Naperville Central tames Bartlett
No. 16 Redhawks remain unbeaten after Best of the West opener
By Steve Nemeth
NAPERVILLE -- While Bartlett goes by the nickname Hawks, Best of the West Tournament co-host Naperville Central uses the distinction Redhawks.
On the field in Tuesday’s group play opener the difference was even more clear cut statistically, and host Central posted a 2-0 triumph in a meeting between two previously unbeaten sides. With a third consecutive shutout, the Redhawks -- no. 16 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 -- improved to 3-0-1.
Therein lay one problem for Bartlett -- now 1-1-1 -- as those Hawks didn’t resemble themselves per coach Vince Revak.
“Not taking anything away from Central, but we played poorly, and I don’t know why we were so off,” Revak said with a shrug. “Central looked sharp and trying to understand why we were sub-par sounds like making excuses. At times, we were standing around watching them or just one teammate.”
Just over five minutes into the match, Central’s Roman Krupka launched a shot that sailed wide left. It was a pattern that continued through the opening 40 minutes as the Redhawks compiled an 8-1 advantage for overall attempts and a 3-0 edge in shots on goal. The increased tries eventually put Central up 1-0 by halftime.
With Bartlett starting goalie Israel Cuautle rushing off his line to thwart a through-ball, Owen Jarrell tried lofting a shot over the Hawk keeper, however, the attempt didn’t dip until it was over the goal. A Brandon Saper effort was also high while another Krupka blast from 28 yards was wide right.
Finally with 3:31 remaining before intermission, Johnny Kim advanced from the right and despite a difficult angle, managed to curve the ball inside the far left post. That was much to the disappointment of Cuautle who couldn’t quite reach it, but much to joy of Rohan Bhargava who appeared to miss a golden opportunity to redirect the ball.
“My first thought was to try to cross it for a teammate but thankfully it had enough bend on it,” Kim explained. “Scoring in practices is okay it really feels a lot better in a game especially because it wasn’t really expected. Having got by their keeper, it just felt like it was going in slowly.”
Energized by the lead, Central knocked on the door again as Krupka hoped for an opportunistic follow-up on adeflected ball from nine yards, but Cuautle made a huge block and a put-back effort from Josh Weigel sailed high.
Just over 30 seconds into the second half, Bhargava had a strong effort that required the first save from Jeremy Taylor, who took over in goal for Bartlett. Shortly after that, Taylor had to make the first of many defensive clears, defined as either a catch or cover to end a potentially dangerous play wasn’t a shot on goal by definition. A couple came from free kicks from Bhargava, who was all over the field to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match acclaim.
“His work rate makes him the obvious choice. He covers more ground than any player I can think of in the last five years,” veteran Central coach Troy Adams said. “He covers up a lot of mistakes for us thanks to his speed. I believe the run he made may have caused enough concern for their keeper to aid in that first goal.
“Hats off to Johnny for the shot but it was also an example of how Rohan does all those little things that make a difference,” Adams added.
In the process of compiling a 13-5 advantage in overall shot attempts for the match, as well as the 5-2 edge for shots on goal, Central essentially put the win on ice with 14:16 left in regulation. After Nico Couropmitree was taken down inside the box, teammate Jarrell confidently converted the resulting penalty kick.
“That was really Nico’s goal based on his efforts,” Jarrell said. “I’m confident I’ve got a quality kick so no matter what the goalie is doing, I simply decide where I’m going to place it, stay calm, and focus on putting it where I plan.
“I think this win is evidence of our approach in that we don’t take any opponent or any opportunity for granted,” Jarrell noted. “Last year (6-7-4) wasn’t the greatest feeling, so the team got dedicated 100% to changing things for the better, whether in practice or in every match.”
Adams shared that thought with a desire to acknowledge a couple other individual Redhawks performances.
“With just one back returning with a lot of varsity experience, communication is a key on defense, and I think (allowing one goal in four matches) shows the growth of that unit,” Adams said. “I believe Mitch (Becker) has established himself as the undisputed leader back there. Nico and Owen have accelerated their games with Nico getting in on more loose balls while Owen moves between the back and middle as needed. So far we’ve got two keepers doing a good job because they stay engaged.”
While Redpath, a junior, acknowledged his teammate Ethan Gentile had the busier half, the outcome was what both wanted.
“Sharing another clean-sheet is awesome,” Redpath said. “We both simply take the approach of doing our best.”
Since Morton scored in the first half of the season opener, Central can now claim seven-straight halves of shutout soccer.
As for Bartlett, the desire is to get back to the level of play that produced a 0-0 deadlock in the season opener at McHenry followed by an Upstate Eight Conference 1-0 victory on the road against the defending league champs in Elgin.
