Crystal Lake S. flurry buries Woodstock N.
5 goals in 13-minute 2nd half span spearhead 7-0 win
By Gary Larsen
CRYSTAL LAKE — It wasn’t like a floodgate opened or the skies unleashed a heavy downpour on Crystal Lake South’s home field Monday. It was more like Niagara Falls fell on Woodstock North.
With a suffocating barrage of scoring chances, the host Gators padded a 1-0 halftime lead by scoring five goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half in an eventual 7-0 nonconference win.
Sam Bahnfleth netted a hat-trick and added an assist and Tom Coughlin finished with two goals and three assists to lead the charge. Nolan Getzinger and Deven Tinajero also scored in the win, while Michal Dejworek added a pair of assists.
The Gators were in redemption mode after halftime.
“We knew in the first half we didn’t play our best,” Coughlin said. “At halftime everyone was frustrated with how they were playing. We just had to go attack and get on the front foot early and keep the ball more. Then we never looked back.”
Crystal Lake South (1-0-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead at 6 minutes when Tinajero headed home a Dejworek corner kick, and South attacked hard to open the season-opener on their home field.
Gators coach Brian Allen was relatively pleased with his side’s early play, before Woodstock North (0-1-0) slowly began turning the tables. Trailing 1-0, the Thunder spent much of the final 30 minutes of the first half in attack mode.
“The first 15 (minutes) I thought we were good,” Allen said. “We were knocking it around and doing some things well. Then they settled in, put us on our heels a little bit and made us adjust, which was good. We needed that. I told our guys they were going to come at us, and they did. So credit (Woodstock North).”
Truly dangerous shots were scarce for the visiting Thunder, whose best shot on net came at 12 minutes, when Erik Sarabia found Jason Burg near the top of the Gators’ box. Burg fired a shot from the left side and Gators keeper Logan Vargas made a fine diving stop at the far post, slapping Burg’s offering over the endline.
Sarabia was a creative force throughout the Thunder's strong run of play, but South’s backline of Tomasz Slawek, Josh Washington, Dayton Murphy and Andrew Smart held firm in front of Vargas.
Woodstock North coach John Sullivan liked the first half fight he saw in his boys in chasing a one-goal deficit.
“Our guys fought like hell out there,” Sullivan said. “It’s a warm day, and I’m proud of the effort we gave. Especially in the first half I liked the camaraderie we had. We played our game, and we played as a team.
"We have to get more shots, though. If you don’t get shots you’re not going to score goals. We’ll work on that buildup a little bit more. Then (Crystal Lake South) made adjustments at halftime, and we couldn’t match those adjustments."
After taking Woodstock North’s best punch to halftime, the Gators spent the intermission calmly recalibrating.
“They’ve got an expectation so it was really just challenging them and the level they want to play at this year,” Allen. “Yes, there are opponents out there, but we’re also playing ourselves every game. Can we raise our bar and be better? So it was really just an early season question of whether they were happy with their performance. And the answer was a resounding ‘no’. To their credit, they want out and really put a stamp on the second half.”
With seven senior leaders, including five who played on the Gators’ state title-winning team of 2018 and the state runner-up-team of 2019, composure should be a constant for this year’s squad.
Nobody personified that return to composure more than Bahnfleth in the second half.
South went up 2-0 at 42 minutes when Bahnfleth scored from 16 yards on a Getzinger feed, and it was 3-0 after Coughlin buried a head shot on a Dejworek cross at 45 minutes. Bahnfleth struck again just one minute later on a Coughlin assist, and the duo paired up again to make it 5-0 at 50 minutes.
After sending a handful of shots wide of frame in the first half, Bahnfleth was dialed in after halftime.
“I just had to calm myself down,” Bahnfleth said. “The heat got to me a little bit, and I just had to calm down and focus on the details. I had to play the ball and not let the ball play me.
“(Allen) wasn’t disappointed at halftime, but he definitely wanted us all to do more. It’s been a while since we had a normal season so that first half kind of hit us in the face. But we were able to focus back in the second half and play more simple.”
Coughlin scored on a Bahnfleth through-ball at 53 minutes to make it 6-0, and Coughlin found Getzinger with a through-ball at 70 minutes to finish the day’s scoring.
Bahnfleth wasn’t the only Gator who returned to form in the second half. Senior Coughlin has every tool in the shed at his disposal as a skilled, quick, and smart attacking center mid, and he used all of those tools in the second half.
“Tom was upset because his touch was off in the first half, and that’s not Tom-like,” Allen said of Coughlin. “The ball usually sticks to his foot like glue. In the second half he was back to normal.”
Allen liked what he got from multiple players on Monday, citing Smart’s versatility, Tinajero’s work rate, Murphy’s day in-back, and the work that outside mids Dejworek and Getzinger put forth.
Bahnfleth also applauded his teammates after the win.
“I thought Matt Horvath played amazing and Deven Tinajero was insane in the midfield,” Bahnfleth said. “He just kept moving, and I don’t get how he keeps running like that. It makes no sense. And Tom did a real good job of getting back into it in the second half.”
