Lake Zurich has strong showing against St. Viator
As season openers go, this was a pretty good one. Especially for Lake Zurich.
The Bears hosted St. Viator on Wednesday evening in a match between two sides with realistic hopes of long, successful runs into the postseason when the Class 2A and 3A state tournaments commence in late October.
On this night it was the talented attacking trio of Tim Kreutz, Eric Pothast and Nick Janus that helped orchestrate a 3-1 victory for the Bears with a strong second-half effort being the difference.
"It was a match which we kind of expected, and after a slow start, I thought we came around late in the first-half before playing better soccer in the second-half with our midfield coming alive and directing our attack the way we know they can," said LZ coach Mike Schmitz.
The Bears, who saw a remarkable 2008 season abruptly end in OT to Barrington in a brilliantly played regional final, return nearly everyone from a 19-2-3 club and enter this season as one of the favorites in the NSC Lake.
Nonetheless, it was the visitors who had the better run of play in the first quarter hour thanks to precise and quick ball movement, as well as plenty of imagination in its play which led to an Alan Aboona goal just six minutes into the match.
"Those first 10-15 minutes we played really well, but after that we got away from what we were doing and played more as individuals than as a team," said Aboona.
"Aboona put it well, and I couldn't agree with his statement (any) more," said St. Viator coach Mike Taylor. "(Lake) Zurich is a quality ball club, and their big guys up front (Kreutz and Janus) are a tough first test for some of our new players along the back.
"But we've got to correct some things in time for Palatine (this Saturday) because they are a very good team as well."
Aboona did well to shield a pair of LZ defenders to bring down a well-struck ball out of the back from teammate Brendan King. Then on the turn, Aboona fired in a left-footer from 14 yards out.
The Lions, who struggled on many of the Bears' set-piece and dead-ball opportunities, fell victim to a short corner kick initiated by Kreutz which allowed Pothast to equalize at the near post at 16 minutes.
The Bears found their pace at the half-hour mark, and if not for a glove save by Lions keeper Patrick Windle on Colin Rathe, it would have been 2-1 after 40 minutes.
Fatigue and the injection of spirited play by the Bears midfield after the break clearly gave the homeside the advantage and it took just eight minutes into the second half to have Kreutz and Janus combine for the eventual game-winner.
A superb zig-zag run by Janus gave the big striker enough space to deftly touch past Windle.
Windle saved two other potential goals before his short clear in the 72nd minute allowed an opportunistic Jose Corral to collect and quickly find Kreutz to make it 3-1.
"It's always good to get those first-match jitters out of the way, and to still come away with a victory," Schmitz said.