High school boys soccer: Coughlin brothers push Crystal Lake South past Marian Central

WAUCONDA – Crystal Lake South senior Ryan Coughlin took the ball up the right side and fired a pass to the center of the field.

His freshman brother Tom Coughlin slipped between two Marian Central defenders, received the pass in stride and finished off a goal with his right foot. The goal extended South’s lead to two goals after nearly an entire second half of missed opportunities.

The Gators went on to beat Marian Central, 4-1, on Thursday in the Wauconda Tournament. Each Coughlin brother scored a goal in the match.

“This is the first time me and him have actually been on a team,” Ryan Coughlin said of his brother. “We’ve always played in the back yard together, we built our chemistry, and it makes it that much easier out on the field. So like when I found him on that goal, I just know he’s going to be in the right spot at the right time.”

Tom Coughlin, who is listed at 5-foot-1, isn’t afraid to play among the trees. Even some of his teammates – 6-foot-2 Jack Wruck, 6-foot-3 Brad Grabowski, to name a few – seem to tower over the freshman.

Tom Coughlin said his first day on the varsity team “was interesting” playing on the same field as his bigger teammates.

“It’s a good learning experience,” Tom Coughlin said. “It’s been difficult at times, just them being bigger and pushing up the ball. I know if I don’t win a ball, I can trust them. You can have trust in the guys to win the ball behind you.”

Ryan Coughlin said his little brother “just never stops.”

“He’s one of those little pests that just keeps going no matter what,” Ryan Coughlin said. “He’ll play for a full 80 [minutes] or whatever the coach needs him to do.”

Ryan Coughlin opened the scoring Thursday in the third minute with a rocket from the top of the 18-yard box.

“I looked up, saw the goalie out of position and just hit the ball,” Ryan Coughlin said. “It’s a little lucky because it went down the middle, but as long as it gets in the goal, that’s what matters.”

Ty Getzinger scored in the 22nd minute for the Gators (4-0-1), assisted by Colton Weidner. Marian (0-5) answered right back with a goal 19 seconds later. South goalkeeper Oscar Estrada lost the handle on a bouncing ball and Marian’s Aidan Robertson scored to make it 2-1.

South coach Brian Allen noted he saw “a lot of mistakes” on the play from his defense, not just his goalkeeper.

“The guys know that’s unacceptable,” Allen said. “They’ll learn from it.”

Estrada made up for it with a beautiful leaping save later in the half.

After halftime, South’s attack was relentless. It still took until the 2:24 mark on the clock for the Gators to extend the lead with Tom Coughlin’s goal. Alex Canfield scored a minute later to make it 4-1.

STAR OF THE GAME

Tom Coughlin, Crystal Lake South, fr., F

The Gators freshman forward scored his second varsity goal to extend South’s lead in the second half. He was assisted by his brother, senior Ryan Coughlin, who also scored a goal in the match.

THE NUMBER

19: Seconds separating two goals scored in the first half, one for each team, in the 22nd minute of action.

AND ANOTHER THING …

Marian Central is off to an 0-5 start, but the Hurricanes have a young team that started only two seniors on Thursday.

“We have a lot of youth on the team right now, so we do have some breakdowns,” Marian coach Art Dixon said. “But they go out and give everything that they have.”

Crystal Lake South 4, Marian Central 1

CLS 2 2 – 4

MC 1 0 – 1

First half

CLS – R. Coughlin, 3rd minute.

CLS – Getzinger (Widner), 22nd minute.

MC – Robertson, 22nd minute.

Second half

CLS – T. Coughlin (R. Coughlin), 68th minute.

CLS – Canfield, 69th minute.

Goalkeeper saves – Estrada (CLS) 1, McCaleb (CLS) 0, Taylor (MC) 6.