Prospect hands Palatine first MSL loss

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By Dan Santaromita

It’s a goalkeeper’s responsibility to command the defense during set pieces.

Prospect keeper Brad Reibel gained enough command experience to become a general against Palatine Thursday night in Mt. Prospect, but his defense held strong and the Knights avenged last year’s MSL Cup loss by defeating the Pirates 2-0.

The Knights (7-1-1, 3-1) held off a barrage of long throws and corner kicks from Palatine (6-3, 3-1).

“We knew what we were going to see that against Palatine,” Prospect coach Kurt Trenkle said. “We also knew we would see it against Schaumburg so we’ve actually been practicing defending long throws daily. Brad’s got the skill set for that. He’s tall and he’s a basketball player.”

The practice paid off this time, though the Knights fell to Schaumburg 3-2 in overtime Tuesday.

“It’s been unbelievable the last few days,” Reibel, who made 12 saves, said. “We had Schaumburg a few days ago and they probably had 30 throws on us. It’s basically every throw is a corner kick.”

For all the pressure Palatine put on the Knights, Prospect had plenty of their own chances in the first half and displayed a successful deep throw-in in the 27th minute. Mario Morales hit a brilliant first-touch volley that wrong-footed Pirates’ keeper Evan Held (5 saves).

Then, less than a minute before halftime, the Knights sprung a counterattack that turned into a 3-on-1. Brayhan Nunez led Alex Schnepf, who set up Bill Cooney for an easy finish.

“We knew the counters would be there because they would be throwing people forward so we were ready to do that,” Trenkle said.

Palatine, desperate to come back, controlled the possession in the second half, but didn’t create good looks near the goal.

“These guys are intelligent kids, the Prospect kids, give them credit,” Palatine coach Willie Filian said. “They collected every second ball, every loose ball. They had an idea where it was going to be and they either got in front of it or got it out. They’ve got Patryk Ruta in the middle of the field and they’ve got some really good skillful kids. It was a good effort by our kids, but they were better.”

Prospect continued to use their speedy core of talented forwards to counter dangerously, though they couldn’t add to the lead.

“We’re really fast,” Nunez said. “Our team is speed, basically. We’ve got skill too, so hopefully with this and a tough schedule coming we should be good.

We had like six chances, but we finished the two we needed. We’ve got to finish whatever chances we get because the teams are going to be harder. Fremd’s coming up, Hersey, all those teams. It’s going to be hard, but I think we’ve got a shot at the MSL.”

Nunez said it was big for him and the other returning players to beat the Pirates after losing last year’s MSL Cup to them.

Prospect’s defense has produced a shutout in seven of the team’s nine matches this year.

“We played fantastic,” Reibel said of his defense. “We marked in the back. We did everything a defense could ask. Our midfielders came back. (Patrick) Sitko took one off the line. That was unbelievable. You can’t ask for anything better than that.”

With a defense performing like that and a plenty of speed up top, the Knights are certainly a favorite for the MSL East. The Knights are tied at the top of the division with Elk Grove.

“I think Tuesday’s loss really woke them up,” Trenkle said. “The work rate in the center of the field was exactly what we needed. Stefano (Dolomas) was all over the place in the second half. The defense held tight, the clearances were better and Brad had another monster game.”