South rallies past North in DG showdown

By Curt Herron

Overcoming a 2-0 halftime deficit is never an easy task and that's especially the case for a squad that had only scored two goals in its last five matches.

But that's precisely the situation that Downers Grove South found itself in as it met up with crosstown rival Downers Grove North for a crosstown clash on Thursday.

Just as things appeared to be pretty bleak for the Mustangs, they erupted for a flurry of offense like few others they've been able to enjoy in a frustrating season.

In just over 20 minutes of play, South scored three straight goals to stun North in a nonconference match that determined Downers Grove bragging rights.

The match was halted due to lightning with 6:19 remaining but it was obvious that play could have been suspended much earlier due to safety concerns for the players.

After both squads played in a steady rain from nearly the outset of the second half, things finally ended as the lightning increased and the rain turned into a downpour.

Following a brief delay, the decision was made to throw in the towel on the match, bringing a necessary but rather unsatisfying end to an exciting battle between rivals.

In a season where his squad had won just three times and settled for five ties, South coach Jon Stapleton was pleased to see a comeback win in less than ideal conditions.

"At halftime we challenged our kids," Stapleton said. "We've had moments this year where we just haven't been focused or prepared and again I think we saw that happen tonight.

"North was the aggressors in the first half and they finished on the opportunities that they had. The challenge was for our kids to believe in themselves and show their heart.

"We got a penalty kick that kind of jump-started us and our kids stepped up and I was very pleased about that. North's a quality team so for us to come back and win was big."

The Mustangs (4-7-5) scored the go-ahead goal with 15:35 remaining when Joe McLean scored from close range following a cross from Cal Tondelli.

North (8-5-3) tried to answer back with an equalizer but a series of long free kicks from Neil Corcoran and A.J. Jeffries were hauled in by keeper Sam Hadley.

"The start of the game was like our season has been where we've had possession and just can't finish," McLean said. "This is kind of a product of what we knew we could do.

"Things just kind of came together for us during the last 34 minutes or so. We had some pretty good possession in the second half and knew that we could break them down.

"It felt good to get that final goal since we're not satisfied with ties since we've tied so often. We needed to get this win, especially since it was against our rival."

After failing to connect on some good scoring chances in the first 40 minutes, South got the break that it needed just over three minutes into the final half.

That's when the official called a hand ball in the box against North and Cal Roselieb placed the subsequent penalty kick into the lower corner of the net.

The Trojans tried to get a two-goal lead back on long free kicks from Marcin Modzelewski and Justin Pickering as well as a short shot try by Matt Weiss.

With 17:58 left in regulation play, South's Marcus Salinas came up with a loose ball and got free in front to allow him to score to force a 2-2 tie.

"Coach gave us a really nice speech at halftime and that really pumped us up," Salinas said. "And that's why we came out really strong at the start of the second half.

"Our whole season has been like the first half where we just can't seem to catch a break. We're getting good hits in but obviously we can't find the back of the net.

"This win means a lot and hopefully it can help to turn our season around. We're starting to play better and we're connecting more and playing the way that we want to."

In the first half, North had most of the good early chances while South had some nice opportunities down the stretch but the guests were able to capitalize.

Paul Hogan gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead just 6:55 into the match when he put a shot into the upper corner after taking a pass from Luis Salas.

Jeffries and Pickering were each stopped by first-half keeper Andrew Reed a short time later as South struggled to get anything going offensively.

The Mustangs finally began to apply some pressure about 15 minutes in when Salinas got off a shot try and Charlie Stanke sent in a long free kick.

Hogan nearly made it a 2-0 game with 11:40 remaining in the first half when he got free and placed an attempt on goal but it was blocked by Reed.

But the Trojan junior capitalized on the subsequent corner kick when he put in a short shot to put his squad up by two goals with 11:15 left in the half.

The two goals was a welcome change for North, which had suffered only its second shutout of the year two days earlier in a 2-0 defeat at Glenbard West.

"They snuck a few goals in on us and it is what it is," North coach Brian Gervase said. "The PK was kind of strange and I would have liked to see a free kick there.

"But regardless, we have to do better than that. They scored two goals and my keeper should have gotten the second one and an unmarked guy score the third one.

"We still have issues that we have to work out in the back. In a game like, our guys just have to play better than they did toward the end of the match."

South had the better scoring chances for the rest of the first half, beginning with Stanke's corner kick that was stopped half a minute after the second goal.

A short time later, North keeper Matt Paprocki stopped a header by Matt LaLonde, which was set up by a free kick from Neil Kshirsagar.

After Stanke had a long free kick punched away by Paprocki with about seven minutes left, North's Weiss was just wide on a header off a pass from Azmi Sharif.

South's final two good scoring chances in the first half were a liner from McLean and a long free kick from Conor Kelch with just over five minutes left.

"We came out slow in the first half and we weren't getting the loose balls or challenging in the air," LaLonde said. "At halftime coach kind of laid into us, which we needed.

"In the second half, we got a nice break with the hand ball in the box and then we built an attack with one-touch passes and Marcus hit a nice shot for a goal which was huge.

"And the third goal was just great hustle by Joe. This was definitely a breakout for us and we needed that and hopefully we can carry this scoring over to our next matches."

Men of the match: Joe McLean, Cal Roselieb and Marcus Salinas

When your team is coming off of back-to-back scoreless ties and had collected two goals in five matches, it's a huge deal to get three scores.

And to pull off that feat in not only one half of play but in about 21 minutes makes the flurry of scoring activity that much more impressive.

Add to that playing in lousy conditions caused by rain while you're going up against your biggest rivals and it makes the story more interesting.

Also, the squad that did all of this scoring in such a quick fashion faced a 2-0 halftime deficit against a squad that is enjoying a fine season.

After putting all of the pieces of this puzzle together the result is Downers Grove South's 3-2 comeback victory over rival Downers Grove North.

That's why the goals collected by the trio of Cal Roselieb, Marcus Salinas and Joe McLean were such a big deal for coach Jon Stapleton's squad.

The Mustangs trailed the Trojans 2-0 at halftime but were awarded a penalty kick just over three minutes into the half, which Roselieb converted.

Then South really got its offense going by scoring the tying and go-ahead goals in less than two and a half minutes just past the half's midpoint.

Salinas connected with 17:58 remaining to tie things up and McLean scored the game-winner with 15:35 left after taking a pass from Cal Tondelli.

Speaking of good offensive days, Paul Hogan gave the Trojans the ealy advantage after scoring both of their goals during the initial 29 minutes.

Mustangs starters vs. Trojans

Trojans starters vs. Mustangs