The U11 Prowlers from the Panther Soccer Club opened up the 2008 season by WINNING the Bolingbrook LaborDay Soccer Tournament. The first game of the season was against the Bolingbrook Raiders. The Prowlers lost 6-1. The team played well but could not overcome the strong Bolingbrook team. The defense for the Prowlers were led by Hunter Short, Tim Mackey, Kurtis Klingbeil and Craig Schlegel. The midfield consisted of Mitch Kearby, MItch Blocker, Jackson Frazer, Sean Raleigh and Nathan Molina. Both Chase Bruns and Kyle Straznickas played well up fron for the Prowlers whose only goal came from Kearby on a nice shot from the right side.
The second game for the Prowlers got them their first victory of the year over the Galaxy by a score of 7-2. Scoring for the Prowlers were Blocker, Kearby (2), Bruns (2), Raleigh and Schlegel. This victory meant the Prowlers needed to win their next game to advance to the finals.
The Prowlers did not dissapoint by beating the Orland Park Sting by a 5-0 margin to advance to the finals. Scoring for the Prowlers were Blocker (2), Kearby (2) and Bruns. The Prowlers were led in goal by Kurtis Klingbeil who recorded his first shutout of the year with some great saves enabiling the Prowlers to advance to the finals against the same Bolingbrook Raider team that beat them two days earlier.
The U11 final was a great game played by both teams. The Prowlers were not going to let the Bolingbrook team get the best of them again. With the score 0-0 at halftime, the Prowlers opened up the scoring in the second half when Bruns chased down a loose ball and put it in the back of the net for a 1-0 Prowler lead. With 5 minutes to go in the game, Frazer headed a beautiful ball past the Bolingbrook defender which allowed Bruns to put his second goal of the game in the back of the net. That was all the Prowlers needed as Klingbeil recorded his second consecutive shutout in goal and the Prowlers won the tournament with a final record of 3-1. Strong defense in the final game by Short, Mackey, Schlegel, Raleigh enabled the midfield to help control the ball and start numerous attacks. The midfield consisted of Kearby, Blocker, Frazer and Molina. The constant pressure up front was done by Bruns and Straznickas. The Prowlers are trained by Tim Balatsoukas of Soccer Success and skillfully coached by Doug Blocker and Gary Kearby.
