Sharp play leaves
Wheaton Warrenville South,
Geneva even at 1-1
Teams upbeat after strong performance in DuKane clash
By Curt Herron
WHEATON -- When one team is on a losing streak and the other suffered its initial defeat the last time it played, accepting any result that is not a loss is okay.
Both Wheaton Warrenville South and Geneva would have obviously preferred to walk away from Tuesday's DuKane Conference matchup at Red Grange Field with a victory. But considering the circumstances, a hard-fought 1-1 draw that showed many positives for both sides was acceptable.
The Tigers (2-4-3, 0-1-1) dominated the early play but were unable to connect until the 55th minute when they got a goal from senior Chase Kedzior. The Vikings (3-1-6, 0-0-2) evened things in the 62nd minute on a goal from senior Colin Hasty. Afterward, both sides tried desperately to find the game-winner, but to no avail.
Wheaton Warrenville South had lost four in a row after getting off to a 2-0-2 start. The squad allowed 10 goals in those four defeats, losing three by two goals or more and the other on penalties.
The Tigers’ offense is still seeking their first multiple-goal match since the opening week. After plenty of good opportunities Tuesday, they'll gladly build off a top effort as they prepare for a stretch of league matches against St. Charles East, Batavia and Wheaton North from September 20-27.
"We have to look at overall, from whistle to whistle, that was our best performance against a quality team," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "We beat some other teams, but they weren't Geneva. Our defense was stellar, and the backline held firm collectively. Nikhil (Bawa) and Jerry (Cuatzo) centrally, they did a great job of managing the mark and the support, being the first and second defender. They traded off really well and communicated well.
"And the two outside backs when they were left 1-v-1, did a stellar job of controlling the environment and their space and then the transitional piece; they got us into good positions going forward quickly, and they just executed today. I thought that Jack (Beres) and Edgar (Guzman) did a tremendous job winning the balls in the air and by just trying to keep momentum going in our direction.
“Chase got the goal and made some tremendous runs, as he does, and threatens all of the time. And our two wides did a tremendous job. Issa (Husseini) was much better in the second half, taking on some confidence and running at people."
The Tigers' Hall of Famer coached without one of his top performers and also saw his starting goalkeeper, sophomore Jared Ferreyra, sidelined just before half. He sat out the second half due to the injury he suffered in a collision.
Considering that, Callipari was extra pleased with the efforts of so many who stepped up.
"We were missing one of our captains, Marco Gonzalez, and his leadership," Callipari said. "And when you look at him and look at the numbers that we played tonight, we have about 16 starters that rotate fairly frequently for whatever reason, they just step in and they play.
"It's the young, the old and the middle, and they really did a nice job of finding continuity and some rhythm in their play tonight. That's what we lacked earlier on.
"At least we've shown purpose and intent and promise, so I'm excited. We've been playing consistently game to game, and now we've got a week off. So, we'll see how we rebound from that and the training environment."
Geneva coach Jason Bhatta was happy to see his team bounce back from a 3-2 defeat at no. 21 West Aurora on Saturday.
"They could have probably had two in the first five minutes, and I don't know how they missed the one down here," Bhatta said. "I think it's a fair result, and I'm happy with the last 20 minutes. We had a lot of pressure on their backline, and we were knocking on the door.
"I think it was well-deserved for us to get one, but we have to be a little more sharp throughout the game. The last 20 minutes were good. But in the first 60 minutes, we didn't play at the level that we needed, and the energy wasn't there. We have to put a full 80 minutes together and get ourselves in more dangerous spots."
This was the sixth draw in 10 matches for the Vikings. The others came in consecutive contests from August 27-September 6. Scoring goals has definitely been an issue. Geneva has scored none or one goal on six occasions.
But a possible encouraging sign for the squad was the debut of foreign exchange student Karl Gattinger, who played two matches on the JV2 squad before earning a spot on the varsity roster. The senior served up the corner kick that led to the Vikings' goal and based on his debut may be able to benefit the Vikings' attack when they play at South Elgin on Saturday and host St. Charles North in DuKane Conference play on Sept. 20.
"Usually we put the foreign exchange kids on JV2 because we want them to play a little," Bhatta said. "But our JV2 coach said that we might want to take a look at this kid. And he definitely had an impact. When he came in, he created a lot and had the corner kick (assist)."
One of the first good attempts in the final half came from Wheaton Warrenville South senior Gael Alfaro, who sent in a free kick that deflected off a defender and went to Vikings senior goalkeeper Matt Towler. A bit later, Alfaro had to be helped off of the field after he was hurt in a collision. That set up a free kick from freshman Semin Razman from just outside of the box that was punched away by Towler.
