Glaser, D’Acquisto come up big for Rolling Meadows
Rolling Meadows visited more woes upon Hoffman Estates in cruising to a 6-0 victory Tuesday night on the strength of a 3-goal match from junior Kou Glaser, who combined with Mustangs captain Mike D’Acquisto to have a hand in 4 of the season-high total goals for the hosts.
“This is the first time we’ve been at full strength this season, and it was great to see how we can play with everyone back and healthy, especially David (Zarate) and Arthur (Giedrojc) up top and playing alongside each other for the first time,” said Mustangs coach Peter Mikulak.
Zarate missed two-plus matches with a concussion, and Giedrojc, a junior, was out for four matches. They certain looked sharp at times, but that duo took a back to another dynamic pairing for the Mustangs (3-3-0 overall, 1-3-0 Mid-Suburban, 3 points).
Glaser and D’Acquisto had too much energy for Hoffman Estates, which fell behind at seven minutes and never quite righted the ship.
“I thought we played maybe 55-60 good minutes the other day in our loss to Buffalo Grove, but tonight, right from the beginning when we almost conceded a goal, we just didn’t put forth the type of effort to compete with the competition we face in our conference,” said Hawks coach Matt Sriver.
D’Acquisto, recently moved by Mikulak and his staff to the outside from his spot as a defensive midfielder, showed why his value is so high on the flank. He roared up the side and beat his man before providing a wonderful helper to Glaser, who ran freely up the center channel to score on keeper Christian Peralta.
Zarate’s fierce early left-footed shot flew past Peralta to increase the Mustangs’ lead in the 18th minute. It became a 3-goal advantage nine minutes later off a corner from Brett Gibson that was met with a well-placed header by Enrique Avellaneda, who’d pushed forward from the back line for this set-piece opportunity.
“We weren’t as sharp in our own end in the first 10-15 minutes, like we could have been, and we were a bit lucky when they hit the post (on a shot by Angeal Sarti), which could have changed the entire complexion of the game at that point,” said Mikulak. “But once we settled in, our defense did well to keep them from being dangerous, and our midfield and guys up front really turned the pressure up — especially in the second half.”
The Mustangs overwhelmed the visitors in the first quarter-hour of the second period, with D’Acquisto and Glaser scoring in quick succession before Glaser finished things off in the 52nd minute. That prompted Mikulak to bring several of his starters off for good.
“We’ve played well for 60-65 minutes, but we haven’t put a solid 80 minutes in until tonight,” said Glaser, who returned to his high school team after a year away at club soccer. “But we showed we can be a dangerous team if we play from start to finish, and that might be a good sign for us the rest of the way.”
Lovely ball movement provided some entertaining football from Sal D’Acquisto and Glaser which allowed Mike D’Acquisto redirect his close-range shot past Peralta just three minutes into the second half.
Glaser followed less than 60 seconds later, when Zarate looked in peak form with a blazing run and carry up the side, springing the junior free long enough to slip a brilliant helper to Glaser who simply ran onto the ball for an easy touch and goal.
Peralta made a brave stop on Giedrojc, but unfortunately the rebound carried to Glaser, who didn’t miss with his one-timer.
Freshman Marc Quezada recorded the shutout for Meadows, thanks in part to a strong effort in front of him from Jessie Perez, Cal Skwerski and Avellaneda.
“If we can stay healthy, and continue to improve with each game, we can be a dangerous opponent in the second half of the season,” said Mike D’Acquisto.