Naperville C. needs PK to best Glenbard N.
Zain nails Redhawks’ 1st PK of season in DVC-opening 1-0 win
By Bill Stone
CAROL STREAM -- Senior midfielder Nate Zain and his Naperville Central boys soccer teammates work to make his sideline restarts as effective as any corner kick or other restart.
“We work on set plays from throw-ins. A goal is a goal, so if you can get one off a throw-in, it’s a goal too,” Zain said.
Thanks to Zain, four corner kicks and several free kicks Tuesday, the Redhawks created plenty of chances at Glenbard North but to no avail. But their height and aggressiveness in the air still paid off for a physical 1-0 victory in the DuPage Valley Conference opener for both teams.
Zain converted a penalty kick 14:56 before halftime after senior Zack Kokes was fouled by Glenbard North senior goalie Sam Pauling as they each jumped for control of a cross in the crease by Naperville Central junior goalie Brad Palagi from the 50-yard line.
Zain, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, converted his third goal this season and first penalty kick for the Redhawks (5-3-0, 1-0-0).
“I usually take PKs. I’m not nervous to step up and take it for my team, but I guess a shout to Zack for getting the foul in the box, letting me get a goal,” Zain said.
“We should have probably put away more chances, kept the ball low, got the ball in the back of the net, but overall our defense played good. We’re hustling to the 50-50s. We’ve just got practice finishing.”
From both ends of the field, the final statistics were all too common for Naperville Central.
The Redhawks led 22-5 in shots (6-2 on goal) yet were limited to one goal for the fifth time this season and third in their past four games.
Defensively, however, the backline of seniors Tanner Greenhagen and Rokas Stadalninkas and junior Cameron Strang limited Glenbard North (2-2-1) to only a couple of second half scoring chances and shut out an opponent for the third time in four games.
The only hindrance to that streak was a 2-1 loss to rival and Naperville North – currently the no. 1-ranked team by Chicagoland Soccer -- in the championship game of the Best of the West Tournament on Sept. 2. The teams have their DVC appointment Saturday night at Naperville North.
“It’s a problem with a lot of teams. The ability to have a goal scorer, I think, is the biggest game changer, especially in high school but even in all soccer,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “We’ve got to figure out ways to manufacture goals. We can’t have – I don’t even know how many dead balls inside of 30 yards – and not even score but not even get legitimate chances. We’ve got to work on our finishing.”
Glenbard North (2-2-1, 0-1-0) hopes the performance, particularly the latter 40 minutes, can be another building block for an extremely young and inexperienced lineup.
While they had little to show in the attacking third other than a 5-minute flurry in the second half, they’ve allowed just four goals this season with two shutouts.
The Panthers backline showed fortitude, including freshman goalie Martin Argirov, who replaced Pauling for good after the yellow card. The two have been sharing playing time with Argirov generally taking over in the second half.
“We didn’t go into a shell,” Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller said. “They certainly had the run of play in the first half, and I expected that because they’re one of the best teams in the area, and we have not played a team that big, fast and strong yet.”
“We were a little overwhelmed to start the game. They got the penalty, which it is what it is. The second half, I felt we matched it a little better. If we can do that again against a lot of teams on our schedule, we’ll be just fine.”
After the Panthers got a long-distance shot on goal in the fifth minute, the Redhawks began attacking readily. In the seventh minute, Strang delivered a long diagonal ball that Kokes left untouched to continue. It reached senior Ryan Coleman for a breakaway, but his shot went over the net.
Even the penalty kick was a close call, depending on various perspectives. Kokes temporarily left the game following the collision but felt fine afterwards.
“It was a good ball. I didn’t look for the goalie, because I had my eyes on the ball,” Kokes said. “I tried to put the header on it and felt the goalie hit me, and I got hit pretty hard. The ref made the right call. I got bruised on my shin a little bit, but I was OK to play the second half. Nothing too bad.”
Like Kokes, Pauling said he was focused on the potentially dangerous serve. Pauling, in his second varsity season, already had made two saves on shots by Stadalninkas and junior Ivan Dosen and withstood two corner kicks. Pauling received a sore jaw from the collision.
“It just ended up not going our way. (The referee) thought I was trying to obstruct (Kokes) and just go after him and not the ball, but I was going after the ball,” Pauling said. “I was already up in the air, saw that I was going to collide with him and just shut my eyes and tried to keep myself from getting as hurt as possible.”
In the closing seconds before halftime, Argirov dove to his right to stop a blistering 30-yard free kick by Zain after he had been fouled.
“Keeper’s a dicey position,” Koeller said. “I don’t like pull them in, pull them out, and we’ve been splitting time. Martin would have played the second half anyway so I just figured (not to switch back) “I didn’t want to play musical chairs with the position. Sam did a nice job when he was in there, and then Martin I thought showed very well, too.”
To recap Naperville Central night on offense, basically every attacking member of the Redhawks could cite a potential scoring chance that got away.
Less than three minutes into the second half, Kokes headed Zain’s throw-in from the left sideline over the goal.
“Cam (Strang) flicked it off the throw from Nate. It was probably a header I should have put away. I was kind of upset with myself about that,” Kokes said.