“We have to learn that we can’t always have a match go our way. If some things are not working, adjust and look for other ways to score,” tri-captain Hernan Garcia said. “It’s all about being able to play against different styles but still be effective. We didn’t do that today.”
Based on his previous statement and more, his head coach was in agreement.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t connect passes when they mattered the most,” Revak said. “There just weren’t enough positives for us to match Central. I was pleased to see Raj (Parikh) come off the bench and work his tail off. Although he’s coming back from a knee injury last season, he did bring some much needed energy for us.”
Bartlett will clearly need to be more energized for Thursday’s 7 p.m. second round group match against a Plainfield North squad that scored just three minutes into a 2-0 victory over Sandburg. The Tigers are listed in the honorable mention section of the Top 25.
That match follows a 5 p.m. contest between the Redhawks and Sandburg.
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK: Israel Cuautle
D Francesco Espana
D Ethan Sproule
D Hernan Garcia
D Nicolas Gomez
D Zander Zamora
M Cesar Palomares
M Sebastian Larios
M Edgar Leon
F Amine Medmoun
F Kamil Jarzabek
Naperville Central
GK: Caden Redpath
D Mateo Lopez
D Mitch Becker
D Seth Lendzion
D Benjamin Tietjen
M Johnny Kim
M Rohan Bhargava
M Owen Jarrell
F Nico Couropmitree
F Roman Krupka
F James Kim
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Rohan Bhargava, sr. MF, Naperville Central
Referees: Brue Bode (center), Brett Richter, John Ellenbaas
Game summary
Naperville Central 2, Bartlett 0
Bartlett 0 0 -- 0 (1-1-1)
Naperville C. 1 1 -- 2 (3-0-1)
Scoring
First Half
NC -- Jo. Kim 19-yard angled shot from far right inside left post (unassisted), 36:29 gone
Second Half
NC -- Jarrell penalty kick conversion (unassisted),65:44 gone
Shots
B 1 – 4 -- 5
NC 8 – 5 -- 13
Shots on goal
B 0 – 2 -- 2
NC 3 – 2 -- 5
Saves (player)
B (Cuautle 1 / defender 1) 2 – (Taylor 1) 1 -- 3
NC (Redpath 0) 0 – (Gentile 2) 2 -- 2
Corner Kicks
B 0 – 3 -- 3
NC 4 – 2 -- 6
Offsides
B 0 – 1 -- 1
NC 3 – 1 -- 4
No. 16 Redhawks remain unbeaten after Best of the West opener
By Steve Nemeth
NAPERVILLE -- While Bartlett goes by the nickname Hawks, Best of the West Tournament co-host Naperville Central uses the distinction Redhawks.
On the field in Tuesday’s group play opener the difference was even more clear cut statistically, and host Central posted a 2-0 triumph in a meeting between two previously unbeaten sides. With a third consecutive shutout, the Redhawks -- no. 16 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 -- improved to 3-0-1.
Therein lay one problem for Bartlett -- now 1-1-1 -- as those Hawks didn’t resemble themselves per coach Vince Revak.
“Not taking anything away from Central, but we played poorly, and I don’t know why we were so off,” Revak said with a shrug. “Central looked sharp and trying to understand why we were sub-par sounds like making excuses. At times, we were standing around watching them or just one teammate.”
Just over five minutes into the match, Central’s Roman Krupka launched a shot that sailed wide left. It was a pattern that continued through the opening 40 minutes as the Redhawks compiled an 8-1 advantage for overall attempts and a 3-0 edge in shots on goal. The increased tries eventually put Central up 1-0 by halftime.
With Bartlett starting goalie Israel Cuautle rushing off his line to thwart a through-ball, Owen Jarrell tried lofting a shot over the Hawk keeper, however, the attempt didn’t dip until it was over the goal. A Brandon Saper effort was also high while another Krupka blast from 28 yards was wide right.
Finally with 3:31 remaining before intermission, Johnny Kim advanced from the right and despite a difficult angle, managed to curve the ball inside the far left post. That was much to the disappointment of Cuautle who couldn’t quite reach it, but much to joy of Rohan Bhargava who appeared to miss a golden opportunity to redirect the ball.
“My first thought was to try to cross it for a teammate but thankfully it had enough bend on it,” Kim explained. “Scoring in practices is okay it really feels a lot better in a game especially because it wasn’t really expected. Having got by their keeper, it just felt like it was going in slowly.”
Energized by the lead, Central knocked on the door again as Krupka hoped for an opportunistic follow-up on adeflected ball from nine yards, but Cuautle made a huge block and a put-back effort from Josh Weigel sailed high.
