Thrilling goal sends U14 Celtics
to PKs, but North Central prevails
Hosts fall 4-3 in Celtic Cup shootout
By Dave Surico
PALATINE -- If there was a postseason awards show for youth soccer, the Celtic Select-North Central U14 championship bracket title match of the Celtic Cup on Monday would have to be nominated for "Finish of the Year."
After a huge collision in the box, North Central capitalized on a PK to grab its first lead at 3-2 with two minutes left in the second, 5-minute overtime. All looked lost for the host Celtics.
But instead of giving in, Celtic dug in.
A sharp combination of passes led to a foul in the center of the field 23-yards out. With time running out, center midfielder Joey Beaupre walked up to the ball.
After assessing the defense, Beaupre lined his shot just inside the right post seconds before the center official blew his whistle.
The Disney-movie like play brought a roar from the Palatine gallery and players.
"The wall was a little bit too far to the left, so I was just aiming for the far post," said Beaupre. "I just hit a good ball far post. I have not had a free kick at that moment of the game before. That was exciting."
The eighth-grader's foray to the line was brought about the week before.
"One conversation between me and him was 'Joey, why don't you take the free kicks? In training you've got such a poweful leg and it’s so accurate," said coach Paul Clapson.
"Last week we went and worked on some free kicks.
"On the moment I said 'Joey, just get it on frame. That's all you need to do.' So it was a great strike and great for him and the team. The boys were going crazy. That was awesome.
Clapson added praise to the team for setting up dramatic finish.
"I credited that combination play going forward," he said. "There was about four passes that got us onto a player that was going to goal."
But Celtic couldn't ride the momentum to the win and fell short at the spot 4-3.
That left the jubilant fans of the visitors to break out the noisemakers and the Waukegan players and coaches to celebrate.
"Very proud of them, very proud of our club," said assistant coach Colin Dick. "We just started in December. This is their first tournament as U14."
In PKs, Celtic's Patrick Rajchel opened the session with a goal inside the right post off the keeper's hand that stood up for a 1-0 lead after the first round. Kaelan Conway and Beaupre also scored on the third and fifth shots respectively, but that wasn't enough against North Central's four-consecutive conversions.
Clapson immediately knew what he had to do.
"My biggest thing is they all come out with smiles on their faces, not being too down," said Clapson. "It was a good game. It was fun, very fun. They fought hard.
"They won Celtic Cup last year so my biggest thing was not to come in expecting to win. I took them this year, and I'll have them next year for the purpose of, they're going into high school, and I need to prepare them. As I said to them many times, I need to teach them how to win and how to lose in order to become a better athlete."
The team was resilient afterwards, but still acutely aware of an opportunity lost.
"It's kind of sad, this was our last Celtic tournament," said Connor Aikman, who was a standout defender in the game. "I thought we could have played better. We were pretty even with them.
“I think we got a little bit out of our rhythm. We played too many balls over the top. We could have started to play a little more possession."
Clapson will address that concept in upcoming practices.
"It's a common issue with this age, the game is so direct," he said. "You defend one goal and go to the other goal. ... We pick up the ball in midfield, and they constantly want to go forward versus possess. Then again that's part of what they're going to be receiving from me in the next month or two is trying to teach them how to possess the ball.
"It may not happen until next year, perhaps two, but I at least hope they get that grasp of not always wanting to go forward. If you had to sit and count how many times we played the ball backwards today, I don’t think it would be more than 10. And that's not good."
Celtic's direct approach did have its moments however.
In the fifth minute John Kating's through-ball found Joshua Bennett, who took a touch around the charging keeper before finishing into an open net.
The lead was short-lived. A lofted North Central shot from 18 yards tucked under the crossbar for a 1-1 tie two minutes later.
Next it was Celtic keeper Artur Cholewa's turn to flash his skill. On a North Central penalty kick, he dove left to make the save and preserve the tie in the 14th minute.
Palatine took its final lead nine minutes later. On a left[side free kick from 23 yards out, Andrew Clark rolled a ball to the near post that went untouched until Patrick Rajchel collected it, turned and scored from in close.
Cholewa kept the score at 2-1 when he tipped a ball away from the upper-right corner in the 26th minute and stopped a free kick two minutes later.
After the break North Central got to work. Another shot from distance cut under the crossbar to knot the game in the 33rd minute.
The visitors’ possessing style started to wear down Celtic, but several big plays kept the hosts in the game.
Diving stops from Cholewa in the 51st and 60th minutes prevented the go-ahead score as did Brian Sobkowiak's clear out of the crease with his keeper off the line with less than 2 minutes left.
After the players left the pitch, a number of parents came over to Cholewa to compliment him on his great effort against a steady North Central attack in the final 40 minutes.
"They were a good team," he said. "I was challenged and frustrated because they moved the ball so much. It was hard for my eyes to follow the ball while I talked to my players.
"I think we’re going to do good. Our coach, when he got his first team, he made them like one of the best teams in Illinois. So I think we're going to get better from here on out."
There is definitely plenty of good soccer and results yet to come for Celtic Select.
"I was disappointed of coming up short to win our own tournament," said Beaupre. "But we'll have other tournaments that we'll win in the finals."
