Thanks to Anthony Juarez’s heroic efforts, the Chaparrals scored 2 goals in the second half, earning the Chaps a NJCAA Region 4 crucial win. Towards the end of the match when it seemed as if the Chaps would fall short of finding the back of the net, Juarez stepped up for the team in the 74th minute and changed the momentum for COD.
The College of DuPage men’s soccer team (6-9-1) completed a 2-1 comeback against Kankakee Community College on Oct. 16 after falling 1-0 in the first half.
“We were good at being consistent the whole game and our chances didn’t really fall our way,” said head men’s soccer coach Zac Ludwig. “We were a little slow to pull the trigger on some shots early on, so we didn’t capitalize, but we were consistent in building up and denying [Kankakee] chances. Even though we went down by one [goal] in the first half, the guys did well by not getting rattled by that and staying the course and continuing to attack.”
Kankakee’s winger managed to split a pair of COD defenders near the right side of the field, which allowed for a cross near the goal, which gave their strikers the opportunity to score from the back post. This left the score 1-0 with three minutes left in the first half.
Anthony Juarez missed a crucial 1v1 miss against Kankakee’s goalkeeper with 35 minutes left in the game. However, he soon redeemed himself by scoring two unanswered goals for the Chaps. The first goal came off a header in the 74th minute off a well-placed pass from teammate Samuel Glogovsky. Soon after, Juarez outplayed defenders and snaked around the goalkeeper after a mistimed diving attempt, and easily tapped the ball into goal. This left COD with a 2-1 lead.
“The first half was very tough for us, but we just tried to keep fighting and keep going,” said Juarez. “Second half we came together and talked about what could work for us and we just wanted it more than them. I love working for my team and they are family to me, so I have to always keep going for my teammates.”
Sophomore Aashish Raj, a foreign student from Bedford, England, allowed COD to maintain possession and create dangerous chances throughout the game. Raj finished the game with two shots on goal and was able to find gaps in between the defensive line to nearly get a pair of assists under his belt.
“Obviously, it was hard to come back from going down 1-0, but we worked really hard,” Raj said. “The boys put a good shift in and I didn’t think anyone had a bad game and worked equally hard. We have been through this situation [multiple] times in the season. This season, we had a new group of boys come together and from the start, everyone got to know each other, and we need to keep the momentum going and have come a long way from not knowing each other.”
Alexin Hernandez controlled the midfield for the Chaps by winning 50/50 balls and pushing the offensive up the field to lead to opportunities near the opposing goal.
“I think we played well and in the first half we played great and [Kankakee]’s goal was so unlucky,” said Hernandez. “But even after that, we played well but we couldn’t finish our chances. Second half, we were lucky enough to get the first goal which gave us the momentum to get the second [goal], so overall we played great but were just unlucky to have our chances limited.”
The Chaparrals will take Prairie State College on Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Bjarne Ullsvik Stadium.
