Win over Leyden keeps conference hopes alive for DG South

By Matt Le Cren

Downers Grove South did something Tuesday night that it hadn’t done all season – score first and hold the lead throughout.

Charlie Stanke scored his second goal of the year in the third minute and Andrew Reed secured the shutout in net, as the host Mustangs surprised West Suburban Conference Gold Division leader Leyden 1-0 in Downers Grove.

As a result, Downers South will capture a share of the conference championship for the sixth time in the past seven years if it can win on the road at Hinsdale South Thursday night.

“One of our goals from the beginning of the season is to win conference, so that’s definitely something we’d like to do,” Stanke said. “It’s something really important, given that we started off pretty bad. It would give us a lot of energy going into the playoffs.”

Stanke’s goal gave the Mustangs (6-9-5, 4-1) early energy and the hosts were able to sustain it well into the second half. Marcus Salinas got the play started with a long throw-in from the left side. The ball skipped off the head of junior Nick Suker and found Stanke open on the right post. The senior midfielder finished from five yards out just 2:37 into the contest.

“[Scoring first] gives you a lot,” Stanke said. “That weight’s off your shoulders and now it’s just you playing the game and not having to worry about scoring, but making sure you just do your job and not let them score. So I think that was big for us, being able to control the game and set the tempo.”

Though the Mustangs weren’t able to extend their lead, they did control the play in the first half and generated several scoring chances. Leyden (12-7-1, 5-1) was lucky to be down only one goal and goalie Jose Lopez was a big reason why. He knocked a hard volley from Joe McLean over the crossbar at the 26:50 mark and dove to his right 13 minutes later to deny Kyle Wolf from close range.

The Eagles blew a golden opportunity to tie the game following some controversy with 8:21 left in the half. The linesman whistled Downers South for a hand ball violation in the penalty area. After a four-minute delay and officials’ conference, the referee awarded Leyden a penalty kick, which Edgar Mendez missed high and wide.

That was to be the visitors’ only real scoring chance, though senior goalie Reed made two saves and came off his line to punch away several crosses in recording his third shutout for the Mustangs.

Now what was once unthinkable can become a reality with a victory in the regular season finale.

“We set several goals and [winning the league] was certainly one of them,” Downers South coach Jon Stapleton said. “We’ve been up and down all year, there’s no doubt about that. The kids know that, the coaches know that, but I don’t think anyone’s given up and lost faith in that [goal].

We still have work to do Thursday with Hinsdale South, so nothing is accomplished yet. But we put ourselves back in position to do something that maybe earlier in the year, with the ups and downs, didn’t look so promising. So it’s a credit to our kids. They’ve continued to work hard and never given up.

“I’m happy for these guys and I know they’re anxious for Thursday. They could go play right now. We’ve got to avoid any letdown.”

The Mustangs now have won consecutive games for the first time and Stanke said the reason for the improved play is that they have been able to replicate in games what they do in practice.

“I think we’ve just started clicking,” Stanke said. “We’ve started coming together and really figuring things out, getting creative and doing what we need to do to score goals.”

That is exciting to Stapleton, whose club opens the playoffs Friday with a preliminary round game against Romeoville.

“I do feel we’re playing our best soccer right now,” he said. “That’s what we’ve always wanted to do. You like to build momentum throughout the season and who’s to say that some of those ups and downs we haven’t learned from and now it’s paying off now.”

Man of the match: Marcus Salinas

By Matt Le Cren

It happened so quickly that some people in the stands didn’t see what started it.

The fans at Downers Grove South saw Charlie Stanke score the only goal of the host Mustangs’ 1-0 upset of Leyden and they saw Nick Suker head him the ball.

The player who triggered it, Marcus Salinas, was never mentioned. But it was Salinas, a senior midfielder, whose powerful throw-in from the left side to eight yards in front of the Leyden goal set the stage for the score that kept the Mustangs’ hopes for a piece of the West Suburban Conference Gold Division title alive.

“The entire season Marcus’s throw [has been] really dangerous, so any time we get over there it’s a definitely scoring chance,” Stanke said. “He found me on the back post and I put it away and it was a good goal.”

Salinas has been credited with assisting on two of South’s 24 goals this fall, but his play has contributed to several others and will be one of the keys if the Mustangs want to advance far into the playoffs.

“He’s been solid for us all year,” Downers South coach Jon Stapleton said. “His strength is in the final third of the field and he continues to get better.

We put a lot of responsibility on seniors. Marcus and Charlie and Matt [LaLonde] and Cal [Roselieb] are guys who have had a lot of experience from last year so we put a lot of responsibility on them and now they’re starting to carry us through at the most important time of the year.”

DG South starters vs. Leyden