Naperville North's Barger,
Ryu star vs. Kaneland
Duo combines for 3 goals, 4 assists in 6-0 Huskies win
By Chris Walker
NAPERVILLE – After playing club soccer his freshman year and then working his way up in the program by starring on the JV squad a season ago, it was only a matter of time before Jacob Ryu would really show what he could do.
On Tuesday night, he offered a big taste of why Naperville North coach Jim Konrad is so excited about him as one of the many new faces on the team this year that he expects to do great things.
Ryu helped the Huskies jump ahead of Kaneland with an early goal that proved to be all the scoring Naperville North would need in a 6-0 victory.
He also added a pair of assists.
“When I played JV1 last year it was kind of a start-up for me,” he said. “I think it was definitely a growing process so I kind of was learning more about the program while I definitely kept working hard. This is the kind of a team that’s very supportive. So to have a supportive team around me, I’m very thankful for that.”
Konrad is especially happy to have some young new talent this season, especially since the only returning starters are Barger and senior Josh Kaufman, who played for the basketball team Thursday night.
“Jacob (Ryu) was good last year, but he took great strides this offseason so he’s been a dominant kid so far,” Konrad said. “Cam (Radeke) is a special player who would’ve helped us out a ton last year and obviously Barger is a special player. He’s already a great one, but I see great things ahead of him. I think (those three) up-top are going to be tough for teams to handle.”
Radeke missed last season after breaking his collarbone.
Ryu’s first of likely many goals as a Huskie came with 31:48 left in the first half.
“It was definitely an in-the-moment thing that I honestly didn’t expect,” he said. “It just happened, and I just found my way into the goal.”
Naperville North (2-0-0) dominated possession.
“I know they (Kaneland) are super young, and we’re young too,” Konrad said. “I was pleased with the way (we) worked against Neuqua (3-1 win Tuesday). The boys worked super hard, and I was pleased with the way they worked tonight. I thought we looked really good in the attack and just the combination play is really nice this year.”
Kaneland (0-1-0) found itself in an extremely difficult position with a young team that was simply overwhelmed in their first game since a 1-0 double overtime loss to Lemont in the Class AA Burlington Central Sectional semifinals on Oct. 29, 2019.
It’s quite a new team at the Maple Park school, which won the Interstate Eight (9-1-0) conference in 2019 while enjoying a 17-7-0 season. The Knights bid farewell to three-time Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater Tucker Jahns, who had 35 goals in his senior year and finished with a school-record 98.
They certainly could’ve used some of his magic on Thursday, but it’s all part of the process. The Knights lost nine starters from it’s last team, so battling against the 4-time state champions and a school twice its size (2,707 to 1,327 enrollment), is quite a daunting task. However that's typical from coach Scott Parillo who makes it a priority to challenge his team with a difficult nonconference schedule filled with stellar programs and Class 3A schools.
“I think the biggest thing was we were finally on the field,” Kaneland senior Braden Nigg said. “Playing a good team like (Naperville North) sets a high standard right away and helps set us up for conference and that’s what we’re looking for as the big push.”
While the Knights weren’t able to show what they’ll be able to do offensively this season, Nigg saw progress from the start of the game to the end.
“Definitely,” he said. “I think we had some positives. We picked it up in the second half. In terms of our shape, I think our formation in the first half, we were getting played around with by a team that’s obviously a great possession team. I think in the second half we switched a little bit more, and I think we were beat already so we weren’t going to let it go on anymore. I think the toughest part is making those adjustments.”
Parillo is used to coaching the girls team at this time of the year so having to mix in practices indoors and outdoors due to the team's natural grass field and inclement weather is nothing new, but his numbers are down substantially and his group is untested, so the Knights have some big challenges lying ahead.
“We’re a pretty inexperienced group,” he said. “We graduated nine starters so we’re just trying to play catch up. I thought we played hard. It didn’t look like we did a whole heck of a lot though.”
The Knights only had 30 kids come out for soccer as an entire program. In contrast, Naperville North boasts a varsity roster of 27.