Wheaton Warrenville South finally connected in the 55th minute when Kedzior got free and fired in a liner from about 35 yards. It was a big boost for a team that had only scored three times in its last five matches.
"Our first couple of games were against teams that aren't in our conference and aren't as good as teams like St. Charles North and (Geneva), they were pretty good tonight," Kedzior said. "So I think we just got used to playing at a lower level and couldn't bring it up when we needed to.
"We kind of tapered off at the end after kind of really putting the pressure on first and in the second half. If we had kept that up, I think that we could have come out with a win. I like how we can keep the ball and bring it through the middle."
Geneva threatened near the midpoint of the final half when junior Liam O'Donoghue got fouled and then sent in a free kick from 30 yards that was headed away by Kedzior. Gattinger sent in the subsequent corner kick, and it was cleared by junior Brooks Becker.
Geneva tied the match in the 62nd minute when Gattinger sent another dangerous corner kick into the box and this time, Hasty was able to head the ball in for the final score of the night.
"It's definitely very frustrating, I'm not going to lie about the ties," Hasty said. "Definitely ties feel like wins sometimes and a loss sometimes, but this one feels like a win. I think that at least four of our ties should be wins, but we have a lot of season left.
"He (Gattinger) put a very nice ball on the back post and seeing him play, there's no way that he should be on the JV. …
“We're a very tight-knit group, especially in school; we're very close with each other. So, it helps out on the field being able to get on one another and to say, 'You are doing this wrong, and you need to step up.'
“I just like that we're able to hold each other accountable. Hopefully we can capitalize on a lot of chances that we get to end these ties."
Gattinger, who's from Munich, has played the sport at the club level in Germany. He's thrilled about the opportunity to compete with the Vikings.
"It's very exciting, and it's so fun to play with the guys on the team," Gattinger said. "Yesterday I had my first practice and before that I played two games for JV2, so this was my third match. I've played for 12 years in Germany. It's very different, because in Germany, we don't have school soccer, so everything is new here.
"This is a great group, and I hope that the next time we play, that we win. I hope that in the next four months that I'm here that I will improve my English, and that I will also improve my soccer skills."
There were several good chances in the final minutes with Becker and Kedzior getting some of Wheaton Warrenville South's best tries.
Gattinger, senior Bennet Nippert and sophomore Reece Leonard applied pressure on junior goalkeeper Carrol Dunn, who entered for the Tigers when Ferreyra was injured in the 38th minute trying to stop a shot.
"I thought that tonight was a really good game," Tigers senior Jack Beres said. "Coach likes to call us a blue-collar team, because we just like to work hard. I thought that was a really good message going into the game.
"The quality that I like is the depth of our team. We have a lot of young players that can come off of the bench and help us out. And we're really close. We're in the hallways laughing and always spending time with each other."
The Tigers came out strong at the start of the match with several good attempts from sophomore Jet Oehrlein, including one that bounced off the post in the sixth minute. Others applying pressure to Towler in the early going included senior Cuatzo and junior Guzman.
"It's a whole new team usually when I'm playing club soccer, so I love this," Oehrlein said. "I feel like in most of our games we had pretty tight matchups with the players. I say that we're pretty even with those teams, but every now and then, we'd let it slip away, even though we always had our chances.
"I like our chemistry because we see each other in the hallways, and we're all really close friends. Most of our team is pretty young with a lot of sophomores and we have a freshman. So, I think that we're going to stick together for the rest of our time being at the school and play for the team."
About a dozen minutes in, Geneva began to put pressure on Ferreyra. Sending in good shots toward the Tigers goalie were: juniors Nick Plata and Trent Giansanti while senior Gabe Boivin sent in a corner kick that was headed away by Razman.
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK: Matt Towler
D: Carter Konkey
D: Colin Hasty
D: Ben Schuemer
D: Luke Easter
MF: Liam O'Donoghue
MF: Gabe Boivin
MF: Nick Plata
MF: Nathan Branstad
F: Sam Seykora
F: Trent Giansanti
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Jared Ferreyra
D: Jerry Cuatzo
D: Brooks Becker
D: Nikhil Bawa
D: Aaron Escareno
MF: Chase Kedzior
MF: Edgar Guzman
MF: Jack Beres
MF: Gael Alfaro
F: Issa Husseini
F: Jet Oehrlein
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Colin Hasty, sr., D, Geneva;
Chase Kedzior, sr., MF, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Wheaton Warrenville South: Chase Kedzior, 55'
Geneva: Colin Hasty (Karl Gattinger), 62'
Wheaton Warrenville South,
Geneva even at 1-1
Teams upbeat after strong performance in DuKane clash
By Curt Herron
WHEATON -- When one team is on a losing streak and the other suffered its initial defeat the last time it played, accepting any result that is not a loss is okay.
