Crystal Lake South, Jacobs battle for
Fox Valley Conference crown
By Matt Misiek
The late Tom Petty said it best: "The waiting is the hardest part."
It’s human nature. An important event is circled on the calendar and the anticipation mounts.
For Jacobs and Crystal Lake South, their supporters and all Fox Valley Conference fans, the waiting ends Tuesday afternoon in Crystal Lake. The Golden Eagles and Gators will battle for the first place summit while the losing team could experience conference heartbreak.
This is not a winner-take-all situation. Here are the scenarios that are possible:
Jacobs (11-3-3, 7-0-0) takes the conference title with a victory Tuesday.
If Crystal Lake South (13-3-4, 6-0-1) wins, the rest of the season will need to play out to decide the winner. Jacobs was scheduled to play Prairie Ridge last Saturday. That game was postponed until Wednesday as Prairie Ridge’s turf was not playable. If Jacobs wins Wednesday’s game, Crystal Lake South will need to win their FVC finale at Hampshire on Thursday evening to win the title. A Jacobs loss Wednesday would give the Gators the title.
As expected, scenarios don’t weigh too heavily on the mind of Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen.
“While winning the FVC is always on the list of goals at the beginning of the season,” he said. “We must approach this game as just another game on our journey to continue to grow, to improve and make sure we are at our best for the postseason.”
Jacobs coach Colin Brice took a similar position on the upcoming clash.
“Our team has been even-keeled all season long,” Brice said. “We are excited for this matchup, and we knew at the beginning of the year this could be the FVC championship matchup.”
A similar scenario played out last fall, when the two teams battled in Algonquin. At the timeboth teams trailed conference leader Dundee-Crown and the game was pivotal in order to catch them. Jacobs took an early lead, but South came back and won on defender Evan Carlson’s first career goal. The Gators went on to win the conference title.
Was that why coach Allen had Carlson put some time in at forward last Saturday against Grant on Senior Day?
“He has a nickname of 'Striker Evan' at training whenever we do finishing activities,” Allen clarified. “He makes it so easy at times, so we had some fun with that moment when we moved him up-top to finish the game out.”
Allen also pointed out another highlight of Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Bulldogs.
“Quentin Hughes, who is part of our bench mob, played 40 minutes and recorded his first-ever varsity assist, “he noted. “Senior Day is always special for our seniors who have given so much to this program. Each one got to play quality minutes while allowing everyone to keep their legs fresh for these final weeks of the season.”
Crystal Lake South, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, has not allowed a score in open play since the 4-4 goal-fest Oct. 3 at Dundee-Crown.
“We have begun to pay attention to details more frequently,” Allen said. “We have read cues to anticipate, instead of react, which has helped quite a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if set pieces were a big factor in this game.”
Jacobs, ranked as an Honorable Mention team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, has earned their share of memorable moments this season as well.
“The most memorable of the season, to this point, was our 2-0 win over Dundee-Crown last Tuesday,” Brice said. “They are our district rival, and we hadn’t beaten them in four years. It was a great home crowd and was a fun game to coach, especially since Dundee-Crown has such as talented team.”
The Golden Eagles have received standout performances this season from Liam Armstrong (12 goals, 4 assists), Bryan Ramos (6 goals, 2 assists), Alex Nicastro (6 goals, 2 assists). Goalie Preston Krahl has been rock solid with a 1.15 goals-against average and 6 shutouts.
One thing remains constant after all of the analysis -- the respect that each of these programs has for the other.
“Crystal Lake South is a solid team and very well coached,” said Brice. “Brian (Allen) does a terrific job preparing his boys for each and every game. (Alex) Canfield is also a very talented player, one of the top players in the state. Our boys are up for the challenge in competing against him and the South team.”
Said Allen: “Jacobs is a very senior-laden team that has been playing very good soccer lately and scoring a lot of goals. We will have to be very sound defensively and patient, focusing on playing our brand of soccer and forcing them to adjust to us the best that we can.”
