Plainfield North makes a statement
Tigers blast Minooka 6-1 in Southwest Prairie Conference opener
By Chris Walker
PLAINFIELD – As a senior captain, Avery Bell has some big-time responsibilities. He’s enforcing positive thinking, mentoring his teammates, leading vocally and by example, organizing and doing the things that captains do to get the best performance out of a team. Oh, and cleaning up.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bell sprayed a bunch of water on Plainfield North’s artificial surface to wash away the blood that had collected after a nasty collision between one of his teammates and Minooka senior forward Alex Richter.
Whatever it takes, right?
“The blood pooled and was pretty bad,” Bell said. “I’m not afraid of blood, but that was pretty bad. He (Richter) bit a hole in his lip, which was just unfortunate. It was just two guys playing hard, going for a 50/50 ball.”
The Indians not only got the worst of that collision, but took blows from the Tigers all afternoon as the hosts made a statement in the Southwest Prairie Conference opener for both squads, putting the game away early and earning an impressive 6-1 victory.
Coincidentally, Minooka beat Plainfield North by the same score last season and handled them 5-2 in 2017. The Tigers earned their first win against the Indians since a 3-0 blanking in 2016.
“They (took it) to us and you know what? That happens at times,” Minooka coach Nate Spriggs said. “Now we’ve got to get back to work at practice tomorrow and fix some things. We came out in the second half, and we played better. I just wish we could’ve played that way the entire first half, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Just six minutes into the action, Bell hammered a shot off the crossbar. Such a narrowly missed shot wouldn’t come back to haunt the Tigers though. If anything, it whet their appetite to get a goal even more. They didn't wait long. Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch Lister Shea Bechtel, who was taken down in the box, buried a penalty kick nine minutes into the game.
Three minutes later Sam Dachman scored to give the Tigers an early 2-0 cushion with 28:19 still remaining to play in the first half.
“We just try to play as aggressive as we can and press them as much as they press us, or even more by taking advantage of that speed that we have,” Bell said. “Knowing this was our first conference game, we wanted to come out and let them know that we’re not here to mess around. Maybe last year was different, but so is this year.”
Whether or not this game comes back to haunt the Indians in the conference race remains to be seen, but it’s hard to believe that the score truly is indicative of how much better one team is than the other. Plainfield North might have a lot of talent, but are they really five goals better than Minooka? Or is it unfair to really gauge these teams except as an extremely early-season progress report?
Consider that this is a Minooka team that returned eight starters, including Blake Brandenburg, who had 26 goals and 13 assists last year to help them post a 15-8-1 record. And while it was a smaller school, the Indians really took it to Morris in their opener earlier in the week, blasting them 8-1 behind a hat trick from Izaak Avalos.
“We got our (butts) handed to us last year by Minooka and just wanted to come out and make a statement,” Plainfield North coach Steve Berry said. “We know they’re one of the top teams in the conference and wanted be as aggressive and assertive as we could, and we did that.”
Did the Indians overlook the Tigers, remembering how they handled them a season ago? Perhaps. Are the Tigers ahead of schedule, playing more like a fine-oiled machine than a car you’re pulling out of the garage for the first time in a long time? Regardless of how it happened or why, a result is a result, and it’s a big one in the conference landscape.
“We’re happy to get out of here with a win against a very good Minooka team that’s going to beat a lot of good teams and is going to go far in the playoffs,” Berry said. “For us, it’s a building block and a conference game. We normally don’t play this one this early, but with their turf we needed to play them now and with the schedule we both have, it’s one you don’t want to play so early. But like I said, we’re probably ahead of the game with fitness and level of commitment now, and now we have to keep it going.”
Other coaches in the Southwest Prairie and around the state will certainly take note that the Tigers beat a team that returned all but three starters from a 15-win squad by five goals.
“Now we’re a target which is good and bad,” Berry said. “They’re still kids and their heads can get big. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Last year, the two sides tied for third in conference at 6-3 as both were left looking up at second place Oswego East and undefeated champion Oswego. All four teams should be in the running for the title this fall.
