Thrice as nice for Naperville North
1-0 win delivers 1st perfect season in Illinois and 3rd-straight title
By Matt Le Cren
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Naperville North goalkeeper Tom Welch held the state championship trophy high above his head, just out of the reach of his shouting and jumping teammates.
The scene was an apt metaphor for the 2018 season – not even the second-ranked team in the country – was able to scale the heights the Huskies were able to reach.
Naperville North’s 1-0 victory over Libertyville on Saturday night in the Class 3A state title game was one for the record books.
In beating unbeaten Libertyville for the second-straight year in the final, the Huskies capped the first perfect season in state history and became just the third school – and first in Class 3A – to win three consecutive state championships.
They did it in a familiar way. Stalwart senior defender Colin Iverson rose up over everyone and sent a powerful header crashing into the net with 3:43 left in the first half for his team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Welch, who made eight saves, and Naperville North’s defense made it stand up as the Huskies (26-0-0) extended their playoff winning streak to 21 games and their overall winning streak to 45.
Iverson now has scored the game-winning goal in the past two state finals, both coming on his signature headers.
“I can’t even put it into words,” the Bowling Green-bound Iverson said. “It’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more.
“It’s just amazing to be a part of this program. I love it so much.”
The 6-foot-4 Iverson finished his career with 45 goals, making him the most prolific defender in school history and one of the best in state history. Naperville North coach Jim Konrad tabbed Iverson the best two-way defender he’s seen since Jed Zayner led Sandburg to back-to-back state titles in 2001 and 2002. Yet Zayner scored only a third of the goals Iverson did.
“He almost scored as many goals in his career as (former Naperville North all-state midfielder and current Bowling Green player Chris Sullivan), and he plays center back,” Konrad marveled.
Everyone marveled at how Iverson delivered the game-winner, which came off junior Ty Konrad’s corner kick from the right side. Libertyville goalie Zach ElGhatit had no chance as the line drive zipped over his head and just under the crossbar.
“It was a beautiful serve,” Iverson said. “We have never run that play before, ever.
“Myles (Barry) and I switched spots and then Ty played a perfect ball. I got a nice slip on it.”
What was going through Iverson’s head when the ball went in the net?
“I was just, ‘Again?’” he said. “Oh, my goodness.”
After that, the only question was if the Huskies could hold off the Wildcats (22-1-0) for the remaining 44 minutes.
They did, though not without some scary moments. Libertyville had not been shut out all season and had one of the state’s best attackers in senior Evan Rasmussen, a Michigan recruit who had scored 33 goals.
Rasmussen came within inches of giving the Wildcats the lead in the fourth minute when he ripped a shot from just outside the box off the crossbar.
That was Libertyville’s only decent scoring chance in the evenly played first half, but the Wildcats would get several more in the second half, which resembled last year’s final in which they clearly had the better of the run of play.
The Huskies did better in the midfield this time and Konrad was dangerous up-top and created corner kicks even though he was held without a shot on frame. Yet Libertyville still enjoyed a 13-4 edge in shots and did not allow North a shot after halftime.
Welch, who backstopped a defense that allowed only five goals this season, setting a new state record for fewest goals allowed, had to make seven of his eight saves after intermission, but as usual the 6-foot-7 titan was unruffled.
“(I made) more than usual but credit to the defense,” Welch said. “They played their tails off.
“I haven’t had to do much. They make my job pretty easy, so I was excited to get a little more shots. But none of the shots were too hard.”
Welch made two excellent punch-outs in the final three minutes on Libertyville restarts. Patrick Grahm caused some trouble with his long throw-ins, one of which led to a scramble in the box with 3:10 remaining.
The ball came out to Gabriel Kosciuch, who fired a hard 18-yard shot through traffic which Welch punched away with both fists. The rebound went to Grahm, who fired high from just outside the box.
Welch also denied the Wildcats’ final chance, leaping high into the air to punch away a 50-yard free kick from Mason Williams.
“It’s just reflexes then,” Welch said. “You don’t have enough time to think and that’s when I think I’m at my best is when you just react.”
North defender Christian Romano was at his best, too, on an even dicier play with 11:15 remaining in the match. A long toss from Grahm deflected off Welch, who was on the ground when the ball popped loose a couple yards in front of the line.
Rasmussen was bearing down on it but Romano alertly blasted the ball 40 yards upfield a split second before the Libertyville star could tally the equalizer. Welch called it the save of the game.
“Every one of these guys has my back, and Christian had it right there,” Welch said. “I don’t remember what happened, but he was there, and I wasn’t nervous at all at that point.
“I knew Christian was there, and he can boot it pretty far, so I knew we would clear it.”