Both Wheaton Warrenville South and Geneva would have obviously preferred to walk away from Tuesday's DuKane Conference matchup at Red Grange Field with a victory. But considering the circumstances, a hard-fought 1-1 draw that showed many positives for both sides was acceptable.
The Tigers (2-4-3, 0-1-1) dominated the early play but were unable to connect until the 55th minute when they got a goal from senior Chase Kedzior. The Vikings (3-1-6, 0-0-2) evened things in the 62nd minute on a goal from senior Colin Hasty. Afterward, both sides tried desperately to find the game-winner, but to no avail.
Wheaton Warrenville South had lost four in a row after getting off to a 2-0-2 start. The squad allowed 10 goals in those four defeats, losing three by two goals or more and the other on penalties.
The Tigers’ offense is still seeking their first multiple-goal match since the opening week. After plenty of good opportunities Tuesday, they'll gladly build off a top effort as they prepare for a stretch of league matches against St. Charles East, Batavia and Wheaton North from September 20-27.
"We have to look at overall, from whistle to whistle, that was our best performance against a quality team," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "We beat some other teams, but they weren't Geneva. Our defense was stellar, and the backline held firm collectively. Nikhil (Bawa) and Jerry (Cuatzo) centrally, they did a great job of managing the mark and the support, being the first and second defender. They traded off really well and communicated well.
"And the two outside backs when they were left 1-v-1, did a stellar job of controlling the environment and their space and then the transitional piece; they got us into good positions going forward quickly, and they just executed today. I thought that Jack (Beres) and Edgar (Guzman) did a tremendous job winning the balls in the air and by just trying to keep momentum going in our direction.
“Chase got the goal and made some tremendous runs, as he does, and threatens all of the time. And our two wides did a tremendous job. Issa (Husseini) was much better in the second half, taking on some confidence and running at people."
The Tigers' Hall of Famer coached without one of his top performers and also saw his starting goalkeeper, sophomore Jared Ferreyra, sidelined just before half. He sat out the second half due to the injury he suffered in a collision.
Considering that, Callipari was extra pleased with the efforts of so many who stepped up.
"We were missing one of our captains, Marco Gonzalez, and his leadership," Callipari said. "And when you look at him and look at the numbers that we played tonight, we have about 16 starters that rotate fairly frequently for whatever reason, they just step in and they play.
"It's the young, the old and the middle, and they really did a nice job of finding continuity and some rhythm in their play tonight. That's what we lacked earlier on.
"At least we've shown purpose and intent and promise, so I'm excited. We've been playing consistently game to game, and now we've got a week off. So, we'll see how we rebound from that and the training environment."
Geneva coach Jason Bhatta was happy to see his team bounce back from a 3-2 defeat at no. 21 West Aurora on Saturday.
"They could have probably had two in the first five minutes, and I don't know how they missed the one down here," Bhatta said. "I think it's a fair result, and I'm happy with the last 20 minutes. We had a lot of pressure on their backline, and we were knocking on the door.
"I think it was well-deserved for us to get one, but we have to be a little more sharp throughout the game. The last 20 minutes were good. But in the first 60 minutes, we didn't play at the level that we needed, and the energy wasn't there. We have to put a full 80 minutes together and get ourselves in more dangerous spots."
This was the sixth draw in 10 matches for the Vikings. The others came in consecutive contests from August 27-September 6. Scoring goals has definitely been an issue. Geneva has scored none or one goal on six occasions.
But a possible encouraging sign for the squad was the debut of foreign exchange student Karl Gattinger, who played two matches on the JV2 squad before earning a spot on the varsity roster. The senior served up the corner kick that led to the Vikings' goal and based on his debut may be able to benefit the Vikings' attack when they play at South Elgin on Saturday and host St. Charles North in DuKane Conference play on Sept. 20.
"Usually we put the foreign exchange kids on JV2 because we want them to play a little," Bhatta said. "But our JV2 coach said that we might want to take a look at this kid. And he definitely had an impact. When he came in, he created a lot and had the corner kick (assist)."
One of the first good attempts in the final half came from Wheaton Warrenville South senior Gael Alfaro, who sent in a free kick that deflected off a defender and went to Vikings senior goalkeeper Matt Towler. A bit later, Alfaro had to be helped off of the field after he was hurt in a collision. That set up a free kick from freshman Semin Razman from just outside of the box that was punched away by Towler.