“It’s like the lowest turnout in 20 years,” Parillo said. “That makes it a little rough, and we were missing three starters. With only 16 on varsity we brought up a couple JV kids to dress just for numbers. I don’t know how much of a difference missing those three starters did. It’s really a lack of experience. We just don’t have a ton of minutes played at varsity, so we’ve got to play catch up to get them.”
And also get in playing shape.
“The guys will tell you that they’re not in shape after an 18-month layoff,” he said. “Some play club and some don’t and when you only have 16 players, and you’re not in peak physical shape, it’s hard, especially in a six-week season. There’s no time to get in game-mode shape so we may struggle a bit, or we may click.”
Front-loading the schedule is typical for Parillo. The Knights may get beat up, even dominated in games by teams like the Huskies, but ultimately those experiences tend to help the squad find itself.
“We want to find out our weaknesses and fix them,” he said. “I really don’t know what I have. I know I have the talent, but we have got to jell. I love the effort so far, but with so many new starters, you just don’t know how quick it will happen.”
The Knights can expect their Interstate Eight foes to try to stick it to the defendint champs, even if the cast of characters is different.
“There’s a big target on our back,” Parillo said. “They want to beat the snot out of us.”
Naperville North appeared to head into the mid-game break leading 3-0 but Barger showed why he’s such a dangerous player at all times. He ended the half with his first of two goals in the contest just as the clock was hit 0:00.
“Jacob (Ryu) slipped me a ball through, and I took a touch and just placed it and found my way,” Barger said. “We’re putting in a lot of hard work in practice and putting a lot of hard work in games, and I think we’re getting the job done pretty well.”
Adam Zielke and Nikhil Javeri scored with 25:21 and 9:05 remaining in the first half to help the Huskies build a substantial cushion at halftime.
“Nikhil’s been around a couple of years, not playing a ton, but getting some minutes and Pablo Olano was around with us last year so some of the guys have a little bit of experience,” Konrad said. “Tyson’s (Amoo-Mensah) has been around for two years so it’s his third year with us. Our backline is pretty fresh, except for Kaufmann.”
Exciting opportunities are out there for the young Huskies.
“There’s a lot of guys out there fighting for a spot and I’m sure most of them will get the playing time they deserve as well,” Ryu said. “Many of us played JV1 last year, and we (don’t have many) returners this year, but we have that connection as a team and definitely are working hard together.”
In a unique season like this one, nothing really should come as a surprise. Adjustments, such as losing players as they complete their fall sports seasons, has been a standard running joke of sorts during the boys basketball season. Short-handed teams often waited for their multi-sport athletes to finish their postseason football run before transitioning to the hardwood. This March it’s adjustments in a similar fashion except that it’s abbreviated seasons like basketball and soccer crossing over.
Fifth-ranked Naperville North will host third-ranked Benet at 10 a.m. Saturday. The game time was changed from noon and will afford Kaufman the opportunity to play his final high school basketball game at 1 p.m. at St. Francis. Talk about a whirlwind experience of a day, but also one that Kaufman will never forget.
“We moved the game to 10 a.m. for Kaufman so he can play for us and jump on the bus and go play his last basketball game of the year,” Konrad said. “The boys are thrilled to be playing (this spring). They’re handling the masks OK. It’s not too bad, but when it gets hotter, it’s going to be tough. The refs have been good about it, and the boys will work through it.”
And since no one has experienced this kind of a season before, and athletes are creatures of habit, sometimes the best place for the kids to be is on the field playing the game they love and are gifted at playing, and where life seems normal.
“We’re sitting on the bench at the end of the game and Barger goes ‘I keep forgetting it’s the spring, I keep thinking it’s the fall because that’s when we’re supposed to be playing soccer,'” Konrad said. “It’s a very strange thing.”
Barger scored his second goal of the night with 35:36 left to play with Olano assisting.
Another newcomer, junior Bryan Higgs, added his first goal with 27:42 remaining to complete the scoring.
“I’m definitely seeing the growth of some of my buddies who were at the lower levels last year,” Barger said. “Now they’re getting themselves out there and getting it done.”
Saturday’s tilt with the Redwings in Lisle is one of the top matchups of the young season. While it’s a nonconference game and won’t affect seedings since there is no state series this season, there’s less on the line per se. But don’t tell that to Naperville North -- it’s the kind of game the Huskies will use to gear up for their pursuit of yet another DVC title.
