Mundelein shut down in Titan Invitational action

Updated: August 30, 2011 7:45PM

As the ball sailed toward the net, Alex Nambo prepared to celebrate.

The Mundelein midfielder believed his 20-yard free kick would give the Mustangs’ boys soccer team a big lift against Niles North in Saturday’s Titan Invitational at Glenbrook South. But a loud crack changed the course of events.

“As soon as I hit it, I jumped up with excitement,” Nambo said. “I knew I had it. But when the ball hit the post, I knew it wasn’t going in.”

Instead of slicing into a 2-0 deficit, the Mustangs jogged into halftime down by two goals. Mundelein was unable to generate any offense in the final 35 minutes, dropping a 3-0 decision to close out a 1-3 tournament run.

For most of the 70 minutes of action — each half consisted of 35 minutes — the Mustangs moved the ball with ease. But all of the precision passing did not translate into prime scoring chances.

“I thought we controlled the action,” agreed Mundelein coach Ernie Billittier. “You can control the ball all you want, but if you don’t score it doesn’t matter. We just missed our chances. We came really close to scoring a few times.”

Many of the prime opportunities were created by outside midfielder Alex Terrazas. The junior used his speed to blast a couple of strong shots at the net. The first chance created by Terrazas — on a give-and-go with Leo Rodriguez — would have given Mundelein the lead in the opening minutes. But the low bullet was deflected over the end line by Vikings keeper Dan Miranda.

All involved know the situation can be rectified.

“We have to find an attacking forward, and our chemistry has to improve. I believe once we score a goal, the goals will keep coming,” Nambo said.

“We’ve done a decent job of getting movement on the ball, ” Billittier added. “We’ve had decent build-ups, but we haven’t had the good final pass.”

Even though the squad dropped a trio of games by big scores, Nambo believes the Mustangs will be a power broker in 2011.

“We’re a main competitor in the (North Suburban Lake) conference,” Nambo said. “The talent is there; we just have to use it.”

Niles North (1-3-1) certainly cashed in on every chance it had. In the 30th minute, Will Braubach scored off a feed from Alessandro Scanu De Rubeis. A few minutes later, Elan Ness-Cohn finished a chance after accepting a pass from Scanu De Rubeis. The Vikings put the game away when Scanu De Rubeis scored midway through the second half.

“They took advantage of the chances they had,” Nambo said.

Recap: Mundelein’s lone victory in the tournament was a 2-1 win over Wheeling. Mustangs goals were authored by Cristian Mata (from Brandon Asher) and Rodriguez (from Jason Dimitriou).

The Mustangs dropped 4-0 decisions to both Warren and Mather; the latter finished second in the tourney.

Up next: Mundelein returns to action when Deerfield visits for a 6:15 p.m. start today. The Mustangs also visit Prospect for a noon affair on Saturday.

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