Heads up play by Davis spells victory for Neuqua Valley

By Eddie Burns

Scott Davis couldn’t help but notice a trend in Morton goalie Jason Saucedo.

Davis acted on his notion and it paid dividends for Neuqua Valley during its 1-0 victory against Morton in the semifinals of the Pepsi Showdown on Saturday afternoon in LaGrange.

Davis observed how Saucedo seemed to take a little extra time when it came to clearing the ball. After monitoring Saucedo’s behavior in similar situations throughout the early portions of the match, Davis decided to make play at Saucedo to see how he’d respond.

In the 19th minute, Davis charged as Saucedo went to clear the ball. Saucedo panicked and kicked the ball right at Davis as he jumped and turned his back. The ball deflected off Davis and bounded back into Morton’s net for the lone score of the match.

“I let (Saucedo) get the ball and he was taking his time, so I just rushed at him,” said Davis, who admitted it was the first time he could remember scoring a goal by using his back. “I think I caught (Saucedo) off guard because he wasn’t expecting it.”

Morton coach Mike Caruso said he talked to Saucedo about Neuqua’s quickness beforehand.

“(Neuqua’s) closing speed is ridiculously fast,” Caruso said. “(Saucedo) tried to keep the ball in play instead of getting rid of it out of bounds and he tried to go through Davis. We talk about not going through guys and when you do that, you get yourself in trouble and that is what he did and you saw the end result.”

Caruso said it was a tough way to lose, but a good chance for the Mustangs (10-1-1) to see how they matched up with the state’s best in Neuqua (13-0-1)

“We wanted to get to this point and play the No. 1 team – it was a one-goal game and we had our chances, so we can’t complain,” Caruso said.

Morton did have plenty of scoring chances, but was unable to find the back of the net thanks to Neuqua’s stingy defense.

“It is a statement because we know we can hold a shutout against a good team,” Neuqua defender Keegan Balle said.

Neuqua played without forward Pat Doody because of illness and his absence showed.

“We created absolutely zero on offense, really,” Neuqua coach Tony Kees said. “I was disappointed in our execution. I thought they were better on the ball than we were – pretty much all game. We weren’t smart at when to go in and make a tackle and it put us under a lot of pressure because of it.”

Kees said he didn’t think his squad would miss Doody as much as it appeared it did against Morton.

“It raises an interesting question,” Kees said. “We didn’t have a guy who could turn the corner it seemed like Pat does on a regular basis. I would like to hope that we are deeper than having to have Pat in the lineup, but he adds a dimension that most teams don’t have. Did it have an impact on the game? – It did a little.”

Morton spent most of the second half in Neuqua’s end with the Wildcats nursing their one-goal lead. The Mustangs created several close calls, but they were unable to slip one past Neuqua goalie Jack Turanchik.

“They were a crafty team,” Balle said. “They had their fair share of chances today, but we held strong.”

It also was an extremely physical match with plenty of yellow cards to show on either side.

“Physically, this was the toughest game we’ve had played,” Davis said. “We knew it would be a battle coming in and I don’t think we expected it to be as physical as it was. You have to give them credit because they played us hard.”

Caruso was proud of the effort he received from his squad.

“We matched them for the most part,” he said. “We did what we could. They are super fast. I thought my defense hung in there the best they could. We had several opportunities on dead balls and rebounds in each half, but we just cracked them over the crossbar instead of giving ourselves a chance.”

The Wildcats, who are participating in the Pepsi Showdown for the first time, advance to Sunday’s championship match, which will be played at 4:30 p.m. at Toyota Park in Bridgeview shortly after the conclusion of the Chicago Fire’s match against Columbus.

Neuqua will play Lyons Township in the championship. The Lions easily defeated Streamwood 7-0 in the other semifinal match. Neuqua beat Lyons 4-0 on Aug. 29 in Naperville.

“It is going to be a big challenge, and I don’t think any of us think it’s going to be a repeat of the first game – it will probably be a much tighter game,” Kees said. “Both teams respect each other and it should be a good soccer game.”

Man of the match: Scott Davis

By Eddie Burns

If it wasn’t for Scott Davis’ ability to recognize a flaw in the opposition’s game, maybe Neuqua Valley would not have been as fortunate to come away from its match against Morton with a victory.

However, Davis’ heady play provided Davis with his 10th goal, but more importantly, it gave the Wildcats all the offense they would need.

“It was a hustle play and it was appropriate for the kind of game it was,” said Neuqua coach Tony Kees referring to Davis’ goal.

These types of plays were missing from the Wildcats the past few season and doing the “little things” is something Kees has put an extra amount of emphasis on since he took over the program in late spring.

“Making those hustle plays is what we’ve talked about since coach Kees took over as coach,” Neuqua defender Keegan Balle said. “Scotty is always going for the ball hard and he never gives up and his extra effort helped us get the win today.”

Davis said it’s just the way he plays.

“I was just trying to be aggressive and making something happen and it turned out in our favor,” Davis said.

Davis and the Wildcats now turn their attention to Sunday’s rematch against Lyons Township.

“We won’t take Lyons lightly because they obviously handled a very good Streamwood team, so we know we’ll have our hands full,” Davis said. “With this being our first time in this tournament, our goal was to play the best soccer can and see where it takes us and we’re very excited to see what happens.”