Buffalo Grove strikes in time at Hersey
For a half-hour of soccer Friday afternoon, it looked as if Hersey had returned to its glory days.
Score first, bend but don't break on defense, and allow your opponent to possess until they reach the final third. Then tackle aggressively, and don't allow anything on frame.
Yes, the Huskies of looked and played a lot like the four-time MSL East champs from back in the day on Friday in Arlington Heights — until, that is, Buffalo Grove's Markus Fiordaliso brought the hosts back to reality with a free kick strike in the 30th minute to awaken the Bison (8-3-4, 5-3-1). They went on to spoil a homecoming night at Hersey with a 2-1 victory.
“That's how I bet 10 of our matches have gone this year,” said Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn. “We've played sound, fundamental soccer for 30-35 minutes, then fall apart after the break and end up losing a match that we have a chance to win.
“Tonight it was more of the same. We came out of the break standing around, not winning 50-50 balls, lacking focus. But even after giving up the go-ahead goal, we still have a chance right at the end to score the equalizer and send the match into OT.”
The Huskies (3-8-6, 1-5-3) stunned their guests at three minutes when Jonathan Krok and his teammate up top, Jared Martin, created all sorts of havoc in front of BG keeper Nick Landsberger. Martin was somehow able to keep his composure long enough to slot under the senior keeper as he was sprawled on the turf after stopping Martin's initial attempt.
“The last thing we wanted to do was give up that early goal, especially to a team which knows how to defend and protect a lead,” said BG defender Matt Bloom. “Luckily for us, Markus got us back even with his free kick, which seemed to help get our confidence back. And after that, we dominated possession and kept the ball in their end until the ThorGuard went off, which seemed to really get us off our rhythm.”
Fiordaliso, Alex Masciopinto and Irving and Alberto Eloyza maintained possession admirably for BG, yet the visitors were unable to get quality chances early on Hersey keeper Irvin Velasquez. That's partly thanks to strong play from defenders Matt Brant, Nikola Vukovic and John Freitag, who disrupted things at midfield.
“Hersey is tough to play, and they sure do not play like a team that has just a few victories this season,” said BG coach Rick Carlson.
Eric Quintana and Irving Eloyza helped set up Fiordaliso's free kick goal, which may have caught Velasquez just a few yards off his line. Fiordialiso curled a 30-yard attempt into the far corner to tie the game.
If there were bonus points given for possession, the Bison would have racked up plenty in the second half. They spent most of the first 20 minutes following intermission in the Huskies' end but still lacked enough bite in their finishing game.
Velasquez did well to save a couple of shots to keep the match even, including one from Demo Drakoulis, who brought down a superb crossfield serve from Matt Poleszuk in the 45th minute.
The Bison nearly gave away the go-ahead goal when some poor play along the back on a ball played back to Landsberger allowed Connor Reynolds to sneak in and fire a point-blank blast Landsberger stopped with a reaction save.
Alberto Eloyza was rewarded for his persistency after another Poleszuk serve broke open the Huskies' defense; the junior scored past Velasquez with an deft touch from in close.
The Bison appeared to be in command for the final quarter hour, when the ThorGuard signaled dangerous weather in the area. Following a 20-minute delay, the hosts pressed hard and nearly found a way to draw even in a frantic final few minutes.
“The delay helped us because we were able to regroup, and talk about a few things we could do, and there's no doubt it also helped take something out of the way Buffalo Grove was playing,” said Llewellyn.
Krok, Martin and Mike Kaczor all had their chance in the closing moments, but the Bison held firm to capture their victory.