It's Crystal clear, South, Central aim to win
By Matt Misiek
It's fall in Crystal Lake and that means only one thing.
No, it doesn't have anything to do with leaves dropping from tree branches, or seasonal items at any restaurant or store.
It has everything to do with the Crystal Lake South playing Crystal Lake Central. The Gators head north on McHenry Avenue toward the campus of their rivals for an all-important Fox Valley Conference game Tuesday afternoon.
"It's a game that both sides look forward to from a players standpoint," said Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen. "There are several players who likely know each other from playing days in club perhaps while they were growing up."
"There is a lot of pride on the line," said Crystal Lake Central coach Jay Schwarzrock. "Much of what happens on the field will be forever stored in shared memories, good, bad or ugly. What happens on Tuesday will be talked about between players for a long time."
Besides pride and the ability to smile when telling future generations of this matchup, the game is vital to Crystal Lake South (10-3-4, 4-0-1) and their quest for another Fox Valley Conference title. They trail leaders Jacobs (5-0-0 FVC) by one-half game going into Tuesday. Those Golden Eagles have a test of their own Tuesday night hosting Dundee-Crown (4-1-1), who gave the Gators all they could handle in a 4-4 tie Thursday in Carpentersville.
The Gators, ranked 12th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, are coming off of another tie, this time 2-2 against no. 22 Buffalo Grove at home Saturday.
Although the conditions were less than ideal and the Gators surrendered two leads on set pieces goals, coach Allen saw great value from the result.
"Overall a solid game, very intense and physical against the defending MSL champs," he added. "Anytime you can test yourself against an opponent of that quality and get a result should help us grow and learn a lot moving forward."
Host Crystal Lake Central (8-4-2, 4-2-0) has won their last 5 games. One highlight was a 2-1 victory last Thursday over Huntley that showed a big display of character.
"The team is starting to play to their potential," Schwarzrock said. "The Huntley game was a good contest. We found ourselves down a goal, and we had to work together to take back control of the game and get our goals to win the game. It was fun to see us be a true team and play together through adversity."
Goals have been absent from the Tigers' last three meetings with the Gators. Crystal Lake South have taken the last three meetings via clean sheets: 3-0 (2016); 5-0 (2017); and 1-0 (2018). But Schwarzrock explained how the Tigers have been lighting up area scoreboards the last few weeks.
"In the last two weeks, we have scored 25 goals in the last 6 games," he said. "Billy Cummings has been keeping up with (Gators forward) Alex Canfield for the area's scoring title. Billy is averaging close to 2 goals a game. Jake Nelson has been averaging 2 assists a night since last week."
The Tigers also boast standout defenders in Kareem Castaneda and Bryson Freund. All four players mentioned are team captains, as well.
For Crystal Lake South, in addition to Canfield's stat line (20 goals, 10 assists), impressive numbers have been recorded for midfielders Michel Dejworek (6 goals, 5 assists) and Tyler Getzinger (6 goals, 4 assists). Defender Danny Ciezadlo has recorded 10 assists.
However, as it always has been for coach Allen, the most impressive piece of the season has been the overall team performance.
"This team is continuing the 'WEgo' mentality of putting each other before themselves and stepping up for one another," Allen said. "I've had players playing out of their normal positions that they play during club season and thrive and embrace that role for the great good of the team.
"I've had players bounce between two positions regularly and again, embrace that opportunity to do what they can to help the team get better.
"It's a solid foundation and culture that starts with the nine seniors we have, but is then upheld and embraced by the four juniors and especially the six sophomores who all have various roles either as starters or key contributors off the bench.
"The best part is we still are not even close to our best yet, so plenty of growth to still obtain in the final weeks of conference in preparation to be playing our best come playoff time."
By Matt Misiek
It's fall in Crystal Lake and that means only one thing.
No, it doesn't have anything to do with leaves dropping from tree branches, or seasonal items at any restaurant or store.
It has everything to do with the Crystal Lake South playing Crystal Lake Central. The Gators head north on McHenry Avenue toward the campus of their rivals for an all-important Fox Valley Conference game Tuesday afternoon.
"It's a game that both sides look forward to from a players standpoint," said Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen. "There are several players who likely know each other from playing days in club perhaps while they were growing up."
"There is a lot of pride on the line," said Crystal Lake Central coach Jay Schwarzrock. "Much of what happens on the field will be forever stored in shared memories, good, bad or ugly. What happens on Tuesday will be talked about between players for a long time."
Besides pride and the ability to smile when telling future generations of this matchup, the game is vital to Crystal Lake South (10-3-4, 4-0-1) and their quest for another Fox Valley Conference title. They trail leaders Jacobs (5-0-0 FVC) by one-half game going into Tuesday. Those Golden Eagles have a test of their own Tuesday night hosting Dundee-Crown (4-1-1), who gave the Gators all they could handle in a 4-4 tie Thursday in Carpentersville.
The Gators, ranked 12th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, are coming off of another tie, this time 2-2 against no. 22 Buffalo Grove at home Saturday.
Although the conditions were less than ideal and the Gators surrendered two leads on set pieces goals, coach Allen saw great value from the result.
"Overall a solid game, very intense and physical against the defending MSL champs," he added. "Anytime you can test yourself against an opponent of that quality and get a result should help us grow and learn a lot moving forward."
Host Crystal Lake Central (8-4-2, 4-2-0) has won their last 5 games. One highlight was a 2-1 victory last Thursday over Huntley that showed a big display of character.
"The team is starting to play to their potential," Schwarzrock said. "The Huntley game was a good contest. We found ourselves down a goal, and we had to work together to take back control of the game and get our goals to win the game. It was fun to see us be a true team and play together through adversity."
Goals have been absent from the Tigers' last three meetings with the Gators. Crystal Lake South have taken the last three meetings via clean sheets: 3-0 (2016); 5-0 (2017); and 1-0 (2018). But Schwarzrock explained how the Tigers have been lighting up area scoreboards the last few weeks.
"In the last two weeks, we have scored 25 goals in the last 6 games," he said. "Billy Cummings has been keeping up with (Gators forward) Alex Canfield for the area's scoring title. Billy is averaging close to 2 goals a game. Jake Nelson has been averaging 2 assists a night since last week."
The Tigers also boast standout defenders in Kareem Castaneda and Bryson Freund. All four players mentioned are team captains, as well.
For Crystal Lake South, in addition to Canfield's stat line (20 goals, 10 assists), impressive numbers have been recorded for midfielders Michel Dejworek (6 goals, 5 assists) and Tyler Getzinger (6 goals, 4 assists). Defender Danny Ciezadlo has recorded 10 assists.
However, as it always has been for coach Allen, the most impressive piece of the season has been the overall team performance.
"This team is continuing the 'WEgo' mentality of putting each other before themselves and stepping up for one another," Allen said. "I've had players playing out of their normal positions that they play during club season and thrive and embrace that role for the great good of the team.
"I've had players bounce between two positions regularly and again, embrace that opportunity to do what they can to help the team get better.
"It's a solid foundation and culture that starts with the nine seniors we have, but is then upheld and embraced by the four juniors and especially the six sophomores who all have various roles either as starters or key contributors off the bench.
"The best part is we still are not even close to our best yet, so plenty of growth to still obtain in the final weeks of conference in preparation to be playing our best come playoff time."