Plainfield Central takes down St Charles East

Updated: September 24, 2011 7:09PM

At first glance the 1-0 score in favor of Plainfield Central over the tournament host could like a final tally from the fifth-place contest of any year at the 18th Annual St. Charles East Invitational.

But a closer check reveals it’s a microcosm of the season for both programs. Despite having a statistical edge in overall attempts (17-8) and shots on goal (7-3), St. Charles East saw its season record drop to 4-6-1.

“What can you say?” Saints coach Paul Jennison asked shortly after the match. “We give up one really good shot on goal and we lose because on offense, we can’t put the ball in the back of the net.”

Despite reaching double figures in victories at 10-5-1, Plainfield Central’s Mohammad Rashid insisted it was another example of the Wildcats deserving more: “We got another win, but we should more. Just like we didn’t finish some opportunities today, I think a couple losses and our tie could have, and should have been wins.”

The reality was that Plainfield Central broke a scoreless battle with just 8:26 remaining when Rashid’s free kick was headed sharply into the back of the net from five yards out by Josh Rosenbaum.

“I told him (Josh) to just get open near the far post and I’d find him,” Rashid said. “We practice those set pieces a lot, but it always feels great to finish them in a match.”

“On free kicks we alternate who takes the kick, whether we go for a goal, or try to flick it to a teammate,” Rosenbaum said of his fifth goal for the year. “In this case, the rotation had me going for goal and ‘Mo’ placed a perfect ball to my head.”

The Wildcats defense became that much more resolute over the remainder in order to help goalkeeper Tyler Badertscher post a sixth shutout. The junior had to make several tough stops including a pair of one-hand tips in the opening half.

Just over 13 minutes into the match, St. Charles East’s Brian Gielow’s header required a one-hand flick over the crossbar. With 10:53 left before halftime, Badertscher had to swallow up a left-footed blast from the left side by T.C. Hull and a few minutes later, a far post header by the Saints had the Plainfield Central in an all-out flying stretch to punch the ball wide.

“As a keeper you generally know if you got enough (of a touch) on it for the save. A lot of times your momentum is enough to help push it away,” Badertscher said.

“Their keeper had some great saves, but at the end of the day things just didn’t go our way,” Jennison repeated. “I thought we were solid in back and neutralized their threats. On offense we spread the ball and created opportunities. We’re not a kick and run club like some teams, we work hard to keep the ball on the ground, passing and possession are our game. The important thing now is for us to stay positive and just continue to work hard. We do that and I still believe good things will happen.”

The week-long event began with round-robin group play from which the top teams from both divisions met for the championship followed by the runners-up playing for third and so on. Glenbard North defeated Marmion 4-3 in the title match, Elgin and Plainfield South played to a 2-2 deadlock in the third-place affair, and Burlington Central was a 2-0 winner of Wheaton St. Francis in the seventh-place contest.

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