Crystal Lake South 1 win from AA Final 4
Gators overcome 1-goal deficit to oust Vernon Hills 2-1
By Mike Garofola
HARVARD -- Perhaps in the end, it was Crystal Lake South's sense of its own destiny which proved the difference.
The Gators have one foot in the Class AA state tournament finals after becoming the first edition in program history to reach the supersectionals after a heart-stopping 2-1 victory over Vernon Hills on Saturday night in Harvard.
The sectional championship advanced Brian Allen's men into the Burlington Central Supersectional final where they will meet Fenton (14-7-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
"When it's all said and done, this is a victory in which embodies the 80 minutes of hard soccer we've preached from day no. 1, and the effort, hard work and dedication these boys have put forth for themselves and each other," said Allen, who kept things low key despite the on-field celebration after his club ceremoniously lifted its first sectional championship trophy. "We still have one big game ahead of us if we want to reach the finals next weekend."
While his top player Alex Canfield and others offered a reminder of the energy, purpose and inventiveness the Gators put in for the first hour-plus of the game, this was really a victory for two young men of a unit Allen tabs his 'Bench Mob' -- Jake Bimbi and Mariano Caballero, who confirmed their daily work in training will be rewarded.
"Those two guys work so hard everyday," said Allen. (They've) bought into our program and the system we preach. To see them be responsible for finding the game-winner for us makes me extremely proud and happy for each of them."
That the Bimbi-Caballero heroics would be needed is a testament to the effort of the Gators fine opponent on this cool, damp evening on the Harvard Junior High pitch. Vernon Hills (10-9-4) had been impressive in the postseason and looked and played like the top team rather than the third-seed in the first 20 minutes of the match.
"Our boys have been building confidence, and believing in one another with each passing game," said Cougars manager Mike McCaulou.
"We had our struggles at the start, but this team plays the game the right way. With (that) and with them being such a close-knit family on and off the field, there was no doubt in my mind that we could come in here against a very good team and challenge them for the sectional title."
McCaulou knows a thing or two about postseason success in a program that has reached the sectional final four times since 2013, winning it two years ago before losing to eventual state champion Latin in the supersectionals.
McCaulou and his staff have not-so-fond memories of this particular venue when on a bone-chilling night in 2015, the Cougars fell to Carmel 2-1 on a 96th-minute goal.
It appeared from the onset the Cougars had the perfect plan to upset the no. 1 seed: prevent Crystal Lake South's Canfield from adding to his goal scoring total of 27, while keeping numbers behind the ball, staying organized, and holding onto the ball with a high-percentage completion rate.
"We did all of those things and more. We scored the opener," said McCaulou with a smile.
The icebreaker came from his scoring leader, Stephen Auw, whose cool and composed redirected header inside the Gators box stunned the crowd while lifting the Cougars spirits 150 percent.
Crystal Lake South was unshaken.
"We fell behind against Wauconda in our regional opener but didn't panic," said Brad Grabowski, a midfield starter and one of a dozen seniors on the Gators roster. "We didn't tonight either, (only) this game had a lot more meaning to us then ever before.
"Vernon Hills outplayed us in the first 15-20 minutes, I don't really feel any of us were nervous about this game, and what it meant to us and the program, but we played that way a little. They had something to do with that for sure."
Grabowski was one of a handful of ball-winning heroes who helped turned the tide for the eventual sectional champions.
Vernon Hills did a masterful job of defending Canfield, who went it alone up-top for Allen with the hopes of being sprung free from a service from the back.
"We knew (Crystal Lake South) plays direct a lot of times looking to get no. 13 (Canfield) into 1-v.-1 situations," said McCaulou. "The guys in the back, as they have all throughout the second half of the season, did well as a unit defending him and those constant long balls sent in."
Crystal Lake South was a off-kilter at the start.
"There wasn't much balance in the way we looked or attacked in that first 20-25 minutes," Allen said. "We had too many guys on one side and not enough on the other, which allowed (Vernon Hills) to control the middle of the park and immediately get into their attack."
Cougars' goalkeeper Nick Burrows, active and confident in and around his box throughout the first half, stopped Canfield in his first call to action in the 16th minute and then watched Ryan Coughlin on the turn drag the ball around and past a defender before firing wide of the frame moments later.
Vernon Hills' Auw and Carlos Aguilar were responsible for most of the corners and deep throws the Cougars generated in the first half. Auw had a good look on frame with his one-timer that went just over the bar in the 35th minute.
