Wounded Lancers tie Bartlett on Cali goal

By John Barrett

You could understand if Alex Busch’s mind was misfiring.

Just 44 seconds into Tuesday’s Upstate Eight Valley matchup with Lake Park, Bartlett’s senior goalkeeper was told to change his jersey because officials felt it too closely matched that of the visiting Lancers.

Before the game even began he was notified that he would be unable to wear his face mask, which he’d worn in previous games to protect his broken nose.

Then there was his team’s previous game last Saturday in the title match of the Glenbrook North Tournament, a game which it led until two goals in the last 17 minutes led to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the host Spartans.

However, Busch kept his head and the Hawks (9-5-1, 1-2-1) in the game, coming up with some key saves in a 1-1 tie.

“I was flabbergasted when I was told I could not play with it (the mask),” Busch said. “But one of the things I truly love about soccer is that when that whistle blows, I am totally zoned into the game. So those things really didn’t bother me at all.”

Both teams were bothered, however, by missed opportunities in this evenly matched affair. Neither squad generated a dangerous shot on goal until nearly 17 minutes in when a free kick by Lake Park sophomore forward Oliver Huerta – a member of the JV squad just two weeks ago -- nearly turned into a goal by senior sweeper Brendan Feeney, but Busch was able to make the jump save.

The momentum pendulum, which had swung both ways for a while, swept clearly in Bartlett’s favor for the final 13 minutes of the opening half. That time span was highlighted by a Brett Dini free kick that a Lancer defender tried to clear forward. But the ball bounced back towards the Lake Park net and eventually out to the foot of Bartlett senior Carmelo Abate, who buried the ball inside the far post at the 29:38 mark.

Not only did that give the Hawks a 1-0 lead, it also ended an impressive streak for Lake Park (9-4-3, 2-0-1), which had posted four straight shutouts prior to that tally.

“That was a big lift,” Busch said of Abate’s goal. “When it went in, I thought we’d get another one right away, with the way we were playing.”

However, the second goal never came and some credit must be given to the Lancers, who resemble a MASH unit as much as a soccer team these days. Norm Hillner’s squad was without starters Jimmy Albright (stitches in head), Tim Adelman (concussion) and Alex Norman (broken collarbone). He also lost junior forward Joe Passarelli – who scored the goal in last Saturday’s 1-0 win at York -- to injury midway through the second half.

“We have been fortunate to have some depth on our team because we’ve had to tap into it,” Hillner said. “That, plus our senior leadership from guys like (stopper) Chris Mash, (fullback) Matt McCann and our goalkeeper (Eric Ahrens) has kept the team going.”

Ironically, Passarelli’s unwanted departure came just 39 seconds before Lake Park knotted the score. The equalizer arrived at the 58-minute mark when Huerta’s corner kick sailed across to Mike Catalano. The freshman midfielder relayed the ball perfectly to tri-captain and senior midfielder Sal Cali, who one-timed it inside the far post for his first goal of the season.

“My job on a corner kick is to stay on the near post,” said Cali, ranked fourth academically in his class. “The ball landed right on my foot and all I had to do was get it in.”

Less than three minutes later, Bartlett nearly got that second goal when Abate’s free kick from just outside the penalty box forced Ahrens to make a tough save. The ball rebounded out to Dini, whose point-blank attempt went a bit high and wide of the far post.

Some of the frustration for Lake Park came from the linesmen raising their flags for offsides calls (the Lancers were whistled for that infraction eight times on the night). The play of Bartlett’s Andrew Triantos (midfielder) and Chris Baumann (defender) didn’t help the visitors’ cause, either.

The Hawks were vexed in their own way about 10 minutes after the Lancer goal when senior Tommy Russo caught everyone off guard with his 30-yard rocket shot that smacked the crossbar.

As the game drew closer to the end, physical play escalated and emotions ran high for a game that may have a big impact on the playoff seeding fortunes for both teams, which are two of 20 teams in the Class 3A Schaumburg Sectional. The deadline for the online seeding is Thursday at noon.