Mustangs open Waubonsie Invite with victory at Lemont

Photos courtesy of Barb English

By Curt Herron

Metea Valley kicked off a tough week on a high note when it rallied from a 2-0 deficit to capture a 3-2 win over Benet Academy on Monday.

But the Mustangs were blanked in their next two outings, to Geneva and Naperville North, giving importance to Saturday's match at Lemont.

The Indians figured to be dangerous, especially since they had played to a draw with Downers Grove South a week earlier at the same site.

And even though the Mustangs scored the first goal of the match, the hosts had a strong wind at their backs during the final 40 minutes.

Metea seemed unfazed about going into the wind, however, and possessed well enough to keep much of the play in Lemont's side of the field.

The Mustangs added a second score 10 minutes into the second half and later converted a penalty kick to give them a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Lemont managed to get one of those scores back, but when all was said and done, Metea emerged with a satisfying 3-1 win over the Indians.

Beside being a good road victory for the Mustangs, the win was also important since it opened play in Waubonsie Valley's Warrior Invite.

Metea plays Saint Viator at Toyota Park on Wednesday before returning to tournament play with Thursday and Saturday matches at Waubonsie.

While coach Josh Robinson's squad had already won a pair of road matches, this was clearly their biggest victory away from home thus far.

Click to hear Brett Erwin interview

Although the Mustangs (6-9) had plenty of chances with the wind at its back during the initial 40 minutes, they only collected one score.

Metea took the lead for good with just under 12 minutes remaining in the opening half when a Lemont player put the ball into his own net.

With the teams switching directions after the break, the visitors figured to be on the defensive throughout most of the last half of play.

While defenders like Brett Erwin, Danny Shea and Andrew Shin and keeper Derek Carothers were up for the challenge, circumstances changed.

Instead of facing a steady barrage of attempts from Lemont, the Mustangs applied plenty of pressure of their own toward the Indians' net.

Click to hear Danny Shea interview

Zack Bavol launched the first salvo within the opening minute of the second half and then had another threatening try a short time later.

Lemont had a good chance with 34 minutes left when one shot was cleared by a defender and a rebound attempt was tipped away by Carothers.

The Mustangs were able to find the net with 30 minutes remaining in the match following a score by Chris Freeman to grab a 2-0 advantage.

On the play, Freeman worked his way past defenders and got off a short try from the side which was sent toward the other side of the net.

Controversy set in with just under 27 minutes remaining in the match when Ryan Solomon was taken down after he got free past defenders.

A yellow card was assessed and a free kick was rewarded to the Mustangs, with Bavol sending a line drive off of a wall of Lemont players.

In the subsequent scramble in front of the net, a Lemont player was called for a hand ball, which resulted in a penalty kick for Metea.

The only problem was that Lemont didn't get the chance to substitute following the yellow card, so it only had 10 players on the field.

After Lemont coach Rick Prangen was given a dubious red card for questioning the situation, Bavol made the PK to give Metea a 3-0 lead.

Carothers halted three more good chances but there wasn't much he could do to prevent Lemont from finally scoring with 15:16 remaining.

Metea also had two more decent scoring opportunities in the final 11 minutes but Jake Goehring and Freeman were both denied on attempts.