Bibergall’s blast powers
Wheaton North to 1-0 win
Midfielder strikes when opportunity's there
By Derek Wolff
ROSELLE — Wheaton North and Huntley traded chances all afternoon Saturday in what looked like a game that headed for a scoreless draw.
Nico Bibergall had other ideas.
The Wheaton North midfielder found himself with open space in the 67th minute and cracked a strike from 35 yards out, beating Huntley keeper Michael Parks.
It was all the offense the Falcons needed to secure a 1-0 victory in second round of Lark Park's Hillner Classic.
“I just saw an open opportunity and took it,” Bibergall said. “I figured, what could go wrong?”
The Falcons had threatened twice in the first half with two shots ringing off the crossbar before creating a number of close chances in the second. Finally, Bibergall’s strike broke the deadlock.
The goal came as a relief to head coach Tim McEvilly, who said that sometimes his team tries to be too technically perfect.
“We reminded them it’s OK to score the easy ones,” McEvilly said. “That strike was something that we’ve talked about in regards to, 'You’ve got to take the chances when they’re there.'
"We’ve got some creative, attacking players that can make things happen. Sometimes with all that creativity you try to make that one extra pass or one extra touch when you’ve got a chance in front of you that you need to take. Nico saw an opportunity and he just ripped it for the goal.”
Huntley nearly equalized two minutes later when defender Kyle Carberry saw an opening inside the 18-yard box from the right side. However, his flick on net went straight into the arms of Wheaton North keeper Connor Reece.
The Red Raiders comeback attempt was all but snuffed out a few minutes later when defender Gaetano Dipasquale caused a hard challenge from behind, earning him his second yellow card and an automatic red in the process.
His teammate, defenseman Angel Sanchez, also received a yellow card in the first half.
The penalties were worrisome to Huntley head coach Kris Grabner due to the IHSA rule change on team yellow card accumulation this season, but otherwise Grabner was pleased with the vast improvement his team showed.
“I hate to lose; I know my players hate to lose. But this early in the season we’re looking at improvement,” Grabner said. “We came out today and connected our passes. We moved better on the ball, and our spacing was much better. We’ve got to work to get a little bit better opportunities to score but there was a huge, huge improvement from Thursday to today.”
Aside from Wheaton North’s two chances off the woodwork, the Red Raiders created more opportunities in the first half and pushed the pace of play. Forward Travis Walsh was taken down right on the edge of the 18-yard box in the 32nd minute. The play could have been called a penalty kick.
Instead, Huntley took a free kick that connect from just outside the box.
Red Raider captain Michael Zembrzuski said the performance was an improvement from an offensive standpoint.
“Our spacing was better. There was a lot more time on the ball for attacks,” Zembrzuski said. “We had a lot more attacks today. Last game we had maybe one shot on target. This game we had three or four.
While the finishing touch eluded his team today, Zembrzuski was hopeful that it will come in short order.
“We have to build our attack better," he said. "We are getting chances but we have to get more and more, and eventually we’ll start scoring.”
The strong second half from Wheaton North allowed the Falcons to produce the favorable result after making the needed adjustments at halftime.
Still, McEvilly knows there is room for improvement, especially before his side’s next matchup Tuesday against Conant.
"We’ve played three games now, and we’ve done a really good job controlling the pace of play, maintaining possession throughout most of the game,” McEvilly said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be like that throughout the year, but one of the things that’s a problem when maintaining pace of play, maintaining possession, is sometimes we get a little bit lackadaisical with the back four.
"(They) just don’t recover at the same speed. They’re assuming we’re going to win that ball back, and you can’t assume. You just need to continue to play defensively with that speed to win the ball back and to transition it to the attack as soon as possible.”
Huntley continues the tournamet Tuesday against York.
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Connor Reece
D Cole Montejano
D Ethan Taira
D Armand Torrez
D Zach Oslund
M Aaron Deeke
M Jason Szumski
M Dan Norton
M Sam Mason
M Cooper Winckler
F Zoran Tanasic
Huntley
GK Michael Parks
D Kyle Carberry
D Angel Sanchez
D Manuel Menjivar
M Mario Carlo Vergara
M Alessandro Vergara
M Alexander Ligeza
M Michael Zembrzuski
M Zack Whitaker
F Travis Walsh
F Allan Josue Barrientos
Man of the Match: Nico Bibergall, Wheaton North
Referees: Randy Bevis, Glenn Sogge, Harold Pletz
Wheaton North to 1-0 win
Midfielder strikes when opportunity's there
By Derek Wolff
ROSELLE — Wheaton North and Huntley traded chances all afternoon Saturday in what looked like a game that headed for a scoreless draw.
