Estrada saves day, CLS reaches AA finals
2 PK saves by reserve keeper spark Gators win over Gibault
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Championship-caliber teams and their heroes can sometimes seemingly come out of nowhere.
Crystal Lake South and senior goalkeeper Oscar Estrada certainly fit that description.
Coming off a quiet 12-11-2 record last year, the Gators (21-2-3) will cap 2018 in the AA state title match Saturday against Peoria Notre Dame.
And the hero of their semifinal shootout win over 2017 finalist Gibault? A player who never saw the field until the penalty kick session.
For the second time in the Gators’ six-win postseason run, senior backup goalkeeper Oscar Estrada debuted in the game in the ultimate pressure PK pickle – and delivered huge saves to keep Crystal Lake South on its record-setting roll.
Friday, Estrada made a diving save at the left post on the fifth shooter for Gibault to keep his team alive down 4-3.
Then after teammate Andrew Edge’s PK conversion evened the PKs at four and forced the session to a sudden death. A score by Crystal Lake South’s Alex Canfield was followed by another sliding Estrada stop to seal a 5-4 session win and the Gators’ first trip to the state title match.
“I start getting locked in before the game even starts,” Estrada said, “because I know I may have to go in at any point. My time came, and I had to do it.
“It’s a pretty difficult job, not playing any minutes and then coming out strong and winning the game for the team to go to state (finals) for the first time. It’s amazing.”
Fellow senior goalkeeper Matt McCaleb had held Gibault to one goal over regulation time and two 10-minute overtimes.
But after Estrada had excelled in the PK session that decided the regional final win over Wauconda, Gators coach Brian Allen repeated that strategy. And struck gold again.
“We have two really solid keepers,” Allen said. “They split time early in the year. Then Matt got in goal, and I went with that.
“But I told Oscar, ‘Bide your time, you’re an important part of this team, and you never know when your name might be called.’ That Wauconda game happened, he rose to the occasion and kept going with training. And now to do it on this bigger stage is awesome. I’m so happy for him.”
Estrada had a 1.67 goals against average in six appearances entering Friday, to McCaleb’s 0.42 average in 19 games. But stopping penalty kicks has been Estrada’s specialty. It was a theme that continued.
“Oscar has an edge with certain things he does extremely well,” Allen said. “In that situation he thrives. And Matt played a phenomenal 100 minutes. He does his job in there, but when we go to those (PK) situations, it’s something Oscar does extremely well. He doesn’t get rattled, he comes up big.
“They speak highly of each other and make us a better team in training. It wasn’t a split-second decision. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again. We know it’s a routine that the guy can step into the role and be confident.”
Equally confident were the Crystal Lake South shooters.
After Ryan Coughlin, Nick Langdon and Jack Wruck converted PKs to keep the Gators within reach, Edge (who had earlier scored on a regulation play penalty kick 5:37 before halftime) calmly delivered the tying score.
“All the shooters out there were saying ‘Oscar’s going to get a save for us,’” Edge said. “‘He’s going to do it for us again.’ And he did.
“I did it (scored on a PK) against Wauconda as well, after Oscar made a save,” Edge added. “I just knew I had to put it away. I picked my side and hit it there.”
Canfield, who entered the game with 30 goals this season, was tripped on a run into the box to set up Edge’s regulation PK. He delivered the game-winning finish in the session.
Estrada’s ensuing save produced a game-winning celebration and this thought from the netminder:
“I did it again,” he said. “The rush – it’s hard to explain. The feeling is amazing.”
Two-plus hours before that exhilirating moment, Crystal Lake South started the game with the same firepower that produced a 5-0 win in the supersectional.
In the seventh minute, the first of many Canfield rushes ended with a save at the right post and clear by standout Gibault goalkeeper Connor Olson.
“He (Canfield) is one of the best forwards we’ve played all year, no doubt,” Olson said. “(Defenders Adam) Stearns and Dylan (Altadonna) did a nice job pushing him out wide and letting our outside backs handle him pretty well. He’s one of the fastest kids I’ve seen in awhile -- a really skilled kid. But I thought we did well containing him.”
