Wasilewski hatter lifts Jacobs past Huntley
Host Golden Eagles get best of 5-goal second half
By Steve Nemeth
ALGONQUIN -- In a matchup of two schools struggling to find offense, the second half of Thursday's Huntley at Jacobs contest suddenly became a scoring slugfest.
Konrad Wasilewski's hat trick enabled host Jacobs to come out on top of a 3-2 contest where both teams were starving for a victory and momentum toward the postseason. It also made him the obvious choice for Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match accolade.
The triumph boosted the Golden Eagles to 4-11-1 overall and evened their Valley Division record at 1-1 within the Fox Valley Conference. Huntley's ledgers dipped to 2-8-4 and 0-1.
Coming into the match, Jacobs had been outscored 30-14, and six of 11 losses were shutouts. The visiting Red Raiders were outscored 19-10 and had absorbed five shutout defeats. Neither side was able to score in the opening 40 minutes, but there were impressive chances.
Huntley's Manuel Menjivar caromed an early shot off the left post, while Andrew Craig had a stellar long ball require a tip save by Red Raider first-half goalie Andrew Fulcer.
The deadlock was broken 2:59 into the second half when Zack Whitaker's cross resulted in Jacobs keeper Eduardo Guimaray giving up a rebound that Allan Barrientos promptly put into the net.
“The goalie didn't catch it cleanly; the ball was right there, and I instinctively hit it,” Barrientos said of his second goal of the year.
Jacobs countered less than three minutes later as Noah Melick worked his way upfield and fed Colin Walsh for a shot from right in front that second-half Raider goalie Michael Parks blocked, only to have Wasilewski follow up on the rebound.
Five minutes later, Wasilewski had enough space to crank a 21-yard blast from the left wing that sailed inside the far right post for a Jacobs lead with 29:14 left to be played.
“The first one was a deflection, and I saw the keeper out of place and put it on net,” Wasilewski recalled. “The second one, I just let it rip and watched as it dipped just right.”
Huntley fought back and got the equalizer off a textbook cross. Irwin Bhathal's ball found Max Walsh in place for a seven-yard header with 20:14 remainiing.
“We worked on those all day yesterday,” Walsh said. “Irwin had a great service right over their defender, and I was able to time my jump to aim it down and to the right where their goalie couldn't get it.”
“Our second goal was a really good cross and showed what we're capable of,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. “We worked on finishing throughout practice, but we're either not making the right runs to get in the best position or we stop short. They've got to understand you must make the run 10 out of 10 times because the one time you don't, that'll be the score that gets away.”
Jacobs almost got away with another left side strike, but Parks made a diving stop that was followed by consecutive corner kick chances for Jacobs. While those didn't work, the Golden Eagles got the combination right with 13:04 left.
Noah Voss registered his initial assist, finding Wasilewski in the middle. The junior cut back to his left and scored from 11 yards out. A consistent scorer as a sophomore, Wasilewski's recent success is due to his new shoes, teammates tell him.
“My lucky (blue) shoes gave out last season, and maybe I wasn't mentally confident earlier this year. But I finally went back to the old brand and color,” Wasilewski explained. “All I know right now is that it feels great for us to come out with a victory and to put three into the back of the net.”
Jacobs coach A.J. Cappello was convinced persistence and hard work had more to do with his scoring.
“Konrad had a slow start to the season, but to his credit he worked through it,” Cappello said. “All three of those were hustle goals. He got himself in the right spot on the first one, cracked a great shot from the wing and outworked a defender to slot the last one.”
With Jacobs scheduled to serve as a regional host, Cappello hopes the Eagles can still make noise in the conference. He was quick to identify two additional players who can make a difference.
“Daniel (Kim) has been our most consistent and stable player. He leads by example and keeps the game clean for us,” Cappello said. “Since we brought Gab Sworthout up, he's been improving with each outing and doesn't play like a freshman.”
Huntley was the first of four home opponents for the Golden Eagles in their last six regular season matches.
The Red Raiders played their 13th road contest and can now look forward to a three-match home stand plus a packed October schedule.
Starting lineups
Huntley
G Andrew Fulcer
D Alex Ligeza
D Irwin Bhathal
D Kyle Carberry
D Manuel Menjivar
M Alesandro Vergara
M Gaetano Dipasquale
M Angel Sanchez
F Michael Zembrzuski
F Allan Barrientos
F Zack Whitaker
Jacobs
G Eduardo Guimaray
D Andrew Craig
D Jacob Moser
D Eric Merdinger
D Ean Wilson
M Dan Kim
M Noah Melick
M Chris Rigby
M Nick Voss
F Colin Walsh
F Konrad Wasilewski
Man of the Match: Konrad Wasilewski, Jacobs
Officials: Trevor Fulk, Kevin Brophy, Bob Hansen
Host Golden Eagles get best of 5-goal second half
By Steve Nemeth
ALGONQUIN -- In a matchup of two schools struggling to find offense, the second half of Thursday's Huntley at Jacobs contest suddenly became a scoring slugfest.
