Wheaton Academy remains
the picture of health
Blanks Saint Viator in PepsiCo Showdown
By Dave Surico
WEST CHICAGO -- The upset bug must be allergic to Wheaton Academy.
On a night when three Chicagoland Soccer teams (No. 1 St. Charles East, Naperville Central and Plainfield North) suffered their first loss, the Warriors remained hale, hearty and a perfect 8-0 with a 2-0 win over visiting Saint Viator on Tuesday. The victory in the PepsiCo Showdown's round-of-16 advanced Wheaton Academy into a quarterfinal home date against Libertyville at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The hosts controlled most of the action with their aggressive brand of soccer that features physical play, consistant pressure and quick ball movement.
"I thought we played a good game tonight," coach Jeff Brooke said. "Obviously Viator, well coached, organized and a lot of effort, so I thought it was a good test for us. I was anxious to see how we would respond.
"I felt we stuck to our effort to possess the ball even after the first 10 minutes, when Viator was breaking up a lot of stuff and creating a lot of turnovers. I thought we stuck with our possession for the most part and tried to be patient because they defend well as a full unit of 11. I was pleased with the way we responded just from a focus perspective."
After battling though 55 scoreless minutes, Wheaton Academy star Ty Seager did what he does best -- score. Defender Hunter Finnegan's pass started the play.
"I was on the left side and cutting in to the right side on my right foot which is strong," said the junior forward. "I touched it by one (defender), and their center back kind of dove in. I touched it again and got a little gap. So I hit it near post and it went in."
The effort gave the Warriors the only goal they needed and earned Seager Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for the third time this season.
The 20-yard score energized the Warriors. Reid Culberson, the other half of Wheaton Academy's fast and furious forward combination definitely felt it.
"We were knocking at the door for just about all the second half. We had most of the momemtum," he said.
"They were kind of poking and prodding, so we felt we had the upper hand confidence-wise. And once Ty put that first his away, we were just like alright we can do this. ... We wanted it."
Culberson made sure they got it when he ended any possibility of drama with an insurance goal in the 79th minute. After taking a ball from senior midfielder Jha'Lon Johnson, the 5-foot-7 senior took a long carry down the left side into the middle. He cut through several defenders before he fired a shot from 8 yards out in the middle of the box in the 79th minute.
Wheaton Academy's speed up top -- Seager was an all-state sprinter for the track team last spring -- was a constant worry for St. Viator and altered the Lions game.
"The problem is we got out of our way of doing things," coach Mike Taylor said. "We worried so much about their attack that my outside fullbacks didn't push up to support the guys.
"There are two parts to the game. If you go and attack, hey guess who's got to mark you? This guy does. He can't stay down here (on offense) all day, his coach has got to eventually tell him to come play down here. You've got to force (Culberson) and (Seager), they've got to come back and do a little marking, play a little defense from there."
Viator benefitted from a stalwart center defense led by Chris Beiersdorf, who teamed with Brandon Braun and Sean Lonigro to block numerous Wheaton Academy shots before they could get to keeper Aaron Tres.
"We played fine defensively the first 60 minutes, but we got shut down in the last 20 minutes," Beiersdorf said. "I don't know, we just burned out. They were making the plays with their forwards. They were getting in deep on us."
The game was even for the first 10 minutes before Wheaton Academy's big bodies started to take possessions away from the Lions.
"I told you they were physical," Taylor bellowed from the bench. "Play quicker."
Wheaton Academy started to find its groove 15 minutes in and its possession time started to grow aided by Saint Viator's inability to string together passes. The Lions seemed to be waiting for passes instead of keeping their shape and finding open spaces to receive them.
Saint Viator's Tres did his part to keep Wheaton Academy at bay.
The keeper came out to take a ball off Culberson's feet in the 16th minute. In the 24th minute he caught a hard 10-yard shot from sophomore Luis Rocha, who had just entered the game.
St. Viator's best scoring opportunity came in the 34th minute after Aidan Williams and Zach Gyuricza worked a give-and-go down the right side. Williams rolled a pass through the defense that found found Ryan Carroll near the far post about 11 yards out. Wheaton Academy keeper Drew Sezonov turned the blast away to keep Saint Viator from taking first blood.
Carroll left the game in the 42nd minute due to a leg injury. His loss did not help Saint Viator's struggling possession attempts.
"It took us out of our system having Ryan (Carroll) get hurt," Taylor said. "I only go about 13 deep, so it hurts a little bit on that one there."
When all was said and done, both coaches felt the game was a likely precursor to a playoff meeting between the two Class AA powers.
"I'm glad we played the game," said Taylor. "It's a good team, a lot of respect for them, well put together. As I said to Jeff at the end, I'll give you this one, I'll take the next one. We'll be ready the second time around. Then we'll share. He wins one; I win one."
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
G: Aaron Tres
D: Ryan Carroll
D: Brandon Braun
D: Chris Beiersdorf
D: Sean Lonigro
MF: Miles McDonnell
MF: Zach Gyuricza
MF: Javier Romero
MF: Anthony Pineda
MF: Patrick Hickey
F: Aidan Williams
Wheaton Academy
G: Drew Sezonov
D: Michael Carver
D: Hunter Finnegan
D: Andrew VanNispen
D: Parker Setran
MF: Grant Rougas
MF: Jha'Lon Johnson
MF: Jacob Kapitaniuk
MF: Lucas Hoepner
F: Reid Culberson
F: Ty Seager
Man of the Match: Ty Seager, F, Wheaton Academy
Officials: Steve BeLow (center); Michael Pratt; Jay Cummins.
the picture of health
Blanks Saint Viator in PepsiCo Showdown
By Dave Surico
WEST CHICAGO -- The upset bug must be allergic to Wheaton Academy.
