Kelch celebrates birthday by scoring winning goal

By Matt Le Cren
Photos courtesy of Bret Richter

Conor Kelch couldn't have scripted it any better.

The Downers Grove South senior midfielder celebrated his 18th birthday Saturday night by scoring the game-winning goal in the Mustangs' 2-1 road victory over Naperville Central.

It was Kelch's first goal of the season and allowed him to get his teammates off his back.

"I've been getting a lot of [grief] from my teammates about how the whole starting lineup has scored besides me," Kelch said.

"I've been joking for a while about how I was just going to wait for my birthday. It actually came today, so I was pretty excited about that because they can't make fun of me anymore."

Kelch's strike came with 6:48 left in the second half of what looked for a long time was going to be a 1-1 tie.

Senior Joe McLean's pass from the left wing found Kelch streaking diagonally from right to left just outside of the Naperville Central penalty area and his left-footed shot from 20 yards out found the back of the net.

It was just the second time the Redhawks (7-3) have given up more than one goal. They had surrendered just four overall in their first nine matches.

"Coach [Jon Stapleton] has been making a big point about the diagonal runs throughout the season, so I made that run and Joe played a great ball to me and luckily I got a good first touch," Kelch said.

"It meant a lot especially since the game was a big game, too. Naperville Central is one of our biggest tests so far and we needed it for a good seed later in the season."

Stapleton was confident it was just a matter of time before Kelch broke through.

"Great finish by Conor," he said. "He's been around the net quite a bit, but he's been struggling to get that first one. What a day for that.

"I kept telling him there's going to be [one] in a big game, but I didn't know it was going to be [on] his birthday, too."

Downers South (8-1-2) had taken the early lead on a great goal from McLean, who continued his recent string of torrid play.

The 5-4, 120-pound dynamo took a pass in the midfield from Kyle Wolf and sprinted up the left wing before cutting into the middle and unleashing a shot against the grain that beat Redhawks goalie Zach Richter inside the left post at the 28:03 mark of the first half.

"It's his signature move," Kelch said. "I was a little worried that he'd shank it, but it was a great shot.

"Joe played big today. He was our captain on the Roadrunners [U-17 team that played in Spain this summer] and he's playing even better than he was for the Roadrunners. We only have one forward so we need two good outside mids to be making runs up and down the field and they're doing their jobs well."

Stapleton agreed that his midfield has been solid.

"Joe has been playing so well," Stapleton said. "With [Nick] Suker and Conor and Gabe [Diaz] and Cory [Mosiman], the five guys in the midfield the last couple games have really picked it up and it's been very good to see.

"[Naperville Central] hadn't given up more than one goal in a game except for once, so to come here and get two goals is nice."

Despite being outshot 7-2 in the second half, the Redhawks actually created more scoring chances.

The hosts just weren't able to put the final pass together, as several balls went untouched through the Downers crease and Mustangs defenders Tim Herlihy, Michael Leahy, David Masolak and Joseph Sombeck stood firm, especially after Kelch's score put them ahead.

"They finished an opportunity they had," Redhawks coach Troy Adams said. "We had some nice chances in the second half and couldn't put it in the net. You watch enough soccer and you know that's the tale of the game; put balls in the net at the end.

"As I told the boys, 'I can’t fault your effort, I can't fault the way you played and kept your composure the whole time.' We did a lot of things in the second half right; we just didn't put it in the net."

Sophomore Pat Flynn scored the only goal for Central, his fourth of the year, which tied the game with 10:20 left in the first half.

Adam Hamielic intercepted a clearing pass and sent a beautiful cross in front to Flynn, who stayed onside and volleyed a hard shot that Mustangs goalie Sam Hadley made an incredible save on. But Flynn alerted banged home the rebound.

At that point, the Redhawks felt confident they could at least get a tie.

"Our defense has played great all year," Flynn said. "That's helped us win tight games. We know if we give up one, it's going to be tough for them to get a second. Unfortunately, they did, but we answered strong.

"They played hard and physical, which made us answer back with them. I thought we attacked well in the second half. We found forwards out wide and connected in the midfield, which helped us."

Flynn credits Adams with teaching the Redhawks how to use the 4-3-3 formation and said the Redhawks are more comfortable in the attacking third than they were earlier in the year. He'll get no argument from Stapleton.

"They're a good team," Stapleton said. "They're very good in the air. [Jack Patrick], on any ball in the air he was pretty much sending right back down our throats."

"We had a lot better combination play in the second half and that led to a lot more chances," Adams noted. "It was a good game to kind of see what we need to improve on.

"Unfortunately, every time you come away with a loss your list is longer for some reason than when you win, even though you might not have played that differently."