Stevenson outlasts Mather in final

Updated: August 27, 2011 4:09PM

When the final horn sounded, there was an audible sigh of relief from the Stevenson bench.

The Patriots survived a barrage of dangerous shots to outlast Mather 2-1 in the Titan Invitational soccer final at Glenbrook South.

“One of the best high school teams I’ve ever coached against,” said Stevenson coach Mark Schartner. “They (Rangers) had eight players who could beat you at any moment.”

Stevenson (2-0-2) had a rough time holding onto the 2-1 lead over the final 16 minutes. First, Patriot sweeper Ross Comitor made a fullback save to deny Mather’s Qudus Lawal.

“I saw our keeper go out, so I went to the goal,” Comitor said. “I saw the shot on the ground and I just deflected it.”

About four minutes later, Lawal again raced toward the net. His shot from 10 yards was deflected wide by Comitor.

The final Mather chance was a header by Kenny Hasan. His shot from 7 yards was denied when Patriot goalkeeper Jacob Azriel made a full-out diving save.

“We didn’t mark very well,” said Comitor of that sequence. “But that was a fantastic save.”

The Patriots struck first when goalkeeper Quentin Low delivered a long goal kick toward the Mather net. Joseph Hugener corralled the ball and directed a short-range shot into the net in the sixth minute of the first half.

Mather (2-1-1) responded in the second half. Junaid Emitan made a long run down the left side and centered the ball to Chisom Ogbanna. His initial shot hit the post, but Ogbanna grabbed the rebound and slammed it home for a 1-1 tie with 29 minutes to play.

Stevenson broke the tie less than seven minutes later. Hugener slipped a pass to Zach Erny, who beat the Mather keeper with a low shot inside the far post.

Despite the setback, the Rangers appear to be on the right track.

“We have seniors from all over the world,” said Mather coach Branko Cvijovic. “I believe we speak more than 10 languages.”

Mather finished second in the Titan Invite for a second consecutive year.

“I was preparing to take the tournament this year,” Cvijovic said.

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