Naperville North shocks
unbeaten Naperville Central
Early goal sets tone as furious rally falls short
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North coach Jim Konrad says there are no upsets in crosstown matches.
What he means is you have to expect the unexpected when Naperville North and Naperville Central play each other.
And yet players on both teams were still surprised and a large crowd buzzing after host Naperville North won 2-1 on Tuesday night to knock the Redhawks from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The Huskies did it despite mustering only three shots and having won just once in their last five outings.
But senior co-captain Chris Ensign set the tone when he scored his third goal of the season just 37 seconds into the match, blasting a seven-yard shot past Redhawks goalie Joe Kallikadan after Connor McBride deflected a cross from Chris Sullivan.
“It was nice to get that,” Ensign said. “[It was] very unexpected, but there’s nothing better than that. We were definitely the underdogs of the game coming in and then [the goal was] just a complete momentum changer. We came out and stuck it to them the entire game.”
Well, not exactly. The Redhawks (7-1-2, 1-1 DuPage Valley) controlled the possession for long stretches and had more dangerous chances, but the Huskies (5-4-1, 1-0-1) toiled tirelessly to keep them at bay.
The back line of Matty Sylvester, Kevin Keane, Wesley Wong and Brandon Hipp allowed eight shots, including five during Central’s furious second-half rally. Goalie Christian Robert had to make only two saves.
“Those back four were absolutely insane tonight, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Ensign said. “They were playing phenomenal all game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them play a better game.”
Konrad agreed, saying, “My back four and midfield three were exceptional tonight. I think to cover ground and to sort out the numbers that Central sent forward was really good for a bunch of high school kids to figure out.
“We did a pretty good job of limiting chances. Obviously they were dangerous a number of times but Wong was incredible in the air, Matty Sylvester was fantastic on the outside and Keane and Hipp were great, too. I couldn’t brag enough about those guys.”
But the early goal was the catalyst, according to both coaches.
“The early goal obviously helped us,” Konrad said. “Our boys know that Central is the team in the area that’s been the strongest the last three years.
“They’ve been the class of the town and have had a great year so far and we know they bring a lot of firepower. They send numbers forward, they attack great. I love that Troy has the mentality of where he’s going to go to goal. He trusts his backs.”
Those backs let down only twice, but the Huskies pounced both times and put the Redhawks in the unfamiliar position of being behind.
“That’s the game of soccer,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “You can’t take a mental break because it’s not basketball, it’s not football. You’re not going to score enough points to be able to overcome mistakes.
“One mistake in soccer can kill you. We made ours early.
“The backs said it was a little bit of a miscommunication on who was doing what and they slipped in behind. Then you’re chasing goals and you [give up] an unfortunate second one that I didn’t clearly see what happened.”
Neither did Konrad, who was left shaking his head when Martin Li gave the hosts a 2-0 lead with 32:13 to go in the second half.
Ensign started the play by heaving a long throw-in from the right wing into the goal mouth. The ball bounced through traffic and a defender got to it on the back post and turned to dribble along the end line.
That’s when Li, a junior midfielder, came out of nowhere to pick his pocket just three yards from the goal. In the blink of an eye, Li booted the ball in for his second goal of the season.
“He was trying to dribble to the sideline or something,” said Li, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match. “I think it was a bad decision on his part, but I just took the ball and since I was so close, you just blast it at the goal. It’s all you can do.
“[Scoring the winner] against a crosstown rival, that’s insane. It’s like a dream come true.”
It also ended any notion that North’s early lead was a fluke.
“With a one-goal lead right off the start, we were definitely not expecting that,” Li said. “We were ready for a hard game. That second goal gave us a big boost. It gave us the confidence to push through.”
It also gave the Huskies the cushion they needed to fend off Central’s inevitable rally, which began soon after Li’s goal.
Attacking with a renewed urgency, the Redhawks got on the board at the 17:44 mark on a goal by Daniel Poole.
Jordi Heeneman started the play by sending a lead pass into the right side of the box to Jordi McCormack, who sent a cross whistling through the crease intended for Noah Hey on the back post.
Before it got to Hey, the ball was volleyed up in the air by a defender, but not far enough to get it out of the box. Poole got under it and sent a 12-yard shot skittering through traffic and inside the left post.
