C-G holds off CL South
Playing nearly 89 minutes of soccer in a steady downpour was enough for Cary-Grove senior forward Nick McDonald.
So McDonald did something about it.
Off a perfect feed from Tyler Cuchna, McDonald headed a shot past Crystal Lake South goalkeeper Zach Dalzell with 1:22 left in the first overtime to give the Trojans a 1-0 win over the Gators in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys soccer game at South's Ken Bruhn Field Tuesday night. Cary-Grove moves to 13-1-1 overall and 7-1 in league play while the Gators drop to 9-9-4 overall and 5-3 in Valley play.
"It was just nice to win in these conditions," said McDonald. "It was a tough night to play for both teams, but we kept attacking the net and Tyler came up with a great pass."
Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson gave both teams credit for battling in horrendous conditions.
"Give both teams credit for playing hard in these conditions," said Olson. "It was a great soccer battle between two very good teams. We were fortunate to win. We just want to cause chaos in front of the net whenever we can and Nick came up big."
South outshot Cary-Grove 7-5, but the Gators couldn't push a shot past Trojan goalkeeper Ben Alleva.
"You can't make costly mistakes against a team the caliber of Cary-Grove," said Gators' coach Brian Allen. "We failed to execute our defense and failed to clear the ball on Cary's goal and they capitalized on that mistake. We played hard and the work rate was there. My hat is off to Cary."
Both teams had golden chances to score in the game.
In the first half, Cary-Grove's John Oberlies broke away from the South defense and blasted a shot over the goal with 22 minutes to play.
The Gators' best chance came with 6 minutes remaining during the first 40 minutes when Jordan Innis blasted a shot on goal but Alleva made the diving save to secure the shutout.
Both teams had one good chance to score in the second half. Off a corner kick by Adam Gatza, South's Kevin Novak headed the ball but his shot went left over the crossbar with 20:08 left. The Trojans' chance came with 10:24 left when Cuchna blasted a shot on goal. Josh Latshaw rebounded the errant shot by Cuchna, but Dalzell reached high to deflect the ball over the net.
Other games: Streamwood (13-3-3, 5-1-1 Upstate Eight) had a big offensive night defeating Waubonsie Valley 5-0 with a pair of goals from Ulises Marjarez and single knocks from Mike Chwistek, Ivan Arce and Roma Patino. Alex Aranda had 3 assists, while Edgar Leyva (6 saves) defended the Sabre net... South Elgin (5-8-1, 1-5-1) hung on for a a 3-3 tie with East Aurora in Upstate Eight Conference play. After a first half goal from Ernesto Caballero (Mike Alfini assist), the Storm trailed 2-1 at the half, but Bart Mazurek (Mike Kozielek) and Dan Bohlin (Alfini) each scored to end things even... Goals from Eric Kenneberk and Brian Roman lifted Bartlett (5-7-2, 2-2-2) past Elgin (3-14, 1-6) 2-1 in Upstate Eight Conference play. Marcos Perez and Garret Dini each added assists while Jeff Gal recorded 5 saves in the net. Omar Jasso scored for Elgin assisted by Raul Hernandez, and Osiel Ravada (15 saves) was in goal for the Maroons... Despite goals from Adam Neuman and Jonathan Bussano, Elgin Academy (2-7, 1-3) dropped an Independent School League meeting with Lake Forest Academy 5-2. Tom Tunca had a busy night in goal recording 6 saves... Trailing 3-1 at the half, Huntley (7-4-2, 5-3) scored three times to defeat Crystal Lake Central 4-3 in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division action. Nico Carbonara scored the first two for Huntley. Jesus Alejos tied the game in the 78th minute and also scored the game-winner a minute later. In goal, Kevin Montelongo tallied 2 saves... St. Edward (5-12-2, 2-2) fell 5-1 to Marian Central in Suburban Catholic Conference play. Clayton Pfeiffer scored the lone Green Wave goal off a dish by Miguel Martinez. Jim Cholewa (13 saves) was in goal for St. Edward... Westminster Christian (9-7-1) began play in the Private School League Tournament with a 5-1 loss to Wheaton Academy. Paul Feitlich scored the lone Warrior goal assisted by Josh Beachler. Scott Saturik (3 saves) and Ian Dutcher (10 saves) shared time in goal... Dundee-Crown (9-11, 6-2) continues to succeed in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division play as it earned a 2-1 win over McHenry. Ricardo Carrillo got the Chargers on the board, and Roger Bravo nabbed a second-half goal to lift D-C. After Josh Cook left the game with a collar bone injury, Eddie Fuentes took over in goal recording 5 saves... Jacobs (8-7-4, 4-3) got an early goal from Luis Cabral unassisted and never looked back as it beat Woodstock 2-1 in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action. Before the half, Mike Wallace added an insurance knock scoring off a pass by Sam McKee. Danny Trevor was in goal for the Golden Eagles racking up 4 saves...