Boys soccer: Metea Valley nips Jacobs in season opener
Jacobs coach AJ Cappello isn't afraid to open the season with a brutal nonconference schedule.
With that rigorous scheduling there is more of a possibility for losses.
Despite a solid effort, Metea Valley edged the Golden Eagles 3-2 in non-league action in Algonquin Monday night. It was the season opener for both teams.
"We believe if we are going to be a good team we have to play good teams," said Cappello. "We are going to get better by playing Metea Valley, St. Charles North, Lake Zurich, Marmion, Barrington and Boylan. I didn't like the way we played the first half. We didn't find our stride until the second half. I like the way we fought in the second half."
The visiting Mustangs (1-0) set the tempo early on a goal by Evan Lang off a rebound shot from James Lynch with only 53 seconds elapsed in the match.
"It was very important to score first and get the momentum early," said Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson. "We play a team the caliber of Jacobs to start the season because they are going to beat us up physically. Jacobs was in midseason form and gave us a great battle. We want to create a winning culture and we did a great job of overcoming adversity tonight."
The Golden Eagles (0-1) knotted the score at 1 on a goal by Colin Walsh off a perfect feed from John O' Connor with 47 seconds left before halftime.
The Mustangs regained the lead at 2-1 as Lynch scored on a penalty kick with 31 minutes remaining in the match.
Jacobs, which never led in the match, tied the match at 2 as Walsh scored his second goal off a pass from Austin Snobel at the 18:47 mark.
Lang scored his second goal on an assist by Ryan Barry with 6:59 left to give the visitors the go-ahead goal.
"I was in the right place at the right time for both my goals," said Lang. "This is a great way to start the season against a very good team on the road."
The Mustangs received an outstanding effort from sophomore goalie Gandhi Cruz who collected 11 saves.
Walsh was aiming for a hat trick for Jacobs with 4:33 left but Cruz made the diving save to preserve the lead for the Mustangs.
"Gandhi was outstanding," said Robinson. "It was a stellar effort by him. He gets better every match."
Cappello was encouraged by his team's second half effort.
"We changed our focus in the second half and played like we are capable of," said the Jacobs coach. "We owned it in the second half and we can build on that."