Outcome betrays Plainfield S. effort, stats
Billy Cummings' hat-trick leads Crystal Lake Central to 3-1 win
By Steve Nemeth
PLAINFIELD --- This was one of those times when the effort and statistics simply didn’t match the final outcome.
Plainfield South wasn’t lacking for either category, but Billy Cummings’ hat-trick paced Crystal Lake Central to a 3-1 triumph in Saturday’s finale for both teams in the 2019 Plainfield Classic.
The win gave Crystal Lake Central a positive finish to the week-long tournament and leveled their season at 3-3-2 after previously losing two and tying once in group play.
Including a narrow 2-1 loss to eventual tournament champion Waubonsie Valley, Plainfield South went winless in four outings but sandwiched its participation around a 5-2 Southwest Prairie Conference victory over Romeoville. Although the Cougars overall ledger is now 3-8-0, their SPC mark is 2-2-0 heading into a week with back-to-back home league matches.
“There are two ways to look at playing five games in eight days,” Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams said. “The tournament matches gave us experience and also took a toll. For today’s finale, we were really down four guys and using a thin bench, so those (Classic) matches weren’t the best outcome, but when all is said and done, we’re 2-2-0 (in the SPC) and still in the hunt.”
The Cougars won the coin toss and gambled on having the benefit of a gusty wind in the second half, however, whether the breeze helped or not, Crystal Lake South capitalized on an early breakaway opportunity. Cummings used a through-ball from brother Joey Cummings to find himself 1-v.-1 with South goalie Robin Coetzee. As the Cougars keeper raced out to cut off the angle, Cummings slipped a 16-yarder past him for a 1-0 lead a mere 1:53 into the match.
“Obviously we’ve played together a ton, and that’s also the case with the majority of the roster, so our team chemistry is good,” Cummings stated. “Seeing Joey get control of the ball, I knew what he’d do and simply took off in anticipation of the pass.”
Central most likely didn’t anticipate the Cougars coming up with such a quick answer. With 4:33 elapsed, it was the South fans’ turn to cheer. Max Treptow and Josue Jimenez combined for an equalizer with Treptow feeding the ball back beyond the top of the box.
“Our good chemistry made it easy,” Treptow said in regard to his assist.
“Max’s pass got to me, and I knew I had plenty of space to operate. So it was just a matter of picking my spot for the shot,” Jimenez explained in regard to his third goal of the season, an absolute cracker from 37 yards.
Despite not having the outcome they desired, both Cougars seniors believed South can accentuate the positives for the upcoming SPC matches.
“Beside the final score, we moved the ball quite well today,” Treptow said. “We created opportunities and played fast. Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough finishes.”
“Even when we were down, we continued to move the ball around for each other,” Jimenez noted. “We continue our passing at this level, it can pay off.”
South compiled a 16-9 advantage for overall shot attempts and an 8-5 edge in shots on goal. Tack on a 3-2 lead in corner kicks and statistics show positives for the Cougars to build upon.
“I’m proud of the effort we gave,” Williams said. “I don’t feel anybody quit. With our record, people might think we didn’t battle, but we did. We simply need to be more efficient, but the effort and work rate is definitely there to get us more wins.”
There was 17:34 remaining in the opening half when Treptow narrowly missed the left upper 90. A flurry of South shots followed in which Central defenders either absorbed or deflected the attempts. Leonel Amado had a right wing blast that Tigers goalie Joey Moore saved.
The Crystal Lake side capitalized on another fast break of sorts that led to Jake Nelson passing to Cummings for a 17-yard rocket from left of center. Cummings converted a penalty kick with 17:40 left in regulation to complete his second hat-trick this season. Saturday's was enough to make him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“The goals are really due to how we play as a team,” Cummings said. “It’s a good win, but we actually thought we should have put away a few more chances.”
Tigers head coach Jay Schwarzrock expressed far more pleasure in Central’s performance.
“In the second half I thought we did a better job of team defense. We neutralized their number eight (Jimenez) by taking away the middle,” Schwarzrock noted. “We didn’t give up any close opportunities. Owen Dan coming off the bench was integral in getting our second goal going. And this being (goalie) Joey’s sixth varsity game, you could really see a big difference in the way he handled himself today versus the first time.”
The sophomore recently elevated to varsity starter took a more pragmatic approach to the praise in how he handled the wind-driven shots.
“It’s still the same principles, be focused, use your hands and lock up the ball,” Moore said. “Our defense is a big help, and I think we’re developing more confidence in each other.”
Plainfield South’s coach had similar thoughts about several of his players who were called upon for more minutes than they may have been accustomed to.