Just over 30 seconds into the second half, Bhargava had a strong effort that required the first save from Jeremy Taylor, who took over in goal for Bartlett. Shortly after that, Taylor had to make the first of many defensive clears, defined as either a catch or cover to end a potentially dangerous play wasn’t a shot on goal by definition. A couple came from free kicks from Bhargava, who was all over the field to earn Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match acclaim.
“His work rate makes him the obvious choice. He covers more ground than any player I can think of in the last five years,” veteran Central coach Troy Adams said. “He covers up a lot of mistakes for us thanks to his speed. I believe the run he made may have caused enough concern for their keeper to aid in that first goal.
“Hats off to Johnny for the shot but it was also an example of how Rohan does all those little things that make a difference,” Adams added.
In the process of compiling a 13-5 advantage in overall shot attempts for the match, as well as the 5-2 edge for shots on goal, Central essentially put the win on ice with 14:16 left in regulation. After Nico Couropmitree was taken down inside the box, teammate Jarrell confidently converted the resulting penalty kick.
“That was really Nico’s goal based on his efforts,” Jarrell said. “I’m confident I’ve got a quality kick so no matter what the goalie is doing, I simply decide where I’m going to place it, stay calm, and focus on putting it where I plan.
“I think this win is evidence of our approach in that we don’t take any opponent or any opportunity for granted,” Jarrell noted. “Last year (6-7-4) wasn’t the greatest feeling, so the team got dedicated 100% to changing things for the better, whether in practice or in every match.”
Adams shared that thought with a desire to acknowledge a couple other individual Redhawks performances.
“With just one back returning with a lot of varsity experience, communication is a key on defense, and I think (allowing one goal in four matches) shows the growth of that unit,” Adams said. “I believe Mitch (Becker) has established himself as the undisputed leader back there. Nico and Owen have accelerated their games with Nico getting in on more loose balls while Owen moves between the back and middle as needed. So far we’ve got two keepers doing a good job because they stay engaged.”
While Redpath, a junior, acknowledged his teammate Ethan Gentile had the busier half, the outcome was what both wanted.
“Sharing another clean-sheet is awesome,” Redpath said. “We both simply take the approach of doing our best.”
Since Morton scored in the first half of the season opener, Central can now claim seven-straight halves of shutout soccer.
As for Bartlett, the desire is to get back to the level of play that produced a 0-0 deadlock in the season opener at McHenry followed by an Upstate Eight Conference 1-0 victory on the road against the defending league champs in Elgin.
“We have to learn that we can’t always have a match go our way. If some things are not working, adjust and look for other ways to score,” tri-captain Hernan Garcia said. “It’s all about being able to play against different styles but still be effective. We didn’t do that today.”
Based on his previous statement and more, his head coach was in agreement.
“Unfortunately we couldn’t connect passes when they mattered the most,” Revak said. “There just weren’t enough positives for us to match Central. I was pleased to see Raj (Parikh) come off the bench and work his tail off. Although he’s coming back from a knee injury last season, he did bring some much needed energy for us.”
Bartlett will clearly need to be more energized for Thursday’s 7 p.m. second round group match against a Plainfield North squad that scored just three minutes into a 2-0 victory over Sandburg. The Tigers are listed in the honorable mention section of the Top 25.
That match follows a 5 p.m. contest between the Redhawks and Sandburg.
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK: Israel Cuautle
D Francesco Espana
D Ethan Sproule
D Hernan Garcia
D Nicolas Gomez
D Zander Zamora
M Cesar Palomares
M Sebastian Larios
M Edgar Leon
F Amine Medmoun
F Kamil Jarzabek
Naperville Central
GK: Caden Redpath
D Mateo Lopez
D Mitch Becker
D Seth Lendzion
D Benjamin Tietjen
M Johnny Kim
M Rohan Bhargava
M Owen Jarrell
F Nico Couropmitree
F Roman Krupka
F James Kim
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Rohan Bhargava, sr. MF, Naperville Central
Referees: Brue Bode (center), Brett Richter, John Ellenbaas
Game summary
Naperville Central 2, Bartlett 0
Bartlett 0 0 -- 0 (1-1-1)
Naperville C. 1 1 -- 2 (3-0-1)
Scoring
First Half
NC -- Jo. Kim 19-yard angled shot from far right inside left post (unassisted), 36:29 gone
Second Half
NC -- Jarrell penalty kick conversion (unassisted),65:44 gone
Shots
B 1 – 4 -- 5
NC 8 – 5 -- 13
Shots on goal
B 0 – 2 -- 2
NC 3 – 2 -- 5
Saves (player)
B (Cuautle 1 / defender 1) 2 – (Taylor 1) 1 -- 3
NC (Redpath 0) 0 – (Gentile 2) 2 -- 2
Corner Kicks
B 0 – 3 -- 3
NC 4 – 2 -- 6
Offsides
B 0 – 1 -- 1
NC 3 – 1 -- 4