Palatine strikes early, often enough

Palatine stunned visiting Schaumburg with 2 strikes in the first four minutes, then added another to build a 3-goal lead before holding on for a 3-2 Mid-Suburban West soccer victory Thursday night.

Captain John Castellano found the back of the net just two minutes into the match. Them he recorded the helper, along with Zach Compton on Kyle O'Meara's goal to give what had been a troubled Palatine (5-4-0, 3-1-0) attack some much-needed life.

"We built what looked like a comfortable 3-0 lead going into the break, but after (Schaumburg) hit back with that PK, our attack went back to being predictable and stagnant," said Palatine coach Willie Filian.

"You could feel the momentum change when it became 3-2, but Schaumburg used so much energy to get back into the match, that in the end, things kind of evened out and we were able to came away with a win."

Castellano raced forward to one-time a rebound which Saxons' (5-3-1, 3-2) keeper Jordan Sandberg gave up after turning away a cracker off the boot of Louis Vargas just moments after the opening whistle.

Then Castellano initiated the second Palatine goal with a long throw to the spot, in which Compton flicked brilliantly to an un-marked O'Meara.

"Not exactly the kind of opening to a match that we had envisioned," said disappointed Saxons coach Hamid Mehreioskouei. "Credit Palatine. They came out and put pressure on us right away."

Much of the early success.. and for most of the first half hour of play, should be credited to the Pirates midfield. It showed plenty of pace and energy, while winning most of the 50-50 balls and staying disciplined defensively when their opponents attacked.

With the Saxons' trio of Josh Beard, Tim Piotrowski and Wesley Hollis well-shackled by the Pirates back-line, led by Sean McLoraine, Compton, Vargas and others, it became clear the visitors would struggle to possess with any regularity until its midfield and front-runners could find a way to link up.

Sophomore Mike Marturano stung the Saxons at 33 minutes when he thumped another rebound given away by Sandberg. This one was from Josh Clark, who unloaded a right-footed blast in which Sandberg did well to stop, despite likely not seeing the ball until it was upon him.

Piotrowski was hauled down just inside the box minutes after intermission and Beard converted easily at 44 minutes to pull the Saxons a little closer.

"We lost our edge (after) that PK, and our focus," admitted Castellano.

With the Saxons' finding new life, and the ability to locate a hard-charging Hollis, the visitors closed the gap when Hollis pounced on a perfect ball sent through from the left side in the 58th minute to make it 3-2.

"With (Hollis) finding his pace, and with his great speed, (they) really gave us a lot of trouble after getting within 1 goal, " Filian said.

The match opened up on both sides of the ball, leading to several hard fouls, and a handful of yellow card bookings before the Pirates were able to celebrate their victory.