Oak Park rains goals on Downers North
Practice makes perfect for Huskies in 4-0 victory
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Coaches are fond of saying that you will play like you practice.
Oak Park and River Forest’s Max Klevgard and Quentin Drane literally did that Tuesday, translating hours of hard practice into a pair of nifty goals to help the visiting Huskies knock off Downers Grove North 4-0 in a West Suburban Conference Silver Division finale at rainy Carstens Field.
Klevgard, a junior midfielder, tallied his second goal of the season when he drilled a 33-yard shot into the upper left corner with 10:55 to go in the first half to give the Huskies (10-5-1, 4-2) a 2-0 advantage.
“Graham [Nagle-Deamer] had a cross,” Klevgard said. “It came off a deflection, and we’ve been practicing this all year.
“I stay up top and anything that comes out I put on target. I just had a good goal today.”
Klevgard’s practice habits aren’t confined to team sessions. He hones his shot whenever he can, and it is paying off.
“I enjoying practicing this,” Klevgard said. “Me and my dad practice this all the time. It’s great to finally get one in a game.”
Drane, a senior defender, had similar sentiments after scoring on a corner kick to extend the lead to 3-0 with 25:11 left in the second half. Drane took his kick from the left corner and curved it through the driving rain and off the inside of the far post and in.
It was Drane’s first goal of the season and the second of his varsity career.
“I’ve done it in practices a couple of times,” Drane said. “Usually I try to hit it to the back post to Mavin Gill. He’s our tall defender and he’s great in the air.
“I just try to get it to him, and if it goes in, it goes in.”
Oak Park deluged Downers North (8-10-1, 1-5) with 19 shots, and while not all of them were on frame, the four-goal output was representative of how dominant the Huskies have been lately.
They have won seven of their last eight games and have scored 25 goals in that span. The only loss was a 3-2 shootout loss to WSC Silver champion Hinsdale Central.
“The big thing is we’re seeing ourselves peak at the right time,” Oak Park coach Paul Wright said. “We’re moving the ball around, we’re creating chances. We didn’t have that the first five games of the season.
“We’re seeing more and more opportunities now. Every game we’re getting better and better in some type of facet, so it’s good to see that.”
The Huskies took it to the Trojans from the start, with Quinn Neuman missing wide on a shot in the box just two minutes in. OPRF held the ball in the Downers North end for nearly the entire first half.
“We played good as a team,” Drane said. “Defense was strong. We were able to possess from the back, which is good, and move the ball up the field as a team. It was a good all-around performance.”
Nearly everyone had a hand in it, including forward Andrew Barkidija, the lone freshman on the roster. He created the first goal when he took a ball to the left end line and sent a cross in front that hit a Downers North defender and caromed toward the net. Downers North goalie Alex Wall, who finished with seven saves, dove and was able to prevent the own goal, but left a rebound for Evan Kindler, who tapped it in.
Senior Harrison Engoren capped the scoring at the 4:08 mark of the second half when his shot from 28 yards out slipped through the hands of a leaping Wall.
The Trojans managed a couple of corner kicks in the second half and got one shot past Oak Park goalie William Dunne, but Gill was there to volley it off the line. Dunne finished with one save to record the Huskies’ seventh shutout of the season, five of which have come during the current 7-1 skein.
“We started off a little shaky this season, but in the last couple games we’ve been molding as a team,” said Drane, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “We’re starting to find our shape as a team and we’re really starting to work well together, so I think we’re looking good for the playoffs.”
Klevgard agreed. “We’re riding a hot streak right now,” he said. “We hope to go far in playoffs."
The Huskies are seeded fifth at the Class 3A Lyons Sectional and will open the playoffs Tuesday against No. 12 seed Argo at the Downers Grove South Regional. They would likely face the fourth-seeded host school in the regional finals.
Hinsdale Central and Lyons, the teams that finished ahead of the third-place Huskies in the conference race, are seeded second and third.
“We feel like we’ve got a chip on our shoulder because we had the lead against Lyons and lost 3-2,” Wright said. “We had a solid result against Hinsdale Central and lost in PKs, so we feel like we’re right there. We have a quality chance to get out of this.”
Starting lineups
Oak Park and River Forest
GK William Dunne
D Quentin Drane
D Mavin Gill
D Graham Nagle-Deamer
D Kirk Svensson
M Harrison Engoren
M Noah Fluharty
M Joe Gullo
F Quinn Neuman
F Zach El Metennani
F Andrew Barkidija
Downers Grove North
GK Alex Wall
D Jack Drobny
D Jake Stevenson
D Brett Pyburn
M Tyler Winslow
M Matthew Metzler
M Zachary Jahn
M Trace Dimos
M Josh Naponeli
M Liam Budnik
F Michael Malloy
Man of the Match: Quentin Drane, Oak Park and River Forest
Officials: Kazmierz Mazurek, Steen Baker, Dean Palmeter
Practice makes perfect for Huskies in 4-0 victory
By Matt Le Cren
DOWNERS GROVE – Coaches are fond of saying that you will play like you practice.
