By Scott Taylor
For the Bugle
It is always important to take advantage of scoring opportunities, but in playoff soccer, it can be the difference between moving on or going home.
For Plainfield North, it meant going home as the No. 9 seed in the Bolingbrook Sectional failed to take advantage of several first half opportunities in a 2-1 loss to No. 8 West Aurora Wednesday in an Oswego Regional semifinal.
“We said it at halftime that we created chances in the first half and didn’t capitalize on them and they will come back to haunt you,” North coach Steven Berry said. “We had to bury the ones we created because when you don’t, you give them more confidence and then they take advantage of the opportunities they created. They get to move on.”
After a scoreless first half where the Tigers missed multiple good scoring chances, they started the second half the same way with a missed opportunity due to an offsides and a hit post.
However, shortly after the ball dinged off the post, Jackson Ranck dribbled through the difference and found the back of the net with 32:08 remaining to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
But less than five minutes later West Aurora answered with a goal off a free kick, where it went off a North player’s head and into the back of the net.
“It has been our Achilles’ Heel,” Berry said. “A lot of times after we score, it is not our best moment. We talk about how goals breed goals and it did that and kind of became chaotic there in the second half. It probably should have been 2-0 at halftime and we stopped doing the thing that created that goal.”
North responded quickly with a pair of scoring chances from Jake Farley, but both shots were saved.
North goalie Cade Fink made a great save with less than 10 minutes left to keep the score tied, but West Aurora was able to score with 1:50 left for the win.
“It wasn’t a breakdown defensively,” Berry said of the last goal. “We were in the final third of the field and instead of going around the edge like we have been asking them to do the whole game, we served a soft ball over the middle that started their counter attack. It was something we created for them and they took advantage of. I’m not sure there was much more we could have done, it was a good goal.”
For the third time in four years, Plainfield North’s season ended in heartbreak.
“It was tough for our seniors to go out the way they did,” Berry said. “We had a senior captain out today. We had two other players go down who couldn’t go back in the game. We had four total guys out today, which was hard to overcome. A tribute to our seniors who created the program that we have today. We look forward to starting next year.
“Last year was tough for us with the handball in the last second. And then this year giving up one as late as we did. The past two years we thought we were better than the opponents we have played and we didn’t advance. But if you don’t take advantage of your chances, you probably aren’t going to advance.”