In the 10th minute, Olson again came up big with the save on a Langdon header off a Crystal Lake South corner kick.
Gibault answered with three quality chances: McCaleb made a juggling stop of a Gavin Kohnz high send on goal 22 minutes in; a Cameron Kincheloe header wide right in the 28th minute; and a Karson Huels 20-yarder went just wide right in the 30th minute.
Having endured late first half threats by Crystal Lake South’ Colton Weidner (a steal and liner just wide in the 26th minute) and Ryan Coughlin (28-yarder on goal in the 31st minute), Gibault ran into trouble when Canfield made a 1-v.-1 dash into the box and was fouled.
The ensuing Edge PK (just his second goal of the year) made the halftime score 1-0, but a pretty Gibault finish with 31:22 left in regulation set the stage for a long battle.
After a Crystal Lake South foul, Stearns’ ensuing 35-yard free kick from the right side found Huels rushing into the box from the left. His well struck 10-yard header produced his 16th goal of 2018 and knotted the score at 1-1.
“We knew coming in that they (the Gators) were a very energetic team,” Huels said. “They play super direct.
“In the first half I thought we played to their advantage, the way they wanted to game to be. In the second half we made a point of emphasis to play the style we wanted it to be, and I thought that showed for a good amount of time.
“We dominated play for a while at the start of the second half and had some good opportunities,” Huels added. “We only got one goal, but I thought we played a lot better in the second half.”
After the nice finish, Edge and the Crystal Lake South defense was up to the task the rest of the way.
“We were just making sure that we always knew where they were,” Edge said. “Just communicating. And if we had to, pull one of the center mids back and have a winger mark the outside guy. Also work hard together and make sure they didn’t get in behind us.
“We knew if we did what we had to do, the result would come to us.”
Canfield and the Gators offense nearly struck with 25:45 left, but his rush on net was denied by a sliding Olson block and control at the left post.
McCaleb followed with his own nice denials. He stopped a Huels 22-yard shot with 24:55 to go, then leaped to deflect a Logan Doerr 27-yard free kick just wide of frame.
Regulation ended with a continued series of Crystal Lake South scoring bids – shots just wide by Canfield (15:10 to go) and Coughlin (9:55 left), then a last-second flurry that produced an Edge send deflected over the crossbar by Olson with 45 seconds remaining, and another Olson punch away of the ensuing corner kick.
“I think we were working really well together as a team,” Canfield said. “We really connected the ball super well, found little gaps and got into the box as much as we can.
“We just played the way we normally do. We didn’t let the other team or the crowd get in the way of anything. We just played our game.”
The first overtime began with two Gibault set pieces from distance in the first 3:50 (free kicks from 33 yards and beyond cleared by Coughlin and Wruck respectively), and ended with a Crystal Lake South flurry.
With just 7.5 seconds left in the first OT, a foul call against Gibault drew an emotional outburst and red card that left the Hawks one man down for the second OT session.
Yet Gibault produced a strong early chance. Off a 50-yard direct kick, a low Antonio Pepe 15-yard shot was saved by McCaleb with nine minutes left.
“It’s amazing watching him,” Estrada said of his fellow Gators keeper. “He’s a very good goalkeeper. I admire him so much. He did an amazing job today, like always.”
Crystal Lake South chances later in the second OT would be generated by Ricky Cristante (a 25-yarder saved by Olson) and Jacob Bimbi (a one-hop shot on goal from 25 yards with 10 seconds left).
Then came the PK session and a dream finish for Estrada and the Gators after conversions by Gibault’s first four shooters,
“I just have that next-man-up mentality,” Estrada said. “I always have to be there for my team, and one step ahead for my team.
“They might need me, they might not. I just stay locked in. I just have to support my team and be there for them.”
While Estrada and the Gators celebrated the win, Gibault’s third-straight trip to the state semifinals was their own source of pride.
“It felt amazing to be back here again,” Huels said. “It’s pretty impressive at the AA level with a school of 220 kids. But this year we came in with a different mindset. Last year we were just happy to be here because everyone had kind of doubted us all year. We managed to get here and won the semifinal game.