Konrad Wasilewski's hat trick enabled host Jacobs to come out on top of a 3-2 contest where both teams were starving for a victory and momentum toward the postseason. It also made him the obvious choice for Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match accolade.
The triumph boosted the Golden Eagles to 4-11-1 overall and evened their Valley Division record at 1-1 within the Fox Valley Conference. Huntley's ledgers dipped to 2-8-4 and 0-1.
Coming into the match, Jacobs had been outscored 30-14, and six of 11 losses were shutouts. The visiting Red Raiders were outscored 19-10 and had absorbed five shutout defeats. Neither side was able to score in the opening 40 minutes, but there were impressive chances.
Huntley's Manuel Menjivar caromed an early shot off the left post, while Andrew Craig had a stellar long ball require a tip save by Red Raider first-half goalie Andrew Fulcer.
The deadlock was broken 2:59 into the second half when Zack Whitaker's cross resulted in Jacobs keeper Eduardo Guimaray giving up a rebound that Allan Barrientos promptly put into the net.
“The goalie didn't catch it cleanly; the ball was right there, and I instinctively hit it,” Barrientos said of his second goal of the year.
Jacobs countered less than three minutes later as Noah Melick worked his way upfield and fed Colin Walsh for a shot from right in front that second-half Raider goalie Michael Parks blocked, only to have Wasilewski follow up on the rebound.
Five minutes later, Wasilewski had enough space to crank a 21-yard blast from the left wing that sailed inside the far right post for a Jacobs lead with 29:14 left to be played.
“The first one was a deflection, and I saw the keeper out of place and put it on net,” Wasilewski recalled. “The second one, I just let it rip and watched as it dipped just right.”
Huntley fought back and got the equalizer off a textbook cross. Irwin Bhathal's ball found Max Walsh in place for a seven-yard header with 20:14 remainiing.
“We worked on those all day yesterday,” Walsh said. “Irwin had a great service right over their defender, and I was able to time my jump to aim it down and to the right where their goalie couldn't get it.”
“Our second goal was a really good cross and showed what we're capable of,” Huntley coach Kris Grabner said. “We worked on finishing throughout practice, but we're either not making the right runs to get in the best position or we stop short. They've got to understand you must make the run 10 out of 10 times because the one time you don't, that'll be the score that gets away.”
Jacobs almost got away with another left side strike, but Parks made a diving stop that was followed by consecutive corner kick chances for Jacobs. While those didn't work, the Golden Eagles got the combination right with 13:04 left.
Noah Voss registered his initial assist, finding Wasilewski in the middle. The junior cut back to his left and scored from 11 yards out. A consistent scorer as a sophomore, Wasilewski's recent success is due to his new shoes, teammates tell him.
“My lucky (blue) shoes gave out last season, and maybe I wasn't mentally confident earlier this year. But I finally went back to the old brand and color,” Wasilewski explained. “All I know right now is that it feels great for us to come out with a victory and to put three into the back of the net.”
Jacobs coach A.J. Cappello was convinced persistence and hard work had more to do with his scoring.
“Konrad had a slow start to the season, but to his credit he worked through it,” Cappello said. “All three of those were hustle goals. He got himself in the right spot on the first one, cracked a great shot from the wing and outworked a defender to slot the last one.”
With Jacobs scheduled to serve as a regional host, Cappello hopes the Eagles can still make noise in the conference. He was quick to identify two additional players who can make a difference.
“Daniel (Kim) has been our most consistent and stable player. He leads by example and keeps the game clean for us,” Cappello said. “Since we brought Gab Sworthout up, he's been improving with each outing and doesn't play like a freshman.”
Huntley was the first of four home opponents for the Golden Eagles in their last six regular season matches.
The Red Raiders played their 13th road contest and can now look forward to a three-match home stand plus a packed October schedule.
Starting lineups
Huntley
G Andrew Fulcer
D Alex Ligeza
D Irwin Bhathal
D Kyle Carberry
D Manuel Menjivar
M Alesandro Vergara
M Gaetano Dipasquale
M Angel Sanchez
F Michael Zembrzuski
F Allan Barrientos
F Zack Whitaker
Jacobs
G Eduardo Guimaray
D Andrew Craig
D Jacob Moser
D Eric Merdinger
D Ean Wilson
M Dan Kim
M Noah Melick
M Chris Rigby
M Nick Voss
F Colin Walsh
F Konrad Wasilewski
Man of the Match: Konrad Wasilewski, Jacobs
Officials: Trevor Fulk, Kevin Brophy, Bob Hansen