Plainfield S. left searching vs. Plainfield C.
Cougars remain work in progress in 5-0 loss
By Steve Millar
PLAINFIELD – Plainfield Central already has its offense firing on all cylinders. Plainfield South, in the opening week of the season following an abbreviated preseason, is still a work in progress.
The Cougars, though, remained optimistic despite a tough 5-0 loss to the crosstown rival Wildcats in a Southwest Prairie Conference game Thursday at home.
“We didn’t really play well,” said Miki Derka, a senior captain for Plainfield South. “We just have to make a couple changes. We’ll be better next game.”
The Cougars fell to 0-1-1, 0-1-1 after tying Joliet Central 1-1 in Tuesday’s opener.
Plainfield Central (1-1-0, 1-1-0) has scored nine goals in its first two games, including an 8-4 loss to West Aurora in its season-pener.
Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams saw the score of the Wildcats’ game against the Blackhawks and knew it would be a challenging day for his defense.
“We talked about it (Wednesday) night in practice,” Williams said. “Anybody that can score four goals against West Aurora is going to be strong offensively. Not many teams are going to score four against West Aurora. That’s a credit to coach Fitz (Kevin Fitzgerald) having them ready to play in a short season.”
The Wildcats carried that offensive momentum into Thursday’s game, needing less than three minutes to get on the scoreboard.
Junior forward Moses Mata took advantage of a Plainfield South giveaway in its backfield, taking a quick pass from Beckham Wesselhoff and firing a shot past Cougars goalkeeper James Anderson.
For Mata, it was a moment of redemption.
“In our last game I got a couple chances, and I missed,” he said. “My coaches told me that when I get the ball, shoot it right away.”
Mata, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, was tough for Plainfield South to deal with all night. He finished with two goals and an assist.
Plainfield South responded well to the early adversity and began generating offensive pressure and maintaining possession.
Derka, who scored Plainfield South’s only goal against Joliet Central on a penalty kick, was able to create some chances from his striker position, while speedy midfielder Melchizedek Mensah challenged the Plainfield Central defense on the wing.
Mensah made a nice move into the box in the seventh minute, but Plainfield Central defender Peyton Johnson was able to break up the run without a shot attempt.
Three minutes later, the Cougars worked a nice combination play that saw the ball go from Owen O’Shea on the right wing across the field to Ernesto Cortina, who slipped a quick pass to Derka in the middle of the box. Derka fired high.
Derka unleashed a strong header off a Thomas Garner corner kick, but was denied by Plainfield Central goalkeeper Neil Soans, who finished with four saves to record the shutout.
The Cougars also had a couple chances on free kicks from striking distance but weren’t able to put the ball on frame. Justin Dalessandro fired a shot just wide; and O’Shea put one high.
“This is the second game in a row where we’ve kind of been our own enemy when it comes to giving up that first goal.” Williams said. “Both games, we bounced back well. This game, we settled in and played really well for the next 25 minutes. We just had a couple breakdowns.”
Any momentum Plainfield South was able to capture in its response to giving up the opening goal was thwarted over a four-minute stretch late in the first half.
The Wildcats struck twice more in that span, starting in the 27th minute when Jordan Juarez sent in a well-placed free kick from 25 yards that Noe Gonzalez was able to get a piece of, volleying it home off his midsection to make it 2-0.
After the nifty setup, Juarez was on the finishing side four minutes later. Mata made a strong run down the right sideline and cut into the box but briefly had the ball poked away.
He was able to re-collect it, though, and with multiple defenders clamping down on him, slipped a quick pass across the box to a wide-open Juarez, who hammered it into the back of the net.
“We’re doing what we’re supposed to do when we get the ball,” Mata said. “When we play against the other Plainfield schools, we know we always have to come out strong. These games are always fun.”
The wild opener against a tough West Aurora squad proved beneficial to the Wildcats.
“We played against a really good team,” Fitzgerald said. “We learned from our mistakes and came out ready to play.”
The Wildcats tacked on two more goals in the second half. Mata scored off a Gonzalez pass in the 50th minute. In the 57th minute, Wesselhoff collected a loose ball and fired from 45 yards and found the netting with a high, looping shot.
