Schaumburg, Hersey draw 1-1

Opening night in Mid-Suburban League boys soccer demonstrated how difficult life can be in this league.

Schaumburg and Hersey couldn't decide a winner after 100 minutes of play in a 1-1 draw at Roland Goins Stadium on Tuesday in Arlington Heights.

"The thing you always want to do is to score first against Hersey, with the hope that it brings them out of that tough defensive shell they play so well," said Schaumburg coach Hamid Mehreioskouei. "We did just that tonight, but we quickly gave one away. Then it turned into a hard-fought match the rest of the way."

The Saxons (1-1-1, 0-1-1) enjoyed some success early as the Huskies were a bit careless after the opening whistle, conceding a goal just 18 seconds in with Misael Vargas driving his shot from the right post into the far inside corner.

"Just a dreadful start for us," said Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn. "We play a ball straight back to our keeper - there's no angle at all on the ball, and our communication was awful and all of a sudden we're chasing the lead."

The stunning opener inspired a Saxons club which has a first-rate midfield playmaker in Jessie Lopez. He seized control of the attack along with Vargas and Jakub Gonda to give the visitors the terrific start.

"We came out and played quick, and with speed, used the width really well, and got off on the front foot as we had hoped," said Mehreioskouei.

But the Huskies (3-0-2, 0-0-1) fought back bravely, drawing even in the eighth minute when George Boyle met a wonderful serve from the near end line by Luis Rosado and drove his one-timer into the back of the net.

"This team will never give in, so I wasn't surprised that we came back - only that it was so quick, especially for us," said Llewellyn.

The Saxons continued to dominate possession after the break, again playing through Lopez while looking up top for speedy striker Edward Gomez to earn a couple of chances during the first part of the second period.

"No. 11 (Lopez) is freaky good on the ball, and we had to do our best to contain him while still keeping an eye on a few of their other guys who are very talented in their own right," said Llewellyn.

Although most of the play was in the Huskies' end during the final quarter-hour of regulation, Hersey did create some quality chances of its own, beginning with Boyle heading wide after Alex Filian set him up with a nice helper.

Conor Geraghty sprayed his shot over the bar following a well struck corner from Vargas. Then at 75 minutes, Gomez headed wide after Gonda and Vargas created the chance.

In the first extra session, Huskies keeper Adam Szymaszek saved a redirected free kick from Vargas, then stopped Andrew Ralston as time ended.

Schaumburg's Alexis Flores made perhaps the biggest save on the evening when he went full extension to his left to deny Boyle's free kick from finding its way into the upper-right corner in the 96th minute.

"We had a flat 20 minutes of soccer in that first half but found our game in the second half to put a lot of pressure on (Hersey)," said Mehreioskouei. "But they are tough to attack because they get numbers back, then they play that big ball back, which can be dangerous while also taking you out of your game as well."

"We'll take the draw and one point," said Llewellyn. "We've played two very good possession teams in a row really well (the Huskies also drew with Morton over the weekend). But as I said on Saturday, we're still a work in progress."

Hersey is at Rolling Meadows on Thursday for an MSL East matchup, while the Saxons have the rest of the week off before facing Fremd on Friday.

Conant 3, Buffalo Grove 1: Chase Hermanson, Ben Hyde and Gilbert Bwetabure had the goals as the host Cougars topped the Bison. Keeper Christian Hyde stopped 6 shots for Conant (5-1-2).

Palatine 4, Prospect 1: The Pirates picked up decisive victory on the road as four players scored.

Fremd 2, Wheeling 1: Goals from Tomas Peleckas and Zach Schoffstall helped the Vikings past the Wildcats as Fremd senior keeper Will Lefevre made 8 saves.

Rolling Meadows 2, Hoffman Estates 0: The visiting Mustangs got a first-half score frm Brett Gibson and a second-half goal from Sal D'Acquisto.

Barrington 2, Elk Grove 1: The Broncos got started in MSL play with a victory.