Sullivan nails winner for
Naperville N. vs. Lake Park
Junior's OT heroics deal Lancers their 1st-ever DVC loss
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – The legend of Chris Sullivan continues to grow.
The Naperville North junior scored another dramatic goal Thursday night, corralling a bouncing and spinning ball and knocking it in from 6 yards out to give the No. 10 Huskies a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over No. 21 Lake Park.
The goal was historic -- it dealt the Lancers their first DuPage Valley Conference loss ever. Lake Park (5-2-2, 1-1-0) had been unbeaten in 13 league games since joining the DVC in 2013. The Lancers went 7-0 in their first year, 3-0-2 with ties against Naperville North and Naperville Central in 2014, and opened this conference season with a 3-1 win over Waubonsie Valley on Sept. 12.
“It’s awesome,” Sullivan said. “Lake Park is a great team, but at the end of regulation I went up to our assistant coach (Steve Goletz) and I said, ‘I’m going to score the game winner.'
“My teammates gave me the ball in the 6-yard box. I couldn’t miss that.”
In reality, Sullivan’s goal, which came 3:30 into overtime, was a little tougher than that.
The ball, which had been flicked up in the air by sophomore Jack Berry, had some nasty backspin on it. Sullivan waited for it to come down while a Lake Park defender overran it from left to right in front of him.
Sullivan settled the ball while other players converged and calmly sent it past Lake Park goalkeeper Michael Jasiak for his sixth goal of the season and Naperville North’s ninth-straight win.
“That’s a kid with experience, confidence and obviously a whole lot of composure to sit there and wait for the ball to come to the right spot and then finish it in a high-pressure (situation) after you’ve been running for 83 minutes,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “He’s a special kid, and we’ve been challenging him lately. We need someone to be the man.
“We’re a great team, and we have a lot of great players, but you need someone that when the chips are down is going to step up and not only score goals but lead us. Chris did that tonight, so I’m super proud of him.”
The decisive play began with freshman Josh Penn passing the ball from the right wing to senior Ryan Budicin, who found Berry just inside the top of the penalty area. It was Berry, who played a role in all three of his team’s goals, who was able to fend off a challenge and get the ball to Sullivan.
“Obviously, it started with Josh and Ryan,” Sullivan said. “Ryan hit a great ball to Jack and I said, ‘Flick,’ and he put a great flick in, and I was just in. And it bounced and the defender, I don’t think he could stop in time. He kind of ran past it, and I just waited for it to come down and just put it in the goal.”
Berry explained, “I was just trying to flick it on, and Sully was good enough to make sure he gets off a defender and creates some space. It was a great shot. I’m just glad it was a great team win.”
Indeed, the Huskies (10-2, 3-0) emerged victorious in a match that saw them rally from a goal down after being outplayed for much of the first 55 minutes, go in front with two quick strikes in the second half and then blow the lead by giving up an own goal.
The own goal came with 16:47 left when a throw-in by Lake Park’s Jack Fischer went off the head of a defender and past Huskies goalkeeper Riley Wiest. It was one of the few mistakes made by North’s defense.
“I just think (overcoming) that is a credit to the character we have on our team,” Sullivan said. “Obviously it’s easy to give up after an unlucky play like that, but our seniors really stepped up and led us to the game-winner.”
It almost wasn’t to be. The Lancers gave up only five shots and failed to convert on three corner kicks down the stretch, one in the 79th minute and two in the first two minutes of overtime.
Wiest stopped a shot by Alessandro Montes 90 seconds into the extra session. Then a long throw-in from the right side bounced into space in front of the left post but went untouched.
“I thought we were putting pressure on them in the back and forcing them to make mistakes,” Lake Park coach Anthony Passi said. “I think in the first overtime period we had opportunity after opportunity.
“That one throw-in, nobody touched the ball, and it goes across the goal mouth, and we’ve got nobody on the back post to walk it in. There was our opportunity, and then they come back down here and we make a couple of mistakes, and that’s the game.”
The Lancers believed they should not have allowed Budicin’s entry pass into the box on Sullivan’s goal.