It was those types of quick strikes that tormented Plainfield South.
“In the run of play, we aren’t giving up too much,” Williams said. “It’s just those one or two mistakes that we can’t recover from. We’ll make a mistake and then we can’t recover during the play to stop them from scoring.”
Plainfield South’s offense, meanwhile, dried up in the second half. Derka said the team got a bit deflated after falling behind by multiple goals.
Cortina had the home side’s only shot on goal of the second half, a bouncer on a free kick from 35 yards that made for a routine save for Soans.
“Early on, we were getting good chances,” Derka said. “But then we fell apart. Once they started getting goals on us, we just fell apart.
“We’re going to make some changes in practice and get our minds set, and we’ll be ready to go after this.”
Williams has seen how dangerous his team can be offensively. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning the finishing.
“The frustration builds and builds the more times you get close and don’t get one in,” he said. “I feel like if we could just get one in early in a game, we could sort of break the dam and start putting some more in. We can definitely score some goals.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK – Neil Soans
D – Peyton Johnson
D – Berto Centeno
D – Caden Bargas
D – Cooper Bartz
M – Lukas Rupeika
M – Victor Saunoris
M – Noe Gonzalez
M – Beckham Wesselhoff
F – Jordan Juarez
F – Moses Mata
Plainfield South
GK – James Anderson
D - Justin Dalessandro
D - Rocco Rizzi
D - Thomas Garner
D - Jason Gerding
M - David Sanchez
M - Ernesto Cortina
M - Owen O'Shea
M - Melchizedek Mensah
F - Miki Derka
F - Haris Pabedinskas
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Moses Mata, jr., F, Plainfield Central
Scoring Summary
First half
Plainfield Central – Mata (Wesselhoff) – 3rd minute
Plainfield Central – Gonzalez (Juarez) – 27th minute
Plainfield Central – Juarez (Mata) – 31st minute
Second half
Plainfield Central – Mata (Gonzalez) – 50th minute
Plainfield Central – Wesselhoff (Johnson) – 57th minute
Cougars remain work in progress in 5-0 loss
By Steve Millar
PLAINFIELD – Plainfield Central already has its offense firing on all cylinders. Plainfield South, in the opening week of the season following an abbreviated preseason, is still a work in progress.
The Cougars, though, remained optimistic despite a tough 5-0 loss to the crosstown rival Wildcats in a Southwest Prairie Conference game Thursday at home.
“We didn’t really play well,” said Miki Derka, a senior captain for Plainfield South. “We just have to make a couple changes. We’ll be better next game.”
The Cougars fell to 0-1-1, 0-1-1 after tying Joliet Central 1-1 in Tuesday’s opener.
Plainfield Central (1-1-0, 1-1-0) has scored nine goals in its first two games, including an 8-4 loss to West Aurora in its season-pener.
Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams saw the score of the Wildcats’ game against the Blackhawks and knew it would be a challenging day for his defense.
“We talked about it (Wednesday) night in practice,” Williams said. “Anybody that can score four goals against West Aurora is going to be strong offensively. Not many teams are going to score four against West Aurora. That’s a credit to coach Fitz (Kevin Fitzgerald) having them ready to play in a short season.”
The Wildcats carried that offensive momentum into Thursday’s game, needing less than three minutes to get on the scoreboard.
Junior forward Moses Mata took advantage of a Plainfield South giveaway in its backfield, taking a quick pass from Beckham Wesselhoff and firing a shot past Cougars goalkeeper James Anderson.
For Mata, it was a moment of redemption.
“In our last game I got a couple chances, and I missed,” he said. “My coaches told me that when I get the ball, shoot it right away.”
Mata, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match, was tough for Plainfield South to deal with all night. He finished with two goals and an assist.
Plainfield South responded well to the early adversity and began generating offensive pressure and maintaining possession.
Derka, who scored Plainfield South’s only goal against Joliet Central on a penalty kick, was able to create some chances from his striker position, while speedy midfielder Melchizedek Mensah challenged the Plainfield Central defense on the wing.
