DGS advances to final on last-second goal
Mustangs shock Argo in PKs after Chaplin finish at 99:59
By Dave Surico
SUMMIT -- The situation was dire. Downers Grove South had surrendered a soft goal in overtime, and in the last minutes of the second extra period it seemed the scoreboard clock's sole purpose was to count down their season.
But instead of giving in to despair, the Mustangs chose determination and desire.
A late corner opportunity gave them one final try. Two Downers Grove South players frantically moved near the ball at the corner flag as the clock dropped below 10 seconds, then 8.9 seconds and less before junior Alex Flores hit his serve.
The ball landed at a gaggle of players at the near post and flew to the middle as the tenths-of-seconds whizzed by. It caromed across the goalmouth to a wide open Adam Chaplin, who buried the biggest shot of his life. But did it count? More than 100 heads whiplashed toward the scoreboard to see. There the white lights glared with "1.0" frozen on the clock as the zero in the Mustangs column changed to 1.
The amazing finish prefaced a triumphant PK session and regional semifinal win for the Mustangs against host Argo.
"The good thing I have to say about our group is that they have not given up all season," said coach Jon Stapleton. "In situations where they've been down they've continued to battle, continued to fight.”
With a chance to atone for his 91st-minute mistake, junior keeper Parker Smith produced two shootout saves and Downers Grove South moved on to a date with Morton in the Argo Regional final with a 3-1 PK advantage after four rounds.
His foible was shocking in an even match between the host eighth-seed and the ninth-seeded visitors that seemed destined for penalties. But Marcos Ambriz's shot from about 22 yards floated in and probably gave Smith too much time to think.
"It was a little bit outside of my comfortable catching range so I figured I would let the ball go out of bounds," the junior said. "I thought it was going wide of the goal. Instead of catching and maybe bobbling it, I let the ball go wide. As I turned to watch it go wide, it was just in the net. I guess I misjudged my position on the field.
"I've had my share of soft goals this year. And coming back as a returning varsity starter I just really felt like I haven't been able to do enough for the team or as much as I should be able to, and that goal really stung.
"I knew at that point there was nothing I could do to go backwards. The whole season had been about dealing with the next challenge in front of you as we've had all the ups and downs. And I knew that I couldn't go back and save the ball that had already gone in the net, and I just needed to do whatever I could to help the team in that moment and put it all on the line."
Parker did that with two plays that kept the deficit from growing. One minute after the goal, Downer's Grove South's tallest player extended to his left to get both hands on a strong shot from Mateuz Bartyczak that then hit the crossbar before rolling out of danger. Smith also came far out of the box to make a sliding tackle in the 97th minute.
"To be honest, in the last 10-20 seconds as I was running up (toward midfield), I really felt like I had kind of blown the season. But, as always, my teammates have always had my back and been there for me."
And then he was there for them.
The 6-foot-4 junior looked like a marionette as he clapped and then jumped in place with his hands over his head as he stared directly at opening shooter Bartyczak. The senior's well-struck shot was intended to roll just inside the far post, but Smith went horizontal to his right to deny it. After a Mustangs miss, Smith again dived to his right to stop the low shot of Arturo Cabrera.
Snakebit Argo hit the football crossbar on its third shot from Michael Budz. Alan Garcia's fourth shot conversion wasn't enough to keep the Argonauts in the game.
Downers Grove South received the goal that saved its season after the Mustangs made an adjustment.
"We rehearsed this in training just yesterday, being down a goal and how we're going to handle and manage it," Stapleton said. "Prior to the corner we had changed formations to be more dangerous which included moving our center back Adam Chaplin up to forward. This put him in position for the final goal. Honestly, we were trying to send everyone knowing this was our last chance. Somehow it all worked out."
There was still a bit of confusion immediately after the game about the final sequence in the run of play, but there no doubt where the ball was going when Chapman connected on his third and biggest goal of the season.
"I don't even know what happened. I think it was a long throw. Or was it a corner?" asked the senior. After a teammate informed him it was a corner, he continued. "The ball bounced to me in the middle of the box. I just placed it right where I should have. I put the laces right through off of one bounce. I was just concentrating on putting it in the net.
