Boys soccer: Oswego cools off West Aurora
West Aurora had scored 35 consecutive goals in its new conference, the Southwest Prairie, as it traveled to Oswego on Thursday for a pivotal matchup between two teams with perfect records in SPC play.
The host Panthers scored an own goal just a few minutes into the action and they controlled the play for just about the entire 80 minutes, sending the Blackhawks home with a 3-0 defeat.
"We were not mentally prepared right off the bat," Blackhawks coach Joe Sustersic said. "I think the big challenge was Oswego was ready and we were not. I know it's Homecoming week, but that's not an excuse. We played poorly and Oswego played to their advantage and were outstanding."
Having won its previous SPC games convincingly, it appeared as if the Blackhawks were caught a bit off-guard, but they were also playing a team that has now won 26 consecutive conference games and is striving to finish off a third straight undefeated SPC season.
And they were playing a team that returned several key players from last year's 18-win team that lost 1-0 to West Aurora in a Class 3A sectional semifinal game. The Panthers didn't forget that and were starving for some revenge.
"That was a big defeat for us," Panthers senior Max Glover said about last year's playoff loss. "It was really emotional going into this game so we knew it would be very tough and we really wanted to win. We got that first goal and picked it up from there and we never let up."
West Aurora (11-3-1, 7-1) surrendered the own goal when Oswego senior Steven Udy's shot caromed off the shin of Elijah Hardersen and then over goalkeeper Alejandro Barrios.
It was the first SPC goal surrendered by the Blackhawks since Plainfield East senior Giovanni Zuniga scored on Sept. 3.
"We know we're the team to beat," Udy said. "Losing to West Aurora in the sectional semifinals, we made sure we took time to prepare for this game. We knew it was going to be a big one. This was the game we needed to win."
Oswego (12-4-1, 7-0) increased its lead to 2-0 with 11:16 left before half when Mason McCaw had the ball and some room after a West Aurora defender slipped.
McCaw would finish the scoring in the second half, redirecting a cross from Udy with 2:52 left in the game.
The Blackhawks nearly broke the shutout in the final seconds as junior forward Zachary Thompson had a great scoring chance, but Oswego goalkeeper Kade Gutierrez was able to bat his shot away.
"Today was a more soul searching type of event," Sustersic said. "We had our chances. I think we could have scored goals, but it just wasn't there. But the credit has to go directly to Oswego. They knew what they were supposed to do and got the job done."