Savino, Schaumburg strike down Prospect
Prospect was knocked from the unbeaten ranks Tuesday night on its home turf as Schaumburg shocked the defending Mid-Suburban East champs 3-2 in OT on a Jake Savino strike in the 87th minute.
The Saxons (2-5-0, 1-2-0), who have struggled in the early stages of the new season after losing most of their roster from a team which nearly advanced into the final four of the 3A state finals last fall, appeared to have found some new life after playing a pair of top-flight clubs last weekend in Peoria. That momentum seemed to carry over against the Knights.
"We told the guys afterward that you cannot expect to go through a season without a little adversity," said Prospect coach Kurt Trenkle, "and tonight we saw that against a Schaumburg club which, quite frankly, outworked us for most of the night and battled hard right up until the end when they were able to get the game-winner in a (pile-up) in front of our keeper."
The Knights (6-1-1, 2-1-0), who had shut out their last six opponents, needed a quarter hour or so to shake off some of the rust it had gathered following a 10-day layoff. Then, at at 18 minutes, Bill Cooney scored after taking a devastating ball from Patryk Ruta on the right side.
The Saxons erased the first of two deficits just 30 seconds later with Joey Faleni getting the equalizer. Faleni was a constant threat for coach Hamid Mehreioskouei, as were searing long throws from Mark Bielanski, which kept Prospect keeper Brad Reibel on his toes.
"Faleni has been a rock for us for the first three weeks of the season, especially in Peoria where he was marking and tracking 2-3 midfielders for us," said Mehreioskouei. "And what about (their) keeper tonight? He just stayed in there and took a real pounding, but never backed down and seemed to catch and hold onto everything for them."
Neither side had much luck with possession, with the homeside having a difficult time finding its strike force of Ruta and Richard Lenke in space.
"We weren't clean enough along the back today, and we just did not get the play we needed in the middle tonight," Trenkle said.
The visitors' work rate had a lot to do with the Knights' inability to produce much in the way of an attack. Still, Prospect was able to grab the lead back just five minutes before the break just moments after Saxons keeper Danny Arteaga saved a blast sent in to the near post by Mario Morales.
Sean Flahaven elevated high above all others inside the area before redirecting his header from David Spudic to send the Knights into the break with the lead.
"We played at a very high level of play this past weekend against some great competition, so I knew we weren't in trouble despite being down a goal at the half," said Savino, who tweaked his ankle and left the field at 44 minutes before returning 12 minutes later to help inspire the Saxons' comeback.
With Bielanski firing away with his accurate throws and the visitors winning balls and making sure the Knights could not jump-start their attack, the Saxons' hopes of getting even improved with every passing minute.
Reibel turned away a trio of wonderful balls sent in, but the junior could do nothing after some masterful trickery from Savino on the far touchline brought the junior close enough to find Blake Nelson, who in turn found Faleni for a header.
A bit of bad luck stung the Knights in the first extra session after a Matt Murphy free kick saw Reibel make the initial save. But on the way down, and with the force of hitting the turf and with a little help from a few hard charging opponents, the ball slipped free and into the air, where an alert Savino finished.
"We went 80 hard minutes against Peoria Notre Dame (2A state runner-up last season) and Marquette (nationally ranked club from Milwaukee) and we came out here tonight and picked up where we left off," said Mehreioskouei. "I think the guys are finally understanding after those two games what it takes to be competitive in the MSL, and we hope it continues from here on out.