Neuqua, Metea cliffhanger to be continued
DVC match suspended just before the half, will resume Oct. 4
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Neuqua Valley’s Sean Osoba was not going to be denied.
Neither was Metea Valley’s James Lynch.
The two senior forwards both scored in the opening five minutes of Tuesday’s DuPage Valley Conference clash.
In the end, though, neither got to finish what he started as Mother Nature intervened. A fast-moving thunderstorm caused play to be suspended by with three seconds remaining in the first half and the game tied 1-1.
Because the game did not reach halftime, it is not an official game. It will be resumed at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 4.
“It was unfortunate that it came to this, because I think it was a great day for soccer,” Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “(It began) in good weather.
“Just for seeding purposes we could have gotten a half in. That would have been nice.”
Instead, the game will not be considered during Thursday’s online seeding meeting. That’s fine with Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson, who was more concerned with getting an entire game in. The Mustangs (6-4-2, 1-0-1) still control their own destiny in the DVC race and can win their first league title if they beat the Wildcats (5-5-2, 0-2) and Naperville North, which visits Metea on Oct. 9.
“This is a conference game,” Robinson said. “We can’t finish it halfway through.
“I’m glad that (it will continue). A lot of respect to Neuqua Valley for recognizing that time was left on the clock.
“You very easily could say there was no time left. So we’ll roll from there.”
Both teams were rolling while the sun was still shining. Osoba got things started in the second minute when he bagged his second goal of the season, taking in a cross from John Pochyly and muscling a short shot through traffic.
“It was kind of a weird goal,” Neuqua Valley co-captain David Kuhn said. “John laid it off to Sean.
“It was kind of messy in there. Sean is a lefty, he hit it, it went through this guy’s legs, and it kind of curved in. It was good.”
Robinson concurred, although he would like to see his team get better at preventing such plays. Metea goalkeeper Ghandi Cruz was positioned correctly but Osoba’s shot was placed perfectly.
“Ghandi was in a good spot,” Robinson said. “We need to do a better job clearing.
“We were organized, we stepped, and we just didn’t communicate well. Their kid, strong job by him. Fought through our guys and got a goal. Good for him.”
Osoba’s strike allowed the Wildcats a chance to change the recent narrative of both teams. Neuqua came in having lost two-straight games while Metea was riding a three-game winning streak.
“It was very exciting,” Osoba said. “It was a very early goal, too, so it led the team to get better.
“If we didn’t score early then we would have been down. We wanted to get more goals.”
Indeed, the Wildcats were unable to extend the lead, which didn’t last long.
“What we love is we responded really well,” Robinson said.
Lynch got the equalizer in the fifth minute on a shot from the top of the box.
Lynch thought he had scored a second goal minutes later but the referee called the Wildcats for a foul, wiping out the play.
After that, the game turned into a free-for-all, with both sides attacking well and getting several opportunities.
“I think both teams were exposing those weaknesses,” Gonzalez said. “It was hard-fought.”
Senior forward Jaylen Brooks was unlucky not to have a brace for Metea. He had one shot hit the post and another whack the crossbar with 3:10 remaining.
That came just 15 seconds after Neuqua freshman Jack Georgi unleashed a nasty shot from the edge of the box, forcing Cruz to make a diving save on the left post.
Cruz earlier made another diving save on Jose Navarro’s 20-yard bullet. Neuqua’s Ryan Jasek whiffed on an attempted volley on the rebound and Pochyly’s follow was cleared by the defense.
“It was very even,” Osoba said. “It was back-and-forth. They kept coming and then we would just counter and they’d counter back at us.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Gandhi Cruz
D Tony Sanchez
D Erik Severson
D Owen Anderson
M Matthew Berry
M Evan Lang
M Liam Duffy
F Shareef Amor
F Jaylen Brooks
F James Lynch
F Matthew Dovalovsky
Neuqua Valley
GK Dylan Soto
D Ryan Jasek
D Brandon Szabo
D John Pochyly
D Anthony Safo
M Tom Bludgen
M David Kuhn
M Jose Navarro
M Jack Bella
F Sean Osoba
F Jason Chisnell
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: to be determined
Scoring summary
First half
Neuqua Valley – Sean Osoba (John Pochyly) 2nd minute
Metea Valley – James Lynch 5th minute
DVC match suspended just before the half, will resume Oct. 4
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Neuqua Valley’s Sean Osoba was not going to be denied.
