By Darryl Mellema

Even in the 32 minutes before they allowed the opening goal in Saturday's match at Hinsdale South, there were some worrying signs for Glenbard East's players.

The Rams gave the host Hornets time on the ball to turn and move at them – and the scoring chances flowed more toward Glenbard East's goal.

So when there were goals to talk about, almost all came from Hinsdale South. The Hornets (5-6-2) inflicted a 5-1 defeat on Glenbard East (3-8-1) in Saturday's nonconference match.

“They put us under a lot of pressure with things,” Glenbard East coach Josh Adler said. “I felt we gave them a lot of time to go at us. When you can let teams face you and see the goal frame and size things up, dangerous situations can come of that.”

Hinsdale South scored twice in the final 10 minutes of the first half, with both goals coming from T.J. Kubiesa. The first came from a defensive error by Glenbard East and the second came following a Dan Pocica free kick.

The 2-0 deficit aside, the Rams did carve some openings of their own. Oscar Barraza hit the crossbar after eight minutes and Brent Disterheft had a free shot from the top of the penalty area that missed the goal as two of Glenbard East's better chances.

“I thought in the first half, our play going forward was really good,” Adler said. “I thought it was our defending that really hurt us in the first half.”

Hinsdale South managed to get some players free in the penalty area throughout the half – and throughout the rest of the match as well. Whether a matter of tightening the marking or a situation where players needed to move back to defend more in depth, the fact remained that there were loose white shirts in black-shirted Glenbard East's penalty area.

“We let some guys run free a little bit,” Adler said. “I thought we lost some guys in the middle of the field in the transition part of it. I thought we opened up some big seams in the back and let some guys get into those seams. And then the other part was being too tentative and not winning those 50-50 balls.”

Hinsdale South began the second half much as it ended the first half and scored twice in the first 20 minutes. Ernie Yanez chipped a goal from the right side of the penalty area after a Kubiesa shot was blocked 9 minutes into the half.

Joe Petrak headed the Hornets fourth goal with just under 22 minutes to play in the match.

At this point, Glenbard East's fight-back began and the Rams put together their best soccer of the match. The surge culminated in Brandon Patino's goal with 14 minutes left that broke the shutout.

“You would hope when you give up two goals like we did, that you would have a little fire,” Adler said. “You try to preach confidence. I was telling them 'come on guys, one goal and you're right back in the game. You can do this.' But then when it gets to 4-0, guys started going a little bit.”

With the four-goal deficit, the Rams shifted to a 3-4-3 formation to try to force the ball into Hinsdale South's penalty area. Shortly after Patino's goal, Sam Dennis had a dipping shot tipped over the crossbar. But Hinsdale South scored the final goal, through Joey Gangi, with 6 minutes left.

“They didn't find a way to win battle of the game quickly enough,” Adler said. “You did a hole like we did at the varsity level, and you're not going to give yourself a good fighting chance.”

Barraza proved a catalyst for the Rams, moving from his defensive position to link with midfield players and even create scoring chances for himself and teammates.

“Oscar's a great thing going forward ,” Adler said. “He's composed on the ball. And what's great about him is that he's a smart player. He reads situational stuff really well. He anticipates the play before it's going to happen in his area of the field. And then he can get forward.”

Glenbard East has a very difficult week ahead, facing Naperville North on Tuesday and Wheaton-Warrenville South on Thursday before a non-conference match with tough Rockford Boylan on Saturday.

“It's a matter of regrouping and getting guys ready to go into the conference on Tuesday,” Adler said.