ARLINGTON HEIGHTS -- The fate of two Cups remains up for grabs. That’s because Rolling Meadows and Hersey played to a 1-1 draw in their Mid-Suburban League East Division match Tuesday night (Oct. 8).

The divisional berth for the Soccer Cup league title match and the Cardinal Cup, the traveling trophy between the two schools and Prospect, are still there for the taking for the rivals.

Rolling Meadows (12-2-3, 7-0-3) played Prospect to a draw in its first Cardinal Cup match (1-1, Oct. 4). The Mustangs could have taken both trophies with a win Tuesday. Now the Mustangs need a win or draw when Wheeling comes to visit Thursday to claim both prizes.

Hersey has a chance to take both Cups with a win at Prospect on Friday and a Rolling Meadows loss.

The game lived up to a battle between two teams atop the Mid-Suburban League table.

"That was everything you imagine in a Hersey and Rolling Meadows matchup," Hersey coach Michael Rusniak said. "I could guarantee coming to the game you would see some very good soccer, just because there's two very good competitive teams with a lot at stake. We came out of there with one point; we definitely could have used the win. Now, we still have to get the job done on Friday."

Hersey fought for its late goal.

"I really like the way we played in the second half," Rusniak said. "The energy and how aggressive we were. We had a balanced attack, which was good. Funny game with bounces here and there.

“Hats off to Rolling Meadows, that's a very strong team. It's important for us to understand, this is a high-caliber team that you know will be a challenge. You know that this game is going to fun and hard.

“Two really strong teams that can play in the big moments. I wish we could've capitalized on our chances."

Rolling Meadows took a 1-0 lead in the 33rd minute of the first half.

John Rogowski slotted a shot into the low corner off a pass from Alex Kociubinski.

In the second half, Hersey made adjustments and found its offense.

Sophomore Johnny Antoniou scored his fourth goal of the season on a deflected shot in the 78th minute to earn the point for Huskies.

"It was a great feeling. I knew it was coming, and I just kept going," Antoniou said. "We were playing with our hearts, and I was happy on how we finished it. It was all about focus and losing was not an option for us. We just had to get a goal in."

Rolling Meadows keeper Marceli Okonski stood out. He made eight of his 13 saves in the second half. That included stopping several set pieces and flip-throw opportunities from Hersey. For his effort, he was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.

"I thought I had a good game," Okonski said. "I couldn't count the number of saves. I knew it was a lot. The defense involves the whole team. If the whole team defends together, we're really good when we all stay compact and communicate well. It's a whole-team effort."

Okonski is like an extra playmaker on the field for the Mustangs.

"It's just my aggression, being aggressive for the ball," he said. "I also have really good distribution as well."

"I think (Okonski) stood on his head and that's why he was (IHSSCA) All-State last year and should be again this year," Rolling Meadows coach Brett Olson said.

The knotted result between the rivals was not a surprise.

"Those games with Hersey are always one-goal games or tie games, and it wasn't any different here," Olson said. "We're the two top teams in the conference thus far.

“Toward the second half, (Hersey) was coming at us pretty hard. We just couldn't get control of it like we needed too. (Hersey) created some opportunities and did a great job of how they attacked and finally got one past Marceli (Okonski) after a great night for him."

The road draw wasn't the worst thing for the Mustangs.

"For us, we're still three points up," Olson said. “We still control our own fate. We have to come in and be ready for our last home match against Wheeling and get a result."

Rolling Meadows almost took away a win in the final seconds. Christian Jablonski sent a kick toward the upper left corner, but Huskies keeper Adrian Smakowski (five saves) snared the ball out of the air.

"I'm disappointed, because we know that we wanted to win," Jablonski said. "We also wanted to win the Cardinal Cup. It was an unlucky result. It's really friendly rivals with Hersey and Prospect. We wanted to win those games. They mean the most out of all of them. Tying both of them was so disappointing.

“As for the last shot, I was trying to get it on goal, so we can get a runner to knock it in."

Rolling Meadows executed its game plan.

"With what we saw from (Hersey) on film, we did what we wanted to do in the first half," Olson said. " Second half, we definitely got put under pressure, and we changed our formation a little bit to withstand it. We did a pretty good job with it. We didn't fully execute it at the end.

“(Hersey) was playing great long balls in. We tried to win second-balls, but we just couldn't get the ball on the ground that we wanted.

“I thought our first half was our best first half we've had all season. It was the best execution. This was arguably the best team we've seen so far this year."

 

Starting lineups

Rolling Meadows
GK-Marceli Okonski
D-Patryk Bochonko
D-Christian Jablonski
D-Aaron Kossack
MF-Angel Lopez
MF-Tony Mil-Ortega
MF-Evan Flores
MF-Eric Mathias
MF-Alex Kociubinski
F-John Rogowski
F-Aldair Avellaneda

 

Hersey
GK-Adrain Smakowski
D-Lian Berk
D-Nate Mabry
D-Joe Farrell
MF-Nik VanDeMark
MF-Teddy Reyes
MF-Johnny Antoniou
MF-Adam Myslinski
MF-Daryll Kishchak
F-Kacper Lechowicz
F-Ray Reyes

 

Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Marceli Okonski, sr., GK, Rolling Meadows

 

 

Scoring Summary

First half
RM: John Rogowski (Alex Kociubinski), 33'

Second half
Hersey: Johnny Antoniou (unassisted) 78'