Crystal Lake South falls on disputed play
Own-goal call ends tremendous Fox Valley Conference finale
By Matt Misiek
CARY -- Tuesday afternoon’s weather conditions would challenge any soccer player anywhere in the world. The driving rain made players and spectators colder, and the gusty winds knocked down any ball that went high into the air.
Despite these conditions, 80 minutes was not enough to separate Crystal Lake South and Cary-Grove in their thrilling regular season and Fox Valley Conference finale. The teams went to a 10-minute, golden goal overtime session.
With the score tied 1-1 three minutes into the overtime, Cary-Grove co-captain Oscar Sillis suffered a leg injury. Sillis remained down and play was stopped for more than 10 minutes to attend to the Trojans defender.
When play resumed, Cary-Grove worked the ball into their attacking third and registered a drive on goal which earned a corner. Off of the corner, a scramble ensued for the ball around the goal line. The ball ended up outside of the goal.
However, before play re-started, the officials talked briefly and determined that the ball did cross the goal line after it deflected off of Gators goalkeeper Brandon Gorka. Cary-Grove (4-8-1, 3-5-0 FVC) was awarded the golden goal and the 2-1 victory.
“It was a lot of fun at the end,” said Cary-Grove forward Sam Carhart. “Everyone was playing at their hardest, and that is when soccer is at its best. When we saw the signal that the ball went in, we were all excited and celebrated.”
While the game-decider produced joy on the Trojans sideline, the Gators saw themselves on the short-end of this intense ending. Several Gator players were in disbelief about what happened, and coach Brian Allen spent several minutes getting the details from the referees on the final play.
“In the scramble, the assistant referee saw the ball cross the line on the ground,” recounted Allen of what he was told.
Gorka said he kept the ball out of the goal.
Crystal Lake South (10-10-2, 3-5-0) started the game on the attack and earned a second-minute scoring chance. Midfielder Oscar Campos dribbled wide left and sent a cross toward forward Nik Getzinger. Getzinger was able to fly in for a diving header but Cary-Grove keeper Sergio Lemus got his hands up to the drive and punched it away.
Campos and Getzinger teamed up again 15 minutes later. Campos received the ball at the top of the 18 with his back to goal. He turned to his right and headed down the left to send a low cross. Getzinger, who was recently crowned Crystal Lake South’s 2017 Homecoming King, redirected the ball inside the near post to the left of Lemus.
The Gators joy quickly turned 180 degrees 36 seconds later when Campos’ afternoon on the pitch ended. The senior heard a pop in his knee while battling for the ball and went straight to the turf. He required assistance to leave the field.
The home team equalized in the 24th minute. Midfielder Riley Conroy triggered a corner in from the left that was deflected to the feet of Carhart inside the 6. The senior forward was able to tap it home with his left foot past Gorka.
“I knew the wind was blowing pretty hard,” said Conroy. “I decided to whip it in, and we were able to get a body on it. Sam (Carhart) was able to get it in.”
A big reason why the score remained even beyond eighty minutes was the play of Lemus. The Trojans' goalkeeper, and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, punched out a Gators cross and grabbed a low shot from midfielder Jack Wruck in succession in the 27th and 28th minutes. These moments followed an earlier highlight stop for Lemus, as he robbed Getzinger of a second goal with a dive to his left as the ball was headed for the bottom right corner.
“I’m really happy that we did not give up,” said Cary-Grove head coach Mark Olson. “Both teams played extremely well and hard. Our guys were able to get ahead with the one opportunity, and we made the most of it.”
Coach Allen agreed that this was a quality match.
“We played some solid soccer for long stretches and put Cary under a lot of pressure,” he said. “However, we couldn’t find a way to get the go-ahead goal and conceded two set-piece goals which is unacceptable this late in the season. Cary punished us for our mental naps and mistakes, and we weren’t able to capitalize on theirs so credit goes to them.”
Allen also shared some thoughts on standouts for the regular season.
“Nik (Getzinger) has been steady. I think he still has another level to his game that he can tap into, and it will be exciting for us in the postseason if he can find that final drive and urgency to take some games over when he sees those moments.”
