AURORA — Time was on Maine South’s side on Monday night.
While the Hawks game against Waubonsie Valley on the opening night of the WarStang Invitational started a bit late due to the Lemont-Batavia game before it, the Hawks found a way to break a scoreless tie with 1:29 remaining against the Warriors thanks to a brilliant goal from senior midfielder Sean Schermerhorn.
Maine South then kept the tournament co-hosts scoreless for the final 89 seconds and secured a hard fought 1-0 victory.
“I think you can say that I would like to ignore the time. I think a lot of other people could say that too, but nobody ever does,” Schermerhorn said. "You’ve seen the last minutes of games, and in a lot of professional games you see one team kind of take dominance over the other.
“I think that was us here tonight in the final minutes. We kind of took over. They couldn’t really play through our back.
“I didn’t want to tie this game.”
Maine South (10-5-2) remains undefeated in its past five games (3-0-2).
Previously 20th-ranked Waubonsie Valley (8-4-5) came in 2-1-2 over the same stretch. Their run included a 3-1 loss to top-ranked Naperville North Oct. 1 and a 1-1 tie to undefeated and then ninth-ranked Plainfield Central on Oct. 5.
The match was a hard-fought affair.
“It was two good teams going at it,” Hawks coach Dan States said. “At the end it was who could capitalize on a turnover and we were able to do it.
“The ball lined down the left flank and (junior defender) Wyatt (Kelleher) crossed it in and Sean stepped in and hit a beautiful shot inside the far post.”
It was a thrilling unforgettable moment for Schermerhorn and the Hawks but a ‘What if?’ Scenario for the Warriors.
The tournament format awards a point for ties and three for wins. A loss on opening night of the 26th WarStang Invitational makes it difficult to come back and challenge for the title without help from the other participants. If teams are tied in points at the end of the event, goal-differential followed by goals conceded are the top tiebreakers.
“With one minute left it’s always a heartbreaker,” Waubonsie Valley coach Jose Garcia said. “Our boys did well. Could we have done some things different to score a goal? I think yes.
“We had our chances. I think some of the calls didn’t go our way. That could’ve got a little frustrating for us and the players, because it was a very physical game.
“They got off that last shot, and that’s the soccer gods talking right there. Nothing else you can do about it. It hit off the top at a weird angle and the shooter was on his off foot. It is what it is, and we just got to come back and play the next game.”
With under three minutes left, Kelleher fired a shot that Waubonsie Valley junior goalkeeper Sebastian Herrera was able to turn away.
About a minute-and-a-half later, Kelleher w a ball and found his teammate.
“He (Schermerhorn) is really fast over there on the right wing. I don’t even remember how I got the ball,” Kelleher said. “I think I took a touch down the line and put it across.
“Coach always says to make it dangerous. So, I put it across the box on the ground where hopefully somebody would pick it up, be there to finish it. It was a great finish with his left foot. Great goal.”
Schermerhorn is a key reason why the Hawks have won 10 games, a feat the program has now accomplished in three-straight seasons.
“He has not scored like that,” States said. “We’ve been waiting for that, and it finally materialized. It was good.”
What’s been especially good is Schermerhorn’s understanding of game situations. While his finish ultimately won the game, it was his positioning before the shot that allowed him to be in the right spot at the right time.
“The whole game, really the whole season, I’ve always been trying to be where I think the ball is going to end up to be able to finish some crosses,” he said.
“I saw Wyatt coming down the line, and it was pretty promising. I kind of felt I knew where I needed to be. Wyatt is usually looking for me on crosses or balls over, so I kind of know the type of ball he’s going to be play.”
It took precision on Schermerhorn’s part to get his shot past Herrera, and he didn’t have much time for calculations. After gaining possession, Schermerhorn reacted quickly and took the chance knowing that it likely would be his final attempt of the night. He was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match for his play and late-game heroics.
“It was mostly instinct, but I knew where I needed to be for that ball,” he said “It was a great dummy from one of our midfielders, and the ball kind of ended up at my foot.
“I was already running pretty much full speed and checking to the ball on the ground, and it was coming. Then I saw the small gap and just hit it with my left foot. I’d like to say it was a pretty nice finish.”
After more than 78 minutes of running around on Waubonsie Valley’s natural surface, Schermerhorn was finally getting acclimated. The Hawks typically play on artificial turf.
“It was only our second or third game (on grass), so it was a little bit rough, especially for me at the start of the game,” he said. “I couldn’t seem to get good contact off the ball. I had a couple botched crosses, a couple skied shots.
“It just comes with experience getting used to the surface. We’ve been playing on artificial turf for about four-years straight.”
“I love playing on grass, but when you get used to the turf it’s hard to switch like that. Grass is always fun. It’s fun to slide, and the ball moves quickly which I like.”
The Hawks had some chances in the first half that would’ve lessened the need for dramatics.
Senior forward Will Smucker drove toward the goal from the corner along the end line in the 16th minute but his shot was batted away by Herrera.