Mensah made a nice move into the box in the seventh minute, but Plainfield Central defender Peyton Johnson was able to break up the run without a shot attempt.
Three minutes later, the Cougars worked a nice combination play that saw the ball go from Owen O’Shea on the right wing across the field to Ernesto Cortina, who slipped a quick pass to Derka in the middle of the box. Derka fired high.
Derka unleashed a strong header off a Thomas Garner corner kick, but was denied by Plainfield Central goalkeeper Neil Soans, who finished with four saves to record the shutout.
The Cougars also had a couple chances on free kicks from striking distance but weren’t able to put the ball on frame. Justin Dalessandro fired a shot just wide; and O’Shea put one high.
“This is the second game in a row where we’ve kind of been our own enemy when it comes to giving up that first goal.” Williams said. “Both games, we bounced back well. This game, we settled in and played really well for the next 25 minutes. We just had a couple breakdowns.”
Any momentum Plainfield South was able to capture in its response to giving up the opening goal was thwarted over a four-minute stretch late in the first half.
The Wildcats struck twice more in that span, starting in the 27th minute when Jordan Juarez sent in a well-placed free kick from 25 yards that Noe Gonzalez was able to get a piece of, volleying it home off his midsection to make it 2-0.
After the nifty setup, Juarez was on the finishing side four minutes later. Mata made a strong run down the right sideline and cut into the box but briefly had the ball poked away.
He was able to re-collect it, though, and with multiple defenders clamping down on him, slipped a quick pass across the box to a wide-open Juarez, who hammered it into the back of the net.
“We’re doing what we’re supposed to do when we get the ball,” Mata said. “When we play against the other Plainfield schools, we know we always have to come out strong. These games are always fun.”
The wild opener against a tough West Aurora squad proved beneficial to the Wildcats.
“We played against a really good team,” Fitzgerald said. “We learned from our mistakes and came out ready to play.”
The Wildcats tacked on two more goals in the second half. Mata scored off a Gonzalez pass in the 50th minute. In the 57th minute, Wesselhoff collected a loose ball and fired from 45 yards and found the netting with a high, looping shot.
It was those types of quick strikes that tormented Plainfield South.
“In the run of play, we aren’t giving up too much,” Williams said. “It’s just those one or two mistakes that we can’t recover from. We’ll make a mistake and then we can’t recover during the play to stop them from scoring.”
Plainfield South’s offense, meanwhile, dried up in the second half. Derka said the team got a bit deflated after falling behind by multiple goals.
Cortina had the home side’s only shot on goal of the second half, a bouncer on a free kick from 35 yards that made for a routine save for Soans.
“Early on, we were getting good chances,” Derka said. “But then we fell apart. Once they started getting goals on us, we just fell apart.
“We’re going to make some changes in practice and get our minds set, and we’ll be ready to go after this.”
Williams has seen how dangerous his team can be offensively. It’s just a matter of fine-tuning the finishing.
“The frustration builds and builds the more times you get close and don’t get one in,” he said. “I feel like if we could just get one in early in a game, we could sort of break the dam and start putting some more in. We can definitely score some goals.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK – Neil Soans
D – Peyton Johnson
D – Berto Centeno
D – Caden Bargas
D – Cooper Bartz
M – Lukas Rupeika
M – Victor Saunoris
M – Noe Gonzalez
M – Beckham Wesselhoff
F – Jordan Juarez
F – Moses Mata
Plainfield South
GK – James Anderson
D - Justin Dalessandro
D - Rocco Rizzi
D - Thomas Garner
D - Jason Gerding
M - David Sanchez
M - Ernesto Cortina
M - Owen O'Shea
M - Melchizedek Mensah
F - Miki Derka
F - Haris Pabedinskas
Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match: Moses Mata, jr., F, Plainfield Central
Scoring Summary
First half
Plainfield Central – Mata (Wesselhoff) – 3rd minute
Plainfield Central – Gonzalez (Juarez) – 27th minute
Plainfield Central – Juarez (Mata) – 31st minute
Second half
Plainfield Central – Mata (Gonzalez) – 50th minute
Plainfield Central – Wesselhoff (Johnson) – 57th minute