Neuqua Valley remains
unbeaten in Upstate Eight Valley
Baladi’s second-half goal breaks scoreless tie for Wildcats
By Chris Walker
NAPERVILLE – Reed Kurtenbach is no dummy, but he played one on Tuesday afternoon.
The Neuqua Valley senior took on that role on a Ryan Ross corner kick, setting up teammate Kas Baladi, who drilled in a shot with 20:07 remaining in an Upstate Eight Valley Conference game in Naperville to spark the Wildcats to a 2-0 victory.
“We needed to pull ahead and get a goal. I think that kind of settled us down,” Kurtenbach said. “Ryan and I have worked on it in practice, and when nobody is on front post and it’s open, it’s dead-on. We usually drive it in the air, but this time Kas came in behind me and just put it in.”
For unselfishly stepping in and taking on the dummy role in a crucial moment and for hustling up and down the field throughout the afternoon, Kurtenbach was recognized as Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“Set pieces are big,” he said. “If we can keep doing them like this, we’ll be in good shape.’”
Baladi knew he couldn’t miss such a great opportunity, especially after playing nearly 60 minutes of scoreless soccer.
“That was a big play,” he said. “We work on set plays all the time in practice, and when you get a chance like this late in a game, you’ve got to try to get it in.”
The pretty-looking play was perfectly executed.
“We let the first guy, the dummy, just go out,” Baladi said. “Reed is one of our captains and he called out the play and told me to make sure I got a read on this. As soon as it was played, I knew it was the ball for me. I hit it, no one touched it and luckily it went back post.”
Often soccer games are won or lost by a big play off a set play. This one was no different, and Ross understands the importance of taking advantage of these crucial moments.
“In high school matches, more than half the goals come on set pieces,” Ross said. “It’s all corner kicks and free kicks and finding a way to take advantage of them and putting them in the back of the net.”
Neuqua Valley (5-5-0, 4-0-0) added an insurance goal with just more than five minutes left in the contest when Austin Flatt scored.
“We were pushing nine to 10 guys up by then, and they countered. It happens,” Blackhawks coach Joe Sustersic said. “The score was 2-0, but it doesn’t indicate the kind of game it was. They only got five or six quality shots on goal, but when you make mistakes and they take advantage of it, the only thing that counts is what’s on the scoreboard.”
West Aurora (4-3-2, 2-2-0) created its fair share of chances and nearly pulled ahead 1-0 just a couple of minutes into the second half.
Senior Julio Mejia sent a great cross to junior Christian Martinez, who leapt to take a shot but timed it perfectly. He sent the rising shot just off the bottom side of the cross bar.
While the shot was close, it didn’t allow the Blackhawks to seize control of a scoreless match.
“That’s been our whole season,” Sustersic said. “We hit a cross bar, we hit a post, their goalie makes a nice save and then we make a mistake. It’s a big mistake, and they take advantage of it.”
The near-miss seemed to take a lot out of the Blackhawks.
“It’s frustrating when you get a chance like that and almost put it in,” West Aurora senior defender Luis Gallegos said. “I think it made us feel bad. I tried to keep their confidence and tell them to keep trying, but we couldn’t do it. It wasn’t our day to make those goals in the net.”
Still the Blackhawks didn’t go down easily. In fact, Neuqua Valley’s sophomore goalkeeper Brady Moody had to make a couple of big saves to help the Wildcats hold on for the victory.
Moody was one of just four non-seniors, and the only sophomore, in the starting lineup for either team. He handled anything sent his way for all 80 minutes. He was especially tested when West Aurora’s attack got deep into his territory.
Jose Gallegos, Jose Munoz and Martinez all had shots for the Blackhawks in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but Moody and the Neuqua Valley back line were able to deny all those opportunities.
“I knew in a close game like this that I had to make every save,” Moody said. “I knew if I missed anything it would not give us the result we needed.”
He didn’t miss anything, and the Wildcats were able to keep their perfect conference record intact.
Starting lineups
West Aurora
G Robert Marquez
D Luis Gallegos
D Juan Pablo Morales
D Sam Perez
M Paul Cerda
M Junior Espino
M Jose Gallegos
M Oscar Gaytan
M Salvador Vargas
F Alexis Davila
F Christian Martinez
Neuqua Valley
G Brady Moody
D Reed Kurtenbach
D Jason Pastene
D Max Plesh
D Jack Schoonenberg
M Joel Algrem
M Kas Baladi
M Jacob Graham
M Xavi Ortiz
F Austin Flatt
F Ryan Ross
Man of the Match: Reed Kurtenbach
Officials: Bryce Cann, Allen Luchian, Allin Papescu
unbeaten in Upstate Eight Valley
Baladi’s second-half goal breaks scoreless tie for Wildcats
By Chris Walker
NAPERVILLE – Reed Kurtenbach is no dummy, but he played one on Tuesday afternoon.