Junior midfielder Cooper Larson forced Herrera to make another save in the 33rd minute. Less than a minute later, junior midfielder Bartek Galimski lined a shot right at Herrera.
Waubonsie Valley was seemingly more dangerous on the attack in the second half. They also had a handful of opportunities that came awfully close to finding the net.
Senior Lachlan Ladd had a chance in the 48th minute and again in the 57th, but Maine South senior goalkeeper Joseph Figula was there to deny him.
The Hawks had a foreshadowing of things to come, but in reverse order, when Kelleher received a cross from Schermerhorn with just under eight minutes remaining in the game. But he had too much power behind the attempt, and it sailed off target.
Senior Adrian Malik took a corner kick that didn’t materialize into much a threat for the Hawks with just under four minutes remaining.
“I thought we had a lot of pressure there in the second half,” Kelleher said. “It was always coming. It just happened to happen with a minute and a half left. It could’ve happened earlier, but it was a good effort from our team. We were starting to get it going with the attack and were moving the ball up the field and creating chances.”
Maine South senior defender Stephen Ronan said the Hawks are a positive group that plays with a great deal of confidence and tries to give a full 80 minutes nightly.
“I always have confidence in the team,” he said. “We were pushing toward the end. The last 10 to 15 minutes we were pressing on them and getting a lot of chances. Then I saw Wyatt pick up the ball there and a great finish by Sean.”
States and the Maine South athletic department afforded the Hawks some tremendous opportunities to take their love of the game throughout the Chicagoland area this fall. While teams are beginning to think about the playoffs now that October has arrived, the Hawks not only battled the challenges of the intense Central Suburban League South Division, but also played for tournament championships.
The Hawks played in the St. Charles Invitational early in the season, recently won the program’s first BodyArmor tournament bracket and are now taking on Waubonsie Valley, Batavia and Boylan in the WarStang.
“It’s a ton of fun,” Ronan said. “We always have the grueling conference schedule. It’s a very tough conference. So it’s always nice to get into these other tournaments and see some competition outside of our conference,because we have a lot of ties. We won the BodyArmor earlier, and that was a great experience.”
It’s not only refreshing to see these other teams, but to get results, especially after they looking up at ranked teams Evanston, Glenbrook South, New Trier and Glenbrook North in conference.
“It’s fun to play teams we don’t usually play,” Schermerhorn said. “We never get to see these guys.”
Having depth has allowed the Hawks to continue to challenge themselves in tough matches.
“We’ve been in these tournaments since pre-Covid, so about six years now, to get different competition,” States said. “These are all good teams, which is great. We have a loaded conference schedule which is good.
“We have some good depth on this team to allow us to play in these tournaments, and I think it pays dividends when playoffs come. We’ve got a tough sectional as does Waubonsie so we’ll see what happens.”
The Hawks are in a good spot.
“We were a little banged up but are starting to get those guys back into play,” States said. “Other guys have stepped into roles which they previously didn’t have which is great to see, and we need to continue to see it, frankly, as guys are going to continue to get nicked up with the kind of games we’re playing.
“We’ve got (no. 12) Naperville Central on Oct. 10 and Boylan is a really good team. There are some really good teams in this tournament. So, we’ll get tested, and that’s what we’re going to see in the playoffs. That’s a good test.”
Waubonsie Valley has had some vigorous matches of its own recently.
“We can compete against all these teams, and our record shows that,” Garcia said. “It’s one of those things where the ball bounces a different way for us today. Maybe the next game it’ll bounce the right way for us.
“I don’t question these boys’ talents and what they’ve done up to this point. You’ve got to look at what we’ve done so far. Three actual losses since one was a PK. We’ve accomplished quite a bit.”
Losing in the final minutes is always rough, but better now than in the state tournament.
“So, we just move forward and just think positive thoughts,” Garcia said. “There’s talk about our team and how talented we are. It means something when we play a team and a coach comes up and says ‘You’ve got a great team,’ but now our record has to show it.
“I think it’s coming. I think we’re going to start peaking where we need to peak. I’m looking forward to moving forward with these boys and seeing what we can do in the playoffs.”
Starting lineups
Maine South
GK: Joseph Figula
D: Oscar Podraza
D: Wyatt Kelleher
D: Augie Ladewski
MF: Finn Quitno
MF: Adrian Malik
MF: Aleksandar Petkovic
MF: Michal Tkaczyk
MF: Sean Schermerhorn
MF: Bartek Galimski
F: Kosta Loucopoulos
Waubonsie Valley
GK: Sebastian Herrera
FP: Jack Winn
FP: Cole Ondrejcak
FP: Tristan Mehra
FP: Erick Maravillo
FP: Lachlan Ladd
FP: Evan Wojtowich
FP: Amiel Nichani
FP: Gabrielle Pizzo
FP: Ricardo Uriostegui
FP: Cade Valek
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Sean Schermerhorn, sr., MF, Maine South
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
MS: Sean Schermerhorn (Wyatt Kelleher), 79’