“We’ve got to play who is on the schedule and have to come ready to compete,” Spriggs said. “They’ve a very good team, and they’re tough to defend. They’re fast up-top so we’ll make some adjustments and move on.”
It’s all you can do really after this kind of defeat.
“We want to play a tough schedule, and we want to prepare ourselves for the post-season,” Spriggs said. “We want to be successful and want to get some wins during the regular season, but if we can play these teams and get better for when regionals come around then it’s really worth it.”
Plainfield North freshman midfielder Cooper Allen was probably never going to forget his first high school varsity game, especially since he was rewarded with his first start, regardless of how he and his team fared. He also definitely won’t forget his first goal, although he needed to be reminded about the details after the game. Hey, it happens.
“I forgot how I scored the first goal,” Allen laughed before being reminded that Sam Martinez sent a cross his way. “Oh yea, I forgot that Sam took it to the corner and took two guys on so with both defenders following after him I was just left there, and he just had to cross it to me and I tapped in.”
Years later when he’s re-telling the story to his grandkids, he can embellish a bit. He can say that it was a game-winner seconds before time expired to win a championship, or a precisely looped volley from a seemingly impossible angle that he delivered the perfect touch on, or a long-range screamer that even the fans in the stands claimed to have heard. It doesn’t matter how you score it or how it looks because it counts the same.
“It felt really good,” he said. “Getting that first one showed I can play at this level and score. It was a lot of fun.”
That goal came with 14:06 still remaining in the first half.
“The guys on the soccer team have a great attitude and have been easy to talk to,” Allen said. “School is lot more challenging academic-wise, but I’m getting the hang of it. The soccer is more challenging, but I like that challenge. So far it’s been really good.”
The Tigers added to their lead just before halftime and after a lengthy delay due to the Richter injury, subsequent cleaning of the turf and arrival of an ambulance. After all that Martinez made a lengthy run and was able to convert a shot just six seconds before the halftime horn.
“We play the full game and are pushing all the time,” Bell said. “I think our fitness level is above any other team in conference, maybe in the state. It started in the summer. We all came to practice three times a week and worked our (butts) off. We’re physically fit. We’re energized we’re everything. We have so much energy and it’s showing.”
It’s got to be a lot of fun as a senior to see the newcomers contribute so quickly and that’s another aspect of Bell’s leadership. He enjoys the success of his teammates as much as his own.
“These boys are something else,” he said. “They’re something special so I’m excited. Cooper with two goals today as a freshman in his first conference game and first high school varsity game. We’re excited for guys like him.”
The Indians showed some life in the second half when about 10 minutes into the action Zac Monnett scored off a nice pass from Ben Joder to pull within 4-1. Minooka continued to press forward and had some opportunities, but couldn’t convert any of its other chances.
At the very least, they bottled up the Tigers for most of the second until Kanon Woodill and Allen scored late.
Sharing the wealth, five different players scored for the Tigers.
“We started off strong, and we were all over them,” Berry said. “We got the penalty and our mentality is to keep going, and we’re starting to see that. It’s nice to see the contributions from lots of different players.”
On Allen’s second goal he followed in Martinez’s shot that caromed off the crossbar. It was the third time during the afternoon that the Tigers hit the crossbar, but the only time they were able to follow it up with a rebound goal.
“We started two freshmen and played a third one so the trust is there and the maturity is there,” Berry said. “(Allen) had two really nice goals, and he finished a great shot from Martinez off the bench. Then (Martinez) had the banger on our fourth goal, and he had a second assist .. that’s a sub, and a sub who could probably start.”
Plainfield North finished 12-9-1 last year and lost eight seniors from that team. The guys who have returned look sharper than ever, and the new kids have already stepped in, meshed and made an impact.
The Tigers (2-0-0) opened the season with a 3-0 blanking of Neuqua Valley on Monday behind goals from Bell, Bechtel and Dachman so the scoring is there.
