A welcome win for Prospect
Rejuvenated Knights upset Crystal Lake South
By Dave Surico
CRYSTAL LAKE -- Prospect held a welcome-back party on a cold and slick Saturday, and that was bad news for host Crystal Lake South.
Adding key defensive components Ian Lenke and Danny Marshall, the Knights held on for a 2-1 victory to end a 12-game winless streak.
The pair both played limited minutes in their return to action Thursday after missing almost the entire season.
But after Prospect took the lead with goals in the 48th and 61st minutes, they, along with defensive mates Miguel Cruz and Grant Whitebloom, had to dig in as Crystal Lake South came back hard for the equalizer. The Knights' Jordan Parrott and Celso Soto also tracked back to make significant plays for Prospect.
The backline supplemented the work of goalkeeper Nick Jozefowski, who had an outstanding game against a Crystal Lake South squad that held the attack for a majority of the game.
Lenke stood out with his high work rate, leadership and ability to shut down the Gators attack on his right side.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Lenke said of the win. "I'm really very proud of my team with the performance today. We all worked hard. The one thing we can say about this season is we don't have the wins, but we have put the effort in every game. Today, we made less mistakes on the ball and everything clicked for us."
Lenke was lost to the team when a pulled muscle led to a fractured hip after the opening half of the season.
"When I first found out what I was going to have to go through to get back, I wasn't thinking about 'Aw, I'm going to miss my whole season.' I was thinking about how many games am I going to be able to play," said Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. "What am I going to do to help my team play better even when I''m not on the field? I came to every practice trying to keep everyone motivated, and I'm just extremely happy I get to be with my team for the last few games of the season."
Crystal Lake South had the better attack in the first half. After hitting the crossbar (Stefan Harris in the ninth minute), the side netting (Orlando Tapia, 10th minute) and right post (Tapia, 36th minute), the Gators finally broke the ice.
When Prospect failed to clear the ball out of its defensive zone, Ben Nyman got the ball at his feet from 19 yards out on the right side.
"I found a wide open area. I could have passed to someone else, but I took the shot," said the senior, whose try tucked in the upper 90 in the far corner of the net. "It was nice to have that goal go in to have the lead at the half, but it's disappointing that we didn't finish it out and get another one."
The visiting Knights (2-13-1) took the wind and the momentum in the second half. They came out with their best offensive soccer of the day and broke through in the 48th minute. From the left side, forward Maciej Lojewski found fellow striker Alex Whiteman, who headed in the equalizer in the 48th minute.
Prospect kept up the pressure and took the lead in the 61st minute. The play started when midfielder Sam Karlow switched the ball to the left side. Lojewski made a run and again targeted Whiteman, this time with a cross on the ground. The ball went just behind the senior before a scramble ensued, and senior midfielder Jake Cavaiani got his chance to be the difference-maker in the match against defenseless Gator keeper Dalton Kause.
"Maciej did some good work down the line, crossed it in," the senior midfielder said. "I got lucky the ball just deflected towards me. He (Whiteman) got his foot stuck and when he tried to turn, it ricocheted of his foot."
Cavaiani said his thoughts before his first was of the season were "don't mess up. Just put it in; no one's there. You've just got to put the chances away. We haven't done that a lot this season so we've got to take advantage of our opportunities. I tried to get it up in the air, because I saw a couple guys sliding in."
He did inside the right post, and the 15th goal of the Knights season turned out to be the game winner.
Lojewski changed his approach for his second assist.
"The conditions were slippery. When I gave the ball I tried to keep it low and hard on the ground, so we could get the chance," the junior said. "This is a real booster for all of us guys. We haven't had a lot of success as a whole team, but we're working on it. We've got a lot of guys back, which is important, and we've just got to keep on doing what were doing. I see a lot of success in our future."
The final hero of the Knights' win, their fourth in a row against Crystal Lake South, was keeper Jozefowski.
After Crystal Lake South fell behind, they roared back in search of the equalizer. The Gators applied extreme pressure in the last 10 minutes.
Harris had a free run at the right post, but Jozefowski slid out to kick the ball away in the 72nd minute. In the 75th minute, the junior leaped to take the ball off the head of Harris after a 40-yard Keenan Grissom restart. The junior saved his best for last when he cut down the angle and made an in-close block of a Tapia shot in the 79th minute.
The win was a balm for a team that has had its season compromised by injuries. Prospect coach Jason Cohen said he only had 12 players from his original 21-man roster available for a 3-2 loss loss to Fremd on Tuesday. That number increased to 14 in a 2-0 loss to Schaumburg Thursday and 16 Saturday.
