Mustangs settle for draw with Oswego East

By Curt Herron

Things were looking pretty good for Downers Grove South's soccer team midway through its match with Oswego East on Saturday evening.

The Mustangs were dominating the attack and owned a 2-0 lead over the Wolves in a match that was moved to Benedictine University's stadium.

But South's two-goal lead didn't hold for very long following the intermission and its advantage on the scoreboard ended during the late going.

The Wolves scored the tying goal with 8:23 to go and the Mustangs couldn't answer as the two squads wound up playing to a 2-2 draw in Lisle.

"One thing we talked about at halftime was having a two-goal lead and being complacent and then they scored a goal in the first three minutes," Mustangs coach Jon Stapleton said.

"Late in the second half it was evident that Oswego East wanted it a little bit more than we did. They were winning 50-50 balls and had more energy."

On an evening when members of South's 2004 state championship team were honored, that squad's coaches were squaring off against one another.

Stapleton was the head coach of the 2004 champs while Oswego East's Steve Szymanski was his assistant with the title team.

In addition, Szymanski and his assistant coach, Bruce Conrad, are both South graduates, as is the Mustangs' head coach.

Through the initial half, it looked like Stapleton and his group would prevail, but it was a different story in the final 40 minutes.

Oswego East cut South's 2-0 lead in half when Seth Stillman connected from about 20 yards out just 1:33 into the second half.

The Mustangs (0-1-1) had plenty of chances to add to their advantage but Wolves keeper Kyle Hancock came up with several big saves.

Ryan Mihalko, Zach Baleski, Matt LaLonde and Nick Suker all recorded shots on goal during the first 14 minutes of the final half.

After the players left the field for about 10 minutes due to a lightning detector with 10:44 left, the momentum definitely shifted to the Wolves.

East's Jorge Ontiveros headed in a rebound of a deflected shot following a corner kick with 8:23 remaining to force the 2-2 tie.

The Wolves managed to get off three more of their six total shots on goal during the final four minutes of play to keep the pressure on.

South finished with 16 shots on goal, but only one of those came during the last 19 minutes and that was a harmless one in the final 30 seconds.

"It's frustrating but it's still early in the year and we're still learning how to win," Stapleton said. "It's a trend during our first two games that we need to take care of."

The Mustangs, who fell 2-0 to Fremd on Thursday, put the pressure on Hancock early on, collecting four shots on goal during the initial 20 minutes.

Charlie Stanke and Baleski each had two of those shots, with the pair both seeing attempts blocked consecutively less than 10 minutes into the match.

South finally connected with 19:28 left before the break when Stanke sent a corner into Cal Roselieb, who headed the ball in to put his team in front.

But the Mustangs' troubles began right after that when the senior captain drew a dubious card for a post-goal celebration, sending him to the bench for the rest of the night.

Even though one of its leaders was no longer on the field, South increased its lead to 2-0 just 3:24 later when Julian Damian was able to find the net.

The Wolves recorded their lone first-half shot on goal a short time later before the Mustangs had another strong push in the final minutes of the half.

Marcus Salinas fired off a pair of dangerous attempts while Joe McLean had another as South owned a decisive 10-1 halftime advantage in shots on goal.

DG South player of the match: Conor Kelch

By Curt Herron

Whenever a team loses a senior leader early in a match, a lot of people need to step up.

And that's not easy to do for someone who still is getting used to playing at a new spot.

But that's what Downers Grove South junior Conor Kelch had to do in his team's game with Oswego East on Saturday.

After captain Cal Roselieb made an early exit following a questionable card, South had to reorganize on defense.

Kelch did his best to try to help the Mustangs do just that from his center back position.

South led 2-0 at halftime but allowed a goal with 8:23 remaining to settle for a 2-2 draw.

"When we lost Cal in the back, Conor stepped in and took over more responsibility," South coach Jon Stapleton said. "He's composed and makes good decisions.

"This is kind of a new position for him but I've seen good things in only two varsity games. We've asked a lot from him so far and he's done it pretty well."