Prospect tops Schaumburg
to end conference schedule
Knights win 2-0 on Walsh, Casaletto goals
By Bill McLean
SCHAUMBURG — Sibling rivalry?
Not in the Casaletto household.
Prospect brothers Nicholas Casaletto, a junior back, and Michael Casaletto, a freshman forward, each had a foot in the second goal of the Knights’ 2-0 defeat of host Schaumburg on Thursday night.
Michael scored the goal, his second of the season.
Nicholas provided the helper at Gary Scholz Stadium.
“Yes, I thanked him for the assist,” a half-smiling Michael, when pressed, said after the teams’ final Mid-Suburban League regular-season match.
Schaumburg sophomore attacking midfielder Gabe Silva also voiced appreciation after the Saxons didn’t allow a second half goal on their Senior Night.
“I want to thank my teammates, especially the seniors,” said Silva, mature beyond his decade-and-a-half of living.
“We had a rough start tonight. But we reset at the half and believed in our team.”
Schaumburg didn’t resemble a one-win club in the least after Prospect went up 2-0 via that Casaletto-to-Casaletto collaboration, when the elder booted a 40-yard-ish pass to his little bro, who half-volleyed it in from about 10 yards in the 26th minute.
Prospect (11-4-2, 7-2-2), an honorable mention team in Chicagoland Soccer’s latest rankings, had opened the night’s scoring on senior forward Owen Walsh’s 15-20-yard goal off an assist from senior midfielder Steven Lopez in the third minute.
“I have a lot of respect for Schaumburg,” Knights coach Michael Andrews said. “You look at the scores of their games, and they’re in every game just about. We expected Schaumburg to be very organized defensively; they were. They gave us a game.
“I expected that, too.”
Prospect senior Alejandro Rider-Leiner’s effort in goal wasn’t surprising, either. The Knight had nine saves, none more spectacular than his leaping one-fisted punch in the waning seconds of the first half.
None of the referees checked for attached springs under Rider-Leiner’s cleats, but nobody would have blamed an official had he halted the clock to do so.
Rider-Leiner got up there. Way up there.
Ursa Major, meet Alejandro Rider-Leiner.
Alejandro Rider-Leiner, meet Ursa Major.
“He’s amazing,” Andrews said. “He’s been doing that, making great saves, all season. Some of the saves he’s made for us were mind-blowing. We needed Alejandro tonight, because it wasn’t our cleanest performance of the season in front of him.”
“Our goalie,” Walsh added, “bailed us out again.”
Seniors Pavan Kannan (one save) and Tyler Hasman (two saves) split time in goal for the Saxons (1-14-1, 0-11-0). Hasman blanked the visitors in the second half.
Schaumburg senior tri-captain Erik Avila and freshman Joey Salatino stood out defensively in both halves.
Silva blasted a shot in the 71st minute that Rider-Leiner stopped after sliding to his left.
It was Schaumburg’s last promising opportunity to solve the keeper.
“We’ve seen, all season, what a resilient group this is,” Saxons coach Eric Sorby said of his crew. “You saw that tonight, when our players responded the way they did after halftime. ‘Have confidence and belief’ — that was a reminder, and our primary message to them, at the half. You create opportunities when you play with confidence and belief.”
In the second half Prospect’s side appeared frustrated at times after not being able to notch a third goal. But the Knights’ collective resolve remained fiery. Walsh, senior midfielder Shea Morris and senior forward Ryan Novak applied constant heat offensively with their abilities to possess and weave and dictate matters.
Knights junior forward Massimo Mho hustled all night, and junior back Sam Heintz made the save of the night by a non-goalie. Heintz’s frame blocked a point-blank shot five yards in front of Rider-Leiner in the final minute of the first half.
Shortly thereafter Rider-Leiner nearly exited the troposphere to make that otherworldly save.
“Crazy Alejandro,” a teammate gushed from Prospect’s bench.
Walsh drew a foul deep in Saxons territory six minutes after the start of the second half, giving Morris the chance to create danger with a free kick. Some 20 minutes later Novak struck a cracker that must have hurt the post — if the post had nerves.
Prospect’s final push, in the 80th minute, featured another connection involving Morris and Walsh.
Schaumburg hosts Wheeling in a post MSL regular-season crossover Tuesday at 6:45 p.m.; Prospect will either play for the MSL title next week or battle, on Tuesday night, an MSL West opponent (to be determined, if Prospect falls short of having the best MSL record among MSL East teams after regular-season action concludes Saturday).
