Getzinger stings another FVC foe, South overwhelms Central in Crystal Lake battle
Junior scores 5th goal in 2 games, Gators post 4-0 cross-town win
By Bobby Narang
CRYSTAL LAKE — Crystal Lake South sophomore Nolan Getzinger is officially on a hot streak.
Just ask neighborhood rival Crystal Lake Central.
Crystal Lake South started a three-game homestand with a scoreless draw against Class 3A Taft on Saturday. Then Getzinger and the Gators offense reanimated in Fox Valley Conference play.
The junior recorded a hat trick in a 6-1 win against Burlington Central on Tuesday. His next test came on Thursday afternoon against the cross-town rival Tigers.
Getzinger came within a few calls of topping his three-goal effort, but settled for a brace to lead the Gators to a spirited 4-0 win at "The Swamp" -- Crystal Lake South's soccer complex.
The now 16-goal scorer was a thorn in the visitor's side all game long. He had two goals nullified due to offsides calls, including a highlight-reel header from near the post off a 25-yard pass. He came within a few feet of adding three more goals.
But Getzinger didn’t want to dwell on his missed goals, though he would’ve liked back-to-back three baggers after scoring his first high school hat-trick Tuesday.
“It’s frustrating seeing two of your goals taken away,” the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match said. “It could’ve been a four (-goal game) today. I was so happy to get two. I pushed through it, and got one back in the first half and a second one in the second half. I wasn’t too disappointed. … I’m happy with two.
“The team just really supports me and sets me up so many times with great balls. and I had to just finish them."
Before a large crowd on a sunny afternoon, the Gators gained several positives from the shutout victory.
By beating the Tigers (8-6-2, 2-2-1), the Gators (8-3-2, 4-1-0) stayed within striking distance of Dundee-Crown (9-6-3, 6-0-0) and Huntley (10-4-2, 5-0-0) in the league title chase. The win was the third over Crystal Lake Central in the past two seasons and extended the team’s home unbeaten streak to five matches.
“We stressed getting better than we were Tuesday,” Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen said. “We couldn’t ask for any more. It was a very complete effort. We sustained as close to 80 minutes as possible.
“We’ve been harping on starting quicker, and today we started well. That set the tempo ... against a really quality Crystal Lake Central side. I thought we brought the energy, were efficient when we needed to be and were smart defensively. It was a super-complete effort, so super proud of them."
Ali Ahmed opened the scoring with a goal in the 12th minute and helped wipe away any team anger left from Getzinger losing a goal in the seventh minute because of an offsides call.
Reserve midfielder Steven Smith ended the glorious game for the Tigers with a goal in the 77th minute on the second of Nick Prus’ assists.
Allen said Getzinger’s nonstop energy is infectious.
Getzinger, a tall and active player, relied on his speed to outrun several defenders for shots, breaking ahead via a burst of his nonstop vigor to cause havoc for the Tigers’ backline.
"Nolan’s energy is the key. When he brings the energy and he has this determination about him, he can be a special player,” Allen said. “That consistency and kind of demanding it out of himself, he knows the team needs that from him.
“What he has realized is the team is feeding off that. So, they know if they’re not matching that effort than they’re letting him down and the team down. It was really good to see.
“A slump for him is still good quality, but he was in a bit of a rut. It seems he’s broken out of it the last couple of days, and hopefully he can continue to get better down the homestretch."
Crystal Lake Central coach Jay Schwarzrock said Getzinger put extreme pressure on his backline and reserve goalie Joseph Gumecindo.
Starter Anthony Bellino suffered a broken leg in the sixth game of the season that spoiled a strong 5-0-1 Tigers start. Gumecindo moved from forward to the net.
“The thing about slowing a kid like (Getzinger) is you have to have somebody who wants to slow him down or wants to be brave enough or aggressive enough to do it,” Schwarzrock said.
“We just haven’t had a lot of aggression lately, especially in our last two games. We have kind of sat back and been timid and reactive instead of being proactive. We’re not a big team to begin with and can’t play smaller than we are.
“It’s frustrating, especially cause one of the ways to take away the ball from them is to keep the ball. We couldn’t maintain possession in the first half. We were either looking for the two-foot pass or the 90-foot pass.
“It was all out of whack for us. We were so nervous about them. We have to play our own game. That allowed them to have more possession and for (Getzinger) to have his opportunities and to put them away. It was not a good day.”
A five-goal effort in a two-game stretch by Getzinger has given the Gators a spark in the heart of the Fox Valley season.
Getzinger had a game to remember in many ways. His two goals were impressive, along with two taken away and countless near-misses, and he also picked up a yellow card early in the second half. He also took several hard tumbles to the grass.