“We have good leaders, and we have good seniors. We have good experienced players who are not just seniors, because we’re still starting some juniors who are three-year starters,” Berry said. “They bought-in back in June when we were here for our 25 days, and they were in the weight room and training for 25 days and doing fitness for 25 days. So we’re probably ahead of some teams and some groups in that mentality. But now how do we manage that over the course of the season that gets so compacted into 20-plus games in seven weeks?
“It’s good now and health is important too. But they bought-in and winning helps too, and goals help too. So when you’re seeing that and the leaders are doing that, and we didn’t even play our best player in the second half to give him some rest, good things are happening.”
Starting lineups
Minooka
GK Will Maurice
D Manny Campuzano
D Chase Kalafut
D Isaac Westerhoff
MF Izaak Avalos
MF Ryan Feigenhauer
MF Zac Monnett
MF Austin Sarcletti
F Blake Brandenburg
F Ben Joder
F Alex Richter
Plainfield North
GK Alex Noser
D Brady Harwood
D Ryan Kuffel
D James Vu
D Kanon Woodill
MF Cooper Allen
MF Shea Bechtel
MF Sam Dachman
MF John Seeley
F Avery Bell
F Adrian Jurkowski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Cooper Allen, fr., MF, Plainfield North
Scoring summary
Plainfield North 6, Minooka 1
Minooka 0 1 -- 1
Plainfield North 4 2 -- 6
First half
Plainfield North – Shea Bechtel PK 31:09
Plainfield North – Sam Dachman (Brady Harwood) 28:19
Plainfield North – Cooper Allen (Sam Martinez) 14:06
Plainfield North – Sam Martinez (u/a) 0:06
Second half
Minooka – Zac Monnett (Ben Joder) 30:31
Plainfield North – Kanon Woodill (John Seeley) 14:12
Plainfield North – Cooper Allen (Sam Martinez) 10:16
Tigers blast Minooka 6-1 in Southwest Prairie Conference opener
By Chris Walker
PLAINFIELD – As a senior captain, Avery Bell has some big-time responsibilities. He’s enforcing positive thinking, mentoring his teammates, leading vocally and by example, organizing and doing the things that captains do to get the best performance out of a team. Oh, and cleaning up.
On Wednesday afternoon, Bell sprayed a bunch of water on Plainfield North’s artificial surface to wash away the blood that had collected after a nasty collision between one of his teammates and Minooka senior forward Alex Richter.
Whatever it takes, right?
“The blood pooled and was pretty bad,” Bell said. “I’m not afraid of blood, but that was pretty bad. He (Richter) bit a hole in his lip, which was just unfortunate. It was just two guys playing hard, going for a 50/50 ball.”
The Indians not only got the worst of that collision, but took blows from the Tigers all afternoon as the hosts made a statement in the Southwest Prairie Conference opener for both squads, putting the game away early and earning an impressive 6-1 victory.
Coincidentally, Minooka beat Plainfield North by the same score last season and handled them 5-2 in 2017. The Tigers earned their first win against the Indians since a 3-0 blanking in 2016.
“They (took it) to us and you know what? That happens at times,” Minooka coach Nate Spriggs said. “Now we’ve got to get back to work at practice tomorrow and fix some things. We came out in the second half, and we played better. I just wish we could’ve played that way the entire first half, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Just six minutes into the action, Bell hammered a shot off the crossbar. Such a narrowly missed shot wouldn’t come back to haunt the Tigers though. If anything, it whet their appetite to get a goal even more. They didn't wait long. Chicagoland Soccer All-State Watch Lister Shea Bechtel, who was taken down in the box, buried a penalty kick nine minutes into the game.
Three minutes later Sam Dachman scored to give the Tigers an early 2-0 cushion with 28:19 still remaining to play in the first half.