Crystal Lake South responded with a marvelous early ball from Jack Wruck that allowed Brandon Wilson to split a pair of defenders. His effort went wide of Burrows, who would be at the heart of a controversial moment in the match just seconds before the intermission.
That's when the Cougars keeper, after collecting a loose ball inside his box, put a hard shoulder into Canfield to keep him away. The referee the move as unnecessary and called a foul that sent Nick Langdon to the spot.
The Cougars faithful, and McCaulou and his staff howled its disapproval. However before an explanation came forth, Burrows guessed correctly that Langdon would go to this right. The brilliant save calmed McCaulou while he and the referee discussed the call at the break.
Despite the spot-kick save, Crystal Lake South's Wruck and his mates all knew better things were ahead.
"We really started to come into the game towards the last half of the first half," said Wruck.
"We were winning nearly every ball in the middle, and our backline was doing the same. All of us were beginning to play the way we knew we were capable of."
Canfield make the Cougars pay for the first of two big mistakes in their own end when the senior striker finished past Burrows from 22 yards just six minutes into the second period. The goal was the junior forward's 28th of the season.
"A poor clearing effort on our part led to us giving them that first one," McCaulou said. "That is something you just don't want to do that early, because the momentum turns and their energy level gets a boost."
Crystal Lake South pressure followed.
Canfield drove an angled shot wide, and Burrows was needed to haul down two well-aimed free kicks from Andrew Edge. A deep, low throw from Nick Langdon ended with a well executed side-footed 10-yard attempt from Tom Coughlin that went over the bar.
This sequence signaled the beginning of the end for the Cougars, who now found themselves under immense pressure from the Gators.
The game-winner came from the unlikely pair of Caballero and Bimbi, both of whom were brought on minutes earlier of their game-winning heroics.
An alert Bimbi moved quickly and without hesitation to an attempted clearing effort out of the Cougars end. From there he calmly collected the ball before unleashing a wicked, well-paced 40-yard missile on frame.
Burrows could do nothing with this strike, but it crashed off the woodwork and spilled freely into the six-yard box.
That's where Caballero sent the Gators faithful into orbit when he redirected the winner into the back of the net at 66 minutes.
"Again, just a great work rate from Bimbi to keep running toward the box, and the same kudos to Mariano for making something happen out of nothing," said Allen.
The final quarter hour was frantic and hard fought.
Each 50-50 ball elicited cheers from the now raucous crowd which held its breath when play raced up and down this postcard pitch.
The Gators defended a half-dozen deep throws and a trio of free kicks in the final ten minutes of regulation before the final whistle put this match into the record books.
"We had to get the job done tonight," said Grabowski. "It was all of us working as hard as we could ... in order to accomplish what we set out to do."
Wruck added: "We all knew this was a historic night for our soccer program, so there wasn't anything any of us wouldn't do to in order to be a part of history. It's all kind of surreal right now.
The senior midfielder earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his wonderful effort on both sides of the ball, tremendous work rate and relentness pursuit of victory.
Allen, now in his 12th year at Crystal Lake South, has his best chance of advancing into the state finals.
"We've never gotten over that hump after winning regional titles," he said. "But I always believed this was a group, especially with so much senior leadership, that we could make a serious run when the postseason came around.
"It was the type of thing that from the very first day we all came together we talked about. If we come out on Tuesday against Fenton, and play with a lot of energy, urgency and heart, we will have a good chance of playing on the last weekend of the season."
Starting lineups
Vernon Hills (4-3-3)
G- Nick Burrows
D- Jake Schulman
D- Matthew Quandt
D- Fred Sides
D- Edgar Uribe
M- Tyler Gonzalez
M- Carlos Aguilar
M- Sean Collins
F- Stephen Auw
F- Glen McGowean
F- Zidan Chaires
Crystal Lake South (4-1-4-1)
G- Matt McCaleb
D- Tommy McSweeney
D- Evan Carlson
D- Nick Langdon
D- Andrew Edge
DM- Ricky Cristante
M- Brad Grabowski
M- Jack Wruck
M- Tom Coughlin
M- Ryan Coughlin
F- Alex Canfield
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jack Wruck, sr., MF, Crystal Lake South
Referee: Ed Schell
Scoring Summary
First half
Vernon Hills: Stephen Auw, 9'
Second half
Crystal Lake South: Alex Canfield, 46'
Crystal Lake South: Mariano Caballero (Jake Bimbi), 66'
Gators overcome 1-goal deficit to oust Vernon Hills 2-1
By Mike Garofola
HARVARD -- Perhaps in the end, it was Crystal Lake South's sense of its own destiny which proved the difference.
