Naperville C. uses 4-goal blitz to top Bartlett
Redhawks strike 4 times in 4-minutes for 5-1 Best of West win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville Central had no trouble getting behind the defense and putting balls in the net in the first half Tuesday night against Bartlett.
The problem was doing it legally.
The Redhawks had two goals disallowed because of offsides and several other breakaways similarly called back while they struggled to figure out the Hawks’ offsides trap.
“You don’t see it very often anymore,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said of Bartlett’s strategy. “The word I’d use is patience.
“Kids don’t have a lot. With technology it’s getting a lot less, and so it’s just that patience to understand that you don’t have to turn and run straight forward.
“You can bend your run out, and you’ll still get it behind them and then you’re on.”
The Redhawks took nearly 35 minutes to solve the riddle but when they did it became like child's play. Jimmy Kalkofen scored with 5:55 left in the first half and Naperville Central eventually scored on 5-of-7 shots during the game-deciding stretch that gave them a 5-1 victory at Memorial Stadium.
Naperville's win on Best of the West Tournament's opening night was highlighted by a four-goal outburst during a four-minute span early in the second half. The Redhawks (2-2-0) scored more goals during that blitz than they had in their first three games combined.
“It’s funny, because I’ve seen U-10 teams do the same thing,” Adams said. “First half it’s please guys can you figure this out? Then the second half all of a sudden it’s four goals.”
Kalkofen was the first to break through with 5:55 to go before halftime. Kyle Kokes sprung Anthony Saavedra up the middle. A defender poked the ball away as Saavedra attempted to shoot, but it skittered into the box to Kalkofen, who had timed his run perfectly and was wide-open for the quick finish.
“We were dominating play, and it was good that we kept the pressure on,” Kalkofen said. “We got a lot of chances, should have finished earlier in the half.
“We had a few that we could have put away and we didn’t, so we just had to get that first goal to get it started. Once we did, we came back out refreshed in the second half and just put them away.”
Zack Kokes woke up the home fans by scoring on the first two shots of the second half. He and Nico Couropmitree twice beat the trap and found pay dirt both times.
First, Couropmitree received a long ball over the top and fired a low liner to the far post. Bartlett sophomore goalie Zac Rebac made a diving save, only to have Kokes bury the rebound with 38:30 to go.
Two minutes later, the Redhawks cashed in on a similar play. This time Couropmitree passed to his right to Kokes, who took a touch to his right to get an angle and then blasted a shot past Rebac to make it 3-0.
“(The trap) was definitely something we talked about at halftime,” Kokes said. “Coach was explaining that we put the one forward up high and the one shorter, and the one who is a little bit shallower should make his run a little wider and then quickly run up the field.
“We also talked about playing the defenders over the top. It was just pressure the defense, let them make the mistakes, and we were fortunate to capitalize on them.”
The streak continued 64 seconds later when Ryan Coleman stole a back pass and scored. That was followed 59 seconds later by Rokas Stadalninkas’ goal that concluded Naperville Central's goal splurge.
Nate Zain was the catalyst on the final goal, getting the ball in traffic in the box and somehow splitting two defenders to free up Stadalninkas.
“I’m glad I wasn’t doing the book, because I probably would have missed a goal,” Adams said of the offensive explosion. “We talked at half about finishing opportunities. We had a lot in the first half and didn’t put them away.
“I said we’re going to play teams that are going to give us four or five opportunities a game. We’re going to have to capitalize on one or two of them.
“We can’t have a success rate of 5 percent. We’ve got to get into the 20-30 percent range. I thought we were very good on that in the second half.”
Indeed, the Redhawks converted 57 percent of their chances in the second half alone. While Zain is Naperville Central’s most dangerous offensive player, forwards like Kokes and Kalkofen will be counted upon to score regularly.
“(The two goals) definitely boosts my confidence but it’s not about my goals,” Zake Kokes said. “It’s about the team goals, and it was a great team result today. So I’m just looking for those goals, because that’s something we’re trying to work on more.
“My job is to keep the ball up, play a hold-up forward, keep possession and finish the chances when I’ve got them.”
