Chicagoland Soccer

Gators' 3-0 lead falls by the wayside vs. Elgin

By Kevin Chroust

Charlie Oliver had two goals and an assist before 5 minutes ran off the clock, and roughly 16 minutes later none of it really mattered.

The Crystal Lake South senior led an offensive outburst Thursday at Elgin that resulted in three goals on the Gators’ first three shots, but the offense didn’t last and Elgin’s didn’t take long to take over as the Maroons overcame an early two-goal deficit to hand the Gators a 4-3 non-conference loss.

“Things broke down before we even got to the game, to be perfectly honest,” Gators coach Brian Allen said. “When they don’t decide to play when they want to, it’s going to show on the field. We got complacent, and against a team that has a spark like Elgin does in the attack, it’s unacceptable.”

Oliver netted a pair of well-placed, well-struck finishes in the first and second minutes. Elgin answered when right midfielder Jonathan Sandoval ripped a wind-aided cross in from the right side that snuck into the side netting behind Gators keeper Steven Follmer.

When Charlie Ruff headed in Oliver’s long, wind-aided throw from the left sideline in the fifth minute, the first four shots on goal of the match had found the back of the net, and the scoreboard was beginning to change like layups were being exchanged on a basketball court.

In those first 5 minutes, the Gators (11-7) set themselves on pace to score 48 goals for the match. The pace obviously wasn’t going to be sustained, but what ended up sticking around was the consistent play Elgin eventually developed in the midfield after it realized it needed to pay a little closer attention to Oliver.

“I don’t think they realized how fast that kid was,” Elgin coach Dave Borg said. “We talked about him all the last couple days, and then once they settled down, they were fine. I think for the most part, we controlled the tempo of the game with our midfield.”

With 35:40 left on the first-half clock, 17 seconds after Ruff’s goal, Follmer made the first save of the match on the fifth shot, but it was the beginning of the end for Gators.

Twelve minutes in, Elgin’s Samuel Escobar swung a corner into the Crystal Lake South penalty area, and Oscar Rodriguez headed it in to bring the Maroons within one at 3-2.

Possession continued to slide Elgin’s way as the Maroons (8-5-6) began to frequent the Gators’ box as the first half wore on.

In the 21st minute, Escobar held the ball at the top of the Crystal Lake South penalty area. He found Julian Villasenor on his left, and the midfielder buried a far-post shot to tie the match at 3-all.

The second half started in the exact opposite fashion of the first. Chances were at a premium, but Elgin finally grabbed its first lead of the night in the 63rd minute and it stuck.

Rodriguez gained possession with his back to the goal on the left side of the Gators’ penalty area. The defense allowed him to turn with the ball, and he ripped a high, hard shot past new Gators keeper Brett Weilgos.

Borg wasn’t pleased with the first 5 minutes, but he thinks having to dig out of a two-goal hole and succeeding at it could pay dividends in the coming weeks for his team.

“It was an anomaly what happened out there,” Borg said. “Before tournament time, it’s nice to see the kids come back from being two down.”

The Gators have now conceded 10 goals in their last three matches, an alarming trend Allen wants cleared up before the quickly approaching post season.

“We need to talk, there needs to be more organization, there needs to be more discipline, we need to step to the ball,” Allen said. “I mean it’s a laundry list, and at this point in the season, I don’t care that we graduated everybody from last year’s team and how young they are. It’s unacceptable. They’ve got to grow up quickly and they’ve got to start acting like upperclassmen, because this just isn’t going to get it done.”