The visitors nearly got the equalizer eight minutes later, but Heeneman’s 33-yard free kick hit the top off the crossbar and went over the net. Heeneman was dumped hard in the box while contesting a loss ball with 7:05 to go but no foul was called, and two other shots were blocked in the final 30 seconds.
“It’s funny how you can have all that control, but when the other team works harder it seems like they catch all the breaks they need,” Adams said. “They worked harder than we did. That’s why they won.
“Their midfielders outworked our midfielders, their backs outworked our forwards and their forwards outworked our backs and when that happens, you’re not going to win games.”
The Redhawks have gone two games without a win for the first time since the last two regular season games of the 2011 season. Saturday’s 0-0 tie with Lemont was the first time in 57 games they have been shut out.
“What it boils down to essentially is we have not been ready to play at the beginning of the game the last couple games,” Adams said. “We’ve talked at halftime multiple times that the mentality of this team is what is either going to be our detractor or our savior.
“The talent and skill is great. We’re not always mentally ready to play and be mentally strong as we need to be, and it’s something that we’re going to keep working on and keep pushing it.”
Perhaps they can take some advice from Ensign’s response to being asked whether the Huskies had a feeling they might pull off the upset.
“You’ve got to go into every game confident,” Ensign said. “You want to say, ‘Yes, we’re going to win this game,’ but then again, no one wants to be too confident and then lose it. But we knew what we needed to get done.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Joe Kallikadan
D Derek Kerbs
D Griffin Geisler
D Sean Flading
M Nick Coon
M Noah Hey
M Jordi McCormack
M Riley Guttosch
F Ethan Moor
F Jordi Heeneman
F Daniel Poole
Naperville North
GK Christian Robert
D Matty Sylvester
D Kevin Keane
D Wesley Wong
D Brandon HIpp
M Chris Sullivan
M Martin Li
M Connor McBride
M Grant Borg
F Chris Ensign
F Adam Helf
Man of the Match: Martin Li, Naperville North.
Referees: Bill Niemeier, Tony Martinez, Carlos Herrera.
unbeaten Naperville Central
Early goal sets tone as furious rally falls short
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North coach Jim Konrad says there are no upsets in crosstown matches.
What he means is you have to expect the unexpected when Naperville North and Naperville Central play each other.
And yet players on both teams were still surprised and a large crowd buzzing after host Naperville North won 2-1 on Tuesday night to knock the Redhawks from the ranks of the unbeaten.
The Huskies did it despite mustering only three shots and having won just once in their last five outings.
But senior co-captain Chris Ensign set the tone when he scored his third goal of the season just 37 seconds into the match, blasting a seven-yard shot past Redhawks goalie Joe Kallikadan after Connor McBride deflected a cross from Chris Sullivan.
“It was nice to get that,” Ensign said. “[It was] very unexpected, but there’s nothing better than that. We were definitely the underdogs of the game coming in and then [the goal was] just a complete momentum changer. We came out and stuck it to them the entire game.”
Well, not exactly. The Redhawks (7-1-2, 1-1 DuPage Valley) controlled the possession for long stretches and had more dangerous chances, but the Huskies (5-4-1, 1-0-1) toiled tirelessly to keep them at bay.
The back line of Matty Sylvester, Kevin Keane, Wesley Wong and Brandon Hipp allowed eight shots, including five during Central’s furious second-half rally. Goalie Christian Robert had to make only two saves.
“Those back four were absolutely insane tonight, and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Ensign said. “They were playing phenomenal all game. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them play a better game.”
Konrad agreed, saying, “My back four and midfield three were exceptional tonight. I think to cover ground and to sort out the numbers that Central sent forward was really good for a bunch of high school kids to figure out.
“We did a pretty good job of limiting chances. Obviously they were dangerous a number of times but Wong was incredible in the air, Matty Sylvester was fantastic on the outside and Keane and Hipp were great, too. I couldn’t brag enough about those guys.”
But the early goal was the catalyst, according to both coaches.
“The early goal obviously helped us,” Konrad said. “Our boys know that Central is the team in the area that’s been the strongest the last three years.