Fox Valley Conference crown
By Matt Misiek
The late Tom Petty said it best: "The waiting is the hardest part."
It’s human nature. An important event is circled on the calendar and the anticipation mounts.
For Jacobs and Crystal Lake South, their supporters and all Fox Valley Conference fans, the waiting ends Tuesday afternoon in Crystal Lake. The Golden Eagles and Gators will battle for the first place summit while the losing team could experience conference heartbreak.
This is not a winner-take-all situation. Here are the scenarios that are possible:
Jacobs (11-3-3, 7-0-0) takes the conference title with a victory Tuesday.
If Crystal Lake South (13-3-4, 6-0-1) wins, the rest of the season will need to play out to decide the winner. Jacobs was scheduled to play Prairie Ridge last Saturday. That game was postponed until Wednesday as Prairie Ridge’s turf was not playable. If Jacobs wins Wednesday’s game, Crystal Lake South will need to win their FVC finale at Hampshire on Thursday evening to win the title. A Jacobs loss Wednesday would give the Gators the title.
As expected, scenarios don’t weigh too heavily on the mind of Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen.
“While winning the FVC is always on the list of goals at the beginning of the season,” he said. “We must approach this game as just another game on our journey to continue to grow, to improve and make sure we are at our best for the postseason.”
Jacobs coach Colin Brice took a similar position on the upcoming clash.
“Our team has been even-keeled all season long,” Brice said. “We are excited for this matchup, and we knew at the beginning of the year this could be the FVC championship matchup.”
A similar scenario played out last fall, when the two teams battled in Algonquin. At the timeboth teams trailed conference leader Dundee-Crown and the game was pivotal in order to catch them. Jacobs took an early lead, but South came back and won on defender Evan Carlson’s first career goal. The Gators went on to win the conference title.
Was that why coach Allen had Carlson put some time in at forward last Saturday against Grant on Senior Day?
“He has a nickname of 'Striker Evan' at training whenever we do finishing activities,” Allen clarified. “He makes it so easy at times, so we had some fun with that moment when we moved him up-top to finish the game out.”
Allen also pointed out another highlight of Saturday’s 4-0 win over the Bulldogs.
“Quentin Hughes, who is part of our bench mob, played 40 minutes and recorded his first-ever varsity assist, “he noted. “Senior Day is always special for our seniors who have given so much to this program. Each one got to play quality minutes while allowing everyone to keep their legs fresh for these final weeks of the season.”
Crystal Lake South, ranked 11th in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, has not allowed a score in open play since the 4-4 goal-fest Oct. 3 at Dundee-Crown.
“We have begun to pay attention to details more frequently,” Allen said. “We have read cues to anticipate, instead of react, which has helped quite a bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if set pieces were a big factor in this game.”
Jacobs, ranked as an Honorable Mention team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, has earned their share of memorable moments this season as well.
“The most memorable of the season, to this point, was our 2-0 win over Dundee-Crown last Tuesday,” Brice said. “They are our district rival, and we hadn’t beaten them in four years. It was a great home crowd and was a fun game to coach, especially since Dundee-Crown has such as talented team.”
The Golden Eagles have received standout performances this season from Liam Armstrong (12 goals, 4 assists), Bryan Ramos (6 goals, 2 assists), Alex Nicastro (6 goals, 2 assists). Goalie Preston Krahl has been rock solid with a 1.15 goals-against average and 6 shutouts.
One thing remains constant after all of the analysis -- the respect that each of these programs has for the other.
“Crystal Lake South is a solid team and very well coached,” said Brice. “Brian (Allen) does a terrific job preparing his boys for each and every game. (Alex) Canfield is also a very talented player, one of the top players in the state. Our boys are up for the challenge in competing against him and the South team.”
Said Allen: “Jacobs is a very senior-laden team that has been playing very good soccer lately and scoring a lot of goals. We will have to be very sound defensively and patient, focusing on playing our brand of soccer and forcing them to adjust to us the best that we can.”