Gators win streak at five games with Saturday's win

By David Kuechle
Photos courtesy of Keith Allmandinger

Crystal Lake South extended its winning streak to five on Saturday afternoon, winning 3-0 over host Belvidere.

Two of the three goals were scored just 26 seconds apart late in the game to secure the victory, and the win puts the Gators record at 6-1-1.

Crystal Lake South has outscored its opponents 16-0 in the last five games, but Gators forward Charlie Oliver still believes the team is not playing to its potential.

"We started off slow but towards the end of the game, we got it together,” Oliver said. “The team figured out how to string some passes together, but we definitely didn't play up to our capability.”

Initially, the game did start off fairly slow. South controlled the ball early on and handled any attacks that Belvidere could muster.

The Bucs' defense was strong as well, but poor passing hindered the team’s ability to gain any sort of momentum.

Three minutes into the match, Gators defender Adam Gatza pinched in on a scoring chance but his shot flew high. With 7:52 left in the first half, Gatza had yet another great offensive chance, as a seemingly harmless lob shot from midfield caused Belvidere goaltender Sergio Gallegos to scramble back towards the goal line.

As the ball fell from the air, it landed on top of the crossbar, and fell behind the net.
Crystal Lake South had solid defense throughout the game, specifically Matt Biederwolf, whose passing from the back started several good rushes up the field.

While both teams were defensively solid through 40 minutes, Belvidere only had a few opportunities and rarely moved the ball up past the midfield. The Bucs’ attempts at short passes were often futile, and the only success they had at moving up the field were long balls sent forward.

Belvidere started the second half strong with forward Ismael Ramirez kicking the ball just wide of net, and Gators goalkeeper Dave Walsh.

South defender Brian Karp followed the strong opening by Belvidere with a shot just of his own sent just wide of the net. South midfielder Sam Murdock also had a good chance in front of the net, but the Bucs' defense blocked his attempt.

With 32:52 remaining, Trevor Bittenbender opened the scoring for the Gators. Charlie Oliver followed step, and had multiple scoring chances but couldn't yet finish on another goal.

As the clock ran down, South defender Alex Anderl had a chance to put the game out of reach, but his shot deflected off the post.

That didn't stop the Gators pressure, however, as Oliver scored with only 2:30 remaining off of an amazing rush up the field, breaking past Belvidere's defense. Just 26 seconds later, South midfielder Mike Hernandez scored the game’s final goal off a good feed from Oliver.

Belvidere pushed back hard, and Johnny Perez, midfielder, nearly scored, but Walsh made a fantastic save to close out yet another shutout victory.

Saturday's game was the Gators' final of a three-game road trip. The play home games this week against Dundee-Crown and Woodstock.