Pirates tie with Saint Viator in season opener
By Mike Garofola

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After a long week of training and waiting, the Palatine Pirates finally were able to get out on the pitch and play 80 full minutes of soccer.

On a steamy Saturday morning, the club made the short trip into Arlington Heights to take on long-time rival Saint Viator in what has become an annual non-conference contest between what has traditionally been two of the better sides in the area, and between two managers who have over 700 victories combined on the boys’ side.

Neither coach added to his win total on Saturday following the 1-1 draw. But much was accomplished as the first full week of the 2012 season is now in the books.

"We got all of 11-12 minutes of soccer last Monday in our MSL-CSL crossover against Waukegan at our place, before some bad weather came through and ended that night for us,” Palatine coach Willie Filian said. “So all we could do was train and prepare for (Saint Viator). But I can tell you the guys were chomping at the bit to play against someone else rather than their teammates."

Filian lost plenty of key figures from his 2011 club, including four-year star and two-time all-MSL, all-sectional Jon Clark. Clark is now playing at Wheaton College alongside his brother Josh, and both were instrumental in the Pirates’ 2009 run to the coveted MSL Cup crown.

Saint Viator coach Mike Taylor watched his lads get the cobwebs off their game after opening the season with a 5-1 victory over Lake Zurich earlier in the week. Taylor and his staff welcomed several newcomers into his first-11, to go along with a solid core of returning veterans that includes Troy Wheeler, Ashwin Cornelius and Spencer Moore, each an all-ESCC player and among the best at their respective positions in the area this fall.

"Troy battled some injuries last year, but still did a very good job for us keeping things organized with such a new group of players in the back, and to me, he is one of the top defenders around the area,” Taylor said. “And both Spencer and Ashwin, if they play to their level and ability, can be dominant in the middle."

Taylor is looking for the duo to offset the loss to graduation of former captain and two-time all-sectional midfielder Adam Fetter, who named co-MVP of the ESCC last season.

Fetter has moved on to St. Louis University this fall, where he look to rehab an injury before turning his focus to playing for SLU next season. 

The Lions, who went nearly undefeated in summer league play, open this year with seven new faces in their starting lineup, including Ross Randon, who would strike the equalizer early into the second period.

The aforementioned Moore and Cornelius will handle most of the creative duties in the middle of the park, and their speed and pace alone will allow others, such as Jackson Owens and others, to take advantage as the pair draw defenders away from them.

Senior keepers Mike McGrath and Stefan Miller, who shared time on Saturday, are back once again after holding things down between the sticks last year, while the senior Wheeler, confident in going forward at all times, likely will be running the show in back for fresh faces Mark Tun, Ethan Wolfe and Michael Duszynski.

"We've got some new guys in the back, and like always, it will take some time for them to gel as a unit, but (Tun) got some playing time towards the end of last season and I have confidence in the others that they will come together after a few weeks of games," said Taylor.

This group was tested early on by the Pirates’ strike force of Josh Lee and Cesar Valdez. Whatever the two lack in size and length, they make up for with terrific speed and an endless work rate, which was evident in the first quarter hour when each took turns keeping the Lions backline more than wary of the senior pair.

"It's the way we play here at Palatine, lots of high pressure, turnovers - leading to corners, set pieces, long throws, and that's how we score a lot of our goals," offered junior Kyle Clancy, one of the premier defenders in the area, and back to make the Pirates’ defense one of its strong suits, along with Ulises Alcaraz and Matt Fleischhauer.

"I thought we did a pretty good job of playing that way all throughout today's match, and we created some chances from that type of play and pressure. But this was (still) our first game, and it showed at times, because we weren't as sharp as we could have been in their final third," added Clancy.

The affable Pirates captain will be stationed in front of teammate Kyle Leber, who takes over in net for Kyle Held. While Leber doesn't possess the frame of the 6-6 Held (now at St. Xavier in Chicago) he is fearless in the air and on the ground in point-blank shots, and had shown last year, he is very capable of the spectacular save, with enough spring in his legs to go airborne at a moment’s notice.

Senior Jeremy Velinski, a veteran of three years for Filian, is still finding his fitness after a recent bout of a mild case of mono, and when he is a hundred percent he’ll provide the Pirates attack with plenty of extra bite in the middle, as well as a 50-50 winner in the air, while giving the Pirates a strong long throw when called upon.

It was a corner by the Lions’ Wolfe which would lead to the first good opportunity of Saturday's match, but Leber used good instinct to save against Moore at the 15th minute to keep things goal-less.

There was plenty of play up-and-down the field for most of the first half hour, as each club tried to play and connect, but both sides struggled to possess.

Nick Winter and Moore would each have a go after yet another series of corners from the home side, and in the 31st minute Johnny Enriguez found Abdul Azziz in close, but an alert Kevin McMahon would block the Azziz attempt before it would reach McGrath.

But the Pirates (0-0-1) have made a living out of finding the back of the net off dead-ball chances, and Dave Clark did just that as he was left alone inside 10 yards to finish a Matt Ryan-Darrah corner to send the visitors into intermission with a one-goal advantage after the 38-minute header.

"I saw a lot of good things out there today, but mistakes like (that) where we left a man unmarked shows a lack of leadership, and that's something we will continue to search for in the next couple of weeks," said Taylor.

Randon would soon draw the home side even when at the tail end of a quick little build-up from Cornelius and McMahon, the senior got past Leber after the Pirates keeper watched his mates struggle to clear the ball from the area.

"I really think we're going to be in good shape this year," began Clancy, following the Pirates cool-down after the match.

"There's a lot of things we do well, and we've got some very good players back to go along with some new guys, and if we can play our game of high-tempo, high-pressure while creating some dead-ball and set-piece chances like we're capable of, there's no reason why we can't compete with anyone this year."

"It's all about us finding some consistency, and having our skilled players play at the high level that they should play at," offered Taylor.

"If those guys to that, and others step-up and fill the role we're asking of them, we'll be there in the ESCC race and later in the 2A playoffs."

The Lions start league play against Joliet Catholic at home on Tuesday, while the Pirates open against Wheeling with a MSL fixture.