Back-up picks up Naperville
North in win over Batavia
Goalkeeper Wiest posts clean sheet in 2-0 Huskies win
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – There are less stressful matches to make your first varsity start than a sectional championship game. But that’s the situation Naperville North backup goalie Riley Wiest found himself in Saturday.
Wiest, a junior, was forced into the starting lineup because starter Christian Robert suffered a possible concussion when he was kicked in the face during Tuesday’s 2-1 sectional semifinal win over Naperville Central.
Wiest played the final 28 minutes of that match and was credited with the win when Chris Sullivan scored with 24:23 remaining.
“It was a little emotional going in in the Central game with our big leader Christian Robert coming out,” Wiest said. “I had to step up there.
“I was a little nervous but after that I knew I might be starting the rest of the games. It’s all just preparation and focusing until I gained my confidence. And it was a great game.”
Indeed it was for the Huskies. Wiest made five saves in a command performance between the pipes and Matty Sylvester and Connor McBride scored goals as Naperville North won the “Sectional of Death” with a 2-0 win over Batavia in the Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional final.
The win advances the Huskies (16-4-3), who extended their winning streak to nine and their unbeaten skein to 14, to Tuesday’s Lewis University Supersectional. There they will take on Hinsdale Central (16-4-4), which eliminated top-ranked Morton 3-2 to win the Lyons Sectional.
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said Robert is questionable for Tuesday’s game but expects him to ready for the state semifinals should the Huskies make it that far. In the meantime, Wiest’s play has demonstrated why Konrad has long said he has no qualms about starting him.
“Part of the fact is that Riley and Christian are so close,” Konrad said. “They train together, and it’s such a huge advantage for Christian to have a great guy right behind him. We’ve got two good guys and Riley stepped up.”
Wiest made two diving stops on Batavia’s Erik Faessler, one in each half, was decisive in his moves off the line and authoritative in directing Naperville North’s back four of Sylvester, Wesley Wong, Kevin Keane and Nick Carballo, who were as stout as they’ve been all season.
“I think the boys wanted to win for Christian,” Konrad said. “Christian is such an emotional leader on this team, and the boys wanted to lift their game to make sure Christian has a chance to get back in the net.
“With that said, Riley, as we saw today, is a fantastic goalkeeper. He made the right decisions on punching balls out or grabbing balls, he’s a good distributor, he makes good decisions. We hate to lose Christian but we know we’ve got a good backup and that’s what is part of being a good team.”
Sylvester wasn’t surprised by Wiest’s performance.
“He was amazing,” Sylvester said. “He had a lot of talk back there. I was telling him all week how he’d do great. I’m so happy for him and so happy for us, too.”
Sylvester recalled some National Football League history to describe the Huskies' situation.
“It’s kind of like [the New England Patriots] going from Drew Bledsoe to Tom Brady when they first started,” Sylvester said of the NFL quarterbacks. “(Robert and Wiest) they’re both great goalies. Christian is fearless and Riley is great at talking and sorting everything out in the back.”
Wiest got plenty of pointers before the match and not just from Robert. Wiest’s older brother, Michael, was a star goalie for the Huskies who went on to become a four-year starter for Bowling Green.
“He’s been giving me advice, and he’s just there for me,” Wiest said. “Luckily, he was able to come back from Ohio to watch this game. He was there to support me.”
Though Wiest felt some nerves at the outset, they soon went away after he had a chance to handle the ball.
“It helped after a few saves,” Wiest said. “You just get in a groove, and it feels just like every day at practice.
“It was a great team effort. For me personally it was a good first start and good transition to hopefully next year, too. But it was a great team win.”
Indeed, the Huskies received solid efforts all over the field.
Sylvester helped at both ends as he scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick with 7:38 remaining in the first half.
“We practice PKs at every practice,” Sylvester said. “If we ever go to PKs we know who our five will be and I [am] one of them. I volunteered right away because I was confident that I could make it.”
That’s another thing that makes the Huskies stand out from other teams.
“It’s funny that our right back is our PK specialist,” Konrad said. “You don’t see that very often. He’s a heckuva shooter with a ton of confidence and that’s good.
“We’ve got a bunch of kids who feel very comfortable stepping in and knocking in PKs. Obviously that goal was huge.”
The Huskies beat Batavia 2-1 in the regular season but didn’t want to find themselves trailing in a do-or-die game. Sylvester’s goal gave them some breathing room.
“With a lead everyone’s confidence grows,” Sylvester said. “It kind of loosens everything up. We’re in our game, we’ve got a lead and we know when we’re playing with a lead our defense can stop the opponent much of the time.”
