Wheeling steps up at Elk Grove
It’s been awhile since Wheeling and Elk Grove played a soccer match between one another with a Mid-Suburban League divisional title hanging in the balance, but that was certainly the case Thursday.
Ivan Mancilla’s early second-half strike held up as the winning goal for the visiting Wildcats, who came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory to move within 2 points of the Grens in the MSL standings and remain unbeaten this fall.
Wheeling is now 11-0-2 overall and 4-0-1 against MSL foes for 13 points. Elk Grove suffered its first loss in league play and is 5-1-0, 15 points.
“It sure wasn’t the type of game I expected to watch, but with so much riding on the outcome, I guess it wasn’t really a surprise to see less technical soccer from these two talented teams, and more physical, up-and-down soccer instead,” said Wildcats coach Ed Uhrik, whose team began a difficult stretch on Thursday, with Fremd, Hersey and Rolling Meadows just ahead after a nonconference contest with Libertyville on Saturday. “Elk Grove could have been 8 points clear of us with a win, so a draw would have been OK but a loss might have too much to overcome.
“It wasn’t the pretty brand of soccer we usually play, but it’s a win, and that’s all that mattered.”
A rough start could have spelled doom for the visitors when, after Wheeling failed to clear defensively, Carlos Miranda sent a wonderful ball back into the mix where teammate and leading scorer Jonathan Arzeta went the other way past keeper Javier Ocampo to give the hosts the lead at just six minutes.
“It was the start we were looking for,” said Elk Grove coach Rob Shepard, “but we kind of got away from what we were doing. And when they got themselves back even, it was a different game after that.”
The Grens coach thought the Wildcats did a very good job of man-marking his standout midfielder Gio Garcia, and not until an adjustment was made during intermission did the Grens’ attack find some life.
Wheeling’s Jose Garcia made his mark on the match from the very beginning with a strong 80-minute performance, as the ball seemed to find the Cats captain whenever his club was in need. That was especially true in the Grens’ end, where the all-state candidate directed the attack.
“It was a little different playing on grass instead of turf, and I don’t think we ever really played our type of game tonight,” said Jose Garcia. “But I felt in the second half, we possessed much better. And as the half went on, we dominated a lot of the play and possession, right up until that goal from Ivan.”
Michael Hernandez, Luis Herrera and Ivan Mancilla created a free kick opportunity for Garcia from 25 yards after a nice bit of combination play ended with Mancilla being brought down.
There was nothing Grens keeper Alberto Centeno could do about the equalizer, with Garcia smashing the ball into the far right corner after Centeno got a glove on the well-paced shot.
The clinching goal came at 50 minutes after Avery Chang blocked Hernandez’ drive aimed at the post. But the ball ended up with Mancilla, whose deft touch beat Centeno despite his valiant effort to save the close-range chance.
“It was a solid second half of soccer by the guys, especially in the back where Nathan (Laude) and (Alfredo) Rocha, two guys who are three-year guys that realize this is their last chance to be a part of something good,” said Uhrik.
The final quarter-hour was filled with whistles and yellow cards, including a second card given to Daniel Hadler, forcing the Grens to play a man down for four minutes.
“We lost our composure a little during that final 12-15 period, and that’s something we’ll have to address after we watch the film tomorrow,” Shepard said. “Bottom line, Wheeling is a very good team, and we played a little nervous in that second half. That may have cost us in the end, but we’re still fine, and now we turn our focus toward Fremd this Saturday.”