Tired Plainfield S wilts vs Romeoville attack
Cougars end grueling 5-game week with 5-0 setback
By Dave Owen
PLAINFIELD – A tiring but largely successful week for Plainfield South finally took its toll on the Cougars.
A stretch of three games in four days for Plainfield South had produced three victories by a combined margin of 12-2, including a 3-0 shutout at Joliet West on Friday.
But 18 hours after the end of that Friday afternoon win, the Cougars (7-2-1, 1-1-0) faced the task of battling Southwest Prairie Conference foe Romeoville’s speed and relentless offensive attacks under the noon sun on Saturday.
After hitting the post three times in the first 16 minutes, the visiting Spartans (5-3-1, 1-2-0) were on target with two Brannon Castro goals in the final 4:55 of the half.
Romeoville’s offense never cooled, rolling to a surprising 5-0 win that at least momentarily sidetracked the Cougars’ great early season run.
“They (the Spartans) were able to move the ball around wherever they wanted to and were able to move around us pretty quickly today,” Cougars coach Bryant Williams said. “This was our fifth game in eight days (back to a tie Sept. 2 with Lockport), and back-to-back conference games (in two days) which is kind of unheard of.
“But take nothing away from Romeoville, they put the ball in the back of the net five times. They did what they needed to and were able to take advantage.”
Saturday’s result was just one blemish on what has been a beautiful season of staggering improvements for Plainfield South. After finishing with a 6-14-0 record last fall, the Cougars have already exceeded their 2016 victory total with a dominating start.
“I think we’ve got a good team this year,” said senior midfielder Dominick Skrip, who had two goals in Friday’s win at Joliet West. “We’re just going to keep fighting through. We’ve been putting in the work in practice as a team.
“We got some new guys this year. That upgraded us. And we have great chemistry as a team.”
One of those new guys is Skrip. A freshman on the Cougars’ 14-win varsity team of 2014, he has returned to the squad this fall and been a high-impact creator and finisher (four goals in 2017).
“Dominick Skrip in the center has been huge for us,” Williams said. “He played club last year but is back this year, and he’s been great at distributing the ball. He’s not going to look to shoot first. He looks to set up other guys.
“That’s really lifted the game of guys like Tony Cervelli up-top. Tony’s having a great year with six goals and three-game winners already. He’s a senior who it’s great to see has really stepped up.
“Anthony Marmolejo (whose goal put the Cougars up 1-0 at Joliet West) has had a great season up-top, and so has Ramon Ochoa. And a lot of what those guys have done, I attribute to what Dom is able to do creating space in the middle of the field.”
Cervelli and Ochoa have both been on varsity since the start of sophomore year. And speaking of sophomores, the 2017 Cougars have debuted a standout.
“Defensively Ryan Kabaker has stepped up huge,” Williams said. “He played last year on the freshman team, but we moved him up as a sophomore to varsity, and he’s really done a nice job for us back there in the middle.”
The Cougars had topped Lincoln-Way West (2-1 win) and Yorkville (7-1 on Wednesday) on consecutive days earlier in the week. But duplicating that feat days later would prove to be too much.
“We tried to (sub more), and Wednesday night we had a big win against Yorkville, and I was able to get guys some rest,” Williams said. “That helped us last night (in the shutout win at Joliet West).
“But the two games in 20 hours really just caught up to us today. And part of that was because Romeoville is a quality team, and you can’t let up against a team like that.”
The Spartans set the tone in the fifth minute, when Christian Galvan lined a low shot off the right post. Then on a long Romeoville send to the box eight minutes in, Yael Pereda was able to tip the ball away from Cougars goalkeeper Francisco Lomeli for an open net chance.
But Pereda’s apparent sure goal shot inside the 6 was nicely cleared off the line by Plainfield South defender Connor Blake.
Pereda had another close call in the 12th minute, a quick attack up the left side and 20-yard chip that glanced high off the right edge of the crossbar. Then 24:10 before halftime, Romeoville’s Diego Hernandez added his own 20-yard drive off the crossbar.
“They possessed the ball pretty well on us,” Skrip said. “We just weren’t keeping the ball as a team.
