Chicagoland Soccer

Trojans blank Mustangs to win DG bragging rights

By Matt Le Cren

Downers Grove North coach Brian Gervase thinks Reid Melton is one of the best players in the Chicago area, if not the state.

Melton did nothing to refute that assessment Thursday night, scoring twice to lift the host Trojans to a 2-0 victory over crosstown rival Downers Grove South at Carstens Field.

Despite missing the last two games with a sore knee, the midfielder leads the Trojans (8-6-2) with 11 goals and his play, combined with that of fellow seniors Cullen Cummings and Josh Triechel, figures to make Downers North a tough out in next month’s playoffs.

“Reid Melton has the most goals on our team and for good reason,” Gervase said. “I’ve not seen a player better than Reid Melton all season long.

“There are very good teams around us but when we go to our sectional meeting I’m going to be pushing very hard for Reid to be an All-state player. I believe Reid is the real deal. He’s done a lot of great things.”

That includes his strikes against the Mustangs, both of which were assisted by Cummings.

The first came at the 22:20 mark of the first half when he got around a defender in the left side of the Downers South penalty area and fired a 12-yard shot off the hand of diving Mustangs keeper Nick Tannenbaum and into the side netting inside the right post.

And the second goal showcased the Trojans’ determination and dominance and overcame a tremendous effort by Tannenbaum, who finished with seven saves.

Junior midfielder Dan Lott began the sequence by settling a ball with his back to the goal and spring Melton into the box up the middle.

Melton’s shot from point-blank range was kicked away by Tannenbaum, but Cummings tracked down the ball in the left corner and quickly sent it back inside to Melton, whose quick shot from outside the left post beat Tannenbaum to the far side with 19:52 remaining in the second half.

Melton said he didn’t expect to score twice against Downers South (9-6), which was riding a four-game winning streak.

“Not really,” Melton said. “They are a really good team and our record is obviously not the greatest right now, but that makes us 8-6-2 so we’re definitely a winning team. I thought the whole season we should have won the majority of our losses, so we’re a good team going into the playoffs.

“We were really pumped up for the crosstown rivalry. Us seniors, we didn’t want to lose to South. We beat them last year when our season was really down the drain and we said we can do it again because we’re a better team this year.”

The Trojans certainly proved that to the Mustangs, controlling the midfield and consistently connecting passes. They outshot the visitors 17-10, putting nine shots on frame to just three for the Mustangs.

“What you saw today is what I feel is our team,” Gervase said. “We’ve struggled to get our best group on the field and playing well, but today that was our ‘A’ group. It was fun.”

It would have been more lopsided if not for Tannenbaum, who made several acrobatic saves, including one on Triechel in the 23rd minute after Triechel made a great move to get free in the box and unleash a 12-yard bullet that Tannenbaum kicked away.

“We’ve finally got him [Triechel] in a spot where he plays best,” Gervase said. “He’s going to make a lot of things happen when he plays at his best.”

Another Trojan who was at his best was goalie Jim Barkei. The junior was called upon to make only three saves, but all of them were difficult and two came at critical junctures.

Downers South got the first shot of the game and Barkei made a leaping save on a 27-yard drive by Andrew Grabavoy at the 25:35 mark. That stop got Barkei’s adrenaline flowing; he actually likes an early test.

“Absolutely, because you build off of it,” said Barkei, who notched his fourth shutout. “The goal seems smaller; the ball seems bigger and everything else pales in comparison.”

That play, combined with Melton’s first goal three minutes later, set the tone.

“I was kind of scared in the beginning of the game because they were really good at possessing it and a lot of times that’s where we struggle,” Melton said. “But I think once we scored it definitely took them out of the game and I thought we played really well at the end.”

Barkei again stopped Grabavoy just 23 seconds into the second half, this time punching a 22-yard laser over the crossbar.

“Those are nice saves,” Downers South coach Jon Stapleton said. “Those are shots from distance and Andrew can strike a ball; we’ve seen that before and [Barkei] made a nice save.”

But the turning point in Stapleton’s mind came with 4:30 to go before intermission when the Mustangs caught the Trojans flat-footed in the back. Tom Wendt had the ball on the left wing and was running in alone as Barkei charged out.

Wendt sent a quick cross into the box to defender Scott Holakovsky, who was making a supporting run up the right wing. As Barkei sprinted back into position, Holakovsky one-timed a shot over the crossbar with a wide-open net.

“That might have changed the landscape of things, but it didn’t happen,” Stapleton said. “I think he had time to take a touch but that’s an easy perspective from where I’m sitting or from the stands, plus he’s an outside defender making that run forward, so that’s not going to be a comfortable position for him. I know he wants it back, but I’m not upset with him in any way.”

In Stapleton’s assessment, the Trojans won the game because of their defense, which has been shaky at times this fall. Downers North like to play a high offsides trap, which can be a high risk/high reward proposition.

“I thought they performed well,” Stapleton said. “I thought they outplayed us tonight.

“In the first half, their back line played such a high line that our three levels – forwards, midfielders and defenders – were all on top of each other. The space wasn’t there to try to play through, and that certainly hindered us a little bit.

“I think the last part of the first half and into the second half we did a better job of slotting our forwards a little higher, making them be a little more honest in how they would defend us. But I thought because the high line was there it took us out of our possession because I think the temptation is to always play over the top, and that’s what they want you to do. To their credit, it worked.”

Of course, teams shouldn’t play that style if they don’t have confidence in their keeper, who can often find himself facing a breakaway if teams solve the trap.

“That’s something we’ve stressed all year is the high line,” Barkei said. “Our coach likes to have me come forward and position myself better to get through balls. The couple good saves were just a confidence boost. They really helped throughout the game.”

So when South did break through late in the game, Barkei was ready. The Mustangs’ Sam LaLonde walked in alone on Barkei with 10:25 remaining in the second half, only to see his shot kicked away by Barkei.

“That was reaction,” Barkei said. “I dropped in until I could cut the angle and then he got close enough to where I could just make the reaction save.”

LaLonde was left waving his arms in frustration after missing another great chance four minutes later. This time the South co-captain stole a pass just outside the box, dribbled toward the left post and poked a right-footed shot just wide of the right post as Barkei came out to challenge.

“I embrace [those situations],” Barkei said. “That’s actually something I’ve been working on in my personal game because as good of a keeper that I’d like to think I am, I do have improvements [to make] and that’s one of them is 1v1 situations. So I embrace every practice opportunity.”

Gervase uses Barkei as part of the offense as well, often having him come across midfield to take free kicks in order to utilize his strong leg. Barkei put two shots on goal, forcing Tannenbaum to save both long free kicks.

“I thought Jim played one of his best games in a while,” Gervase said. “He’s finally getting very aggressive. He’s the sweeper of our team. You saw him get out to a lot of balls today.”