Creating chances and finishing them are often two different things. Adams wants Kokes to do both but to know when to do which.
“I made a few points with him and one of them was pick your times to be simple and pick your times to be creative, because you can’t be one or the other all the time as a forward,” Adams said. “You can’t always be trying to do something super creative or unique.
“Sometimes it’s just get it, play it off and run off the ball. He was looking to do that in the second half and that led to him getting some goals.
"For the most part, (the guys) do the right thing. They just have to be reminded about it from time to time.”
In Kokes, Kalkofen and Zain, the Redhawks have a trio of varsity players who are familiar with each other, which made the difference against the younger Hawks.
“We’ve been playing together three years,” Kalkofen said. “We’ve been very good together, working together and making each other improve.
“I think it’s good that we have a good solid base of players that have played ... for a few years on varsity. We have the experience.”
Bartlett (0-2-1) gained some experience Tuesday. One lesson was that things can turn bad in a hurry.
“We still don’t know necessarily (why) until we settle down and talk with some of the players individually,” new Bartlett coach Victor Marquez said. “It happened so quickly, and every time it was harder to recover from the previous mistake.
“At the end of the day, this game is about doing something right and somebody else not doing it right. Let’s say somebody makes a mistake. The issue with those three or four minutes, it was a collective situation that maybe started with one bad pass, one bad coverage. It became contagious.”
And there was nothing Rebac, who played well in making four saves and confidently coming off his line to thwart several other chances, could do about it.
“At the start of each half, I think is just a lack of energy,” Rebac said. “We have to wake-up quick and be on our toes at all times.
“We’ve had this trouble in the previous games, but we need to make sure if one (goal) goes in, we don’t all put our heads down because it’s a team effort. If one person puts their head down, we’re down a player.”
Rebac, who is in his second year on varsity, refused to use youth as an excuse.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of maturity,” Rebac said. “I think that we need to come together as a team, and we have to have those leaders on the team that will pick people up, make sure that nobody puts their head down.
“Because if I put my head down, it will affect the team. So people need to realize that we’ve all got to come together.”
The Hawks did that toward the end of the game. After Marquez made a defensive adjustment, they played mistake-free for the final 34 minutes even when both sides cleared their benches.
Bartlett finally got something to celebrate when Oscar Soto averted the shutout with 56 seconds remaining.
“At the very end, both teams probably have many subs (in), but I’m glad that the team was able to find the net,” Marquez said. “It may not seem like a lot, but psychologically it was a good thing, and we needed to build on that.
“We did not have that when they scored their second goal. We need to build on that.”
One thing the Hawks can build on his their goalkeeping. They have two solid sophomores, a rarity at the high school level, they can rely on.
Rebac and Jeremy Taylor are expected to rotate games for Bartlett once Taylor returns from a concussion.
“I think me and Jeremy are both very solid keepers,” Rebac said. “It’s all about talent, and talent will help you win games.
“Me and Jeremy are both very comfortable with each other, and I think once he recovers from his injury it will be very good. He’ll be back soon, and we’ll be able to push each other and make each other better.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK Zac Rebac
D Austin Cichon
D Nico Gomez
D Andrew Wolf
D Kevin Nava
M Brandon Palid
M Carson Alfaro
M Raj Parikh
M Tyler Serpico
M Rudy Reyes
F Hernan Garcia
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Connors
D Mitch Becker
D Jake Crawford
D Tanner Greenhagen
D Rokas Stadalninkas
M Nico Couropmitree
M Owen Jarrell
M Rohan Bhargava
M Nate Zain
F Zack Kokes
F Jimmy Kalkofen
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Zack Kokes, sr., F, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
1st Half
Naperville Central: Jimmy Kalkofen 5:55
2nd Half
Naperville Central: Zack Kokes 38:30
Naperville Central: Kokes (Nico Couropmitree) 36:22
Naperville Central: Ryan Coleman 35:18
Naperville Central: Rokas Stadalninkas (Nate Zain) 34:19
Bartlett: Oscar Soto :56
Redhawks strike 4 times in 4-minutes for 5-1 Best of West win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville Central had no trouble getting behind the defense and putting balls in the net in the first half Tuesday night against Bartlett.