“Our guys were pretty tired and everything (from the week), but we just did the best we could.”
When the net frame wasn’t in the way, Cougars goalkeepers were. Lomeli made the save at the near post on Pereda’s end line attack in the 26th minute.
Then after usual Cougars starting goalkeeper Quinton Rose arrived from taking the SAT college entrance test, Rose was inserted into the game and faced a different test -- a Castro low 18-yard shot that Rose dove to deflect off the right post, then raced to nicely block and cover a rebound try.
“Just playing as a team,” Castro said of Romeoville’s key to creating waves of chances. “We all played pretty well, guys were connecting well and communicating. That’s what made us play so well up-top.”
And just when near misses and goalkeeper acrobatics seemed about to end the half as it started at 0-0, Romeoville’s Castro changed that scenario.
Just 4:55 before the half, Castro maneuvered just outside the right side of the box and struck a beautiful 25-yarder high inside the left post to put the Spartans up 1-0.
Then with 2:42 to go in the half, the Romeoville lead doubled to 2-0. Taking a left side pass, Castro stopped to create some space and then drove a 20-yard shot into the upper right corner of the net.
“I was pretty much just watching my spacing around every other player that was around me, and just create the correct space to shoot,” said Castro, whose two-goal, one-assist day earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors. “Just having enough space to shoot, that’s all I needed. Then it’s get a good shot and hit targets.”
The Cougars came out of halftime inspired, with a Cervelli header just over the net 90 seconds in and two excellent defensive plays in quick succession by Kabaker (a steal at the top of the box, then a sliding block on Romeoville’s next threat with 34:30 left).
Plainfield South nearly broke through with 32:15 to go. After Skrip was fouled, a 35-yard Marmolejo free kick on goal was juggled and came free in the crease. But Cervelli’s point-blank rebound was blocked by Romeoville goalkeeper Alegandro Gutierrez, and a third chance was then deflected wide.
The Spartans’ lead grew to the key 3-0 level with 25:52 left, as Anthony Duarte lined home a low 18-yard shot off a Hernandez assist.
Then after quality Plainfield South scoring bids by Gabe Sandoval (shot off the side of the net left) and Skrip (a 15-yard shot off the crossbar with 21:30 left), Duarte’s header inside the left post of a Castro corner kick made it 4-0 with 14:15 to play.
Galvan finished the scoring when he nicely tucked a 26-yard right side free kick inside the upper left post with 8:53 left.
“A good job of possessing the ball, and really everything went well today,” Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione said. “They (Plainfield South) have been playing really well, but we played well today. It was fun.”
A fun start to 2017 for Plainfield South took an unexpected pause. But Williams expects a little rest to get his squad back on track.
“It definitely was an endurance test,” Williams said of the past week. “Going forward we’re going to have to look at this as a piece of adversity, and we’re going to overcome that. We have a couple nonconference games next week, and have some time to get refocused and heal up some.”
Outside of the state tournament, no loss is the end-all - be it 1-0, 10-0 or any score in between.
“We just have to hang out and relax, and get ourselves back to normal for the next game,” Skrip said.
Said Williams: “We’ve just got to bounce back. The goal here is going to be not to let one loss turn into two or three.”
Starting lineups
Romeoville
GK Alegandro Gutierrez
D Ediberto Morua
D Arturo Escot
D Edwin Nava
D Michael Silvar
M Christian Galvan
M David Cahue
M Brannon Castro
M Diego Hernandez
F Anthony Duarte
F Yael Pereda
Plainfield South
GK Francisco Lomeli
D Connor Blake
D Ryan Kabaker
D Justin McGuigan
D Griffin Lapp
M Anthony Marmolejo
M Josue Jimenez
M Dominik Skrip
M Christian Gonzalez
F Tony Cervelli
F Ramon Ochoa
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brannon Castro, MF, Romeoville
Scoring summary
1ST HALF
R - Brannon Castro (unassisted) 35:05; R - Castro (Joel Lopez) 37:18
2ND HALF
R- Anthony Duarte (Diego Hernandez) 54:08; R- Duarte (Castro) 65:45; R- Christian Galvan (unassisted) 71:07.
