Plainfield North restarts stall Metea Valley
Tigers shut out Mustangs 2-0
By Chris Walker
AURORA -- Metea Valley came out strong during Monday’s nonconference game against Plainfield North in Aurora.
Not even three minutes into the action, Mustangs’ junior forward Michael Adams got past Plainfield North’s last line of defense, as well as goalkeeper Cade Fink, but watched as his shot made the right post its bull’s eye and innocently clanked out of harm’s away.
This is exactly how things have been going for Metea Valley these days as they failed to convert that opportunity and went on to drop a 2-0 decision to the Tigers.
“We played a really good brand of soccer for 25 minutes,” Mustangs coach Josh Robinson said. “I’m really happy with how we’re playing, but because we’re not putting the ball in the net, it’s allowing other teams to build confidence.”
Metea Valley (6-5-1) appears to be in dire need of big play or two, and it doesn’t have to be pretty. At this point, they’ll take anything favorable to its cause. The Mustangs have only won once in their past six games.
“The opportunities are there but we just aren’t putting them away right now,” Robinson said. “They have to build some confidence in themselves and dig themselves out. We need a scrap goal or to get something dirty by sliding in or whatever you can do. We need to getting something that’s going to break us up a little bit and we haven’t been able to do that.”
Plainfield North (12-1-0) took a 1-0 lead with 13:06 remaining before halftime. Zach Branagan got the play started with a free kick, but it took some time for the play to develop as the ball was batted around before Mitch Rathbun pounced on it and deposited it accurately into the back of the net.
“I saw the ball hit in and bounce around for awhile and then the keeper ran out,” Rathbun said. “He kind of fell back a bit and then I kind of was losing my balance. I was lucky to get my foot on it and luckily it went in.”
Good luck is something the Mustangs haven’t experienced in quite some time.
“I really like how we played with the exception of how we finished,” Robinson said. “We’re doing some good things. We’re getting in more dangerous spots but unfortunately at the end of the day the score line isn’t where we need it to be.”
The Tigers extended their lead with 30:13 remaining in the second half. Sophomore Ethan Barangan was able to redirect a 30-yard free kick from James Thompson via a header to make it 2-0.
“Usually this is my spot to put balls in from there so it worked out pretty well,” Thompson said. “I saw them run far post, and then I saw Ethan and just picked him out. He made the perfect run and put his head right on it. It was beautiful. Perfectly executed by him.”
Ethan Barangan was named the “Man of the Match,” for not only delivering the insurance goal, but also helping the back line shutout the Mustangs.
“Give credit to the rest of the defense because they all work their tails off,” Barangan said. “It’s all of us working as a unit back there to stop them, and I think that’s the best part about it – working as a team for the same goal.”
Dominic Duffy arguably had the best chances of breaking the shutout, but the Metea Valley sophomore saw both of his late chances batted away by Fink with 16:10 left and then again with only 8:23 remaining.
Perhaps the best news for the Mustangs is that they can put this loss behind them right away and turn their focus to Plainfield South, who they play on Tuesday.
“You hate to make claims of being snake bitten, but it’s just really unfortunate right now,” Robinson said. “Eventually our guys have to put the ball in the net and it comes down to concentration and technically, we’ve got to get better. Plainfield South is going to be a real tough opponent and then we have a week between games.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
G Cade Fink
D Ethan Barangan
D Travis Foust
D Alex Lynch
M Zachary Barangan
M Jake Farley
M Jordan Schure
M James Thompson
F Nicholas Anweiler
F Austin Collier
F Austin Hansen
Metea Valley
G Joey Coryell
D Ryan Donovan
D Dominic Duffy
D Brandon Howard
D Jonathan Ramos
M Esteban Castillo
M Brian Diebold
M Max Graf
M Michael Lothridge
M Dakota Rowsey
F Michael Adams
Man of the Match: Ethan Barangan, Metea Valley
Officials: Mike Lichtfuss, Kevin Ortega, Jim Visco
Tigers shut out Mustangs 2-0
By Chris Walker
AURORA -- Metea Valley came out strong during Monday’s nonconference game against Plainfield North in Aurora.
