CL South, Prospect deliver entertaining tie
The annual nonconference match between Prospect and Crystal Lake South lived up to its advanced billing Saturday afternoon in Crystal Lake.
Together, the division leaders from their respective conferences boast a sparkling 22-2-2 overall record, while combining to allow a paltry 9 goals this season.
Neither side gave an inch on the extra-wide pitch at Crystal Lake South (14-1-2) in a keenly contested match, with the hosts striking first in the 65th minute, only to watch a sensational late equalizer from Brayhan Nunez help the Knights secure a 1-1 draw.
"This was a highly competitive match today, and one, I am sure for both (Prospect coach Kurt Trenkle) and I, that's a real barometer on where each of our teams stand around the area and in our individual sectionals," said South coach Brian Allen, whose club meets division rival Jacobs on Tuesday in a match that will likely decide the champion of the Valley Division of the Fox Valley Conference.
"What a great test for us (today) with Brian and his club," said Trenkle. "This has been our toughest test of the season outside of the MSL, and I thought we fared well in a match which ended, in what I thought, was a fair result at 1-1."
The visitors clearly fashioned an impressive opening, spurred by the pace and energy of front-runners Richard Lenke and Bill Cooney, but also from the hard work and tenacious defensive play from Stefano Dolomas and David Spudic. They made the sure the center of the field was owned by the Knights and not Gators top scorer Charlie Oliver, who entered the match as the leading goal-scorer in the area with 20 on a team which already has 47.
"We knew that Oliver was fast, very good on the ball, and a dangerous scorer, but Stefano did a great job on him, as did (Spudic), who were terrific in the middle in slowing their high-powered attack," said Trenkle.
The Knights had the run of play and a high rate of possession in the first 40 minutes, and the only surprise of the half was their inability to take advantage of chances, particularly from the outside with Nunez and Mario Morales helping create trouble in the Gators' end.
"That No. 7 (Nunez) was very dangerous on the outside for Prospect today, but we knew going in that both of our styles were similiar in many ways, and that it was important for us to be patient defensively, and to keep our shape along the back," said Allen. "For the most part, I thought we held our own in the first half, and gained back some of the run of play in a back-and-forth second half."
"We really liked playing on such a wide field (75 yards) and we used it to our advantage really well, except we just didn't finish our chances, then paid for it later," said Knights junior midfielder and captain Patryk Ruta.
Ruta nearly found the back of the net at 22 minutes with Nunez the architect on the play.
Oliver, who was doubled for most of the match in the Knights' third, did manage to cause problems of his own when given just a slight hint of space. Just before the break, he shot on the left side off a well-supplied ball from Trevor Bittenbender. That attempt went wide, as did a clever attempt to bend a shot into the upper right corner from 22 yards.
Alex Allmandinger produced a strike at 65 minutes after the junior ran free and past the Knights' wall to redirect via header a superb free kick from Adam Gatza.
However, with perhaps their biggest victory just 60 seconds away, it all fell apart for the Gators when Nunez came through from his right-side run and scored after a gorgeous serve from Ruta.
"We were a little lax at the start (today) but came back to play a very good second half," Oliver said. "But one mental lapse cost us the win."