• GAZLO
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Janesville soccer teams battle to 2-2 tie

Photo Gallery

Parker vs. Craig Soccer

View Gallery

JANESVILLE — By Chris Etheridge

Special to the Gazette

JANESVILLE

Third time’s a charm.

Janesville Parker High School’s boys soccer team dug out a 2-2 double-overtime tie against Janesville Craig here Thursday night, thanks to a corner kick from midfielder Ryan Porter with four seconds left in regulation.

The aggressive Parker offense had forced three corner kicks in the final five minutes of regulation. On Porter’s third attempt from the sidelines, the ball bounced off defenseman Jeff Hesse’s head, took a nasty spin and wound up between the posts.

“I was just trying to get it to the far post. Then, on the last kick, there was just 15 seconds left, so I just hurried it up and just kicked it,” Porter said. “Luckily there was enough bend that it just went it.”

For most of the last 10 minutes, with Craig leading by one, Parker’s offense pounded the ball at the net. But the Cougars’ defense, led by goalkeeper Max Niedermeier and sweeper Chris Simonson, kept turning away shots.

“I couldn’t believe that we couldn’t get one in,” said Parker coach Andy Holmes. “We kept firing on the goal, and we have opportunities, and with four seconds left we put it in. That was pretty exciting.”

Then, after two overtimes, with both teams having good chances for the game-winning goal, the score still stood at 2-2.

“It would be nice to come out with a win,” Simonson said. “But we played hard and did all that we could. It is what it is, and we’ll come back and hopefully get them again.”

Craig’s record now stands at 3-8-2 overall and 3-2-1 in the Big Eight, while Parker is 3-7-2 and 0-6-1.

“We bent a little bit tonight, but we didn’t break, and that’s good,” said Craig coach Dave Adler. “(Parker) played hard tonight. When you do that and move the ball and possess the ball, you put pressure on other teams, and it’s hard to play.”

As much as Parker had the Craig defense working in the second half, the deep Craig offense worked quickly to move the ball in the first half.

Having played 10 games in the last 16 days, Adler decided to take several of his starters out about 13 minutes into the game. The Cougars’ first goal came from that squad of reserve players.

With the Cougars on the attack, Everet Chambers took a pass at midfield from Tanner Harrie and worked it down field. With three defenders between him and the goal, Chambers ducked and dodged and shot it into the goal at 14:56 to put the Cougars ahead 1-0.

But Parker came back strong and took a couple of solid shots at the goal. Andres Reyes picked up a pass while crossing in front of the net in the next minute, but Niedermeier dove in front of the ball to prevent a goal.

“There were big plays from our goalkeeper and the Craig goalkeeper tonight and big plays from both defenses,” said Holmes. “And there were a lot of shots on goal. It was an exciting game all around.”

Reyes got another chance at 36:04 when a shot by Porter slipped through Niedermeier’s hands and bounced in front of the goal. The forward leaped and headed it into the net to tie the game at 1-1.

Craig’s second goal came at 15:53 in the second half. Alain Maya-Mowris put the ball past Parker’s Peter Nicoloff off of a pass from Ben Kitching.

“This was Janesville soccer at its best,” Holmes said. “The crowd really came out tonight The guys got excited to play and it got a little physical at times, but that’s good soccer.”

And with the intensity, tempers flared in the second half. Near the 23-minute mark, some pushing and shoving resulted in yellow cards against Craig for unsportsmanlike behavior and delay of game. But despite the penalties, the rough play continued, earning unsportsmanlike behavior marks for both teams.

The two teams then settled down and finished the rest of the game without any incidents.

CRAIG 2, PARKER 2 (2OT)

Janesville Parker 1 1 0 0—2

Janesville Craig 1 1 0 0—2

First half

JC—Everet Chambers (Ben Kitching), 14:56. JP—Andres Reyes (Ryan Porter), 36:04.

Second half

JC—Alain Maya-Mowris (Ben Kitching), 55:53. JP—Craig own goal, 79:56.

Saves—Peter Nicoloff (JP) 5, Max Niedermeier (JC) 4.