Christian Liberty's Salsgiver doesn't give in
A 5-goal outburst from visiting Rockford Christian overshadowed a superb effort from Christian Liberty keeper Jack Salsgiver in a 5-1 Northeastern Athletic Conference boys soccer defeat Tuesday afternoon in Arlington Heights.
Salsgiver was easily the Chargers (2-8-2, 0-4-0) man-of-the-match as he stopped at least 4 point-blank blasts from the Royals, and another handful of others on full-stretch stops inside the box.
"Jack was pretty special out there today," said Christian Liberty coach Jed Bennett, who watched his undermanned side play an inspired second-half after going into the break down 3-0 to the Royals (8-9-2, 3-2-0), who earned the No. 2 seed in the Westminster Christian Class 1A regional.
"With continued offseason training, and when (Jack) fills out and puts some size on him, he is going to be a real quality keeper in and around the area and for us," added Bennett of the freshman.
With just 11 men dressed, the Chargers found the visitors quick feet and talented Kynan Obee in the middle threatening early and often, including a goal just moments after kick-off when Connor Petit broke free.
Bruno Duran would make it 2-0 at 11 minutes from the right side, before it was Obee striking with a freekick from 25 yards after a quick re-start didn't allow the Chargers to setup a proper wall to defend.
"We were missing (five) starters, most of (them) in the midfield, and that really hurt us today," said Salsgiver, who in the first quarter hour had a trio of superb reaction saves, two against Obee.
Not showing any quit, the home-side opened the second-half with a goal from freshman David Colbert, his fourth on the season, and would enjoy a good spell of play with Kiefer Bennett, Carl Forsythe, Noah Johnson and Aaron Johnson showing the pace and energy in which Jed Bennett was so proud of.
"With just 11 players, and being down by 3, we could have easily just given (up) in the second half," said Bennett afterwards. "There were a lot of guys out there playing today who normally don't get so many minutes, and the experience they gained against a very good team like (Rockford) will help in their development for the future."