HU faced Jahbat on May 17, 2009 at College of Du Page and came away with a hard fought 1-1 draw after a very physical match . The home side opened the scoring midway through the first half on a highlight reel quality tally from Alen Smejcanin. The goal came after some very impressive one touch play between Alen Malkoc and Goran Guzina in the midfield led to Guzina sending a through ball to a streaking Elias Litos, who had cleverly found space behind the Jahbat defense. Litos then sent a beautiful cross from the end line to a streaking Smjecanin, who found the back of the net with a perfectly placed one time volley.
HU pressed on and tried to get a second goal before half, with Smejcanin and Mike Marks both missing golden opportunities, and Marks later hitting the crossbar with a right footed rocket. As luck would have it, it was Jahbat that scored right before half after a defensive miscommunication led to an empty net tally, making the score 1-1 at half.
The second half became much more physical, with Jahbat's central striker earning a red card for violent conduct early on. Despite the numerical superiority, HU could not capitalize. The home side tried in vain for the equalizer, but it was not meant to be. In the last ten minutes of the match, Matt Bond missed with a header from inside the six yard box, and Danilo Acamovic failed to convert on what looked like a certain goal. Acamovic dribbled two Jahbat defenders in the penalty area and unloaded a right footed near post strike that appeared headed for the back of the net. Unfortunately, the ball hit the back of HU's Alen Smjecanin, who was at that time picking himself up off the ground, and deflected harmlessly over the end line for a goal kick.
This game also cost HU dearly, as Matt Bond was red carded with 20 seconds remaining in the match, much to the chagrin of a visibly upset HU coach.
After the match, HU coach Andy Sotiropoulos commented: "It's very disappointing to throw away points at home like this, especially when we played most of the second half with an extra man. Ironically, we played much better in the first half. We're a young team, and our immaturity showed. Instead of pressing harder for the go ahead goal when we were a man up in the second half, we took the foot off the gas pedal and didn't show much of a sense of urgency, all things considered. Furthermore, for the second week in a row, we gave up a goal not as a result of something our opponent did, but rather as a result of a failure to communicate in the defensive third. You can't give up goals like that in a league like this, especially in that critical period right before and after half time. We played very well for most of the first half and should have scored at least one more. Unfortunately, we decided to disregard the pre game instructions in the second half, and became content with a much slower pace. And it almost cost us, as Jahbat also had a couple of chances as well. On the other hand, Jahbat is a pretty damn good team, so I guess one point is better than none at all."
Game Lineup
Barszczowski, Nanic, Mahmutovic, Abraham, Hadziahmetovic, Prses, Guzina, Dautovic, Malkoc, Litos, Smjecanin. (Marks, Acamovic, Bond)
Game Summary
1:0 Alen Smjecanin (Elias Lithos)
Miralem Mahmutovic 33'
Matt Bond 90' + 3