Grens play it loose in draw with Hersey
By Dan Santaromita

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Hersey entered its match at Elk Grove looking to stay atop the Mid Suburban League East while the Grenadiers were simply prepping for the postseason. The hosts played loose and gave the Huskies all they could handle in a wide open match.

The two squads played to a 2-2 draw in MSL East play on Tuesday. Both teams held a lead in a match that featured numerous chances and at times went from end to end as each team countered on the other. Supporters of both sides got caught up in the intensity to give it a good atmosphere.

“It was a fun one,” EG coach Joe Bush said. “(Hersey coach Darren Llewellyn) said our kids had a lot more energy and I said we didn’t have any pressure. We’re trying to get ready for the playoffs. We’re trying some different things, looking at different formations, different players, different sub patterns. I think we were loose and it’s fun to be loose and we’re not going to be loose in two weeks when the playoffs start, but tonight it was nice to see what we were able to do.”

The opening minutes of the match were an indicator of the attacking play to come. The Grens’ Connor Murphy spotted an open Jonathon Arzeta and the duo connected to set up the opening goal. Murphy slid a perfect 25-yard pass along the ground ahead of Arzeta, whose well-timed run gave him an opening in front of goal he wouldn’t miss.

“It’s always a battle against these guys,” Murphy said. “We were just out to beat them because if we can’t go to the Cup then why should they.”

Arzeta’s fourth minute goal was matched five minutes later when Jose Carvajal flicked in a header off a Tom McDonald throw. Carvajal’s near post header found the side netting on the far post.

In the 31st minute Johnny Cappuccitti completed the Hersey turnaround with an impressive, galloping run with the ball. He marauded down the right side of the Elk Grove defense and couldn’t be stopped. Cappuccitti finished inside the box to give the Huskies (9-8-1, 6-3-1 MSL) the lead.

The up and down nature of the match gave players like Arzeta and Cappuccitti plenty of opportunities to score and set up plays for teammates. For Cappuccitti, his goal ended a modest personal goal drought.

“It’s tiring going up and down, but once you get through and as I scored my goal, it’s fun to finally get that relief off my chest,” said the Hersey junior.

10 minutes into the second half David Bahena equalized for Elk Grove (4-5-5, 3-5-2). Gio Garcia rifled a shot at Hersey keeper Irving Velasquez (6 saves) that Velasquez could only block. The rebound fell right to a well-positioned Bahena for the easy put away.

From that point both teams stayed on the offensive looking for the go-ahead goal. Hersey’s Nikola Vukovic and Cappuccitti each had open shots in front nicely saved by EG keeper Daniel Alvarez (7 saves). Charlie Davenport had a breakaway opportunity, where he knocked the ball past a charging Alvarez outside the box, denied by a chasing defender.

Bush complimented the play of his three-man back line of Manny Pillado, Avery Cheng and Tony Romero. EG lined up differently against Hersey.

“We’ve been doing the 4-3-3, but tonight we did the 3-5-2 to kind of jam up the middle because they supposedly had some good guys up the middle,” Murphy said. “We were just trying to get the ball wide and that eventually opened up the middle so we could play there.”

For Elk Grove, Arzeta had a shot go just wide in the final few minutes of regulation and had another saved in overtime. On numerous occasions the Grens were able to create chaos in the box to test Hersey’s defense.

The teams seem to tire in overtime, but the draw was a fair result. Both teams worked too hard to go home empty handed.

“They were a hard working team and we knew we had to come out and play hard even if they had a losing record,” Cappuccitti said. “We thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t.”

Hersey stayed atop the division thanks to Buffalo Grove’s 3-1 loss to Palatine. One game remains in Hersey’s MSL schedule, Thursday against Conant. The Bison are a point back with a trip at Hoffman Estates, winless in league play.

“We need to come out strong against Conant because now if we win than we win the East, but then if we lose we lose it,” Cappuccitti said.

Elk Grove doesn’t have anything tangible to play for down the stretch, but positive showings like this will give them hope they can spring an upset against Libertyville in the regional semifinal on Oct. 16. Before that the Grens travel to Fremd on Thursday.

“If we get three points we can finish third in the East, which is a good goal for this team,” Bush said.