Cougars end grueling 5-game week with 5-0 setback
By Dave Owen
PLAINFIELD – A tiring but largely successful week for Plainfield South finally took its toll on the Cougars.
A stretch of three games in four days for Plainfield South had produced three victories by a combined margin of 12-2, including a 3-0 shutout at Joliet West on Friday.
But 18 hours after the end of that Friday afternoon win, the Cougars (7-2-1, 1-1-0) faced the task of battling Southwest Prairie Conference foe Romeoville’s speed and relentless offensive attacks under the noon sun on Saturday.
After hitting the post three times in the first 16 minutes, the visiting Spartans (5-3-1, 1-2-0) were on target with two Brannon Castro goals in the final 4:55 of the half.
Romeoville’s offense never cooled, rolling to a surprising 5-0 win that at least momentarily sidetracked the Cougars’ great early season run.
“They (the Spartans) were able to move the ball around wherever they wanted to and were able to move around us pretty quickly today,” Cougars coach Bryant Williams said. “This was our fifth game in eight days (back to a tie Sept. 2 with Lockport), and back-to-back conference games (in two days) which is kind of unheard of.
“But take nothing away from Romeoville, they put the ball in the back of the net five times. They did what they needed to and were able to take advantage.”
Saturday’s result was just one blemish on what has been a beautiful season of staggering improvements for Plainfield South. After finishing with a 6-14-0 record last fall, the Cougars have already exceeded their 2016 victory total with a dominating start.
“I think we’ve got a good team this year,” said senior midfielder Dominick Skrip, who had two goals in Friday’s win at Joliet West. “We’re just going to keep fighting through. We’ve been putting in the work in practice as a team.
“We got some new guys this year. That upgraded us. And we have great chemistry as a team.”
One of those new guys is Skrip. A freshman on the Cougars’ 14-win varsity team of 2014, he has returned to the squad this fall and been a high-impact creator and finisher (four goals in 2017).
“Dominick Skrip in the center has been huge for us,” Williams said. “He played club last year but is back this year, and he’s been great at distributing the ball. He’s not going to look to shoot first. He looks to set up other guys.
“That’s really lifted the game of guys like Tony Cervelli up-top. Tony’s having a great year with six goals and three-game winners already. He’s a senior who it’s great to see has really stepped up.
“Anthony Marmolejo (whose goal put the Cougars up 1-0 at Joliet West) has had a great season up-top, and so has Ramon Ochoa. And a lot of what those guys have done, I attribute to what Dom is able to do creating space in the middle of the field.”
Cervelli and Ochoa have both been on varsity since the start of sophomore year. And speaking of sophomores, the 2017 Cougars have debuted a standout.
“Defensively Ryan Kabaker has stepped up huge,” Williams said. “He played last year on the freshman team, but we moved him up as a sophomore to varsity, and he’s really done a nice job for us back there in the middle.”
The Cougars had topped Lincoln-Way West (2-1 win) and Yorkville (7-1 on Wednesday) on consecutive days earlier in the week. But duplicating that feat days later would prove to be too much.
“We tried to (sub more), and Wednesday night we had a big win against Yorkville, and I was able to get guys some rest,” Williams said. “That helped us last night (in the shutout win at Joliet West).
“But the two games in 20 hours really just caught up to us today. And part of that was because Romeoville is a quality team, and you can’t let up against a team like that.”
The Spartans set the tone in the fifth minute, when Christian Galvan lined a low shot off the right post. Then on a long Romeoville send to the box eight minutes in, Yael Pereda was able to tip the ball away from Cougars goalkeeper Francisco Lomeli for an open net chance.
But Pereda’s apparent sure goal shot inside the 6 was nicely cleared off the line by Plainfield South defender Connor Blake.
Pereda had another close call in the 12th minute, a quick attack up the left side and 20-yard chip that glanced high off the right edge of the crossbar. Then 24:10 before halftime, Romeoville’s Diego Hernandez added his own 20-yard drive off the crossbar.
“They possessed the ball pretty well on us,” Skrip said. “We just weren’t keeping the ball as a team.
“Our guys were pretty tired and everything (from the week), but we just did the best we could.”