The Huskies did just that even though the Bulldogs have a Division I player in Duquesne University recruit Ian Larson. The midfielder was held to three shots, all in the second half. Two of them came on free kicks, one from 22 yards and the other from 29 yards out, but both went over the crossbar.
“We know who their dangerous players were. We kind of game-planned for them, knew how to defend them all,” Sylvester said. “Sometimes it takes luck, sometimes skill.”
Skill kept the sheet clean when Bruno Siegel launched a high 33-yard shot 10 minutes into the second half. It was headed under the crossbar but Wiest was there to grab it.
“We had some chances,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We had a couple in the first half that dropped right in the six off some set plays that we usually finish, and we just didn’t put those away today.
“In the second half Ian had a couple opportunities which we’ve finished in other parts of the season. But they’re big, they’re strong. We struggled getting in behind them, and they did a nice job of keeping us in front.”
Connor McBride made sure the Huskies stayed in front when he bagged a huge insurance goal with 28:18 to go. Chris Ensign rifled a cross in from the left side that was intercepted by Siegel.
But before Siegel could clear it, McBride rushed in and fired home a five-yard shot. It was McBride’s second goal in as many games.
“We are truly a team from top to bottom,” Konrad said. “These guys are believing in each other so it’s been a fun run.
“Every guy on this team battles hard every practice and every game and that’s a mentality we try to put in our kids heads and they’ve been believing in it and it’s shown. We just won four really tough games.”
Thus ends Batavia’s attempt to win its first sectional title since 1993.
“(It was) absolutely a great season,” Gianfrancesco said. “The boys played really well together and were focused all the way through the season. Tough to see it end, though, for all the seniors.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Riley Wiest
D Matty Sylvester
D Kevin Keane
D Nick Carballo
D Wesley Wong
M Chris Sullivan
M Connor McBride
M Grant Borg
F Chris Ensign
F Brandon Hipp
F Adam Helf
Batavia
GK Jonathan Faraone
D Daniel Zagoren
D Nicholas Konopacki
M Luke Laurich
M Brandon Yunker
M Ian Larson
M Adam Heinz
M Erik Faessler
F Kevin Collins
F Davis DiBiase
F Joseph Jorgensen
Man of the Match: Riley Wiest, Naperville North
North in win over Batavia
Goalkeeper Wiest posts clean sheet in 2-0 Huskies win
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – There are less stressful matches to make your first varsity start than a sectional championship game. But that’s the situation Naperville North backup goalie Riley Wiest found himself in Saturday.
Wiest, a junior, was forced into the starting lineup because starter Christian Robert suffered a possible concussion when he was kicked in the face during Tuesday’s 2-1 sectional semifinal win over Naperville Central.
Wiest played the final 28 minutes of that match and was credited with the win when Chris Sullivan scored with 24:23 remaining.
“It was a little emotional going in in the Central game with our big leader Christian Robert coming out,” Wiest said. “I had to step up there.
“I was a little nervous but after that I knew I might be starting the rest of the games. It’s all just preparation and focusing until I gained my confidence. And it was a great game.”
Indeed it was for the Huskies. Wiest made five saves in a command performance between the pipes and Matty Sylvester and Connor McBride scored goals as Naperville North won the “Sectional of Death” with a 2-0 win over Batavia in the Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional final.
The win advances the Huskies (16-4-3), who extended their winning streak to nine and their unbeaten skein to 14, to Tuesday’s Lewis University Supersectional. There they will take on Hinsdale Central (16-4-4), which eliminated top-ranked Morton 3-2 to win the Lyons Sectional.
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said Robert is questionable for Tuesday’s game but expects him to ready for the state semifinals should the Huskies make it that far. In the meantime, Wiest’s play has demonstrated why Konrad has long said he has no qualms about starting him.
“Part of the fact is that Riley and Christian are so close,” Konrad said. “They train together, and it’s such a huge advantage for Christian to have a great guy right behind him. We’ve got two good guys and Riley stepped up.”
Wiest made two diving stops on Batavia’s Erik Faessler, one in each half, was decisive in his moves off the line and authoritative in directing Naperville North’s back four of Sylvester, Wesley Wong, Kevin Keane and Nick Carballo, who were as stout as they’ve been all season.
“I think the boys wanted to win for Christian,” Konrad said. “Christian is such an emotional leader on this team, and the boys wanted to lift their game to make sure Christian has a chance to get back in the net.
“With that said, Riley, as we saw today, is a fantastic goalkeeper. He made the right decisions on punching balls out or grabbing balls, he’s a good distributor, he makes good decisions. We hate to lose Christian but we know we’ve got a good backup and that’s what is part of being a good team.”
