A bruised and swollen right ankle was not about to keep Downers Grove North sophomore Michael Corvo off the dance floor–or the soccer field–Saturday night.
With his homecoming dance date sitting in the stands in her black gown, Corvo and his Trojan teammates won the third annual Waubonsie Valley Invitational by beating Neuqua Valley 4-1.
Corvo scored the game-winning goal earlier in the day against Wheaton North so his team could reach the title game. Against Neuqua Valley he came up with a goal and an assist to lift the Trojans’ record to 16-3-1 as the boys soccer season nears the playoffs. Teammate Pat Mazza also did some fancy dancing on the field with two goals and an assist.
“We have so much going for us right now,” said Corvo.
“He told me prior to the game that he didn’t care how he felt,” Downers Grove North coach Chris Tomek said of Corvo, who leads the team with 14 goals and 10 assists. “So he played with the foot injury and did a lot for us up top.”
The Trojans are looking forward to the state playoffs, where they’ll be the No. 1 seed in the Willowbrook sectional and have a shot at getting Downstate. But first there was the task of getting by Neuqua Valley (9-10-2).
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute when Brett Bell knocked in a deflection off a Downers North player. Five minutes later, Mark Eckerle tied the game at 1-1 on a penalty kick for his 13th goal.
With just 53 seconds left in the half, the Trojans scored the goal Tomek thought was “key for us.”
That score was set up by Scott Raiman, who was on the far right side of the field. Instead of shooting wildly, he coolly crossed the ball to the middle where a charging Mazza met it. Mazza scored to give the Trojans a 2-1 lead.
Mazza then scored his second goal and 12th of the season with 26:36 left–but without Corvo’s work he likely wouldn’t have gotten the chance. Corvo fought through a defender and controlled the ball long enough to set up Mazza. The senior returned the compliment 15 minutes later on Corvo’s score.
So how important did Tomek think the victory was?
“For all the girls on the sidelines, for the dates who showed up for the game, I would say very important,” was the coach’s assessment.