“This year we came back and were ready to do some damage. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but three-straight state trips – not everyone does that. It’s basically a Gibault thing.”
The Gators have created their own special thing – a AA state title match appearance that seemed improbable to most observers 12 months ago.
“We knew that this was a special group,” Allen said. “We just focused on little things we needed to do to get better. That’s been something we’ve harped on since Day 1.”
An 8-0-1 start to the season started the ball rolling.
“We saw big strides early on,” Allen said. “There were moments we knew there was a high ceiling for this team, but we can’t look that far or we’ll slip. We had to harp on growing and getting better.”
The Gators' best play is coming at the right time. Players like Estrada add an incredible twist to the greatest season in Crystal Lake South soccer history.
“It’s amazing,” Edge said. “He’s done it twice now (in PK sessions). He can come off the bench after sitting the whole game and cheering us on, and come into the shootout and make a big save. It’s unbelievable.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake South
GK Matt McCaleb
D Tommy McSweeney
D Andrew Edge
D Evan Carlson
D Nick Langdon
M Ryan Coughlin
M Tom Coughlin
M Ricky Cristante
M Jack Wruck
M Brad Grabowski
F Alex Canfield
Gibault
GK Connor Olson
D Alex Bira
D Gavin Kohnz
D Dylan Altadonna
D Adam Stearns
M Karson Huels
M Antonio Pepe
M Alex Merlenbach
M Johnny Adams
F Logan Doerr
F Cameron Kincheloe
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Oscar Estrada, sr. GK, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
CLS – Andrew Edge (PK), 35th minute
Second half
Gibault – Karson Huels (Adam Stearns assist), 49th minute
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
PKs
CLS (5): Ryan Coughlin, Nick Langdon, Jack Wruck, Andrew Edge, Alex Canfield
Gibault (4): Karson Huels, Logan Doerr, Adam Stearns, Alex Merlenbach
2 PK saves by reserve keeper spark Gators win over Gibault
By Dave Owen
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Championship-caliber teams and their heroes can sometimes seemingly come out of nowhere.
Crystal Lake South and senior goalkeeper Oscar Estrada certainly fit that description.
Coming off a quiet 12-11-2 record last year, the Gators (21-2-3) will cap 2018 in the AA state title match Saturday against Peoria Notre Dame.
And the hero of their semifinal shootout win over 2017 finalist Gibault? A player who never saw the field until the penalty kick session.
For the second time in the Gators’ six-win postseason run, senior backup goalkeeper Oscar Estrada debuted in the game in the ultimate pressure PK pickle – and delivered huge saves to keep Crystal Lake South on its record-setting roll.
Friday, Estrada made a diving save at the left post on the fifth shooter for Gibault to keep his team alive down 4-3.
Then after teammate Andrew Edge’s PK conversion evened the PKs at four and forced the session to a sudden death. A score by Crystal Lake South’s Alex Canfield was followed by another sliding Estrada stop to seal a 5-4 session win and the Gators’ first trip to the state title match.
“I start getting locked in before the game even starts,” Estrada said, “because I know I may have to go in at any point. My time came, and I had to do it.
“It’s a pretty difficult job, not playing any minutes and then coming out strong and winning the game for the team to go to state (finals) for the first time. It’s amazing.”
Fellow senior goalkeeper Matt McCaleb had held Gibault to one goal over regulation time and two 10-minute overtimes.
But after Estrada had excelled in the PK session that decided the regional final win over Wauconda, Gators coach Brian Allen repeated that strategy. And struck gold again.
“We have two really solid keepers,” Allen said. “They split time early in the year. Then Matt got in goal, and I went with that.
“But I told Oscar, ‘Bide your time, you’re an important part of this team, and you never know when your name might be called.’ That Wauconda game happened, he rose to the occasion and kept going with training. And now to do it on this bigger stage is awesome. I’m so happy for him.”
