Marturano, Palatine dig new Field Turf

It's a new era in boys soccer at Palatine this season.

Field Turf.

The Pirates (2-0-0, 1-0-0) christened their brand new turf Thursday with a 2-0 victory over defending Mid-Suburban League champion Hersey 2-0 on a night that in the past would have given the home side a decided advantage.

"We're a turf team now," smiled senior Matt Marturano, who scored twice for the second time in as many matches.

"We would always like playing on a night like this on the grass because we would always know the rain and the muck worked perfectly for the way we played," said Marturano, who recalled the Pirates' 1-0 regional final victory over St. Viator last fall in quicksand-like conditions. "It's going to take us a little time to get used to the speed of playing on (turf), but we've got the guys to (play) this way and our new turf will eventually be an advantage for us."

The visiting Huskies (1-1-0, 0-1-0), who are going through an adjustment after losing two-time all-area striker Alex Gardasevic to a recent season-ending injury, struggled to find their pace for most of the first half - and the Pirates had much to do with the Huskies' troubles.

"We didn't react well to the physical style in which (Palatine) played, tentative and timid for most of the half and it wasn't until later that we began to do some of the things that we set out to do," said Huskies coach Darren Llewellyn.

A chippy, whistle-filled opening 30 minutes was broken up when Marturano fired in his first goal after he and mates Josh Clark and Willie Filian created an opportunity in close. Marturano hammered home a loose ball from 12 yards following a scrum.

Marturano nearly made it 2-0 just before intermission when he redirected a header just over the bar.

After the break, the Huskies engineered a revival of its attack, led by the speedy Kyle Pietro.

But the Pirates' veteran backline of Tim Conklin, Josh Feldman and Dan Schweikert combined to close down any chances against keeper Kyle Held.

Filian took a little something off one of his patented long throws, surprising the Huskies with a short toss at the far touchline to Jacob Velinski - who quickly found Marturano on the tail-end of a run.

The senior slotted the ball under Huskies keeper Greg Janicki at 60 minutes to make it 2-0.

"We didn't create a whole lot of chances tonight, but we finished on two," said Pirates coach Willie Filian.

"Their keeper made 2 terrific saves, and one of their defenders blocked a shot in close on Jon Clark that could have been a goal. We've played better in each of our games, and now we have a big test on Saturday morning when St. Viator comes here."