Hersey would have clinched a spot in the MSL title match with a win against Fremd on Thursday night, but the Huskies lost 4-2.
Footnotes
Prospect coach Andrews, on Man of the Match Michael Casaletto’s goal Thursday: “A rocket. It’s what we needed.” … Schaumburg won its only game of the season on Oct. 2, topping visiting Proviso West 3-0. … With his team down 2-0 late in the second half against Prospect on Thursday night, Silva, as he transitioned from defense to offense, yelled to his mates, “Thirteen minutes left! Let’s show some energy!” Sorby loved Silva’s display of energy all night. “He’s become more of a leader lately, especially at the vocal level,” Sorby said. … Sorby’s tri-captains in addition to Avila, are senior forward Arian Dizdevaric and senior midfielder Aidan Miller-Hisgen. … Prospect’s Walsh, on the art of distributing crosses: “You have to be aware of what’s going on while trying to beat your defender down a sideline. You have to then dribble, pick your head up and look (at what’s unfolding in the opponent’s box). It’s one of my roles, finding teammates in the box. I also do my best to control the ball and make runs.” … Walsh wasn’t sure how many goals he has scored this season after tallying the first goal Thursday night. “Six, maybe seven.” What was certain was the number of MSL points — three — Prospect picked up with the win. “That’s what we came here to do,” Andrews said.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Alejandro Rider-Leiner
D David Marshall
D Nicholas Casaletto
D Sam Heintz
MF Shea Morris
MF Christopher Morys
MF Steven Lopez
MF Michael Casaletto
F Ryan Novak
F Massimo Mho
F Owen Walsh
Schaumburg
GK Pavan Kannan
D Xavier Sanchez
D Erik Avila
D Jackson Haywood
D Rylan Williams
MF Bryan Torres
MF Aidan Miller-Hisgen
MF Gabe Silva
MF Edgar Tojin
F Arian Dizdevaric
F Ami Banga
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Casaletto, fr., MF, Prospect
Scoring summary
First half
Prospect — Walsh (Lopez), 3’
Prospect — Michael Casaletto (Nicholas Casaletto), 26’
Second half
No scoring
to end conference schedule
Knights win 2-0 on Walsh, Casaletto goals
By Bill McLean
SCHAUMBURG — Sibling rivalry?
Not in the Casaletto household.
Prospect brothers Nicholas Casaletto, a junior back, and Michael Casaletto, a freshman forward, each had a foot in the second goal of the Knights’ 2-0 defeat of host Schaumburg on Thursday night.
Michael scored the goal, his second of the season.
Nicholas provided the helper at Gary Scholz Stadium.
“Yes, I thanked him for the assist,” a half-smiling Michael, when pressed, said after the teams’ final Mid-Suburban League regular-season match.
Schaumburg sophomore attacking midfielder Gabe Silva also voiced appreciation after the Saxons didn’t allow a second half goal on their Senior Night.
“I want to thank my teammates, especially the seniors,” said Silva, mature beyond his decade-and-a-half of living.
“We had a rough start tonight. But we reset at the half and believed in our team.”
Schaumburg didn’t resemble a one-win club in the least after Prospect went up 2-0 via that Casaletto-to-Casaletto collaboration, when the elder booted a 40-yard-ish pass to his little bro, who half-volleyed it in from about 10 yards in the 26th minute.
Prospect (11-4-2, 7-2-2), an honorable mention team in Chicagoland Soccer’s latest rankings, had opened the night’s scoring on senior forward Owen Walsh’s 15-20-yard goal off an assist from senior midfielder Steven Lopez in the third minute.
“I have a lot of respect for Schaumburg,” Knights coach Michael Andrews said. “You look at the scores of their games, and they’re in every game just about. We expected Schaumburg to be very organized defensively; they were. They gave us a game.
“I expected that, too.”
Prospect senior Alejandro Rider-Leiner’s effort in goal wasn’t surprising, either. The Knight had nine saves, none more spectacular than his leaping one-fisted punch in the waning seconds of the first half.
None of the referees checked for attached springs under Rider-Leiner’s cleats, but nobody would have blamed an official had he halted the clock to do so.
Rider-Leiner got up there. Way up there.
Ursa Major, meet Alejandro Rider-Leiner.
Alejandro Rider-Leiner, meet Ursa Major.
