Chicagoland Soccer

Eagles' early lead evaporates vs. Dundee-Crown

By Mike Garofola

It all seemed to be going according to plan for Jacobs.

Strike early and stun the home side – a team which already has in its memory a disheartening 3-2 loss in OT just two days earlier to Crystal Lake South.

But it all went terribly wrong after that.

Showing its meddle before a big crowd, Dundee-Crown quickly pulled a goal back, and then Kyle Hagan's first of two goals in rapid succession gave the home side the advantage for good at 20 minutes.

The Chargers (7-5-0, 1-2-0) would go on to a 3-1 victory Thursday afternoon in wind-blown Carpentersville in the FVC Valley Division soccer match.

"Even though it was good for us to score early today, I have to admit I felt a little apprehensive about that lead, and how long we were going to be able to hold," began Eagles' co-captain Matt Taflinger.

"I never really felt there was enough of the urgency -- in all of us -- that you need to bring in each match, especially a conference game like today. To give up a couple of easy goals on break-downs like we did, maybe showed that we just didn't have what we needed to compete today against Dundee-Crown."

Despite Taflinger's premonition, the Eagles (8-8-0, 1-2-0) put their opponent on its heels in the first minute when Mario Rako and Erik Nava worked some sublime magic on a 1-2 combination up the center channel. Nava cracked a low blast past D-C keeper Christian Martinez, whose hands were stung by the shot as he was unable to keep the ball out of the back of the net.

"Not exactly how we wanted to start today, especially after Tuesday's match against South, where we went up 2-0 and then gave away 3 goals to lose," admitted DC head coach Rey Vargas.

That’s when the Chargers’ Antony Meza made something out of nothing into the equalizer.

Meza, who recently verbally committed to Eastern Illinois University, used a strong wind at his back and a pin-point left-footed freekick serve to send a looping ball just over Eagles keeper Nick Matysek.

Matysek appeared to have a bead on the shot but he slipped in the muck on his line, and was unable to retrieve far enough back to either catch or turn the ball up and over the woodwork.

The match would settle down after the two quick goals by both clubs, and most of the play would revolve around some great action in the middle of the park, where the Eagles' began to get into their trademark possession style. Jacobs fought to possess despite the wet conditions leftover from week-long rains, and the long, thick grass which has thrived from all of the water it has taken on during that time.

Nava, Rako, Sam Tang and Tommy Gallagher were getting plenty of touches in the middle, and with Taflinger coming forward out of the back to add numbers, it appeared it wouldn't be long before Jacobs strikers Brad Cleveland and Nick Lorusso would find the back of the net, against a Chargers’ club that was struggling to defend its opponent’s ball possession.

"We're not as big as we were last season but we possess so well, and work hard finding each other when we go forward,” Jacobs coach AJ Cappello said. “We did a lot of that, especially in the first-half, but we just lacked that killer touch in the final third.”

With the home-side playing a high, tight line along the back, the assistant referee on the near touchline threw his flag up on a few occasions against an aggressive Eagles attack to slow things down from time-to-time in the first 40 minutes.

A nice diagonal run from Anthony Moscatello allowed the junior to be put through from Kyle Hevrdejs, and if not for some quick recognition from Martinez, the Eagles' striker would have been in on the D-C keeper at 13 minutes.

Moscatello would provide Cappello with some terrific pace and energy off the bench all afternoon.

Just afterwards, Hagan put the Chargers ahead for good when a lovely ball out of the back caught the Eagles' along the back. Once the D-C striker was on the ball he outraced two defenders before going past Matysek the other way.

Matysek would make a sensational initial save on a filthy blast from Hagan, and could not be faulted for allowing a rebound, which Hagan calmly slotted home his second goal to help push the Chargers lead to 3-1 at 23 minutes.

"We had a couple of break-downs in that sort span, and give (Dundee) credit, they scored on those two chances, which is something we've struggled to do of late," said Cappello.

"Everyone would like to have a finisher like Charlie (Oliver) at South, but nobody does. We have a bunch of guys with 5-6-7 goals, and they all work hard, believe me. But to be able to compete with the absolute best, you've got to have that scary guy up top who can score, and help create for others."

Brilliant blue skies and sunshine would greet the faithful standing all along the far touchline 10 minutes into the second half, and the visitors almost celebrated the weather surprise when Moscatello nearly redirected a Nava free-kick sent over the top.

Another attempt from the senior forced Martinez to come off his line to punch the dangerous ball out of the box, but the Eagles' were unable to pry open the Chargers in their own end, thanks in part to its top-flight sweeper, Luis Lopez, and the ability of D-C to be compact in the middle, forcing the Jacobs attack to go wide, which it did not do with any regularity.

"They packed it in on us, and we didn't do well to adjust to (it) about midway through the second half," said Cappello.

"Our final touch in the second half wasn't nearly as good as it should be, and when that happens, it's really tough to get into the back of the net," added Taflinger.

Jacobs’ Jack Thompson made a fine tackle in close to stop Alejandro Garcia, attempting to add to the Chargers’ lead in the 70th minute.

With the Eagles desperate to cut into the 2-goal lead, their best chance came at 77 minutes when their first deep throw of the day came on a flip toss from Lorusso. The Eagles couldn’t get anyone onto the end of his throw, making it easier for Martinez to smother the ball in the driving rain, which continued on through to the final whistle.

"We made some adjustments here and there at the break, and I am not sure if we got the results that we wanted from them, but today when we possessed and moved the ball around like we can, we did very well. But again, we just weren't sharp enough in the final third," said a disappointed Cappello.