On a night when three Chicagoland Soccer teams (No. 1 St. Charles East, Naperville Central and Plainfield North) suffered their first loss, the Warriors remained hale, hearty and a perfect 8-0 with a 2-0 win over visiting Saint Viator on Tuesday. The victory in the PepsiCo Showdown's round-of-16 advanced Wheaton Academy into a quarterfinal home date against Libertyville at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
The hosts controlled most of the action with their aggressive brand of soccer that features physical play, consistant pressure and quick ball movement.
"I thought we played a good game tonight," coach Jeff Brooke said. "Obviously Viator, well coached, organized and a lot of effort, so I thought it was a good test for us. I was anxious to see how we would respond.
"I felt we stuck to our effort to possess the ball even after the first 10 minutes, when Viator was breaking up a lot of stuff and creating a lot of turnovers. I thought we stuck with our possession for the most part and tried to be patient because they defend well as a full unit of 11. I was pleased with the way we responded just from a focus perspective."
After battling though 55 scoreless minutes, Wheaton Academy star Ty Seager did what he does best -- score. Defender Hunter Finnegan's pass started the play.
"I was on the left side and cutting in to the right side on my right foot which is strong," said the junior forward. "I touched it by one (defender), and their center back kind of dove in. I touched it again and got a little gap. So I hit it near post and it went in."
The effort gave the Warriors the only goal they needed and earned Seager Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honors for the third time this season.
The 20-yard score energized the Warriors. Reid Culberson, the other half of Wheaton Academy's fast and furious forward combination definitely felt it.
"We were knocking at the door for just about all the second half. We had most of the momemtum," he said.
"They were kind of poking and prodding, so we felt we had the upper hand confidence-wise. And once Ty put that first his away, we were just like alright we can do this. ... We wanted it."
Culberson made sure they got it when he ended any possibility of drama with an insurance goal in the 79th minute. After taking a ball from senior midfielder Jha'Lon Johnson, the 5-foot-7 senior took a long carry down the left side into the middle. He cut through several defenders before he fired a shot from 8 yards out in the middle of the box in the 79th minute.
Wheaton Academy's speed up top -- Seager was an all-state sprinter for the track team last spring -- was a constant worry for St. Viator and altered the Lions game.
"The problem is we got out of our way of doing things," coach Mike Taylor said. "We worried so much about their attack that my outside fullbacks didn't push up to support the guys.
"There are two parts to the game. If you go and attack, hey guess who's got to mark you? This guy does. He can't stay down here (on offense) all day, his coach has got to eventually tell him to come play down here. You've got to force (Culberson) and (Seager), they've got to come back and do a little marking, play a little defense from there."
Viator benefitted from a stalwart center defense led by Chris Beiersdorf, who teamed with Brandon Braun and Sean Lonigro to block numerous Wheaton Academy shots before they could get to keeper Aaron Tres.
"We played fine defensively the first 60 minutes, but we got shut down in the last 20 minutes," Beiersdorf said. "I don't know, we just burned out. They were making the plays with their forwards. They were getting in deep on us."
The game was even for the first 10 minutes before Wheaton Academy's big bodies started to take possessions away from the Lions.
"I told you they were physical," Taylor bellowed from the bench. "Play quicker."
Wheaton Academy started to find its groove 15 minutes in and its possession time started to grow aided by Saint Viator's inability to string together passes. The Lions seemed to be waiting for passes instead of keeping their shape and finding open spaces to receive them.
Saint Viator's Tres did his part to keep Wheaton Academy at bay.
The keeper came out to take a ball off Culberson's feet in the 16th minute. In the 24th minute he caught a hard 10-yard shot from sophomore Luis Rocha, who had just entered the game.
St. Viator's best scoring opportunity came in the 34th minute after Aidan Williams and Zach Gyuricza worked a give-and-go down the right side. Williams rolled a pass through the defense that found found Ryan Carroll near the far post about 11 yards out. Wheaton Academy keeper Drew Sezonov turned the blast away to keep Saint Viator from taking first blood.
Carroll left the game in the 42nd minute due to a leg injury. His loss did not help Saint Viator's struggling possession attempts.
"It took us out of our system having Ryan (Carroll) get hurt," Taylor said. "I only go about 13 deep, so it hurts a little bit on that one there."
When all was said and done, both coaches felt the game was a likely precursor to a playoff meeting between the two Class AA powers.
"I'm glad we played the game," said Taylor. "It's a good team, a lot of respect for them, well put together. As I said to Jeff at the end, I'll give you this one, I'll take the next one. We'll be ready the second time around. Then we'll share. He wins one; I win one."
Starting lineups
Saint Viator
G: Aaron Tres
D: Ryan Carroll
D: Brandon Braun
D: Chris Beiersdorf
D: Sean Lonigro
MF: Miles McDonnell
MF: Zach Gyuricza
MF: Javier Romero
MF: Anthony Pineda
MF: Patrick Hickey
F: Aidan Williams
Wheaton Academy
G: Drew Sezonov
D: Michael Carver
D: Hunter Finnegan
D: Andrew VanNispen
D: Parker Setran
MF: Grant Rougas
MF: Jha'Lon Johnson
MF: Jacob Kapitaniuk
MF: Lucas Hoepner
F: Reid Culberson
F: Ty Seager
Man of the Match: Ty Seager, F, Wheaton Academy
Officials: Steve BeLow (center); Michael Pratt; Jay Cummins.