Wheaton Warrenville South finally connected in the 55th minute when Kedzior got free and fired in a liner from about 35 yards. It was a big boost for a team that had only scored three times in its last five matches.
"Our first couple of games were against teams that aren't in our conference and aren't as good as teams like St. Charles North and (Geneva), they were pretty good tonight," Kedzior said. "So I think we just got used to playing at a lower level and couldn't bring it up when we needed to.
"We kind of tapered off at the end after kind of really putting the pressure on first and in the second half. If we had kept that up, I think that we could have come out with a win. I like how we can keep the ball and bring it through the middle."
Geneva threatened near the midpoint of the final half when junior Liam O'Donoghue got fouled and then sent in a free kick from 30 yards that was headed away by Kedzior. Gattinger sent in the subsequent corner kick, and it was cleared by junior Brooks Becker.
Geneva tied the match in the 62nd minute when Gattinger sent another dangerous corner kick into the box and this time, Hasty was able to head the ball in for the final score of the night.
"It's definitely very frustrating, I'm not going to lie about the ties," Hasty said. "Definitely ties feel like wins sometimes and a loss sometimes, but this one feels like a win. I think that at least four of our ties should be wins, but we have a lot of season left.
"He (Gattinger) put a very nice ball on the back post and seeing him play, there's no way that he should be on the JV. …
“We're a very tight-knit group, especially in school; we're very close with each other. So, it helps out on the field being able to get on one another and to say, 'You are doing this wrong, and you need to step up.'
“I just like that we're able to hold each other accountable. Hopefully we can capitalize on a lot of chances that we get to end these ties."
Gattinger, who's from Munich, has played the sport at the club level in Germany. He's thrilled about the opportunity to compete with the Vikings.
"It's very exciting, and it's so fun to play with the guys on the team," Gattinger said. "Yesterday I had my first practice and before that I played two games for JV2, so this was my third match. I've played for 12 years in Germany. It's very different, because in Germany, we don't have school soccer, so everything is new here.
"This is a great group, and I hope that the next time we play, that we win. I hope that in the next four months that I'm here that I will improve my English, and that I will also improve my soccer skills."
There were several good chances in the final minutes with Becker and Kedzior getting some of Wheaton Warrenville South's best tries.
Gattinger, senior Bennet Nippert and sophomore Reece Leonard applied pressure on junior goalkeeper Carrol Dunn, who entered for the Tigers when Ferreyra was injured in the 38th minute trying to stop a shot.
"I thought that tonight was a really good game," Tigers senior Jack Beres said. "Coach likes to call us a blue-collar team, because we just like to work hard. I thought that was a really good message going into the game.
"The quality that I like is the depth of our team. We have a lot of young players that can come off of the bench and help us out. And we're really close. We're in the hallways laughing and always spending time with each other."
The Tigers came out strong at the start of the match with several good attempts from sophomore Jet Oehrlein, including one that bounced off the post in the sixth minute. Others applying pressure to Towler in the early going included senior Cuatzo and junior Guzman.
"It's a whole new team usually when I'm playing club soccer, so I love this," Oehrlein said. "I feel like in most of our games we had pretty tight matchups with the players. I say that we're pretty even with those teams, but every now and then, we'd let it slip away, even though we always had our chances.
"I like our chemistry because we see each other in the hallways, and we're all really close friends. Most of our team is pretty young with a lot of sophomores and we have a freshman. So, I think that we're going to stick together for the rest of our time being at the school and play for the team."
About a dozen minutes in, Geneva began to put pressure on Ferreyra. Sending in good shots toward the Tigers goalie were: juniors Nick Plata and Trent Giansanti while senior Gabe Boivin sent in a corner kick that was headed away by Razman.
Starting lineups
Geneva
GK: Matt Towler
D: Carter Konkey
D: Colin Hasty
D: Ben Schuemer
D: Luke Easter
MF: Liam O'Donoghue
MF: Gabe Boivin
MF: Nick Plata
MF: Nathan Branstad
F: Sam Seykora
F: Trent Giansanti
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Jared Ferreyra
D: Jerry Cuatzo
D: Brooks Becker
D: Nikhil Bawa
D: Aaron Escareno
MF: Chase Kedzior
MF: Edgar Guzman
MF: Jack Beres
MF: Gael Alfaro
F: Issa Husseini
F: Jet Oehrlein
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Colin Hasty, sr., D, Geneva;
Chase Kedzior, sr., MF, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Wheaton Warrenville South: Chase Kedzior, 55'
Geneva: Colin Hasty (Karl Gattinger), 62'