Estrada had a 1.67 goals against average in six appearances entering Friday, to McCaleb’s 0.42 average in 19 games. But stopping penalty kicks has been Estrada’s specialty. It was a theme that continued.
“Oscar has an edge with certain things he does extremely well,” Allen said. “In that situation he thrives. And Matt played a phenomenal 100 minutes. He does his job in there, but when we go to those (PK) situations, it’s something Oscar does extremely well. He doesn’t get rattled, he comes up big.
“They speak highly of each other and make us a better team in training. It wasn’t a split-second decision. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again. We know it’s a routine that the guy can step into the role and be confident.”
Equally confident were the Crystal Lake South shooters.
After Ryan Coughlin, Nick Langdon and Jack Wruck converted PKs to keep the Gators within reach, Edge (who had earlier scored on a regulation play penalty kick 5:37 before halftime) calmly delivered the tying score.
“All the shooters out there were saying ‘Oscar’s going to get a save for us,’” Edge said. “‘He’s going to do it for us again.’ And he did.
“I did it (scored on a PK) against Wauconda as well, after Oscar made a save,” Edge added. “I just knew I had to put it away. I picked my side and hit it there.”
Canfield, who entered the game with 30 goals this season, was tripped on a run into the box to set up Edge’s regulation PK. He delivered the game-winning finish in the session.
Estrada’s ensuing save produced a game-winning celebration and this thought from the netminder:
“I did it again,” he said. “The rush – it’s hard to explain. The feeling is amazing.”
Two-plus hours before that exhilirating moment, Crystal Lake South started the game with the same firepower that produced a 5-0 win in the supersectional.
In the seventh minute, the first of many Canfield rushes ended with a save at the right post and clear by standout Gibault goalkeeper Connor Olson.
“He (Canfield) is one of the best forwards we’ve played all year, no doubt,” Olson said. “(Defenders Adam) Stearns and Dylan (Altadonna) did a nice job pushing him out wide and letting our outside backs handle him pretty well. He’s one of the fastest kids I’ve seen in awhile -- a really skilled kid. But I thought we did well containing him.”
In the 10th minute, Olson again came up big with the save on a Langdon header off a Crystal Lake South corner kick.
Gibault answered with three quality chances: McCaleb made a juggling stop of a Gavin Kohnz high send on goal 22 minutes in; a Cameron Kincheloe header wide right in the 28th minute; and a Karson Huels 20-yarder went just wide right in the 30th minute.
Having endured late first half threats by Crystal Lake South’ Colton Weidner (a steal and liner just wide in the 26th minute) and Ryan Coughlin (28-yarder on goal in the 31st minute), Gibault ran into trouble when Canfield made a 1-v.-1 dash into the box and was fouled.
The ensuing Edge PK (just his second goal of the year) made the halftime score 1-0, but a pretty Gibault finish with 31:22 left in regulation set the stage for a long battle.
After a Crystal Lake South foul, Stearns’ ensuing 35-yard free kick from the right side found Huels rushing into the box from the left. His well struck 10-yard header produced his 16th goal of 2018 and knotted the score at 1-1.
“We knew coming in that they (the Gators) were a very energetic team,” Huels said. “They play super direct.
“In the first half I thought we played to their advantage, the way they wanted to game to be. In the second half we made a point of emphasis to play the style we wanted it to be, and I thought that showed for a good amount of time.
“We dominated play for a while at the start of the second half and had some good opportunities,” Huels added. “We only got one goal, but I thought we played a lot better in the second half.”
After the nice finish, Edge and the Crystal Lake South defense was up to the task the rest of the way.
“We were just making sure that we always knew where they were,” Edge said. “Just communicating. And if we had to, pull one of the center mids back and have a winger mark the outside guy. Also work hard together and make sure they didn’t get in behind us.
“We knew if we did what we had to do, the result would come to us.”
Canfield and the Gators offense nearly struck with 25:45 left, but his rush on net was denied by a sliding Olson block and control at the left post.
McCaleb followed with his own nice denials. He stopped a Huels 22-yard shot with 24:55 to go, then leaped to deflect a Logan Doerr 27-yard free kick just wide of frame.
