Dramatic moments help Plainfield South secure 1st win, Cougars top T.F United
Forward Derka and keeper Coetzee spark 2-1 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BURBANK -- The game naturally makes for some strange bedfellows.
The unknown qualities sometimes turn it not just upside down but downright delirious.
The incident-packed final moments of the Windy City Ram Classic Fire Pool game between Plainfield South and T.F. United illustrated the point repeatedly.
There were two penalty kick opportunities that ended in very unaccustomed fashion.
The best player on T.F. United, star midfielder Eduardo Melgoza, was back in action after a back injury caused him to miss the first two games.
A Plainfield South team eager to get on the right side of the win column made for compelling soccer.
Junior forward Miki Derka blasted home the game-winner from the right wing and sophomore keeper Robin Coetzee sealed the 2-1 victory by stopping a penalty kick Saturday afternoon at Reavis.
Each team lost their first two games of the tourney. As a consequence each played with a certain edge and desperation.
“As I told the boys coming in as we were getting ready to play this game, we are playing another team 0-2-0 and nobody wants to start the season 0-3-0,” Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams said.
“We need to come out with some intensity and pick it up.”
Like all the games of the tournament, this one was played under a revised format with two 35-minute halves. Fitting to the group name, the restricted time frame and the slow-starting sides had incentive.
The Cougars’ first win yielded many heroes, from precocious keeper Coetzee making just his third career start to Derka.
The dramatic conclusion was the classic showdown of the talented and skilled Melgoza confronting Coetzee on a penalty kick attempt set up by a Plainfield South handball in the box.
Taking his second penalty kick of the half, Melgoza went to the same corner. Coetzee was ready. He bolted quickly to his left and blocked the ball.
“I prefer to be focused and also aggressive, watch what they are going to do, look at their eyes and come off my line and go after the ball,” Coetzee said.
It came together perfectly.
“It was a mental thing,” Melgoza said. “The pressure got to me a bit.”
The improbable ending was jammed with activity and moments. With the game deadlocked at 1-1 earlier in the second half, T.F. United appeared to get the upper hand after a Plainfield South defender was cited for tackling Melgoza inside the box.
Melgoza blasted the penalty shot into the far right corner. Just as T.F. United players celebrated the apparent goal, the trailing official raced in and nullified the goal by ruling a T.F. United player encroached on the line before the kick.
“We had a rough start to the tournament with our first game,” T.F. United coach Alejandro Lagunas said. “In the second game, we got a lot better even though the score did not indicate it. Today we showed flashes. We still have a lot to work on.
“This is not who we are. Our style of play and what we are trying to work on did not really show today.”
Making the most of the clean slate, Plainfield South (1-2-0) delivered in the 60th minute. Withstanding the strong pressure of T.F. United, the Cougars created a counter as senior midfielder Josue Jimenez punched the ball down the right line to a streaking Derka.
“Josue made a really nice pass, and I saw that,” Derka said. “I made a good run on it, and I was able to get the angle and get the shot off.”
He drilled the ball from the right wing inside the far post from about 19 yards. For his superb play, Derka was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“That is one of the things we worked specifically [Friday] night was our spacing offensively,” Williams said. “I felt like in the first two games, we did not put ourselves in a position to create many opportunities. We really worked on our spacing.
“I felt like they took that to heart in the first half, and that gave us those opportunities.”
Senior Maxwell Treptow opened the scoring in the first half with a ball from the top of the box that took a ricochet and deflected off the keeper in the 17th minute.
That opening goal marked the culmination of some effective and very decisive pressure the Cougars applied. T.F. United keeper Sebastian Montesino made some stellar saves just before the first goal.
“We were trying to play quick,” Treptow said. “We were trying to get one touch in and then ping it back quickly through the middle. I just tied to put it back into the outside so we could shoot it back, and I got a good bounce.
“We were definitely hungry. We wanted to win. We did not want to go 0-3-0 and we knew these guys did not want to go 0-3-0.
“We had to battle with them.”
T.F. United recovered and began to piece together its own attack. Junior forward Pablo Guerra got free in the back and got a touch on a ball over the top for a bang-bang sequence. His volley sailed just high over the bar.
