Plainfield Central dominates in 5-0 win over Plainfield South

Plainfield Central was in control for nearly all of an early-season match against district rival Plainfield South on Thursday evening.

The Wildcats’ offense scored five goals while shutting out the Cougars, despite them having a number of chances.

Within the first three minutes of the match, a shallow clearance from South’s goalkeeper quickly was scooped up by a Central midfielder who found forward Moses Mata sneaking behind the defense.

Mata’s strike found the back of the net, and the Wildcats already were in control.

Still, South had a few opportunities in the first half on multiple set pieces but were unable to answer back.

South coach Bryant Williams said his team has had some success moving the ball into the box but has also struggled to score goals off of those chances.

“We had a ton of opportunities, and we’re just not getting the ball into the net,” Williams said.

Williams said that his Cougars also played too much on one side of the field for much of the match and therefore “played right into what [Plainfield Central] wanted us to do.”

Central’s Berto Centeno praised his young defensive teammates and their ability to handle South’s attack.

“I think our defense was pretty good, especially because we got two freshman on our backs,” Centeno said.

Central scored on a set piece with a little more than 13 minutes remaining in the first half. Midfielder Noe Gonzalez headed the ball off of a free kick to put the Wildcats up, 2-0.

A few minutes later, the Wildcats scored again to take a 3-0 lead into halftime.

It was more of the same in the second half as Mata again found his way behind the South defense, received a pass and smashed his second goal of the match into the net with about 30 minutes left to play.

Finally, it was sophomore midfielder Beckham Wesselhoff who took a shot from about 30 yards out from goal and placed the ball perfectly into the upper left corner of the net.

With a 5-0 Central lead, the match was out of reach for South.

Centeno said he was glad to see his team come out fast, especially after a tough 8-4 loss in Plainfield Central’s first match of the season against West Aurora Tuesday.

“We bounced back heavy,” Centeno said. “We came out playing with a chip on our shoulder.”

Next Tuesday, Plainfield Central (1-1) will host Plainfield North and Plainfield South (0-1-1) will travel to Romeoville.