“He’s amazing,” Andrews said. “He’s been doing that, making great saves, all season. Some of the saves he’s made for us were mind-blowing. We needed Alejandro tonight, because it wasn’t our cleanest performance of the season in front of him.”
“Our goalie,” Walsh added, “bailed us out again.”
Seniors Pavan Kannan (one save) and Tyler Hasman (two saves) split time in goal for the Saxons (1-14-1, 0-11-0). Hasman blanked the visitors in the second half.
Schaumburg senior tri-captain Erik Avila and freshman Joey Salatino stood out defensively in both halves.
Silva blasted a shot in the 71st minute that Rider-Leiner stopped after sliding to his left.
It was Schaumburg’s last promising opportunity to solve the keeper.
“We’ve seen, all season, what a resilient group this is,” Saxons coach Eric Sorby said of his crew. “You saw that tonight, when our players responded the way they did after halftime. ‘Have confidence and belief’ — that was a reminder, and our primary message to them, at the half. You create opportunities when you play with confidence and belief.”
In the second half Prospect’s side appeared frustrated at times after not being able to notch a third goal. But the Knights’ collective resolve remained fiery. Walsh, senior midfielder Shea Morris and senior forward Ryan Novak applied constant heat offensively with their abilities to possess and weave and dictate matters.
Knights junior forward Massimo Mho hustled all night, and junior back Sam Heintz made the save of the night by a non-goalie. Heintz’s frame blocked a point-blank shot five yards in front of Rider-Leiner in the final minute of the first half.
Shortly thereafter Rider-Leiner nearly exited the troposphere to make that otherworldly save.
“Crazy Alejandro,” a teammate gushed from Prospect’s bench.
Walsh drew a foul deep in Saxons territory six minutes after the start of the second half, giving Morris the chance to create danger with a free kick. Some 20 minutes later Novak struck a cracker that must have hurt the post — if the post had nerves.
Prospect’s final push, in the 80th minute, featured another connection involving Morris and Walsh.
Schaumburg hosts Wheeling in a post MSL regular-season crossover Tuesday at 6:45 p.m.; Prospect will either play for the MSL title next week or battle, on Tuesday night, an MSL West opponent (to be determined, if Prospect falls short of having the best MSL record among MSL East teams after regular-season action concludes Saturday).
Hersey would have clinched a spot in the MSL title match with a win against Fremd on Thursday night, but the Huskies lost 4-2.
Footnotes
Prospect coach Andrews, on Man of the Match Michael Casaletto’s goal Thursday: “A rocket. It’s what we needed.” … Schaumburg won its only game of the season on Oct. 2, topping visiting Proviso West 3-0. … With his team down 2-0 late in the second half against Prospect on Thursday night, Silva, as he transitioned from defense to offense, yelled to his mates, “Thirteen minutes left! Let’s show some energy!” Sorby loved Silva’s display of energy all night. “He’s become more of a leader lately, especially at the vocal level,” Sorby said. … Sorby’s tri-captains in addition to Avila, are senior forward Arian Dizdevaric and senior midfielder Aidan Miller-Hisgen. … Prospect’s Walsh, on the art of distributing crosses: “You have to be aware of what’s going on while trying to beat your defender down a sideline. You have to then dribble, pick your head up and look (at what’s unfolding in the opponent’s box). It’s one of my roles, finding teammates in the box. I also do my best to control the ball and make runs.” … Walsh wasn’t sure how many goals he has scored this season after tallying the first goal Thursday night. “Six, maybe seven.” What was certain was the number of MSL points — three — Prospect picked up with the win. “That’s what we came here to do,” Andrews said.
Starting lineups
Prospect
GK Alejandro Rider-Leiner
D David Marshall
D Nicholas Casaletto
D Sam Heintz
MF Shea Morris
MF Christopher Morys
MF Steven Lopez
MF Michael Casaletto
F Ryan Novak
F Massimo Mho
F Owen Walsh
Schaumburg
GK Pavan Kannan
D Xavier Sanchez
D Erik Avila
D Jackson Haywood
D Rylan Williams
MF Bryan Torres
MF Aidan Miller-Hisgen
MF Gabe Silva
MF Edgar Tojin
F Arian Dizdevaric
F Ami Banga
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Michael Casaletto, fr., MF, Prospect
Scoring summary
First half
Prospect — Walsh (Lopez), 3’
Prospect — Michael Casaletto (Nicholas Casaletto), 26’
Second half
No scoring