1 goal enough to lift Trojans

Both the Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South boys soccer teams came to the field Tuesday night looking for redemption.

Cary-Grove (9-2, 2-2) was looking to avenge a tough 5-0 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division loss to McHenry last week, while South was looking to bounce back from two nail-biting losses at the Bartlett Tournament over the weekend.

Both teams played well enough to win.

In the end, an early first-half goal from Cary-Grove, backed by solid defense for the remainder of the game would be enough to give the Trojans a 1-0 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division victory.

Crystal Lake South (8-6-1, 2-2) came out of the gates powerfully, controlling play for the first 15 minutes.

"Our guys needed to figure out South's formation," said C-G coach Mark Olson. "We're seeing a lot of teams flood the midfield, and our guys needed to make adjustments."

It didn't take the Trojans long and those quick adjustments would allow them to score on their first opportunity.

"We had to lock it down in the middle," said C-G midfielder Kyle Blank. "Once we did that, everybody was able to work off of one another."

C-G's first drive resulted in a corner kick.

Defender Andy Roberts would send a perfect feed to the front of the South net where Calvin Brown headed it past a sea of jerseys, including Gator goalkeeper Zach Dalzell (9 saves).

"I just went into it thinking I've got to get this one," said Brown. "I thought there would be more scoring, but I knew that an early goal would be important."

Not only was Roberts credited with the assist, but Olson also credited him with anchoring the Trojan defense all night -- a defense which shut down one of the area's leading scorers in South forward Jordan Innis as well as several second-half opportunities from the Gators.

"We need to play at a high level for a complete half," said South coach Brian Allen. "We cannot be inconsistent against a tough team. It is always going to be difficult to battle back.

"Cary-Grove is balanced top to bottom and they go at you for the full 80 minutes."

Despite the frustrations, Crystal Lake South didn't quit. In fact, the Gators had five consecutive chances in the final 6 minutes of play. With 4:55 remaining, South fired a shot off with C-G keeper Kieenan Walsh (8 saves) away from the goal, but the Cary-Grove defense tallied a stop of its own.

"I was definitely impressed with our battle," said Allen. "The guys never quit, and created a lot of chances in the end.

"Mauricio Ramirez did an excellent job of getting people involved in our attack."

Olson was happy with his team's intensity, which was needed until the very end.

"The biggest thing was our focus," said Olson. "Crystal Lake South, that was a battle. Everybody contributed and it came down to how hard we played the entire time."