Wilde’s goal pushes Cary-Grove past Dundee-Crown

Cary-Grove High School junior forward Kevin Wilde had absolutely no interest in playing overtime.

So, Wilde took matters in his own hands and made sure the game was decided in regulation time.

Wilde, who received a perfect pass from Mike McKune, pushed a shot past Dundee-Crown goalie Christian Martinez with 8:36 remaining in the game to give the Trojans a hard fought 1-0 win over the Chargers in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division boys soccer action in Cary Tuesday night.

“Give Mike McKune credit for hustling after the ball and creating a good scoring chance for me,” said Wilde. “It was all his hard work that helped me get a good shot. I had a good angle on the shot and I was able to get the ball in the net. We hung in there and we were finally able to break through. It was a very intense physical game. We knew it would probably be a 1-0 game.”

Dundee-Crown (16-2-1, 3-1) actually had a golden opportunity to tie the game with 1:30 left. Charger junior midfielder Ben Stone rifled a shot on goal, but defender Matt Arenberg was able to make the save.

Cary-Grove senior goalie Kevin Schenk was spectacular in the net for the Trojans (14-0-2, 4-0) with 7 saves.

“It was a great team win,” said Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson. “Mike and Kevin, two of our three returning players, along with Brian O Connor did a great job in scoring the goal. They really worked well together. Kevin was outstanding in the net. He made some clutch saves. Our defense overall was outstanding. This was a very gritty win for this team. Dundee-Crown is a very highly skilled team and a very physical team. They played a great game.”

D-C, which out shot Cary-Grove 11-9, got a solid effort in the nets from Martinez, who registered 8 saves.

“Christian played great in goal,” said Dundee-Crown coach Rey Vargas. “The kids played their hearts out and I thought we could get a goal in that last minute. We put a lot of pressure on their goalie. We just couldn’t get that goal. In a game where both teams were so evenly matched we knew it would take just one mistake or one bounce of the ball to decide the game and it did.”