The Gators have one foot in the Class AA state tournament finals after becoming the first edition in program history to reach the supersectionals after a heart-stopping 2-1 victory over Vernon Hills on Saturday night in Harvard.
The sectional championship advanced Brian Allen's men into the Burlington Central Supersectional final where they will meet Fenton (14-7-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
"When it's all said and done, this is a victory in which embodies the 80 minutes of hard soccer we've preached from day no. 1, and the effort, hard work and dedication these boys have put forth for themselves and each other," said Allen, who kept things low key despite the on-field celebration after his club ceremoniously lifted its first sectional championship trophy. "We still have one big game ahead of us if we want to reach the finals next weekend."
While his top player Alex Canfield and others offered a reminder of the energy, purpose and inventiveness the Gators put in for the first hour-plus of the game, this was really a victory for two young men of a unit Allen tabs his 'Bench Mob' -- Jake Bimbi and Mariano Caballero, who confirmed their daily work in training will be rewarded.
"Those two guys work so hard everyday," said Allen. (They've) bought into our program and the system we preach. To see them be responsible for finding the game-winner for us makes me extremely proud and happy for each of them."
That the Bimbi-Caballero heroics would be needed is a testament to the effort of the Gators fine opponent on this cool, damp evening on the Harvard Junior High pitch. Vernon Hills (10-9-4) had been impressive in the postseason and looked and played like the top team rather than the third-seed in the first 20 minutes of the match.
"Our boys have been building confidence, and believing in one another with each passing game," said Cougars manager Mike McCaulou.
"We had our struggles at the start, but this team plays the game the right way. With (that) and with them being such a close-knit family on and off the field, there was no doubt in my mind that we could come in here against a very good team and challenge them for the sectional title."
McCaulou knows a thing or two about postseason success in a program that has reached the sectional final four times since 2013, winning it two years ago before losing to eventual state champion Latin in the supersectionals.
McCaulou and his staff have not-so-fond memories of this particular venue when on a bone-chilling night in 2015, the Cougars fell to Carmel 2-1 on a 96th-minute goal.
It appeared from the onset the Cougars had the perfect plan to upset the no. 1 seed: prevent Crystal Lake South's Canfield from adding to his goal scoring total of 27, while keeping numbers behind the ball, staying organized, and holding onto the ball with a high-percentage completion rate.
"We did all of those things and more. We scored the opener," said McCaulou with a smile.
The icebreaker came from his scoring leader, Stephen Auw, whose cool and composed redirected header inside the Gators box stunned the crowd while lifting the Cougars spirits 150 percent.
Crystal Lake South was unshaken.
"We fell behind against Wauconda in our regional opener but didn't panic," said Brad Grabowski, a midfield starter and one of a dozen seniors on the Gators roster. "We didn't tonight either, (only) this game had a lot more meaning to us then ever before.
"Vernon Hills outplayed us in the first 15-20 minutes, I don't really feel any of us were nervous about this game, and what it meant to us and the program, but we played that way a little. They had something to do with that for sure."
Grabowski was one of a handful of ball-winning heroes who helped turned the tide for the eventual sectional champions.
Vernon Hills did a masterful job of defending Canfield, who went it alone up-top for Allen with the hopes of being sprung free from a service from the back.
"We knew (Crystal Lake South) plays direct a lot of times looking to get no. 13 (Canfield) into 1-v.-1 situations," said McCaulou. "The guys in the back, as they have all throughout the second half of the season, did well as a unit defending him and those constant long balls sent in."
Crystal Lake South was a off-kilter at the start.
"There wasn't much balance in the way we looked or attacked in that first 20-25 minutes," Allen said. "We had too many guys on one side and not enough on the other, which allowed (Vernon Hills) to control the middle of the park and immediately get into their attack."
Cougars' goalkeeper Nick Burrows, active and confident in and around his box throughout the first half, stopped Canfield in his first call to action in the 16th minute and then watched Ryan Coughlin on the turn drag the ball around and past a defender before firing wide of the frame moments later.
Vernon Hills' Auw and Carlos Aguilar were responsible for most of the corners and deep throws the Cougars generated in the first half. Auw had a good look on frame with his one-timer that went just over the bar in the 35th minute.
