Mustangs' guts on display in regional loss to OPRF

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By Gary Larsen

It’s impossible for Oak Park and River Forest senior Steve Golz to hide out on a soccer field.

When the 6-foot-5 senior jockeyed for position in a crowd near the Downers Grove South goalmouth on Friday, pretty much everyone in the stadium knew that Mike Bower’s corner kick would carry the hope of finding Golz at the far post.

But the sign of a great player comes when opposing players know exactly what he’s trying to do, and he gets it done anyway.

“Incredible. This will definitely be a night to remember,” Golz said, after his head shot goal in a fourth overtime gave OPRF a 2-1 win over host Downers Grove South on Friday.

Golz’s 28th goal of a stellar season for both him and the Huskies (19-3-2) was the most important one yet, coming at the game’s 118th minute to give his side its 12th regional title in program history.

First-half goals by OPRF’s Marcus Machado and DG South’s Jordan Pawlicki set the stage for a long scoreless stretch from the halftime break forward, until Golz finally ended the draught.

But in between, there was a whole lot of intense, quality soccer to be played.

“I thought we had the upper hand, they started to possess in the second half, and then we got our guys to calm down and play our game again,” Huskies coach Paul Wright said. “For a while there it was too panicked and we were waiting for (Golz) to carry us again and we just can’t do that. It’s too predictable.

“We switched it up a little bit to see if they’d reset themselves and it worked much better in the overtime. We tried to get our outside backs involved a little more and use the flanks – see if we could earn a corner and cross some balls in.”

Giving away considerable height and size to OPRF, the Mustangs were under pressure early before steadying the ship.

“I think we gained confidence as the match went along,” South coach Jon Stapleton said. “Oak Park has size and they can come at you from a couple of different positions, and I  think we were taken aback by that a little bit. Even if you’re forewarned of that, until you get out here and go against them you can’t be completely ready for it. Oak Park is a great team and it was a great match. It’s a shame somebody had to lose.”

South bolted from the gate after halftime by playing simple balls, finding each other, and working the ball around the pitch. Between Sam LaLonde free kicks and shots sent just wide, a sliding save out at the 18 by OPRF keeper Granger Sheppard, South spent the first 15 minutes of the second half applying the pressure.

But a Huskies team that has posted nine shutouts and only given up 19 goals in 23 games held firm, thanks to the likes of Sheppard and defenders Max Menzies, Nate Mitka, Max Neumann, Danny Pasternak, and Zack Weigel.

“I think our back four did a real good job,” Wright said. “We lost our starting sweeper, Max Menzies, three weeks ago to a fracture in his back and we really had to mix up what was working for us. Our back line played every minute tonight. It was iron man soccer and they did a great job.”

The Huskies’ Ryan Huettel, who assisted on Machado’s first-half goal, sent in a free kick at 58 minutes that was flicked to South keeper Nick Tannenbaum, who charged out to stuff a Golz shot attempt one minute later, 16 yards off his line.

Tannenbaum shined bright down the stretch. The junior also tipped a sure-goal over the crossbar in the final minute of regulation, and dove to stop another shot in overtime.

 “They played incredible in the second half and brought it to us,” Golz said. “But in the overtime I thought we were really pumped up for the game and got it going a little bit. We pushed forward, got some momentum, and started playing our game.”

Three 10-minute overtime periods ensued before the Bower-Golz connection gave OPRF the win, eight minutes into the fourth overtime frame.

“Just a 50-50 challenge with (South’s David Drews), who’s very good at winning headers,” Golz said. “I just went up for it and was able to get literally an inch on him and that’s all it took. Just a perfect ball put back post by Mike Bower, who consistently does that, and a fun way to end the game. It’s incredible.”

OPRF hasn’t won a sectional title since 1996, and to do so the Huskies will first have to win a sectional semifinal against No. 5 sectional seed and West Suburban Conference rival Hinsdale Central (12-8-2), which won 1-0 over Argo in a regional final on Saturday.

The Mustangs ended the season with a 7-13-3 record, but showed throughout that a young team has come a long way in eight weeks.

“Proud is the first word that comes to mind,” Stapleton said. “We faced so much adversity this year, being young and with injuries. It was a great match and it’s a shame somebody had to lose. We talked about being the best team we could be at this time of year and I think we did that tonight.

“We started to connect and build in the second half. We had some opportunities to be dangerous, we kept trying to find that switch into Cory (Mosiman), who kept making the run, we hit a post but that’s the way the game is. I’m just really proud, especially of our seniors.”

Seniors Mosiman, Matt Dismang, Naser Omer, Andrew Donnelly, Matt Danek, Juan Perez, Gabe Diaz, John Geihsler, Nate Coules, and Joe Sombeck will all leave the program this year. Coules, Donnelly, Mosiman, Diaz, and Sombeck all started on Friday, but Stapleton lauded all ten of the seniors on this year’s team.
 
“There are seniors on this team that supported the guys on the field, played their roles, did things in little ways that helped this team to grow,” Stapleton said. “So whether you were one of those five seniors that started or whether you didn’t get on the field at all tonight, everyone had a part to play.

“It’s not an easy task when you have a group that’s learning and I think all ten seniors need to be commended for their approach this year.
 
“Andrew Donnelly broke his elbow early in the year and worked his way back, Nick Gruic broke his hip but he found his way back onto the field towards the end of the year. We had guys that were patient and guys that had to find their way back through injury, and they all deserve credit, too.”

Wright was relieved to leave the field in Downers Grove with more soccer ahead for his side. “I would have been really disappointed if we’d lost, but Downers South battled the entire game and they play with complete class. They came to play and it was a really great game.”