Crystal Lake South swamps
Burlington Central
Gators respond to deficit with big offensive output
By Jared Birchfield
CRYSTAL LAKE -- A deluge of goals Tuesday flushed bad recollections from Crystal Lake South’s memory banks Tuesday.
Led by Nolan Getzinger’s hat-trick, the Gators overwhelmed Burlington Central 6-1 in Fox Valley Conference action. Ali Ahmed earned a brace, and Steven Smith scored his first goal of the season in the contest.
Crystal Lake South was still smarting from its only league loss, a 2-1 overtime defeat to Dundee-Crown on Sept. 22.
“We talked about trying to erase some of the memories from last week that were unpleasant in a lot of ways,” said Gators coach Brian Allen. “Getting the scoreboard going was a big plus, and we’ll see if we can carry the momentum into this Thursday.”
That’s when Crystal Lake South squares off with cross-town rival Crystal Lake Central.
“We need to get ready for (Crystal Lake) Central, because we know it’s going to be a battle,” Allen said.
Burlington Central scored first. Jack Petsche dribbled through Crystal Lake South defenders and fired from 20 yards for the lead at the 24:59 mark of the first half.
It took some time for Crystal Lake to formulate an answer.
“Obviously not the start we wanted. We were put down 1-0 early but the team kept working and fought through. We got three before the half even ended so it’s a great response,” Getzinger said. “That boosted our confidence. Once we got one, we were just nonstop just kind of putting them away.”
Smith agreed.
“It took us way longer than it should have for our energy and our confidence to pick up,” he said. “But once we brought it up, we started putting balls away.”
Allen said his team needs to get the offense moving sooner
“That’s one of the things we’re going to have to sort through a little bit. You’ve got to give credit to Burlington Central,” said the Gators coach. “They came out with a purpose, and it took us a little bit of time to adjust.”
But the Crystal Lake South coach was impressed with his squad’s ability to bounce back.
“We took a micro nap early. We can’t continue to do this; it’s going to put us in trouble,” Allen said. “But the other side of that is the resolve and the resiliency -- to get some goals back early in the in the first half to get a commanding lead and then to finish them off the second half.”
Getzinger’s first goal tied the game in the 29th minute. While in front of Burlington Central’s goal, the senior corralled a feed from Nick Prus and put his shot past Rockets goalkeeper Andrew Capps, who dove in vain to stop the try.
Capps was struck in the head by a Crystal Lake defender on the play, and Charles Wyzukovic replaced him between the pipes.
With 9:18 left in the half, the Gators took the lead on Smith’s strike. From the left side of the net, Getzinger crossed the ball to the opposite side to the junior. Smith knocked it into the left corner and gave the Gators the lead for good.
Crystal Lake South increased its lead to 3-1 in the 35th minute, when Getzinger headed home a cross from Nico Velasco.
Getzinger earned his hat-trick with more help from Prus in the opening minutes of the second half.
Getzinger leads the Gators with 14 goals. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his three-goal, one assist performance.
“It’s my first high school hat-trick,” the senior said of his effort. “My second goal was pretty nice. Nick played a great ball to me, and I put it in the top corner.”
Allen feels Getzinger has responded well to taking on additional responsibilities,
“I challenged Nolan a little bit in terms of can he step up and perform at a higher level. Moving him up-top with some of his speed and dynamic play up there opens the game up for Steve (Smith) and some of our other wingers to do things,” Allen said. “To their credit they stepped up. That’s what we need, different people stepping up. It just can’t be Ali (Ahmed), and it just can’t be Nolan. That was good to see that today.”
Ahmed finished Crystal Lake South’s scoring. His first goal came with 10:58 left in the match. Wyzukovic came out to the right corner of the goal box to try to clear the ball, but Ahmed beat him to it and buried it into the back of the net.
The sophomore’s eighth goal of the season came on a penalty kick in the 70th minute.
Crystal Lake South had the run of play throughout the game. Burlington Central (4-7-1, 0-5-0) only put three shots on goal.
“They were knocking on the door all game, and we were defending a lot,” said first-year Rockets coach Adam Schmitt. “Unfortunately, when you give a team 19 shots on goal, they’re probably going to find the back of the net a couple of those times. That’s generally what happened.”
Crystal Lake South had many things to celebrate with the win. One was the midfield play.
“Hayden Stone has come a really long way the last couple of games,” said Allen. “He’s a young sophomore, who we’re rotating in to keep our legs fresh. Brandon Lewis, a three-year starter, really anchors things, and Nick (Prus) in front of those two sets the tone.”
The Gators coach is rewarding backup goalkeeper Chris Slawek with more playing time.
