Diaz buries game-winner vs. Hinsdale Central
By Matt Le Cren

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Downers Grove South generated only one serious scoring chance Thursday, but Eric Diaz made it count.

The sophomore scored on a breakaway with 29:51 remaining in the second half and the Mustangs’ defense made it stand up in a 1-0 victory over host Hinsdale Central on the opening day of the Red Devil Cup at Centennial Field.

Diaz, who was making his high school debut, didn’t touch the ball often in the first half as Hinsdale Central, as it would do throughout the match, dominated the midfield and thus the possession.

But he was ready when Andrew Grabavoy made a steal near midfield and found a seam in the middle of the Red Devils’ defense. Grabavoy’s pass went over the back line and Diaz raced after it, catching up to the ball and dribbling around Hinsdale Central goalie Harley Pranger before scoring into the empty net.

“[Grabavoy’s] got great awareness and vision,” Downers South coach Jon Stapleton said. “Eric did a nice job of holding himself onside and Andrew played a great ball over the top and he was able to capitalize on it, which was great. [Diaz] is a solid player.”

For Diaz, the goal came as a surprise.

“I seriously did not expect that,” Diaz said of scoring in his first high school game. “I figured one of the veterans of the team would score. When I saw [the ball go over the defense] I just ran as hard as I can.”

Diaz’s goal impressed Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins, whose squad appeared to be in control of the action and building toward a score of its own.

“He did a good job and he made a nice little move at the end to get Harley off his feet and he put it away,” Wiggins said. “So credit to him: that’s finding a way to get it done. And that’s something that we’re just going to have to continue to get better with [on] our chances.”

The Red Devils (0-1-1) outshot the Mustangs 11-6 and put plenty of pressure on the Downers South defense. But the visitors did a good job of defending nearly two dozen set pieces in their own end and senior goalie Nick Tannenbaum was superb, aggressively venturing into traffic to punch away dangerous services.

In addition to the punch-outs, Tannenbaum made three saves, including a leaping effort to knock a 35-yard free kick by Christian Meyer over the crossbar with 6:25 left.

“I give a lot of credit to their game and their restarts,” Stapleton said. “They’ve historically done a great job of that and we know that, but we still have to defend it and I thought Tannenbaum played very, very well in coming off the line and cutting those chances out.”

Meyer, a junior midfielder, was constantly around the ball for the Red Devils, forcing the issue and pressuring the Mustangs (1-0) via free kicks, corner kicks and shots in the run of play. But he misfired on two golden opportunities down the stretch.

The first came with 14:00 left when a pass from freshman Louis St. John found Meyer wide-open in the right side of the Downers South box, but his shot went right at Tannenbaum.

Then with 1:13 to go, Hinsdale Central was awarded a penalty kick, which Meyer shot over the bar. That miss denied the Red Devils a shot at earning a draw but did not shake Wiggins’ faith in Meyer.

“A lot of credit goes to Christian at the end there to step up and be the one to say that he was going to take that shot,” Wiggins said. “That’s his courage right there and I’m proud of him for that.

“We had 80 minutes. It shouldn’t have to come down to one guy that’s going to turn things around. That’s quite an experience that he’s going to be able to draw from.

“I told him at the end of the game that this is not the last time he’s going to get that chance. I put a lot of trust and faith in a guy who says, ‘I’m going to take this.’”

Historically a slow-starting team, the Red Devils nonetheless appear to be more advanced than they were at this point last season, when they finished with 13 wins and a regional title.

“I like how we’re keeping possession,” Wiggins said. “We’ve been much improved from years past. I’m very happy with this group. We’ve got a lot of guys who are contributing.

“For me, the value of a game like this early on in the year is we’re getting to see a lot of the things that we need to build on in what I call a stressful situation, meaning a tournament when you’re getting points for the win. We need to see how they respond in those types of scenarios. All in all we’re getting a good read on our guys.”

For Downers South, starting the season by pulling out a win in a game they were outclassed was a confidence-builder.

“Obviously it boosts it,” Diaz said. “I think Hinsdale Central is a great team. They have pretty good forwards and they dominated the whole game. We just finished our opportunities whenever we could.”

The Mustangs are hoping to be significantly improved from 2011, a rare down year that ended with a 7-13-3 record due in part to a series of serious injuries to key players. They had a couple players banged up in collisions in this one but escaped without any big injuries, though not without plenty of room for improvement.

“We didn’t have a lot of opportunities and I didn’t think we executed very well on the free kicks we did have, but I’ll take responsibility for that,” Stapleton said. “That’s something that we probably haven’t paid any attention to at this part of the season. We’ve got to take better advantage.

“We have high expectations. We always tell our kids we want to do better as the season goes on and hopefully make a run in the playoffs and contend for conference. Those are always our goals, so it was a very good start for us today against a very good team.”