Glenbard South falls to Oswego

It was Senior Night at Glenbard South on Wednesday, but the evening belonged to Oswego, which edged the Raiders 4-3.

Neither team has enjoyed much success this season, but both gave their sidelines moments to cheer thanks to the big offensive output.

"It's been a learning process," Raiders coach Adam Szyszko said. "We only had three guys returning with significant playing time from last year, and five freshmen and a sophomore all saw significant time tonight, so we're young."

Glenbard South (4-14-0) never led and dropped its seventh consecutive game.

"It's been a tough year," junior midfielder Matthew Waters said. "I feel like we've come together more as the season has progressed, but we're still not seeing much success. If we didn't come together, though, I don't think we'd have any chance, but we've come along so much better since the start."

Oswego (4-14-1) jumped ahead 1-0 with 30:51 left in the first half when Ryan Baumann outran the Glenbard South defense on a long ball. He turned it into a 1-on-1 chance against goalkeeper Alex Schuchardt, which he also won.

It was an ominous start for the Raiders. They had come out strong on their attack, getting shots on goal from Neil Livingston, Sergio Villasenor and Waters in the first 10 minutes.

Junior Lukas Lorusso set up Waters for the equalizer at 28:39 in the first half.

"Me and Lukas had some quick passes," Waters said. "I passed it to him and he passed it back to me on the through ball and I just finished on the far post."

Oswego got a bad break shortly thereafter when its goalkeeper was issued a red card. That mean sophomore Osvaldo Salazar had to replace him and the Panthers had to play a man down. It didn't affect them, though.

"It was the referee's decision, which I don't agree with and I don't think a lot of people here agreed with it," Panthers coach Brian Falli said. "The guys rose to the occasion, though, especially being a man down. This is the first time we scored four goals in a game all season."

Another long pass cost the Raiders with 11:22 left in the first half as Adrian Veseli ran it down to easily tap the ball in.

"It was perfectly placed," Szyszko said. "Then it was just a matter of who is more athletic and who has the quicker pace."

Freshman Spencer Pyle tied the game for the Raiders with 27:38 left in the game, but the Panthers answered with a goal from Juan Carlos Mora at the 20:40 mark to extend their lead.

They added an insurance goal from Julian Ibarra with 4:30 left, which proved key as Tomas Eismann scored off a corner kick with 1:17 to make it a 4-3 game.

Eismann, Livingston, Villasenor, Kevin McGovern, Shakley KPaw, Irving Medrano and Hamzah Quraishi all played their final home game as seniors for the Raiders.

They'll turn their attention to Farragut, which they'll face in the Class 2A St. Joseph regional on Wednesday.

"My last season at Gordon Tech in 2005, we had a similar situation where we were a young team and got our teeth kicked in by the Catholic League," Szyszko said. "We went into regionals, though, and beat Ridgewood and Vernon Hills and got to the sectional. This year's team is similar, so hopefully we keep building and we come together. One day, we'll get there."