Mustangs learn a good early lesson against Hinsdale Central

By Gary Larsen

You have to walk before you can run with the big dogs, and Metea Valley learned a few things in Tuesday’s game against perennial state power Hinsdale Central.

For the Mustangs, the most eye-opening aspect of Tuesday’s game was the physicality and the intensity the Red Devils brought from the opening whistle. One day after winning 1-0 over Plainfield North, the Mustangs saw another level of play coming at them in Hinsdale.

“Most of our guys have never played varsity,” Mustangs striker Ryan Solomon said. “Plainfield North was a varsity team but they weren’t big and physical like Hinsdale Central. At the beginning today I think we were a little surprised by that.”

Mustangs coach Josh Robinson knew what to expect heading into Tuesday’s contest.

“The way Mike (Wiggins) prepares a team is really second to none,” Robinson said of the Red Devils’ coach. “I remember that from when I used to play against his teams in high school.”

“The first ten or fifteen minutes of the game, (Hinsdale Central) came out with intensity, they worked really, really hard, and I think our boys just weren’t ready for that. But as the game progressed I thought we started to match that intensity. Most teams are going to be physical against us but if we can match that intensity, that will help us out.”

The Mustangs (1-1) fell 2-0 to the Red Devils (1-0) in the non-conference contest on a pair of Leondro Perez goals.

Early on, the Mustangs found a good handful of potentially dangerous positions in the attacking third, but couldn’t pull the trigger on a good, clean look on net. Solomon raced behind Central’s back line early in the game before being thwarted by a back-tracking defender.

A few early balls sent over the top put the Mustangs in position to grab an early lead on the Red Devils.

“We always want to maintain a little bit of possession and mix up what we’re doing,” Robinson said. “But it’s hard not to try to play balls up to Ryan (Solomon) and Chris (Freeman). I thought that was effective today and made it tough for (Hinsdale Central). We played a few balls over the top on them and they saw that we have a bit of speed up there. But that’s not going to work unless we can possess a bit.”

The Mustangs’ attack from midfield features junior Danny Shea, who netted the game-winning goal in Monday’s win over Plainfield North. Shea was limited in Tuesday’s contest by a charlie horse.

“That made it tougher on us because he kind of runs things at midfield,” Robinson said. “But I thought Chris (Freeman) and Ryan (Solomon) played a good game and just couldn’t finish today, and I thought (midfielder Joel) Schmidt played a real solid game today. We’re creating opportunities, and now we have to finish them. And we’re still working as far as how we’re moving, and shifting defensively, but those things will come.”

Solomon also saw promise in his side’s attacking effort, in the second varsity game of his program’s young history.

“We had a few good combination plays – we played it back and then played it over the top – and when we did that it worked really well,” Solomon said. “If we can do that more often, we’ll be okay.”

Goalkeepers Derek Carothers and Gabriel Gongora have split time in net thus far, as the Mustangs’ back line begins the process of finding chemistry.

“The two Erwin twins, Blake and Brett, along with Ian (Baumgartner) and Andrew Shin – they work hard and they’re hard-nosed,” Robinson said. “The biggest part will be working on coordinating where they fit in, and getting them to work as one cohesive unit.”

The newness of varsity play will fade fast for the Mustangs, who were chomping at the bit to get this first season under way.

“We were more excited than nervous. Everyone was really pumped and ready to play,” Solomon said of his side’s feelings before its season opener on Monday.

“Our coach told us about (Hinsdale Central) because he used to play against them. He told us they were a really strong program and a strong team, and they are. I’m a little disappointed but I think as a team we played pretty well. We’re working really hard.”

Robinson will also expect contributions this season from a slew of juniors in Kevin Decker, Zachary Bavol, Cody Jones, and Andres Espinosa, and sophomores Max Gierczak, Evan Cudone, Daniel Zhuang, Enrique Rodriguez, and Jake Goehring.