York slips past Glenbard West

It's been a tough boys soccer season for both York and Glenbard West.

So it probably came as no surprise for either coach when heavy rains and then lightning arrived on the scene on Thursday in Elmhurst, forcing everyone to run for cover and endure a more than 40-minute lightning delay with a little more than 12 minutes remaining in the West Suburban Silver game.

York had a 1-0 lead prior to the delay and then held on for the victory despite Glenbard West challenging on a couple scoring chances late.

"We're a young team and going through some growing pains and just scored enough," Dukes coach Lukasz Majewski said. "We can't score, but at the same time we've been hanging with every team we've played. Our worst loss was our first game of the year."

York (4-7-2) controlled the tempo of the game but had nothing to show for it after 40 minutes as the teams were scoreless at the break.

"I thought we were the better team," York senior midfielder Seamus Ward said. "They weren't getting much on us, even in the first half when I thought we played badly. We got a lot of better passing in the second half. We didn't dribble as much and that was key."

Ward's pass to junior Peter Barabolak early in the second half proved to be the difference. Barabolak netted the game-winner with 35:39 on the clock.

"Seamus crossed it and it just went through the defense," Barabolak said. "The goalie was kind of off. I think he thought it was going to be a shot. I just ran up and just had to make the easy tap in."

Glenbard West (4-12-0) didn't create many scoring chances, but the Hilltoppers had a few to at least threaten late. Danny Zeboski and Connor Strait probably came closest to scoring the equalizer, although the Hilltoppers also had two solid opportunities in the final couple minutes too.

A 50-yard free kick and then a cross ended up just wide left, while Leo Lechuga and David Reyes appeared to set up Jonathan Navarro perfectly in the penalty area with about a minute remaining, but a defender stepped in front of Navarro to eliminate his shot attempt.

"We've struggled with many aspects, especially offensively," Hilltoppers coach Maciej Kusmierz said. "We'll try to regroup. It's been a tough season so far. We played with a lot of effort, but once again in the end we got the outcome that we not necessarily would've liked to have. We'll keep working at it though and hopefully some good will come out of it."

The Hilltoppers have lost 11 straight games and been blanked in nine of those games.

The Dukes haven't fared a whole lot better but appear to be playing better soccer now than they did earlier this fall.

"We've been right there with the teams we've played all year," Majewski said. "We just can't finish. We're young though and we have young kids at the top who are trying to score our goals."