Balthazar’s hat trick lifts Evanston

Updated: September 1, 2011 10:42PM

Just call him the Third Man.

Jonathan Balthazar recorded a hat trick, the third time in five games an Evanston player has accomplished that personal feat, in propelling the host Wildkits to a dominating 4-0 performance over Payton in round robin play of the Evanston tournament Thursday night.

He scored two goals five minutes apart in the first half that staked Evanston (3-0-1) to a 3-0 lead at the break. “I’m just feeding off the energy and the fun and excitement of everybody else,” he said.

On Monday night, Jamal Banton scored three goals and added two assists against Mather. Frantz Jacques had the hat trick in the season-opener against Buffalo Grove.

Balthazar opened the barrage in the seventh minute with an unassisted score. Minutes later, he flicked a left-footer on a beautiful pass from Banton that he deftly maneuvered into the goal.

Banton lifted the ball in the air and Balthazar controlled it off the bounce. “Jamal and I have a great chemistry out there,” he said. “I just know to look for him, especially that he’s looking for me and the way we play together.“

Midfielder Philip Strunk closed out the first half scoring with an unassisted score. Balthazar finished his scoring in the 54th minute with a beautiful left-footed shot that curled into the left post.

The lone bright spot for the Grizzlies (2-1-1) was the superb play of junior keeper Jacob Shapiro. As lopsided as the game was, Shapiro prevented the game from getting completely out of hand.

He repelled multiple Evanston shots, many at point blank range, including Balthazar’s penalty kick in the early going, in amassing 17 saves.

Evanston senior keeper Randall Foreman claimed his second consecutive shutout. It required an asterisk. Evanston dominated possession, as Payton failed to record a single shot on goal. “This is the kind of game we want to have, where we dominate possession and do everything well,” Balthazar said. “It’s a great confidence booster to play like this, but we also know this is only the start.”

In the first game, Von Steuben and Foreman finished in a 2-2 tie. Chidozie Nwagbara and David Desai scored for the Panthers. Antonio Reyes and David Villegas tallied scores for the Hornets.

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