Elk Grove tough under pressure to hold off BG
A late second-half goal from Phil Chen was enough for Elk Grove (2-6-1, 1-3-1) to fend off the challenge of host Buffalo Grove on Tuesday night in a Mid-Suburban League East Division boys soccer match.
The senior midfielder powered home a one-timer to give the Grens what looked like a comfortable 2-0 cushion in the 72nd minute.
But the visiting Grens were forced to defend for the remaining eight minutes as the Bison battled in vain for the equalizer - after Danny Ontiveros drew BG (3-7-1, 1-2-0) within 1 at 73 minutes.
"Ever since we played before a big crowd at home last (Thursday) against Conant, we've picked up some momentum and begun to play with a lot of team work and confidence," said Chen, who was solid all match on both sides of the ball.
"We could have played better on the defensive side tonight," said Grens coach Joe Bush. "But we withstood some heavy pressure, especially near the end and were able to get an important victory for us."
The Bison opened the match by creating a pair of corners and deep throws in the first four minutes, only to see each advantage in close fail.
The Bison quartet of Brian Urban, Brian Olson, Dan White and Greg Betz had plenty of pace up top and from the middle, where Olson would ignite the attack. But it wasn't until the 26th minute when Urban was sent through by Ryan Frantz that the Bison had their best chance.
"We could have been up 1-0, 2-0, but just didn't finish our chances," Urban said.
The Grens finally got busy on the other end of the pitch as intermission neared, and they kept up the pressure after the break.
Bison keeper Clinton Bugno turned away a Christian Soto blast at the near post at 52 minutes. The corner kick which followed the Bugno save that led to senior J.J. Lastovich's goal.
Lastovich finished after a scrum left a loose ball available in close.
Just moments before the Chen strike increased the Grens lead, Elk Grove keeper Andy Larson went horizontal to turn away an Urban free kick from 20 yards that would have draw the Bison even.
Chen hit the eventual game-winner, thanks to a long throw from teammate Ernesto Rodriguez, but careless defense from front-to-back allowed Ontiveros to easily slot home a Betz helper to set up a furious end to the match.
Larson helped preserve the victory with a glove save on a Franz attempt at 78 minutes.