Regulation ended with a continued series of Crystal Lake South scoring bids – shots just wide by Canfield (15:10 to go) and Coughlin (9:55 left), then a last-second flurry that produced an Edge send deflected over the crossbar by Olson with 45 seconds remaining, and another Olson punch away of the ensuing corner kick.
“I think we were working really well together as a team,” Canfield said. “We really connected the ball super well, found little gaps and got into the box as much as we can.
“We just played the way we normally do. We didn’t let the other team or the crowd get in the way of anything. We just played our game.”
The first overtime began with two Gibault set pieces from distance in the first 3:50 (free kicks from 33 yards and beyond cleared by Coughlin and Wruck respectively), and ended with a Crystal Lake South flurry.
With just 7.5 seconds left in the first OT, a foul call against Gibault drew an emotional outburst and red card that left the Hawks one man down for the second OT session.
Yet Gibault produced a strong early chance. Off a 50-yard direct kick, a low Antonio Pepe 15-yard shot was saved by McCaleb with nine minutes left.
“It’s amazing watching him,” Estrada said of his fellow Gators keeper. “He’s a very good goalkeeper. I admire him so much. He did an amazing job today, like always.”
Crystal Lake South chances later in the second OT would be generated by Ricky Cristante (a 25-yarder saved by Olson) and Jacob Bimbi (a one-hop shot on goal from 25 yards with 10 seconds left).
Then came the PK session and a dream finish for Estrada and the Gators after conversions by Gibault’s first four shooters,
“I just have that next-man-up mentality,” Estrada said. “I always have to be there for my team, and one step ahead for my team.
“They might need me, they might not. I just stay locked in. I just have to support my team and be there for them.”
While Estrada and the Gators celebrated the win, Gibault’s third-straight trip to the state semifinals was their own source of pride.
“It felt amazing to be back here again,” Huels said. “It’s pretty impressive at the AA level with a school of 220 kids. But this year we came in with a different mindset. Last year we were just happy to be here because everyone had kind of doubted us all year. We managed to get here and won the semifinal game.
“This year we came back and were ready to do some damage. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, but three-straight state trips – not everyone does that. It’s basically a Gibault thing.”
The Gators have created their own special thing – a AA state title match appearance that seemed improbable to most observers 12 months ago.
“We knew that this was a special group,” Allen said. “We just focused on little things we needed to do to get better. That’s been something we’ve harped on since Day 1.”
An 8-0-1 start to the season started the ball rolling.
“We saw big strides early on,” Allen said. “There were moments we knew there was a high ceiling for this team, but we can’t look that far or we’ll slip. We had to harp on growing and getting better.”
The Gators' best play is coming at the right time. Players like Estrada add an incredible twist to the greatest season in Crystal Lake South soccer history.
“It’s amazing,” Edge said. “He’s done it twice now (in PK sessions). He can come off the bench after sitting the whole game and cheering us on, and come into the shootout and make a big save. It’s unbelievable.”
Starting lineups
Crystal Lake South
GK Matt McCaleb
D Tommy McSweeney
D Andrew Edge
D Evan Carlson
D Nick Langdon
M Ryan Coughlin
M Tom Coughlin
M Ricky Cristante
M Jack Wruck
M Brad Grabowski
F Alex Canfield
Gibault
GK Connor Olson
D Alex Bira
D Gavin Kohnz
D Dylan Altadonna
D Adam Stearns
M Karson Huels
M Antonio Pepe
M Alex Merlenbach
M Johnny Adams
F Logan Doerr
F Cameron Kincheloe
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Oscar Estrada, sr. GK, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
CLS – Andrew Edge (PK), 35th minute
Second half
Gibault – Karson Huels (Adam Stearns assist), 49th minute
First overtime
No scoring
Second overtime
No scoring
PKs
CLS (5): Ryan Coughlin, Nick Langdon, Jack Wruck, Andrew Edge, Alex Canfield
Gibault (4): Karson Huels, Logan Doerr, Adam Stearns, Alex Merlenbach