Kevin Jugovic and Chesterton take pride in capitalizing on set pieces.
The Trojans put in a lot of time developing them.
Their efforts paid dividends in Wednesday night’s Duneland Athletic Conference game against visiting Valparaiso.
On virtually identical plays, Jugovic had two assists on corner kicks as the Trojans topped the Vikings 2-0.
“We work on those a lot in practice,” the senior said. “They come in more handy than you think.
“Those are really key because you can put the ball down and set it up. We work together really well as a unit.”
During the opening minutes, Valparaiso (1-1, 1-1) created chances. But then Chesterton (3-0, 2-0), ranked No. 8 in the Class 2A state coaches poll, largely controlled play.
With 35:29 on the second-half clock, the Trojans scored.
Jugovic sent a left-footed serve into the penalty box, and Owen Hallas headed the ball into the back of the net.
With 22:04 left, Hallas missed a penalty kick after being tripped in the box, with Vikings goalkeeper Evan Fletcher making a diving save to his left.
But with less than six minutes left, on almost an identical replay, Jack Eaton headed in Jugovic’s corner kick for the Trojans’ second goal.
“When we get those big guys in there, we probably have the biggest guys in the DAC,” Jugovic said. “They clean those up all the time.”
Chesterton coach James Sensibaugh thought his team was going to score “in the run of play,” with the way it was getting shots. But he was thankful the Trojans, who have gone undefeated in the DAC the last two seasons, converted on the corner kicks.
“Without those set pieces, we’re not winning the game,” Sensibaugh said. “It’s good to have reinforcement. We work hard on those in practice, execution, and they put them home.
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“It’s just repetition in practice. Kids don’t like doing corner kicks, it’s boring. You never can replicate a game — you’re doing it against your second or JV team so they know all the plays. It’s hard, but we drill it. We sit them down, chalk it through and they all have to know.”
Valparaiso coach Danny Jeftich credited Chesterton for its execution on the corner kicks. He also noted that the Vikings had three injuries to starters in the second half.
“We had to change our personnel, and we couldn’t match up in the back,” Jeftich said. “That was the difference in the game. Two set pieces. Two corner kicks. Two goals.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff