Boys soccer: Conant dominates Palatine for 1st MSL win

Conant secured a commanding 3-0 victory Thursday night over visiting Palatine at Charles Feutz Field in Hoffman Estates.

First half goals from Ramzan Chubakov, Marko Gouk and Ben Schaefers just moments before the intermission would lead the Cougars (4-3-3, 1-2-0) to their first win in division play.

"This might have been our best overall performance this year," said Chase Staniak.

"We're starting to come together as a team, so hopefully this win tonight will give us the motivation to be better."

The Cougars senior was part of a back-line unit that kept the visitors far enough away from keeper Brandon Castaneda to earn a shutout.

"Our backline, which I felt would be our strength this season, played about as well as I've seen this year — tackling, pressuring the ball, and covering for each other," said Cougars coach Jason Franco.

The home side would weather an all-out onslaught from the Pirates (3-4-1, 1-1-1) who were all over the Cougars in the first five minutes, hitting the post on three occasions, and having an attempt from Brandon Torrez saved by Casteneda.

"(Palatine) came out really strong, but we handled their pressure, and from there, I really felt we had almost all of the play for the rest of the game," added Staniak.

It was a comprehensive victory for the Cougars who owned at least 70% of the possession, while winning almost all of the aerial battles.

Stanciak's backline mates Denys Lichner, Kacper Niziołek, and his younger brother Blake not only were sharp in their defensive play, but would also attack that showed plenty of purpose, pace and creativity.

"Our effort was not good tonight. We played more as individuals, and except for a pretty good start, there was nothing out there tonight. We'll have to address that in training," said Pirates coach Aaron Morris.

Chubakov, whose speed on the ball and quick first step helped the sophomore bag the opener at 10 minutes. He took a short ball played out of the back, then beat the Pirates defense before firing in past keeper Charlie Falkenburg with composure and accuracy.

Gouk would double the Cougars advantage in the 37th minute with a lovely touch after Chase Devine stretched the Pirates out of their shape deep in their own end.

Schaefers netted the third goal when a poorly played ball out of the Pirates end fell to the senior who did the rest, finishing just inside the near post.

"This is a young team (five sophomore in the starting 11) and at times we play like we're very young while at other times we go out and put together a solid 80 minutes like we did tonight," said Franco.

Next up for the Cougars is a Saturday morning contest with reigning MSL champion Hersey at home, while the Pirates host Rolling Meadows on Saturday as well.