L-Way Central strikes back
Knights score 4 in each half, roll past JT
JOLIET -- After going through a tough stretch of games, which included Sunday's 2-1 loss to Wheaton Warrenville South in the Pepsi Showdown finals, there was real concern about how well Lincoln-Way Central's soccer team would perform on Monday against Joliet Township.
But even though they were playing their third game in three days and also were a little banged up, the Knights looked like a squad that had rattled off 10-straight wins and is ranked as one of the best in the state.
(HERALD NEWS PHOTO)
Central returned to its winning ways after scoring four goals in each half as it rolled to an 8-0 SouthWest Suburban victory over the Steelmen.
"When you look at all of our injuries, you wonder how well we were going to compete," Knights coach Dan Radz said. "The only thing I told them was that this is where we had to tighten things up. We had to make sure of what we were doing in the back and with our goalkeepers, the midfielders had to start checking the ball and the strikers had to stretch the field.
"And that's what the guys did in the first half. I told them if they could put this together for this game, then they'd get their rest. We've got a nice little stretch here where we can do some good things. We thought it might be a 3-1 game because it's always a battle over here. But our strikers did a very good job of driving them into the goal end, and that was good because that's us, that's the Lincoln-Way."
The Knights (14-2-1, 5-0) got the only goal they would need just 3:44 into the contest when Matt Ducci sent a corner kick in front and Phil Galounis headed the ball in for the score.
Central scored on another header with 27:57 left before halftime when Keegan Balle headed a ball to the left side where Ben Martinez was there to head the ball into the net.
"We had a tough couple of games over the weekend and homecoming, so we were a little tired and we just didn't bring our 'A' game to the Pepsi Showdown," said Martinez. "But today we were playing together and keeping things spread out and connecting passes. Coach said a couple of things to us and we kept that in mind and just played our best and our hardest, like we usually do.
"I like how we keep our intensity up, even if we go down by a goal, since we know we can get the goal back. And I also like how all of our players have great vision of the field. Hopefully, we can keep going like this and keep the focus on getting back to state."
JT (6-7-1, 2-3) hung tough throughout most of the first half, even though goalkeeper Mike Vertin was sidelined with an injury.
Gerardo Cervantes accounted for 3 of the Steelmen's 4 shots on goal against keeper Eric Davenport during the first half.
The Knights added to their lead with 5:22 left before the break when Galounis sent a pass in front of the net to Dave Sayre, who put in the short shot to make it a 3-0 contest.
Then, just 23 seconds later, Dean Wern passed a ball to the right side, where Sayre was on hand to collect another goal.
Central started its second half scoring with 26:45 to go when Sayre assisted Galounis on his second goal of the evening.
After the Knights started substituting liberally, several different performers got a taste of the scoring action.
Pat Hall connected for a long shot, following an assist from Tim Garland, to make it 6-0 with 20:15 remaining.
Just over a minute later, Jason Obermeier found Colin Glennon in front of the net and he scored to make it a 7-0 game.
And then with 6:48 left, Kevin Brncich put in a loose ball from in front of the net, following an assist by Nate Krasowski.
JT's lone good scoring chance in the second half came with 5:43 to go after Julio Perez got knocked down in the box, but his penalty kick was wide, thus assuring the Knights of their fifth shutout of the season. Andy Muehlbacher played in the net during the second half for Central.
"They're a good team and they showed why they're up there in the rankings," JT coach Eduardo Contreras said. "Mike might have probably saved a couple of them, but they would have made most of their shots. We had a chance in the first half when it was 2-0 and we were keeping them at bay for awhile, but I think we just ran out of gas and they just kept it up.
"We're a little nicked up, but that's no excuse since we didn't play well. Once you give them too many chances to put passes together, they'll dissect you, and that's what they did. It was up and down the field and they just kept pressing on. We missed a PK today and that kind of shows how our season has gone right there. But we'll keep fighting and I'm not quitting, and I know the boys won't."