The problem was doing it legally.
The Redhawks had two goals disallowed because of offsides and several other breakaways similarly called back while they struggled to figure out the Hawks’ offsides trap.
“You don’t see it very often anymore,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said of Bartlett’s strategy. “The word I’d use is patience.
“Kids don’t have a lot. With technology it’s getting a lot less, and so it’s just that patience to understand that you don’t have to turn and run straight forward.
“You can bend your run out, and you’ll still get it behind them and then you’re on.”
The Redhawks took nearly 35 minutes to solve the riddle but when they did it became like child's play. Jimmy Kalkofen scored with 5:55 left in the first half and Naperville Central eventually scored on 5-of-7 shots during the game-deciding stretch that gave them a 5-1 victory at Memorial Stadium.
Naperville's win on Best of the West Tournament's opening night was highlighted by a four-goal outburst during a four-minute span early in the second half. The Redhawks (2-2-0) scored more goals during that blitz than they had in their first three games combined.
“It’s funny, because I’ve seen U-10 teams do the same thing,” Adams said. “First half it’s please guys can you figure this out? Then the second half all of a sudden it’s four goals.”
Kalkofen was the first to break through with 5:55 to go before halftime. Kyle Kokes sprung Anthony Saavedra up the middle. A defender poked the ball away as Saavedra attempted to shoot, but it skittered into the box to Kalkofen, who had timed his run perfectly and was wide-open for the quick finish.
“We were dominating play, and it was good that we kept the pressure on,” Kalkofen said. “We got a lot of chances, should have finished earlier in the half.
“We had a few that we could have put away and we didn’t, so we just had to get that first goal to get it started. Once we did, we came back out refreshed in the second half and just put them away.”
Zack Kokes woke up the home fans by scoring on the first two shots of the second half. He and Nico Couropmitree twice beat the trap and found pay dirt both times.
First, Couropmitree received a long ball over the top and fired a low liner to the far post. Bartlett sophomore goalie Zac Rebac made a diving save, only to have Kokes bury the rebound with 38:30 to go.
Two minutes later, the Redhawks cashed in on a similar play. This time Couropmitree passed to his right to Kokes, who took a touch to his right to get an angle and then blasted a shot past Rebac to make it 3-0.
“(The trap) was definitely something we talked about at halftime,” Kokes said. “Coach was explaining that we put the one forward up high and the one shorter, and the one who is a little bit shallower should make his run a little wider and then quickly run up the field.
“We also talked about playing the defenders over the top. It was just pressure the defense, let them make the mistakes, and we were fortunate to capitalize on them.”
The streak continued 64 seconds later when Ryan Coleman stole a back pass and scored. That was followed 59 seconds later by Rokas Stadalninkas’ goal that concluded Naperville Central's goal splurge.
Nate Zain was the catalyst on the final goal, getting the ball in traffic in the box and somehow splitting two defenders to free up Stadalninkas.
“I’m glad I wasn’t doing the book, because I probably would have missed a goal,” Adams said of the offensive explosion. “We talked at half about finishing opportunities. We had a lot in the first half and didn’t put them away.
“I said we’re going to play teams that are going to give us four or five opportunities a game. We’re going to have to capitalize on one or two of them.
“We can’t have a success rate of 5 percent. We’ve got to get into the 20-30 percent range. I thought we were very good on that in the second half.”
Indeed, the Redhawks converted 57 percent of their chances in the second half alone. While Zain is Naperville Central’s most dangerous offensive player, forwards like Kokes and Kalkofen will be counted upon to score regularly.
“(The two goals) definitely boosts my confidence but it’s not about my goals,” Zake Kokes said. “It’s about the team goals, and it was a great team result today. So I’m just looking for those goals, because that’s something we’re trying to work on more.
“My job is to keep the ball up, play a hold-up forward, keep possession and finish the chances when I’ve got them.”
