Shorthanded DGS repels Reavis upset bid
But sectional semifinal win costly;
Mustangs to play without 2 stars against Morton
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – Downers Grove South advanced to the sectional championship game for the first time since 2008 in dramatic fashion Tuesday night, yet most of the Mustangs were in no mood for celebration.
The 4-2 double-overtime victory over Reavis in the Class 3A Morton Sectional semifinals was bittersweet because the Mustangs (15-4-3) will have to play Friday’s sectional final against Morton without two of their best players.
Senior forward Nick Rohl was ejected in the second half after receiving a red card after a nasty collision that sent Reavis goalkeeper Derik Judka out of the game.
A second Downers Grove South player, apparently junior midfielder Peter Becht, was sent off in the second overtime thanks to back-to-back yellow cards for excessive celebration following Kai Petersen’s goal with 3:16 remaining.
Over half of Downers Grove South’s starting lineup received at least one yellow card, as did at least three Reavis players. No one knew the exact amount in the chaotic match that took two hours, 45 minutes to complete in pouring rain amid dozens of clock stoppages by the referee.
“Until I see the report, I don’t know (if Becht was ejected),” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “I assume that’s who they (tossed). It was very chaotic.
“I think tonight we equaled the number of cards we had all season, and that’s not right. But I want to focus on the kids.”
Even though the officials commanded the attention of the crowd with their handling of the game, the match produced a lot of excitement, some of it negative but more of it positive.
The Mustangs grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Andrew Pierropoulos and Peter Carr, only to see Reavis (15-10-0) score a pair of power-play goals two minutes apart after Rohl was sent off.
Downers Grove South, which played with 10 men for the final 45 minutes, ultimately prevailed by bagging two shorthanded goals in the second overtime to extend its unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1).
“We played a man down for a long time, and we got two shorthanded goals.” Stapleton said. “It just shows the character of these young men.
“Guys on the bench were focused. Guys came in (who had) maybe played a minute and played huge minutes just focusing on what needed to be done to get the win.
“So hats off and a lot of credit to our kids and obviously hats off to Reavis. They played incredibly hard, and they came back from two goals down. That shows a lot of resolve from them as well.”
Indeed, the Rams, who stunned top-seeded and defending state champion Hinsdale Central, the top-ranked team in Chicagoland Soccer’s Top 25 poll, 1-0 Saturday to win
just the third regional title in program history, were trying to reach the sectional final for the first time.
The underdog Rams appeared to have run out of magic as the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead at the 25:51 mark of the first half. Becht broke down the Reavis defense on the right wing and sent a cross to the top of the box that eventually ended up on the foot of Pierropoulos, who beat Judka with a 12-yard shot.
As the weather conditions worsened so did the footing and scoring chances became harder to come by. But the Mustangs extended their lead to 2-0 with 28:13 remaining in the second half when defender Peter Carr headed in a corner kick from Garrett Burns.
Just when it appeared the Mustangs were rolling, the complexion of the game changed dramatically.
Rohl was sprinting for a long ball down the left side as Judka charged out to the top right edge of his box. Judka kicked the ball out of bounds just a split second before he and Rohl collided while Judka’s leg was up in the air. The Reavis netminder hit the ground hard, left the game and did not return.
Rohl was immediately given a red card with 25:16 left in regulation.
“Nick is one of the hardest-working, nicest, respectful kids I’ve ever coached,” Stapleton said. “There was no intent to hurt the keeper.
“He was going for the ball in slippery, wet conditions, and it was (the referee’s) judgment to give him the red card. And it’s unfortunate because he’s a player that deserves to be playing in a sectional final.”
Regardless of intent, referees are instructed to protect the goalkeeper and neutral observers agreed the red card was the correct call.
What confused everyone, and frustrated some, was the inconsistency. Later in the game Downer Grove South's Petersen took two steps after Reavis backup keeper Michael Gonzalez had the ball before fouling him. Yet Petersen was assessed only a yellow card.
“Kai Petersen does a similar thing (as Rohl) and (the referee) gave him a yellow,” Stapleton said. “Both guys were going for the ball.”
Rohl’s ejection had an immediate effect on the Mustangs, and the Rams took advantage, scoring twice in 1:36.
Sophomore Omar Barragan put Reavis on the board when he sent a 30-yard, left-footed blast past Downers South goalkeeper Sam Dumford with 15:12 to go.
Junior Slawomir Chroback then tied it at the 13:36 mark, taking freshman Fernando Barragan’s pass from the left corner and beating Dumford with an unreachable left-footed strike from 15 yards out into the lower right corner of the net.
"It was probably obvious, but once we got the red card we kind of lost all of our momentum," Petersen said. "It completely killed a lot of our guys.
“We let in two goals, but the break before extra time helped a lot of guys get their head where it should be. It helped everybody refocus on what we really want in the long run, not what would feel good in the short run.”
