Trojans let one slip away against Hinsdale South
Hornets score twice in final :45 to force 2-2 tie

Whiplash.

Seventy-nine minutes and 15 seconds – that’s how long Downers Grove North held a 2-0 lead over visiting Hinsdale South on Thursday, before a jarring final 45 seconds left the Trojans with a 2-2 tie.

A Hornets’ free kick and a corner kick in the final minute spoiled North’s best-laid plans for the night.

“It was pretty devastating,” Trojans senior Paul Hogan said. “We said at halftime that a shutout was our main goal, and we have to take the finish of this game to heart. It’s an eighty-minute game.”

With North’s starters on the bench, Hinsdale South fought hard and earned a free kick with just over 45 seconds to play. Nick Henry’s strike cut the Trojans’ lead in half, and 30 seconds later Henry took a corner kick that teammate Dan Pocica headed towards goal.

The ball caromed off a Trojan, then off the Hornets’ Joey Gangi and into goal, tying the game with just 15 seconds left to play.

Through 40 minutes, Downers North (10-2-2) showed why it’s a bona fide contender for a state title this year. The Trojans displayed a stellar attack in building a 2-0 halftime lead.

“The first thirty minutes was probably the best we’ve played in a while,” North coach Brian Gervase said. “We were coming to the ball, making good touches, putting balls through, and we had a couple of nice finishes.”

AJ Jeffries had the game’s first nice finish. The sophomore took a touch ahead into the box on the left side, and with a defender on his hip he extended his left foot and sent a ball inside the far post from a tough angle.

But it was Reid Melton’s shot that Hogan called “our goal of the year.” Melton saw a seam and let fly with a shot from roughly 24 yards out that Hornets keeper Paras Patel had no chance to stop, as it flew towards the upper ninety.

“He’s a two-footed player and he shoots the ball like a beast,” Gervase said of Melton. “You saw it right there. He can really hit a ball nicely.”

Hogan offered a simple explanation for his squad’s impressive attacking display.

“Just letting the ball do the work,” Hogan said. “That’s what we did in the first half, when we played really good. We stayed calm, took our time in the attack, and if we have the ball then they don’t have a chance to score.”

“When we do that we can come up with big plays, just like AJ did and just like Reid did.”

Still holding a 2-0 lead at the game’s 60-minute mark, Downers North turned to a mass substitution of non-starters to finish out the game. That group would give up the win down the stretch, but nobody on the North side doubted the decision to send them in to finish the game.

“If I’m going to talk to the these guys all the time about how everything we do, all season long, builds to the state finals, then it’s on me to make sure that all these guys are playing in these matches,” Gervase said. “These are guys that bust their (backsides) in practice, too, and they deserve the opportunity. That group deserves a little bit of time on the field.

They didn’t finish up a good game but that’s on them, and I didn’t have a problem pointing a finger at them after this game. But our starters could have played a better third quarter of the game, too. They played good for a half but then I thought they were a little lax for that quarter of the game.

And kudos to (Hinsdale South). They worked hard to the end of the game.”

Despite watching his teammates give up the lead from the bench, Hogan’s faith in North’s backup players remains. “Our subs have been doing a great job this year,” Hogan said. “It was just a bad finish to the game.”

The Trojans are part of a sectional this year that includes a bevy of the state’s top teams in defending state champion Lyons Township, Oak Park and River Forest, Downers Grove South, and Hinsdale Central.

While Thursday’s loss didn’t do North any favors for the sectional seeding meeting, the Trojans know they’ll have to play well regardless in some big upcoming tests. Of the big dogs in the West Suburban Silver this year, North has only played Lyons Township thus far, losing twice to the Lions.

“We’ve got some big games coming up,” Hogan said. “Morton, (Downers) South, OPRF is a huge match and Hinsdale Central is always good. Our conference is tough.”

Hogan has improved his game since an outstanding junior season last year. The senior is likely still known mainly for his speed and finishing ability, but that’s not all he brings to the table.

“Any time you see a great player on a soccer field, it’s always their first touch,” Gervase said. “(Hogan) brings everything down – chest down, foot down, knees down. He comes back to the ball, he has a really high motor, and typically he finishes very well.”

Area teams are by now well aware of a North attack that features Hogan, Jeffries, Azmi Sharif, and Stu Melton, but the sophomore Reid Melton showed that he can be one dangerous attacking player as well.

“We’ve got so many guys that can play the middle, and Reid flexes for us,” Gervase said. “He’s very fit so we’ll play him on the outside, but we’ll move him to the inside, too.”

Arguably the most unsung player of North’s starting 11 is outside defender Marcin Modzelewski, playing on a three-man back line that includes fellow outside defender Tom Budnik and central defender Alex Vogler.

Scrappy, quick, smart, and skilled – Modzelewski can be a one-man deterrent.

“How does a team attack us from the right side with him back there?” Gervase said “That’s one of the reasons we’re comfortable playing with three in the back. He almost takes up two guys’ places back there. What he does for us just doesn’t show up in a stat book. I’ve not seen a better defender this year.

 (LT’s) Billy McGuinness was probably the best defender I saw last year, and I haven’t seen a better one than (Modzelewski) this season.”

“All three of them have been outstanding,” Hogan said of the Trojans’ back line. “Even in the games against LT they were very good. They give us a lot of opportunities to keep the ball and get up (into the attack).”