Wildcats' win sets up SCC showdown with Oswego
By Gary Larsen

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When parity reigns in a conference, you get no rest.

“This is probably the closest, top to bottom, that the conference has been,” Plainfield Central senior Dan Rosenbaum said. “You have to come out every day and play your best. If you don’t come to play … we didn’t come to play against (Plainfield) South, and we lost that game. If you don’t come out ready to play, you’re going to lose.”

While Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald wasn’t entirely pleased with his side’s effort on Thursday, the Wildcats did manage a 2-0 win at Oswego East, in a Southwest Prairie game that puts Plainfield Central in position to play for the conference title next week against Oswego.

Plainfield Central improved to 11-8-1 overall and 5-1 in SCC play, while Oswego East fell to 5-10-2,and 1-5 in conference play.

“The conference is ours if we win that game against Oswego, so what more can we ask for?” Fitzgerald said.

“The conference is strong top to bottom, there are no breaks, and that’s good because you don’t want breaks. And the good thing about Oswego East, even though their record isn’t outstanding, is that you know they’re always going to play hard as long as (Wolves coach Steve Szymanski) is their coach. They will play hard and they have some kids that are very good.”

A Mohamad Rashid goal gave the Wildcats a 1-0 halftime lead, and Miguel Duran scored late in the contest to finalize the deal.

Rashid romped in on the left side with a ball on his foot and stretched the back netting from close range, while Duran charged the far post in pursuit of a Rashid cross, sliding onto it and tucking into goal with roughly ten minutes left in regulation.

Rashid’s goal came with less than one minute to play before halftime.

“On the first one we were completely out of position, and on the second (Duran) just wanted the ball more than we did,” Szymanski said. “It was kind of disappointing, especially on that first goal. (Rashid) didn’t even have to make a move; he just went full bore at the goal and blasted it as hard as he could.

“I wish we could find a finisher and that’s been our story all year. You have to find a way (to score) and Plainfield Central did that today, to their credit.”

The Wildcats posted their sixth shutout of the year, with Tyler Badertscher in net behind Rosenbaum, Mike Giocolo, Billy Ballentine, and Nick Belom. Central has also gone 8-2 in its last 10 games, after starting the season at 2-6-1.

“We were a little iffy at the beginning of the season. We were getting used to each playing together,” Rosenbaum said. “But recently we’ve been playing well. We’ve been more solid in back and hopefully we’ll keep it up.

“The Oswego game on Tuesday will be huge. We’ve won the conference seven years in a row, we have ten seniors, and I know none of them want to lose it.”

Fitzgerald has seen better cohesion from his side in recent weeks.

“The defense has played well, Tyler (Badertscher) has been solid in net, and I think the guys are finally learning how to fit together a little bit better,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve moved some guys around and maybe that has helped. (Nick) Belom is now in back and (Nick) Castellucci is up at mid, and he gives us a ton of energy and works hard. And we gained some confidence with a few wins at the St. Charles East tournament, so that helped.”

Outside midfielder Duran raced forward to serve a ball from the endline in the second half, and sent a shot just high of the crossbar a few minutes later. It was also pure hustle that brought him to right place at the right time on the far post for the game’s second goal.

“He gives us speed on the outside, which is nice. As long as he can keep running up and back, and up and back, he’ll put pressure on the defense,” Fitzgerald said of Duran. “I can’t fault his effort today. I also thought Miguel Sanchez played well and on a (rainy, windy) day like this, our defense played well because you just don’t know where the ball is going. Our guys in back were solid. It’s not an easy day to defend.”

The Wildcats play at Downers Grove South on Saturday and have two regular-season games remaining next week against Oswego and Addison Trail. They open post-season play on Oct. 17 against East Aurora at Neuqua Valley’s Class 3A Regional.

Oswego East has Glenbard East, Plainfield North, and Naperville North left to play in the regular season, before the Wolves square off on Oct. 16 against West Chicago in regional play at Metea Valley.

The Wolves got a quality effort in Thursday’s loss from senior defender Oliver Czopek.

“This was one of Oliver’s better games,” Szymanski said. “He played well today. In the middle of the season he was struggling a bit and we moved him around. He’s an emotional-type player for us and today he did a nice job of controlling the middle of the field.

“I thought our pace of play was better in the first half. We’ve been playing slow and lackadaisical the last two games. I moved up a jayvee kid, Jesus Zepeda, and he gave us a spark in the middle today. That was nice to see. He’s more of a distributing player and that’s something that we need. He made some really good passes for us today.”