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Palatine's first-half onslaught buries Prospect By Mike Garofola Palatine broke the hearts of the Prospect faithful Thursday night with a convincing 5-1 victory in the 33rd MSL Cup to claim its 7th conference title in school history. "We (all) knew that to stop Prospect, we had to disrupt and make it nearly impossible for (Slusher and Stankiewicz) to get very many touches, especially in our own end," said Clark, who would put the dagger in deep against the Knights when he made it 4-0 just before intermission. To make matters worse for the Knights, senior defensive captain Kyle Mataloni was brought off near the quarter hour mark, and would never return, leaving a massive hole along the backline for a club which allowed just 16 goals on the season. Before Mataloni departed and straight into intermission, the Pirates would have all of the possession, with quick touches up and over, or along the flanks to help heap plenty of pressure on Brault and his mates in their own end. "We knew if we continue to be in their end for extended periods of time, that they would be forced to drop a few of their guys from the middle to help defend, which in turn would neutralize their attack going forward," offered the Pirates head coach Willie Filian. The home side posted plenty of warning signals in the early stages that it was ready, as it won nearly 100% of the 50-50 and second balls available, with the attacking trident of Josh Clark, Kosta Ristecki and Velinski each taking turns running through with plenty of pace. This dominance would pay its rewards at 19 minutes when Martin Rodriguez would slot a rebound off a Josh Clark free kick. Four minutes later, Velinski ran from nowhere to head a put-back off the boot of Filian. Just before the half-hour mark, Palatine junior Stephen Thabuteau would make an immediate impression on the match seconds after coming on. Thabuteau pounded in his shot at the post, after Filian initiated with a low drive off a corner that Feldman directed. With its confidence soaring, the Pirates would make it 4-0 just before the break with a professional goal from Jon Clark that began with a build-up from mates Filian, Jr. and Velinski and ended with a thumping header. "(Those) 20 minutes might have been our best of the season," said the Pirates head coach. Before and all throughout the Palatine barrage, Brault was superb in turning away a handful of balls sent to the spot, or stopping close range blasts, such as one from Josh Clark after the Pirates made it 3-0. "One of the encouraging things from this night was to see how the guys responded after the break and trailing 4-0, and I have to say that I am proud of their effort and desire not to quit and play hard for the final 40 minutes of soccer," said Trenkle. Francisco and Brayhan Nunez would each have a go at the Pirates keeper Kyle Held at 50 minutes, and it would be Brayhan Nunez who would break the shutout at 78 minutes when his swerving shot would find the upper right corner from 28 yards. With Filian beginning to pull off his first-11 in earnest, an unmarked Jon Clark would head home the 5th and final goal for the MSL champions just after the hour mark. "Palatine showed why it’s the class of the MSL (tonight) and deserving champions," Trenkle would say afterwards. "Now, for us, it's back to training and preparation for our most important match ahead of us next week." The Knights will travel to Northbrook next Wednesday evening to meet No. 10 Carmel in its regional opener at Glenbrook North. |
2009 Schedule
Prospect starters vs. Palatine
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