Welch may have been cool in the moment, but Romano endured a moment of anxiety.
“It was scary,” Romano said. “I thought it was going in.
“I just felt the ball land right in my lap and I was like, Tom’s not going to pick this one up. He was out of the picture so I tried to smack it. I saw (Rasmussen) right in front of me and I had to get it out of there as fast as I could.”
It was yet another moment of frustration for the Wildcats, whose high-powered attack was stymied by arguably the greatest defense in state history.
“They’re a great team,” Rasmussen said. “They’ve got a good backline and obviously an incredible goalkeeper.
“We haven’t been able to score. We just get unlucky.”
“We created some good chances, had some good hits they just cleared off the line a few times, but they also did create their fair share of chances as well. Ty Konrad up-top, he’s great at creating for himself; he’s a good player.”
Konrad, who finished with 14 goals and a team-high 19 assists, is drawing attention from Big Ten schools. But he is a different type of player from the muscular 6-foot-2 Rasmussen, who can overpower most defenders.
That’s what makes North’s defensive effort all the more impressive. The Huskies have consistently won with defense, winning 11 one-goal games this season. Ten of those triumphs were 1-0 games, including their final three of the season.
North did that even though Iverson was the only returning starter on the backline. Two graduated and Cesar Recendez moved to the midfield, leaving Iverson to jell with first-year starters Barry, Romano and Cam Ferus, yet North gave up half as many goals as they did in 2017.
“I feel last year we got some good training in, which helped a ton and in the offseason playing with our club we got good practice in,” Iverson said. “We just kept grinding throughout the year and this summer. We had Cam, Myles and I step up.
“Myles and I were on the team last year so it was great training with the older guys to get ready.”
Jim Konrad, whose team has gone 74-3-4 over the past three seasons, struggled to come up with words worthy of describing the enormous accomplishment of the three-peat, something done previously only by Granite City South from 1976-1980 in the one-class system and Gibault, a Catholic school that won the Class A title from 2005-2007 and a second-straight fourth place trophy Saturday.
“I’m so proud of the boys,” said Jim Konrad, himself a Naperville North graduate. “Words can’t express what these boys have accomplished.
“You can’t put into words the fact that they have taken everybody’s best shot this year, won 45 games in a row as high school kids. It’s unheard of to have that kind of mental toughness and character to do that and to finish off a perfect season, the first one (in Illinois history) and to do it after winning the state championship last year and the year before, going out of state to find the toughest games, beat an unbeaten team in the finals.”
Indeed, Libertyville would have become the first team to go unbeaten and untied had they knocked off the Huskies. This was the first time two unbeaten and untied teams met in a state championship game.
And the Wildcats have an impressive pedigree as well. The 2015 state champs appeared in the title game for the third time in four seasons.
“We’ve had some great accomplishments, a lot to be proud of but obviously it’s rough right now,” said Rasmussen, a three-year starter. “It’s just been an amazing time here, just growing as a player and making new friends, having good times with everyone.
“I’ve got a lot of memories to look back on and be proud of.”
Iverson said beating a team the quality of Libertyville made the three-peat even more special.
“Libertyville is a very great team, but I think what our team does great is we’re so tight with each other,” Iverson said. “We put trust in each other.
“We’re a real team and I’d fight with these guys any day, and I love them so much.”
The scary thing for the rest of the state is the Huskies had eight junior starters this season. They graduate two huge stars in Welch and Iverson, but Ty Konrad will be back to lead the quest for a fourth-straight title.
“It’s a bigger and bigger feat every year,” Welch said. “The pressure continues.
“I feel kind of bad for the junior class. They have so much more and I’ll be out of here. They have a fourth one to get, and I’ll definitely come back for the game if I can.”
Welch went out a winner in his final competitive soccer game. He will play Division I basketball at Loyola next season but said the soccer memories will never leave him.
“Each (title) is different,” Welch said. “But this is my senior year, and this one is the best.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Tom Welch
D Colin Iverson
D Christian Romano
D Cam Ferus
D Myles Barry
M Cesar Recendez
M Zach Smith
M Nata Rojas
F Ali Khorfan
F Patrick Koenig
F Ty Konrad
Libertyville
GK Zach ElGhatit
D Nick Guarino
D Grant Herbek
D Mason Williams
D Brendan Quigley
M Jack VanDixhorn
M Mickey Reilly
M Ryan Klainos
M Tanner Kelly
M Patrick Graham
F Evan Rasmussen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Colin Iverson, sr., D, Naperville North.