“Chris has been working really hard in training, so we wanted to make sure that he’s staying in form. Logan (Vargas) has been solid for us and he will continue to be,” said Allen “But with Chris working really hard, he’s … earned some time, and we want to continue to give him some minutes. We’re continuing to see how that works, because it also makes Logan a little bit better, and it keeps him sharp.”
Allen is just taking the conference race one match at time.
The Gators currently sit in fourth place with a 3-1-0 league record, They are 7-3-2 overall.
“We’re just focusing on who’s next at hand. We have (Crystal Lake) Central coming up here, which is a rivalry game. They’re having a solid year. It’s always a fun battle,” said the Gators coach. “We’ll let the chips fall as they may in conference. I think there’s a lot of parity this year. We’re not into scoreboard watching. We’re just going to have to look at ourselves and make sure that that Thursday is better than today.”
Burlington Central defender Griffin Kollhoff also plays for the Rockets’ football team as a punter and a kicker.
“My dad kept pushing it on me. One day we went out to a field I just kept working at it, and I ended up on the football team,” the senior said. “I know a lot of guys that try to do what I do, and they can’t so I’m very fortunate to be able to do both.”
Starting lineups
Burlington Central
GK: Andrew Capps
D: Noah Rosborough
D: Griffin Kollhoff
D: Diego Cruz
D: Owen Carlson
M: Kaleb Boer
M: Jake Petsche
M: Charles Ames
F: Miguel Nava
F: Haden Raders
F: Daniel Nava
Crystal Lake South
GK: Logan Vargas
D: Andrew Smart
D: Blake Marunde
D: Pierce Johnson
D: Josh Washington
M: Nick Prus
M: Kevin Cardoso
M: Garrett Hess
M: Brendan Lewis
F: Ali Ahmed
F: Nolan Getzinger
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Nolan Getzinger, jr., F, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
BC: Jake Petsche (unassisted), 16’
CLS: Nolan Getzinger, (Nicholas Prus) 29’
CLS: Steve Smith, (Nolan Getzinger) 31’
CLS: Nolan Getzinger, (Nico Velasco) 35”
Second half
CLS: Nolan Getzinger (Nicholas Prus), 43’
CLS: Ali Ahmed (unassisted), 70’
CLS: Ali Ahmed (PK), 71’
Burlington Central
Gators respond to deficit with big offensive output
By Jared Birchfield
CRYSTAL LAKE -- A deluge of goals Tuesday flushed bad recollections from Crystal Lake South’s memory banks Tuesday.
Led by Nolan Getzinger’s hat-trick, the Gators overwhelmed Burlington Central 6-1 in Fox Valley Conference action. Ali Ahmed earned a brace, and Steven Smith scored his first goal of the season in the contest.
Crystal Lake South was still smarting from its only league loss, a 2-1 overtime defeat to Dundee-Crown on Sept. 22.
“We talked about trying to erase some of the memories from last week that were unpleasant in a lot of ways,” said Gators coach Brian Allen. “Getting the scoreboard going was a big plus, and we’ll see if we can carry the momentum into this Thursday.”
That’s when Crystal Lake South squares off with cross-town rival Crystal Lake Central.
“We need to get ready for (Crystal Lake) Central, because we know it’s going to be a battle,” Allen said.
Burlington Central scored first. Jack Petsche dribbled through Crystal Lake South defenders and fired from 20 yards for the lead at the 24:59 mark of the first half.
It took some time for Crystal Lake to formulate an answer.
“Obviously not the start we wanted. We were put down 1-0 early but the team kept working and fought through. We got three before the half even ended so it’s a great response,” Getzinger said. “That boosted our confidence. Once we got one, we were just nonstop just kind of putting them away.”
Smith agreed.
“It took us way longer than it should have for our energy and our confidence to pick up,” he said. “But once we brought it up, we started putting balls away.”
Allen said his team needs to get the offense moving sooner
“That’s one of the things we’re going to have to sort through a little bit. You’ve got to give credit to Burlington Central,” said the Gators coach. “They came out with a purpose, and it took us a little bit of time to adjust.”
But the Crystal Lake South coach was impressed with his squad’s ability to bounce back.
“We took a micro nap early. We can’t continue to do this; it’s going to put us in trouble,” Allen said. “But the other side of that is the resolve and the resiliency -- to get some goals back early in the in the first half to get a commanding lead and then to finish them off the second half.”
Getzinger’s first goal tied the game in the 29th minute. While in front of Burlington Central’s goal, the senior corralled a feed from Nick Prus and put his shot past Rockets goalkeeper Andrew Capps, who dove in vain to stop the try.
