Old friends meet for
key conference clash
W. Aurora aims to hand Neuqua Valley first conference loss
By Chris Walker
Joe Sustersic and Skip Begley have known each other a long time.
Surprisingly, the respective coaches at West Aurora and Neuqua Valley have only gone head-to-head once during the fall season.
That one time was a big one, as No. 13 seed West Aurora ended No. 4 Neuqua Valley’s season in the 2012 Class 3A Neuqua Valley regional semifinals on a penalty kick from Juan Cerda late in the second half.
“Skip runs a great program and I’ve known him for 17 or 18 years,” Sustersic said. “I was still at Holy Cross and he was at Hinsdale Central when we first met, and I think we went down to a camp at Bradley.”
Now the Blackhawks find themselves in the midst of the Upstate Eight Valley Conference race. As a new addition to the conference, they already made a huge mark last Tuesday in beating Waubonsie Valley. Now they’ll look to beat another Valley squad. Previously they lost at home to Metea Valley.
“I think I’m stealing this from (Metea Valley) coach Josh Robinson because when they beat us, he said winning a conference game is nice but even nicer on the road,” Sustersic said. “We’ve been playing well, but even though we have a lot of seniors, a lot of them are still new to varsity. They’re experiencing some things for the first time.
“Last year they were subs who got some quality minutes, but it’s so much different going from being a role player to a starter or the go-to guy.”
West Aurora (4-3-0) was at the Morton Invitational last weekend. The Blackhawks only went 1-2 but were able to face some good competition that they hope will pay dividends over the long term.
“We did OK this weekend in a tough bracket,” Sustersic said. “It was a tough way to start, losing the first one on PKs, but we saw some good teams. We lost to two state-ranked teams.”
Neuqua Valley (4-5-0) carried a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s game against Lake Forest Academy in Naperville, but the squad just had one of those days where nothing seemed to go its way.
“We had a chance to go up in the first 10 minutes on a breakaway and we missed that and we missed the rebound,” Begley said. “Then we missed a PK and we had another shot that we shot right at the goalkeeper, so we had three or four good chances in the first 20 minutes and didn’t convert.”
The Wildcats know they’ll have to convert those opportunities if they hope to hold off a West Aurora team that has already proven that it can beat good teams.
“Since West Aurora is new to the conference, it’s not a team we know a lot about,” Begley said. “I know Joe (Sustersic) always has an organized side and a group of players who are well coached. I know they’ll be ready to play.”
Still sitting undefeated in conference play should serve as motivation for the Wildcats to keep their record clean.
“We would’ve liked to have strung together a fourth win a row (on Saturday), but now we have to erase that from our memory and rebound,” Begley said. “We’ve got the added incentive of being at home and still undefeated in conference. It’s always a goal to finish high in the conference and to become conference champs,/ so we’ll give it all we can to get the result we need (on Tuesday).”
key conference clash
W. Aurora aims to hand Neuqua Valley first conference loss
By Chris Walker
Joe Sustersic and Skip Begley have known each other a long time.
Surprisingly, the respective coaches at West Aurora and Neuqua Valley have only gone head-to-head once during the fall season.
That one time was a big one, as No. 13 seed West Aurora ended No. 4 Neuqua Valley’s season in the 2012 Class 3A Neuqua Valley regional semifinals on a penalty kick from Juan Cerda late in the second half.
“Skip runs a great program and I’ve known him for 17 or 18 years,” Sustersic said. “I was still at Holy Cross and he was at Hinsdale Central when we first met, and I think we went down to a camp at Bradley.”
Now the Blackhawks find themselves in the midst of the Upstate Eight Valley Conference race. As a new addition to the conference, they already made a huge mark last Tuesday in beating Waubonsie Valley. Now they’ll look to beat another Valley squad. Previously they lost at home to Metea Valley.
“I think I’m stealing this from (Metea Valley) coach Josh Robinson because when they beat us, he said winning a conference game is nice but even nicer on the road,” Sustersic said. “We’ve been playing well, but even though we have a lot of seniors, a lot of them are still new to varsity. They’re experiencing some things for the first time.
“Last year they were subs who got some quality minutes, but it’s so much different going from being a role player to a starter or the go-to guy.”
West Aurora (4-3-0) was at the Morton Invitational last weekend. The Blackhawks only went 1-2 but were able to face some good competition that they hope will pay dividends over the long term.
“We did OK this weekend in a tough bracket,” Sustersic said. “It was a tough way to start, losing the first one on PKs, but we saw some good teams. We lost to two state-ranked teams.”
Neuqua Valley (4-5-0) carried a three-game winning streak into Saturday’s game against Lake Forest Academy in Naperville, but the squad just had one of those days where nothing seemed to go its way.
“We had a chance to go up in the first 10 minutes on a breakaway and we missed that and we missed the rebound,” Begley said. “Then we missed a PK and we had another shot that we shot right at the goalkeeper, so we had three or four good chances in the first 20 minutes and didn’t convert.”
The Wildcats know they’ll have to convert those opportunities if they hope to hold off a West Aurora team that has already proven that it can beat good teams.
“Since West Aurora is new to the conference, it’s not a team we know a lot about,” Begley said. “I know Joe (Sustersic) always has an organized side and a group of players who are well coached. I know they’ll be ready to play.”
Still sitting undefeated in conference play should serve as motivation for the Wildcats to keep their record clean.
“We would’ve liked to have strung together a fourth win a row (on Saturday), but now we have to erase that from our memory and rebound,” Begley said. “We’ve got the added incentive of being at home and still undefeated in conference. It’s always a goal to finish high in the conference and to become conference champs,/ so we’ll give it all we can to get the result we need (on Tuesday).”