Good times keep rolling for Palatine
Palatine extended its early-season good fortunes Tuesday night by defeating visiting Mid-Suburban East-leading Prospect 3-0.
In what could be a preview of the MSL Soccer Cup in mid-October, it was the Pirates' defensive resolve in the middle of the field which made the home side that much more dangerous in its attack, which was fueled by a re-worked front line.
"Our goal was to stop (Mike) Stankiewicz and (Sam) Slusher, who are the hub of the Prospect attack in the midfield, and tonight we were able to do so," said senior Josh Feldman, who was central to the Pirates' defensive effort.
"Palatine did a good job of controlling the middle, especially in the first half," said Prospect coach Kurt Trenkle. "We talked at the break about attacking with speed in the second half, and for the most part, I thought we did. But credit Palatine for their effort and ability to take away what we do so well - and that's to play through the middle."
The Pirates (9-0-1) produced as good an opening spell as they've managed this season on both sides of the ball, with the junior duo of Kosta Risteski and Stephan Thabuteau running hard at the Knights' back line while helping produce chances for themselves and their teammates.
"It's all about both of those guys gaining more confidence each time out," said Pirates captain Willie Filian, Jr., who has watched the contribution from his teammates increase after taking over up top for the injured Josh Clark, who is expected back soon, and Matt Marturano, who is out for the season.
Risteski struck a sensational goal at 17 minutes when he brought down the ball on the run, then touched to his left - then right again - before unloading a blast that eluded diving Knights keeper Jim Brault.
"Kosta scored against Fremd to help us win that match (3-1), and it looks like he's coming out of his scoring slump," said Filian.
Just moments before the goal, Pirates keeper Kyle Held denied a potential point-blank shot from Slusher after Patryk Ruta sent the Knights' senior through.
Feldman helped initiate the Pirates' second goal with a terrific tackle at the mid-line, which eventually ended up with Filian off a rebound from a nice save by Brault.
The visitors began to find their pace near the hour mark and had a chance to cut the lead in half if not for another fine stop by Held, who used full extension to his right to turn away another Slusher attempt.
Ruta, Stankiewicz and Richard Lenke helped ignite the attack for the Knights (5-2-2), but Prospect was not as sharp as it needed to be in close against Held and his back-line mates.
"Coach (Charlie) Gries pulled both Josh and myself aside during half-time last weekend against Fremd and told us it was time to step-up our play in the middle," said Filian, "and tonight I think we all did as a team."