Hornets' comeback a stunner in Downers Grove
Henry, Gangi goals in final :45 force tie vs. DG North

By Gary Larsen

Like a thief in the night, Hinsdale South stole a tie from Downers Grove North on Thursday, in one of the most improbable, stunning finishes you’ll see in any soccer game this year.

“What a crazy ending,” Hornets coach James VanDenburgh said. “My head is spinning right now.”

With just more than 45 seconds left in regulation, the Hornets (4-7-2) trailed the Trojans (10-2-2) by a score of 2-0. That’s when Hornets’ senior Nick Henry took a free kick deep in the Trojans’ end, just off the edge of the penalty area on the left side. Henry buried it to cut the lead in half.

The ball was moved to midfield for the kickoff but South quickly gained possession and earned a corner kick, its 6th corner of the second half. Henry sent the kick toward the 18, teammate Dan Pocica headed it towards net, and the ball went off a defender before caroming off the belly of the Hornets’ Joey Gangi and into net.

Pocica went absolutely bonkers when the ball crossed the goal line. “With a minute left, we’re down two goals to a team like this and you’ve got to think that there’s no way,” Pocica said. “But anything can happen, as we just showed.”

Downers North played exceptional soccer throughout the first half, getting goals from AJ Jeffries and Reid Melton before the break. The Trojans’ attack can be a sight to behold, which the Hornets knew coming in.

“That’s our game plan,” VanDenburgh said. “(DG North) has a potent offense and we had to try to put together a game plan to counteract that offense. We wanted to play sound defensively.

We gave up a goal quickly but really, I thought we played well the entire game. It was a good opportunity to play at a high level. I thought we did that to the best of our ability. Downers North always has a good squad and we gave them the best we could.”

Hornets forward TJ Kubiesa flashed dangerously into the Trojans defensive third through 40 minutes, but North’s back line held him largely in check. Matt Schuster, Joe Petrak, and Matt Warta battled in the middle of the park against a big, physical, and skilled North attack.

There was next to nothing Hornets keeper Paras Patel could do to stop the two goals North scored in the first half. Jeffries his a left-footed shot from the left side in close that found the inside netting at the far post, and Melton hammered a shot from 24 yards out that flew to the upper ninety.

“We wanted to come out in the second half and play our game, win fifty-fifty balls, and never give up,” VanDenburgh said. “We got a little tired but we had a spark at the end there that we needed to finish the game.”

Pocica’s play was prominent in back throughout the contest, and Henry stood out on Thursday in Downers Grove. The senior is an attacking player that VanDenburgh slid to the back line on Thursday due to injury, and for two main additional reasons:

“His brains and his intensity,” said VanDenburgh, who slid Henry back to midfield after the break, to help chase a two-goal deficit.

Help he did, getting assists on the Hornets two improbable goals. For the first 20 minutes after halftime, Hinsdale South picked up its play in earning numerous corner kicks to the final buzzer.

The Trojans made a mass substitution at the 60-minute mark, and the Hornets kept fighting until they pulled off the unlikely two-goal outburst in a 30-second span to force the tie.

VanDenburgh also liked what he got all night from his defense, which included Tyler Langosch and Stephen Beavis, and Pocica likes what he’s seeing from his side at the mid-way point of the season.

“The first time we played Morton we got thrashed, but then we played them a lot closer the second time,” Pocica said. “We’ve really learned from playing these great teams to start off the year and I think we’ll step it up in the second half.”

“We were all good separately but now we’re really starting to play well together. We’re finding chemistry.”