“We definitely fell asleep on that one, allowing the ball to get in, but that’s definitely a mistake we won’t make again,” Lake Park senior Alex Armas said. “We had numerous chances that we could have put in. We attacked down the line well; we had good subs. It was a team effort.”
That effort was arguably better than Naperville North’s for significant stretches, including the taffy pull of a first half that saw the two teams combine for just three shots.
The Lancers had only one shot before intermission, but they scored on it to grab an early 1-0 lead. The visitors broke down the left flank of the Huskies defense, and senior Anthony Passi crossed to Armas for a pretty volley that beat Wiest for Armas’ first goal of the season.
“We came out with that first goal -- looks like they took a little nap in the back there, and we pressured them to make a mistake,” the elder Passi said. “Anthony got the ball and played it to Armas. It was a very, very nice finish.
“It was nice to go up, and I think it energized (the Lancers), but you’ve got to sustain. We put our head down for one second and (the Huskies scored) back-to-back goals.”
It took the Huskies only 96 seconds to seize the lead. First, Jon Heitz heaved a throw-in from the right wing to Berry, who took the ball in the middle of the Lake Park penalty area and sent a shot through traffic and past Jasiak.
Berry now has four goals in his rookie varsity season, and three of them have come in the last two games. He struck twice in Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Wheaton North.
“Jack is a very smart player. He always knows where to be and then he’s a good finisher,” Konrad said. “If you give him a chance, he’s going to tuck it away. So he’s having a great sophomore campaign.”
Berry said his role has changed during the season. "I’m just trying to play whenever I can and help the team get wins, and that’s really all that matters,” he said.
Berry did much to help the Huskies win this one, making a smart if statistically unrecognized play when the hosts took a 2-1 lead with 24:02 left in regulation.
Sullivan sent a diagonal corner kick from the right side to Berry outside the right post. Instead of taking the shot, Berry dummied it and the ball went through the middle of the box to senior midfielder Grant Borg. He hammered a thunderous 10-yard shot past Jasiak, who never saw the ball, for his first goal of the season.
“We designed that play at half to make sure that we caught them off guard, so that was a good play,” Berry said. “Grant really put that one away.”
Neither coach was surprised at how close the game was.
“That’s obviously a tough, hard-nosed team,” Konrad said. “They are one of the best we’ve played all year.
“We knew coming in that they were going to give us everything. They were going to play hard, defend well, be organized and battle for every ball.
"I think it is a mirror image of us. I think we’re similar programs in that we’re kind of lunch-pail-type teams. We’re going to try to outwork you, but they gave us more than we wanted tonight, and we were fortunate to win.”
The victory moved Naperville North into a tie for first place in the DVC with Glenbard North, while Lake Park and Neuqua Valley, which was beaten 3-1 by Wheaton Warrenville South, each suffered their first league losses.
“It’s DVC soccer,” the elder Passi said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting, every game is a battle.
“I don’t care what your record is; it is some of the best soccer in the state of Illinois without a doubt. I think Naperville North and Lake Park are two of the top teams in the DVC.”
Lake Park won’t have to wait long to put the loss in the rearview mirror. The Lancers play St. Ignatius on Saturday.
“We’re definitely down about the game, but we’re a team that gets back up from a loss,” Armas said. “We’re a team that keeps fighting. We’re a team that when we get down we get back up, so next game Saturday we’re going to continue what we do best: we’re going to get back our mentality.
“Obviously it’s a little ruffled up right now. We knew coming here it was going to be a great game. We knew they were a good team, but we fought our hearts out.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
G Michael Jasiak
D Joshua Solarz
D Brody Thompson
D Jack Fischer
M Alex Armas
M Lorenzo Costa
M Alessandro Montes
M Michael Passi
M Dan Hynes
F Anthony Passi
F Pasquale Ottolino
Naperville North
G Riley Wiest
D Nick Carballo
D Jon Heitz
D Kevin Keane
D Mitch Konrad
M Ryan Budicin
M Konrad Jurkiewicz
M Grant Borg
F Chris Sullivan
F Josh Penn
F Adam Helf
Man of the Match: Chris Sullivan, F, Naperville North
Naperville N. vs. Lake Park
Junior's OT heroics deal Lancers their 1st-ever DVC loss
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – The legend of Chris Sullivan continues to grow.
