CL South handles Hampshire
Welcome to the Fox Valley Conference, Hampshire.
Although the game won’t count in the FVC standings, Crystal Lake South gave the Whip-Purs a taste of life in their new league with a 7-1 boys soccer victory in the CLS tournament Thursday.
Charlie Oliver scored 4 times for the Gators, who will face Rolling Meadows for the tournament title Saturday.
Orlando Tapia, Jack Carlson and Michael Conley also scored for the Gators.
Oliver scored twice to put the Gators up 2-0 at the break. South dominated the first 40 minutes, outshooting the Whip-Purs 10-0, but a couple of acrobatic saves by goalkeeper Andy Pederson and a couple of sharp defensive plays by Michael Gonzalez kept the Gators from putting the game away earlier.
The floodgates opened quickly in the second half, however. Oliver scored his third goal just 35 seconds into the second half. The Gators added 4 more before Jose Hernandez got Hampshire on the board with 33 seconds left to play.
“We’ve been instilling the fact that they need to not get complacent,” said South coach Brian Allen. “You’ve got to continue to finish teams off. The defense is starting to get their shape and close things down. It’s unfortunate that we gave one up so late, but we were solid on both sides of the ball.”
After being surprised in their season opener, the Gators made sure it was a complete effort.
“We’re all starting to come together and starting to play as a team, which is key for high school soccer,” said Oliver. “I think we’re definitely moving forward.”
Oliver scored his first goal with 16:44 left in the first half. Pederson stopped his initial shot, but he slid the rebound just past the prone keeper. Oliver added a second goal on a breakaway 11 minutes later.
It became 3-0 after Oliver pounced on a loose ball a half-minute into the second half. Eight minutes later, Tapia took a pass from David Tagatz and broke in alone on the goalkeeper, scoring from 10 yards out.
Carlson scored on a free kick to make it 5-0. Oliver’s last goal was a beauty as he feathered a shot into the corner of the net from 20 yards or so away.
Conley completed the Gators’ scoring by beating 2 defenders and beating the keeper from point-blank range.
Hernandez finally broke the ice for the Whip-Purs with a long shot from the right side.
If the game was a rude awakening for Hampshire, it’s just as well that it come early in the year.
“That’s why we do these (games),” said Hampshire coach John Gosling. “We don’t want to walk into a new conference after playing against sappy teams and learn nothing. ‘Cause we’re going to get rolled on if we don’t play good teams.”