Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Edwardsville will play short-handed at state soccer tourney

Red card will force Fink to miss Class 3A state semifinal

Edwardsville would like to have its full complement of players when it faces Lake Zurich in the semifinals of the Class 3A state soccer tournament at 7 p.m. today at North Central College in Naperville.

That will not be the case, however, as junior forward Sam Fink will miss the game after receiving a red card for excessive celebration in the Tigers' 4-1 triumph over (Blue Island) Eisenhower in the (Peoria) Notre Dame Super-Sectional on Tuesday.

While coach Mark Heiderscheid believes his Tigers (18-3-4) can navigate a path to victory without Fink, his absence will make for a bumpier road.

"That's a very, very bad wrinkle for this one," Heiderscheid said. "We'll think things over here and see what's going to be the best idea for how we want to adjust. We'll do our best with that."

Fink was red-carded for leaping into a crowd of Tigers fans after he scored Edwardsville's second goal. The card carried an automatic one-game suspension.

"It's the way it goes. You can't do that," Heiderscheid said. "I was hoping they would yellow-card him and say, 'That's enough of that.' But I don't think it's something you can say is a wrong decision on (the official's) part. He was a very good referee.

"It's unfortunate. You hate that for a high school kid. But (the rule's) there. He shouldn't have run outside the field --after he scored that goal --in his excitement. It is what it is and we have to adjust. It was a misjudgment on what he should do out there, and he's going to pay a very heavy price for it."

Fink is the Tigers' second-leading scorer with 13 goals and three assists. He will be eligible to play Saturday in the championship game or the third-place match.

Fink's absence against Lake Zurich (20-4) shifts the offensive burden squarely to the shoulders of seniors Cameron Lauchner (16 goals, 14 assists), Nick Marshall (seven goals, 10 assists) and Adam Flaugher (five goals, seven assists).

The Tigers' defense of seniors Adam Moeller and Zach Tongay, junior Jared Krebs and sophomore Robbie Tays also will be put to the test by the Bears, who have amassed 90 goals.

"They've got several guys who have scored the goals," Heiderscheid said. "Zurich's been ranked in that Chicago-land area. They have gotten some really good reviews as far as what they've done. They look very much like the real thing.

"They're putting together a pretty impressive-looking resume as far as their last few games. On paper, they look pretty intimidating at this point."

The Bears' primary scorers are seniors Nick Janus (22 goals, 19 assists) and Tim Kreutz (19 goals, 19 assists). Seniors Brett Harper (12 goals, 15 assists) and Eric Pothast (12 goals, 10 assists) and sophomore Brenden Seeger (12 goals, three assists) fill complementary roles in the goal-scoring department.

"They're a team capable of winning it all," Heiderscheid said. "They'll be one of the best teams we've faced all year.

"They'll possess (the ball) very well --as good or better than us. We have to understand there's going to be moments when they knock it around pretty well. Can we withstand their pressure? Can we stay organized in the back? If we can have some success and stay in the game for 20 minutes and get our feet under us, I think we'll be OK."

Edwardsville was runner-up to (Winnetka) New Trier last season and is familiar with the state-tournament atmosphere. Heiderscheid isn't sure how much of an edge that will be against a team as good as Lake Zurich, which is on an 11-match winning streak.

"I'm not sure how much of an advantage we get by that," said Heiderscheid, whose team also has won 11 straight. "Our kids have been up there and seen it. They know the format. There's a lot of them that played in the finals last year. Most of the kids that start played in the games last year. That does actually help our kids and our team."