Boys soccer: Hersey dumps Rolling Meadows in OT
Eric Worwa would steal the show Tuesday night at Roland Goins Stadium in Arlington Heights by scoring twice, the second when he steered in his game-winner at 96 minutes to give host Hersey a 2-1 Mid-Suburban East boys soccer victory over Rolling Meadows.
With the game nearing a 1-1 draw, Worwa stunned the visiting Mustangs (2-1-0) when he ran onto a Ronan Wilcox history-making helper to give his club another six points to stay atop the MSL East division.
"Ronan gave me a great ball from the right side and when I ran onto the ball and saw the keeper coming out I just went the other way with my shot," said Worwa, who helped Wilcox collect his program record-setting 31st career assist.
As perhaps the surprise club in this early season, the Mustangs showed why with a terrific first half-hour of play to validate a pair of impressive victories over Fremd, then Schaumburg, in advance of Tuesday's game.
"This group of guys we have is out to change the culture of Rolling Meadows soccer, and the effort that we showed against a quality opponent, which has a very special player in Ronan Wilcox, is something that I am very proud of," said Mustangs coach Brett Olson.
Despite enjoying most of the run of play, the visitors nearly found themselves chasing the lead if not for a wonderful save from keeper Pablo Zarate who turned away Patryk Bujak's close-range attempt in the 29th minute.
Zarate, who was magnificent all night long, had no chance on the first Worwa goal which came at 75 minutes thanks in part to Wilcox, who gave his teammate a brilliant ball at the end of his back post run.
Three minutes later the Mustangs drew even with Arnulfo Mora striking the equalizer following a Kamil Oleksy corner.
The entertaining game came to an end on the Worwa double just after Oleksy unloaded a left-footed blast from 30 yards that went just wide of the post.
"We needed to come out with more energy and pressure in the second half, and that is what helped turn the game around for us," said Worwa.
The Huskies take on Barrington Thursday night, while Rolling Meadows is on the road at Prospect.