Bahnfleth brace paces CLS past CLC
Gators notch 4-2 Senior Night victory over district rivals
By Matt Misiek
CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake South junior Sam Bahnfleth made no mistake about how he felt about delivering for his senior teammates on their special night.
“Amazing,” he said. “I am glad I was able to help get us an early lead. I was fortunate enough to get us in a great position early for these guys, our seniors. It is their last regular season game at home.”
Bahnfleth took advantage with two strikes within the first 16 minutes of the match and set the pace for the host Gators to notch their third-consecutive Fox Valley Conference victory, a 4-2 triumph over Crystal Lake Central.
Even those it was dubbed as Senior Night at Ken Bruhn Field, Bahnfleth’s goals came with plenty of daylight remaining. At the 13-minute mark, the midfielder/forward drove a shot from 30 yards away on the right hash of the football field to the bottom left corner past the diving Crystal Lake Central keeper Joey Moore.
It didn’t take long for Bahnfleth, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, to notch his second. Less than three minutes later. He latched onto a delectable through-ball from fellow junior Michal Dejworek inside the right 18 and blasted it past Moore who had no chance.
Bahnfleth countered Dejworek’s through-ball with one of his own in the second half. Just behind midfield, he found streaking freshman midfielder Nolan Getzinger deep in the attacking third. Getzinger coolly finished by slotting home in the bottom right corner.
“What I love about Sam is that his trajectory has been upward, “ said Crystal Lake South head coach Brian Allen. “In the Burlington (Central) game on March 26, he knew he left a goal or two out there. He came over confidently saying, ‘Coach, I’ll get the next one. Don’t worry, I’ll learn from it.’ That’s what we want them to do -- get better every game.”
“That first goal gave him (Sam) a lot of confidence. When he plays that way, he adds another level to our attack. We were really happy for him, and the team rode that, carried us for a little bit and everyone else hunkered down when we needed to finish it out.”
Crystal Lake South (5-2-1, 4-2-1 in Fox Valley Conference) notched their fourth goal in the 70th minute. Off a corner kick from the left from Dejworek, sophomore defender Josh Washington notched his second goal in as many games, courtesy of a super flick from senior midlielder Brandon Osterberg.
“I was a little bit tired, not going to lie,” Washington said about coming up for that corner. “I knew I had to put something on for my team. I saw Brandon (Osterberg) flick the ball toward me and said that I need to do it for him. I was able to score not only for him on Senior Night, but for the rest of my senior teammates.”
Is he a budding forward in the making for the Gators? Washington played it cool when pressed about maybe a position switch in the future.
“I’ll consider it, but I think the backline is where I am going to stay.” Washington laughed.
Crystal Lake Central (0-6-1 overall and in the Fox Valley conference) was created a buzzer-beater scenario at the end of the first half, much like Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs’ epic shot in the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four lover UCLA on April 3.
With time running down in the first half, the Crystal Lake Central defense was able to clear, but not fully out of their defending half. Eventually the ball fell to midfielder Owen Dayon on the right side, who alertly spotted forward Elijah Burleson inside the six. Burleson’s head met the ball and the ball hit the back of the net at the exact time the buzzer sounded for the end of the half.
Nothin’ but net.
The only reason it took a little time to confirm this time was to just ensure that Burleson was not offside. That was confirmed quickly, and the goal stood.
Burleson broke down his actions during that sequence.
“I looked up at the clock and saw there was about 30 seconds left,” Burleson said. “I knew we had some momentum. As soon as I saw Owen going down the line, I found space along the back post. I knew as soon as the ball left his foot that it was going in the back of the net.”
The Tigers’ second goal came courtesy of Burleson teaming up with Karson Hollander. Burleson sprung Hollander with a great through-ball in the middle, and Hollander made no mistake pushing it past Crystal Lake South goalie Dominic Timberlake from the top of the 18.
“We were able to build a lot of space out of the middle with both of our center backs,” Hollander noted. “That’s what we talked about at halftime as a group with coach, having me run through the middle. Elijah (Burleson) was able to get the ball out wide and find me into space.”
Crystal Lake Central coach Jay Schwarzrock was proud of his team’s spirit, which carried over from their 2-2 draw April 1 against Burlington Central.
