On Wednesday, Sept. 6, the Kaneland varsity boys soccer team beat their rival, Sycamore, at their home field in a conference game that went down to the wire in penalty kicks.
The competitive and tense game took one of its several turns when a Sycamore player was given a red card after their celebration. The reaction from parents led to all spectators being forced to leave before the game could resume, and full time eventually resulted in a 1-1 tie, leaving the game to end in PKs.
After the Knights lost their previous game, the action of this game started early when Kaneland senior midfielder/forward Sam Keen scored the first goal within the beginning of the first half. Head coach Scott Parillo said that Sycamore was not able to match Keen’s speed. The goal was very important for Kaneland, as it gave them an early lead against their rivals.
After the goal, the rest of the half continued with attacks and possession from both teams. However, shortly after there was a yellow card awarded to a player from each team, the center referee walked over to the parents’ sideline. He warned the parents that they needed to watch their behavior and what they were saying as it was a game with minors playing.
“When the ref issued a first warning to the parents, I was surprised because I did not think anything said warranted a warning. In hindsight, I think that the referee was looking ahead to where the game talk was headed,” Kaneland parent Kristin Schimmel said.
After the warning, the first half came to an end with no other goals having been scored. This left Kaneland with a one-goal lead going into the second half.
“They made some adjustments in the second half, which I knew they would do, which made it a little more difficult to slot the ball through,” Parillo said about Sycamore. One of Sycamore’s weaknesses was their back line, Parillo said.
After halftime, Sycamore continued trying to score a goal before the end of regular time. Their chance came towards the end of the half when they got an indirect free kick inside of the 18 yard box.
“It was crazy seeing 11 people in the goal,” Parillo said. “And he placed it perfectly.” All 11 of the players from Kaneland lined up on the goal line to try to stop the very close-up shot from Sycamore. Despite that alignment, the Sycamore player still scored with a very accurate shot.
The goal tied the game at 1-1. The player from Sycamore celebrated, but the ref decided to card the player because of his celebration. The player received a red card, meaning he was out for the rest of the game, and Sycamore had to play the remaining time with only 10 players on the field.
The parents’ reaction to this led the referee to go over to the parents and ask that every spectator left the field. He would not allow the game to resume until all of the spectators left, including the ones from the JV game on the field over.
“At least one player on the Sycamore team was speaking to the Kaneland parents and kind of taunting us. As many parents can attest, teens know how to push our buttons,” said Schimmel. “If this had continued, I think that it could have been met with unkind words from our parents instead of just a cheer for a penalty brought against this particular Sycamore student-athlete.” Schimmel thinks it is likely that the parents getting kicked out might happen again in their next game against Sycamore.
When the game resumed with no spectators on the sideline except for the ball girl, there weren’t any more goals from either team in the rest of the second half. The teams then went straight into a shootout.
“Going in, [I was] nervous,” Kaneland senior goalkeeper Quinn Schulz said about going into the penalty kicks. “It’s nerve-racking every time for each save because the pressure’s on me. It’s on me to make the save, but I know I just [have to] stay in the zone and stay focused, and it’ll come.” He made several saves in the first five shots from Sycamore.
Each team took their first five shots in the shootout. They were still tied after that with each team having made the same amount in the first five rounds, so they went into sudden death. Eventually, the tie was finally broken in the seventh round when Kaneland scored, and then Schulz saved Sycamore’s shot.
Kaneland players ran onto the field celebrating.
The win helped Kaneland going into the Body Armour tournament the following weekend, said Parillo. He said one of the team’s goals for the season is to win that tournament, along with winning the Interstate-8 Conference and a regional title.
