Chicagoland Soccer

Bison can't finish in home loss to Hersey
By Mike Garofola

A better script could not have been suggested for Buffalo Grove: homecoming night, a big crowd and a victory that would send the Bison into the MSL Cup for the first time since 2000.

Too bad visiting Hersey didn't play along.

Armed with the sharp pencil of an editor, the Huskies changed the script and stunned the home side and its festive audience with a late PK conversion from Charlie Davenport, defeating the Bison 2-1 and sending the MSL East race up for grabs as the final week of the season nears.

"Yes, you would have thought we had a lot going for us tonight," began a disappointed Bison manager Rick Carlson. "It was all right there for us, but Hersey obviously had other ideas and for us right now, it's the same old story -- we just cannot seem to finish."

"We've been a hard team to figure all season long," suggested Hersey manager Darren Llewellyn.

"Less than twenty-four hours ago we were terrible against Fremd, lost that match, put our chances in the division at great risk with that defeat, and our best player, John Cappuccitti injured his ankle badly in the first half. So things weren't looking particularly good for us coming into this match."

But as fans of the MSL and Hersey have come to know, Llewellyn always seems to conjure up enough magic to inspire his lads for its biggest test, and whether choosing the right words during training or right before a match, or slightly tweaking in his tactical approach, Llewellyn would watch his underdog club spring a big surprise to set up the following scenario for next week:

"It's kind of simple now," offered Llewellyn. "We've got Elk Grove on Tuesday, who by no means is a push-over, then Conant on Thursday, an equally tough opponent. The fact is, there isn't any team in the conference you can take lightly, because they'll burn you.

“BG has Palatine next Tuesday, then Hoffman. By winning today, we've earned the tie-breaker now, so two wins by each of us or a win and a loss still puts us in the MSL Cup. Even though we're in a much better spot than we were before this result, we still have to take care of business, which is something we've struggled with all season long."

The match was one-sided in the early exchanges. Even without starters Raca Arcos and Allan Santiagullo, and star Irving Eloiza still on the mend, and less than a hundred percent, the home side delivered an impressive opening salvo to put the Huskies (9-8-0, 6-3-0- 18 points) on its heels, providing pressure from the opening whistle.

"Buffalo Grove scares you because they have so much skill and speed on the ball, and they come at you so many different ways, and if you don't keep your shape, and stay organized and composed in your own end, they'll be you bad," said Llewellyn.

Hersey keeper Irving Velasquez was tested time after time between the sticks and would turn in a magnificent effort all afternoon. Velasquez was called upon to punch a Nick Kaczkowski corner at 7 minutes, one of several corners and deep throws the visitors would concede in the first half.

Later, the senior keeper would thank one of his defensive mates for clearing a ball off the line, after Irving Balboa started all the trouble and Hersey's Alex Mueller blocked an initial shot on frame.

The Huskies lost Tim Griffin after a 50-50 challenge dropped the sophomore in his tracks and send him to the bench for the rest of the match with concussion-like symptoms.

The Bison continued to pour forward, with Eloiza still providing the creative genius in the middle, but not with his usual gusto and verve.

"Irving is really banged up, and he really hasn't been training at all for nearly a week,” Carlson said. “You saw that at times with the way he moved in certain situations, but he still went out and gave us everything he had.”

Eloiza, Balboa, Demo Drakoulis and sophomore Zach Masciopinto were responsible for the Bison's ability to dominate for long spells, but when it reached the final third, the Huskies vaunted backline, today with five across the back, would bend about as far as humanly possible without breaking in front of Velasquez.

"We tried a little something different today and went with five in the back, but the real key was for Nick (Vukovic) to play the role as a defensive-mid for us,” Llewellyn said. “In the second half he finally was able to do what we asked him to do, and with Alex (Mueller) sitting in right behind, we were able to frustrate them and force them to do things they didn't want to do.”

Eloiza unleashed a trio of shots on Velasquez midway through the first period and the Hersey keeper had to be alert when a relentless Bison build-up ended with a late-dipping blast from Eloiza that found its way through a crowd on the right side.

Hersey’s Campbell White blocked a hard strike from Drakoulis from in close, and although the pace from the Bison was still at a high level, they were unable to find the back of the net through the half hour.

"We've generated so many chances in the past 3-4 games, and again today, but we're not finishing those opportunities," Carlson said.

With all of its defending, the Huskies attack was simple. Target either Davenport or one of his running mates Ryan Nuebling or Dan Gramer up top with a counter, or hope one of the three could run onto deep service from Cappuccitti, who put in a hard 80-minutes despite a tightly wrapped and braced ankle.

"All we were doing was defending in that first half, and trying to maybe surprise them with a long ball or counter, but BG is so talented and fast and we didn't really get much from our attack at all," said Davenport.

Then, at 34 minutes, Davenport flew up the right side on a nice left-to-right run to collect a quality helper from Nuebling. Once within the box, he flashed an angled drive just out of reach of the fully extended gloves of Bison keeper Dillon Eaton, a shot that flew into the far inside netting to give the Huskies a 1-0 advantage.

"All we had been doing was defending up until that goal, and I really feel like it gave us so much more life, until we allowed them to score on us," said Davenport.

The Huskies watched a long throw from Daniel Ramirez fall inside the 6-yard box, where Arcos accepted the gift and said thank you with a nifty little touch past Velasquez to send the match into the break at 1-1.

"An absolutely terrible goal to concede," Llewellyn said. “Looking back on that first half, I really felt us scoring first might have unnerved Buffalo Grove. When they continued to be unable to find the back of the net as the second half continued, I really feel they got away from what they do so well, and it played into our hand and the way our defensive shape and formation was set up.”

Still, the Bison managed an early warning of trouble ahead in the first 10-12 minutes of the second period. An Eloyza corner sailed to the back post but never met from one of his Bison mates, and then a superb cross from the endline by Kaczkowski cruised through the box, again untouched by any Bison with the back post wide open.

Masciopinto, Drakoulis, and even the defender Ramirez all had good looks on frame, but Buffalo Grove couldn’t find the back of the net, while Gramer used a clever little touch with the outside of his right foot to nearly beat Eaton who came way off his line to challenge a long ball out of the back.

The center official tested the patience of the Bison staff in the first of two critical decisions that went against the favor of the home side, first at 55 minutes when they believed Eloyza was roughed up inside the box in his pursuit of a Ramirez long throw, but didn’t get the call.

The second call would prove fatal to the Bison’s chances in the 78th minute.

That's when the Bison were called for mugging Davenport, giving the Hersey striker a dramatic chance with his spot-kick. He calmly stepped up and steered his attempt high into the net for the game-winning goal.

"I don't really have a problem with their PK if the official had awarded us one when Alberto was abused just five feet from the net," said Carlson.

"But in the end, on a night when we had everything going for us, we just didn't put them away, and at the end of a very busy week for both teams, were even with them. Now we've got to get healthy and ready for two big matches next week."

And Hersey left the field in the same boat.

"There were chances for both teams and in fact, it could have been 4-3, or 5-4 for that matter. But it was great to finally see Charlie show the terrific talent he has up top. Of course, I've been yelling at him all year long about his form and technique when he's shooting," Llewellyn joked, with the Huskies’ man-of-the-match within earshot.

"Coach doesn't yell at me, he just suggests," countered Davenport.

"We had a tough time in the first half, but then came back to play great defense, and everyone who was put out there gave it everything they had, and it helped to make the difference in the final score."