The Naperville North junior scored another dramatic goal Thursday night, corralling a bouncing and spinning ball and knocking it in from 6 yards out to give the No. 10 Huskies a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over No. 21 Lake Park.
The goal was historic -- it dealt the Lancers their first DuPage Valley Conference loss ever. Lake Park (5-2-2, 1-1-0) had been unbeaten in 13 league games since joining the DVC in 2013. The Lancers went 7-0 in their first year, 3-0-2 with ties against Naperville North and Naperville Central in 2014, and opened this conference season with a 3-1 win over Waubonsie Valley on Sept. 12.
“It’s awesome,” Sullivan said. “Lake Park is a great team, but at the end of regulation I went up to our assistant coach (Steve Goletz) and I said, ‘I’m going to score the game winner.'
“My teammates gave me the ball in the 6-yard box. I couldn’t miss that.”
In reality, Sullivan’s goal, which came 3:30 into overtime, was a little tougher than that.
The ball, which had been flicked up in the air by sophomore Jack Berry, had some nasty backspin on it. Sullivan waited for it to come down while a Lake Park defender overran it from left to right in front of him.
Sullivan settled the ball while other players converged and calmly sent it past Lake Park goalkeeper Michael Jasiak for his sixth goal of the season and Naperville North’s ninth-straight win.
“That’s a kid with experience, confidence and obviously a whole lot of composure to sit there and wait for the ball to come to the right spot and then finish it in a high-pressure (situation) after you’ve been running for 83 minutes,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “He’s a special kid, and we’ve been challenging him lately. We need someone to be the man.
“We’re a great team, and we have a lot of great players, but you need someone that when the chips are down is going to step up and not only score goals but lead us. Chris did that tonight, so I’m super proud of him.”
The decisive play began with freshman Josh Penn passing the ball from the right wing to senior Ryan Budicin, who found Berry just inside the top of the penalty area. It was Berry, who played a role in all three of his team’s goals, who was able to fend off a challenge and get the ball to Sullivan.
“Obviously, it started with Josh and Ryan,” Sullivan said. “Ryan hit a great ball to Jack and I said, ‘Flick,’ and he put a great flick in, and I was just in. And it bounced and the defender, I don’t think he could stop in time. He kind of ran past it, and I just waited for it to come down and just put it in the goal.”
Berry explained, “I was just trying to flick it on, and Sully was good enough to make sure he gets off a defender and creates some space. It was a great shot. I’m just glad it was a great team win.”
Indeed, the Huskies (10-2, 3-0) emerged victorious in a match that saw them rally from a goal down after being outplayed for much of the first 55 minutes, go in front with two quick strikes in the second half and then blow the lead by giving up an own goal.
The own goal came with 16:47 left when a throw-in by Lake Park’s Jack Fischer went off the head of a defender and past Huskies goalkeeper Riley Wiest. It was one of the few mistakes made by North’s defense.
“I just think (overcoming) that is a credit to the character we have on our team,” Sullivan said. “Obviously it’s easy to give up after an unlucky play like that, but our seniors really stepped up and led us to the game-winner.”
It almost wasn’t to be. The Lancers gave up only five shots and failed to convert on three corner kicks down the stretch, one in the 79th minute and two in the first two minutes of overtime.
Wiest stopped a shot by Alessandro Montes 90 seconds into the extra session. Then a long throw-in from the right side bounced into space in front of the left post but went untouched.
“I thought we were putting pressure on them in the back and forcing them to make mistakes,” Lake Park coach Anthony Passi said. “I think in the first overtime period we had opportunity after opportunity.
“That one throw-in, nobody touched the ball, and it goes across the goal mouth, and we’ve got nobody on the back post to walk it in. There was our opportunity, and then they come back down here and we make a couple of mistakes, and that’s the game.”
The Lancers believed they should not have allowed Budicin’s entry pass into the box on Sullivan’s goal.