“As a freshman, Owen (O’Shea) did a nice job on the outside and Bryan (Graham) gave us good minutes at forward,” Williams said. “Carlos (Sagols) clearly isn’t 100 percent and despite being dinged up, he played really well. Get him healthy and get some others back, we will be tougher.
“At times today I thought we were a little overanxious, because we’re not a big physical team. We need to play more side to side,” Williams added. “At times we didn’t create as many opportunities close in as I would have wanted, because we did settle to play in the middle.”
The Cougars host Plainfield East on Tuesday before welcoming Plainfield North on Thursday. Those two 4:30 p.m. home dates are the start of seven-straight SPC matches leading up to the postseason.
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Robin Coetzee
D Trinidad Vazquez
D Tyler Whitmire
D Thomas garner
D Zach Kolb
M Miki Derka
M Josue Jimenez
M Duval Verdin
M Owen O’Shea
F Max Treptow
F Carlos Sagols
Crystal Lake Central
GK Joey Moore
D Luke Montford
D Kareern Castaneda
D Bryden Freund
D Alberto Hernandez
M Elija Burlson
M Mason Pfeifer
M Karson Hollander
M Joey Cummings
F Jake Nelson
F Billy Cummings
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Billy Cummings, sr., M, Crystal Lake Central
Referees: Chris Blankshair (center), Chris Pease, Gary Facko
Game summary
Crystal Lake Central 3, Plainfield South 1
Plainfield South 1 0 --- 1 (3-8-0)
Crystal Lake Central 2 1 --- 3 (3-3-2)
Scoring
First half
CLC --- B. Cummings breakaway for 16-yard 1v1 finish inside left post (J. Cummings assist), 1:53 gone
PS --- Jimenez 37-yard cracker from out front (Treptow assist), 4:33 gone
CLC --- B. Cummings 17-yarder from left of center (Nelson assist), 10:41 gone
Second half
CLC --- B. Cummings penalty kick conversion (unassisted), 62:20 gone
Shots
PS 6 – 10 --- 16
CLC 6 – 3 --- 9
Shots on goal
PS 3 – 5 --- 8
CLC 3 – 2 --- 5
Saves (goalie)
PS (Coetzee) 1 – 1 --- 2
CLC (Moore) 2 – 5 (Carson 0) --- 7
Corner kicks
PS 0 – 3 --- 3
CLC 1 – 1 --- 2
Offsides
PS 3 – 2 --- 5
CLC 0 – 0 --- 0
Billy Cummings' hat-trick leads Crystal Lake Central to 3-1 win
By Steve Nemeth
PLAINFIELD --- This was one of those times when the effort and statistics simply didn’t match the final outcome.
Plainfield South wasn’t lacking for either category, but Billy Cummings’ hat-trick paced Crystal Lake Central to a 3-1 triumph in Saturday’s finale for both teams in the 2019 Plainfield Classic.
The win gave Crystal Lake Central a positive finish to the week-long tournament and leveled their season at 3-3-2 after previously losing two and tying once in group play.
Including a narrow 2-1 loss to eventual tournament champion Waubonsie Valley, Plainfield South went winless in four outings but sandwiched its participation around a 5-2 Southwest Prairie Conference victory over Romeoville. Although the Cougars overall ledger is now 3-8-0, their SPC mark is 2-2-0 heading into a week with back-to-back home league matches.
“There are two ways to look at playing five games in eight days,” Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams said. “The tournament matches gave us experience and also took a toll. For today’s finale, we were really down four guys and using a thin bench, so those (Classic) matches weren’t the best outcome, but when all is said and done, we’re 2-2-0 (in the SPC) and still in the hunt.”
The Cougars won the coin toss and gambled on having the benefit of a gusty wind in the second half, however, whether the breeze helped or not, Crystal Lake South capitalized on an early breakaway opportunity. Cummings used a through-ball from brother Joey Cummings to find himself 1-v.-1 with South goalie Robin Coetzee. As the Cougars keeper raced out to cut off the angle, Cummings slipped a 16-yarder past him for a 1-0 lead a mere 1:53 into the match.
“Obviously we’ve played together a ton, and that’s also the case with the majority of the roster, so our team chemistry is good,” Cummings stated. “Seeing Joey get control of the ball, I knew what he’d do and simply took off in anticipation of the pass.”
Central most likely didn’t anticipate the Cougars coming up with such a quick answer. With 4:33 elapsed, it was the South fans’ turn to cheer. Max Treptow and Josue Jimenez combined for an equalizer with Treptow feeding the ball back beyond the top of the box.
“Our good chemistry made it easy,” Treptow said in regard to his assist.
“Max’s pass got to me, and I knew I had plenty of space to operate. So it was just a matter of picking my spot for the shot,” Jimenez explained in regard to his third goal of the season, an absolute cracker from 37 yards.
