Boys soccer: Mundelein, Dundee-Crown play to scoreless draw

Mundelein junior Carson Kowalski had a lot of reasons to look up to his older brother Carson when they played boys soccer together for the Mustangs.

Camden Kowalski graduated in 2020, he was a Daily Herald All-Area player, and now plays for Bradley University. He also has helped his younger sibling with his ability and growth on the soccer field over the years.

On Saturday, Carson Kowalski was part of the success that host Mundelein had in keeping Dundee-Crown scoreless in a nonconference match that ended in a 0-0 draw.

Kowalski started at the outside back position on defense and then moved up top on the right wing.

"There's really no preference on the field," Kowalski said, "I used to practice a lot with my brother and he's helped me a lot, mostly with his moves. Over the summer with no practices or club, we would even go out and shoot in the backyard.

"He calls me after each high school game and he watches on the livestream. He just talks to me about how I can get better. I still think (Camden) is better than me. He's bigger and stronger than me. I might be more technical, but he could outrun me."

Mundelein (2-4-2) coach Sabastian Falinski was as assistant with Dundee-Crown in 2019 and had a good idea what to expect from the Chargers on Saturday.

"I do know a lot of their guys," Falinski said. "As much I know their guys, I'm focusing more on our guys and making sure that we can improve moving forward. We're progressing pretty well. We might have been trying to connect the ball. But, we've had three games in a week. I'm sure the kids are tired and some are stepping up in different positions."

Dundee-Crown (4-2-2) coach Rey Vargas wasn't happy with the end result Saturday.

"I'm not a fan of the draw," Vargas said. "I honestly didn't think that we played that well. (Mundelein) disrupted a lot of our connections and did a good job pressing us. In the flow of the game they disrupted what we wanted to do. We just couldn't find a way around that. (Falinski) did a good job preparing for us.

Chargers senior Osvaldo Rodriguez was taking on a new role as a center midfielder instead of being up top at forward.

"Coach gave me a chance to play there," said Rodriguez, who has 4 goals and 3 assists. "Sometimes, I try to pressure with the forwards and sometimes I drop in case my defenders need the help. Sometimes, we talk to make it work together.

"When, we were in the middle, we were kind of bunched up and we didn't stretch out. Every time we switched the field we weren't there. We just lacked getting shots, we pressured good, but the shots weren't there."

Dundee-Crown keeper Jeovanny Martinez made 5 saves, while Mundelein's Jonathan Ayala stopped 6 shots.