“We just try to play as aggressive as we can and press them as much as they press us, or even more by taking advantage of that speed that we have,” Bell said. “Knowing this was our first conference game, we wanted to come out and let them know that we’re not here to mess around. Maybe last year was different, but so is this year.”
Whether or not this game comes back to haunt the Indians in the conference race remains to be seen, but it’s hard to believe that the score truly is indicative of how much better one team is than the other. Plainfield North might have a lot of talent, but are they really five goals better than Minooka? Or is it unfair to really gauge these teams except as an extremely early-season progress report?
Consider that this is a Minooka team that returned eight starters, including Blake Brandenburg, who had 26 goals and 13 assists last year to help them post a 15-8-1 record. And while it was a smaller school, the Indians really took it to Morris in their opener earlier in the week, blasting them 8-1 behind a hat trick from Izaak Avalos.
“We got our (butts) handed to us last year by Minooka and just wanted to come out and make a statement,” Plainfield North coach Steve Berry said. “We know they’re one of the top teams in the conference and wanted be as aggressive and assertive as we could, and we did that.”
Did the Indians overlook the Tigers, remembering how they handled them a season ago? Perhaps. Are the Tigers ahead of schedule, playing more like a fine-oiled machine than a car you’re pulling out of the garage for the first time in a long time? Regardless of how it happened or why, a result is a result, and it’s a big one in the conference landscape.
“We’re happy to get out of here with a win against a very good Minooka team that’s going to beat a lot of good teams and is going to go far in the playoffs,” Berry said. “For us, it’s a building block and a conference game. We normally don’t play this one this early, but with their turf we needed to play them now and with the schedule we both have, it’s one you don’t want to play so early. But like I said, we’re probably ahead of the game with fitness and level of commitment now, and now we have to keep it going.”
Other coaches in the Southwest Prairie and around the state will certainly take note that the Tigers beat a team that returned all but three starters from a 15-win squad by five goals.
“Now we’re a target which is good and bad,” Berry said. “They’re still kids and their heads can get big. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”
Last year, the two sides tied for third in conference at 6-3 as both were left looking up at second place Oswego East and undefeated champion Oswego. All four teams should be in the running for the title this fall.
“We’ve got to play who is on the schedule and have to come ready to compete,” Spriggs said. “They’ve a very good team, and they’re tough to defend. They’re fast up-top so we’ll make some adjustments and move on.”
It’s all you can do really after this kind of defeat.
“We want to play a tough schedule, and we want to prepare ourselves for the post-season,” Spriggs said. “We want to be successful and want to get some wins during the regular season, but if we can play these teams and get better for when regionals come around then it’s really worth it.”
Plainfield North freshman midfielder Cooper Allen was probably never going to forget his first high school varsity game, especially since he was rewarded with his first start, regardless of how he and his team fared. He also definitely won’t forget his first goal, although he needed to be reminded about the details after the game. Hey, it happens.
“I forgot how I scored the first goal,” Allen laughed before being reminded that Sam Martinez sent a cross his way. “Oh yea, I forgot that Sam took it to the corner and took two guys on so with both defenders following after him I was just left there, and he just had to cross it to me and I tapped in.”
Years later when he’s re-telling the story to his grandkids, he can embellish a bit. He can say that it was a game-winner seconds before time expired to win a championship, or a precisely looped volley from a seemingly impossible angle that he delivered the perfect touch on, or a long-range screamer that even the fans in the stands claimed to have heard. It doesn’t matter how you score it or how it looks because it counts the same.
“It felt really good,” he said. “Getting that first one showed I can play at this level and score. It was a lot of fun.”
That goal came with 14:06 still remaining in the first half.
“The guys on the soccer team have a great attitude and have been easy to talk to,” Allen said. “School is lot more challenging academic-wise, but I’m getting the hang of it. The soccer is more challenging, but I like that challenge. So far it’s been really good.”
The Tigers added to their lead just before halftime and after a lengthy delay due to the Richter injury, subsequent cleaning of the turf and arrival of an ambulance. After all that Martinez made a lengthy run and was able to convert a shot just six seconds before the halftime horn.