“Junior Nick Langdon has helped steady the backline and is like having a second coach out there. He reads the game so well and organizes the backline seamlessly.”
Cary-Grove, seeded 13th in the Streamwood Sectional, will face Fox Valley rival and fourth-seeded Jacobs next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in a Huntley Regional semifinal. Jacobs has had a quality season, including a recent win over Prairie Ridge, who is ranked 11th in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Crystal Lake South, seeded eighth in the Streamwood Sectional, will head west to Rockford to play ninth-seeded DeKalb next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Auburn Regional. The Gators had an early season matchup with the Barbs.
“Yes, we drew at DeKalb 2-2 earlier in the year,” Allen noted. “It should be another terrific game. Every game has been close since our regional matchup two years ago. They are well coached, very disciplined and organized, senior-laden, and having a great season.
“We look forward to the challenge and opportunity to play such a quality opponent in our first round matchup. We played some of our best soccer when we weren’t at full strength against some of the best FVC has to offer, so if we regain that energy and swagger, we could be dangerous in the postseason.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake South
GK: Brandon Gorka
D: Andrew Edge
D: Ricky Cristante
D: Evan Carlson
D: Ryan Osterberg
MF: Oscar Campos
MF: Jack Wruck
MF: Nick Langdon
F: Brad Grabowski
F: Nikolas Getzinger
F: Alex Canfield
Cary-Grove
GK: Sergio Lemus
D: Kolin Fadden
D: Richard Demert
D: Kyle Ives
D: Oscar Silis
MF: Chase Osimowicz
MF: Riley Conroy
MF: Oscar Leon
MF: Drew Szydlo
F: Sam Carhart
F: Theodore Price
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sergio Lemus, GK, Cary-Grove
Officials: Neil Kregel, (center)
Peggy Crutchfield, Rick Blaisdell
Scoring summary
First half
CLS: Getzinger (Campos) 17th
C-G: Carhart (unassisted) 24th
Overtime
CLS: own goal 84th
Own-goal call ends tremendous Fox Valley Conference finale
By Matt Misiek
CARY -- Tuesday afternoon’s weather conditions would challenge any soccer player anywhere in the world. The driving rain made players and spectators colder, and the gusty winds knocked down any ball that went high into the air.
Despite these conditions, 80 minutes was not enough to separate Crystal Lake South and Cary-Grove in their thrilling regular season and Fox Valley Conference finale. The teams went to a 10-minute, golden goal overtime session.
With the score tied 1-1 three minutes into the overtime, Cary-Grove co-captain Oscar Sillis suffered a leg injury. Sillis remained down and play was stopped for more than 10 minutes to attend to the Trojans defender.
When play resumed, Cary-Grove worked the ball into their attacking third and registered a drive on goal which earned a corner. Off of the corner, a scramble ensued for the ball around the goal line. The ball ended up outside of the goal.
However, before play re-started, the officials talked briefly and determined that the ball did cross the goal line after it deflected off of Gators goalkeeper Brandon Gorka. Cary-Grove (4-8-1, 3-5-0 FVC) was awarded the golden goal and the 2-1 victory.
“It was a lot of fun at the end,” said Cary-Grove forward Sam Carhart. “Everyone was playing at their hardest, and that is when soccer is at its best. When we saw the signal that the ball went in, we were all excited and celebrated.”
While the game-decider produced joy on the Trojans sideline, the Gators saw themselves on the short-end of this intense ending. Several Gator players were in disbelief about what happened, and coach Brian Allen spent several minutes getting the details from the referees on the final play.
“In the scramble, the assistant referee saw the ball cross the line on the ground,” recounted Allen of what he was told.
Gorka said he kept the ball out of the goal.
Crystal Lake South (10-10-2, 3-5-0) started the game on the attack and earned a second-minute scoring chance. Midfielder Oscar Campos dribbled wide left and sent a cross toward forward Nik Getzinger. Getzinger was able to fly in for a diving header but Cary-Grove keeper Sergio Lemus got his hands up to the drive and punched it away.