Nico Bibergall had other ideas.
The Wheaton North midfielder found himself with open space in the 67th minute and cracked a strike from 35 yards out, beating Huntley keeper Michael Parks.
It was all the offense the Falcons needed to secure a 1-0 victory in second round of Lark Park's Hillner Classic.
“I just saw an open opportunity and took it,” Bibergall said. “I figured, what could go wrong?”
The Falcons had threatened twice in the first half with two shots ringing off the crossbar before creating a number of close chances in the second. Finally, Bibergall’s strike broke the deadlock.
The goal came as a relief to head coach Tim McEvilly, who said that sometimes his team tries to be too technically perfect.
“We reminded them it’s OK to score the easy ones,” McEvilly said. “That strike was something that we’ve talked about in regards to, 'You’ve got to take the chances when they’re there.'
"We’ve got some creative, attacking players that can make things happen. Sometimes with all that creativity you try to make that one extra pass or one extra touch when you’ve got a chance in front of you that you need to take. Nico saw an opportunity and he just ripped it for the goal.”
Huntley nearly equalized two minutes later when defender Kyle Carberry saw an opening inside the 18-yard box from the right side. However, his flick on net went straight into the arms of Wheaton North keeper Connor Reece.
The Red Raiders comeback attempt was all but snuffed out a few minutes later when defender Gaetano Dipasquale caused a hard challenge from behind, earning him his second yellow card and an automatic red in the process.
His teammate, defenseman Angel Sanchez, also received a yellow card in the first half.
The penalties were worrisome to Huntley head coach Kris Grabner due to the IHSA rule change on team yellow card accumulation this season, but otherwise Grabner was pleased with the vast improvement his team showed.
“I hate to lose; I know my players hate to lose. But this early in the season we’re looking at improvement,” Grabner said. “We came out today and connected our passes. We moved better on the ball, and our spacing was much better. We’ve got to work to get a little bit better opportunities to score but there was a huge, huge improvement from Thursday to today.”
Aside from Wheaton North’s two chances off the woodwork, the Red Raiders created more opportunities in the first half and pushed the pace of play. Forward Travis Walsh was taken down right on the edge of the 18-yard box in the 32nd minute. The play could have been called a penalty kick.
Instead, Huntley took a free kick that connect from just outside the box.
Red Raider captain Michael Zembrzuski said the performance was an improvement from an offensive standpoint.
“Our spacing was better. There was a lot more time on the ball for attacks,” Zembrzuski said. “We had a lot more attacks today. Last game we had maybe one shot on target. This game we had three or four.
While the finishing touch eluded his team today, Zembrzuski was hopeful that it will come in short order.
“We have to build our attack better," he said. "We are getting chances but we have to get more and more, and eventually we’ll start scoring.”
The strong second half from Wheaton North allowed the Falcons to produce the favorable result after making the needed adjustments at halftime.
Still, McEvilly knows there is room for improvement, especially before his side’s next matchup Tuesday against Conant.
"We’ve played three games now, and we’ve done a really good job controlling the pace of play, maintaining possession throughout most of the game,” McEvilly said. “I don’t know if it’s going to be like that throughout the year, but one of the things that’s a problem when maintaining pace of play, maintaining possession, is sometimes we get a little bit lackadaisical with the back four.
"(They) just don’t recover at the same speed. They’re assuming we’re going to win that ball back, and you can’t assume. You just need to continue to play defensively with that speed to win the ball back and to transition it to the attack as soon as possible.”
Huntley continues the tournamet Tuesday against York.
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Connor Reece
D Cole Montejano
D Ethan Taira
D Armand Torrez
D Zach Oslund
M Aaron Deeke
M Jason Szumski
M Dan Norton
M Sam Mason
M Cooper Winckler
F Zoran Tanasic
Huntley
GK Michael Parks
D Kyle Carberry
D Angel Sanchez
D Manuel Menjivar
M Mario Carlo Vergara
M Alessandro Vergara
M Alexander Ligeza
M Michael Zembrzuski
M Zack Whitaker
F Travis Walsh
F Allan Josue Barrientos
Man of the Match: Nico Bibergall, Wheaton North
Referees: Randy Bevis, Glenn Sogge, Harold Pletz