Pratt's birthday goal puts bow on Springfield High soccer win
![Springfield's Vincent Pratt (46) sends a ball up the field against Taylorville in the first half at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Ill., Tuesday, October 19, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/5mvB2L6m8dj8q11ryKNE0Q--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY4Ng--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-state-journal-register/09c80672a102ab231fa78d1da9b93605)
Vincent Pratt’s goal was the icing on the cake as Springfield High spoiled Rochester’s bid to win the Central State Eight Conference boys soccer championship outright.
When he went home, hopefully, he had icing atop his own birthday cake.
The Senators’ junior midfielder scored the game-clinching goal in the final minutes of Springfield High’s 3-0 win over Rochester at Lee Field on Thursday. The win forced Rochester to share the CS8 title with Chatham Glenwood — the same team the Rockets beat the week before in a penalty-kick shootout to set up a possible undefeated run through the league.
Pratt said Evan Carrell did most of the work before he scored an easy goal to give SHS a 3-0 lead in the 76th minute. Call it a birthday gift.
“Evan (Carrell) got the ball, beat the guy going down the line and I was just there to clean it up. It was mostly Evan, I’d say, the ball just happened to fall to my feet and I put it away for him,” Pratt said.
SHS senior goalkeeper Joe Brudnak made four saves and Byron McNeil and Ian Griffin scored first-half goals as Springfield High grew its win streak to 10 games.
“It’s always a good game when you have Rochester coming in or Chatham; (Rochester) is the No. 1 seed in the (Class 2A Rochester Sectional), Chatham’s the No. 2 seed and we’re No. 3,” SHS coach Pat Phillips said. “I thought we played well at times; it wasn’t our best effort this year but we played pretty well at times.”
Best foot forward
![Springfield's Byron McNeil (30) sends a shot past Taylorville's Kole Buckley (00) for a goal in the first half during the Class 2A Regional Semifinals at Jacksonville High School in Jacksonville, Ill., Tuesday, October 19, 2021. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/KPKNINjaQO5k2sTBdPawtQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYyNw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-state-journal-register/0cd4566659af09cf602e7009bfc62701)
McNeil gave the Senators a 1-0 lead in the 20th minute when he converted off of Mason Simmons’ corner kick.
"It’s that simple; it just came straight to me,” McNeil, a senior defender, said. “It was a perfectly placed ball and I just headed it in.
“We’ve got a play, we’ve got my boy Drew (Dejaynes) who sets picks for me every once in a while and just me moving around, I just keep moving in circles around the box and at some point, (defenders) are going to stop following you or I just take off real quick and they just can’t catch me at that point.”
Rochester beats Glenwood in PKs Rochester clinches share of CS8 title with win over Glenwood
On Sept. 27, Glenwood took a 1-0 lead in the first half against Rochester. The Rockets fought back for the tie in the second half before winning in a shootout.
The Senators were going to make it harder this time around.
Griffin scored off a goal from Faron Harmony in the 37th minute to give the Senators (17-2 overall, 4-2 CS8) a 2-0 lead before halftime.
“We saw something on the right side and we made an adjustment — usually defense is where I play — and we made an adjustment,” Griffin, another senior defensive player, said. “Faron had a great run and beat (Harmony’s defender) around the corner, came across and I was just there to tap it in.”
Motivated for the win
![Rochester soccer head coach Chad Kutscher shakes hands with Springfield soccer head coach Pat Phillips after the Rockets defeated Springfield 2-1 at Lee Field, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2019, in Springfield, Ill. [Justin L. Fowler/The State Journal-Register]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/nZK9Q_8hccwkkIIULPpo4g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY5Mw--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the-state-journal-register/87bd466eab1614ec181f2cf09238ca9e)
This win was vengeance for the Rockets’ 2-1 win in the Class 2A Springfield High Regional semifinals a year ago, Griffin said.
But McNeil said it was about time the Senators beat a quality team at Lee Field, where its losses to Glenwood and U-High came.
“We were tired of losing on our home field,” McNeil said. “We were like, ‘We can’t mess up this time.’ We also needed to prove that we are the best team in the conference; we had some hiccups on the way.”
If not for losses to Glenwood in August and Normal U-High in September, Springfield High could’ve been crowned the CS8 champs.
On Thursday, the birthday boy took solace that the Senators could play the role of spoilers.
“I don’t think they deserve it. I think we should be the ones winning this but it’s definitely better having them share it with Chatham because we all know that doesn’t really count,” Pratt said with a chuckle. “We’re just happy they had to share it.”
Rochester coach Chad Kutscher said his Rockets (13-6, 7-1) were forced to defend too much.
“(Springfield High was) the team that was on the front foot, they were the team that was looking to attack and put us on our heels and they absolutely did that,” Kutscher said. “At the start of the game, I thought we were OK but as the game wore on, they just kept up the pressure, they kept attacking and we struggled on the wings.”
Springfield High had 13 shots on goal to just four from Rochester.
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield High's Vincent Pratt scores on birthday to wrap up Senators' win