“They’ve been the class of the town and have had a great year so far and we know they bring a lot of firepower. They send numbers forward, they attack great. I love that Troy has the mentality of where he’s going to go to goal. He trusts his backs.”
Those backs let down only twice, but the Huskies pounced both times and put the Redhawks in the unfamiliar position of being behind.
“That’s the game of soccer,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “You can’t take a mental break because it’s not basketball, it’s not football. You’re not going to score enough points to be able to overcome mistakes.
“One mistake in soccer can kill you. We made ours early.
“The backs said it was a little bit of a miscommunication on who was doing what and they slipped in behind. Then you’re chasing goals and you [give up] an unfortunate second one that I didn’t clearly see what happened.”
Neither did Konrad, who was left shaking his head when Martin Li gave the hosts a 2-0 lead with 32:13 to go in the second half.
Ensign started the play by heaving a long throw-in from the right wing into the goal mouth. The ball bounced through traffic and a defender got to it on the back post and turned to dribble along the end line.
That’s when Li, a junior midfielder, came out of nowhere to pick his pocket just three yards from the goal. In the blink of an eye, Li booted the ball in for his second goal of the season.
“He was trying to dribble to the sideline or something,” said Li, Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match. “I think it was a bad decision on his part, but I just took the ball and since I was so close, you just blast it at the goal. It’s all you can do.
“[Scoring the winner] against a crosstown rival, that’s insane. It’s like a dream come true.”
It also ended any notion that North’s early lead was a fluke.
“With a one-goal lead right off the start, we were definitely not expecting that,” Li said. “We were ready for a hard game. That second goal gave us a big boost. It gave us the confidence to push through.”
It also gave the Huskies the cushion they needed to fend off Central’s inevitable rally, which began soon after Li’s goal.
Attacking with a renewed urgency, the Redhawks got on the board at the 17:44 mark on a goal by Daniel Poole.
Jordi Heeneman started the play by sending a lead pass into the right side of the box to Jordi McCormack, who sent a cross whistling through the crease intended for Noah Hey on the back post.
Before it got to Hey, the ball was volleyed up in the air by a defender, but not far enough to get it out of the box. Poole got under it and sent a 12-yard shot skittering through traffic and inside the left post.
The visitors nearly got the equalizer eight minutes later, but Heeneman’s 33-yard free kick hit the top off the crossbar and went over the net. Heeneman was dumped hard in the box while contesting a loss ball with 7:05 to go but no foul was called, and two other shots were blocked in the final 30 seconds.
“It’s funny how you can have all that control, but when the other team works harder it seems like they catch all the breaks they need,” Adams said. “They worked harder than we did. That’s why they won.
“Their midfielders outworked our midfielders, their backs outworked our forwards and their forwards outworked our backs and when that happens, you’re not going to win games.”
The Redhawks have gone two games without a win for the first time since the last two regular season games of the 2011 season. Saturday’s 0-0 tie with Lemont was the first time in 57 games they have been shut out.
“What it boils down to essentially is we have not been ready to play at the beginning of the game the last couple games,” Adams said. “We’ve talked at halftime multiple times that the mentality of this team is what is either going to be our detractor or our savior.
“The talent and skill is great. We’re not always mentally ready to play and be mentally strong as we need to be, and it’s something that we’re going to keep working on and keep pushing it.”
Perhaps they can take some advice from Ensign’s response to being asked whether the Huskies had a feeling they might pull off the upset.
“You’ve got to go into every game confident,” Ensign said. “You want to say, ‘Yes, we’re going to win this game,’ but then again, no one wants to be too confident and then lose it. But we knew what we needed to get done.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Joe Kallikadan
D Derek Kerbs
D Griffin Geisler
D Sean Flading
M Nick Coon
M Noah Hey
M Jordi McCormack
M Riley Guttosch
F Ethan Moor
F Jordi Heeneman
F Daniel Poole
Naperville North
GK Christian Robert
D Matty Sylvester
D Kevin Keane
D Wesley Wong
D Brandon HIpp
M Chris Sullivan
M Martin Li
M Connor McBride
M Grant Borg
F Chris Ensign
F Adam Helf
Man of the Match: Martin Li, Naperville North.
Referees: Bill Niemeier, Tony Martinez, Carlos Herrera.