“The first 37 and a half minutes was nothing to write home to mom about,” he said. “However, we got a little momentum after that first goal. In the second half we had a choice to either roll over and die, and we decided to fight. I am proud of my team for providing that effort.”
Moore kept his teammates in the game by standing tall, in goal. He recorded a game-high 10 saves, including a sequence of two saves back to back in the second half. The second save came after a Gator bicycle kick that he was able to tap over the soccer crossbar and off the goalpost crossbar.
“Honestly, I get into it,” Moore said. “I zone in on what is going on. I check everything around me, I want to know where every player is on the field. Once I get that locked in, I get in my own little world.”
Coach Allen celebrated his seniors with his typical, standout shout-outs.
“I love that group,” Allen explained. “When they come through here, they end up leaving it in a better place then when they arrived. The seniors the past few years have done that, and this group is no different.”
“This is unlike any other season we have had and may ever have, and they bought in. They are keeping the culture going. What was really cool today is that some of them were not even at their best, and they still hunkered down and pushed the team to get better and to grow.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake Central
GK Joey Moore
D Aiden Andrews
D Matt Pinnion
D Anthony Virruso
D James Durcan
MF Evin Perez
MF Owen Dayon
MF Jorge Garcia
MF Danny Cubelic
F Karson Hollander
F Elijah Burleson
Crystal Lake South
GK Dominic Timberlake
D Jio Lopez
D Adam Rainey
D Josh Washington
D Pawel Dejworek
MF William Garcia
MF Brandon Osterberg
MF Tyler Getzinger
MF Nolan Getzinger
MF Deven Tinajero
F Sam Bahnfleth
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Sam Bahnfleth, jr., F, Crystal Lake South
Referees:
Center – Mike Schmickle
AR1 – Bob Hanson
AR2 – Tim Jackson (1st minute until John Flynn arrived from another game)
AR2 – John Flynn (2nd minute through rest of game)
Scoring summary
First half
CLS – Bahnfleth (unassisted) – 13:02
CLS – Bahnfleth (M. Dejworek) – 15:58
CLC – Burleson (Dayon) – 39:59
Second half
CLS – N. Getzinger (Bahnfleth) – 56:35
CLC – Hollander (Burleson) -60:39
CLS – Washington (Osterberg) - 69:51
Gators notch 4-2 Senior Night victory over district rivals
By Matt Misiek
CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake South junior Sam Bahnfleth made no mistake about how he felt about delivering for his senior teammates on their special night.
“Amazing,” he said. “I am glad I was able to help get us an early lead. I was fortunate enough to get us in a great position early for these guys, our seniors. It is their last regular season game at home.”
Bahnfleth took advantage with two strikes within the first 16 minutes of the match and set the pace for the host Gators to notch their third-consecutive Fox Valley Conference victory, a 4-2 triumph over Crystal Lake Central.
Even those it was dubbed as Senior Night at Ken Bruhn Field, Bahnfleth’s goals came with plenty of daylight remaining. At the 13-minute mark, the midfielder/forward drove a shot from 30 yards away on the right hash of the football field to the bottom left corner past the diving Crystal Lake Central keeper Joey Moore.
It didn’t take long for Bahnfleth, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, to notch his second. Less than three minutes later. He latched onto a delectable through-ball from fellow junior Michal Dejworek inside the right 18 and blasted it past Moore who had no chance.
Bahnfleth countered Dejworek’s through-ball with one of his own in the second half. Just behind midfield, he found streaking freshman midfielder Nolan Getzinger deep in the attacking third. Getzinger coolly finished by slotting home in the bottom right corner.
“What I love about Sam is that his trajectory has been upward, “ said Crystal Lake South head coach Brian Allen. “In the Burlington (Central) game on March 26, he knew he left a goal or two out there. He came over confidently saying, ‘Coach, I’ll get the next one. Don’t worry, I’ll learn from it.’ That’s what we want them to do -- get better every game.”
“That first goal gave him (Sam) a lot of confidence. When he plays that way, he adds another level to our attack. We were really happy for him, and the team rode that, carried us for a little bit and everyone else hunkered down when we needed to finish it out.”
Crystal Lake South (5-2-1, 4-2-1 in Fox Valley Conference) notched their fourth goal in the 70th minute. Off a corner kick from the left from Dejworek, sophomore defender Josh Washington notched his second goal in as many games, courtesy of a super flick from senior midlielder Brandon Osterberg.