Creating chances and finishing them are often two different things. Adams wants Kokes to do both but to know when to do which.
“I made a few points with him and one of them was pick your times to be simple and pick your times to be creative, because you can’t be one or the other all the time as a forward,” Adams said. “You can’t always be trying to do something super creative or unique.
“Sometimes it’s just get it, play it off and run off the ball. He was looking to do that in the second half and that led to him getting some goals.
"For the most part, (the guys) do the right thing. They just have to be reminded about it from time to time.”
In Kokes, Kalkofen and Zain, the Redhawks have a trio of varsity players who are familiar with each other, which made the difference against the younger Hawks.
“We’ve been playing together three years,” Kalkofen said. “We’ve been very good together, working together and making each other improve.
“I think it’s good that we have a good solid base of players that have played ... for a few years on varsity. We have the experience.”
Bartlett (0-2-1) gained some experience Tuesday. One lesson was that things can turn bad in a hurry.
“We still don’t know necessarily (why) until we settle down and talk with some of the players individually,” new Bartlett coach Victor Marquez said. “It happened so quickly, and every time it was harder to recover from the previous mistake.
“At the end of the day, this game is about doing something right and somebody else not doing it right. Let’s say somebody makes a mistake. The issue with those three or four minutes, it was a collective situation that maybe started with one bad pass, one bad coverage. It became contagious.”
And there was nothing Rebac, who played well in making four saves and confidently coming off his line to thwart several other chances, could do about it.
“At the start of each half, I think is just a lack of energy,” Rebac said. “We have to wake-up quick and be on our toes at all times.
“We’ve had this trouble in the previous games, but we need to make sure if one (goal) goes in, we don’t all put our heads down because it’s a team effort. If one person puts their head down, we’re down a player.”
Rebac, who is in his second year on varsity, refused to use youth as an excuse.
“I don’t think it’s a lack of maturity,” Rebac said. “I think that we need to come together as a team, and we have to have those leaders on the team that will pick people up, make sure that nobody puts their head down.
“Because if I put my head down, it will affect the team. So people need to realize that we’ve all got to come together.”
The Hawks did that toward the end of the game. After Marquez made a defensive adjustment, they played mistake-free for the final 34 minutes even when both sides cleared their benches.
Bartlett finally got something to celebrate when Oscar Soto averted the shutout with 56 seconds remaining.
“At the very end, both teams probably have many subs (in), but I’m glad that the team was able to find the net,” Marquez said. “It may not seem like a lot, but psychologically it was a good thing, and we needed to build on that.
“We did not have that when they scored their second goal. We need to build on that.”
One thing the Hawks can build on his their goalkeeping. They have two solid sophomores, a rarity at the high school level, they can rely on.
Rebac and Jeremy Taylor are expected to rotate games for Bartlett once Taylor returns from a concussion.
“I think me and Jeremy are both very solid keepers,” Rebac said. “It’s all about talent, and talent will help you win games.
“Me and Jeremy are both very comfortable with each other, and I think once he recovers from his injury it will be very good. He’ll be back soon, and we’ll be able to push each other and make each other better.”
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK Zac Rebac
D Austin Cichon
D Nico Gomez
D Andrew Wolf
D Kevin Nava
M Brandon Palid
M Carson Alfaro
M Raj Parikh
M Tyler Serpico
M Rudy Reyes
F Hernan Garcia
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Connors
D Mitch Becker
D Jake Crawford
D Tanner Greenhagen
D Rokas Stadalninkas
M Nico Couropmitree
M Owen Jarrell
M Rohan Bhargava
M Nate Zain
F Zack Kokes
F Jimmy Kalkofen
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Zack Kokes, sr., F, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
1st Half
Naperville Central: Jimmy Kalkofen 5:55
2nd Half
Naperville Central: Zack Kokes 38:30
Naperville Central: Kokes (Nico Couropmitree) 36:22
Naperville Central: Ryan Coleman 35:18
Naperville Central: Rokas Stadalninkas (Nate Zain) 34:19
Bartlett: Oscar Soto :56