeper Kause dove to his right to catch an Allan Barrientos’ 28-yard free kick. One minute later, Kause again went to the turf to stop a skipping 25-yard shot by Michael Zembrzuski.
“We had a solid 10-15 minutes in the first half where we had transition opportunities, connected passes and possessed well,” Grabner said. “We just didn’t finish, but I was happy with that side of it.”
Crystal Lake South couldn’t finish some great chances of its own. Ruff missed another goal by inches when he sidestepped two defenders and lined a 15-yarder high off the left post 15:10 before the half.
Huntley defender Manuel Menjivar made big plays to deny two other close-in chances later in the half. When Julio Campos broke in on goal off a Jeff Kirshenbaum pass, Menjivar made a great block and subsequent sliding clear at the post 4:35 before the half to keep the score 1-0.
“I’m a senior and with all our injuries I’m trying to be a leader about it,” Menjivar said. “It was tough.
“We have five or six guys out. We have kids who can come in and play, but it’s still harder to keep up. It gets tiring after a while.”
Fatigue and another injury (to starting defender Irwin Bhathal) took a toll in the second half, while an inspired and talented Gators’ squad took control.
Whitaker’s great block and clear prevented a big Andrew Grabowski chance three minutes into the half.
Then with 35:35 left to go, another nice Gators’ set piece made it 2-0. Kennan Grissom’s 40-yard free kick from the left side deflected to Jake Canfield near the right post, where his header put-away added a key insurance goal.
“I thought we pressed them a lot better (in the second half) instead of just sitting back and trying to hold the lead,” Ruff said. “We didn’t let them get across midfield much.”
The Gators dominated the first 30 minutes of the half, and nearly added to their lead with 33:15 left when Campos lined an 18-yarder that Huntley second half goalkeeper Dakota Ferguson dove to deflect off the left post.
Ferguson later denied Stefan Harris’ low 15-yard shot after Harris nicely won a ball from two defenders with 21:40 left.
Harris’ hard work paid off with 19:59 to go, off another restart. Tapia perfectly placed a 30-yard direct kick to the right post, where Ruff’s initial shot was blocked but Harris scored on the rebound for a 3-0 Gators’ lead.
The second half surge was a quick lesson from the loss to Prospect five days earlier.
“That was a tough game (Prospect),” Ruff said. “We played pretty well but just couldn’t finish – that’s been a problem for us when we lose. We create chances but don’t finish them. When we get a lead we have to put them away – we can’t be complacent.”
Ferguson made a nice save on Nathan Columbia’s 18-yard shot with 17:30 left, then off a Grissom 45-yard free kick at 9:30, the Gators just missed another set piece finish when Ryan Russmann sent a close-in chip inches over the net (so close that there was a brief celebration by Crystal Lake South fans).
But tired and depleted, Huntley ended the day with a late burst.
Off a Zembrzuski corner kick with 5:15 to go, Alessandro Vergara lined a 22-yard shot off the crossbar. Kause then came up big with a lunging save to his right to deflect Barrientos’ rebound try wide.
Off a Gators’ foul with 4:12 left, the Red Raiders drew within 3-1 – Zembrzuski’s initial 20-yard free kick was saved by Kause, but Menjivar put away the point-blank rebound.
“I was happy with the goal,” Grubner said, “but there were a lot of things I wasn’t happy with. Our work rate wasn’t where it needed to be, communication was poor and moving off the ball wasn’t where it needed to be.”
The late goal also disappointed the Gators in an otherwise strong performance.
“Giving one up with five left, our standard is better than that and we know in the playoffs that could be costly,” Allen said. “There’s still room for improvement, but you can’t complain when you run the table in conference.”
Crystal Lake South was back on the offensive in the final 90 seconds (a Benjamin Nyman shot just wide off a corner kick, then a Tapia 8-yard shot stopped on a great diving Ferguson save with 25 seconds left).
And with the first conference title in four years officially in the books, it was time for team pictures in the net and a celebration afterwards.
“We’ve had ups and downs, starting off losing a few games (to go 2-2),” Ruff said. “But then we came back up and went on a little streak (to improve to 7-2-1).