Crystal Lake South saw its fortunes in the game sag when leading scorer Andrew Grabowski went down on a foul from behind in the first half. He didn't return and logged less than two minutes of game time.
Gators coach Brian Allen offered no excuses.
"Typical Crystal Lake South-Prospect: bad weather; not-the-best field conditions; and they came to play hard," he said. "I thought it was a good soccer match, and we ran into a hot goalkeeper. Jason talked about them getting a couple players back. And when you get a couple players back, they want to prove something. We knew they were they were going to come out and give us a fight.
"You have to credit Prospect, when they had their opportunities they scored on us. A couple posts, and a couple great saves by their keeper and that's the ball game."
The result illustrated a problem that has plagued the Gators (12-5-1), who had a five-game winning streak broken.
"It's the second half issues that we've been trying to sort out," Allen said. "We give up another second half goal in the first 10 minutes, and we're going to have to figure that out or we're going to get knocked out early in the postseason. That's a challenge to the seniors that they'll need to step up."
Crystal Lake South's focus will now return to its conference. The Gators can wrap up an undefeated record and its first Fox Valley Conference Valley Division title since 2010 with a win over visiting Huntley on Thursday.
Prospect only has two more chances to get its first Mid-Suburban League win of the season. Its best shot is Tuesday at Elk Grove (4-8-2, 1-8-0).
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK: Nick Jozefowski
D: Miguel Cruz
D: Ian Lenke
D: Grant Whitebloom
MF: Sam Karlov
MF: Ross Lacamera
MF: Jordan Parrot
MF: Celso Soto
MF: Dominick Taldone
F: Maciej Lojewski
F: Alex Whiteman
Crystal Lake South
GK: Dalton Kause
D: Jeff Kirshenbaum
D: Jake Canfield
D: Kennan Grissom
D: Andrew Perrine
MF: Skyler Pentico
MF: Orlando Tapia
MF: Ben Nyman
MF: Charlie Ruff
MF: Nikolas Getzinger
F: Stefan Harris
Man of the Match: Ian Lenke, D, Prospect
Officials: Trevor Fulk (center); Mike Schmickley; Bob Karcz
Rejuvenated Knights upset Crystal Lake South
By Dave Surico
CRYSTAL LAKE -- Prospect held a welcome-back party on a cold and slick Saturday, and that was bad news for host Crystal Lake South.
Adding key defensive components Ian Lenke and Danny Marshall, the Knights held on for a 2-1 victory to end a 12-game winless streak.
The pair both played limited minutes in their return to action Thursday after missing almost the entire season.
But after Prospect took the lead with goals in the 48th and 61st minutes, they, along with defensive mates Miguel Cruz and Grant Whitebloom, had to dig in as Crystal Lake South came back hard for the equalizer. The Knights' Jordan Parrott and Celso Soto also tracked back to make significant plays for Prospect.
The backline supplemented the work of goalkeeper Nick Jozefowski, who had an outstanding game against a Crystal Lake South squad that held the attack for a majority of the game.
Lenke stood out with his high work rate, leadership and ability to shut down the Gators attack on his right side.
"It's an unbelievable feeling," Lenke said of the win. "I'm really very proud of my team with the performance today. We all worked hard. The one thing we can say about this season is we don't have the wins, but we have put the effort in every game. Today, we made less mistakes on the ball and everything clicked for us."
Lenke was lost to the team when a pulled muscle led to a fractured hip after the opening half of the season.
"When I first found out what I was going to have to go through to get back, I wasn't thinking about 'Aw, I'm going to miss my whole season.' I was thinking about how many games am I going to be able to play," said Chicagoland Soccer's Man of the Match. "What am I going to do to help my team play better even when I''m not on the field? I came to every practice trying to keep everyone motivated, and I'm just extremely happy I get to be with my team for the last few games of the season."
Crystal Lake South had the better attack in the first half. After hitting the crossbar (Stefan Harris in the ninth minute), the side netting (Orlando Tapia, 10th minute) and right post (Tapia, 36th minute), the Gators finally broke the ice.
When Prospect failed to clear the ball out of its defensive zone, Ben Nyman got the ball at his feet from 19 yards out on the right side.
"I found a wide open area. I could have passed to someone else, but I took the shot," said the senior, whose try tucked in the upper 90 in the far corner of the net. "It was nice to have that goal go in to have the lead at the half, but it's disappointing that we didn't finish it out and get another one."