For displaying the work rate on which all is predicated for Allen's program, Tinajero earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match honor.
Woodstock North’s day on the pitch may have ended on the wrong end of an ugly final score but Sullivan was anything but hyper-critical of the way his side played. The Thunder skipper was happy his team got an early look at a Gators team it typically sees in the postseason.
Sullivan applauded performances by defenders David Marin and Braden Luschei, and just wants to see Sarabia receive more support in the attack.
“What we need more is multiple guys — we need to be a team where everyone steps up at every time. We can’t be reliant on one person, so we have to figure out who those guys are and get everyone involved.
“But (South) is a good team, and now we’ll just focus on our (Kishwaukee River) conference games.”
The Gators are just happy to be hitting the reset button after a difficult spring season. They started strong with a 2-0-0 record and 9-3 goal differential before eight starters missed two weeks due to the pandemic protocol.
Varsity veteran Coughlin knows what’s needed for this year’s Gators to return to the form that earned the program state title-game appearances in 2018 and 2019.
“I was on both of those teams and everyone coming into this program knows we don’t focus on what’s down the line. It’s always game by game, and we just want to get incrementally better,” Coughlin said. “We control the controllable, and it’s hard work and effort. Coach Allen puts out a plan, and we just have to execute it with hard work and effort.”
Starting lineups
Woodstock North
GK Enrique Castaneda
D Nii Amoo
D Braden Luschei
D David Marin
D Erik Hermansson
M Eloy Bernal
M Jesus Diaz
M Nibret Freundl
M Erik Sarabia
M Jacob Hernandez
F Jason Burg
Crystal Lake South
GK Logan Vargas
D Tomasz Slawen
D Josh Washington
D Dayton Murphy
D Andrew Smart
M Nolan Getzinger
M Michal Dejworek
M Tom Coughlin
M Deven Tinajero
M Brendan Lewis
F Sam Bahnfleth
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Deven Tinajero, sr., MF, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
CLS: Tinajero (Dejworek) 6th minute
Second half
CLS: Bahnfleth (Getzinger) 42nd minute
CLS: Coughlin (Dejworek) 45th minute
CLS: Bahnfleth (Coughlin) 46th minute
CLS: Bahnfleth (Coughlin) 48th minute
CLS: Coughlin (Bahnfleth) 53rd minute
CLS: Getzinger (Coughlin) 70th minute
5 goals in 13-minute 2nd half span spearhead 7-0 win
By Gary Larsen
CRYSTAL LAKE — It wasn’t like a floodgate opened or the skies unleashed a heavy downpour on Crystal Lake South’s home field Monday. It was more like Niagara Falls fell on Woodstock North.
With a suffocating barrage of scoring chances, the host Gators padded a 1-0 halftime lead by scoring five goals in the first 13 minutes of the second half in an eventual 7-0 nonconference win.
Sam Bahnfleth netted a hat-trick and added an assist and Tom Coughlin finished with two goals and three assists to lead the charge. Nolan Getzinger and Deven Tinajero also scored in the win, while Michal Dejworek added a pair of assists.
The Gators were in redemption mode after halftime.
“We knew in the first half we didn’t play our best,” Coughlin said. “At halftime everyone was frustrated with how they were playing. We just had to go attack and get on the front foot early and keep the ball more. Then we never looked back.”
Crystal Lake South (1-0-0) grabbed a 1-0 lead at 6 minutes when Tinajero headed home a Dejworek corner kick, and South attacked hard to open the season-opener on their home field.
Gators coach Brian Allen was relatively pleased with his side’s early play, before Woodstock North (0-1-0) slowly began turning the tables. Trailing 1-0, the Thunder spent much of the final 30 minutes of the first half in attack mode.
“The first 15 (minutes) I thought we were good,” Allen said. “We were knocking it around and doing some things well. Then they settled in, put us on our heels a little bit and made us adjust, which was good. We needed that. I told our guys they were going to come at us, and they did. So credit (Woodstock North).”
Truly dangerous shots were scarce for the visiting Thunder, whose best shot on net came at 12 minutes, when Erik Sarabia found Jason Burg near the top of the Gators’ box. Burg fired a shot from the left side and Gators keeper Logan Vargas made a fine diving stop at the far post, slapping Burg’s offering over the endline.
Sarabia was a creative force throughout the Thunder's strong run of play, but South’s backline of Tomasz Slawek, Josh Washington, Dayton Murphy and Andrew Smart held firm in front of Vargas.
Woodstock North coach John Sullivan liked the first half fight he saw in his boys in chasing a one-goal deficit.
“Our guys fought like hell out there,” Sullivan said. “It’s a warm day, and I’m proud of the effort we gave. Especially in the first half I liked the camaraderie we had. We played our game, and we played as a team.
"We have to get more shots, though. If you don’t get shots you’re not going to score goals. We’ll work on that buildup a little bit more. Then (Crystal Lake South) made adjustments at halftime, and we couldn’t match those adjustments."