"It was just a blur. It was a rush of excitement. I couldn't believe it went in. I was inside, right in the middle, inside the six, and I just put it in the back of the net.
"And right when that happened I knew the game was ours. We had the momentum. And I knew Parker could come up big in penalties, and that's what he did.
"When we went down 1-0 it was bad. But you know we worked on that in practice all week -- going down a goal in the playoffs and how we were going to react to it and it worked. We made some switches, moved me up, had three forwards at one point and it worked. It got us the goal and won us the game. We're good at adapting, and that's good."
Sophomore Enrique Gonzalez finished the game on the last shot of the fourth round.
"In my mind I was ready," he said. "I was focused. I wasn't nervous about the goal I scored. I always go to my left side, so that's like my sweet spot.
"I just focus so the goalie doesn't get through my head, and he doesn't know where I going. And I just placed it right (correctly), and I scored.
"We had ups and downs. We could have had two goals in the beginning from me, two shots, but we bounced back from a goal down. That was good."
Argo was sharp in the first overtime period and completed a nifty play that led to the goal from Marcos Ambriz, who battled early season injuries and came off the bench to score.
"I told my teammate to throw it to me," said the senior with the big mop of black hair. "I kind of dummied it, I let it go through my head. It landed and he (Bartyczak) back-heeled it to me. My first touch wasn't the greatest but I just got something on the ball. I guess that's all you need to score those goals."
But Argo (11-7-2) couldn't hold the lead against an inspired Downers Grove South squad.
"We were hyped (after the goal)," said Bartyczak. "We lost our composure at the end, but it is what it is. It was really unexpected. We had the game at our hands. We had it won, and they just scored in the last second. They caught us off guard.
"That kind of situation, 50-50 games, it's really hard to keep your composure. The pressure's insane. The fans are going crazy; everybody's going crazy. It's all on us. It's up to us to win the game."
Despite the disappointing loss, the senior kept things in perspective.
"It was a great ride -- all the experiences that built me up and made me who I am today,” he said. “Without my teammates, without my brothers, I wouldn't be who I am. I couldn't be more thankful for them."
Downers Grove South gets another dance against a familiar foe. West Suburban Conference Gold Division foe and champion Morton is ranked sixth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. The two will battle for the Argo Regional plaque at at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Mustangs, from Berwyn and Cicero, are 19-1-2 and are unbeaten in their last 12 games (11-0-1).
Morton won a Sept. 21 contest comfortably against Downers Grove South, but overall team wellbeing may rest in the favor of the Mustangs from DuPage County. The final will be Downers Grove South's second game in the last 13 days but Morton's fifth contest in a 10-day span.
"They'll be a good competition," said Gonzalez. "Last time we lost 6-3, but we came back in the second half scoring three goals."
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
GK: Parker Smith
D: Max Schmidt-Bailey
D: Peter Pierropoulos
D: Adam Chaplin
MF: Kurt Bennett
MF: Alex Flores
MF: Erick Gonzalez
MF: James David
MF: Jack Daly
F: Hristijian Veceski
F: Enrique Gonzalez
Argo
GK: Saul Munoz
D: Julio Guerra
D: Armando Gallegos
D: Victor Martinez
D: Dominik Pituch
MF: Alan Garcia
MF: Jeovani Trinidad
MF: Sami Madoui
MF: Adrian Pituch
F: Mateuz Bartyczak
F: Michael Budz
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Parker Smith, jr., GK, Downers Grove South
Scoring summary
Second OT
Argo: Ambriz (Bartyczak), 91st minute
DGS: Chaplin (U/A), 99:59
Shootout
A: Bartyczak stopped by Smith diving to his right, 0-0
DGS: James David hit right side of crossbar, 0-0
A: Cabrera stopped by Smith diving to his right, 0-0
DGS: Hristijan Veceski scores to left side, 0-1
A: Budz goes over, 0-1
DGS: Flores scores to right side, 0-2
A: Garcia scores high to right side, 1-2
DGS: Enrique Gonzalez roller to left, 1-3
Mustangs shock Argo in PKs after Chaplin finish at 99:59
By Dave Surico
SUMMIT -- The situation was dire. Downers Grove South had surrendered a soft goal in overtime, and in the last minutes of the second extra period it seemed the scoreboard clock's sole purpose was to count down their season.
