Prospect tips Deerfield

Sixth-seeded Prospect (12-6-2) made it an all-Mid-Suburban League regional final late Tuesday night when it defeated No. 10 Deerfield 2-1 in the second match of the evening at the Class 3A Fremd regional in Palatine.

The Knights will take on the host club and No. 2 seed Vikings (16-2-2) at 1 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance into the Libertyville sectional.

Richard Lenke would deliver the striking statement for the Knights as they defeated the Warriors (10-5-6) for the second time this season. The Central Suburban North runnerup had gone 6-0-6 in its last 12 matches before watching its season end abruptly on the turf at Fremd.

“Playing (Deerfield) earlier, we were able to experience what they have and how they would come after us, said Lenke, “and I think it was an advantage for our team this time around, and we played and defended them so much better than our first match together.

Prospect had to battle one of the best in the business in the state at his position in junior Joey Calistri, who entered Tuesday's match with 25 goals.

“Calistri obviously is a very dangerous player, but I thought our guys did a good job of keeping away from our goal for most of the night, said Prospect coach Kurt Trenkle, “while limiting his chances when he got in close and inside the box.

The Knights' trio of Mike Eggert, Michael Hamman and Ethan Graven would all take turns marking the Warriors splendid striker. When Calistri did get near the area, two of the these three defenders would double-team him, making it even more difficult for him to drive a ball into the box, or to use his terrific speed to free himself to get in on Knights keeper Brad Reibel.

Lenke would produce the best chance of the match at the quarter hour when he turned a pair of defenders inside-out to nearly earn a penalty kick after he was hauled down. But the center official looked the other way, much to the distain of the Knights faithful.

Shortly thereafter, Calistri raced up the right side and turned the corner, but his blast would hit the near post, in his best effort of the first half.

Both sides would have trouble creating little if any genuine scoring opportunities. But a bit of trickery on behalf of Lenke, who would zig-zag his way near the spot before slotting under Warriors keeper James Jason would give the Knights the lead at 32 minutes, which they would carry into the break.

Calistri would give his club its best chance of the match when he was brought down just an inch from being inside the box in the 46th minute, and his teammate Eric Gilbert would bring the Warriors even when he hit a superb ball around the wall and past Reibel, who would have little time to react.

“We got ourselves (caught) on that sequence, and the foul on the play allowed them to equalize, said Trenkle.

A dazzling 1-2-3 combination on successive runs into the Warriors' end from Patryk Ruta, Bill Cooney and Lenke nearly resulted in the Knights taking the lead, if not for an alert clear off the line, and a strong challenge from Jason.

On the other end, Calistri fired a shot across the face of the goal at 58 minutes, then saw another attempt saved with confidence by Reibel to keep the match even at the hour mark.

The Knights would eventually grab the lead for good when Alex Schnepf carved out the chance for his frontline mate Lenke. Schnepf collected the ball at the near touchline, before sending a magnificent ball to the unmarked junior for the easy one-timer.

“All of the credit on that second goal goes to Alex, said Lenke, “all I had to do was touch it in.