Dundee-Crown surprises Jacobs

Let the battle lines be drawn.

Last Thursday, Rey Vargas found out his Dundee-Crown soccer club was awarded a No. 4 seed in the regionals, 2 spots behind No. 2 Jacobs, which will be hosting when the postseason begins in two weeks.

Sometimes that’s all it takes to provide some inspiration.

Kyle Hagan struck twice and the Chargers’ defense, led by Luis Lopez, helped the home-side claim its first victory in the Valley Divison after defeating visiting Jacobs (8-8-0, 1-2-0) on a blustery day Thursday in Carpentersville.

“We’ve always had a great rivalry with Jacobs on the soccer field, but it was good to see us finally put together 80 solid minutes of soccer from start to finish,” said Vargas, whose club is now 7-5-0 overall after its win.

“I feel that when we play like we did today, that we can compete with anyone, and in our regional with Jacobs, Crystal Lake South (top seed) and Huntley, it’s wide open, and if we can continue to play the way we did today from here on out, anything is possible once the playoffs begin.”

Vargas may have had second thoughts after the visitors stunned the big crowd on hand in the first minute of play when Mario Rako and Erik Nava worked a quick 1-2 combination that resulted in firing a low blast off and through Chargers keeper Christian Martinez.

“It was a great start for us, and we continued to play well all throughout the first half, but as we’ve seen from time-to-time, we just haven’t been sharp enough in the final third, and when you cannot finish in this game, you struggle to win matches,” said Jacobs head coach AJ Cappello.

Nick Matysek’s terrific challenge off his line likely helped persuade Hagan to strike sooner than he would have liked when he roared up the right side to collect a ball sent in from Eduardo Arellano at 5 minutes but the Eagles’ keeper could do nothing about Antony Meza’s well-paced and wind-aided free kick from 35 yards which sailed over the outstretched gloves of Matysek to draw the Chargers even.

Both Hagan, and his mate up top, Jose Reyes, were a handful during the first half-hour, and in the 20th minute, Hagan would strike the eventual game-winner.

The Chargers’ co-captain was picked out in the center by a superb ball from the midline by Ozvaldo Ramirez, whose piercing serve split a pair of Jacobs’ defenders to allow Hagan to get enough space and time to go into the back of the net the other way.

Matysek would make a spectacular goal-saving stop of a 25-yard blast from Hagan, but his superb effort would yield a rebound in close, which Hagan would thump home from in close to give the Chargers a 3-1 lead at 25 minutes.

“You never got the feeling that our early goal would be enough, and although we did some good things out there, we still weren’t able to finish any of our chances after that early goal,” offered Jacobs senior Mark Taflinger.

While the hosts were clearly the more aggressive side during their 3-goal explosion, the Eagles would gain back the run of play leading up to intermission, and created a handful of chances before the break, including a late sequence in which the aforementioned Lopez would erase with some terrific defensive play.

Brad Cleveland would get to the endline, before sending a ball through to an unmarked Sam Tang but an alert and quickly fashioned tackle by the silky smooth sweeper Lopez, parried away a potential scoring opportunity for the Eagles.

Moments later, Rako and Cleveland combined up the left side and if not for another deft tackle from Lopez, Cleveland might have been in on Martinez.

“Luis is a great defender, and ever since we moved him (into) the back, our defense has improved tremendously,” said Vargas.

Play was up and down for most of the second half, as conditions worsened, thanks in part to gale-like winds that came and went — and a driving rain which appeared in the final 10 minutes of regulation.

Despite it all, the Chargers were able to disrupt the Eagles’ attack, especially in the middle of the park, and did not allow much of anything going forward, except for a well-tossed flip throw from Nick Laruso, which sailed to the back post before Martinez turned it around the post for a corner.

“They made it difficult for us to generate much at times in the second half, but we also didn’t knock the ball around as well as we have and we’re capable of,” said Cappello, whose club travels to division leading Crystal Lake South next Tuesday, before hosting another top side in the FVC, Cary-Grove, two days later.