But instead of giving in to despair, the Mustangs chose determination and desire.
A late corner opportunity gave them one final try. Two Downers Grove South players frantically moved near the ball at the corner flag as the clock dropped below 10 seconds, then 8.9 seconds and less before junior Alex Flores hit his serve.
The ball landed at a gaggle of players at the near post and flew to the middle as the tenths-of-seconds whizzed by. It caromed across the goalmouth to a wide open Adam Chaplin, who buried the biggest shot of his life. But did it count? More than 100 heads whiplashed toward the scoreboard to see. There the white lights glared with "1.0" frozen on the clock as the zero in the Mustangs column changed to 1.
The amazing finish prefaced a triumphant PK session and regional semifinal win for the Mustangs against host Argo.
"The good thing I have to say about our group is that they have not given up all season," said coach Jon Stapleton. "In situations where they've been down they've continued to battle, continued to fight.”
With a chance to atone for his 91st-minute mistake, junior keeper Parker Smith produced two shootout saves and Downers Grove South moved on to a date with Morton in the Argo Regional final with a 3-1 PK advantage after four rounds.
His foible was shocking in an even match between the host eighth-seed and the ninth-seeded visitors that seemed destined for penalties. But Marcos Ambriz's shot from about 22 yards floated in and probably gave Smith too much time to think.
"It was a little bit outside of my comfortable catching range so I figured I would let the ball go out of bounds," the junior said. "I thought it was going wide of the goal. Instead of catching and maybe bobbling it, I let the ball go wide. As I turned to watch it go wide, it was just in the net. I guess I misjudged my position on the field.
"I've had my share of soft goals this year. And coming back as a returning varsity starter I just really felt like I haven't been able to do enough for the team or as much as I should be able to, and that goal really stung.
"I knew at that point there was nothing I could do to go backwards. The whole season had been about dealing with the next challenge in front of you as we've had all the ups and downs. And I knew that I couldn't go back and save the ball that had already gone in the net, and I just needed to do whatever I could to help the team in that moment and put it all on the line."
Parker did that with two plays that kept the deficit from growing. One minute after the goal, Downer's Grove South's tallest player extended to his left to get both hands on a strong shot from Mateuz Bartyczak that then hit the crossbar before rolling out of danger. Smith also came far out of the box to make a sliding tackle in the 97th minute.
"To be honest, in the last 10-20 seconds as I was running up (toward midfield), I really felt like I had kind of blown the season. But, as always, my teammates have always had my back and been there for me."
And then he was there for them.
The 6-foot-4 junior looked like a marionette as he clapped and then jumped in place with his hands over his head as he stared directly at opening shooter Bartyczak. The senior's well-struck shot was intended to roll just inside the far post, but Smith went horizontal to his right to deny it. After a Mustangs miss, Smith again dived to his right to stop the low shot of Arturo Cabrera.
Snakebit Argo hit the football crossbar on its third shot from Michael Budz. Alan Garcia's fourth shot conversion wasn't enough to keep the Argonauts in the game.
Downers Grove South received the goal that saved its season after the Mustangs made an adjustment.
"We rehearsed this in training just yesterday, being down a goal and how we're going to handle and manage it," Stapleton said. "Prior to the corner we had changed formations to be more dangerous which included moving our center back Adam Chaplin up to forward. This put him in position for the final goal. Honestly, we were trying to send everyone knowing this was our last chance. Somehow it all worked out."
There was still a bit of confusion immediately after the game about the final sequence in the run of play, but there no doubt where the ball was going when Chapman connected on his third and biggest goal of the season.
"I don't even know what happened. I think it was a long throw. Or was it a corner?" asked the senior. After a teammate informed him it was a corner, he continued. "The ball bounced to me in the middle of the box. I just placed it right where I should have. I put the laces right through off of one bounce. I was just concentrating on putting it in the net.
