Grens' historic season ends in Schaumburg
Elk Grove falls in overtime to Bartlett
By Mike Garofola
One mighty strike and Elk Grove’s landmark season was over.
Bartlett’s Charlie Sordini sent the seventh-seeded Hawks to a sectional title game when he let fly from 30 yards out to beat third-seeded Elk Grove in overtime, in a sectional semifinal game at Schaumburg on Tuesday.
For Bartlett, there wasn't a whole lot of gas left in the tank, but just enough to get the Hawks to their next destination – a meeting on Friday against top-seeded Leyden with a sectional title on the line.
The Hawks (14-6-4) showed mental toughness for the third time in 4 days, outlasting wild weather conditions and another late night to win 2-1 over Elk Grove (14-7). The win came 24 hours after the Hawks upset second-seeded St. Charles North, in a game suspended on Saturday due to lightning and replayed on Monday.
"We were so beaten down, both emotionally and physically from our match with St. Charles," Hawks coach Ben Beary said. Beary watched his side fall behind at 54 minutes on a breakaway counter run by Elk Grove’s Cesar Rodriguez, but tie the game less than one minute later on a Carmelo Abate goal.
"We couldn't put passes together, and really struggled against a well organized opponent, but I was proud of how we bounced back after the break and finally started to do some of the things that we do well,” Beary said.
Just as the late-night crowd settled in for four potential overtime periods, Sordini showed them mercy with a long-range blast taken early in the first overtime, just after the 10:00 hour.
“Just a wonderful, wonderful strike,” Elk Grove coach Joe Bush said.
The Hawks and Grens didn’t take the field until after Leyden and Geneva played to four overtimes and a shootout that went 8 rounds before a victor was decided.
Neither side was able to work with the gusting winds during the fast half, with most of the trouble stemming from the two clubs failing to keep the ball on the floor. The Grens most sustained attacking push came against the wind in the first half, as did the Hawks’ attack in the second frame.
Fabio Aiello had a go on Grens goalkeeper Frankie Ortiz, forcing a save at 19 minutes, and Eric Kennebeck, on the turn, would watch Matt Ginter block his shot after a Hawks corner. But the Hawks never found a rhythm through 40 minutes.
"That first half was not very pretty for us," admitted Beary. “We hardly looked like the team that I know."
"We were really flat, and played tired in the first 40, and I really think our match with St. Charles North last night had a lot to do with it," offered Sordini.
Nick Jordan, Carlos Cisneros, Cesar Rodriguez, Irving Cruz, and Eddie Rodriguez fought the good fight for Elk Grove, along with Justin Gavros and Trevor Cwiok, but the Grens had an attacking problem of their own, playing without striker Ernesto Rodriguez on Tuesday.
“Ernesto might have opened things up a little for us, but Bartlett is tough to score on,” Bush said. “They play good defense and they never quit.”
Still, Elk Grove grabbed the lead when Cesar Rodriguez raced onto a ball sent ahead from midfield, took it to goal, and went far post at 54 minutes. The Hawks took the ensuing kickoff straight up the field to the Grens’ goalmouth, however, knotting the score on Abate’s goal.
Andrew Triantos provided Abate with the chance, prying open the Grens backline with a wonderful ball to the spot, where the oncharging Abate, on the tail-end of his center channel run, redirected the ball under Ortiz to pull the Hawks level in the 56th minute.
"It was a big goal for us to get, especially so quickly after Elk Grove scored," offered Beary.
The match opened up wide following the two goals, but quickly shut back down as each side defended with all of its might, while looking to counter with the hope of landing a late knock-out punch.
The first 10-minute overtime session began with both teams playing tentative and quiet, until Sordini woke up the Hawks faithful with the decisive strike of the night, stealing the headlines for his club and sending Bartlett to its first sectional title game in program history.
“There was this loose ball, I took a touch, saw an opening, and just fired my shot, and watched it go in," said a thrilled Sordini.
"You've got to give a lot of credit to both teams for playing so hard in these conditions,” Bush said. “I was very impressed with Bartlett, coming back after a big win against St. Charles. I kept waiting for them to wear down considering they had to play a tough game yesterday, but they never did. It seemed like they just got stronger. Hats off to Bartlett.”
Bush says goodbye to a team that took the Elk Grove program to new heights.
“They won the first (MSL) division title and the first regional title ever won at Elk Grove,” Bush said. “It’s been hard work, skill, and intelligence. They knew what they had to do, and when to do it, in order to be successful.”
Grens seniors Jordan, Ortiz, Cruz, Rafal Borys, Matt Ginter, Mike Ginter, Cesar Rodriguez, Ernesto Rodriguez, Juan Jaramillo, Ben Stram, Danny Cardenas, and Vlado Radanov all contributed to elevating the Elk Grove program to previously unseen heights.
Borys and the Ginter brothers were rock-solid in back in front of Ortiz and junior keeper Mike Ragano this season, and Jordan became the program’s first all-state player this year. The Grens won the MSL East and won a regional title in a shootout over rival Conant on Saturday.
“I’m going to miss these guys. It’s probably my favorite team to coach, so it’s bittersweet,” Bush said. “When your best players are your hardest workers you’re going to be successful, and that’s what we had on this team. They’re obviously upset right now but in time I think they’ll look back at the season and see how special it was.”