“We’ve always rebounded after we lost or had a game when we didn’t play well. And now we’re right at our highest point at the end of the season, right at the right time.”
Starting lineups
Huntley
GK- Michael Parks
D- Irwin Bhathal
D- Joshua Rodriguez
D- Manuel Menjivar
D- Alexander Ligeza
M- Michael Zembrzuski
M- Max Trsinski
M- Zack Whitaker
M- Ryan Larsen
F- Alessandro Vergara
F- Allan Barrientos
Crystal Lake South
GK- Dalton Kause
D- Kennan Grissom
D- Jacob Canfield
D- Andrew Perrine
D- Zach Schmidt
M- Ryan Russmann
M- Orlando Tapia
M- Charlie Ruff
M- Julio Campos
F- Mike Woeste
F- Andrew Grabowski
Man of the Match: Charlie Ruff, MF, Crystal Lake South
completes perfect conference run
Gators take 1st league title since 2010
By Dave Owen
CRYSTAL LAKE -- While late-season injuries continued to agonize Huntley, Crystal Lake South celebrated its great 2014 season with another milestone.
A 3-1 win over its visitors Thursday capped a perfect 5-0 record in Fox Valley Conference play for the Gators (13-5-1 overall), and provided a textbook example of their season-long ability to bounce back.
“It was interesting because Saturday (a 2-1 loss to Prospect) was pretty similar where we had chances to open it up to a 2-0, 3-0 lead, and we didn’t do that,” Gators’ coach Brian Allen said. “So we challenged the guys at halftime (again up 1-0) to learn from that.
“That’s what we’ve been preaching all year -– get better, learn from previous games. And you can see we made a big step forward today in terms of 1-0 being able to extend it to 3-0.”
Crystal Lake South started quickly, first with a near-miss four minutes in (Orlando Tapia’s 8-yard shot off the crossbar) and then a nice finish off a restart.
After a foul right of the net 20 yards out, Tapia sent a short restart pass to Charlie Ruff to his left. Ruff dribbled toward the top of the box and lined a 20-yarder into the net just under the crossbar for a 1-0 Gators’ lead.
“We had a set piece in, a play we run a lot,” Ruff said. “We saw it was open, and Orlando Tapia hit a nice ball to me. I saw I had an open shot and hit it as hard as I could, and it happened to go over the goalie.”
Ruff (goal and an assist) was chosen as Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match, but top defender Andrew Perrine’s summation of all the Gators’ effort accurately portrayed how many worthy stars the day produced.
“Today we connected on all four cylinders,” Perrine said. “The midfield came back and connected with us, and the guys up top – everybody played their best today, and I couldn’t be more proud of all of them.
“Every single guy off the bench and everyone played their hardest, the midfield, we had our forwards playing defense, the goalie Dalton (Kause) talking and coming off his line today. It starts front to back with communication, and everyone I thought did unbelievable today.”
The early Gator lead which that effort produced was just one obstacle for Huntley (5-11-4), but the shorthanded Red Raiders showed grit to keep the score 1-0 at halftime.
“We’re minus three defenders and two midfielders,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said, “so we had limited subs and guys are leg weary going against a team (the Gators) that works at that (high) rate. So that was tough.”
Zack Whitaker’s 30-yard shot in the 12th minute represented Huntley’s first shot on goal, but the Red Raiders finished the half with just a 6-5 deficit in shots on goal.
One good chance came with 17:15 left, when Gators’ goalkeeper Kause dove to his right to catch an Allan Barrientos’ 28-yard free kick. One minute later, Kause again went to the turf to stop a skipping 25-yard shot by Michael Zembrzuski.
“We had a solid 10-15 minutes in the first half where we had transition opportunities, connected passes and possessed well,” Grabner said. “We just didn’t finish, but I was happy with that side of it.”
Crystal Lake South couldn’t finish some great chances of its own. Ruff missed another goal by inches when he sidestepped two defenders and lined a 15-yarder high off the left post 15:10 before the half.
Huntley defender Manuel Menjivar made big plays to deny two other close-in chances later in the half. When Julio Campos broke in on goal off a Jeff Kirshenbaum pass, Menjivar made a great block and subsequent sliding clear at the post 4:35 before the half to keep the score 1-0.
