Schaumburg rallies to stun Hoffman
Expect the unexpected on the pitch at Schaumburg.
After watching a 2-goal lead disappear Saturday in a 4-3 loss to Conant, the Saxons (3-4-1, 1-4-1, 4 points) turned the tables on visiting Hoffman Estates in Tuesday night's Mid-Suburban West boys soccer match.
The Saxons roared back from a 2-goal deficit to stun the Hawks 3-2 in overtime.
Freshman Kacper Wasilewski ran onto a bouncing ball in the 90th minutes and unloaded a left-footed missile into the back the net to end a wild finish that saw the Saxons draw even with 2 goals in five minutes.
"We were hanging our heads when we came off at the break down 2-0," said Saxons captain Declan Geraghty, who won countless 50-50 balls to help spark the Saxons' comeback. "I thought if we could finally get into the back of the net it would be the kind of break we would need to give us some much-needed momentum."
Hamid Mehreioskouei had predicted that his young team possessed the qualities needed to progress and overcome a recent bout of injuries, but the Saxons' coach had little to say to his players at the break after the opportunistic Hawks (2-6-1, 0-4-1) raced out to a 2-0 lead.
Brad Powszok scored a goal at 15 minutes with the help of teammate Luis Vargas, who sent the Hawks captain through - then watched as the four-year star finished by shooting the ball under keeper Peyton Irmen.
Junior Sishuh Zerihun made it 2-0 when his circle run allowed him to get lost in the Saxons' end and convert a darting low drive.
The Hawks had hoped the center official might award a penalty kick when Vargas was brought down along the flank by Blake Nelson, but the big defender was sent off with a yellow card.
In what may have altered the outcome for the Saxons, Mehreioskouei's first tactical move of Geraghty up from the back line helped secure the middle of the park, while the switch of Nelson up top to join Erhan Caglayan and others proved advantageous.
Nelson finished a well-paced throw from Mark Bielanski at 74 minutes. Then the senior provided the helper on the equalizer when Michael Grassa outran Hawks keeper Michael Gordon to a ball just inside the 18.
"We needed something to happen (up) top in that second-half, and Blake gave us so much energy and hard-running when he (got) up there, that things began to happen almost immediately after he arrived there," Mehreioskouei said.
Gilberto Cuellar's acrobatic clear off the Hawks line to save a potential goal by John Franco at 87 minutes appeared to ensure another 10 minutes of extra time - until Wasilewski angled drive flashed into the far inside netting.
"We played 20 minutes of great soccer, 20 minutes of average soccer, and 40 minutes of terrible soccer," said Hoffman coach Matt Sriver, "but we cannot take anything away from the effort of Schaumburg to overcome our 2-goal lead."
Prospect 3, Wheeling 0: Richard Lenke, Francisco Nunez and William Hall scored for the visiting Knights, who improved to 7-2-1 and 4-1-1 in the MSL.
Palatine 2, Rolling Meadows 0: Kosta Risteski and Josh Clark netted the goals for Palatine (10-0-1, 4-0-1), which received 8 saves from goalkeeper Joey Aiello.
Maine West 2, Niles North 1: Ryan Ybarra and Anes Kadiric scored the goals for Maine West.
Girls golf
Prospect d. Wheeling: Prospect completed an 11-0 MSL record under coach Jim Hamann in the MSL with a 175-225 win at Chevy Chase. The Knights were led by Allison Walsh (42), Kelly Lawless (44), Emily Mick (44) and Allison Kramer (45).