“I was a little bit tired, not going to lie,” Washington said about coming up for that corner. “I knew I had to put something on for my team. I saw Brandon (Osterberg) flick the ball toward me and said that I need to do it for him. I was able to score not only for him on Senior Night, but for the rest of my senior teammates.”
Is he a budding forward in the making for the Gators? Washington played it cool when pressed about maybe a position switch in the future.
“I’ll consider it, but I think the backline is where I am going to stay.” Washington laughed.
Crystal Lake Central (0-6-1 overall and in the Fox Valley conference) was created a buzzer-beater scenario at the end of the first half, much like Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs’ epic shot in the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four lover UCLA on April 3.
With time running down in the first half, the Crystal Lake Central defense was able to clear, but not fully out of their defending half. Eventually the ball fell to midfielder Owen Dayon on the right side, who alertly spotted forward Elijah Burleson inside the six. Burleson’s head met the ball and the ball hit the back of the net at the exact time the buzzer sounded for the end of the half.
Nothin’ but net.
The only reason it took a little time to confirm this time was to just ensure that Burleson was not offside. That was confirmed quickly, and the goal stood.
Burleson broke down his actions during that sequence.
“I looked up at the clock and saw there was about 30 seconds left,” Burleson said. “I knew we had some momentum. As soon as I saw Owen going down the line, I found space along the back post. I knew as soon as the ball left his foot that it was going in the back of the net.”
The Tigers’ second goal came courtesy of Burleson teaming up with Karson Hollander. Burleson sprung Hollander with a great through-ball in the middle, and Hollander made no mistake pushing it past Crystal Lake South goalie Dominic Timberlake from the top of the 18.
“We were able to build a lot of space out of the middle with both of our center backs,” Hollander noted. “That’s what we talked about at halftime as a group with coach, having me run through the middle. Elijah (Burleson) was able to get the ball out wide and find me into space.”
Crystal Lake Central coach Jay Schwarzrock was proud of his team’s spirit, which carried over from their 2-2 draw April 1 against Burlington Central.
“The first 37 and a half minutes was nothing to write home to mom about,” he said. “However, we got a little momentum after that first goal. In the second half we had a choice to either roll over and die, and we decided to fight. I am proud of my team for providing that effort.”
Moore kept his teammates in the game by standing tall, in goal. He recorded a game-high 10 saves, including a sequence of two saves back to back in the second half. The second save came after a Gator bicycle kick that he was able to tap over the soccer crossbar and off the goalpost crossbar.
“Honestly, I get into it,” Moore said. “I zone in on what is going on. I check everything around me, I want to know where every player is on the field. Once I get that locked in, I get in my own little world.”
Coach Allen celebrated his seniors with his typical, standout shout-outs.
“I love that group,” Allen explained. “When they come through here, they end up leaving it in a better place then when they arrived. The seniors the past few years have done that, and this group is no different.”
“This is unlike any other season we have had and may ever have, and they bought in. They are keeping the culture going. What was really cool today is that some of them were not even at their best, and they still hunkered down and pushed the team to get better and to grow.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake Central
GK Joey Moore
D Aiden Andrews
D Matt Pinnion
D Anthony Virruso
D James Durcan
MF Evin Perez
MF Owen Dayon
MF Jorge Garcia
MF Danny Cubelic
F Karson Hollander
F Elijah Burleson
Crystal Lake South
GK Dominic Timberlake
D Jio Lopez
D Adam Rainey
D Josh Washington
D Pawel Dejworek
MF William Garcia
MF Brandon Osterberg
MF Tyler Getzinger
MF Nolan Getzinger
MF Deven Tinajero
F Sam Bahnfleth
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match – Sam Bahnfleth, jr., F, Crystal Lake South
Referees:
Center – Mike Schmickle
AR1 – Bob Hanson
AR2 – Tim Jackson (1st minute until John Flynn arrived from another game)
AR2 – John Flynn (2nd minute through rest of game)
Scoring summary
First half
CLS – Bahnfleth (unassisted) – 13:02
CLS – Bahnfleth (M. Dejworek) – 15:58
CLC – Burleson (Dayon) – 39:59
Second half
CLS – N. Getzinger (Bahnfleth) – 56:35
CLC – Hollander (Burleson) -60:39
CLS – Washington (Osterberg) - 69:51