Panthers' late rally dooms visiting Streamwood

By Darryl Mellema

Any way you want to measure it, Glenbard North's late, late show on Monday night against Streamwood was one to remember.

If you like rescues from seemingly insurmountable situations, then a rally from 2-0 down to 3-2 up certainly qualifies. While soccer coaches like to point to the 2-0 lead as "the most dangerous lead," statistics prove that it's actually very difficult to salvage such a match and earn a tie, let alone a win.

Then there was the swiftness of the comeback. From start to finish, the Panthers scored their three goals in just 5:44 of second half play.

And if heart-pounding, "will they get this done before the match ends?" comebacks are what you love, this season-opening match was perfect. Down 2-0 with nearly 10 minutes left, the Panthers literally found victory where defeat had so recently loomed.

All of which explains why the white-shirted group of players went absolutely berserk when Alex Kfoury shot in a rebound with 5:25 to play to complete the rally and earn the Panthers their victory.

"I'm glad that we didn't give up," Kfoury said. "At halftime, we had a talk and regrouped a little. We came back. We all pushed hard and it was a great way to start the season."

Kfoury's got free on the right side of the penalty area, 8 yards from goal before he scored. He shot once and had the effort saved. The ball came straight back to the senior, and this second attempt found the back of the net.

"It came off the goalie and I took advantage to put it in," Kfoury said.

Kfoury was heavily involved in the comeback. His pass to Jon Colucci with 9 minutes left set Colucci on his way toward tying the match and completing the recovery.

"I heard Colucci down the field," Kfoury said. "I hit it to him and he did a good job finishing it. When I saw him put it in, it was just insane."

The rally got going when Colucci fed Eric Dailly with a ball across across the 6-yard box with 11 minutes to play. Dailly scored and the Panthers were on their way toward victory.

After a bright opening, it took Glenbard North into the second half to find a playing rhythm while Streamwood moved to its two-goal lead.

"I felt very confident the first 15 minutes," Glenbard North coach Greg Chrisman said. "That got kind of lost and it's something I had to remind them of at halftime. After that first 15 minutes, (Streamwood) took the match and had the better of the play. But I wanted them to try to replicate what we did early in the match in the second half of play."

The key was the tempo of the match. While Streamwood was playing at a fast pace, Glenbard North was sitting back more, and getting overwhelmed.

"It was just intensity," Chrisman said. "We weren't prepared to play at the speed (Streamwood) plays at, with their quick passes."

Ivan Arce scored both goals for Streamwood. The first came with 8 minutes left in the first half and the second was scored 14 minutes into the second half. That second goal came even as Glenbard North was working to raise its level of play.

"You could see that our guys were getting mad," Chrisman said. "A couple of our leaders - you could see Colucci was one of them, you could tell. They started getting more intense and more physical out there and they got the other kids going. Danny Campagna was another one. Those were the players we needed to get going."

While both teams tired in their opening match, Glenbard North end the match as the fresher team. Certainly the momentum of the rally helped, but many miles of running in practice paid off too.

"We worked on conditioning a lot in the preseason," Kfoury said. "Every day the first week and a half, through tryouts and practice, we had to run two miles and the goal was to run it in 12 minutes."