Sylvester wasn’t surprised by Wiest’s performance.
“He was amazing,” Sylvester said. “He had a lot of talk back there. I was telling him all week how he’d do great. I’m so happy for him and so happy for us, too.”
Sylvester recalled some National Football League history to describe the Huskies' situation.
“It’s kind of like [the New England Patriots] going from Drew Bledsoe to Tom Brady when they first started,” Sylvester said of the NFL quarterbacks. “(Robert and Wiest) they’re both great goalies. Christian is fearless and Riley is great at talking and sorting everything out in the back.”
Wiest got plenty of pointers before the match and not just from Robert. Wiest’s older brother, Michael, was a star goalie for the Huskies who went on to become a four-year starter for Bowling Green.
“He’s been giving me advice, and he’s just there for me,” Wiest said. “Luckily, he was able to come back from Ohio to watch this game. He was there to support me.”
Though Wiest felt some nerves at the outset, they soon went away after he had a chance to handle the ball.
“It helped after a few saves,” Wiest said. “You just get in a groove, and it feels just like every day at practice.
“It was a great team effort. For me personally it was a good first start and good transition to hopefully next year, too. But it was a great team win.”
Indeed, the Huskies received solid efforts all over the field.
Sylvester helped at both ends as he scored the game-winning goal on a penalty kick with 7:38 remaining in the first half.
“We practice PKs at every practice,” Sylvester said. “If we ever go to PKs we know who our five will be and I [am] one of them. I volunteered right away because I was confident that I could make it.”
That’s another thing that makes the Huskies stand out from other teams.
“It’s funny that our right back is our PK specialist,” Konrad said. “You don’t see that very often. He’s a heckuva shooter with a ton of confidence and that’s good.
“We’ve got a bunch of kids who feel very comfortable stepping in and knocking in PKs. Obviously that goal was huge.”
The Huskies beat Batavia 2-1 in the regular season but didn’t want to find themselves trailing in a do-or-die game. Sylvester’s goal gave them some breathing room.
“With a lead everyone’s confidence grows,” Sylvester said. “It kind of loosens everything up. We’re in our game, we’ve got a lead and we know when we’re playing with a lead our defense can stop the opponent much of the time.”
The Huskies did just that even though the Bulldogs have a Division I player in Duquesne University recruit Ian Larson. The midfielder was held to three shots, all in the second half. Two of them came on free kicks, one from 22 yards and the other from 29 yards out, but both went over the crossbar.
“We know who their dangerous players were. We kind of game-planned for them, knew how to defend them all,” Sylvester said. “Sometimes it takes luck, sometimes skill.”
Skill kept the sheet clean when Bruno Siegel launched a high 33-yard shot 10 minutes into the second half. It was headed under the crossbar but Wiest was there to grab it.
“We had some chances,” Batavia coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “We had a couple in the first half that dropped right in the six off some set plays that we usually finish, and we just didn’t put those away today.
“In the second half Ian had a couple opportunities which we’ve finished in other parts of the season. But they’re big, they’re strong. We struggled getting in behind them, and they did a nice job of keeping us in front.”
Connor McBride made sure the Huskies stayed in front when he bagged a huge insurance goal with 28:18 to go. Chris Ensign rifled a cross in from the left side that was intercepted by Siegel.
But before Siegel could clear it, McBride rushed in and fired home a five-yard shot. It was McBride’s second goal in as many games.
“We are truly a team from top to bottom,” Konrad said. “These guys are believing in each other so it’s been a fun run.
“Every guy on this team battles hard every practice and every game and that’s a mentality we try to put in our kids heads and they’ve been believing in it and it’s shown. We just won four really tough games.”
Thus ends Batavia’s attempt to win its first sectional title since 1993.
“(It was) absolutely a great season,” Gianfrancesco said. “The boys played really well together and were focused all the way through the season. Tough to see it end, though, for all the seniors.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Riley Wiest
D Matty Sylvester
D Kevin Keane
D Nick Carballo
D Wesley Wong
M Chris Sullivan
M Connor McBride
M Grant Borg
F Chris Ensign
F Brandon Hipp
F Adam Helf
Batavia
GK Jonathan Faraone
D Daniel Zagoren
D Nicholas Konopacki
M Luke Laurich
M Brandon Yunker
M Ian Larson
M Adam Heinz
M Erik Faessler
F Kevin Collins
F Davis DiBiase
F Joseph Jorgensen
Man of the Match: Riley Wiest, Naperville North