The Neuqua Valley senior took on that role on a Ryan Ross corner kick, setting up teammate Kas Baladi, who drilled in a shot with 20:07 remaining in an Upstate Eight Valley Conference game in Naperville to spark the Wildcats to a 2-0 victory.
“We needed to pull ahead and get a goal. I think that kind of settled us down,” Kurtenbach said. “Ryan and I have worked on it in practice, and when nobody is on front post and it’s open, it’s dead-on. We usually drive it in the air, but this time Kas came in behind me and just put it in.”
For unselfishly stepping in and taking on the dummy role in a crucial moment and for hustling up and down the field throughout the afternoon, Kurtenbach was recognized as Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match.
“Set pieces are big,” he said. “If we can keep doing them like this, we’ll be in good shape.’”
Baladi knew he couldn’t miss such a great opportunity, especially after playing nearly 60 minutes of scoreless soccer.
“That was a big play,” he said. “We work on set plays all the time in practice, and when you get a chance like this late in a game, you’ve got to try to get it in.”
The pretty-looking play was perfectly executed.
“We let the first guy, the dummy, just go out,” Baladi said. “Reed is one of our captains and he called out the play and told me to make sure I got a read on this. As soon as it was played, I knew it was the ball for me. I hit it, no one touched it and luckily it went back post.”
Often soccer games are won or lost by a big play off a set play. This one was no different, and Ross understands the importance of taking advantage of these crucial moments.
“In high school matches, more than half the goals come on set pieces,” Ross said. “It’s all corner kicks and free kicks and finding a way to take advantage of them and putting them in the back of the net.”
Neuqua Valley (5-5-0, 4-0-0) added an insurance goal with just more than five minutes left in the contest when Austin Flatt scored.
“We were pushing nine to 10 guys up by then, and they countered. It happens,” Blackhawks coach Joe Sustersic said. “The score was 2-0, but it doesn’t indicate the kind of game it was. They only got five or six quality shots on goal, but when you make mistakes and they take advantage of it, the only thing that counts is what’s on the scoreboard.”
West Aurora (4-3-2, 2-2-0) created its fair share of chances and nearly pulled ahead 1-0 just a couple of minutes into the second half.
Senior Julio Mejia sent a great cross to junior Christian Martinez, who leapt to take a shot but timed it perfectly. He sent the rising shot just off the bottom side of the cross bar.
While the shot was close, it didn’t allow the Blackhawks to seize control of a scoreless match.
“That’s been our whole season,” Sustersic said. “We hit a cross bar, we hit a post, their goalie makes a nice save and then we make a mistake. It’s a big mistake, and they take advantage of it.”
The near-miss seemed to take a lot out of the Blackhawks.
“It’s frustrating when you get a chance like that and almost put it in,” West Aurora senior defender Luis Gallegos said. “I think it made us feel bad. I tried to keep their confidence and tell them to keep trying, but we couldn’t do it. It wasn’t our day to make those goals in the net.”
Still the Blackhawks didn’t go down easily. In fact, Neuqua Valley’s sophomore goalkeeper Brady Moody had to make a couple of big saves to help the Wildcats hold on for the victory.
Moody was one of just four non-seniors, and the only sophomore, in the starting lineup for either team. He handled anything sent his way for all 80 minutes. He was especially tested when West Aurora’s attack got deep into his territory.
Jose Gallegos, Jose Munoz and Martinez all had shots for the Blackhawks in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but Moody and the Neuqua Valley back line were able to deny all those opportunities.
“I knew in a close game like this that I had to make every save,” Moody said. “I knew if I missed anything it would not give us the result we needed.”
He didn’t miss anything, and the Wildcats were able to keep their perfect conference record intact.
Starting lineups
West Aurora
G Robert Marquez
D Luis Gallegos
D Juan Pablo Morales
D Sam Perez
M Paul Cerda
M Junior Espino
M Jose Gallegos
M Oscar Gaytan
M Salvador Vargas
F Alexis Davila
F Christian Martinez
Neuqua Valley
G Brady Moody
D Reed Kurtenbach
D Jason Pastene
D Max Plesh
D Jack Schoonenberg
M Joel Algrem
M Kas Baladi
M Jacob Graham
M Xavi Ortiz
F Austin Flatt
F Ryan Ross
Man of the Match: Reed Kurtenbach
Officials: Bryce Cann, Allen Luchian, Allin Papescu