Golden Eagles edge rival Chargers to capture regional title

 

 

CLICK HERE FOR JACOBS' TEAM PAGE

 

By Curt Herron

There's nothing like getting a little revenge during postseason play, especially when it comes against one of your biggest rivals.

Jacobs has already experienced that feeling twice in the Class 3A playoffs and as a result, it has a regional title plaque as a reward.

Coach AJ Cappello's Golden Eagles defeated District 300 rival Dundee-Crown 1-0 to capture Saturday night's Jacobs Regional in Algonquin.

That win came three days after Jacobs beat Huntley in the regional semifinals. All three are Fox Valley Conference Valley Division foes.

In Jacobs' earlier meeeting with the Chargers on September 29 in Carpentersville, the hosts won 3-1 but it was a different story this time.

After withstanding some good threats by D-C (9-10-3) in the opening half, the Golden Eagles (11-11) went on the attack following the break.

Although that only resulted in one score, it turned out that was all the hosts would need to capture their first regional title since 2008.

In the 54th minute, Erik Soto sent a long free kick toward the box and found Kenny Finn, who knocked in a short attempt for his first goal.

After that, keeper Nick Matysek and his backline of Matt Taflinger, Blake Micel, Erik Nava and Finn did the rest to assure the clean sheet.

It was the sixth shutout of the season for Jacobs, which got off to a 7-3 start, went through a 1-8 stretch and now has won three straight.

The regional title win also provided some satisfaction for members of a program that fell short of accomplishing the same feat a year ago.

A year ago, Jacobs was on the verge of beating Crystal Lake South in the finals but the Gators rallied and wound up winning on penalties.

"We definitely had extra motivation going up against two of our rivals, Huntley and Dundee-Crown to begin with," Cappello said. "But above all else, I think the boys just wanted to win the regional.

"Crown was ready and they came out of the gates firing. Rey (Vargas) had them prepared real well and they had a nice game plan with that high line and it took us awhile to figure it out.

"Nick kept us in the game during the first half and without him in the net, we're down 2-0 or 3-0 at halftime. At halftime we made some tactical adjustments and we started to get into it a little more.

"We started putting a lot of pressure on them in the second half and I was real pleased with how the boys responded. They wanted to get further than last year and set a goal for themselves and did it

"The day after we lost in the regional last year, this group of seniors told me that they wanted to start working for next year. And for the last 365 days they were working for this moment."

The Golden Eagles now face another squad that they've previously lost to, defending Class 3A champion Rockford Boylan, in the sectional.

Boylan (25-0) plays Jacobs at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the Barrington Sectional. The Titans won the earlier meeting, 2-0 on September 17.

"We feel that we can step onto the field with anyone. We played Boylan to a 2-0 game earlier this year," said Cappello, who squad fell to the Titans at Hononegah's Indian State Cup.

"We've played tough against some of the top teams in the state in Libertyville and Cary-Grove, but we have to get over that hurdle. It's okay to play with them but now it's time to get that key win."

The Golden Eagles coach is pleased that Finn, who ran cross country a year ago, decided to be a part of his squad this season.

Beside scoring the decisive goal in Saturday's match, Finn has strengthened a backline that was an area of concern for Cappello.

"We're ecstatic that Kenny decided to come out for soccer," Cappello said. "Just watching him grow and evolve has been phenomenal. The kid asks questions and he's a competitor and wants to get better.

"He's one of our strongest players in our backline. Going into the season, we were nervous about our defense and thought that it would be one of our biggest question marks.

"But at this point of the year, I'd argue that our defense is one of our strengths. Beside our back four, I have two guys on the bench who can fill in, so we have six guys who can hold it down."

It was a good thing that the defense has been performing so well since the Golden Eagles needed to rely on it in the first half.

D-C kept the ball in Jacobs' side for much of the half and had some good opportunities, but they were all turned away by Matysek.

During one sequence, Kyle Hagan's deflected shot produced a corner kick, which led to a Malik Washington header that was stopped.

At the intermission, the fiery Cappello challenged his squad to step up their performance and they responded in the final 40 minutes.

"Crown was a real good team and this was really a tough game," Matysek said. "We came out flat and they took it to us and we were lucky not to be down after the first half.

"At half, coach asked us, 'who wants it more?'. In the second half, we gave them less, just like we did against Huntley. We were a little shaky at the start and then put them away.

"As soon as we got the goal, I knew it was my job to protect it. I told the guys at halftime to get me a goal, and they did that. Also, I love my defense.

"I have two of the best center backs in Matt and Blake. Kenny can just run up and down the field forever and he's been a great addition. And Erik has also been playing great for us."

The Jacobs keeper knows how important it was for this junior-dominated team to win a regional, especially after what happened last year.

"It's great to win the regional title," Matysek said. "I was a call-up last year for the game against South, which was heartbreaking. I didn't want to see that type of thing happen again.

"We're hitting our stride now and Cappello is pushing us hard in practice and we're getting hot at the right time. Even though we lost to Boylan earlier in the year, we played real well."

In the final half, the Golden Eagles set the tone quickly when Nick Lorusso's flip throw went to Micel, whose short try was just wide.

Not long after that, Soto's free kick was punched away by keeper Christian Martinez, whose performance matched that of his counterpart.

Jacobs finally broke the deadlock with just under half an hour remaining when Finn made his biggest contribution yet to his new squad.

"This was my second goal, but this one puts me positive," joked Finn, who earlier had an own goal. "Our coach was talking on restarts to run through the ball and get to your spot and it finally paid of for me.

"I watched last year's regional title game and after seeing the intensity and atmosphere, it just made me realize how much I really wanted to play soccer. That's basically how I found my love for the game again.

"They're our crosstown rival and it's always nice to beat them in any sport that you play. We kind of got off to a bad start in the first half but there wasn't a point where I felt we were down and couldn't win.

"At halftime, coach basically asked us how much we wanted to win a regional championship. He lit a fire in all of us and we thought about how our season could be over tonight and we didn't want that to happen."

After moving in front, Jacobs worked toward preventing D-C from getting the equalizer, and did a good job of that by limiting its chances.

During the final five minutes, the visitors had two opportunities but Matysek deflected a long try and a header went wide off a free kick.

Once the final whistle blew, Jacobs fans poured onto the field for pictures and congratulations, signifying that this was no ordinary win.

"This is awesome," said Brad Cleveland, one of seven seniors on the team. "We knew we could do it if we played our best soccer. We have great chemistry and if we all play together, we feel we can beat anybody.

"We went through a little stretch where we couldn't figure out how to get the ball into the back of the net. But luckily we got things figured out and now we're starting to pull together at the right time.

"Losing to a team before gives you a little extra fuel in the playoffs. Sometimes you get complacent after you beat another team but you get a chip on your shoulder after you lose to someone before.

"This is a huge rivalry, as you could see by the fans out here. Last year we left with a bitter taste in our mouths so it feels awesome to get it back. Winning this game was one of the greatest feelings ever."