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Bartlett's maturity emerges down the stretch vs. Lake Park By Gary Larsen Alex Ortiz’s finish was a fine one to be sure, but the Tyler Lake cross that set it up belongs on a highlight reel. “Oh my gosh,” Bartlett coach Ben Beary said. “Without that cross, that goal doesn’t happen. Just a beautiful touch down the line, cross far-post, and couldn’t have been placed better. All Alex had to do was touch it.” Lake’s cross and Ortiz’s finish came in the 79th minute of Thursday’s game between Lake Park and host Bartlett, and it gave the Hawks a 2-1 in the Upstate Eight Conference game. Bartlett (13-5, 6-3 in UEC play) led 1-0 on a goal scored just before halftime by David Wade, only to see Lake Park (10-9-4, 5-3-2) tie the game on a Mike Keane goal with just 9 minutes left in the contest. “It was all Tim Adelman down the line,” Keane said. “He played it to the top of the box, and I was just in the right spot.” The majority of games in that situation end in a draw, but that’s when the Hawks’ composure kicked in. A late, tying goal against your side can sometimes deflate a team, but Bartlett kept their shoulder to the wheel. “It’s great that we won but I’m even more proud of the way they handled themselves,” Beary said. “They were men out there today, and I’m proud of them. Half the guys on the field didn’t even play varsity last year. In a game that’s physical like this game was, it just goes to show how much they’ve matured being the young team that they are.” Bartlett answered Keane’s goal by picking up its play and fighting for the game-winner. “At the beginning of the year that would have knocked us back on our heels,” Bartlett senior Joe McCullough said. “But we bounced right back after that.” The game hinged on Lake’s run up the sideline from his outside mid spot. It might not have even happened, but the sophomore felt the urgency. “I looked at the clock and saw there was four minutes left in a tie game. It felt like I should get something done,” Lake said. “I usually play more defensive on the outside, but I told Fabio (Aiello) to watch my guy so I could pinch up a little bit.” “They played a ball to me, I went to the corner, and I just crossed it. Alex Ortiz came out of nowhere and finished it.” Keane was naturally disappointed with his side’s failure to pick up Ortiz at such a crucial moment. “I saw the ball go up the line, they got a cross in, and they had a man wide open at the back post,” Keane said. “We came out flat, and the intensity has to be there from the start. And we have to finish, too. We had a lot of chances that we didn’t finish tonight.” Lake Park closes out its regular season on Saturday with a west campus home game against Barrington at 1 p.m., while Bartlett tunes up for the postseason with a game at St. Charles East at noon. Beary’s squad has gone 5-1 in its last six games, and he likes what his boys are giving him as the season winds down. “We’re playing our best soccer right now,” Beary said. “Today was a result of every day of work that we’ve put in this year, and this is what happens when you prepare like we’ve been preparing.” “Our sophomores are stepping up huge, and all of the seniors on the team are enjoying the ride. They’re not all getting equal playing time, but they’re being leaders on and off the field.” “Brian Roman, Joe McCullough, and Jeff Gal -- I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen a keeper as good as (Gal) has been, and he’s only a junior. When he starts opening his mouth in the back we’re a different team, and he did it against Wheaton South (a 4-0 Bartlett win) and he did it tonight. So his leadership has also been huge.”
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Man of the Match: Joe McCullough
When Lake Park's Mike Keane tied the game at 1-1 with a goal in the 71st minute, Bartlett didn't flinch. “I don’t think we lost confidence. We were feeling good before they scored and after they scored, we were still feeling good,” McCullough said. “We were playing really good. I think we outplayed them.” “We bounced right back." Bartlett coach Ben Beary credits third-year varsity player and senior captain McCullough for sending the right signals to his young team, at a crucial point in the game. “It was him in the center that kept the composure of the team," Beary said.. "As he goes, our team goes, and because he kept his composure out there, our team did. He’s the leader.” “You can’t see it in the stat list, but the maturity level that he has reached… it started out this season that our leadership was a little weak, but throughout the season I’ve seen the growth in him this year.” McCullough admitted to a level-headedness that served him well on Thursday. “I’ve been told I’m too much of a hothead. When I get hacked I kind of retaliate," McCullough said. "But this game I kept my cool.”
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