The increased focus and attack paid dividends late in the first half. On a free kick just outside the top of the box, Melgoza hit a perfect shot inside the far post for the tying goal.
“It’s soccer, and things happen out there,” Melgoza said.
T.F. United is a co-op featuring players from Thornton Fractional North and Thornton Fractional South. The program has a solid history and expects to again be a factor in the south suburbs.
“Overall I think we had our opportunities, and I think we just let them slip by,” Lagunas said. “I think we did really well to build up, but I think our finishing was a bit off today. It was unfortunate that we could not put some of those away earlier, especially in the first half.
“We have a system of play, and some kids are buying in now. We are getting a little bit closer. At the end of the day, our identity has still not come out yet.”
Plainfield South celebrated, subtly, its first win, hoping it is a prelude of greater things to come. The tournament was a way to work the kinks out.
“The boys have really bought into what we are trying to do,” Williams said. “Anytime we go over things as far as correcting issues, they accept it, and we don’t have to go back. They are willing to take instructions.
“Last year we had a couple of really great players. This year there is more parity on the roster from top to bottom. This is probably one of the deepest teams I have ever been involved with in my 19 years.”
Starting lineups
T.F. United
GK: Sebastian Montesino
D: Juan Pablo Palma
D: Kyle Downar-Clark
D: Jared Lopez
D: Fabian Ruiz
MF: Juan Mendoza
MF: Mateo Duran
MF: Eduardo Melgoza
MF: Armando Lopez
MF: Luis Angel Alvarado
F: Pablo Guerra
Plainfield South
GK: Robin Coetzee
D: Fabian Alvarado
D: Zachary Kolb
D: Rocco Rizzi
D: Tyler Whitmire
MF: Josue Jimenez
MF: Carlos Sagols
MF: Duval Verdin
MF: Ernesto Cortina
F: Maxwell Treptow
F: Miki Derka
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Miki Derka, jr., F, Plainfield South
Scoring summary
First half
Plainfield South—Maxwell Treptow (unassisted), 17th minute
TF United—Eduardo Melgoza (free kick), 32nd minute
Second half
Plainfield South—Miki Derka (Josue Jimenez), 60th minute
Forward Derka and keeper Coetzee spark 2-1 victory
By Patrick Z. McGavin
BURBANK -- The game naturally makes for some strange bedfellows.
The unknown qualities sometimes turn it not just upside down but downright delirious.
The incident-packed final moments of the Windy City Ram Classic Fire Pool game between Plainfield South and T.F. United illustrated the point repeatedly.
There were two penalty kick opportunities that ended in very unaccustomed fashion.
The best player on T.F. United, star midfielder Eduardo Melgoza, was back in action after a back injury caused him to miss the first two games.
A Plainfield South team eager to get on the right side of the win column made for compelling soccer.
Junior forward Miki Derka blasted home the game-winner from the right wing and sophomore keeper Robin Coetzee sealed the 2-1 victory by stopping a penalty kick Saturday afternoon at Reavis.
Each team lost their first two games of the tourney. As a consequence each played with a certain edge and desperation.
“As I told the boys coming in as we were getting ready to play this game, we are playing another team 0-2-0 and nobody wants to start the season 0-3-0,” Plainfield South coach Bryant Williams said.
“We need to come out with some intensity and pick it up.”
Like all the games of the tournament, this one was played under a revised format with two 35-minute halves. Fitting to the group name, the restricted time frame and the slow-starting sides had incentive.
The Cougars’ first win yielded many heroes, from precocious keeper Coetzee making just his third career start to Derka.
The dramatic conclusion was the classic showdown of the talented and skilled Melgoza confronting Coetzee on a penalty kick attempt set up by a Plainfield South handball in the box.
Taking his second penalty kick of the half, Melgoza went to the same corner. Coetzee was ready. He bolted quickly to his left and blocked the ball.
“I prefer to be focused and also aggressive, watch what they are going to do, look at their eyes and come off my line and go after the ball,” Coetzee said.
It came together perfectly.
“It was a mental thing,” Melgoza said. “The pressure got to me a bit.”
The improbable ending was jammed with activity and moments. With the game deadlocked at 1-1 earlier in the second half, T.F. United appeared to get the upper hand after a Plainfield South defender was cited for tackling Melgoza inside the box.