When the net frame wasn’t in the way, Cougars goalkeepers were. Lomeli made the save at the near post on Pereda’s end line attack in the 26th minute.
Then after usual Cougars starting goalkeeper Quinton Rose arrived from taking the SAT college entrance test, Rose was inserted into the game and faced a different test -- a Castro low 18-yard shot that Rose dove to deflect off the right post, then raced to nicely block and cover a rebound try.
“Just playing as a team,” Castro said of Romeoville’s key to creating waves of chances. “We all played pretty well, guys were connecting well and communicating. That’s what made us play so well up-top.”
And just when near misses and goalkeeper acrobatics seemed about to end the half as it started at 0-0, Romeoville’s Castro changed that scenario.
Just 4:55 before the half, Castro maneuvered just outside the right side of the box and struck a beautiful 25-yarder high inside the left post to put the Spartans up 1-0.
Then with 2:42 to go in the half, the Romeoville lead doubled to 2-0. Taking a left side pass, Castro stopped to create some space and then drove a 20-yard shot into the upper right corner of the net.
“I was pretty much just watching my spacing around every other player that was around me, and just create the correct space to shoot,” said Castro, whose two-goal, one-assist day earned him Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors. “Just having enough space to shoot, that’s all I needed. Then it’s get a good shot and hit targets.”
The Cougars came out of halftime inspired, with a Cervelli header just over the net 90 seconds in and two excellent defensive plays in quick succession by Kabaker (a steal at the top of the box, then a sliding block on Romeoville’s next threat with 34:30 left).
Plainfield South nearly broke through with 32:15 to go. After Skrip was fouled, a 35-yard Marmolejo free kick on goal was juggled and came free in the crease. But Cervelli’s point-blank rebound was blocked by Romeoville goalkeeper Alegandro Gutierrez, and a third chance was then deflected wide.
The Spartans’ lead grew to the key 3-0 level with 25:52 left, as Anthony Duarte lined home a low 18-yard shot off a Hernandez assist.
Then after quality Plainfield South scoring bids by Gabe Sandoval (shot off the side of the net left) and Skrip (a 15-yard shot off the crossbar with 21:30 left), Duarte’s header inside the left post of a Castro corner kick made it 4-0 with 14:15 to play.
Galvan finished the scoring when he nicely tucked a 26-yard right side free kick inside the upper left post with 8:53 left.
“A good job of possessing the ball, and really everything went well today,” Romeoville coach Nick Cirrincione said. “They (Plainfield South) have been playing really well, but we played well today. It was fun.”
A fun start to 2017 for Plainfield South took an unexpected pause. But Williams expects a little rest to get his squad back on track.
“It definitely was an endurance test,” Williams said of the past week. “Going forward we’re going to have to look at this as a piece of adversity, and we’re going to overcome that. We have a couple nonconference games next week, and have some time to get refocused and heal up some.”
Outside of the state tournament, no loss is the end-all - be it 1-0, 10-0 or any score in between.
“We just have to hang out and relax, and get ourselves back to normal for the next game,” Skrip said.
Said Williams: “We’ve just got to bounce back. The goal here is going to be not to let one loss turn into two or three.”
Starting lineups
Romeoville
GK Alegandro Gutierrez
D Ediberto Morua
D Arturo Escot
D Edwin Nava
D Michael Silvar
M Christian Galvan
M David Cahue
M Brannon Castro
M Diego Hernandez
F Anthony Duarte
F Yael Pereda
Plainfield South
GK Francisco Lomeli
D Connor Blake
D Ryan Kabaker
D Justin McGuigan
D Griffin Lapp
M Anthony Marmolejo
M Josue Jimenez
M Dominik Skrip
M Christian Gonzalez
F Tony Cervelli
F Ramon Ochoa
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Brannon Castro, MF, Romeoville
Scoring summary
1ST HALF
R - Brannon Castro (unassisted) 35:05; R - Castro (Joel Lopez) 37:18
2ND HALF
R- Anthony Duarte (Diego Hernandez) 54:08; R- Duarte (Castro) 65:45; R- Christian Galvan (unassisted) 71:07.