Palatine eliminates Dundee-Crown

Palatine booked a place in its own boys soccer regional final Saturday after defeating Dundee-Crown 3-0 in the second match of a double-header on Wednesday night.

The No. 6-seeded Pirates (14-8-0) will face No. 3 Lake Zurich (17-3-2) in a rematch of a midseason match which saw the NSC champion Bears triumph 4-1.

The action was fast and furious and never lacking in quality for the home side, especially up front as Haris Haskovic, Glenn Arnold and Louis Vargas showed creativity and too much energy for the No. 11 Chargers (9-9-2) despite rainy conditions.

"Coach (Willie Filian) told us that it was so important not to come out flat in the first 10 minutes and to set the tone for the rest of the match," said Haskovic.

Palatine's pressure forced the D-C back line of Kyle Vickstrom, Austin Tanner and Chayanne Martinez to work harder than they would have liked, particularly in the first quarter hour of play which saw the Pirates dazzle on the slippery turf and Vargas find the back of the net at 15 minutes.

"We started out far too slow to compete (early) on with Palatine," lamented Chargers coach Rey Vargas.

"We picked it up toward the end of the first half, but we still were unable to get our midfield involved on a regular basis to give us a chance to find our skilled guys and attack."

The Vargas strike was superb. Matt Marturano sent the striker through with a marvelous pass to break down the Chargers' defense and put Vargas alone against D-C keeper Mike Zozokos.

Later, Todd Leitgeb sent a perfect ball over the top to find Haskovic, who out-raced a pair of defenders before delivering a low first-time finish from 10 yards out to make it 2-0 at 19 minutes.

"Todd gave me a great ball out of the back." Haskovic would begin. "But his defensive work on Christian Meza was even better."

Meza, the Chargers' all-state candidate, was held to a quiet first-half, thanks in part to Leitgeb, who helped reduce the talented midfielders' touches and thus the Chargers' ability to attack or possess in the Pirates' end.

The second half was played at a much slower pace, and after easing through the first 40 minutes with a comfortable 2-0 lead, Ben Compton added another goal for Palatine when he thumped a header off a helper from both Vargas and Haskovic.

"We've been going back and forth about playing three up top of late, and playing a little more direct with the postseason upon us," said Filian.