Tigers drop SPC opener to resurgent Spartans

By Curt Herron

 

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Just under five minutes into the final half of Tuesday's Southwest Prairie Conference match at Romeoville, things were looking pretty good for Plainfield North.

But just over five minutes later, things suddenly weren't looking so great for the Tigers after the Spartans stunned them with a pair of goals to take the lead.

Romeoville added another score for good measure and North was unable to recover from the reversal of fortunes as it fell 3-1 in the SPC opener for both squads.

Tyler Petprachan scored following an assist from Emmanuel Bofah in the 45th minute to give the Tigers (3-4-2, 0-1) the early advantage in the match.

But the Spartans (6-1, 1-0) responded a bit later with goals from Erick Ibarra and Jonathan Silvar within a 130-second span to move in front for good.

"We held them in check when they had the wind to their advantage in the first half," Tigers coach Jim O'Hara said. "In the second half we came out looking for shots and Tyler had a fantastic opportunity and made a great shot.

"I don't know what it is, but we start scoring goals and then we let up, and it's been the story all season. And it's not like we just let up just one goal to them, but it was two goals in a matter of about five minutes.

"And the biggest thing in the game was that they won almost 80 percent of the balls that were in the air in the middle of the field. We wanted to possess the ball but we'd boot it into the air and they'd bring it back at us."

After winning three of its first matches this season, North has gone 0-3-2 in its last five outings, which included a 6-3 loss to Joliet Central on Saturday.

While the Tigers yielded six goals in their initial four matches, they have allowed 18 while scoring just eight during their current winless streak.

"Romeoville got the opportunities and took advantage of them and that's something that we need to start doing," O'Hara said. "They also didn't give up when they were down 1-0 so give them a lot of credit.

"It was almost like when we scored, we kind of floored them. And when we scored, it was like, 'okay, now we can kind of sit back and enjoy a lead. They deserved to win since they played better than we did."

Things indeed appeared to look good for the Tigers after they got the goal from Petprachan, who returned to the lineup following an absence due to injury.

During the initial 40 minutes, North's defense prevented the Spartans from making the most out of the strong southerly wind that they had at their backs.

That's why prospects looked so good for the visitors when they moved ahead and enjoyed the wind advantage, but instead it was the hosts who took control.

In the 48th minute, Alan Benitez sent in a corner kick and Silvar got a touch on the loose ball before Ibarra punched it in to give the Spartans a spark.

Romeoville scored again on its next good chance, in the 61st minute, when Benitez found Silvar, who worked his way past defenders for the decisive goal.

"Our defense prides itself in not giving up many goals so to be down one was a good wakeup call for us and we responded well," said Spartans coach Nick Cirrincione, whose squad has allowed just four goals.

"When we were down, we changed our formation and I think that fires our guys up since they know that they need a goal and more of them are playing up top who normally might not be so that also excites them.

"We're the only team in the conference with turf, so it's to our advantage to be on the turf since it's a different-paced game. This conference season will be interesting since every team is in the mix."

The Spartans coach points to tri-captains Benitez, Silvar and Josh Ickes as being the leaders of a squad that entered the year with a different attitude.

"We've already won six games after winning just four last year," Cirrincione said. "This team has worked hard training, running and lifting since the summer. We challenged them and everyone took the challenge.

"I probably have the best senior class that I might ever have with three great captains. I think the reason you're seeing this success is that players are buying into the system and believing in each other."

North had a couple of good chances to get the equalizer over the next few minutes but a Logan Wright free kick was punched away and a Bofah try was wide.

During the last part of the second half, the Spartans were on the attack and Tiger keeper Aaron Dunn did his best to try to keep his squad within a goal.

Danny Arriola sent a free kick over the net and one Benitez corner was headed away by James Thompson while another which led to an Ibarra try was cleared.

In the final 10 minutes, Gio Terraciano was wide and had a shot stopped before hitting a short attempt in the 75th minute following another Benitez corner.

Things picked up for North in the opening half when Petprachan entered about a quarter of an hour in and Wright was just wide on an effort just after that.

Shortly after the half's midway mark, Garrett Gathman sent a free kick to Jordan Schure, whose header was a bit wide and Dunn leaped to prevent an own goal.

The final 10 minutes of the half featured Marcus Povilatis stopping a shot from Grant Smiley while the Tiger keeper thwarted Benitez on a pair of attempts.

North now gets some time off to work on things before it returns to action next Wednesday with its next SPC match, which will be at home against Oswego.