Campos and Getzinger teamed up again 15 minutes later. Campos received the ball at the top of the 18 with his back to goal. He turned to his right and headed down the left to send a low cross. Getzinger, who was recently crowned Crystal Lake South’s 2017 Homecoming King, redirected the ball inside the near post to the left of Lemus.
The Gators joy quickly turned 180 degrees 36 seconds later when Campos’ afternoon on the pitch ended. The senior heard a pop in his knee while battling for the ball and went straight to the turf. He required assistance to leave the field.
The home team equalized in the 24th minute. Midfielder Riley Conroy triggered a corner in from the left that was deflected to the feet of Carhart inside the 6. The senior forward was able to tap it home with his left foot past Gorka.
“I knew the wind was blowing pretty hard,” said Conroy. “I decided to whip it in, and we were able to get a body on it. Sam (Carhart) was able to get it in.”
A big reason why the score remained even beyond eighty minutes was the play of Lemus. The Trojans' goalkeeper, and Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, punched out a Gators cross and grabbed a low shot from midfielder Jack Wruck in succession in the 27th and 28th minutes. These moments followed an earlier highlight stop for Lemus, as he robbed Getzinger of a second goal with a dive to his left as the ball was headed for the bottom right corner.
“I’m really happy that we did not give up,” said Cary-Grove head coach Mark Olson. “Both teams played extremely well and hard. Our guys were able to get ahead with the one opportunity, and we made the most of it.”
Coach Allen agreed that this was a quality match.
“We played some solid soccer for long stretches and put Cary under a lot of pressure,” he said. “However, we couldn’t find a way to get the go-ahead goal and conceded two set-piece goals which is unacceptable this late in the season. Cary punished us for our mental naps and mistakes, and we weren’t able to capitalize on theirs so credit goes to them.”
Allen also shared some thoughts on standouts for the regular season.
“Nik (Getzinger) has been steady. I think he still has another level to his game that he can tap into, and it will be exciting for us in the postseason if he can find that final drive and urgency to take some games over when he sees those moments.”
“Junior Nick Langdon has helped steady the backline and is like having a second coach out there. He reads the game so well and organizes the backline seamlessly.”
Cary-Grove, seeded 13th in the Streamwood Sectional, will face Fox Valley rival and fourth-seeded Jacobs next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in a Huntley Regional semifinal. Jacobs has had a quality season, including a recent win over Prairie Ridge, who is ranked 11th in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Crystal Lake South, seeded eighth in the Streamwood Sectional, will head west to Rockford to play ninth-seeded DeKalb next Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Auburn Regional. The Gators had an early season matchup with the Barbs.
“Yes, we drew at DeKalb 2-2 earlier in the year,” Allen noted. “It should be another terrific game. Every game has been close since our regional matchup two years ago. They are well coached, very disciplined and organized, senior-laden, and having a great season.
“We look forward to the challenge and opportunity to play such a quality opponent in our first round matchup. We played some of our best soccer when we weren’t at full strength against some of the best FVC has to offer, so if we regain that energy and swagger, we could be dangerous in the postseason.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake South
GK: Brandon Gorka
D: Andrew Edge
D: Ricky Cristante
D: Evan Carlson
D: Ryan Osterberg
MF: Oscar Campos
MF: Jack Wruck
MF: Nick Langdon
F: Brad Grabowski
F: Nikolas Getzinger
F: Alex Canfield
Cary-Grove
GK: Sergio Lemus
D: Kolin Fadden
D: Richard Demert
D: Kyle Ives
D: Oscar Silis
MF: Chase Osimowicz
MF: Riley Conroy
MF: Oscar Leon
MF: Drew Szydlo
F: Sam Carhart
F: Theodore Price
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sergio Lemus, GK, Cary-Grove
Officials: Neil Kregel, (center)
Peggy Crutchfield, Rick Blaisdell
Scoring summary
First half
CLS: Getzinger (Campos) 17th
C-G: Carhart (unassisted) 24th
Overtime
CLS: own goal 84th