After taking Woodstock North’s best punch to halftime, the Gators spent the intermission calmly recalibrating.
“They’ve got an expectation so it was really just challenging them and the level they want to play at this year,” Allen. “Yes, there are opponents out there, but we’re also playing ourselves every game. Can we raise our bar and be better? So it was really just an early season question of whether they were happy with their performance. And the answer was a resounding ‘no’. To their credit, they want out and really put a stamp on the second half.”
With seven senior leaders, including five who played on the Gators’ state title-winning team of 2018 and the state runner-up-team of 2019, composure should be a constant for this year’s squad.
Nobody personified that return to composure more than Bahnfleth in the second half.
South went up 2-0 at 42 minutes when Bahnfleth scored from 16 yards on a Getzinger feed, and it was 3-0 after Coughlin buried a head shot on a Dejworek cross at 45 minutes. Bahnfleth struck again just one minute later on a Coughlin assist, and the duo paired up again to make it 5-0 at 50 minutes.
After sending a handful of shots wide of frame in the first half, Bahnfleth was dialed in after halftime.
“I just had to calm myself down,” Bahnfleth said. “The heat got to me a little bit, and I just had to calm down and focus on the details. I had to play the ball and not let the ball play me.
“(Allen) wasn’t disappointed at halftime, but he definitely wanted us all to do more. It’s been a while since we had a normal season so that first half kind of hit us in the face. But we were able to focus back in the second half and play more simple.”
Coughlin scored on a Bahnfleth through-ball at 53 minutes to make it 6-0, and Coughlin found Getzinger with a through-ball at 70 minutes to finish the day’s scoring.
Bahnfleth wasn’t the only Gator who returned to form in the second half. Senior Coughlin has every tool in the shed at his disposal as a skilled, quick, and smart attacking center mid, and he used all of those tools in the second half.
“Tom was upset because his touch was off in the first half, and that’s not Tom-like,” Allen said of Coughlin. “The ball usually sticks to his foot like glue. In the second half he was back to normal.”
Allen liked what he got from multiple players on Monday, citing Smart’s versatility, Tinajero’s work rate, Murphy’s day in-back, and the work that outside mids Dejworek and Getzinger put forth.
Bahnfleth also applauded his teammates after the win.
“I thought Matt Horvath played amazing and Deven Tinajero was insane in the midfield,” Bahnfleth said. “He just kept moving, and I don’t get how he keeps running like that. It makes no sense. And Tom did a real good job of getting back into it in the second half.”
For displaying the work rate on which all is predicated for Allen's program, Tinajero earned Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match honor.
Woodstock North’s day on the pitch may have ended on the wrong end of an ugly final score but Sullivan was anything but hyper-critical of the way his side played. The Thunder skipper was happy his team got an early look at a Gators team it typically sees in the postseason.
Sullivan applauded performances by defenders David Marin and Braden Luschei, and just wants to see Sarabia receive more support in the attack.
“What we need more is multiple guys — we need to be a team where everyone steps up at every time. We can’t be reliant on one person, so we have to figure out who those guys are and get everyone involved.
“But (South) is a good team, and now we’ll just focus on our (Kishwaukee River) conference games.”
The Gators are just happy to be hitting the reset button after a difficult spring season. They started strong with a 2-0-0 record and 9-3 goal differential before eight starters missed two weeks due to the pandemic protocol.
Varsity veteran Coughlin knows what’s needed for this year’s Gators to return to the form that earned the program state title-game appearances in 2018 and 2019.
“I was on both of those teams and everyone coming into this program knows we don’t focus on what’s down the line. It’s always game by game, and we just want to get incrementally better,” Coughlin said. “We control the controllable, and it’s hard work and effort. Coach Allen puts out a plan, and we just have to execute it with hard work and effort.”
Starting lineups
Woodstock North
GK Enrique Castaneda
D Nii Amoo
D Braden Luschei
D David Marin
D Erik Hermansson
M Eloy Bernal
M Jesus Diaz
M Nibret Freundl
M Erik Sarabia
M Jacob Hernandez
F Jason Burg
Crystal Lake South
GK Logan Vargas
D Tomasz Slawen
D Josh Washington
D Dayton Murphy
D Andrew Smart
M Nolan Getzinger
M Michal Dejworek
M Tom Coughlin
M Deven Tinajero
M Brendan Lewis
F Sam Bahnfleth
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Deven Tinajero, sr., MF, Crystal Lake South
Scoring summary
First half
CLS: Tinajero (Dejworek) 6th minute
Second half
CLS: Bahnfleth (Getzinger) 42nd minute
CLS: Coughlin (Dejworek) 45th minute
CLS: Bahnfleth (Coughlin) 46th minute
CLS: Bahnfleth (Coughlin) 48th minute
CLS: Coughlin (Bahnfleth) 53rd minute
CLS: Getzinger (Coughlin) 70th minute