Neither was Metea Valley’s James Lynch.
The two senior forwards both scored in the opening five minutes of Tuesday’s DuPage Valley Conference clash.
In the end, though, neither got to finish what he started as Mother Nature intervened. A fast-moving thunderstorm caused play to be suspended by with three seconds remaining in the first half and the game tied 1-1.
Because the game did not reach halftime, it is not an official game. It will be resumed at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 4.
“It was unfortunate that it came to this, because I think it was a great day for soccer,” Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “(It began) in good weather.
“Just for seeding purposes we could have gotten a half in. That would have been nice.”
Instead, the game will not be considered during Thursday’s online seeding meeting. That’s fine with Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson, who was more concerned with getting an entire game in. The Mustangs (6-4-2, 1-0-1) still control their own destiny in the DVC race and can win their first league title if they beat the Wildcats (5-5-2, 0-2) and Naperville North, which visits Metea on Oct. 9.
“This is a conference game,” Robinson said. “We can’t finish it halfway through.
“I’m glad that (it will continue). A lot of respect to Neuqua Valley for recognizing that time was left on the clock.
“You very easily could say there was no time left. So we’ll roll from there.”
Both teams were rolling while the sun was still shining. Osoba got things started in the second minute when he bagged his second goal of the season, taking in a cross from John Pochyly and muscling a short shot through traffic.
“It was kind of a weird goal,” Neuqua Valley co-captain David Kuhn said. “John laid it off to Sean.
“It was kind of messy in there. Sean is a lefty, he hit it, it went through this guy’s legs, and it kind of curved in. It was good.”
Robinson concurred, although he would like to see his team get better at preventing such plays. Metea goalkeeper Ghandi Cruz was positioned correctly but Osoba’s shot was placed perfectly.
“Ghandi was in a good spot,” Robinson said. “We need to do a better job clearing.
“We were organized, we stepped, and we just didn’t communicate well. Their kid, strong job by him. Fought through our guys and got a goal. Good for him.”
Osoba’s strike allowed the Wildcats a chance to change the recent narrative of both teams. Neuqua came in having lost two-straight games while Metea was riding a three-game winning streak.
“It was very exciting,” Osoba said. “It was a very early goal, too, so it led the team to get better.
“If we didn’t score early then we would have been down. We wanted to get more goals.”
Indeed, the Wildcats were unable to extend the lead, which didn’t last long.
“What we love is we responded really well,” Robinson said.
Lynch got the equalizer in the fifth minute on a shot from the top of the box.
Lynch thought he had scored a second goal minutes later but the referee called the Wildcats for a foul, wiping out the play.
After that, the game turned into a free-for-all, with both sides attacking well and getting several opportunities.
“I think both teams were exposing those weaknesses,” Gonzalez said. “It was hard-fought.”
Senior forward Jaylen Brooks was unlucky not to have a brace for Metea. He had one shot hit the post and another whack the crossbar with 3:10 remaining.
That came just 15 seconds after Neuqua freshman Jack Georgi unleashed a nasty shot from the edge of the box, forcing Cruz to make a diving save on the left post.
Cruz earlier made another diving save on Jose Navarro’s 20-yard bullet. Neuqua’s Ryan Jasek whiffed on an attempted volley on the rebound and Pochyly’s follow was cleared by the defense.
“It was very even,” Osoba said. “It was back-and-forth. They kept coming and then we would just counter and they’d counter back at us.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Gandhi Cruz
D Tony Sanchez
D Erik Severson
D Owen Anderson
M Matthew Berry
M Evan Lang
M Liam Duffy
F Shareef Amor
F Jaylen Brooks
F James Lynch
F Matthew Dovalovsky
Neuqua Valley
GK Dylan Soto
D Ryan Jasek
D Brandon Szabo
D John Pochyly
D Anthony Safo
M Tom Bludgen
M David Kuhn
M Jose Navarro
M Jack Bella
F Sean Osoba
F Jason Chisnell
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: to be determined
Scoring summary
First half
Neuqua Valley – Sean Osoba (John Pochyly) 2nd minute
Metea Valley – James Lynch 5th minute