Oak Park and River Forest’s Max Klevgard and Quentin Drane literally did that Tuesday, translating hours of hard practice into a pair of nifty goals to help the visiting Huskies knock off Downers Grove North 4-0 in a West Suburban Conference Silver Division finale at rainy Carstens Field.
Klevgard, a junior midfielder, tallied his second goal of the season when he drilled a 33-yard shot into the upper left corner with 10:55 to go in the first half to give the Huskies (10-5-1, 4-2) a 2-0 advantage.
“Graham [Nagle-Deamer] had a cross,” Klevgard said. “It came off a deflection, and we’ve been practicing this all year.
“I stay up top and anything that comes out I put on target. I just had a good goal today.”
Klevgard’s practice habits aren’t confined to team sessions. He hones his shot whenever he can, and it is paying off.
“I enjoying practicing this,” Klevgard said. “Me and my dad practice this all the time. It’s great to finally get one in a game.”
Drane, a senior defender, had similar sentiments after scoring on a corner kick to extend the lead to 3-0 with 25:11 left in the second half. Drane took his kick from the left corner and curved it through the driving rain and off the inside of the far post and in.
It was Drane’s first goal of the season and the second of his varsity career.
“I’ve done it in practices a couple of times,” Drane said. “Usually I try to hit it to the back post to Mavin Gill. He’s our tall defender and he’s great in the air.
“I just try to get it to him, and if it goes in, it goes in.”
Oak Park deluged Downers North (8-10-1, 1-5) with 19 shots, and while not all of them were on frame, the four-goal output was representative of how dominant the Huskies have been lately.
They have won seven of their last eight games and have scored 25 goals in that span. The only loss was a 3-2 shootout loss to WSC Silver champion Hinsdale Central.
“The big thing is we’re seeing ourselves peak at the right time,” Oak Park coach Paul Wright said. “We’re moving the ball around, we’re creating chances. We didn’t have that the first five games of the season.
“We’re seeing more and more opportunities now. Every game we’re getting better and better in some type of facet, so it’s good to see that.”
The Huskies took it to the Trojans from the start, with Quinn Neuman missing wide on a shot in the box just two minutes in. OPRF held the ball in the Downers North end for nearly the entire first half.
“We played good as a team,” Drane said. “Defense was strong. We were able to possess from the back, which is good, and move the ball up the field as a team. It was a good all-around performance.”
Nearly everyone had a hand in it, including forward Andrew Barkidija, the lone freshman on the roster. He created the first goal when he took a ball to the left end line and sent a cross in front that hit a Downers North defender and caromed toward the net. Downers North goalie Alex Wall, who finished with seven saves, dove and was able to prevent the own goal, but left a rebound for Evan Kindler, who tapped it in.
Senior Harrison Engoren capped the scoring at the 4:08 mark of the second half when his shot from 28 yards out slipped through the hands of a leaping Wall.
The Trojans managed a couple of corner kicks in the second half and got one shot past Oak Park goalie William Dunne, but Gill was there to volley it off the line. Dunne finished with one save to record the Huskies’ seventh shutout of the season, five of which have come during the current 7-1 skein.
“We started off a little shaky this season, but in the last couple games we’ve been molding as a team,” said Drane, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match. “We’re starting to find our shape as a team and we’re really starting to work well together, so I think we’re looking good for the playoffs.”
Klevgard agreed. “We’re riding a hot streak right now,” he said. “We hope to go far in playoffs."
The Huskies are seeded fifth at the Class 3A Lyons Sectional and will open the playoffs Tuesday against No. 12 seed Argo at the Downers Grove South Regional. They would likely face the fourth-seeded host school in the regional finals.
Hinsdale Central and Lyons, the teams that finished ahead of the third-place Huskies in the conference race, are seeded second and third.
“We feel like we’ve got a chip on our shoulder because we had the lead against Lyons and lost 3-2,” Wright said. “We had a solid result against Hinsdale Central and lost in PKs, so we feel like we’re right there. We have a quality chance to get out of this.”
Starting lineups
Oak Park and River Forest
GK William Dunne
D Quentin Drane
D Mavin Gill
D Graham Nagle-Deamer
D Kirk Svensson
M Harrison Engoren
M Noah Fluharty
M Joe Gullo
F Quinn Neuman
F Zach El Metennani
F Andrew Barkidija
Downers Grove North
GK Alex Wall
D Jack Drobny
D Jake Stevenson
D Brett Pyburn
M Tyler Winslow
M Matthew Metzler
M Zachary Jahn
M Trace Dimos
M Josh Naponeli
M Liam Budnik
F Michael Malloy
Man of the Match: Quentin Drane, Oak Park and River Forest
Officials: Kazmierz Mazurek, Steen Baker, Dean Palmeter