The visiting Knights (2-13-1) took the wind and the momentum in the second half. They came out with their best offensive soccer of the day and broke through in the 48th minute. From the left side, forward Maciej Lojewski found fellow striker Alex Whiteman, who headed in the equalizer in the 48th minute.
Prospect kept up the pressure and took the lead in the 61st minute. The play started when midfielder Sam Karlow switched the ball to the left side. Lojewski made a run and again targeted Whiteman, this time with a cross on the ground. The ball went just behind the senior before a scramble ensued, and senior midfielder Jake Cavaiani got his chance to be the difference-maker in the match against defenseless Gator keeper Dalton Kause.
"Maciej did some good work down the line, crossed it in," the senior midfielder said. "I got lucky the ball just deflected towards me. He (Whiteman) got his foot stuck and when he tried to turn, it ricocheted of his foot."
Cavaiani said his thoughts before his first was of the season were "don't mess up. Just put it in; no one's there. You've just got to put the chances away. We haven't done that a lot this season so we've got to take advantage of our opportunities. I tried to get it up in the air, because I saw a couple guys sliding in."
He did inside the right post, and the 15th goal of the Knights season turned out to be the game winner.
Lojewski changed his approach for his second assist.
"The conditions were slippery. When I gave the ball I tried to keep it low and hard on the ground, so we could get the chance," the junior said. "This is a real booster for all of us guys. We haven't had a lot of success as a whole team, but we're working on it. We've got a lot of guys back, which is important, and we've just got to keep on doing what were doing. I see a lot of success in our future."
The final hero of the Knights' win, their fourth in a row against Crystal Lake South, was keeper Jozefowski.
After Crystal Lake South fell behind, they roared back in search of the equalizer. The Gators applied extreme pressure in the last 10 minutes.
Harris had a free run at the right post, but Jozefowski slid out to kick the ball away in the 72nd minute. In the 75th minute, the junior leaped to take the ball off the head of Harris after a 40-yard Keenan Grissom restart. The junior saved his best for last when he cut down the angle and made an in-close block of a Tapia shot in the 79th minute.
The win was a balm for a team that has had its season compromised by injuries. Prospect coach Jason Cohen said he only had 12 players from his original 21-man roster available for a 3-2 loss loss to Fremd on Tuesday. That number increased to 14 in a 2-0 loss to Schaumburg Thursday and 16 Saturday.
Crystal Lake South saw its fortunes in the game sag when leading scorer Andrew Grabowski went down on a foul from behind in the first half. He didn't return and logged less than two minutes of game time.
Gators coach Brian Allen offered no excuses.
"Typical Crystal Lake South-Prospect: bad weather; not-the-best field conditions; and they came to play hard," he said. "I thought it was a good soccer match, and we ran into a hot goalkeeper. Jason talked about them getting a couple players back. And when you get a couple players back, they want to prove something. We knew they were they were going to come out and give us a fight.
"You have to credit Prospect, when they had their opportunities they scored on us. A couple posts, and a couple great saves by their keeper and that's the ball game."
The result illustrated a problem that has plagued the Gators (12-5-1), who had a five-game winning streak broken.
"It's the second half issues that we've been trying to sort out," Allen said. "We give up another second half goal in the first 10 minutes, and we're going to have to figure that out or we're going to get knocked out early in the postseason. That's a challenge to the seniors that they'll need to step up."
Crystal Lake South's focus will now return to its conference. The Gators can wrap up an undefeated record and its first Fox Valley Conference Valley Division title since 2010 with a win over visiting Huntley on Thursday.
Prospect only has two more chances to get its first Mid-Suburban League win of the season. Its best shot is Tuesday at Elk Grove (4-8-2, 1-8-0).
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK: Nick Jozefowski
D: Miguel Cruz
D: Ian Lenke
D: Grant Whitebloom
MF: Sam Karlov
MF: Ross Lacamera
MF: Jordan Parrot
MF: Celso Soto
MF: Dominick Taldone
F: Maciej Lojewski
F: Alex Whiteman
Crystal Lake South
GK: Dalton Kause
D: Jeff Kirshenbaum
D: Jake Canfield
D: Kennan Grissom
D: Andrew Perrine
MF: Skyler Pentico
MF: Orlando Tapia
MF: Ben Nyman
MF: Charlie Ruff
MF: Nikolas Getzinger
F: Stefan Harris
Man of the Match: Ian Lenke, D, Prospect
Officials: Trevor Fulk (center); Mike Schmickley; Bob Karcz