“We play the full game and are pushing all the time,” Bell said. “I think our fitness level is above any other team in conference, maybe in the state. It started in the summer. We all came to practice three times a week and worked our (butts) off. We’re physically fit. We’re energized we’re everything. We have so much energy and it’s showing.”
It’s got to be a lot of fun as a senior to see the newcomers contribute so quickly and that’s another aspect of Bell’s leadership. He enjoys the success of his teammates as much as his own.
“These boys are something else,” he said. “They’re something special so I’m excited. Cooper with two goals today as a freshman in his first conference game and first high school varsity game. We’re excited for guys like him.”
The Indians showed some life in the second half when about 10 minutes into the action Zac Monnett scored off a nice pass from Ben Joder to pull within 4-1. Minooka continued to press forward and had some opportunities, but couldn’t convert any of its other chances.
At the very least, they bottled up the Tigers for most of the second until Kanon Woodill and Allen scored late.
Sharing the wealth, five different players scored for the Tigers.
“We started off strong, and we were all over them,” Berry said. “We got the penalty and our mentality is to keep going, and we’re starting to see that. It’s nice to see the contributions from lots of different players.”
On Allen’s second goal he followed in Martinez’s shot that caromed off the crossbar. It was the third time during the afternoon that the Tigers hit the crossbar, but the only time they were able to follow it up with a rebound goal.
“We started two freshmen and played a third one so the trust is there and the maturity is there,” Berry said. “(Allen) had two really nice goals, and he finished a great shot from Martinez off the bench. Then (Martinez) had the banger on our fourth goal, and he had a second assist .. that’s a sub, and a sub who could probably start.”
Plainfield North finished 12-9-1 last year and lost eight seniors from that team. The guys who have returned look sharper than ever, and the new kids have already stepped in, meshed and made an impact.
The Tigers (2-0-0) opened the season with a 3-0 blanking of Neuqua Valley on Monday behind goals from Bell, Bechtel and Dachman so the scoring is there.
“We have good leaders, and we have good seniors. We have good experienced players who are not just seniors, because we’re still starting some juniors who are three-year starters,” Berry said. “They bought-in back in June when we were here for our 25 days, and they were in the weight room and training for 25 days and doing fitness for 25 days. So we’re probably ahead of some teams and some groups in that mentality. But now how do we manage that over the course of the season that gets so compacted into 20-plus games in seven weeks?
“It’s good now and health is important too. But they bought-in and winning helps too, and goals help too. So when you’re seeing that and the leaders are doing that, and we didn’t even play our best player in the second half to give him some rest, good things are happening.”
Starting lineups
Minooka
GK Will Maurice
D Manny Campuzano
D Chase Kalafut
D Isaac Westerhoff
MF Izaak Avalos
MF Ryan Feigenhauer
MF Zac Monnett
MF Austin Sarcletti
F Blake Brandenburg
F Ben Joder
F Alex Richter
Plainfield North
GK Alex Noser
D Brady Harwood
D Ryan Kuffel
D James Vu
D Kanon Woodill
MF Cooper Allen
MF Shea Bechtel
MF Sam Dachman
MF John Seeley
F Avery Bell
F Adrian Jurkowski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Cooper Allen, fr., MF, Plainfield North
Scoring summary
Plainfield North 6, Minooka 1
Minooka 0 1 -- 1
Plainfield North 4 2 -- 6
First half
Plainfield North – Shea Bechtel PK 31:09
Plainfield North – Sam Dachman (Brady Harwood) 28:19
Plainfield North – Cooper Allen (Sam Martinez) 14:06
Plainfield North – Sam Martinez (u/a) 0:06
Second half
Minooka – Zac Monnett (Ben Joder) 30:31
Plainfield North – Kanon Woodill (John Seeley) 14:12
Plainfield North – Cooper Allen (Sam Martinez) 10:16