Boys Soccer: Sandburg blanks Providence
By Steve Millar For Sun-Times Media September 4, 2012 11:16PM
Brandon Picciolini, of Providence, works the ball upfield against Sandburg. | Gary Middendorf~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 6, 2012 2:01PM
After a stunning regional semifinal loss to Providence ended its 2011 season, Sandburg certainly wasn’t lacking motivation for Tuesday night’s rematch with the Celtics.
“We had a bitter taste from last year,” the Eagles’ Zack Biel said of top-seeded Sandburg’s loss to No. 17 seed Providence. “This is the one match we’ve had circled on our calendars from before the season.”
Sandburg attacked the Celtics relentlessly for 80 minutes, rolling to a 4-0 win in a Lincoln-Way Invitational pool-play opener in Orland Park.
Kevin Kroll scored twice for the Eagles (2-2-2), with Biel and Thomas Nie adding a goal each.
Sandburg got on the board with a controversial goal 19 minutes in as Kroll was tripped in the box and awarded a penalty kick.
Celtics goalie Brian McNamee stopped Biel’s kick, but was given another chance when Providence was ruled to have entered the box too soon. Biel did not miss a second time.
“I didn’t hit either of them how I wanted to,” he said. “Sometimes you have to be lucky.”
The early goal seemed to rattle the Celtics (5-2), who feverishly protested.
“We spent too much time trying to change a call we couldn’t change,” Providence coach Dan Potempa said. “We knew Sandburg was going to come at us hard and that if we didn’t respond they’d do exactly what they did to us.”
Kroll was the beneficiary of some nice ball movement late in the first half as Biel found Joe Longhi racing down the sideline and Longhi’s cross set up Kroll for an easy score.
“Joe brought it down and slotted it at the far post,” Kroll said. “I didn’t have to do too much.”
In the second half, Kroll scored off an Alex Rohder assist and Nie finished on a breakaway.
The Eagles held a 13-0 advantage in shots on goal as McNamee kept it from getting further out of hand with eight saves.