So the Mustangs tried to contain their emotion as the game got increasingly chippy. Dumford, made the last of his nine saves at the 7:30 mark of the first overtime, diving to his left to knock a Matt Mulica’s 28-yard drive around the post.
Becht took the game over in the second overtime. His 40-yard shot 40 seconds into the session was saved by a leaping Gonzalez, who came down in the goal but kept the ball in front of the line.
But Gonzalez couldn’t stop Becht’s next shot, a 20-yard free kick that deflected off the edge of the defensive wall and inside the right post for what turned out to be game-winning goal.
Petersen followed with the second shorthanded tally, beating the onrushing Gonzalez with a 15-yard shot with 3:16 to go after Ian Wisniewski caught the Rams on a counterattack up the right wing.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Petersen said. “It was really all Ian. I was just in the right place at the right time. Ian did all the hard work, and I just had to put it away.”
Nevertheless, Petersen, who is not a starter, will relish the moment.
“After the red card and the questionable refereeing, it kind of felt good to kind of rub salt in the wound,” he admitted.
The second ejection came during the celebration of Petersen’s goal, making Friday’s task even tougher against second-seeded Morton (23-3-0), which routed third-seed Lyons 6-1 in the other semifinal.
“We played without Peter Becht against Naperville North and found a way to win,” Stapleton said. “Nick hasn’t been out this year but he missed some games last year, so we’ve been in this position.
“Obviously you want them on the field, but we’re excited about (being the sectional final). The kids know they have an incredible challenge with or without those guys.
“We’re going to go home, regroup, work hard the next two days in practice and come out and give it everything we’ve got.”
The Mustangs know that anything is possible in a postseason that has already produced massive upsets, and they’ve already overcome adversity.
“(Advancing to the sectional final) is pretty wild,” Petersen said. “It was a whole team effort today. Once you’re down to 10 men, you just have to get 100 percent from every guy, and I guess we pulled it off.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
G Sam Dumford
D Griffin Overbeck
D Peter Carr
D Ryan Strelau
D Anthony Masello
M Peter Becht
M Peter Fish
M Andrew Pierropoulos
F Garrett Burns
F Dylan Mobley
F Nick Rohl
Reavis
G Derik Judka
D Luis Ortiz
D Christian Correa
D Omar Ramirez
M Bryan Lopez
M Oscar Sanchez
M Matt Mulica
M Edgar Alvarado
F Fernando Barragan
F Miguel Manzo
F Slawomir Chrobak
Man of the Match – Peter Becht, MF, Downers Grove South
But sectional semifinal win costly;
Mustangs to play without 2 stars against Morton
By Matt Le Cren
BERWYN – Downers Grove South advanced to the sectional championship game for the first time since 2008 in dramatic fashion Tuesday night, yet most of the Mustangs were in no mood for celebration.
The 4-2 double-overtime victory over Reavis in the Class 3A Morton Sectional semifinals was bittersweet because the Mustangs (15-4-3) will have to play Friday’s sectional final against Morton without two of their best players.
Senior forward Nick Rohl was ejected in the second half after receiving a red card after a nasty collision that sent Reavis goalkeeper Derik Judka out of the game.
A second Downers Grove South player, apparently junior midfielder Peter Becht, was sent off in the second overtime thanks to back-to-back yellow cards for excessive celebration following Kai Petersen’s goal with 3:16 remaining.
Over half of Downers Grove South’s starting lineup received at least one yellow card, as did at least three Reavis players. No one knew the exact amount in the chaotic match that took two hours, 45 minutes to complete in pouring rain amid dozens of clock stoppages by the referee.
“Until I see the report, I don’t know (if Becht was ejected),” Downers Grove South coach Jon Stapleton said. “I assume that’s who they (tossed). It was very chaotic.
“I think tonight we equaled the number of cards we had all season, and that’s not right. But I want to focus on the kids.”
Even though the officials commanded the attention of the crowd with their handling of the game, the match produced a lot of excitement, some of it negative but more of it positive.
The Mustangs grabbed a 2-0 lead on goals by Andrew Pierropoulos and Peter Carr, only to see Reavis (15-10-0) score a pair of power-play goals two minutes apart after Rohl was sent off.
Downers Grove South, which played with 10 men for the final 45 minutes, ultimately prevailed by bagging two shorthanded goals in the second overtime to extend its unbeaten streak to 11 games (10-0-1).
“We played a man down for a long time, and we got two shorthanded goals.” Stapleton said. “It just shows the character of these young men.
“Guys on the bench were focused. Guys came in (who had) maybe played a minute and played huge minutes just focusing on what needed to be done to get the win.
“So hats off and a lot of credit to our kids and obviously hats off to Reavis. They played incredibly hard, and they came back from two goals down. That shows a lot of resolve from them as well.”
Indeed, the Rams, who stunned top-seeded and defending state champion Hinsdale Central, the top-ranked team in Chicagoland Soccer’s Top 25 poll, 1-0 Saturday to win
just the third regional title in program history, were trying to reach the sectional final for the first time.
