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Hinsdale Central grinds out a win over visiting York By Gary Larsen
The Silver division saw another close and hard-fought game play out on Tuesday, with Hinsdale Central winning 3-2 over visiting York. “It’s a battle in every one of these conference games,” the Red Devils’ Mitch Reavis said. “Every team wants the conference championship and we’re both pretty good teams in the conference.” “Every game will be a grind-it-out game. It comes down to who wants it more in the end.” Twice the Red Devils (9-6-2, 3-1 in WSS) grabbed a two-goal lead, and twice the Dukes (9-6-1) answered with a goal to stay within a score of tying the game. Central got a goal apiece from Mike Bucheleres, Mitch Reavis, and Taylor Cole, whose second-half goal ultimately proved the difference in the game. Reavis dribbled up and laid a ball off to his left, and Cole dribbled along the top of the penalty area before blistering a ball to the back netting. “It’s nice to see the scoring spread out, and everyone gets credit,” Reavis said. The teams traded corner kicks to start the day before the Red Devils’ Michael Oleszkiewicz sent a head shot just wide in the game’s 11th minute. York followed with a shot wide of the post one minute later. Central forced a save over the end line by York goalkeeper Carmine Sementa in the 18th minute, as scoring chances began to come with better frequency. Another pair of corner kicks each way followed by the 25th minute. It was a Red Devils’ corner that led to the game’s first goal in the 26th, when the ball squirted out from a crowd at the goalmouth and Bucheleres stepped forward and drilled it into net from 8 yards out. “What makes (Bucheleres) dangerous is when he works hard,” Central coach Mike Wiggins said. “He worked hard to get into position to get that goal.” Central’s Eric Loebig saw a hard shot saved in the 29th minute, just before York’s Mario Grana sent a dangerous free kick just high of the crossbar from 20 yards out. Central went up 2-0 when Oleszkiewicz reached the end line on the right side and sent a ball to the near post. The deflected ball started on a low flight away, but Reavis was there to volley a perfect shot back inside the post. “Any other shot, I would have not (volleyed) it,” Reavis said. “But I just saw it and took it.” If there’s one certainty in West Suburban Conference play it’s that no team ever lays down, and York answered its 2-goal deficit with a goal just before halftime. Mo Watkins crossed a ball, Eric Moreau finished, and the Dukes cut Central’s lead in half in the 39th minute. Cole’s score came eleven minutes into the second half, recapturing a 2-goal lead and giving Central three different goal-scorers on the day. “What I was surprised at was how open a look they each had, once they created the opening for the shot,” Wiggins said. “It doesn’t feel like we’ve had those types of looks.” “It’s funny – when things aren’t going your way, you feel like you’re never getting those kinds of looks, and it was nice to see us getting those looks today.” Central’s 2-goal cushion didn’t last. York’s Stefan Salzano sent a good chance just wide a minute after Cole’s tally, and teammate Andrew Aldrich cleaned up a deflected ball near the goalmouth in the 60th minute to make it 3-2. A Dukes’ player turned the left corner near the end line a minute after that, but Central goalkeeper Jack O’Donnell pounced on the attempted cross. Hard play continued from there without another goal posted. Wiggins applauded the play of York’s Moreau, Watkins, Cody Kliethermis, David Selvaggi, and Pat Macnider. “The kid in back (Macnider) was very fast, and he got onto the end of balls a lot quicker than we would have liked,” Wiggins said. “Every (WSC) game is a good game and a competitive game. You have to be up for every game.” The Red Devils followed a pair of tough losses to Naperville Central and Lyons Township with a 5-0 win over Willowbrook, in which Oleszkiewicz netted all five goals in the game. The senior forward put in another good day’s work against York. “Michael Oleszkiewicz gave us a good target today, where he did a nice job of creating separation and holding defenders off, and that was key in our counter,” Wiggins said. Cole, Loebig, and Robbie LaRocque put in their usual high work rate on Tuesday, and the boys in back played solid in front of O’Donnell throughout. “We had to make a change when (Andrew) Virgili went out, and Charlie Hetke really stepped up,” Wiggins said.
Central senior Paul Girgis also entered Tuesday’s game and chipped in with solid play. “Paul was terrific today,” Wiggins said. “All in all, the guys put in a great effort. Today was good.” The Red Devils host Silver division rival Glenbard West on Thursday, Carl Sandburg Friday, and then play Downers Grove North and Addison Trail next week before regional play begins. “Guys are working hard,” Reavis said. “We’ve got to keep building. We’ve had our ups and downs during the year and hopefully we’ll hit our high at the right time.” The No. 4 seed of the Hinsdale Central sectional, the Red Devils will play the winner between DeLaSalle (14) and Clemente (20) on October 20, with No. 5 Whitney Young a possible foe for a regional title on October 24, at the DeLaSalle regional. |
Man of the match: Mitch Reavis By Gary Larsen
The best of Mitch Reavis’ soccer life lies ahead of him. Just a sophomore, Reavis showed throughout Tuesday’s 3-2 win over York that he should haunt the area’s teams for years to come. “There are a lot of people who are going to discover who he is in a short amount of time,” said Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins. “He showed today how dangerous he can be.” “He’s got a good change of pace that makes him dangerous. Nobody here is going to get upset if he wants to take guys on and challenge guys, and we saw some of that today.” Reavis sent a sweet volley in from 8 yards out in the first half, and then dribbled up and slid a pass off to Taylor Cole, whose second-half goal proved the difference in the contest. “We’ve been looking for Mitch to be a little more aggressive, a little more selfish, and we always talk about how players earn the respect of their teammates on the field,” Wiggins said. “Mitch has already done that.” Reavis also played touch line-to-touch line, end line-to-end line soccer on Tuesday, and went in hard to every ball. “That’s a desirable characteristic of an attacking player,” Wiggins said. “He works hard off the ball.” |
Nothing ever comes easy in either division of the West Suburban Conference.
“Mike Oleferchik has been very steady for us in back, and Andrew Worthington has gotten better in every game this year. And we feel like Cameron Legan is as athletic as anybody, so for him to play the role we’re asking of him back there has been real important, too.”