Pirates post 7th shutout vs. visiting Conant
By Gary Larsen

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While Palatine’s set-piece prowess is widely known – Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Conant was set up by throw-ins from Jeremy Velinski and Gavin Falotico – the Pirates’ defense likely gets less attention than it deserves.

Palatine has only given up 7 goals in 12 games this season. Central defender Kyle Clancy is one of the best in the business, in front of a keeper in Kyle Leber that has been solid throughout the 2012 season.

And then there are the unsung contributions of outside defenders Ulises Alcaraz and Matt Fleischhauer.

"They're great. Ulises and Matt are playing fantastic this year,” Palatine senior midfielder Dave Clark said. “They're stepping in front of every single ball. They're both so fast, they'll step in front and we have Clancy behind them cleaning everything up. It has worked out really good for us."

"Our outside backs work hard," Palatine forward Josh Lee said. "They should get mentioned more."

Palatine severely limited Conant from finding a shot during Wednesday’s MSL West contest in Palatine. The Cougars’ Curtis King got behind in transition mid-way through the second half, but his shot rolled wide on Conant’s one truly dangerous scoring chance in the game.

Afterwards, Palatine coach Willie Filian tipped his hat to his defense after its seventh shutout of the year, and gave some props to Alcaraz and Fleischhauer.

"They've been lights out as far as guys they've been marking," Filian said. "Matt and Ulises are very good athletes, they work hard, and they understand their roles. Their job is to win the ball and connect with our forwards or knock it to space."

A Conant team that has scored 14 goals in 14 games also relies on its ability to defend, but Palatine didn’t waste any time putting the Cougars in trouble. Less than one minute into the match, Velinski launched a throw-in to the near post that Conant got to first, but the ball traveled out  to Palatine forward Cesar Valdez.

Valdez finished nicely from 14 yards out and his goal ultimately stood up as the game-winner. Both Valdez and Lee used skill and speed to pressure a Conant backline led by Nathan Marasigan, Kevin Quinn, and keeper Patryk Openchowski.

It should have been 2-0 at 7 minutes, but Openchowski made an outstanding save on a Johnny Enriquez shot at the post, diving to swat away Enriquez’s point-blank attempt.  Lee hit a shot over the crossbar at 16 minutes, and Openchowski dove to stop a Clark rip at 24 minutes.

Palatine earned a throw-in deep near the right corner at 30 minutes, taken this time by Falotico. The sophomore's throw hit the turf in front of the goal and a crowd battled furiously for it before Palatine forward Sergio Hernandez got to it and poked it inside the near post from 6 yards out.

Conant coach Jason Franco knew – as everyone facing Palatine knows – that defending set pieces would be crucial against the Pirates.

"We challenged for them and then one dropped, and that's when you get in trouble," Franco said. "We got to it, one got blocked, and then they're good enough to get to it and finish on it. So hats off to them. That's how they've been winning, and they were the better team today."

Conant lost a player to a red card after intermission, so just 24 hours after playing 100 minutes of soccer and tying 1-1 with Prospect, the Cougars found themselves two goals back and minus one player against a Palatine team that was effectively stifling all attempts at a counter.

"But we battled, even in the second half when we were down a man," Franco said. "It didn't seem like we were tired. We fought. When a team is better than you, you have to make up for it in other places, like being good in set pieces, but they had the advantage there."

With Clark, Velinski, and Luis Vargas spearheading Palatine’s Central midfield, Lee, Valdez, and fellow strikers Hernandez and Saul Gutierrez have provided a nice counter-balance of skill and speed to the Pirates’ direct style of play.

"Occasionally we'll attack the endlines, get those crosses in, and have guys crashing in," Clark said. "Teams will back off of us because they don't think we're going to shoot, but then we'll start shooting and then they're in trouble.

"We all want to score and everybody's hungry. To be honest, we don't really care (about being unbeaten). We're just going out and having fun. The wins are just coming so we're going to keep going with it, and see how far we can take it."

The Pirates nearly scored a third goal at 74 minutes when Gutierrez forced another diving stop from Openchowski. The ball squirted to Velinski, who blasted a rebound shot off the crossbar.

Franco was impressed with what Palatine showed him on Wednesday.

“We've had people tell us that all they do it hit the ball long, but they also find their forward, who finds their midfielder, and they're good enough to turn your defense around almost every time, and that's not easy to do,” Franco said.

“Are they the best team we’ve played? They're the most effective team we've played, and they're very hard to score against. They're good in the back, they're good enough to combine with their forwards and their forwards work really hard. It was an impressive effort."

While Filian wants to see his side finish on more chances created, he was also pleased with few other unsung players roaming the pitch in Palatine this season.

"The kid that gets lost in the shuffle sometimes is Luis Vargas,” Filian said. “He's in amongst the trees in the middle of the field and he's maybe 5-3 or 5-4, yet he challenges and he's been real good at being around the ball, and collecting a second one.

“So if our big guys are going up for a ball he's been real good at collecting a second one. Marco Arreola is another one, an outside midfielder that goes forward and goes forward for us. He's fit. He goes a good fifteen minutes and the kid that's marking him, he's going to get that kid out of his game."

Palatine (10-0-2, 7-0-1 in MSL play) stayed in the driver’s seat of the MSL West with the win, just ahead of Barrington (13-2-2, 6-1-0), while Conant (5-7-2) fell to 2-5-2 in conference play.

"Eighty percent of our season is dedicated to our conference, and in my twenty-four years here we've only been in the conference (title) game four times," Filian said. "None of our current players have ever played for a conference title, so that’s something they can leave here with. Next week is a big week for us with Barrington and Buffalo Grove.”

Lee believes his side will continue to do what has worked for the senior-heavy group this season.

"A lot of us have been playing together since freshmen year. We trust each other and we know how each other play,and we can find people in the right spots," Lee said.

"We just want to work hard every game and keep the intensity. Every game, we want a win and a shutout and we want to keep our intensity high."