23 seconds all Falcons need to end OT
Josh Pedersen and Kyle Fishleigh wanted no part of letting West Chicago strike in overtime Thursday night at West Chicago, so the two made sure the Wildcats never even got a chance.
After a hard-fought 1-1 draw over 80 minutes of play, the two teams headed to overtime in an important DuPage Valley Conference battle. Pedersen, however, took the opening kickoff and delivered a nice pass to a streaking Fishleigh, who sent home the game-winner just 23 seconds into overtime, ending the game.
"I said right before the start of OT that we wanted to score in the first minute and we did it in 23 seconds," said Pedersen, who helped the Falcons improve to 7-1-1 overall and 2-0-1 in the DVC. "I heard 'Fish' from behind me and I got it to him and he just put it away."
The OT loss handed West Chicago (6-5-1, 1-3) another tough setback this season and also marked the second straight season in which the Wildcats lost a heartbreaker to the Falcons in overtime.
"It's equally disappointing and the same as last year," Wildcats coach Steve Brugmann said. "I'm happy with the way we played and in the second half we really came alive. Our energy was great."
After a scoreless first half, Wheaton North struck first when Mike Fernald converted a defensive miscue by West Chicago into a goal with 22:15 left to play in regulation. But just when it appeared that score might stand up as the game-winner, Wildcats speedy sophomore Luis Ortega created an opportunity and teammate Aldo Mendoza made good on it after spinning and rifling a shot just inside the left goal post.
Ortega used his speed and fancy footwork to keep the Falcons off guard on several plays, but his team just could not convert enough of the chances into goals.
"We just didn't finish enough opportunities," he said. "Now we've just got to keep our heads up and keep playing hard."
Wildcats goalkeeper Adrian Porcayo made a nice save on a tough shot by Falcon Jason Lollar late in the second half to see to it that the game reached overtime, but he had little chance on Wheaton North's perfectly executed play to open the extra session.
"We've been looking for that play (to work) all season," Fishleigh said. "The game was just back to back with pure counterattacks. (The winning score) was just a real quick play which was great. In overtime you don't want to let it go the other way."
Falcons coach Bryce Cann was glad it did not go the other way. His response after the game was, "It beats the alternative.
"They have an incredible amount of team speed. When you go to overtime it's about one play. Thankfully it came to us right away and we put it away."