Late goal dooms visiting Falcons vs. Conant
By Mike Garofola


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It was a soccer game all parties enlisted figured would go the way it went - right down to the 72nd minute game-winner put into the back of the net by Justin Pydo.

The Conant senior fired in his close range shot after teammate Gio Rocha sent his free-kick into the mix, and then along with backline captain Kevin Quinn helped hold off visiting Wheaton North (0-3-1) for the final 8 minutes of time to grab their first victory of the year with a 1-0 decision Tuesday night in Hoffman Estates.

Conant (1-1-0) now stands 1-1-0 in tourney play of the Lake Park Invite, while the Falcons are 0-3-0.

"Coach (Franco) is still trying to fix a few things with us, and we're going through a lot of growing because we've got so many new guys on the roster this season,” Quinn said. “Bbut I feel along the back, with myself, as well as Curtis (King) our defense should be strong enough to help get us past the early part of the season while everyone else catches up the speed of play at this level.”

Pydo earned a spot in the first 11 and made it count on Tuesday.

"Justin has been working real hard in training and he's been putting in the extra work to get better, so we thought we'd give him a shot in our starting lineup, and it paid off for him and for us tonight," said Franco, who knows the 2012 Cougars will be a work in progress in the early stages.

"This is a good group of kids and players, and they get along, and seem to want to work. We feel there isn't really any drop-off from 1 thru 18, which I think in the long run, we work to our benefit once we get everyone where they belong, and we figure out what type of formation best suits our talent."

Falcons head coach Bryce Cann has much of the same going with his club, and although their start has been a little rougher than Conant’s, there was plenty of enthusiasm in his voice when talking about his club, as it was for Falcons captain Brooks Joy, who lined up along the back with mates Julian Barrera, Brian Pfaff and Nathan Robinson for the opening whistle.

"I saw a lot of the same type of play from both sides tonight, kind of your typical early season game where teams take turns enjoying the run of play, both having trouble with possession, and each struggling to find some consistent play for any measure of time," Cann said.

"We were not sharp at all at the start of the game, but so much better in the second half. I wish we didn't come out so flat, but in the end, I did see us do some good things overall, and that's what we'll look to build on as we go forward."

Joy bemoaned the late goal given up to the Cougars.

"It was a tough goal to give up, especially the way we did, because, at the very least we could have come out with a draw instead of a loss," said the senior Joy, who along with keeper A.J. Bibergall and Isaac Roberts, wore the captains armbands for the Falcons.

The Falcons paid the price for its inability to clear the Rocha serve sent from the near touchline, and although a couple of Joy's mates were able to get a foot on the ball, it wasn't enough to clear the area. The opportunistic Pydo took little time to measure his shot before sending it into the back of the net from 10 yards.

"It was a goofy goal, but it still went in, and with us heading towards a 0-0 draw, it came at a good time for us," said Franco.

Up until the Pydo strike just 8 minutes from time, it was an up-and down game at times, with both sides having a handful of quality chances, most off the counter attack.

The Falcons were a little more dangerous than their hosts in the opening minutes, with Roberts and Jon Norton -- one of three sophomores in the Falcons starting lineup -- having most of the play from their place in the middle of the park.

Once Rocha started to find his form, along with Eduardo Campo, who came forward regularly out of the back, the Cougars attack took shape. On consecutive trips into the Falcons end, the home side was able to test Bibergall, who answered the call confidently to begin a strong effort between the sticks for the junior.

"We need to have (Gio) getting a lot of touches, because when he does, good things should happen in our attack," said Franco.

"We really like Blake (Fairbanks) alongside Gio in the middle, he's going to win a lot of balls for us there, and his work rate is very high, but he's still not a hundred percent due to a hip flexor issue he's going through right now."

The best bit of combination from the Cougars in the first half hour would produce a shot at Biebergall, and subsequent corner after Ocampo, Justin Sindewald, Dino Kandalepas all enjoyed a touch before Joey Connolly had a go at the Falcons’ keeper.

After the Falcons cleared the corner, Ocampo's throw landed on the foot of Victor Moskal, whose shot was blocked on the way through the box.

All of this action around the 25 minute mark would fuel the home side to do more.

With the ball staying in the Falcons’ end, ZachThielbar gave Rocha a ball which resulted in his shot going wide, and moments later Moskal's angled shot sailed over the bar.

Chase Hermanson turned from in close to force Bibergall to save, and following a nice little sequence of ball movement Hugo Zarate had a turn at Bierbergall.

"As I said, our first half effort wasn't were it should be, we gave them way too much space, and we didn't do a lot of things that we need to," began Cann.

"But I was pleased with the second half, where I thought we enjoyed most of the run of play while putting together some quality, and creating some good chances on them."

In the first period, when the Falcons were able to piece a few good exchanges, it was sophomore Ethan Taira who was a key contributor as his pace and energy on the outside helped break down the Cougars on the flank when the speedy midfield was in possession.

After the visitors dodged a bullet in the 43rd minute, when Hermanson, King and Connolly all had a free look on frame, the Falcons began to grab the game back by the scruff of the neck.

Again, it was Roberts, along with Anders Zerlang pulling the strings which led to Cougars keeper Patryk Openchowski turning away a shot which led to a corner. Two minutes later, Roberts' free-kick was pulled down out of the air by Openchowski.

It would be the Cougars who were under pressure following the go-ahead goal, and for the final few minutes of the match Franco was concerned over whether his club would hold off the visitors, who were growing in confidence.

"It got a little tough holding them down near the end as they continued to push forward, but luckily our defense held and didn't really allow anything that was too dangerous.

"For us to be competitive this season, we have to try to be as mistake-free as possible, and play with a lot of energy with a good work rate.”

For the Falcons, the task is the same. North returned just seven from last year, and opened with two sophomores (Brian Pfaff and Sam Mason) in its first-11. A size disadvantage will also be at play for this year’s squad.

"When you look at the size of our team, we're vertically challenged," Joy said. "We play hard, but we've got a bunch of guys who aren't that big, so we've got to be smart, and try not to give away too many goals like we did today.

"I really feel that we’re improving with each game, but we're having trouble getting into the back of the net. The guys are trying, but a goal like the one Conant scored tonight might be exactly what we need to get ourselves going in the attack."

The Falcons will have its chances to solve its goal-scoring woes when it hosts Wheaton St. Francis on Thursday before getting back to tourney play this Saturday morning against Downer Grove North.