Crystal Lake South responded with a marvelous early ball from Jack Wruck that allowed Brandon Wilson to split a pair of defenders. His effort went wide of Burrows, who would be at the heart of a controversial moment in the match just seconds before the intermission.
That's when the Cougars keeper, after collecting a loose ball inside his box, put a hard shoulder into Canfield to keep him away. The referee the move as unnecessary and called a foul that sent Nick Langdon to the spot.
The Cougars faithful, and McCaulou and his staff howled its disapproval. However before an explanation came forth, Burrows guessed correctly that Langdon would go to this right. The brilliant save calmed McCaulou while he and the referee discussed the call at the break.
Despite the spot-kick save, Crystal Lake South's Wruck and his mates all knew better things were ahead.
"We really started to come into the game towards the last half of the first half," said Wruck.
"We were winning nearly every ball in the middle, and our backline was doing the same. All of us were beginning to play the way we knew we were capable of."
Canfield make the Cougars pay for the first of two big mistakes in their own end when the senior striker finished past Burrows from 22 yards just six minutes into the second period. The goal was the junior forward's 28th of the season.
"A poor clearing effort on our part led to us giving them that first one," McCaulou said. "That is something you just don't want to do that early, because the momentum turns and their energy level gets a boost."
Crystal Lake South pressure followed.
Canfield drove an angled shot wide, and Burrows was needed to haul down two well-aimed free kicks from Andrew Edge. A deep, low throw from Nick Langdon ended with a well executed side-footed 10-yard attempt from Tom Coughlin that went over the bar.
This sequence signaled the beginning of the end for the Cougars, who now found themselves under immense pressure from the Gators.
The game-winner came from the unlikely pair of Caballero and Bimbi, both of whom were brought on minutes earlier of their game-winning heroics.
An alert Bimbi moved quickly and without hesitation to an attempted clearing effort out of the Cougars end. From there he calmly collected the ball before unleashing a wicked, well-paced 40-yard missile on frame.
Burrows could do nothing with this strike, but it crashed off the woodwork and spilled freely into the six-yard box.
That's where Caballero sent the Gators faithful into orbit when he redirected the winner into the back of the net at 66 minutes.
"Again, just a great work rate from Bimbi to keep running toward the box, and the same kudos to Mariano for making something happen out of nothing," said Allen.
The final quarter hour was frantic and hard fought.
Each 50-50 ball elicited cheers from the now raucous crowd which held its breath when play raced up and down this postcard pitch.
The Gators defended a half-dozen deep throws and a trio of free kicks in the final ten minutes of regulation before the final whistle put this match into the record books.
"We had to get the job done tonight," said Grabowski. "It was all of us working as hard as we could ... in order to accomplish what we set out to do."
Wruck added: "We all knew this was a historic night for our soccer program, so there wasn't anything any of us wouldn't do to in order to be a part of history. It's all kind of surreal right now.
The senior midfielder earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor for his wonderful effort on both sides of the ball, tremendous work rate and relentness pursuit of victory.
Allen, now in his 12th year at Crystal Lake South, has his best chance of advancing into the state finals.
"We've never gotten over that hump after winning regional titles," he said. "But I always believed this was a group, especially with so much senior leadership, that we could make a serious run when the postseason came around.
"It was the type of thing that from the very first day we all came together we talked about. If we come out on Tuesday against Fenton, and play with a lot of energy, urgency and heart, we will have a good chance of playing on the last weekend of the season."
Starting lineups
Vernon Hills (4-3-3)
G- Nick Burrows
D- Jake Schulman
D- Matthew Quandt
D- Fred Sides
D- Edgar Uribe
M- Tyler Gonzalez
M- Carlos Aguilar
M- Sean Collins
F- Stephen Auw
F- Glen McGowean
F- Zidan Chaires
Crystal Lake South (4-1-4-1)
G- Matt McCaleb
D- Tommy McSweeney
D- Evan Carlson
D- Nick Langdon
D- Andrew Edge
DM- Ricky Cristante
M- Brad Grabowski
M- Jack Wruck
M- Tom Coughlin
M- Ryan Coughlin
F- Alex Canfield
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jack Wruck, sr., MF, Crystal Lake South
Referee: Ed Schell
Scoring Summary
First half
Vernon Hills: Stephen Auw, 9'
Second half
Crystal Lake South: Alex Canfield, 46'
Crystal Lake South: Mariano Caballero (Jake Bimbi), 66'