Gators top Hersey, go unbeaten in Rockford
By Darryl Mellema

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There are so many ways to look at any match in a given season, and the best way to look at most of them is as building blocks toward what the team will be by the end of the season.

For example, Saturday’s early-morning match between Hersey and Crystal Lake South in the Rockton Hononegah tournament in Rockford was, in some ways, just another midseason match.

The teams played to a 1-1 tie through the regulation 60 minutes and then 10 minutes of overtime before Crystal Lake South earned a 2-1 victory thanks to a 5-4 penalty kick shootout.

But beyond the scoreboard, the teams were trying to figure out things as they near the midpoint of the 2012 season. With plenty of conference matches to go and the postseason to follow, any match is a good time to begin sorting out things.

And both teams did just that. Crystal Lake South was strong throughout the first half and then showed a mental strength in the overtimes and shootout. Hersey had a very strong second half that included a number of scoring chances.

Crystal Lake South ended the match feeling it had started putting things together, something that was further emphasized then the Gators defeated East Moline 2-1 – also in a penalty kick shootout. Due to the point system employed by the tournament, the undefeated Gators did not advance to one of the tournament’s title matches though they finished undefeated.

“It was a tale of two halves,” Crystal Lake South coach Brian Allen said after the Hersey game. “I felt we controlled the pace of the first half and executed what we wanted to. Hersey made some good adjustments.”

Hersey found itself once again having dominated large stretches of a match only to end with a defeat. Still, the building blocks continue to be put together for the Huskies, who were 5-6 after the loss to the Gators. Hersey recovered and defeated Rockford Guilford 1-0 in its final pool play match and stands 6-6 as the week begins.

“We went from playing really well against Schaumburg last week,” Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn said, “to playing Prospect on Thursday and looking like we’d never played before and then finally to the second half today, where we started to do good things again. We were targeting forwards’ feet and playing quickly. We were finding our outside halfbacks and getting our secondary forward runs. That was the key. But in all our losses recently, we’ve had twice as many, or more, chances – chances to put away the game – and we don’t finish.”

The goals, when they finally arrived, came within two minutes of each other. Hersey struck first when a long-range John Cappuccitti free kick was headed into the net by Nikola Vukovic. Cappuccitti and Vukovic have formed a strong partnership since Alex Mueller suffered a broken nose.

“Our work rate has been low the last three games and we’ve been reactive more than proactive,” Llewellyn said. “But we had that today. I’m looking for a continuation of what we showed in the second half of this match.”

Crystal Lake South equalized just before halftime when Matt Tobolt sent a pass for Michael Conley to shoot into the net.

“It was definitely a match that went 18-to-18,” Allen said. “Both teams had good looks and both keepers had to make some big saves. We’ve got to learn from that, but I was happy with how we responded.”

In the learning curve of the season, Crystal Lake South could take great heart in immediately recovering from falling behind.

“Earlier in the season, we wouldn’t have had that,” Allen said. “I think that gave us a chance later on.”

The first half was mostly dominated by Crystal Lake South and the Gators maintained an abundance of possession interrupted by Hersey’s goal.

“The shape in our positioning in what we were trying to do, getting it forward, getting it back, was good,” Allen said. “I think it’s got to be a little quicker. But I was pleased with how we moved the ball.”

The second half opened up and both sides had chances, forcing goalkeepers to make saves. Crystal Lake South’s Charlie Ruff forced Irving Velasquez to make a save by his post early in the half. Five minutes later, Cappuccitti hit the post, had a follow-up shot blocked, as did Dan Gramer.

Midway through the half, Hersey’s Vukovic forced Steve Follmer to make a spectacular diving save on a curling shot that looked to be headed moving swiftly into the net. Follmer, recently cleared to play following a broken nose suffered at the Barrington Invitational, played wearing a clear plastic shield covering his face.

“He calms things down,” Allen said. “He was a little bit nonchalant, but he made a huge fingertip save in the second half to keep it 1-1

Velasquez had to make another save with 10 minutes left in regulation time from a Tobolt free kick. The pressure continued into the final moments of the second half, when Crystal Lake South’s Charlie Davenport headed off the goal line following a scramble from a Cappuccitti corner kick.

The Hononegah tournament played with a pair of five-minute overtime periods prior to a penalty kick shootout. The first overtime passed without much goalmouth action, but in the final minute of the second overtime, Hersey’s Ryan Nuebling got free just inside the penalty area on the left side of the “D” and pulled his shot just wide of the left post.

“I would have loved to have had those shots go in for us, but that’s the game of soccer,” Llewellyn said.

So the match went to the shootout. Crystal Lake South went first and each team made its first three kicks: Conley, Sam Murdock and Gary Sexson scored for the Gators while Davenport, Vukovic and Cappuccitti scored for Hersey.

In the fourth round, Crystal Lake South edged ahead after Matt Alford scored and Hersey’s shot hit the post. The teams drew level again in the fifth round when Nuebling scored for Hersey and Crystal Lake South’s shot missed the net.

Jack Carlson hit the winning kick in the sixth round – a victory that was sealed when Follmer saved Hersey’s shot.

“That’s great for (Carlson),” Allen said. “He works so hard and has such high expectations for himself. After the way he had played in the match, for him to settle himself down and make a clutch kick, that’s big for his confidence. It’s great for the team to see that too.”

Not only in the shootout, but throughout the match, Follmer was one of the keys for the Gators.

“This was a great test – win, or loss or however it ended up being, to get it to the kicks,” Allen said. “We practice these every once in a while because our conference goes to PK’s. We feel that we’re eight deep in shooters. So we feel that if we get one save from our keeper, we should have a chance to go through.”