Palatine rises past Schurz
Palatine’s boys soccer team had encountered some choppy waters of late.
The rough ride was only compounded by the Pirates’ sudden lack of scoring. Palatine had produced just a few scant goals in its previous four matches, resulting in 3 losses during that span to all but end its hopes for a Mid-Suburban West title this fall.
But perhaps there are calmer water ahead. Friday afternoon, the Pirates (9-5-0) erupted for 3 second-half goals to defeat Schurz (4-2-4) of the Chicago Public League 3-0 in the opening round of the Glebrook North Invite at Techny Park in Northbrook.
The Pirates next face Bartlett (6-4-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday in the semifinals. On the other side of the bracket, Glenbrook South meets Lake Forest Academy, both 5-1 victors on Friday against Glenbrook North and Wheeling, respectively.
“We did not look very good at the start of this match,” said Pirates captain Jon Clark. “We’ve had a busy week (the Pirates will play 5 matches by the end of today) and we struggled to find our pace after playing on the long grass at Rolling Meadows (on Thursday). But once we got up to speed in the second half, I thought we had the run of play and eventually wore them down to playing our style.”
Schurz, which has ventured outside of the city in the early stages of the season to play the likes of Loyola, Niles West and Notre Dame, did not take their invitation into this tournament lightly. Coach Francisco Lopez reminded his club to make the most of each tourney matchup.
“We’re fortunate to be here to play in such a great facility, but we’re here to win, and learn how to play against other teams, and to take that experience with us in order to be successful in the city championship series and then the state playoffs,” said Lopez.
It was obvious from the very first touch the Bulldogs would look to play through their talented freshman midfielder Oscar Gonzalez and sophomore striker Manuel Gutierrez.
But Palatine’s team commitment to defending them made a big difference.
“Yeah, Jon was right, we weren’t particularly sharp in the first half, but we picked it up after the break,” said Palatine coach Willie Filian, “and although we’ve had our troubles finishing, you could see that (Schurz) was beginning to tire as the second half continued.”
Two quick strikes probably contributed to the Bulldogs’ fatigue. Josh Lee smashed one home from in close after Clark did the dirty work instead to set his teammate free. Johnny Enriquez helped initiate the sequence when he connected with Clark.
Two minutes later, the Pirates were rewarded for some extra pressure in their opponent’s end with Clark firing past Schurz keeper Oscar Gomez after the Pirates senior collected a well-aimed free kick from Kyle Clancy.
Saul Gutierrez put the icing on the Pirates victory with a superb goal in the 76th minute. Marco Arrreola and Jack Reynolds, who had a strong 80 minutes, were credited with the helpers.
Clancy, Ulises Alcaraz, Matt Fleishhauer and Jeremy Velinski dominated along the back to ensure a shutout for Evan Held, who was rarely tested.