Cougars atop table
Simply stated, it was a magnificent soccer match.
Conant and Schaumburg: Two sides with imposing figures in the attacking end, and both rivals with much to prove in an early but key Mid-Suburban League match.
Conant's Tony Rizzo scored 2 stunning goals, and keeper Josh Summers stopped a potential late equalizer in a PK situation to cap a terrific effort for the visiting Cougars in a 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon.
The win lifts the Cougars (6-1-0 overall) to 3-0 and a place atop the league table in this, the first season in which the MSL will mirror the English Premier League overall standings, with a 1 through 12 format.
The loss drops Schaumburg to 4-2-1 overall and 2-1-0 in the MSL.
"It was pretty intense out there today, wasn't it?" asked Conant coach Tony Kees after watching his club play its best 80 minutes of the season, despite playing a man down for the last eight minutes following a red card.
"Our intent (coming) into today's match was to get away from playing our normal possession game because of the narrow pitch, and I think we showed that we're capable of playing a couple of different ways when the time is right."
The big crowd on hand was thrilled with several dazzling moments on both sides of the ball.
Josh Beard, Tim Piotrowski and Wesley Hollis, a trio of Saxons who have accounted for 14 goals and 9 assists already, were pitted against the Cougars' dynamic duo of Eric Marofske and Zach Reitzman, who had combined for 12 goals and 6 assists.
The defensive mastery of the Cougars' Tim King, along with his back-line mates Tony Varnava and Rizzo, kept the Saxons at bay. Conant co-captain Jim Rion, Jose Reyna, Alex Christy were key to the effort as well.
"It was a match that had everything," said Saxons coach Hamid Mehreioskouei.
Both teams looked good in the attack early.
Schaumburg was unlucky not to have opened the scoring after Marofske's blast to the near post was stopped by keeper Jason Sandberg at 26 minutes.
Summers robbed Piotrowski of a goal shortly thereafter, then breathed a sigh of relief when Beard's missile ricocheted off the left post and just missed going over the line at the back post.
The first corner of the second half led to a Conant strike when Marofske's serve took a deflection on the way in before finding Rizzo, who used enough of a touch to make it 1-0 just four minutes after the break.
The Saxons' defense brought down Marofske at the near touchline to give Conant another set-piece opportunity, and it proved costly when the all-state striker drilled the free kick directly onto Rizzo, who re-directed it in.
"I guess, in the end, it was about who was able to capitalize (on) chances, which we did not do as well as Conant," Mehreioskouei said.
The Saxons pressed forward in search of cutting into the 2-0 lead. They were able to just four minutes later when Dan Weiss elevated to thump a Declan Geraghty corner in the 68th minute.
The home side would have drawn even if not for a spectacular one-handed save by Summers on a Piotrowski PK attempt.
A Mike Marks strike at 75 minutes proved to be the final blow for the Saxons.
"Maybe it was the rivalry, or the big crowd on hand, but we all came out alive and with a lot of energy today and played our best soccer of the year," said Marofske.