Red Devils take Saxon Invite crown
By Mike Garofola

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Any worries Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins might have had about his opponent on Saturday were quickly put to rest after an impressive opening quarter hour against tourney host Schaumburg.

After watching a dynamic effort from the Saxons the day before against central Illinois 2A power Peoria Notre Dame, Wiggins admitted his concern about what to expect from the Saxons in a game where a victory from his club would insure the championship trophy at the 3rd annual Saxons Invite.

"They (Schaumburg) looked awfully good to me against Notre Dame, so frankly, I was a little worried as to what we would see, and how we would respond," said Wiggins.

That worry was put to rest from the opening whistle, as Red Devils (5-2-2) like Phillip Gutman, Jack Niestrom, Louis St. John and Connor Oleferchik all created a steady supply of chances into the attack, for the ever-opportunistic duo of Christian Meyer and Stefan Jovancevic, in what eventually ended with Central's 2-0 victory Saturday afternoon on the turf in Schaumburg.

"That was a very good effort, against a very good team, who were dangerous all night against Notre Dame, and I am thrilled with this result and yesterday's (1-0 over Fremd),” Wiggins said. “Both are well-coached, well-organized teams from one of the top soccer conferences in the state.

“To get clean sheets against two quality opponents is terrific, and today, especially, we received terrific contributions from the whole roster, which in the end will go a long way towards our success."

"We don't really lose much when we bring others on," offered Meyer, who got to the endline at just 6 minutes before hitting the side netting, providing an early scare for Schaumburg.

"We're still a young team, with two freshmen and sophomores on the roster, but there's also plenty of experience. After a so-so start to the season, we've begun to pick things up in the last three or four games."

The Red Devils enjoyed the run of play for most of the first period, particularly during the opening half hour, using width and quick passes to test the shape and organization of the Saxons' backline. Schaumburg has been without its all-area defender, Christian Mikalowski all-season long, and Mikalowski was recently joined by sophomore Luccas Greco, who suffered a broken arm in the Saxons win over conference rival Hoffman Estates last Tuesday.

"Obviously being without Christian has tested our defense, which we take great pride in, and losing Luccas puts further strain on our roster,” said Schaumburg manager Hamid Mehreioskouei.

"We're hoping to get Christian back soon. He’s been out with nerve damage to his leg and knee area for quite a while, but we just don't know about Luccas. There will come a point when we may have to come to the realization that one or both will be not be available to us, and then we’ll go forward from there."

Mehreioskouei felt that even though his make-shift backline was slightly exposed for its lack of experience in Friday’s 3-3 tie with Peoria Notre Dame, his Saxons played well.

"We came out and played a wonderful style and brand of soccer against Notre Dame. We went up 2-0, then it was 2-1, before we built a 3-1 lead. We knew they would come at us in that second half, and they did, but even though we conceded two goals I thought we played maybe our best 80 minutes of the season."

"But not today."

Freshman Jessie Lopez, a creative young midfielder, and junior Alan Santana, who had a hand in all of Friday’s goals versus Notre Dame, were the best on the ball for Schaumburg on Saturday, along with captain Kacper Wasilewski. But nobody from Schaumburg was happy with Saturday’s performance against a spirited group from Hinsdale Central.

"We were just awful out there today, and almost right from the start," Wasilewski said. “Obviously they had a lot to do with that but we just began flat, and stayed that way for most of the game."

The best chance during the early exchanges came when Jovancevic, on the turn, found himself unmarked with Saxons keeper Dan O'Connell square in his eye, with both sides of the junior keeper wide open.

Jovancevic hit the post to the right of O'Connell to help the Saxons dodge a bullet, but it didn't take long for the Red Devils to make amends for the missed opportunity.

With TJ Schmidt, Gutman, Niestrom, Oleferchik and their mates having far too much pace and energy than the Saxons in the middle, the Red Devils surged forward. After an enterprising run from Oleferchik broke open the Saxons in its own end, the senior would then watch Gutman fired a right-footed strike which dipped late on its way towards O'Connell, and then up, over and into the back of the net to give Central the lead at 25 minutes.

"We put a lot of effort into this match, and I feel like we outworked them for nearly all of the 80 minutes today," said Oleferchik, a co-captain along with Gutman for the Red Devils.

With Niestrom and Michael Mayer putting quality early balls into space, teammates Schmidt, St. John and Jovancevic would all have a go at O'Connell.

Schaumburg came alive for a short period during this time, forcing Gutman to block a shot from Christian Huerta. Nearly making something out of nothing, the Saxons' went close at 36 minutes when Lopez initiated by finding Phil Minecci, who connected with Wasilewski and forced an eventual save from Red Devils’ keeper Mitchell Meyer, who would share the shutout with Harley Pranger.

Meyer providing a finish at 38 minutes with a well-struck low drive from in close.

"No team wants to allow a goal that close to the break, but we were glad to get one to send us into the half with a two-goal advantage," offered Meyer.

Mitchell Meyer would use his body well to shield Huerta from reaching a high looping corner from Santana just as the first period was whistled closed.

"We rarely, if ever play back-to-back games, and it's even more rare for us to play on Saturday and now you can see why," said Mehreioskouei, who was quick to say he wasn't taking away anything from Hinsdale and its effort in the loss.

"We train more than we play, and try to run a schedule much like college soccer does, two matches a week. And the effort we gave today against a very good side only validates to me why we do what we do with our team."

It was more of the same for the Red Devils following the intermission. Jovancevic had his shot saved nicely by O'Connell, before Christian Meyer veered his right-footed shot wide of the post two minutes later.

The game would open up more with 30 minutes remaining, but the Red Devils never buckled.

"We came in really wanting to win the title to our own tournament, but the effort never really was there for us to do so," said Wasilewski.

"Quite simply, they brought it today, and we didn't," added Mehreioskouei, whose club travels to Arlington Heights on Tuesday for a MSL fixture with Hersey, before hosting Fremd on Thursday.

The heat on the turf might have resulted in a handful of Red Devils suffering a bout of leg cramps, although Gutman was seen with a bag of ice firmly attached to his ankle on the way to the bus.

"Except for a few injuries along the way, this proved to be a very successful two days of soccer for us," Wiggins said. "We were able to see a bunch of players over the two days, and this weekend will hopefully prove to help prepare us for the long haul, and for later on when the postseason begins."