“We did some goal-setting, and it’s to win the DVC championship,” Konrad said. “It’s always a challenge and something to be proud of so hopefully we’ll be in the mix. We’re always in the mix until we’re not. Naperville Central has shown the ability to score some goals and everyone in the conference is so good always. Even when we’ve had years where we’re very good and won state championships, we were winning conference games, 1-0 and 2-1. No matter how good you are, that’s five good, tough fights and we’re looking forward to it.”
Konrad packed the schedule as much as he could to give his kids the best experience possible this spring. Hopefully its diverts some of the challenges the kids have faced in and out of school due to the pandemic and the fall season being postponed until now.
“We have a chance to honor our seniors by playing and having an almost advance preseason for next fall to put some things in place,” he said. “It’s great to have 13 games now and two months later be able to roll into the fall season.”
Or is it the spring season? Somebody ask Barger.
Starting lineups
Kaneland
GK: Jack Rissman
D: Sean Gannon
D: Braden Nigg
D: Ryan Nudo
M: Tyler Eutsler
M: Sebastian Rios
M: Anthony Buchanan
M: Lucas Bass
M: Cole McMillan
F: Will Sand
F: Evan Smith
Naperville North
GK: Pablo Jara
D: Alex Fisher
D: Spencer Gaccione
D: Adam Zielke
M: Nikhil Javeri
M: Pablo Olano
M: Jacob Ryu
M: Cam Radeke
M: Tyson Amoo-Mensah
F: Alex Barger
F: Keegan Flaherty
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jacob Ryu, Naperville North, Jr., MF
Scoring summary
First half
Naperville North - 31:48 – Jacob Ryu (Alex Barger)
Naperville North - 25:21 – Adam Zielke (Alex Barger)
Naperville North - 9:05 – Nikhil Javeri (Jacob Ryu)
Naperville North - 0:00 – Alex Barger (Jacob Ryu)
Second half
Naperville North - 35:36 – Alex Barger (Pablo Olano)
Naperville North - 27:42 – Bryan Higgs (unassisted)
Ryu star vs. Kaneland
Duo combines for 3 goals, 4 assists in 6-0 Huskies win
By Chris Walker
NAPERVILLE – After playing club soccer his freshman year and then working his way up in the program by starring on the JV squad a season ago, it was only a matter of time before Jacob Ryu would really show what he could do.
On Tuesday night, he offered a big taste of why Naperville North coach Jim Konrad is so excited about him as one of the many new faces on the team this year that he expects to do great things.
Ryu helped the Huskies jump ahead of Kaneland with an early goal that proved to be all the scoring Naperville North would need in a 6-0 victory.
He also added a pair of assists.
“When I played JV1 last year it was kind of a start-up for me,” he said. “I think it was definitely a growing process so I kind of was learning more about the program while I definitely kept working hard. This is the kind of a team that’s very supportive. So to have a supportive team around me, I’m very thankful for that.”
Konrad is especially happy to have some young new talent this season, especially since the only returning starters are Barger and senior Josh Kaufman, who played for the basketball team Thursday night.
“Jacob (Ryu) was good last year, but he took great strides this offseason so he’s been a dominant kid so far,” Konrad said. “Cam (Radeke) is a special player who would’ve helped us out a ton last year and obviously Barger is a special player. He’s already a great one, but I see great things ahead of him. I think (those three) up-top are going to be tough for teams to handle.”
Radeke missed last season after breaking his collarbone.
Ryu’s first of likely many goals as a Huskie came with 31:48 left in the first half.
“It was definitely an in-the-moment thing that I honestly didn’t expect,” he said. “It just happened, and I just found my way into the goal.”
Naperville North (2-0-0) dominated possession.
“I know they (Kaneland) are super young, and we’re young too,” Konrad said. “I was pleased with the way (we) worked against Neuqua (3-1 win Tuesday). The boys worked super hard, and I was pleased with the way they worked tonight. I thought we looked really good in the attack and just the combination play is really nice this year.”
Kaneland (0-1-0) found itself in an extremely difficult position with a young team that was simply overwhelmed in their first game since a 1-0 double overtime loss to Lemont in the Class AA Burlington Central Sectional semifinals on Oct. 29, 2019.
