Golden Eagles blanked in FVC Valley opener by McHenry

 

 

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By Curt Herron

Heading into last weekend's Indian Cup tournament, things were looking pretty encouraging for Jacobs.

After all, the Golden Eagles had just captured four straight victories to improve to 7-3 on the season.

But fortunes can change quickly and that's precisely what has happened to coach A.J. Cappello's squad.

Jacobs lost all three of its matches over the weekend and hoped for better news in Tuesday's home match.

The scenario was ideal for the Golden Eagles to get back on the right track as they met up with McHenry.

But an early score gave the Warriors a boost in the teams' Fox Valley Conference Valley Division opener.

Then McHenry fought off a spirited comeback by Jacobs in the final half to claim a 2-0 win in Algonquin.

Cappello believes that he'll find out what his team is made of as they reach a key part of their season.

With Valley Division play making up the next five matches, Jacobs is forced to bounce back right away.

As a result, Thursday's home date with Prairie Ridge takes on extra significance for the Golden Eagles.

 

 

"It's gut check time," Cappello said. "We still control our own destiny in conference and we host a regional with three teams that we know we can play with. So it's just a matter of how we respond and bounce back from this.

"I'm a firm believer that you create your own luck and we just didn't create our own luck tonight. We just have to work a little bit harder and want it a little bit more and get on it.

"McHenry is always a hard-working team and Tony (Caruso) does a great job. They're disciplined, they contest every 50-50 ball and they create chances and put them away. They're a nice team."

Complicating matters for the Golden Eagles is the fact that they're missing some key people right now.

"It's a long season and we've had some ups and downs," Cappello said. "We just hope that we can get hot at the right time, but we only have two and a half weeks left before regionals.

"We have three starters who are out with injury, including one of our captains and leaders, Matt Taflinger. He does so much vocally on the field that it's hard to replace a kid like that."

Scoring goals has been a problem during this recent rough stretch, which was clearly seen on Tuesday.

Although Jacobs had plenty of good chances against the Warriors (10-1-1, 1-0), they couldn't connect.

One of the reasons for that was the play of McHenry keeper Frank Valle, who posted his sixth shutout.

Although he was kept busy during the final 40 minutes, his initial stop in that half was the biggest.

In the 49th minute, the Warriors were whistled for a hand ball in the box, giving Jacobs a penalty.

Mario Rako's liner was deflected by Valle and Kyle Hevrdejs's subsequent header sailed over the net.

A few minutes later, the Warrior keeper denied good attempts from Mike Mammola and Tommy Gallagher.

At the midway mark of the half, Jacobs keeper Nick Matysek dove to stop a shot from Tony Quintero.

Not long after that, a liner from Rako was deflected by a defender and Valle halted the rebound.

Blake Micel had a header cleared by a defender and then a long free kick from Nate Smith was halted.

McHenry went up 2-0 in the 72nd minute after a questionable foul led to a penalty from Marco Tello.

Down the stretch, the Warrior keeper hauled in close-range attempts from Dennis Jimenez and Rako.

The Warriors expressed their emotions on the victory by rushing the field after the final whistle.

 

 

"We're made on toughness and defense and we're 10-1-1 because of that," McHenry coach Tony Caruso said. "It's not always pretty soccer with a lot of possession.

"When we get an early goal then our guys get a lot of confidence. Once we get that first goal then we were able to settle in defensively and attack when needed.

"Frank Valle has been a wall for us and the PK save was the turning point. It's nice to get off to a good start in this division since all these teams are tough."

The opening half was more back-and-forth with relatively few dangerous shots in the first quarter hour.

McHenry took the lead in the 19th minute when Carlos Wence got free past defenders and hit a short shot.

Jacobs looked for the equalizer but saw Valle turn away good attempts from Mammola, Jimenez and Rako.

Dylan Clohessy, McHenry's free kick specialist, had a long shot halted by Matysek just before the break.