Nick Pagonis’ late heroics lead Crystal Lake Central to 1-0 win over Burlington Central

CRYSTAL LAKE – Crystal Lake Central found itself in an unenviable position late in its match against Burlington Central on Thursday.

The Tigers had controlled most of the match by creating plenty of scoring opportunities and not allowing the Rockets to start many. But with three minutes left in the match, all Crystal Lake Central had to show for it was a scoreless tie.

That didn’t stop the Tigers from sticking to their game plan. They kept pushing, and sophomore Nick Pagonis scored the go-ahead goal with less than three minutes left in the match to lead the Tigers to a 1-0 Fox Valley Conference win.

“We worked hard, we controlled a lot, we had a lot of shots,” Pagonis said. “Eventually it did come down to one goal and we got it.”

The one goal came when Pagonis stepped up for the Tigers (10-2, 3-0) by cleaning up on a play. After the Tigers forced a shot on goal on a fast break, Pagonis acted on his instinct and sprinted toward the ball.

He only needed one step to plant his foot and fire a one-time shot past Rockets senior goalkeeper Charles Wyzukovicz. Pagonis gave the Tigers the goal they had been looking for with 2:58 left in the match.

“With minutes left, you have to be at the goal to score,” Pagonis said. “It bounced right down, I ran and had a one-time shot.”

Pagonis’ heroics came after the Tigers dominated much of the match with time of possession and shots on goal. CLC created plenty of scoring chances, including five shots on goal and three corner kicks in the first half. The Tigers put four more shots on goal in the second half before Pagonis finally broke through.

Both Pagonis and Tigers coach Leah Rutkowski agreed that the Rockets disrupted Crystal Lake Central’s fluid movement that it had for much of the first half of the season. Rutkowski said the Tigers didn’t make the defense work as hard as they usually do, but she was happy to see her team earn a well-deserved win.

“Their work in that game deserved the win,” Rutkowski said. “I think we out-played them for most of the game and were just not getting our chances at all. I’m so happy for them that their work paid off, even if it’s in the last few minutes.”

The Tigers defense earned its fifth shutout of the season, its second in a row, while senior goalkeeper Anthony Bellino saved the only shot he saw. Crystal Lake Central is limiting opponents to 0.92 goals a game.

Rutkowski called the defense the team’s most valuable player for the second straight match after beating Dundee-Crown 1-0 on Tuesday.

“We just have guys that are on for 80 minutes, there’s very few mistakes back there,” Rutkowski said. “They play so well together, they have that good chemistry. They have that flow and cover each other when needed.”

The Rockets (6-4-2, 1-3) failed to gain much momentum with some moving parts throughout their lineup because of some injuries. They didn’t register their first shot on goal until there were 34 minutes left in the match.

“We worked hard, we controlled a lot, we had a lot of shots. Eventually it did come down to one goal and we got it.”

—  Nick Pagonis, Crystal Lake Central sophomore

First-year Rockets coach Dean Ames said while the team enjoyed some success early, everyone is still trying to find their roles in the lineup.

“What are the personal identities?” Ames said. “Who’s the creator? Who’s the facilitator? Who’s the connector? We know what the roles of some of the guys are in terms of what they bring, but some of the other guys are trying to figure out what their actual role is going to be on the field.”

The Rockets return to play Saturday against Bartlett while the Tigers play Huntley on Saturday.

Despite the early success, the Tigers aren’t changing anything up. They’ve enjoyed the success early but know there’s still plenty of matches left.

“It feels great,” Pagonis said of the 10-2 start. “We still have many great teams ahead of us. We have to stay humble and keep doing our thing.”