HINSDALE — Don’t look now, but Hinsdale Central might just be heating up. 

After enduring a 1-6-1 start to the season, the Red Devils continued their winning streak after knocking off Oak Park and River Forest 3-2 on Tuesday night in West Suburban Conference Silver Division play.

The Red Devils overcame an early deficit and later scored the game-winner only two minutes after the Huskies tied it 2-2.

“Anytime you get a win in conference it’s big,” Red Devils coach Mike Wiggins said.

“This is especially big in the way that we’ve put together three wins in a row and done it by getting better every day. That’s been really encouraging. 

“Oak Park is fantastic. I didn’t think we were going to give up an early goal, but the way we responded was fantastic. I thought the next 10 minutes really said a lot.”

The Red Devils answered the third-minute deficit with energy and purpose, and took over the next stretch of the match.

They capped the it with the tying goal from Alex Barbu in the 12th minute. Matthew Gantar took the initial shot but was turned aside by Huskies keeper Christian Kellogg. The ball deflected right to Barbu, however, and he made no mistake putting it away.

“The first three games we were down 1-0 in them all, and we were just getting down and did not get goals,” Gantar said. “So, I think it’s good to finally come back and get a win.

“The main thing was we just stayed positive and were never negative. We just stayed with it and kept playing hard soccer.”

Tied 1-1 at the break, the Red Devils took their first lead when Austen Szurgot scored in the 44th minute. He drew an assist from Antonio Azzo on a play that started with a Barbu throw-in.

The 2-1 lead lasted until the 63rd minute when Owen Baffa tied it for the Huskies with his first varsity goal. Peter Bondartsov, who scored the first goal of the match, created the assist.

Once again, the home team responded. Only this time, it was even quicker. Gantar buried the game-winner less than two minutes after Baffa’s goal.

“It was nice,” Gantar said. “The ball just dropped right to me, and I sent it far post. It felt good to score and then win the game. It felt awesome.”

Gantar’s goal and assist earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.

Most importantly, his effort helped the Red Devils sit atop the league standings and kept the team pointed in the right direction.

“In any season, there’s a period of growth and just trying to find where you are as a team,” Wiggins said. “And we’re in the middle of that right now. We’re in the part of our season where it’s a challenge for sure, but we’re responding.

“It’s encouraging that we not only got a result against a really strong Oak Park team but to do it coming from behind was pretty impressive.”

Oak Park and River Forest left the pitch feeling like they let one get away.

“We came into this expecting to win,” Baffa said. “We’re a talented team, and we didn’t show it today. 

“For sure there were opportunities we could have created and a lot of opportunities that we should have prevented that led to some goals.”

The loss ended the Huskies’ six-match unbeaten streak (4-0-2), which included a 1-0-2 showing in pool play of the Streamwood Fall Classic after finishing third in the Joe Novy Classic at Addison Trail.

Huskies coach Jason Fried said his team came into the match expecting to win and overlooked Hinsdale Central because of its record.

“If you don’t respect your opponent enough, that’s what happens,” Fried said of the result. “They outworked us in every bit of the game. They outplayed us the whole game, and we just didn’t react well to it.”

The Huskies struck just three minutes into the game on Bondartsov’s goal that started on a corner kick from Noah Barnett. The initial boot was headed by a Red Devils player but went directly to Bondartsov, who beat keeper Martin Contreras to his left.

That turned out to be one of the only first half highlights for the Huskies.

“We got a quick first goal, and we could have really put the game away just by keeping the tempo high and doing the simple things right,” Fried said. “And honestly, we just sat back. I take the blame for it as a coach, because I didn’t keep the team’s tempo high enough.”

Even so, the Huskies nearly took the lead into the half with a nice play, quickly turning a ball in the middle third into an excellent scoring chance. 

Kingston Petersen caught up to a long through-ball in the right corner near the end line before moving it to Nolan Waters, who then found Bondartsov at the 18. But his blast never reached the Red Devils goal because of a big defensive block. It was the Huskies best scoring chance until Baffa’s goal with about 17 minutes left.

“It was a great build,” Baffa said of his goal-scoring play. “It came to me from Peter at the top of the box. He just laid it out to me. I was pretty much open, so I just put it in the side netting, opposite post.”

But heartbreak followed two minutes later when the Red Devils scored the game-winner.

“We have to look at it as a learning experience,” Baffa said. “There’s lots of things that we need to clean up. But it’s definitely a wake-up call. We know we’re better than this, so we’ll definitely come back stronger the next game.”

Hinsdale Central (5-6-1, 2-0-x) increased its win streak to four matches with a 2-1 upset road win over sixth-ranked Naperville Central on Thursday (Sept. 26). Next up is a huge match with division rival Lyons in the battle for the Silver Brick at home Oct. 1.

Click here to view for the West Surburban Conference tables

Oak Park and River Forest (4-2-2, 0-1-x) will spend the weekend in Iowa to compete in the Soccer Village bracket of the Great River Classic.

Starting lineups

Oak Park and River Forest
GK: Christian Kellogg
D: Quinn Janssen-Singh
D: Kento Przybysz
D: Johnny Natale
D: Zach Goldberg
MF: Noah Cummings
MF: Josh Kitterman
MF: Peter Bondartsov
MF:Evan Max
F: Cole Grinning
F: Noah Barnett

Hinsdale Central
GK: Martin Contreras
D: Braden Tingler
D: Denis Altman
D: Alex Barbu
D: Enzo Cinque
D: Milan Puri
MF: Michael DiTomasso
MF: Arhaan Saini
MF: Antonio Azzo
MF: Austen Szurgot
F: Matt Gantar

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Matthew Gantar, jr, F, Hinsdale Central

Scoring summary

First half
OPRF: Peter Bondartsov (Noah Barnett), 3’
HC: Alex Barbu (Matthew Gantar), 12’

Second half
HC: Austen Szurgot (Antonio Azzo), 44’
OPRF: Owen Baffa (Bondartsov), 63’
HC: Gantar (Gavin Panveno), 65’