"It was just a blur. It was a rush of excitement. I couldn't believe it went in. I was inside, right in the middle, inside the six, and I just put it in the back of the net.
"And right when that happened I knew the game was ours. We had the momentum. And I knew Parker could come up big in penalties, and that's what he did.
"When we went down 1-0 it was bad. But you know we worked on that in practice all week -- going down a goal in the playoffs and how we were going to react to it and it worked. We made some switches, moved me up, had three forwards at one point and it worked. It got us the goal and won us the game. We're good at adapting, and that's good."
Sophomore Enrique Gonzalez finished the game on the last shot of the fourth round.
"In my mind I was ready," he said. "I was focused. I wasn't nervous about the goal I scored. I always go to my left side, so that's like my sweet spot.
"I just focus so the goalie doesn't get through my head, and he doesn't know where I going. And I just placed it right (correctly), and I scored.
"We had ups and downs. We could have had two goals in the beginning from me, two shots, but we bounced back from a goal down. That was good."
Argo was sharp in the first overtime period and completed a nifty play that led to the goal from Marcos Ambriz, who battled early season injuries and came off the bench to score.
"I told my teammate to throw it to me," said the senior with the big mop of black hair. "I kind of dummied it, I let it go through my head. It landed and he (Bartyczak) back-heeled it to me. My first touch wasn't the greatest but I just got something on the ball. I guess that's all you need to score those goals."
But Argo (11-7-2) couldn't hold the lead against an inspired Downers Grove South squad.
"We were hyped (after the goal)," said Bartyczak. "We lost our composure at the end, but it is what it is. It was really unexpected. We had the game at our hands. We had it won, and they just scored in the last second. They caught us off guard.
"That kind of situation, 50-50 games, it's really hard to keep your composure. The pressure's insane. The fans are going crazy; everybody's going crazy. It's all on us. It's up to us to win the game."
Despite the disappointing loss, the senior kept things in perspective.
"It was a great ride -- all the experiences that built me up and made me who I am today,” he said. “Without my teammates, without my brothers, I wouldn't be who I am. I couldn't be more thankful for them."
Downers Grove South gets another dance against a familiar foe. West Suburban Conference Gold Division foe and champion Morton is ranked sixth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. The two will battle for the Argo Regional plaque at at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The Mustangs, from Berwyn and Cicero, are 19-1-2 and are unbeaten in their last 12 games (11-0-1).
Morton won a Sept. 21 contest comfortably against Downers Grove South, but overall team wellbeing may rest in the favor of the Mustangs from DuPage County. The final will be Downers Grove South's second game in the last 13 days but Morton's fifth contest in a 10-day span.
"They'll be a good competition," said Gonzalez. "Last time we lost 6-3, but we came back in the second half scoring three goals."
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
GK: Parker Smith
D: Max Schmidt-Bailey
D: Peter Pierropoulos
D: Adam Chaplin
MF: Kurt Bennett
MF: Alex Flores
MF: Erick Gonzalez
MF: James David
MF: Jack Daly
F: Hristijian Veceski
F: Enrique Gonzalez
Argo
GK: Saul Munoz
D: Julio Guerra
D: Armando Gallegos
D: Victor Martinez
D: Dominik Pituch
MF: Alan Garcia
MF: Jeovani Trinidad
MF: Sami Madoui
MF: Adrian Pituch
F: Mateuz Bartyczak
F: Michael Budz
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Parker Smith, jr., GK, Downers Grove South
Scoring summary
Second OT
Argo: Ambriz (Bartyczak), 91st minute
DGS: Chaplin (U/A), 99:59
Shootout
A: Bartyczak stopped by Smith diving to his right, 0-0
DGS: James David hit right side of crossbar, 0-0
A: Cabrera stopped by Smith diving to his right, 0-0
DGS: Hristijan Veceski scores to left side, 0-1
A: Budz goes over, 0-1
DGS: Flores scores to right side, 0-2
A: Garcia scores high to right side, 1-2
DGS: Enrique Gonzalez roller to left, 1-3