Fenton soccer team breaks out
Glenbard South stayed with Fenton for the first half of Wednesday's Class 2A St. Francis regional semifinal.
The second half was a different story, though.
The Bison finally adjusted to the narrowness of the field, scoring four unanswered goals in the second half to earn a 4-0 victory, as well as an opportunity to face Wheaton Academy in Friday's regional championship game.
“I think the kids got frustrated in the first half because things were not going our way,” Fenton coach David Alvarez said. “We were possessing but nothing was coming out of it. We told them to calm down and that because the field was so narrow that they had to literally be on the line to create space.”
Fenton (11-9-1) adhered to Alvarez's halftime instructions, as the Bison spread out the Raiders in the second half. They finally scored less than seven minutes into the half when David Ortega redirected a pass from Jakub Slomkowski.
“It was important to get that one because we were playing kind of not so good,” Ortega said. “We had to go more wide and that's why we started having more opportunities in the second half.”
Glenbard South (14-7-0) wasn't completely denied of chances. The Raiders threatened, getting nice shots from Jack Scotellaro and Brendan Baehl in the first half, as well as a couple dangerous battles for loose balls among scrums in front of the net, but they just couldn't convert.
“The difference in the game was they put their chances away and we didn't,” Glenbard South coach T.J. King said. “The four goals they scored, I think three were off the post and into the back of the net. So a credit to them for great finishing, but I also thought we put ourselves in a great situation to finish on long throw-ins and corner kicks.”
Ortega's second goal of the night gave the Bison a nice 2-0 cushion early in the second half.
“(Glenbard South) was going to pass it to the middle and I just rushed in and got it,” he said. “I took my player on and just tried to chip it in.”
The Bison doubled their advantage by getting a couple late scores from Alexis Mendoza with 16:37 left and then from Antonio Galeana with 5:37 remaining. Meanwhile, they continued to limit the Raiders from doing much offensively.
“We pressured more in the second half, had more intensity and played quicker,” Fenton center back Paul Plizga. “I think we came out too loose at the beginning of the game and thought we would win right away. Since it was 0-0 at half we knew we had to get going.”
Alvarez expected the Raiders to put up a fight, even after they lost a 3-0 game to the Bison on Oct. 13.
“It's very difficult in my opinion to beat a team twice in one season, especially a common foe,” he said. “It was anybody's game at half, and they were dangerous with their throws and set pieces. We may have dominated possession, but all it takes is one counter, one throw-in and one silly foul and you're having to dig yourself out.”