Grens win a regional title on their home turf
Elk Grove-Conant goes to four overtimes and a shootout

 

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By Gary Larsen

When regulation play ended, he stormed off the field, stomped away from his team, and seethed with anger on the track until his coach called him over to join his teammates on the bench.

Elk Grove defender Matt Ginter was irate that Conant scored a late, game-tying goal to send their regional title match into overtime.

“I was just really (ticked) off at myself because I know I should have got to that ball," Ginter said. "It was an easy ball and I should have cleared it. Something that easy just can't get by you like that."

Grens coach Joe Bush is preaching ‘no fear’ to a program unaccustomed to playing for regional titles and beyond. Far better to play soccer with the competitive fire that fuels a guy like Ginter, even if that fire occasionally sends you into a brief fit of anger.

"That's the way Matt is, but that's why we like him," Elk Grove senior Nick Jordan said. "That's why he's a great player."

After Ginter recomposed himself and the two teams returned to the field, four scoreless overtimes ensued before Elk Grove won in a shootout, finally put to rest when Rafal Borys converted the last PK taken for the day.

“It feels great. I'm tired," Borys said. "I just wanted to win it and obviously the whole team was part of it."

After Conant tied the game late, Bush was glad to see his side regain composure and get back after it. "That's one thing this team has done well all year, is responding to adversity," Bush said. "We could have hung our heads, but we bounced back and leaned on each other."

Saturday’s Elk Grove (14-6) versus Conant (11-9-1) game was a sequel to their MSL meeting on Sept. 14, which the Grens won 2-0. Similarities abound between the teams.

"We had a lot of chances in that (first) game, and I think we're pretty evenly-matched teams. Similar kind of players, similar systems, and it was going to be a matter of who could grit one out,” Conant coach Jason Franco said.

"It's sad to have a loser in a game like this, but today it's us.”

With a good wind at their backs, the Cougars spent a long but fruitless spell in their attacking third through 40 minutes, applying pressure but failing to solve Grens’ goalkeeper Frankie Ortiz. Shivam Patel, Tom Kozlowski, Hugo Gonzalez, Nathan Cornell and company flirted with dangerous shots to halftime.

Set up by a Zach Conrad corner kick, Patel chipped Ortiz in the first half, but Elk Grove’s Mike Ginter was there to clear it off the line.

“They're a good team, their set pieces were good,” Borys said of Conant. “In the first half it felt like we couldn't get out of our half."

Elk Grove that set the pattern for the day’s scoring when Jordan sent in a free kick from midfield that hit the floor in the box. Teammate Ernesto Rodriguez buried it in the 38th minute, and the Grens led 1-0 at intermission. It was coaches’ all-stater Jordan’s 15th assist on the season.

Outside of that goal, the Grens found good scoring chances hard to come by through 40 minutes against the Cougars defenders Chad Woytus, Billy Belmonte, Michael Zentner, Michael Miller, and their flat-back system.

"They're very composed and they knew when to step and when not to step," Elk Grove’s Cesar Rodriguez said. "And it was really hard to run around them. You have to get the perfect through-ball against a defense like that."

The second half see-sawed and saw the Grens enjoy the wind at their backs. Carlos Cisneros, Irving Cruz, Ernesto and Cesar Rodriguez, and Jordan all helped establish Elk Grove’s attack.

Ortiz dove to deny a Belmonte shot in close early in the second half, and the Elk Grove lead held until Zentner sent a long free kick into the box that Belmonte located and finished on to tie the game.

"Both set pieces came from the exact same spot, against the wind, on balls from 55 or so yards," Bush said. "I don't really know how (Conant's goal) happened. They snuck behind us, the ball bounced up and they did a good job finishing.

"Conant is a first-class team and I knew it would be open soccer. Both teams had chances."

Conant keeper Bobby Potratz tipped a Jordan offering off the crossbar late in the game, and saved Ernesto Rodriguez as time wound down in regulation.

You haven’t truly seen exhausted soccer players until you’ve witnessed four ten-minute overtime periods, and both teams battled cramping and fatigue for 40 minutes of extra soccer.

"Obviously I knew they were tired, and we were, too," Jordan said. "But coach made us run two miles every day before the season, so we weren't worried about our conditioning."

Conant’s Gonzalez sent a shot high in the third overtime on a good chance, and Elk Grove’s Ernesto Rodriguez went wide in the fourth overtime period. Ortiz dove to swat away a Kozlowski shot in the final overtime, setting the stage for a shootout and Borys’ ultimate game-winner.

"You go to penalties and then it's a coin flip. So it's frustrating because we fought so hard to get back in the game,” Franco said. "I thought we fought very hard in the overtimes, and we got let off the hook a couple times, too, because they missed on a few good chances."

The IHSA website lists Elk Grove with a single regional title in boys’ soccer, won 28 years ago, with a team that went 3-14 under coach Jim Rubly. No one currently connected to Elk Grove’s soccer or athletic program can either confirm or deny it.

Either way, the program’s first regional title in three decades is a mighty big deal at Elk Grove. "It feels great. It's probably the best feeling I've ever had in my whole life," Cesar Rodriguez said.

"We have ten seniors and we're all really comfortable with each other,” Ginter said. “We know our jobs and we just have to keep fighting. We're a good team and we're going to play our hardest."

The Grens travel to the Schaumburg sectional on Tuesday, where they’ll take on Monday’s winner between St. Charles North and Bartlett.

"We just have to keep going hard,” Cesar Rodriguez said. “Like Bush said, we didn't come this far not to keep going. We'll just keep playing our game and see what we can do."

For Conant, 12 seniors depart the program this year in Patel, Gonzalez, Potratz, Woytus, Kozlowski, Miller, Zentner, Dustin Garland, Jared Lappa, Bobby Iatomasi, Steve Czechowski, and Stefan Zaharinov.
 
"They brought a lot of hard work and determination to the program, and even though they weren't vocal leaders, they led by example," Franco said. "They were an easy group to coach. They liked playing the game, didn't have any problems, and you can't ask for more than that."