His second goal came on a penalty kick with 31:59 left in the game. He drilled a shot to his right to raise the Gators’ lead to 3-0. Getzinger had one final chance for a hat-trick, beating two defenders for a shot from 13 yards with an empty net staring him down. He missed just wide with 16:30 left, causing someone from the stands to yell out "Keep shooting, Nolan."
Crystal Lake South goalie Logan Vargas earned the clean-sheet with four saves in his first full 80 minutes of action since the Gators’ double-overtime defeat to Dundee-Crown on Sept. 22.
Vargas said he had a good view of Getzinger in action.
“We just give him the ball. He gets to his spots, and he knows where to place the ball,” Vargas said. “He’s a great player.”
Allen said he elected not to insert backup goalie Chris Slawek in the second half — like he did against Taft and Burlington Central — because Vargas was on a roll. Vargas had three stops in the first half, including catching a popped-up shot despite a Crystal Lake Central player bumping into him late in the first half.
“Logan played well,” Allen said. “You ride the hot hand from the first half. Chris was ready to go, but what I love about all three (goalies including junior Nolan Schofield) is that all three of them are each other’s biggest fans.
“Chris was pushing for Logan to get the zero today. He knew he was hot in the first half. He took a couple crosses away and was in the flow of it, so that he needed to finish it.
“Chris will be ready when we need him, probably (Friday) against Buffalo Grove. It’s a different environment, a back-to-back which we like. Homecoming for them. It’s another opportunity to play a Mid-Suburban League team with a different style and give guys a lot of minutes. But this game was the important one.
“I’m glad the guys stayed focused on the task at hand. We’ll use Friday to get better and fine-tune to get ready for another big week in the Fox Valley Conference.”
Vargas said he was happy with the shutout and to help the Gators notch another victory. He had a rather uneventful second half with one save.
“It was a great game today, we played really well,” Vargas said. “I loved the result. I always love playing full time and seeing everyone mesh well out there. It was the first time I played full since the Dundee-Crown game. That game was a learning experience for us.
“We had to realize some of our strengths and weaknesses. Some of those things we needed to work on, even from the goal-keeping aspect that I needed to work on.”
Before the game, Allen praised the play of junior midfielder Brendan Lewis and the backline. Lewis said he’s happy the Gators are on a positive streak as September ends.
“We have a nice streak …,” Lewis said. “We wanted to get the shutout, and we got a nice 4-0 win today. I like winning the balls and put it back in to give my team more chances.
“It’s fun because he (Getzinger) can cut in, and I win those balls and slip it through. We’re doing well in conference. We should have an extra win but we learned from the Dundee-Crown loss. We had an off game, and we were a little sleepy that game.
“We brought it to Burlington Central and to this game.”
Crystal Lake Central keeper Gumecindo displayed toughness by coming out of the box several times and playing aggressive. He had two big saves in a matter of seconds in the 12th minute, and managed to hold his own despite a heavy onslaught of shots in the first half.
Schwarzrock and his Tigers will continue to try to olve a puzzling season.
“Anthony was definitely on a hot streak at the start of the season and we were going to ride him as long as we could,” Schwarzrock said. “He had a good game the day he broke his leg against DeKalb (in a 1-0 win).
“His injury also took away one of my forwards, because (current keeper) Joseph was playing forward. He’s pretty good up there and little more proactive than my normal guys. It was a hit on both levels. It’s frustrating.
“I think this year is a Rubik’s Cube, where you are trying to get all the sides. You get three of the six, but you can’t get the rest. Little by little you start to get it, but you looked and one of the squares you had figured out is now a different color. Sometimes, it’s the middle or the corner.
“You have to scratch your head and figure out what to do next. We’ll turn it around. The kids are down, but we’re going to do the best we can.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake Central
GK: Joseph Gumecindo
D: Andrew Staski
D: James Durcan
D: Gideon Burleson
D: Danny Cubelic
MF: Daniel Vega
MF: Owen Kaiser
MF: Aiden Andrews
MF: Kenny Gonzalez
F: Vincente Romero
F: Mason McIntyre
Crystal Lake South
GK: Logan Vargas
D: Blake Marunde
D: Josh Washington
D: Pierce Johnson
D: Andrew Smart
MF: Kevin Cardoso
MF: Nico Velasco
MF: Brendan Lewis
MF: Nick Prus
F: Ali Ahmed
F: Nolan Getzinger
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Nolan Getzinger, jr., F, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
Crystal Lake South: Ahmed (Smart), 12’
Crystal Lake South: Getzinger (Prus), 36’
Second half
Crystal Lake South: Getzinger (penalty kick), 49’
Crystal Lake South: Smith (Prus), 7
Junior scores 5th goal in 2 games, Gators post 4-0 cross-town win
By Bobby Narang
CRYSTAL LAKE — Crystal Lake South sophomore Nolan Getzinger is officially on a hot streak.
