Perfect result for Maine West
Maine West's high-flying boys soccer team stayed perfect for the season after defeating undermanned Prosser 3-0 Saturday afternoon in a nonconference match in Des Plaines.
The Warriors (8-0-0) claimed victory with a less than sparkling performance against a Prosser side which entered the match with just three extra players on its bench - and that number was reduced by 1 after a pre-match injury.
"After just finishing two weeks of three tough matches each week, we came out and looked and played a little flat," said Warriors assistant coach Dan Zwerling, filling in for head coach Mike Divincenzo.
"We kind of got caught up in the way (Prosser) was playing, and never really got into playing the way we are capable of," said senior striker Angel Herrera, who shares the captains armbands along with mates Carlos Trejo and Cody Uidl.
The Warriors dominated play during the early stages, and competed with a lot of energy and pace in an attempt to tire their foe. But to the credit of Prosser coach Dennis Munoz, the Falcons showed grit, even after allowing an early goal.
Ryan Ybarra finished under Maciej Orlowski after the Prosser keeper let an Anes Kadiric free kick from 30 yards slip through his gloves inside the 6-yard box at six minutes.
After the Ybarra goal, the Warriors' intention appeared to be to add to their lead and go for the knock-out punch before the break, but it wasn't to be as they struggled to play through the middle to Trejo, which allowed Prosser (1-4-0) to play compact and conservative, while looking to occasionally counter.
"This is a club which has a lot of skill and speed on the ball, but we just weren't sharp enough today to play (that) way," said Zwerling.
On a third consecutive corner, the Warriors finally broke through at 31 minutes with Herrera running onto a well-struck low serve from Kadiric.
Just afterward, Trejo watched his attempt at the back post turned away by Orlowski.
Uidl provided a superb serve to Nick Stanfa, who thump his header into the back of the net to end the scoring at 64 minutes.
"We've got a big week ahead of us beginning with New Trier on Tuesday, then Glenbrook North on Thursday, and if we play well we have a chance to set ourselves up for a good run in our conference," Herrera said.