Pirates capture Cup
For the second time this season, a visit to Palatine created a nightmare for Prospect.
The host Pirates (19-1-1) delivered a knockout performance on the pitch with a spectacular 20 minutes of soccer to sink the visiting Knights 5-1 and capture the title of the 33rd Mid-Suburban League Cup in boys soccer Thursday night at Chic Anderson Stadium.
Palatine won its seventh MSL title and broke open the match with a 4-goal explosion in the first half with dominant play on both sides of the ball. It also stopped the attacking trio of Patryk Ruta, Mike Stankiewicz and Sam Slusher, while, once again, getting into the back of the net in traditional style off set-piece opportunities.
"That might have been the best 20 minutes of soccer we played this season," said Palatine head coach Willie Filian of a stretch just before the scoring barrage started.
"Our worst fears were realized tonight," said Prospect head coach Kurt Trenkle. "We didn't defend (well) on (their) long throws, and they scored, and we did not want to allow them to control the middle and take away what Mike and Sam can do for our attack."
The Knights (13-4-3) defended deeply and all throughout the first half, while offering little as an attacking force as their opponents, in stark contrast, were stealth-like going forward and water-tight in front of keeper Kyle Held.
"We knew going if we stopped (Slusher and Stankiewicz) in the middle, that (their) offense would struggle," said both Jake Velinski and Jon Clark, who along with Josh Feldman and Willie Filian Jr. would easily win the air and ground war in nearly every 50-50 ball, while tackling with a ferocity that further restricted the Knights attack.
The Pirates got the early goal it craved after Josh Clark's freekick driven through the wall bounded free and right to an opportunistic Martin Rodriguez in close at 19 minutes.
Four minutes later the Pirates doubled the lead when Velinski surfaced at the back post to thump a header off a Filian serve past a diving Jim Brault.
"We just didn't defend well against most of their deep throws and corners tonight," said Brault, the senior keeper who deserved a better fate after several acrobatic saves to help the Knights cause.
Just moments after being brought on to provide fresh legs up top for the Pirates, junior Stephen Thabuteau snuck his shot in just inside the post at 28 minutes. Jon Clark's header finished the work of architects Filian and Velinski at 37 minutes.
"Palatine is just a terrific team and so deserving of the MSL title," said Trenkle. "I am very proud of the way we played, especially in the second half when we could have just given up, and, for now, we've got to put this match behind and begin to work on our most important match of the season, our regional opener next week."
"We had that spell (tonight) where we did everything we wanted, and we just didn't allow Prospect to get anything going," added coach Filian, whose program trails only Fremd 11-9 for most MSL Cup appearances.
The two sides would trade goals after intermission, as an unmarked Clark easily finished a well-played ball from teammate Jack Reynolds. Mario Morales dashed the hopes of a 14th shutout for Held with a strike at 78 minutes.
"This is a great night for all of our seniors who played and won their final match (here), and to go undefeated at home at the same time," said Clark, alongside his brother Josh as well as Velinski, who leads the Pirates now with 12 goals.