Just ask neighborhood rival Crystal Lake Central.
Crystal Lake South started a three-game homestand with a scoreless draw against Class 3A Taft on Saturday. Then Getzinger and the Gators offense reanimated in Fox Valley Conference play.
The junior recorded a hat trick in a 6-1 win against Burlington Central on Tuesday. His next test came on Thursday afternoon against the cross-town rival Tigers.
Getzinger came within a few calls of topping his three-goal effort, but settled for a brace to lead the Gators to a spirited 4-0 win at "The Swamp" -- Crystal Lake South's soccer complex.
The now 16-goal scorer was a thorn in the visitor's side all game long. He had two goals nullified due to offsides calls, including a highlight-reel header from near the post off a 25-yard pass. He came within a few feet of adding three more goals.
But Getzinger didn’t want to dwell on his missed goals, though he would’ve liked back-to-back three baggers after scoring his first high school hat-trick Tuesday.
“It’s frustrating seeing two of your goals taken away,” the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match said. “It could’ve been a four (-goal game) today. I was so happy to get two. I pushed through it, and got one back in the first half and a second one in the second half. I wasn’t too disappointed. … I’m happy with two.
“The team just really supports me and sets me up so many times with great balls. and I had to just finish them."
Before a large crowd on a sunny afternoon, the Gators gained several positives from the shutout victory.
By beating the Tigers (8-6-2, 2-2-1), the Gators (8-3-2, 4-1-0) stayed within striking distance of Dundee-Crown (9-6-3, 6-0-0) and Huntley (10-4-2, 5-0-0) in the league title chase. The win was the third over Crystal Lake Central in the past two seasons and extended the team’s home unbeaten streak to five matches.
“We stressed getting better than we were Tuesday,” Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen said. “We couldn’t ask for any more. It was a very complete effort. We sustained as close to 80 minutes as possible.
“We’ve been harping on starting quicker, and today we started well. That set the tempo ... against a really quality Crystal Lake Central side. I thought we brought the energy, were efficient when we needed to be and were smart defensively. It was a super-complete effort, so super proud of them."
Ali Ahmed opened the scoring with a goal in the 12th minute and helped wipe away any team anger left from Getzinger losing a goal in the seventh minute because of an offsides call.
Reserve midfielder Steven Smith ended the glorious game for the Tigers with a goal in the 77th minute on the second of Nick Prus’ assists.
Allen said Getzinger’s nonstop energy is infectious.
Getzinger, a tall and active player, relied on his speed to outrun several defenders for shots, breaking ahead via a burst of his nonstop vigor to cause havoc for the Tigers’ backline.
"Nolan’s energy is the key. When he brings the energy and he has this determination about him, he can be a special player,” Allen said. “That consistency and kind of demanding it out of himself, he knows the team needs that from him.
“What he has realized is the team is feeding off that. So, they know if they’re not matching that effort than they’re letting him down and the team down. It was really good to see.
“A slump for him is still good quality, but he was in a bit of a rut. It seems he’s broken out of it the last couple of days, and hopefully he can continue to get better down the homestretch."
Crystal Lake Central coach Jay Schwarzrock said Getzinger put extreme pressure on his backline and reserve goalie Joseph Gumecindo.
Starter Anthony Bellino suffered a broken leg in the sixth game of the season that spoiled a strong 5-0-1 Tigers start. Gumecindo moved from forward to the net.
“The thing about slowing a kid like (Getzinger) is you have to have somebody who wants to slow him down or wants to be brave enough or aggressive enough to do it,” Schwarzrock said.
“We just haven’t had a lot of aggression lately, especially in our last two games. We have kind of sat back and been timid and reactive instead of being proactive. We’re not a big team to begin with and can’t play smaller than we are.
“It’s frustrating, especially cause one of the ways to take away the ball from them is to keep the ball. We couldn’t maintain possession in the first half. We were either looking for the two-foot pass or the 90-foot pass.
“It was all out of whack for us. We were so nervous about them. We have to play our own game. That allowed them to have more possession and for (Getzinger) to have his opportunities and to put them away. It was not a good day.”
A five-goal effort in a two-game stretch by Getzinger has given the Gators a spark in the heart of the Fox Valley season.
Getzinger had a game to remember in many ways. His two goals were impressive, along with two taken away and countless near-misses, and he also picked up a yellow card early in the second half. He also took several hard tumbles to the grass.
