Haskovic does it again for Pirates

Regardless of the sport or records -- pit Palatine and Fremd against each other and there's going to be a game.

The obligatory cross-town rivalry in boys soccer on Vikings turf -- for the aptly named Celtic Cup -- resulted in nearly 70 minutes of scoreless action Tuesday.

But in a similar manner from the game two years ago it all came down to 1 goal by Haris Haskovic.

The senior forward got a rebound shot off with 11 minutes to play to send the Pirates to a 1-0 Mid-Suburban West win and the Celtic Cup.

"It was the second time," said Haskovic. "I scored the game-winner (in overtime) two years ago. Same place, same stadium, same game. It's way better the second time."

"We were talking before the game that regardless of who's having what kind of season, this always ends up being a close game," said Palatine coach Willie Filian. "It is a rivalry and the kids know each other."

The kinship was obvious but both teams played hard.

"We came out here talking about somebody needs to step up and win this," said Haskovic, whose team lost the contest last year. "Someone needs to step up and do something."

"We talked about the game-winner was going to come off of somebody being opportunistic," Filian said. "We like to use the phrase: Whose going to be the hero? They had their chances and we had ours. And fortunately, ours went in then we had to hang on. Typical of this game.

"Haris talks too much -- he scores goals too," Fillian said. "This is a lucky field for him. Haris is the hero."

While there were shifts in momentum, plenty of Pirates kept pressure on Fremd starting keeper Rich Podjasek (6 saves). Matthew Maturano and John Costello both had solid shots for Palatine (10-6, 8-2).

"(There's) no way one person could win this game," Haskovic said. "You've got to have all 11 guys playing as hard as they can the whole time."

Palatine keeper Ben Calvopina had his fair share of stops.

"I think Ben Calvopina was just amazing," Haskovic said of the 8-save game. "He's been playing great. He's the captain (and one of the) workhorses on this team."

Fremd's Sam Callahan got off several good shots, including 2 in final charge.

"It was very hard-fought," said Fremd coach Steve Keller. "The first 20 minutes, both teams were playing on adrenaline. Both teams had opportunities."

Rob Hurwitz also collected a few shots on goal for Fremd, one of which was saved with just 50 seconds to play.

"I liked the fight and energy we played with," said Keller, whose team fell to 6-6-1, 3-3-1 in the MSL. "I'm not displeased at all. I'm happy with their performance -- that's why we play the game. When we go on, if we play the way we played, we'll be in every game."

Leyden 6, Proviso East 3: David Wisniewski had a pair of goals for Leyden in its West Suburban Gold Match at Proviso East.

Rafal Zalewski and Arnoldo Rewes chipped in with a goal and an assist each for the Eagles. Eddie Adame and Chirs Morales also put shots into the Pirate goal. Gerardo Franco had 7 saves to preserve the shutout.

Buffalo Grove 5, Meadows 0: Keeper Mike McEvoy (5 saves) didn't have much housecleaning to do as the Bison won their MSL East game against the Mustangs.

Dan Wichman scored 2 goals and Bryan Soderholm hand a goal and an assist. Frank Atchison was like a point guard, distributing the ball all around the field and collecting 3 assists.

Conant 4, Hoffman 0: Conant used consistent play and 2 goals in each half. Forward Zach Raetzman got the Cougars on the board first -- scoring his first of 2 goals -- thanks to an assist from All-State forward Eric Marofske. Marofske also scored.