Bison suffer first shutout of the season
By Chris Walker

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A hip has been unfair to Conant senior Blake Fairbanks.

It's been an injury that's not only slowed Fairbanks at times this fall, but also kept him out of action.

After missing last week due to the hip injury, and having already missed out on a game earlier this season because of it, Fairbanks was back in action during Tuesday's Mid-Suburban League contest against visiting Buffalo Grove in Hoffman Estates.

Fairbanks didn't get the starting nod, but came off the bench to give the Cougars a huge lift, scoring with 16.5 seconds left in the first half.

Despite an exciting contest that saw both sides come up with its fair share of good looks in front of the net, Fairbanks was the only player to have success, as his score held up for the 1-0 victory.

The goal shocked a Buffalo Grove squad which had five good chances over the final 5:30 of the first half. This was the same Bison squad that entered averaging 4.25 goals per game and hadn't been shutout either.

Irving Balboa sent a rebound shot into the hands of Conant keeper Patryk Openchowski at the 5:30 mark. Balboa also had a long-range shot that Openchowski easily scooped up about a minute later.

At 3:25, Zach Masciopinto avoiding being shielded and snuck past a defender to secure possession and get off a nice shot, only to be denied by Openchowski. With 2:21 left, Alberto Eloyza situated himself in a prime position to head a shot at the net, but wasn't able to send his shot straight.

Then, with 1:39 remaining, the Bison arguably had the best chance evaporate right before their eyes. Irving Eloiza led Demo Drakoulis perfectly where he was presented with only Openchowski before him and the net, but he got underneath the ball and sent it well above the goal.

"We had a lot of opportunities and we played hard and we played well," Buffalo Grove coach Rick Carlson said. "We made one mistake and they capitalized on it with two nice touches on the ball after our one mistake and they made the score count."

Senior Giovanny Rocha came up without the big steal near midfield with just over 20 seconds before intermission. He quickly fed it to a sprinting Fairbanks who undoubtedly understood that it would be hip to put the Cougars ahead, 1-0.

Fairbanks dribbled, set himself and blasted the game winner toward the right post, easily out of the reach of Bison keeper, Anthony Pawlicki.

"Gio made two perfect plays in getting the ball and then getting it to me," Fairbanks said. "We were just trying to play the game tight defensively because we knew they are one of the top offensive teams in the state. We were just really focusing on defense and got a big play there."

It wasn't the only scoring chance that Fairbanks was a part of in the opening half as he blasted a shot from 25-yards out midway through the half but sent it sailing too high. In the 26th minute he took advantage of a failed clear by the Bison and sent a great cross to Rocha who lined a shot right into Pawlicki's hands.

Buffalo Grove (7-2-0, 2-1-0) continued to challenge the Cougars throughout the second half, but never could attain the equalizer. Eloiza hooked a shot just wide left with 33:06 remaining and Drakoulis, Daniel Ramirez and Aldo Figueroa combined a pair of passes mixed in within a crowded field of Cougar defenders to set up Figueroa with a great chance form up close, but Openchowski was there to snag it.

While Openchowski certainly came up with several big saves throughout the 80 minutes, he also benefitted from the strong defensive-minded, possession effort of defenders Curtis King, Nathan Marasigan, Eduardo Ocampo, Justin Pydo and Austin Roback, along with midfielders Kevin Quinn and Justin Sindewald, among others.

"Today we were just trying a new strategy of letting them carry the ball into the back and then trying to hold them on our side of the field," Roback said. "We tried to step up to their center mids because they have some of the best players in the state, so we had to get on them fast and not let them turn. That was our main focus."

Conant (4-3-0, 1-2-0) didn't sit back and play only defensively-minded in the second half either, but kept on the attack as well in pursuit of an insurance goal.

Dino Kandalepas had an attempt with about 25 minutes left but Pawlicki tucked it away while King had a couple chances, including a feed from Rocha with a little more than 10 minutes left that took a great save by Pawlicki, as he nearly pounced on King and his right foot as he delivered his shot.

"Coach wanted us to try to hold the ball up top at times to give our defense a break because they were working so hard," King said. "But we also we're able to get more chances. This was our first game with everybody back due to injuries. I didn't play in our last game either so it shows how well we can play when we're all here together."

The Bison weren't done fighting though as Eloiza sliced through the Cougars defense with 6:05 on the clock but misfired wide left. His off-target chance continued a long string of such near misses for the Bison and was far from the team's final great opportunity.

Balboa had a 28-yard free kick, Eloiza had a chance of redemption with a 20-yard free kick with 1:45 remaining and the Bison created a scramble near the goal over a loose ball and even forced Openchowski to make one final big save with 66 ticks on the clock.

"That's soccer," Carlson said. "One goal can lose a soccer game and once again their keeper stood on his head so what are you going to do? You can have the run of the game in soccer and lose it if you're not careful. We made that bad pass across the middle and it hurt us."

Of course, the one miscue did cost the Bison the game, but it didn't slow down their efforts as both teams repeatedly tested each other, but most of the chances were out of the penalty area.

"I thought both teams did a pretty good job of playing defense," Roback said. "The breakaways were the main things for both teams, but most of the shots we were getting were from outside the 18(-yard) line."

With the victory, the Cougars snapped a two-game slide while the Bison have now dropped two straight after winning their first seven games.