It’s quite a new team at the Maple Park school, which won the Interstate Eight (9-1-0) conference in 2019 while enjoying a 17-7-0 season. The Knights bid farewell to three-time Chicagoland Soccer All-Stater Tucker Jahns, who had 35 goals in his senior year and finished with a school-record 98.
They certainly could’ve used some of his magic on Thursday, but it’s all part of the process. The Knights lost nine starters from it’s last team, so battling against the 4-time state champions and a school twice its size (2,707 to 1,327 enrollment), is quite a daunting task. However that's typical from coach Scott Parillo who makes it a priority to challenge his team with a difficult nonconference schedule filled with stellar programs and Class 3A schools.
“I think the biggest thing was we were finally on the field,” Kaneland senior Braden Nigg said. “Playing a good team like (Naperville North) sets a high standard right away and helps set us up for conference and that’s what we’re looking for as the big push.”
While the Knights weren’t able to show what they’ll be able to do offensively this season, Nigg saw progress from the start of the game to the end.
“Definitely,” he said. “I think we had some positives. We picked it up in the second half. In terms of our shape, I think our formation in the first half, we were getting played around with by a team that’s obviously a great possession team. I think in the second half we switched a little bit more, and I think we were beat already so we weren’t going to let it go on anymore. I think the toughest part is making those adjustments.”
Parillo is used to coaching the girls team at this time of the year so having to mix in practices indoors and outdoors due to the team's natural grass field and inclement weather is nothing new, but his numbers are down substantially and his group is untested, so the Knights have some big challenges lying ahead.
“We’re a pretty inexperienced group,” he said. “We graduated nine starters so we’re just trying to play catch up. I thought we played hard. It didn’t look like we did a whole heck of a lot though.”
The Knights only had 30 kids come out for soccer as an entire program. In contrast, Naperville North boasts a varsity roster of 27.
“It’s like the lowest turnout in 20 years,” Parillo said. “That makes it a little rough, and we were missing three starters. With only 16 on varsity we brought up a couple JV kids to dress just for numbers. I don’t know how much of a difference missing those three starters did. It’s really a lack of experience. We just don’t have a ton of minutes played at varsity, so we’ve got to play catch up to get them.”
And also get in playing shape.
“The guys will tell you that they’re not in shape after an 18-month layoff,” he said. “Some play club and some don’t and when you only have 16 players, and you’re not in peak physical shape, it’s hard, especially in a six-week season. There’s no time to get in game-mode shape so we may struggle a bit, or we may click.”
Front-loading the schedule is typical for Parillo. The Knights may get beat up, even dominated in games by teams like the Huskies, but ultimately those experiences tend to help the squad find itself.
“We want to find out our weaknesses and fix them,” he said. “I really don’t know what I have. I know I have the talent, but we have got to jell. I love the effort so far, but with so many new starters, you just don’t know how quick it will happen.”
The Knights can expect their Interstate Eight foes to try to stick it to the defendint champs, even if the cast of characters is different.
“There’s a big target on our back,” Parillo said. “They want to beat the snot out of us.”
Naperville North appeared to head into the mid-game break leading 3-0 but Barger showed why he’s such a dangerous player at all times. He ended the half with his first of two goals in the contest just as the clock was hit 0:00.
“Jacob (Ryu) slipped me a ball through, and I took a touch and just placed it and found my way,” Barger said. “We’re putting in a lot of hard work in practice and putting a lot of hard work in games, and I think we’re getting the job done pretty well.”
Adam Zielke and Nikhil Javeri scored with 25:21 and 9:05 remaining in the first half to help the Huskies build a substantial cushion at halftime.
“Nikhil’s been around a couple of years, not playing a ton, but getting some minutes and Pablo Olano was around with us last year so some of the guys have a little bit of experience,” Konrad said. “Tyson’s (Amoo-Mensah) has been around for two years so it’s his third year with us. Our backline is pretty fresh, except for Kaufmann.”
Exciting opportunities are out there for the young Huskies.