Scoring summary
First half
Naperville North – Colin Iverson (Ty Konrad), 37th minute
Second half
No scoring
1-0 win delivers 1st perfect season in Illinois and 3rd-straight title
By Matt Le Cren
HOFFMAN ESTATES – Naperville North goalkeeper Tom Welch held the state championship trophy high above his head, just out of the reach of his shouting and jumping teammates.
The scene was an apt metaphor for the 2018 season – not even the second-ranked team in the country – was able to scale the heights the Huskies were able to reach.
Naperville North’s 1-0 victory over Libertyville on Saturday night in the Class 3A state title game was one for the record books.
In beating unbeaten Libertyville for the second-straight year in the final, the Huskies capped the first perfect season in state history and became just the third school – and first in Class 3A – to win three consecutive state championships.
They did it in a familiar way. Stalwart senior defender Colin Iverson rose up over everyone and sent a powerful header crashing into the net with 3:43 left in the first half for his team-leading 18th goal of the season.
Welch, who made eight saves, and Naperville North’s defense made it stand up as the Huskies (26-0-0) extended their playoff winning streak to 21 games and their overall winning streak to 45.
Iverson now has scored the game-winning goal in the past two state finals, both coming on his signature headers.
“I can’t even put it into words,” the Bowling Green-bound Iverson said. “It’s everything I’ve dreamed of and more.
“It’s just amazing to be a part of this program. I love it so much.”
The 6-foot-4 Iverson finished his career with 45 goals, making him the most prolific defender in school history and one of the best in state history. Naperville North coach Jim Konrad tabbed Iverson the best two-way defender he’s seen since Jed Zayner led Sandburg to back-to-back state titles in 2001 and 2002. Yet Zayner scored only a third of the goals Iverson did.
“He almost scored as many goals in his career as (former Naperville North all-state midfielder and current Bowling Green player Chris Sullivan), and he plays center back,” Konrad marveled.
Everyone marveled at how Iverson delivered the game-winner, which came off junior Ty Konrad’s corner kick from the right side. Libertyville goalie Zach ElGhatit had no chance as the line drive zipped over his head and just under the crossbar.
“It was a beautiful serve,” Iverson said. “We have never run that play before, ever.
“Myles (Barry) and I switched spots and then Ty played a perfect ball. I got a nice slip on it.”
What was going through Iverson’s head when the ball went in the net?
“I was just, ‘Again?’” he said. “Oh, my goodness.”
After that, the only question was if the Huskies could hold off the Wildcats (22-1-0) for the remaining 44 minutes.
They did, though not without some scary moments. Libertyville had not been shut out all season and had one of the state’s best attackers in senior Evan Rasmussen, a Michigan recruit who had scored 33 goals.
Rasmussen came within inches of giving the Wildcats the lead in the fourth minute when he ripped a shot from just outside the box off the crossbar.
That was Libertyville’s only decent scoring chance in the evenly played first half, but the Wildcats would get several more in the second half, which resembled last year’s final in which they clearly had the better of the run of play.
The Huskies did better in the midfield this time and Konrad was dangerous up-top and created corner kicks even though he was held without a shot on frame. Yet Libertyville still enjoyed a 13-4 edge in shots and did not allow North a shot after halftime.
Welch, who backstopped a defense that allowed only five goals this season, setting a new state record for fewest goals allowed, had to make seven of his eight saves after intermission, but as usual the 6-foot-7 titan was unruffled.
“(I made) more than usual but credit to the defense,” Welch said. “They played their tails off.
“I haven’t had to do much. They make my job pretty easy, so I was excited to get a little more shots. But none of the shots were too hard.”
Welch made two excellent punch-outs in the final three minutes on Libertyville restarts. Patrick Grahm caused some trouble with his long throw-ins, one of which led to a scramble in the box with 3:10 remaining.
The ball came out to Gabriel Kosciuch, who fired a hard 18-yard shot through traffic which Welch punched away with both fists. The rebound went to Grahm, who fired high from just outside the box.
Welch also denied the Wildcats’ final chance, leaping high into the air to punch away a 50-yard free kick from Mason Williams.
“It’s just reflexes then,” Welch said. “You don’t have enough time to think and that’s when I think I’m at my best is when you just react.”
North defender Christian Romano was at his best, too, on an even dicier play with 11:15 remaining in the match. A long toss from Grahm deflected off Welch, who was on the ground when the ball popped loose a couple yards in front of the line.
Rasmussen was bearing down on it but Romano alertly blasted the ball 40 yards upfield a split second before the Libertyville star could tally the equalizer. Welch called it the save of the game.
“Every one of these guys has my back, and Christian had it right there,” Welch said. “I don’t remember what happened, but he was there, and I wasn’t nervous at all at that point.
“I knew Christian was there, and he can boot it pretty far, so I knew we would clear it.”
