King's one-timer lifts BG past Hoffman Estates
Buffalo Grove's Sean King netted the game-winner just seconds from intermission to carry host Buffalo Grove to a 1-0 victory over Hoffman Estates in boys soccer on Wednesday night.
After the officials made a ruling to put several more seconds on the clock late in the first half, King took advantage by scoring his goal when he ran onto Alexis Alvarez's corner kick.
"It's a tough way to lose a game when the referee, who I respect for wanting to make the correct call, stopped the clock, then added time back on," said Hawks coach Matt Sriver, whose club (3-10-0, 2-7-0) defeated Conant 2-1 on Tuesday.
That no other ball was put into the back of the net proved a surprise, especially for the visitors.
The Hawks made sure Bison keeper Daniel Sempoch was kept busy for stretches of the first half and throughout the second period of this match played at Grant Blaney Stadium.
"They don't play and look like a 3-win team," said BG coach Rick Carlson of the Hawks. "They attacked and played some nice soccer all night long, and put us under pressure.
"But I feel we have two of the best center backs in the league in Ryan Drum and Hans Haller. I liked the way we defended and played, especially after a back-to-back, and a disappointing loss to Palatine."
BG's 2-1 defeat on Tuesday left the Bison (8-8-1, 5-4-0-15 points) chasing too many points to threaten MSL East leader Rolling Meadows, which has a big match this Friday at home against Wheeling.
"We needed to win against Palatine, then go after Hersey and Fremd in order to stay in the race," Carlson said. "Now we hope to stay healthy, and get ourselves ready for the state series."
The Hawks opened brightly on Wednesday, looking repeatedly to striker Angel Sarti and his running mate up top, Remzi Ahmeti.
Konrad Kieruzal, who scored the game-winner against Conant, was the primary facilitator at midfield.
"Our win over Conant gave us plenty of confidence, and it was obvious to me that it carried over, and into this game tonight," said Hawks captain Adam Schultz, who was strong along the back line while serving as force during many of his marauding runs forward.
Close to intermission, Christian Peralta went airborne to push a Zach Masciopinto drive up and over the bar. It went off the football crossbar to initiate the officials' short meeting to sort things out prior to the Alvarez corner.
"That was a tough one to give up before the half, and it might have taken the energy out of us," Schultz said. "But the thing I like about this team is we never give up, and we try to play with a chip on our shoulder all of the time, just as coach Sriver has asked us to do all season."
After Collin Doyle nearly beat Peralta to a superb ball put through from Mike Kotlyar in the 50th minute, the Hawks controlled most of the possessions but were unable to break through.
Sempoch stopped two consecutive attempts from Ahmeti after Sarti helped set up his teammate. Sarti then broke free along the end line, only to see his near-post shot smothered by Sempoch.
In the 67th minute, Schultz got past the defense after a lovely one-two combination with Sarti. But his low drive found the outside netting, and not the gloves of Sempoch or back of the net.
"Drum and Haller were very good for us in the back," Carlson said. "And our outside backs, like Drew Brauner and Kotlyar, along with our top guy in the middle, Masciopinto, have the freedom to move up and down and they also did well in that role for us.
"With Alex (Alfaro) giving us a lot of pace and creative work in front of Masciopinto, we can be a dangerous team. But we've got to be more consistent in order to be successful."
The Hawks continued to go after the elusive equalizer but the Bison managed things well to secure the victory.
"Credit Buffalo Grove for playing hard, and defending us so well in their end," Sriver said. "We've shown we can play with everybody in this conference and I feel like we can make it tough on anyone when the playoffs begin in a couple of weeks."