His second goal came on a penalty kick with 31:59 left in the game. He drilled a shot to his right to raise the Gators’ lead to 3-0. Getzinger had one final chance for a hat-trick, beating two defenders for a shot from 13 yards with an empty net staring him down. He missed just wide with 16:30 left, causing someone from the stands to yell out "Keep shooting, Nolan."
Crystal Lake South goalie Logan Vargas earned the clean-sheet with four saves in his first full 80 minutes of action since the Gators’ double-overtime defeat to Dundee-Crown on Sept. 22.
Vargas said he had a good view of Getzinger in action.
“We just give him the ball. He gets to his spots, and he knows where to place the ball,” Vargas said. “He’s a great player.”
Allen said he elected not to insert backup goalie Chris Slawek in the second half — like he did against Taft and Burlington Central — because Vargas was on a roll. Vargas had three stops in the first half, including catching a popped-up shot despite a Crystal Lake Central player bumping into him late in the first half.
“Logan played well,” Allen said. “You ride the hot hand from the first half. Chris was ready to go, but what I love about all three (goalies including junior Nolan Schofield) is that all three of them are each other’s biggest fans.
“Chris was pushing for Logan to get the zero today. He knew he was hot in the first half. He took a couple crosses away and was in the flow of it, so that he needed to finish it.
“Chris will be ready when we need him, probably (Friday) against Buffalo Grove. It’s a different environment, a back-to-back which we like. Homecoming for them. It’s another opportunity to play a Mid-Suburban League team with a different style and give guys a lot of minutes. But this game was the important one.
“I’m glad the guys stayed focused on the task at hand. We’ll use Friday to get better and fine-tune to get ready for another big week in the Fox Valley Conference.”
Vargas said he was happy with the shutout and to help the Gators notch another victory. He had a rather uneventful second half with one save.
“It was a great game today, we played really well,” Vargas said. “I loved the result. I always love playing full time and seeing everyone mesh well out there. It was the first time I played full since the Dundee-Crown game. That game was a learning experience for us.
“We had to realize some of our strengths and weaknesses. Some of those things we needed to work on, even from the goal-keeping aspect that I needed to work on.”
Before the game, Allen praised the play of junior midfielder Brendan Lewis and the backline. Lewis said he’s happy the Gators are on a positive streak as September ends.
“We have a nice streak …,” Lewis said. “We wanted to get the shutout, and we got a nice 4-0 win today. I like winning the balls and put it back in to give my team more chances.
“It’s fun because he (Getzinger) can cut in, and I win those balls and slip it through. We’re doing well in conference. We should have an extra win but we learned from the Dundee-Crown loss. We had an off game, and we were a little sleepy that game.
“We brought it to Burlington Central and to this game.”
Crystal Lake Central keeper Gumecindo displayed toughness by coming out of the box several times and playing aggressive. He had two big saves in a matter of seconds in the 12th minute, and managed to hold his own despite a heavy onslaught of shots in the first half.
Schwarzrock and his Tigers will continue to try to olve a puzzling season.
“Anthony was definitely on a hot streak at the start of the season and we were going to ride him as long as we could,” Schwarzrock said. “He had a good game the day he broke his leg against DeKalb (in a 1-0 win).
“His injury also took away one of my forwards, because (current keeper) Joseph was playing forward. He’s pretty good up there and little more proactive than my normal guys. It was a hit on both levels. It’s frustrating.
“I think this year is a Rubik’s Cube, where you are trying to get all the sides. You get three of the six, but you can’t get the rest. Little by little you start to get it, but you looked and one of the squares you had figured out is now a different color. Sometimes, it’s the middle or the corner.
“You have to scratch your head and figure out what to do next. We’ll turn it around. The kids are down, but we’re going to do the best we can.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake Central
GK: Joseph Gumecindo
D: Andrew Staski
D: James Durcan
D: Gideon Burleson
D: Danny Cubelic
MF: Daniel Vega
MF: Owen Kaiser
MF: Aiden Andrews
MF: Kenny Gonzalez
F: Vincente Romero
F: Mason McIntyre
Crystal Lake South
GK: Logan Vargas
D: Blake Marunde
D: Josh Washington
D: Pierce Johnson
D: Andrew Smart
MF: Kevin Cardoso
MF: Nico Velasco
MF: Brendan Lewis
MF: Nick Prus
F: Ali Ahmed
F: Nolan Getzinger
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Nolan Getzinger, jr., F, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
Crystal Lake South: Ahmed (Smart), 12’
Crystal Lake South: Getzinger (Prus), 36’
Second half
Crystal Lake South: Getzinger (penalty kick), 49’
Crystal Lake South: Smith (Prus), 7