Red Devils win see-saw affair over Geneva

By Matt Le Cren
Photos courtesy of Harry Bull

For two guys whose main job is to play defense, Hinsdale Central’s Mike Oleferchik and Geneva’s Robbie Johnson sure created a lot of havoc on offense Tuesday.

The two seniors played key roles in their teams’ respective attacks, but in the end it was Oleferchik who had the final say, assisting on the game-winning goal as the host Red Devils prevailed 3-2 in Hinsdale.

The decisive play came midway through the second half when Oleferchik chased down a ball on the left end line and lasered a cross that skittered untouched through the Geneva crease to Mitch Reavis, who tapped the ball in. It was the only goal of the second half after a wild first half that saw the two sides combine for four goals in 11 minutes.

“Coach likes our defenders to push up into the attack and get to be a part of it,” Oleferchik said. “I think that’s been the role for me. Everyone worked really hard and was really aggressive on the ball. We all played well.”

Even though Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins said his team has implemented only 20 percent of what it wants to do on set pieces, the Red Devils (6-3) were dangerous throughout on free kicks, especially when Oleferchik took them.

The fullback launched several from a range of 35 to 50 yards out and focused on sending them into the box nearly the penalty spot. He was dead on with most of them, including one that led to the game’s first goal at the 17:23 mark of the first half.

Oleferchik’s 45-yarder found the head of Taylor Cole, who outjumped Geneva goalie Pat Niedbala and flicked the ball toward the right post, where Andrew Scott knocked it in.

“It’s hard for us to defend that because we’re going towards our goal and we’re trying to get it away from our goal, so it’s a perfect spot to put it,” Johnson noted. “They did well at that, and that’s what we were trying to do, too. With that high line, they were pressing their defense up and leaving a lot of space in behind.”

The Vikings (3-5-1) were able to exploit that in much the same fashion as Hinsdale Central. The visitors tied it with 12:07 remaining in the opening half when Johnson booted a free kick from midfield into the box to Seamus Kaminski, whose strong header went over the head of Red Devils keeper Will Meyer and under the crossbar.

Hinsdale Central retook the lead just 2:17 later when Mark Tyler intercepted a Geneva clearing pass and volleyed home a rocket from 25 yards out that went off a Vikings defender and into the upper right corner of the net.

But Geneva again retaliated, with Johnson tying the game 2-2 at the 6:27 mark off another re-start. This time it was Brady Wahl who took the free kick from 35 yards out and Michael Henriksen headed it forward to Johnson, who beat Meyer to it and slid the ball into the net for his first goal of the season.

“That was kind of just a hustle goal, going all out, putting my body on it,” Johnson said.

“I just try to control the back. I thought our defense did pretty well except we just had these lapses for just five seconds of time. That’s all it takes to [allow] a goal.”

Those lapses spoiled what was otherwise a fine effort for Geneva, which suffered its second straight one-goal loss and fourth such defeat this fall.

“For a while there the goals were flying like milk and honey,” Geneva coach Ryan Estabrook said. “I’m disappointed that we lost. I thought we played well through a lot of stretches, but the bottom line is the result. We can possess, we can create opportunities but if you don’t score and you don’t keep the other team from scoring you’re going to keep experiencing losses like this.

“I thought we had a majority of the possession, but Hinsdale was effective, especially on their set pieces. They knew what they needed to do and they did it enough today.”

But Estabrook said he thinks his team can learn from what the Red Devils were able to do.

“I thought Hinsdale did a great job of winning those 50-50 balls,” Estabrook said. “I think that’s something that they’ve emphasized, so that’s something for us to think about as we move forward.

“[Their free kicks are] dangerous. It’s a well-placed ball and as the season moves on I think we’ll be able to defend those a little bit better.”

Estabrook was pleased with the play of Johnson as well as Niedbala, who saved a sure goal with a great diving save on header by Phillip Gutman in the 13th minute. Niedbala had to come out of the game at halftime with a slight hamstring injury.

“[Johnson] is a pretty special kid,” Estabrook said. “He’s an outstanding defender but he gets forward so nicely so he creates a problem for the other team when he really gets involved in the attack like he did tonight. We like to move him forward whenever we get the opportunity.”

While Johnson wasn’t happy with the result, he said it wasn’t for lack of effort.

“We’re working hard in these games,” he said. “We just have these mental lapses in the back that just cost us goals every time and we’re not finishing our chances like we should. It’s frustrating but I think we can work through this little slump and start getting into a rhythm.”

For the Red Devils, the second-half play of Oleferchik and fellow fullbacks Scott, Gutman and Andrew Worthington was important because they were able to hold off a determined effort by the Vikings, who outshot them 5-3 after the Red Devils held a 9-4 edge before intermission.

“It shows we know how to fight and we know how to fight back after they score on us like that,” Oleferchik said. “That’s a good thing.”

“We’re happy with the result but we certainly think that there are still a lot of areas that we can be better at,” said Wiggins, whose club broke a two-game losing streak. “I was very happy with how we controlled balls in the air. Obviously, it’s a concern that we [twice] let them back in, and obviously good that we responded. Letting them back in is not what we really had in mind and answering with that third goal was a big deal.”