Glenbard South wins battle of unbeatens against Timothy
Eric Good wouldn't let himself change his own mind.
Protecting a 1-goal lead in the second half against defending Class 1A champion Timothy Christian, Good dove hard to his right to deny a Trojans penalty kick and propel Glenbard South to a 3-1 Metro Suburban Conference victory Thursday in Glen Ellyn.
"I have no idea," the Raiders senior goalkeeper said about the big save. "I was just standing there. For some reason I just knew he was going to go right. I was standing there. The whole time in my mind I was just 'right, right.' So I just dove that way and hoped to get it, and I got it."
"To me that was the turning point in the game," Trojans coach Rudi Gesch added.
The save helped end Timothy Christian's streak of 14 straight victories, dating back to last season.
"We're a 1A school of 400 against a school of 1,400," Gesch said. "I was frankly honored by the way their team celebrated the victory. That's an indicator that we've arrived when a school of this size reacts that way over a victory. We know we've got a target on our back as state champion this year."
Two first-half Michael Pyle goals gave the host Raiders the lead, and Damien Sampson caught the Trojans pushing forward late to get another goal and put the game out of reach. Pyle leads the Raiders with 10 goals this season.
"He's been a dangerous player for us," Raiders coach Melissa Pero said.
Corey Phillip scored for the Trojans (7-1, 2-1) on a first-half penalty kick after being taken down from behind in the penalty area.
Pyle's goals and Good's heroics in goal meant the Raiders (7-0, 3-0) were the only team to come out of the game undefeated.
"It was going to be a heartbreaker for someone," Pero said.
"It's crazy. I mean, I didn't expect this coming in (to the season)," Good said of the Raiders' winning streak. "I know we had a really good team, but I didn't know how good we were going to be. I look forward to playing every day because it's so much fun to just keep winning, keep going."