Melgoza blasted the penalty shot into the far right corner. Just as T.F. United players celebrated the apparent goal, the trailing official raced in and nullified the goal by ruling a T.F. United player encroached on the line before the kick.
“We had a rough start to the tournament with our first game,” T.F. United coach Alejandro Lagunas said. “In the second game, we got a lot better even though the score did not indicate it. Today we showed flashes. We still have a lot to work on.
“This is not who we are. Our style of play and what we are trying to work on did not really show today.”
Making the most of the clean slate, Plainfield South (1-2-0) delivered in the 60th minute. Withstanding the strong pressure of T.F. United, the Cougars created a counter as senior midfielder Josue Jimenez punched the ball down the right line to a streaking Derka.
“Josue made a really nice pass, and I saw that,” Derka said. “I made a good run on it, and I was able to get the angle and get the shot off.”
He drilled the ball from the right wing inside the far post from about 19 yards. For his superb play, Derka was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“That is one of the things we worked specifically [Friday] night was our spacing offensively,” Williams said. “I felt like in the first two games, we did not put ourselves in a position to create many opportunities. We really worked on our spacing.
“I felt like they took that to heart in the first half, and that gave us those opportunities.”
Senior Maxwell Treptow opened the scoring in the first half with a ball from the top of the box that took a ricochet and deflected off the keeper in the 17th minute.
That opening goal marked the culmination of some effective and very decisive pressure the Cougars applied. T.F. United keeper Sebastian Montesino made some stellar saves just before the first goal.
“We were trying to play quick,” Treptow said. “We were trying to get one touch in and then ping it back quickly through the middle. I just tied to put it back into the outside so we could shoot it back, and I got a good bounce.
“We were definitely hungry. We wanted to win. We did not want to go 0-3-0 and we knew these guys did not want to go 0-3-0.
“We had to battle with them.”
T.F. United recovered and began to piece together its own attack. Junior forward Pablo Guerra got free in the back and got a touch on a ball over the top for a bang-bang sequence. His volley sailed just high over the bar.
The increased focus and attack paid dividends late in the first half. On a free kick just outside the top of the box, Melgoza hit a perfect shot inside the far post for the tying goal.
“It’s soccer, and things happen out there,” Melgoza said.
T.F. United is a co-op featuring players from Thornton Fractional North and Thornton Fractional South. The program has a solid history and expects to again be a factor in the south suburbs.
“Overall I think we had our opportunities, and I think we just let them slip by,” Lagunas said. “I think we did really well to build up, but I think our finishing was a bit off today. It was unfortunate that we could not put some of those away earlier, especially in the first half.
“We have a system of play, and some kids are buying in now. We are getting a little bit closer. At the end of the day, our identity has still not come out yet.”
Plainfield South celebrated, subtly, its first win, hoping it is a prelude of greater things to come. The tournament was a way to work the kinks out.
“The boys have really bought into what we are trying to do,” Williams said. “Anytime we go over things as far as correcting issues, they accept it, and we don’t have to go back. They are willing to take instructions.
“Last year we had a couple of really great players. This year there is more parity on the roster from top to bottom. This is probably one of the deepest teams I have ever been involved with in my 19 years.”
Starting lineups
T.F. United
GK: Sebastian Montesino
D: Juan Pablo Palma
D: Kyle Downar-Clark
D: Jared Lopez
D: Fabian Ruiz
MF: Juan Mendoza
MF: Mateo Duran
MF: Eduardo Melgoza
MF: Armando Lopez
MF: Luis Angel Alvarado
F: Pablo Guerra
Plainfield South
GK: Robin Coetzee
D: Fabian Alvarado
D: Zachary Kolb
D: Rocco Rizzi
D: Tyler Whitmire
MF: Josue Jimenez
MF: Carlos Sagols
MF: Duval Verdin
MF: Ernesto Cortina
F: Maxwell Treptow
F: Miki Derka
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Miki Derka, jr., F, Plainfield South
Scoring summary
First half
Plainfield South—Maxwell Treptow (unassisted), 17th minute
TF United—Eduardo Melgoza (free kick), 32nd minute
Second half
Plainfield South—Miki Derka (Josue Jimenez), 60th minute