Not even three minutes into the action, Mustangs’ junior forward Michael Adams got past Plainfield North’s last line of defense, as well as goalkeeper Cade Fink, but watched as his shot made the right post its bull’s eye and innocently clanked out of harm’s away.
This is exactly how things have been going for Metea Valley these days as they failed to convert that opportunity and went on to drop a 2-0 decision to the Tigers.
“We played a really good brand of soccer for 25 minutes,” Mustangs coach Josh Robinson said. “I’m really happy with how we’re playing, but because we’re not putting the ball in the net, it’s allowing other teams to build confidence.”
Metea Valley (6-5-1) appears to be in dire need of big play or two, and it doesn’t have to be pretty. At this point, they’ll take anything favorable to its cause. The Mustangs have only won once in their past six games.
“The opportunities are there but we just aren’t putting them away right now,” Robinson said. “They have to build some confidence in themselves and dig themselves out. We need a scrap goal or to get something dirty by sliding in or whatever you can do. We need to getting something that’s going to break us up a little bit and we haven’t been able to do that.”
Plainfield North (12-1-0) took a 1-0 lead with 13:06 remaining before halftime. Zach Branagan got the play started with a free kick, but it took some time for the play to develop as the ball was batted around before Mitch Rathbun pounced on it and deposited it accurately into the back of the net.
“I saw the ball hit in and bounce around for awhile and then the keeper ran out,” Rathbun said. “He kind of fell back a bit and then I kind of was losing my balance. I was lucky to get my foot on it and luckily it went in.”
Good luck is something the Mustangs haven’t experienced in quite some time.
“I really like how we played with the exception of how we finished,” Robinson said. “We’re doing some good things. We’re getting in more dangerous spots but unfortunately at the end of the day the score line isn’t where we need it to be.”
The Tigers extended their lead with 30:13 remaining in the second half. Sophomore Ethan Barangan was able to redirect a 30-yard free kick from James Thompson via a header to make it 2-0.
“Usually this is my spot to put balls in from there so it worked out pretty well,” Thompson said. “I saw them run far post, and then I saw Ethan and just picked him out. He made the perfect run and put his head right on it. It was beautiful. Perfectly executed by him.”
Ethan Barangan was named the “Man of the Match,” for not only delivering the insurance goal, but also helping the back line shutout the Mustangs.
“Give credit to the rest of the defense because they all work their tails off,” Barangan said. “It’s all of us working as a unit back there to stop them, and I think that’s the best part about it – working as a team for the same goal.”
Dominic Duffy arguably had the best chances of breaking the shutout, but the Metea Valley sophomore saw both of his late chances batted away by Fink with 16:10 left and then again with only 8:23 remaining.
Perhaps the best news for the Mustangs is that they can put this loss behind them right away and turn their focus to Plainfield South, who they play on Tuesday.
“You hate to make claims of being snake bitten, but it’s just really unfortunate right now,” Robinson said. “Eventually our guys have to put the ball in the net and it comes down to concentration and technically, we’ve got to get better. Plainfield South is going to be a real tough opponent and then we have a week between games.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
G Cade Fink
D Ethan Barangan
D Travis Foust
D Alex Lynch
M Zachary Barangan
M Jake Farley
M Jordan Schure
M James Thompson
F Nicholas Anweiler
F Austin Collier
F Austin Hansen
Metea Valley
G Joey Coryell
D Ryan Donovan
D Dominic Duffy
D Brandon Howard
D Jonathan Ramos
M Esteban Castillo
M Brian Diebold
M Max Graf
M Michael Lothridge
M Dakota Rowsey
F Michael Adams
Man of the Match: Ethan Barangan, Metea Valley
Officials: Mike Lichtfuss, Kevin Ortega, Jim Visco