Wheeling wins in OT
Ricky Garcia thrilled a senior night crowd Tuesday evening when he struck the game-winner at 88 minutes to give Wheeling a 1-0 victory in overtime over visiting Rolling Meadows.
The Wildcats (6-6-1, 2-5-0) co-captain finished off the entertaining, well-played and officiated Mid-Suburban East boys soccer match. A Gabriel Garcia corner from the far flag would find its way to the senior, who would send his deftly hit shot toward the frame, then watch it redirected up and over the gloves of keeper Carter Gibson.
"I called 'B-Rod' (Bryan Rodriguez) off the ball when it came my way, then switched to (my) left before sending it in at the keeper," began Ricky Garcia. "On a season when we have such a young team, it's great to win a game like this to help in our development, and especially on a night like this when the seniors and their families are being honored."
Long before Garcia's heroics, each side had its fair set of chances to find its way into the back of the net, if not for stalwart defending, superb keeper saves and a series of golden opportunities wasted inside the box.
"We had our share of chances (on) the night, but this match illustrates exactly how our season has gone thus far when we get (in) and look to score," said a disappointed Mustangs coach Peter Mikulak. "We just seem to lose our composure in the final third, and cannot get into the back of the net."
Both clubs would find space inside their opponent's area, especially at times when a blistering pace set from each side brought out the best in attacking soccer.
The Mustangs (3-8-0, 2-5-0) were at their best when the ball found Declan Delaney, Livingstone Amematey, Emmanuel Yanguaye, Chris Sanchez and Jake Muszcynski, whom Mikulak pushed forward from his sweeper position after the break, and at times carried the run of play and challenged the Wildcats' rebuilt back-line from a year ago.
"Our defense broke down a little bit tonight, but they also made some big plays and really settled down to play solid, especially in the second half," said Wheeling coach Ed Uhrik.
The Wildcats attacked with a vengeance after the break, and when Ricky Garcia came on near the hour mark, it would begin a terrific 20 minutes of play through the remaining part of regulation.
The freshman duo of Irving Eloisa and Irving Balboa would have their moments, including a long-range missile from Balboa which forced Gibson to save at 71 minutes to help keep things even, until Garcia came through late in the first overtime.
"I didn't come out (to) start the second half because of an injury, but I wanted to get back out there and play through (it) and help my team get a win tonight," said Garcia.
Fremd 4, Elk Grove 2: Brian Hindel scored a pair of goals while Spencer Silosa and Lorenzo Savoni each had one for Fremd (3-8-1, 2-5) in the MSL crossover. Cesar Rodriguez and Ernesto Rodriguez scored for the Grenadiers (6-5-1, 3-3).
Jeff Pearson made 9 saves for Fremd while Mike Monegato collected 5 for the Grens.
Palatine 1, Barrington 0: Jake Velinski scored on an assist from Josh Clark with 10 minutes left in the second half in the MSL West match. Kyle Held made 4 saves for the visiting Pirates who are 12-1-1 overall and 7-0-1 in the MSL.
Maine West 2, York 0: Nick Stanfa and Ryan Ybarra each scored goals for Maine West (11-3-1) in the nonconference match. Stanfa's goal was assisted by Ybarra and Carlos Trejo while Jose DeLeon had the assist on Ybarra's goal.