Prairie Ridge tops Crystal Lake Central, inches closer to Fox Valley Conference championship

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge’s Gabe Porter had been on the lookout for his first Fox Valley Conference goal of the season.

It couldn’t have come at a better time Thursday.

The Wolves senior forward connected for a perfect shot into the lower corner of the net past Crystal Lake Central goalkeeper Anthony Bellino with 8:20 to go in the first half, and Prairie Ridge never trailed in a 3-1 crosstown victory.

“An amazing feeling,” Porter said. “My first conference goal in two years.”

With the win, Prairie Ridge (14-4-1, 6-1-1 FVC) took control of the conference race with one game to go. The Wolves can win the conference championship next week when they play at McHenry on Tuesday. Central (12-4-1, 5-2-1), meanwhile, will need some help.

Prairie Ridge has 19 points in the FVC (three points for a win, one for a tie), Huntley has 18 and Central and Crystal Lake South both have 16.

“It’s an easy game to get up for on both sides,” Wolves coach Josef Schroeder said. “It’s a tough conference. When the ref blows the whistle, you’ve got to be ready, and you’ve got to be sharp. Things can go either way, and today things went our way.”

With neither team able to produce many scoring chances in the first half, Prairie Ridge senior Josh Marineau looked to send a ball toward goal for his teammates. Marineau’s kick sailed into the penalty box, and the ball was headed back out by Central defender Alvaro Manzano.

But Porter was there to control the ball and give his team a jolt.

“I just laid back from Alvaro. I had a feeling that he was going to head it right at me,” Porter said. “I chested it, straight laces, straight to the corner, it was a great goal.”

Just like in the first half, both teams struggled to get much going offensively until about the last 10 minutes of the second half. Prairie Ridge added to its lead on senior forward Henry Knoll’s 19th goal of the year with 8:47 remaining.

After the Tigers defense was unable to clear the ball up field, Knoll knocked the ball down to himself, turned and blasted a shot from just outside the 18-yard penalty box to the far post.

“It was one of the best I’ve scored in my high school career,” Knoll said. “The energy that was brought with all the fans, with all the parents, it was a great environment. We started the season off a little rough, but then we went on a huge winning streak.

“Now we’re No. 1 in the conference, and we’ve never been happier.”

Central, however, scored less than a minute after Knoll’s goal. Senior midfielder Mattia Zavattaro answered quickly with 8:08 remaining, but Prairie Ridge would score on a penalty kick from senior Matthew Fireng to put the game out of reach with 1:01 left.

The Tigers felt good about their chances Thursday, especially with a defense that had allowed only three goals in the first seven FVC games, including four shutouts.

Bellino finished with five saves for Central and Chase Lemke had one.

“This was the biggest game of the season, no question,” Tigers coach Leah Rutkowski said. “Our guys know them, they know us. It’s more than just a conference championship, it’s a little personal. Emotions were high today.

“We know they have a lot of big, strong and fast weapons up there. We just deferred back to how we played on defense all season. Our defense has been super solid. ... We’re just a bunch of young guys out there who play with a lot of heart. We have competitors, they’re not going to give up. They’re always going to play until the buzzer.”

Junior goakeeper Chris Zinevich made three saves for Prairie Ridge. Tigers midfielder Gavin Kane almost tied things up right before the half, but his shot deflected off a Wolves’ defender and Zinevich stretched out for a diving stop as the ball trickled toward the far post.

Prairie Ridge, which took fourth in the FVC last season, felt like this year had a chance to be special.

A win Tuesday will make it just that.

“We worked hard to get here,” Zinevich said. “I feel like this was our goal, now we’ve got to focus on McHenry.”