Tough start dooms Indians in SPC loss to Cougars

By Curt Herron

 

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What's a good cure for a squad that has struggled as it prepares for the postseason? Senior night.

The old pick-me-up did just that once again on Tuesday, with Plainfield South being the beneficiary.

PSHS rewarded its 10 seniors with a 3-1 Southwest Prairie Conference victory over Minooka in Joliet.

As a result of the win, the 4-3 Cougars are assured of at least a third place tie with the Indians.

That could improve to a second-place tie if Romeoville defeats Oswego in Thursday's final SPC match.

Not surprisingly, the Cougars were paced by a cast of seniors who helped it jump out to a 3-0 lead.

Anthony Skrip scored the first and last goal and Nick Holland added the other goal for the winners.

And Tyler Olsen came up with several big stops in goal to keep MCHS in check until the late going.

Also, Rodrigo Garcia returned for the Cougars after missing a month of action due to a toe injury.

Garcia only played in his team's initial eight matches but still is the Cougars' leader in goals.

All in all, not a bad night for coach Dave Brown's squad, which had lost three of its last four.

PSHS (12-7-1, 4-3) was coming off a 6-3 loss at West Aurora where it allowed six first-half goals.

Brown challenged his team to follow up on its three-goal second half in that match, and they did.

"We tried doing some different things on Saturday and afterward we talked about building on the second half since the first half was a half to forget," Brown said. "We pushed the boys a little on Monday in terms of fitness and work rate to make up for the lack of effort on Saturday.

"And we talked about how the season is going to last as long as we want it to at this point since we're guaranteed only one more game after this. I loved the energy that we played with tonight. We had a lot of guys who played more minutes than they're used to. It was a complete team effort.

"We knew that Minooka wasn't going to stop after falling behind since they're a hard-working team that's been playing well all year. This was a great night for our seniors with all three goals being scored by them and it was great for them to win the last game on their home field.

"Our regional is kind of like our conference where every team is pretty much on the same level record- and talent-wise so we know that we have a tough road ahead of us. I think getting Rodrigo back gave us an emotional boost and the guys responded to having him back on the field."

PSHS can now focus on next week's five-team Joliet Central Regional, where it drew the top-seed.

The Cougars meet Lockport or Joliet West in their opener and the hosts or Romeoville if they win.

MCHS (12-8-1, 4-3), which had won three straight and four of five, also looks to the postseason.

Coach Chris Brolley hopes that his team's next effort is an improvement upon Tuesday's showing.

Otherwise, their appearance in the Normal Community Regional might turn out to be a brief one.

"Plainfield South came out ready to play tonight," Brolley said. "We battled back and missed some shots late. If we could have been a couple in it would have made it competitive.

"Our guys battled and came back and that's who they are. But it makes me mad when we come out like we did. Things have to change in the playoffs since if you go down 3-0, that could be the game."

The Cougars moved in front for good in the 26th minute when Skrip got free and then connected.

MCHS had a chance a bit later when an AJ Bever free kick led to a wide try by Craig Phillips.

Although the sides settled for a 1-0 score at the break, things didn't remain that way for long.

Just 33 seconds into the last half, Carlos Arechiga sent a pass to Holland, who hit a short try.

"After our halftime speech, we came out and knew what we had to do," said Holland, who scored his second goal. "I knew what I had to do and did it. After that goal, our team came up the intensity was rising.

"This was a big night for us since it was our senior night and our last game. So we knew that we had to come out strong and finish it. We're ready for the next step and our goal is to do well in the playoffs."

Following an exchange of shots from Arechiga and Mo Esquivel, Olsen halted a Dan Zamora effort.

PSHS scored again in the 48th minute on a Skrip header following a free kick by Miguel Espinoza.

"Tonight everyone was playing for each other since it was our senior night and a conference game and we got the job done," Skrip said. "We needed to play like it was a playoff game since they are coming up.

"Our defense was getting used to the wind, our forwards were making their runs and our midfielders were winning balls. We did a nice job tonight and that's why I think that we can make a run in the playoffs."

That gave the Cougars a 3-0 lead and things finally looked to be over, but MCHS had other ideas.

A sudden wind-shift from the southwest to the northwest made an Indian comeback a daunting task.

Following a half where it faced strong gusts, MCHS found itself once more heading into the wind.

After Olsen stopped an Esquivel liner, Cougars Eduardo Conde and a Manny Sanchez were thwarted.

MCHS finally connected in the 57th minute when Phillips placed a shot just inside of the post.

An offside call disallowed an apparent goal on a Cesar Bautista header off of a Skrip free kick.

The Indians got good chances from Esquivel, Sergio Reyes and Phillips but Olsen stopped each.

In the final 10 minutes, Bever and Matt Blackmore were denied, as was Sanchez on a late header.

Beside Olsen, Holland, Garcia, Sanchez, Skrip and Conde, a few more seniors were recognized.

The other four Cougars are Christian Abarca, Alex Rodriguez, Nhkole Thakhisi and Matt Cranley.

After missing much of the season, it was clear that Garcia was very happy to finally be back.

"After a month of not playing, it feels good to be back," Garcia said. "I dislocated my toe and was out for some big games so my goal was to be back for this game, our senior night and the last home game.

"We knew what we had to do tonight. We've had tough losses in our last two games and we didn't want to end the season with a loss so we came out fired up. We just wanted to gout and play and have some fun.

"Heading into the playoffs we needed to get a win in our last game. This should help our confidence as we get ready for our first game in the regional."