“I’m a senior and with all our injuries I’m trying to be a leader about it,” Menjivar said. “It was tough.
“We have five or six guys out. We have kids who can come in and play, but it’s still harder to keep up. It gets tiring after a while.”
Fatigue and another injury (to starting defender Irwin Bhathal) took a toll in the second half, while an inspired and talented Gators’ squad took control.
Whitaker’s great block and clear prevented a big Andrew Grabowski chance three minutes into the half.
Then with 35:35 left to go, another nice Gators’ set piece made it 2-0. Kennan Grissom’s 40-yard free kick from the left side deflected to Jake Canfield near the right post, where his header put-away added a key insurance goal.
“I thought we pressed them a lot better (in the second half) instead of just sitting back and trying to hold the lead,” Ruff said. “We didn’t let them get across midfield much.”
The Gators dominated the first 30 minutes of the half, and nearly added to their lead with 33:15 left when Campos lined an 18-yarder that Huntley second half goalkeeper Dakota Ferguson dove to deflect off the left post.
Ferguson later denied Stefan Harris’ low 15-yard shot after Harris nicely won a ball from two defenders with 21:40 left.
Harris’ hard work paid off with 19:59 to go, off another restart. Tapia perfectly placed a 30-yard direct kick to the right post, where Ruff’s initial shot was blocked but Harris scored on the rebound for a 3-0 Gators’ lead.
The second half surge was a quick lesson from the loss to Prospect five days earlier.
“That was a tough game (Prospect),” Ruff said. “We played pretty well but just couldn’t finish – that’s been a problem for us when we lose. We create chances but don’t finish them. When we get a lead we have to put them away – we can’t be complacent.”
Ferguson made a nice save on Nathan Columbia’s 18-yard shot with 17:30 left, then off a Grissom 45-yard free kick at 9:30, the Gators just missed another set piece finish when Ryan Russmann sent a close-in chip inches over the net (so close that there was a brief celebration by Crystal Lake South fans).
But tired and depleted, Huntley ended the day with a late burst.
Off a Zembrzuski corner kick with 5:15 to go, Alessandro Vergara lined a 22-yard shot off the crossbar. Kause then came up big with a lunging save to his right to deflect Barrientos’ rebound try wide.
Off a Gators’ foul with 4:12 left, the Red Raiders drew within 3-1 – Zembrzuski’s initial 20-yard free kick was saved by Kause, but Menjivar put away the point-blank rebound.
“I was happy with the goal,” Grubner said, “but there were a lot of things I wasn’t happy with. Our work rate wasn’t where it needed to be, communication was poor and moving off the ball wasn’t where it needed to be.”
The late goal also disappointed the Gators in an otherwise strong performance.
“Giving one up with five left, our standard is better than that and we know in the playoffs that could be costly,” Allen said. “There’s still room for improvement, but you can’t complain when you run the table in conference.”
Crystal Lake South was back on the offensive in the final 90 seconds (a Benjamin Nyman shot just wide off a corner kick, then a Tapia 8-yard shot stopped on a great diving Ferguson save with 25 seconds left).
And with the first conference title in four years officially in the books, it was time for team pictures in the net and a celebration afterwards.
“We’ve had ups and downs, starting off losing a few games (to go 2-2),” Ruff said. “But then we came back up and went on a little streak (to improve to 7-2-1).
“We’ve always rebounded after we lost or had a game when we didn’t play well. And now we’re right at our highest point at the end of the season, right at the right time.”
Starting lineups
Huntley
GK- Michael Parks
D- Irwin Bhathal
D- Joshua Rodriguez
D- Manuel Menjivar
D- Alexander Ligeza
M- Michael Zembrzuski
M- Max Trsinski
M- Zack Whitaker
M- Ryan Larsen
F- Alessandro Vergara
F- Allan Barrientos
Crystal Lake South
GK- Dalton Kause
D- Kennan Grissom
D- Jacob Canfield
D- Andrew Perrine
D- Zach Schmidt
M- Ryan Russmann
M- Orlando Tapia
M- Charlie Ruff
M- Julio Campos
F- Mike Woeste
F- Andrew Grabowski
Man of the Match: Charlie Ruff, MF, Crystal Lake South