Red Devils use fast start to defeat AT in regular season finale

 

 

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By Curt Herron

A picturesque rainbow appeared in the skies to the east just as Hinsdale Central was beginning its regular season home finale on Thursday.

Although there was no pot of gold under the illusion, what the Red Devils found during their match with Addison Trail should be just as beneficial.

Hinsdale located the net on three different occasions within the opening 29 minutes of play on the nonconference match with the visiting Blazers.

That allowed coach Mike Wiggins to let all of his players see some playing time on the field in their last outing before the playoffs get underway.

Although AT put up a good fight in the second half and added some drama to the match, the Red Devils went on to claim a 4-1 win at Dickinson field.

The contest was originally scheduled for an earlier time at Centennial field, but rain moved things over to the artificial turf at the stadium.

That could have been a problem for the Red Devils since they faced a squad used to that type of surface, but the early offense minimized that.

Four different players scored for Hinsdale (11-8-2), which ended its regular schedule on a high note after winning five of its last seven matches.

RJ Dralle, Leandro Perez and Alex Chiaramonte all scored first-half goals while Killian Wagner ended the drama with score in the 70th minute.

The Red Devils now prepare for Wednesday's opener in the Argo Regional, where they'll meet Kelly. A win advances them to next Saturday's finals.

"Addison Trail was a team that was dangerous for the full 80 minutes, so for us to go up 3-0 the way we did was a credit to the way our guys played," Wiggins said.

"Our ability to get all of our guys in tonight was partly by design, but also because we feel that we have a full roster of guys that can contribute.

"Other than the foul that they scored their goal on, which is something we're trying to get past, I thought all of our guys did a nice job. We played well tonight."

As is usually the case, Wiggins has his squad peaking at the right time as they get ready for state tournament play to get underway.

If the Red Devils can win their regional, they'll get a chance to return home to compete in the sectional that will be played at the stadium.

"I think that we get better with an eye toward the postseason," Wiggins said. "This is what Hinsdale Central looks for every year. This is the exciting part of the season.

"Between now and Wednesday we'll spend a considerable amount of time on attention to detail, defining roles and cleaning things up that complement what we're doing well.

"Right now we're just trying to close the gaps between the times where we step out and play extremely well and when we have 40 minutes of play like we did on Tuesday."

The Red Devil coach characterized the opening half of Tuesday's West Suburban Conference Silver finale with Glenbard West as his team's worst of the season.

That 2-1 defeat, coupled with a 1-0 loss to Lyons Township a week earlier, mark the Red Devils' lone serbacks during their recent run of success.

Obviously, he was much more pleased with the initial 40 minutes against the Blazers, which set the tone and allowed him the possibility to play everyone.

While the Red Devils were making the most of their first half chances, the visitors were unable to get the ball past keeper Will Meyer.

After the break, new keeper Harley Pranger faced many more threats, but AT was never able to get any closer than two goals back the rest of the way.

"I'm particularly happy with our back four of RJ Dralle, Andrew Scott, Zach Chiaramonte and Ryan Schwarz and how they're playing together," Wiggins said.

The tone was set at the start of the match when Red Devil Mike Krohn fired off a shot that was hauled in during the initial minute of play.

Hinsdale moved in front in the tenth minute when Gareth Parsons sent a corner kick in front to Dralle, who headed the ball in for the score.

In the 18th minute, the hosts were back at it when Perez got free and placed a ball over the Blazer keeper that the backline couldn't clear.

Shortly after the half's midpoint, Krohn was denied on a liner but Alex Chiaramonte managed to give his team a 3-0 lead in the 28th minute.

"Addison Trail is a good team and it has a lot of players who can do a lot of damage in the midfield," Red Devil Mitch Reavis said. "I'm proud of our guys since we were able to shut them down.

"With a team like Addison Trail that plays direct at times, I was very pleased that we still got the ball down and knocked it around. It was good soccer and that's going to get us far.

"In the four years that I've been here we've always hit our peak and this year is no different. We're hitting our stride at the right time and guys who are coming off the bench are stepping up.

"We're a really close-knit group and the guys on the team are best friends with each other. We pick each other up and are positive all of the time.

"We're a better soccer team playing on turf than we have been in years past, so that's definitely going to help us in the playoffs. Our goal is definitely to get be able to get back on this field."

Following the intermission, neither side seriously threatened to connect during the opening quarter hour of play in the final half.

That changed in the 56th minute when AT was fouled just beyond the top of the box and George Leyva lined a free kick just under the crossbar.

Over the next few minutes, Phil Gutman was denied on a liner and Reavis smacked an attempt off the crossbar following a Gutman corner kick.

Wagner closed out the scoring with a goal in the 70th minute and Michael Mayer tried to add another score a bit later, but his try was halted.

The four-goal outburst by the Red Devils marked their fifth match in the last seven where they scored three or more goals, which were all wins.

"I'm proud of our team since we've come a long way," Gutman said. "We started off a little weak this year, but I think we're coming together more as a team as the season goes on.

"I think our captains are doing a good job of keeping the team focused. We're doing a lot of stuff outside of practice now. We have a lot of team chemistry, and that's really good.

"As the season has gone on, we've learned how each of us play and use that to work off of one another. There's certain qualities that we know a player has so we capitalize on that.

"We're starting to put the pieces together and are beginning to get some wins. Something that has gotten us all going is we want to come back here and play in front of our fans."