The underdog Rams appeared to have run out of magic as the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead at the 25:51 mark of the first half. Becht broke down the Reavis defense on the right wing and sent a cross to the top of the box that eventually ended up on the foot of Pierropoulos, who beat Judka with a 12-yard shot.
As the weather conditions worsened so did the footing and scoring chances became harder to come by. But the Mustangs extended their lead to 2-0 with 28:13 remaining in the second half when defender Peter Carr headed in a corner kick from Garrett Burns.
Just when it appeared the Mustangs were rolling, the complexion of the game changed dramatically.
Rohl was sprinting for a long ball down the left side as Judka charged out to the top right edge of his box. Judka kicked the ball out of bounds just a split second before he and Rohl collided while Judka’s leg was up in the air. The Reavis netminder hit the ground hard, left the game and did not return.
Rohl was immediately given a red card with 25:16 left in regulation.
“Nick is one of the hardest-working, nicest, respectful kids I’ve ever coached,” Stapleton said. “There was no intent to hurt the keeper.
“He was going for the ball in slippery, wet conditions, and it was (the referee’s) judgment to give him the red card. And it’s unfortunate because he’s a player that deserves to be playing in a sectional final.”
Regardless of intent, referees are instructed to protect the goalkeeper and neutral observers agreed the red card was the correct call.
What confused everyone, and frustrated some, was the inconsistency. Later in the game Downer Grove South's Petersen took two steps after Reavis backup keeper Michael Gonzalez had the ball before fouling him. Yet Petersen was assessed only a yellow card.
“Kai Petersen does a similar thing (as Rohl) and (the referee) gave him a yellow,” Stapleton said. “Both guys were going for the ball.”
Rohl’s ejection had an immediate effect on the Mustangs, and the Rams took advantage, scoring twice in 1:36.
Sophomore Omar Barragan put Reavis on the board when he sent a 30-yard, left-footed blast past Downers South goalkeeper Sam Dumford with 15:12 to go.
Junior Slawomir Chroback then tied it at the 13:36 mark, taking freshman Fernando Barragan’s pass from the left corner and beating Dumford with an unreachable left-footed strike from 15 yards out into the lower right corner of the net.
"It was probably obvious, but once we got the red card we kind of lost all of our momentum," Petersen said. "It completely killed a lot of our guys.
“We let in two goals, but the break before extra time helped a lot of guys get their head where it should be. It helped everybody refocus on what we really want in the long run, not what would feel good in the short run.”
So the Mustangs tried to contain their emotion as the game got increasingly chippy. Dumford, made the last of his nine saves at the 7:30 mark of the first overtime, diving to his left to knock a Matt Mulica’s 28-yard drive around the post.
Becht took the game over in the second overtime. His 40-yard shot 40 seconds into the session was saved by a leaping Gonzalez, who came down in the goal but kept the ball in front of the line.
But Gonzalez couldn’t stop Becht’s next shot, a 20-yard free kick that deflected off the edge of the defensive wall and inside the right post for what turned out to be game-winning goal.
Petersen followed with the second shorthanded tally, beating the onrushing Gonzalez with a 15-yard shot with 3:16 to go after Ian Wisniewski caught the Rams on a counterattack up the right wing.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Petersen said. “It was really all Ian. I was just in the right place at the right time. Ian did all the hard work, and I just had to put it away.”
Nevertheless, Petersen, who is not a starter, will relish the moment.
“After the red card and the questionable refereeing, it kind of felt good to kind of rub salt in the wound,” he admitted.
The second ejection came during the celebration of Petersen’s goal, making Friday’s task even tougher against second-seeded Morton (23-3-0), which routed third-seed Lyons 6-1 in the other semifinal.
“We played without Peter Becht against Naperville North and found a way to win,” Stapleton said. “Nick hasn’t been out this year but he missed some games last year, so we’ve been in this position.
“Obviously you want them on the field, but we’re excited about (being the sectional final). The kids know they have an incredible challenge with or without those guys.
“We’re going to go home, regroup, work hard the next two days in practice and come out and give it everything we’ve got.”
The Mustangs know that anything is possible in a postseason that has already produced massive upsets, and they’ve already overcome adversity.
“(Advancing to the sectional final) is pretty wild,” Petersen said. “It was a whole team effort today. Once you’re down to 10 men, you just have to get 100 percent from every guy, and I guess we pulled it off.”
Starting lineups
Downers Grove South
G Sam Dumford
D Griffin Overbeck
D Peter Carr
D Ryan Strelau
D Anthony Masello
M Peter Becht
M Peter Fish
M Andrew Pierropoulos
F Garrett Burns
F Dylan Mobley
F Nick Rohl
Reavis
G Derik Judka
D Luis Ortiz
D Christian Correa
D Omar Ramirez
M Bryan Lopez
M Oscar Sanchez
M Matt Mulica
M Edgar Alvarado
F Fernando Barragan
F Miguel Manzo
F Slawomir Chrobak
Man of the Match – Peter Becht, MF, Downers Grove South