“We definitely fell asleep on that one, allowing the ball to get in, but that’s definitely a mistake we won’t make again,” Lake Park senior Alex Armas said. “We had numerous chances that we could have put in. We attacked down the line well; we had good subs. It was a team effort.”
That effort was arguably better than Naperville North’s for significant stretches, including the taffy pull of a first half that saw the two teams combine for just three shots.
The Lancers had only one shot before intermission, but they scored on it to grab an early 1-0 lead. The visitors broke down the left flank of the Huskies defense, and senior Anthony Passi crossed to Armas for a pretty volley that beat Wiest for Armas’ first goal of the season.
“We came out with that first goal -- looks like they took a little nap in the back there, and we pressured them to make a mistake,” the elder Passi said. “Anthony got the ball and played it to Armas. It was a very, very nice finish.
“It was nice to go up, and I think it energized (the Lancers), but you’ve got to sustain. We put our head down for one second and (the Huskies scored) back-to-back goals.”
It took the Huskies only 96 seconds to seize the lead. First, Jon Heitz heaved a throw-in from the right wing to Berry, who took the ball in the middle of the Lake Park penalty area and sent a shot through traffic and past Jasiak.
Berry now has four goals in his rookie varsity season, and three of them have come in the last two games. He struck twice in Tuesday’s 5-0 win over Wheaton North.
“Jack is a very smart player. He always knows where to be and then he’s a good finisher,” Konrad said. “If you give him a chance, he’s going to tuck it away. So he’s having a great sophomore campaign.”
Berry said his role has changed during the season. "I’m just trying to play whenever I can and help the team get wins, and that’s really all that matters,” he said.
Berry did much to help the Huskies win this one, making a smart if statistically unrecognized play when the hosts took a 2-1 lead with 24:02 left in regulation.
Sullivan sent a diagonal corner kick from the right side to Berry outside the right post. Instead of taking the shot, Berry dummied it and the ball went through the middle of the box to senior midfielder Grant Borg. He hammered a thunderous 10-yard shot past Jasiak, who never saw the ball, for his first goal of the season.
“We designed that play at half to make sure that we caught them off guard, so that was a good play,” Berry said. “Grant really put that one away.”
Neither coach was surprised at how close the game was.
“That’s obviously a tough, hard-nosed team,” Konrad said. “They are one of the best we’ve played all year.
“We knew coming in that they were going to give us everything. They were going to play hard, defend well, be organized and battle for every ball.
"I think it is a mirror image of us. I think we’re similar programs in that we’re kind of lunch-pail-type teams. We’re going to try to outwork you, but they gave us more than we wanted tonight, and we were fortunate to win.”
The victory moved Naperville North into a tie for first place in the DVC with Glenbard North, while Lake Park and Neuqua Valley, which was beaten 3-1 by Wheaton Warrenville South, each suffered their first league losses.
“It’s DVC soccer,” the elder Passi said. “It’s fun, it’s exciting, every game is a battle.
“I don’t care what your record is; it is some of the best soccer in the state of Illinois without a doubt. I think Naperville North and Lake Park are two of the top teams in the DVC.”
Lake Park won’t have to wait long to put the loss in the rearview mirror. The Lancers play St. Ignatius on Saturday.
“We’re definitely down about the game, but we’re a team that gets back up from a loss,” Armas said. “We’re a team that keeps fighting. We’re a team that when we get down we get back up, so next game Saturday we’re going to continue what we do best: we’re going to get back our mentality.
“Obviously it’s a little ruffled up right now. We knew coming here it was going to be a great game. We knew they were a good team, but we fought our hearts out.”
Starting lineups
Lake Park
G Michael Jasiak
D Joshua Solarz
D Brody Thompson
D Jack Fischer
M Alex Armas
M Lorenzo Costa
M Alessandro Montes
M Michael Passi
M Dan Hynes
F Anthony Passi
F Pasquale Ottolino
Naperville North
G Riley Wiest
D Nick Carballo
D Jon Heitz
D Kevin Keane
D Mitch Konrad
M Ryan Budicin
M Konrad Jurkiewicz
M Grant Borg
F Chris Sullivan
F Josh Penn
F Adam Helf
Man of the Match: Chris Sullivan, F, Naperville North