Boys Soccer: Eisenhower trips Shepard 4-2
By Logan Malloy For Sun-Times Media September 5, 2012 11:16PM
Jordy Padilla, of Eisenhower, trotts past Shepard's goalie Adam Timmer after scoring. | Gary Middendorf~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: October 7, 2012 8:03AM
It took 15 minutes for Eisenhower to find the throttle Wednesday night against Shepard. It took just 20 seconds for the Cardinals to show their horsepower.
Eisenhower scored two rousing first-half goals 20 seconds apart to break open a scoreless match, stealing the momentum from Shepard en route to a 4-2 South Suburban win in Palos Heights.
Jordy Padilla, one of Eisenhower’s top strikers, jump-started the scoring with a corner kick assist to Sergio Aburruzza, who headed in the ball for a goal.
Seconds after the restart, Padilla found himself in attack position on a beautiful chip pass over the defense from Rey Bahena. Padilla displayed his ballhandling before booting it to the back of the net for a 2-0 Cardinals lead.
“It finally clicked for us,” said Eisenhower coach Iran Rodriguez, whose team improved to 4-3, 1-0. “We passed the ball and we were patient with it, which is the most important thing for us. That’s the most goals we’ve scored all season.”
Shepard (5-4, 1-1) cut the lead to 2-1 when Ivan Magana (2 goals) bulled his way past the defense on a breakaway 10 minutes into the second half. Shepard could never get closer, as Eisenhower rallied off consecutive goals from Eduardo Brito and Israel Ibarra.
“We tended to give their guys space and that killed us,” Shepard coach Dustin Defrates said. “We had the energy off the bat to start, but we lost it. We have to shut down their marks all game long.”
“Eisenhower is always dangerous, and they always have great ballhandlers. When you give them that space to turn and face, that’s when they tear you apart.”
In a bizarre turn of events, Eisenhower, up 3-1, nearly was forced to forfeit the game midway through the second half when one of its fans aimed derogatory barbs at the referees. Play was halted and didn’t resume until the fan was escorted from the premises.
