Crystal Lake South FVC champ
It wasn't easy, but when the last whistle was blown Crystal Lake South had secured its second consecutive Fox Valley Conference crown.
Off a perfect feed from Charlie Oliver, Trevor Bittenbender blasted a shot past Prairie Ridge goalie Brandon Barnes with 1:53 elapsed in the first overtime to give the Gators a hard-fought 3-2 win over the upset-minded Wolves at the South Soccer Complex Thursday afternoon.
“It was a great pass from Charlie and I just reacted and shot the ball, said Bittenbender. “I was in the right place at the right time. This was an amazing effort and we had great teamwork. Prairie Ridge played great and we had to beat them. Our motto is “We are one and we won as a team. We didn't want to share the title.
South coach Brian Allen praised his team's accomplishments.
“This is a really special group of seniors, said Allen. “They got rewarded for all their hard work. PR played a phenomenal game and we had to beat them. Charlie and Trevor teamed up for a great play and we got a tough win.
Both the Wolves (6-12, 3-9) and Gators (18-1-2, 11-0) attacked offensively during the first 40 minutes of play.
With only 8:43 gone in the match, the Gators struck first when Adam Gatza dished a pass to Alex Tapia, who scored to give South a 1-0 lead.
Alex Polizzi got the Wolves on the board with an unassisted goal with 23:07 remaining in the first half.
The Gators seized a 2-1 lead when Gatza scored off a pass from Oliver with 10:32 left.
But PR wouldn't go away and tied the match at 2-2 on a unassisted goal by Mac Curtis with 3:56 left before intermission.
After struggling in the first half, South goalie Dave Walsh and PR goalkeeper Barnes were solid in goal during the final 40 minutes.
With 2:33 left, Curtis busted through the South defense and sailed a 10-footer on goal, but Walsh punched the ball with his hand over the goal.
Barnes came up big with 22 minutes left when he made a diving save on a shot by Oliver.
“This is a different team that played last Tuesday, said PR coach Dave O' Leary. “We played very well tonight and gave a great effort against one of the best team in the area. It is frustrating because we have a good team. We had some chances and we just couldn't get the big goal.