Despite not having the outcome they desired, both Cougars seniors believed South can accentuate the positives for the upcoming SPC matches.
“Beside the final score, we moved the ball quite well today,” Treptow said. “We created opportunities and played fast. Unfortunately we just didn’t have enough finishes.”
“Even when we were down, we continued to move the ball around for each other,” Jimenez noted. “We continue our passing at this level, it can pay off.”
South compiled a 16-9 advantage for overall shot attempts and an 8-5 edge in shots on goal. Tack on a 3-2 lead in corner kicks and statistics show positives for the Cougars to build upon.
“I’m proud of the effort we gave,” Williams said. “I don’t feel anybody quit. With our record, people might think we didn’t battle, but we did. We simply need to be more efficient, but the effort and work rate is definitely there to get us more wins.”
There was 17:34 remaining in the opening half when Treptow narrowly missed the left upper 90. A flurry of South shots followed in which Central defenders either absorbed or deflected the attempts. Leonel Amado had a right wing blast that Tigers goalie Joey Moore saved.
The Crystal Lake side capitalized on another fast break of sorts that led to Jake Nelson passing to Cummings for a 17-yard rocket from left of center. Cummings converted a penalty kick with 17:40 left in regulation to complete his second hat-trick this season. Saturday's was enough to make him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“The goals are really due to how we play as a team,” Cummings said. “It’s a good win, but we actually thought we should have put away a few more chances.”
Tigers head coach Jay Schwarzrock expressed far more pleasure in Central’s performance.
“In the second half I thought we did a better job of team defense. We neutralized their number eight (Jimenez) by taking away the middle,” Schwarzrock noted. “We didn’t give up any close opportunities. Owen Dan coming off the bench was integral in getting our second goal going. And this being (goalie) Joey’s sixth varsity game, you could really see a big difference in the way he handled himself today versus the first time.”
The sophomore recently elevated to varsity starter took a more pragmatic approach to the praise in how he handled the wind-driven shots.
“It’s still the same principles, be focused, use your hands and lock up the ball,” Moore said. “Our defense is a big help, and I think we’re developing more confidence in each other.”
Plainfield South’s coach had similar thoughts about several of his players who were called upon for more minutes than they may have been accustomed to.
“As a freshman, Owen (O’Shea) did a nice job on the outside and Bryan (Graham) gave us good minutes at forward,” Williams said. “Carlos (Sagols) clearly isn’t 100 percent and despite being dinged up, he played really well. Get him healthy and get some others back, we will be tougher.
“At times today I thought we were a little overanxious, because we’re not a big physical team. We need to play more side to side,” Williams added. “At times we didn’t create as many opportunities close in as I would have wanted, because we did settle to play in the middle.”
The Cougars host Plainfield East on Tuesday before welcoming Plainfield North on Thursday. Those two 4:30 p.m. home dates are the start of seven-straight SPC matches leading up to the postseason.
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Robin Coetzee
D Trinidad Vazquez
D Tyler Whitmire
D Thomas garner
D Zach Kolb
M Miki Derka
M Josue Jimenez
M Duval Verdin
M Owen O’Shea
F Max Treptow
F Carlos Sagols
Crystal Lake Central
GK Joey Moore
D Luke Montford
D Kareern Castaneda
D Bryden Freund
D Alberto Hernandez
M Elija Burlson
M Mason Pfeifer
M Karson Hollander
M Joey Cummings
F Jake Nelson
F Billy Cummings
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Billy Cummings, sr., M, Crystal Lake Central
Referees: Chris Blankshair (center), Chris Pease, Gary Facko
Game summary
Crystal Lake Central 3, Plainfield South 1
Plainfield South 1 0 --- 1 (3-8-0)
Crystal Lake Central 2 1 --- 3 (3-3-2)
Scoring
First half
CLC --- B. Cummings breakaway for 16-yard 1v1 finish inside left post (J. Cummings assist), 1:53 gone
PS --- Jimenez 37-yard cracker from out front (Treptow assist), 4:33 gone
CLC --- B. Cummings 17-yarder from left of center (Nelson assist), 10:41 gone
Second half
CLC --- B. Cummings penalty kick conversion (unassisted), 62:20 gone
Shots
PS 6 – 10 --- 16
CLC 6 – 3 --- 9
Shots on goal
PS 3 – 5 --- 8
CLC 3 – 2 --- 5
Saves (goalie)
PS (Coetzee) 1 – 1 --- 2
CLC (Moore) 2 – 5 (Carson 0) --- 7
Corner kicks
PS 0 – 3 --- 3
CLC 1 – 1 --- 2
Offsides
PS 3 – 2 --- 5
CLC 0 – 0 --- 0