Capps was struck in the head by a Crystal Lake defender on the play, and Charles Wyzukovic replaced him between the pipes.
With 9:18 left in the half, the Gators took the lead on Smith’s strike. From the left side of the net, Getzinger crossed the ball to the opposite side to the junior. Smith knocked it into the left corner and gave the Gators the lead for good.
Crystal Lake South increased its lead to 3-1 in the 35th minute, when Getzinger headed home a cross from Nico Velasco.
Getzinger earned his hat-trick with more help from Prus in the opening minutes of the second half.
Getzinger leads the Gators with 14 goals. He earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his three-goal, one assist performance.
“It’s my first high school hat-trick,” the senior said of his effort. “My second goal was pretty nice. Nick played a great ball to me, and I put it in the top corner.”
Allen feels Getzinger has responded well to taking on additional responsibilities,
“I challenged Nolan a little bit in terms of can he step up and perform at a higher level. Moving him up-top with some of his speed and dynamic play up there opens the game up for Steve (Smith) and some of our other wingers to do things,” Allen said. “To their credit they stepped up. That’s what we need, different people stepping up. It just can’t be Ali (Ahmed), and it just can’t be Nolan. That was good to see that today.”
Ahmed finished Crystal Lake South’s scoring. His first goal came with 10:58 left in the match. Wyzukovic came out to the right corner of the goal box to try to clear the ball, but Ahmed beat him to it and buried it into the back of the net.
The sophomore’s eighth goal of the season came on a penalty kick in the 70th minute.
Crystal Lake South had the run of play throughout the game. Burlington Central (4-7-1, 0-5-0) only put three shots on goal.
“They were knocking on the door all game, and we were defending a lot,” said first-year Rockets coach Adam Schmitt. “Unfortunately, when you give a team 19 shots on goal, they’re probably going to find the back of the net a couple of those times. That’s generally what happened.”
Crystal Lake South had many things to celebrate with the win. One was the midfield play.
“Hayden Stone has come a really long way the last couple of games,” said Allen. “He’s a young sophomore, who we’re rotating in to keep our legs fresh. Brandon Lewis, a three-year starter, really anchors things, and Nick (Prus) in front of those two sets the tone.”
The Gators coach is rewarding backup goalkeeper Chris Slawek with more playing time.
“Chris has been working really hard in training, so we wanted to make sure that he’s staying in form. Logan (Vargas) has been solid for us and he will continue to be,” said Allen “But with Chris working really hard, he’s … earned some time, and we want to continue to give him some minutes. We’re continuing to see how that works, because it also makes Logan a little bit better, and it keeps him sharp.”
Allen is just taking the conference race one match at time.
The Gators currently sit in fourth place with a 3-1-0 league record, They are 7-3-2 overall.
“We’re just focusing on who’s next at hand. We have (Crystal Lake) Central coming up here, which is a rivalry game. They’re having a solid year. It’s always a fun battle,” said the Gators coach. “We’ll let the chips fall as they may in conference. I think there’s a lot of parity this year. We’re not into scoreboard watching. We’re just going to have to look at ourselves and make sure that that Thursday is better than today.”
Burlington Central defender Griffin Kollhoff also plays for the Rockets’ football team as a punter and a kicker.
“My dad kept pushing it on me. One day we went out to a field I just kept working at it, and I ended up on the football team,” the senior said. “I know a lot of guys that try to do what I do, and they can’t so I’m very fortunate to be able to do both.”
Starting lineups
Burlington Central
GK: Andrew Capps
D: Noah Rosborough
D: Griffin Kollhoff
D: Diego Cruz
D: Owen Carlson
M: Kaleb Boer
M: Jake Petsche
M: Charles Ames
F: Miguel Nava
F: Haden Raders
F: Daniel Nava
Crystal Lake South
GK: Logan Vargas
D: Andrew Smart
D: Blake Marunde
D: Pierce Johnson
D: Josh Washington
M: Nick Prus
M: Kevin Cardoso
M: Garrett Hess
M: Brendan Lewis
F: Ali Ahmed
F: Nolan Getzinger
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Nolan Getzinger, jr., F, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
BC: Jake Petsche (unassisted), 16’
CLS: Nolan Getzinger, (Nicholas Prus) 29’
CLS: Steve Smith, (Nolan Getzinger) 31’
CLS: Nolan Getzinger, (Nico Velasco) 35”
Second half
CLS: Nolan Getzinger (Nicholas Prus), 43’
CLS: Ali Ahmed (unassisted), 70’
CLS: Ali Ahmed (PK), 71’