Welch may have been cool in the moment, but Romano endured a moment of anxiety.
“It was scary,” Romano said. “I thought it was going in.
“I just felt the ball land right in my lap and I was like, Tom’s not going to pick this one up. He was out of the picture so I tried to smack it. I saw (Rasmussen) right in front of me and I had to get it out of there as fast as I could.”
It was yet another moment of frustration for the Wildcats, whose high-powered attack was stymied by arguably the greatest defense in state history.
“They’re a great team,” Rasmussen said. “They’ve got a good backline and obviously an incredible goalkeeper.
“We haven’t been able to score. We just get unlucky.”
“We created some good chances, had some good hits they just cleared off the line a few times, but they also did create their fair share of chances as well. Ty Konrad up-top, he’s great at creating for himself; he’s a good player.”
Konrad, who finished with 14 goals and a team-high 19 assists, is drawing attention from Big Ten schools. But he is a different type of player from the muscular 6-foot-2 Rasmussen, who can overpower most defenders.
That’s what makes North’s defensive effort all the more impressive. The Huskies have consistently won with defense, winning 11 one-goal games this season. Ten of those triumphs were 1-0 games, including their final three of the season.
North did that even though Iverson was the only returning starter on the backline. Two graduated and Cesar Recendez moved to the midfield, leaving Iverson to jell with first-year starters Barry, Romano and Cam Ferus, yet North gave up half as many goals as they did in 2017.
“I feel last year we got some good training in, which helped a ton and in the offseason playing with our club we got good practice in,” Iverson said. “We just kept grinding throughout the year and this summer. We had Cam, Myles and I step up.
“Myles and I were on the team last year so it was great training with the older guys to get ready.”
Jim Konrad, whose team has gone 74-3-4 over the past three seasons, struggled to come up with words worthy of describing the enormous accomplishment of the three-peat, something done previously only by Granite City South from 1976-1980 in the one-class system and Gibault, a Catholic school that won the Class A title from 2005-2007 and a second-straight fourth place trophy Saturday.
“I’m so proud of the boys,” said Jim Konrad, himself a Naperville North graduate. “Words can’t express what these boys have accomplished.
“You can’t put into words the fact that they have taken everybody’s best shot this year, won 45 games in a row as high school kids. It’s unheard of to have that kind of mental toughness and character to do that and to finish off a perfect season, the first one (in Illinois history) and to do it after winning the state championship last year and the year before, going out of state to find the toughest games, beat an unbeaten team in the finals.”
Indeed, Libertyville would have become the first team to go unbeaten and untied had they knocked off the Huskies. This was the first time two unbeaten and untied teams met in a state championship game.
And the Wildcats have an impressive pedigree as well. The 2015 state champs appeared in the title game for the third time in four seasons.
“We’ve had some great accomplishments, a lot to be proud of but obviously it’s rough right now,” said Rasmussen, a three-year starter. “It’s just been an amazing time here, just growing as a player and making new friends, having good times with everyone.
“I’ve got a lot of memories to look back on and be proud of.”
Iverson said beating a team the quality of Libertyville made the three-peat even more special.
“Libertyville is a very great team, but I think what our team does great is we’re so tight with each other,” Iverson said. “We put trust in each other.
“We’re a real team and I’d fight with these guys any day, and I love them so much.”
The scary thing for the rest of the state is the Huskies had eight junior starters this season. They graduate two huge stars in Welch and Iverson, but Ty Konrad will be back to lead the quest for a fourth-straight title.
“It’s a bigger and bigger feat every year,” Welch said. “The pressure continues.
“I feel kind of bad for the junior class. They have so much more and I’ll be out of here. They have a fourth one to get, and I’ll definitely come back for the game if I can.”
Welch went out a winner in his final competitive soccer game. He will play Division I basketball at Loyola next season but said the soccer memories will never leave him.
“Each (title) is different,” Welch said. “But this is my senior year, and this one is the best.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Tom Welch
D Colin Iverson
D Christian Romano
D Cam Ferus
D Myles Barry
M Cesar Recendez
M Zach Smith
M Nata Rojas
F Ali Khorfan
F Patrick Koenig
F Ty Konrad
Libertyville
GK Zach ElGhatit
D Nick Guarino
D Grant Herbek
D Mason Williams
D Brendan Quigley
M Jack VanDixhorn
M Mickey Reilly
M Ryan Klainos
M Tanner Kelly
M Patrick Graham
F Evan Rasmussen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Colin Iverson, sr., D, Naperville North.
Scoring summary
First half
Naperville North – Colin Iverson (Ty Konrad), 37th minute
Second half
No scoring