Starting lineup
Celtic Select
GK: Artur Cholewa
D: Connor Aikman
D: Kaelan Conway
D: Kevin Reynolds
D: Andrew Clark
MF: C.J. Williams
MF: Ryan Higgins
MF: John Kating
MF: Joey Beaupre
F: James Hawran
F: Joshua Bennett
to PKs, but North Central prevails
Hosts fall 4-3 in Celtic Cup shootout
By Dave Surico
PALATINE -- If there was a postseason awards show for youth soccer, the Celtic Select-North Central U14 championship bracket title match of the Celtic Cup on Monday would have to be nominated for "Finish of the Year."
After a huge collision in the box, North Central capitalized on a PK to grab its first lead at 3-2 with two minutes left in the second, 5-minute overtime. All looked lost for the host Celtics.
But instead of giving in, Celtic dug in.
A sharp combination of passes led to a foul in the center of the field 23-yards out. With time running out, center midfielder Joey Beaupre walked up to the ball.
After assessing the defense, Beaupre lined his shot just inside the right post seconds before the center official blew his whistle.
The Disney-movie like play brought a roar from the Palatine gallery and players.
"The wall was a little bit too far to the left, so I was just aiming for the far post," said Beaupre. "I just hit a good ball far post. I have not had a free kick at that moment of the game before. That was exciting."
The eighth-grader's foray to the line was brought about the week before.
"One conversation between me and him was 'Joey, why don't you take the free kicks? In training you've got such a poweful leg and it’s so accurate," said coach Paul Clapson.
"Last week we went and worked on some free kicks.
"On the moment I said 'Joey, just get it on frame. That's all you need to do.' So it was a great strike and great for him and the team. The boys were going crazy. That was awesome.
Clapson added praise to the team for setting up dramatic finish.
"I credited that combination play going forward," he said. "There was about four passes that got us onto a player that was going to goal."
But Celtic couldn't ride the momentum to the win and fell short at the spot 4-3.
That left the jubilant fans of the visitors to break out the noisemakers and the Waukegan players and coaches to celebrate.
"Very proud of them, very proud of our club," said assistant coach Colin Dick. "We just started in December. This is their first tournament as U14."
In PKs, Celtic's Patrick Rajchel opened the session with a goal inside the right post off the keeper's hand that stood up for a 1-0 lead after the first round. Kaelan Conway and Beaupre also scored on the third and fifth shots respectively, but that wasn't enough against North Central's four-consecutive conversions.
Clapson immediately knew what he had to do.
"My biggest thing is they all come out with smiles on their faces, not being too down," said Clapson. "It was a good game. It was fun, very fun. They fought hard.
"They won Celtic Cup last year so my biggest thing was not to come in expecting to win. I took them this year, and I'll have them next year for the purpose of, they're going into high school, and I need to prepare them. As I said to them many times, I need to teach them how to win and how to lose in order to become a better athlete."
The team was resilient afterwards, but still acutely aware of an opportunity lost.
"It's kind of sad, this was our last Celtic tournament," said Connor Aikman, who was a standout defender in the game. "I thought we could have played better. We were pretty even with them.
“I think we got a little bit out of our rhythm. We played too many balls over the top. We could have started to play a little more possession."
Clapson will address that concept in upcoming practices.
"It's a common issue with this age, the game is so direct," he said. "You defend one goal and go to the other goal. ... We pick up the ball in midfield, and they constantly want to go forward versus possess. Then again that's part of what they're going to be receiving from me in the next month or two is trying to teach them how to possess the ball.
"It may not happen until next year, perhaps two, but I at least hope they get that grasp of not always wanting to go forward. If you had to sit and count how many times we played the ball backwards today, I don’t think it would be more than 10. And that's not good."
Celtic's direct approach did have its moments however.
In the fifth minute John Kating's through-ball found Joshua Bennett, who took a touch around the charging keeper before finishing into an open net.
The lead was short-lived. A lofted North Central shot from 18 yards tucked under the crossbar for a 1-1 tie two minutes later.
Next it was Celtic keeper Artur Cholewa's turn to flash his skill. On a North Central penalty kick, he dove left to make the save and preserve the tie in the 14th minute.
Palatine took its final lead nine minutes later. On a left[side free kick from 23 yards out, Andrew Clark rolled a ball to the near post that went untouched until Patrick Rajchel collected it, turned and scored from in close.
Cholewa kept the score at 2-1 when he tipped a ball away from the upper-right corner in the 26th minute and stopped a free kick two minutes later.
After the break North Central got to work. Another shot from distance cut under the crossbar to knot the game in the 33rd minute.
The visitors’ possessing style started to wear down Celtic, but several big plays kept the hosts in the game.
Diving stops from Cholewa in the 51st and 60th minutes prevented the go-ahead score as did Brian Sobkowiak's clear out of the crease with his keeper off the line with less than 2 minutes left.
After the players left the pitch, a number of parents came over to Cholewa to compliment him on his great effort against a steady North Central attack in the final 40 minutes.
"They were a good team," he said. "I was challenged and frustrated because they moved the ball so much. It was hard for my eyes to follow the ball while I talked to my players.
"I think we’re going to do good. Our coach, when he got his first team, he made them like one of the best teams in Illinois. So I think we're going to get better from here on out."
There is definitely plenty of good soccer and results yet to come for Celtic Select.
"I was disappointed of coming up short to win our own tournament," said Beaupre. "But we'll have other tournaments that we'll win in the finals."
Starting lineup
Celtic Select
GK: Artur Cholewa
D: Connor Aikman
D: Kaelan Conway
D: Kevin Reynolds
D: Andrew Clark
MF: C.J. Williams
MF: Ryan Higgins
MF: John Kating
MF: Joey Beaupre
F: James Hawran
F: Joshua Bennett