“There’s a lot of guys out there fighting for a spot and I’m sure most of them will get the playing time they deserve as well,” Ryu said. “Many of us played JV1 last year, and we (don’t have many) returners this year, but we have that connection as a team and definitely are working hard together.”
In a unique season like this one, nothing really should come as a surprise. Adjustments, such as losing players as they complete their fall sports seasons, has been a standard running joke of sorts during the boys basketball season. Short-handed teams often waited for their multi-sport athletes to finish their postseason football run before transitioning to the hardwood. This March it’s adjustments in a similar fashion except that it’s abbreviated seasons like basketball and soccer crossing over.
Fifth-ranked Naperville North will host third-ranked Benet at 10 a.m. Saturday. The game time was changed from noon and will afford Kaufman the opportunity to play his final high school basketball game at 1 p.m. at St. Francis. Talk about a whirlwind experience of a day, but also one that Kaufman will never forget.
“We moved the game to 10 a.m. for Kaufman so he can play for us and jump on the bus and go play his last basketball game of the year,” Konrad said. “The boys are thrilled to be playing (this spring). They’re handling the masks OK. It’s not too bad, but when it gets hotter, it’s going to be tough. The refs have been good about it, and the boys will work through it.”
And since no one has experienced this kind of a season before, and athletes are creatures of habit, sometimes the best place for the kids to be is on the field playing the game they love and are gifted at playing, and where life seems normal.
“We’re sitting on the bench at the end of the game and Barger goes ‘I keep forgetting it’s the spring, I keep thinking it’s the fall because that’s when we’re supposed to be playing soccer,'” Konrad said. “It’s a very strange thing.”
Barger scored his second goal of the night with 35:36 left to play with Olano assisting.
Another newcomer, junior Bryan Higgs, added his first goal with 27:42 remaining to complete the scoring.
“I’m definitely seeing the growth of some of my buddies who were at the lower levels last year,” Barger said. “Now they’re getting themselves out there and getting it done.”
Saturday’s tilt with the Redwings in Lisle is one of the top matchups of the young season. While it’s a nonconference game and won’t affect seedings since there is no state series this season, there’s less on the line per se. But don’t tell that to Naperville North -- it’s the kind of game the Huskies will use to gear up for their pursuit of yet another DVC title.
“We did some goal-setting, and it’s to win the DVC championship,” Konrad said. “It’s always a challenge and something to be proud of so hopefully we’ll be in the mix. We’re always in the mix until we’re not. Naperville Central has shown the ability to score some goals and everyone in the conference is so good always. Even when we’ve had years where we’re very good and won state championships, we were winning conference games, 1-0 and 2-1. No matter how good you are, that’s five good, tough fights and we’re looking forward to it.”
Konrad packed the schedule as much as he could to give his kids the best experience possible this spring. Hopefully its diverts some of the challenges the kids have faced in and out of school due to the pandemic and the fall season being postponed until now.
“We have a chance to honor our seniors by playing and having an almost advance preseason for next fall to put some things in place,” he said. “It’s great to have 13 games now and two months later be able to roll into the fall season.”
Or is it the spring season? Somebody ask Barger.
Starting lineups
Kaneland
GK: Jack Rissman
D: Sean Gannon
D: Braden Nigg
D: Ryan Nudo
M: Tyler Eutsler
M: Sebastian Rios
M: Anthony Buchanan
M: Lucas Bass
M: Cole McMillan
F: Will Sand
F: Evan Smith
Naperville North
GK: Pablo Jara
D: Alex Fisher
D: Spencer Gaccione
D: Adam Zielke
M: Nikhil Javeri
M: Pablo Olano
M: Jacob Ryu
M: Cam Radeke
M: Tyson Amoo-Mensah
F: Alex Barger
F: Keegan Flaherty
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jacob Ryu, Naperville North, Jr., MF
Scoring summary
First half
Naperville North - 31:48 – Jacob Ryu (Alex Barger)
Naperville North - 25:21 – Adam Zielke (Alex Barger)
Naperville North - 9:05 – Nikhil Javeri (Jacob Ryu)
Naperville North - 0:00 – Alex Barger (Jacob Ryu)
Second half
Naperville North - 35:36 – Alex Barger (Pablo Olano)
Naperville North - 27:42 – Bryan Higgs (unassisted)