With 23 minutes left, Kokes worked around and found sophomore Owen Jarrell, whose shot just missed the left post. Dosen had three shots in the first half and senior Jimmy Kalkofen three in the second.
Another Zain throw-in in the 61st minute required Argirov to push the ball through the crease.
“Putting our chances away is obviously something we’ve got to work on, especially for DVC. Wins aren’t going to come easy,” Kokes said. “We played well defensively so we only needed the one, but we’ve got (Naperville) North on Saturday so one might not be enough.”
The defense felt the challenge, especially when Glenbard North made a brief offensive surge. In the first half, their lone shot on goal was a long-distance one by senior Fabrizio Guajardo five minutes into play.
In the 55th minute, sophomore Ode Emena’s strong 36-yard free kick forced Palagi to jump and catch the ball over his head and just under the crossbar. Four minutes earlier, the Panthers had a free kick from the 25 but senior Erik Lopez’s attempt was wide to the left.
“It was actually pretty stressful. Although it was 1-0, honestly it could have felt like it was 0-0, they were up 1-0,” Greenhagen said. “They didn’t really have that many chances, but because we were only up one goal it was intense. Every single play mattered. We couldn’t take our foot off the accelerator.”
Currently it’s been a good ride for the defense. After losing the Aug. 21 season opener to currently fourth-ranked Morton 4-1, the Redhawks have allowed just three goals.
“Since (Morton) we’ve put together a lot of effort on defense. We have gotten our stuff together and now every ball we’re challenging,” Greenhagen said. “We’re not going to let the ball get by us. We are done letting up four goals in one game.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: 1 Brad Palagi
D: 21 Rokas Stadalninkas
D: 24 Cameron Strang
D: 17 Tanner Greenhagen
M: 4 Mitch Becker
M: 16 Jack Crawford
M: 3 Owen Jarrell
M: 20 Nate Zain
M: 6 Anthony Saavedra
F: 7 Ryan Coleman
F: 9 Zack Kokes
Glenbard North
GK: 1 Sam Pauling
D: 5 Andres Sanchez
D: 4 Evan Scott
D: 21 Ben Solano
D: 11 Danny Le
M: 14 Jesse Aragon
M: 19 Nestor Dominguez
M: 10 Erik Lopez
M: 7 Abood Nasr
F: 26 Fabrizio Guajardo
F: 2 Brian Dasso
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nate Zain, Sr. MF, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
Naperville Central 1 0 – 1
Glenbard North 0 0 – 0
First half
Naperville Central – Nate Zain (penalty kick) 25:04
Zain nails Redhawks’ 1st PK of season in DVC-opening 1-0 win
By Bill Stone
CAROL STREAM -- Senior midfielder Nate Zain and his Naperville Central boys soccer teammates work to make his sideline restarts as effective as any corner kick or other restart.
“We work on set plays from throw-ins. A goal is a goal, so if you can get one off a throw-in, it’s a goal too,” Zain said.
Thanks to Zain, four corner kicks and several free kicks Tuesday, the Redhawks created plenty of chances at Glenbard North but to no avail. But their height and aggressiveness in the air still paid off for a physical 1-0 victory in the DuPage Valley Conference opener for both teams.
Zain converted a penalty kick 14:56 before halftime after senior Zack Kokes was fouled by Glenbard North senior goalie Sam Pauling as they each jumped for control of a cross in the crease by Naperville Central junior goalie Brad Palagi from the 50-yard line.
Zain, the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, converted his third goal this season and first penalty kick for the Redhawks (5-3-0, 1-0-0).
“I usually take PKs. I’m not nervous to step up and take it for my team, but I guess a shout to Zack for getting the foul in the box, letting me get a goal,” Zain said.
“We should have probably put away more chances, kept the ball low, got the ball in the back of the net, but overall our defense played good. We’re hustling to the 50-50s. We’ve just got practice finishing.”
From both ends of the field, the final statistics were all too common for Naperville Central.
The Redhawks led 22-5 in shots (6-2 on goal) yet were limited to one goal for the fifth time this season and third in their past four games.
Defensively, however, the backline of seniors Tanner Greenhagen and Rokas Stadalninkas and junior Cameron Strang limited Glenbard North (2-2-1) to only a couple of second half scoring chances and shut out an opponent for the third time in four games.
The only hindrance to that streak was a 2-1 loss to rival and Naperville North – currently the no. 1-ranked team by Chicagoland Soccer -- in the championship game of the Best of the West Tournament on Sept. 2. The teams have their DVC appointment Saturday night at Naperville North.
“It’s a problem with a lot of teams. The ability to have a goal scorer, I think, is the biggest game changer, especially in high school but even in all soccer,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “We’ve got to figure out ways to manufacture goals. We can’t have – I don’t even know how many dead balls inside of 30 yards – and not even score but not even get legitimate chances. We’ve got to work on our finishing.”
Glenbard North (2-2-1, 0-1-0) hopes the performance, particularly the latter 40 minutes, can be another building block for an extremely young and inexperienced lineup.
While they had little to show in the attacking third other than a 5-minute flurry in the second half, they’ve allowed just four goals this season with two shutouts.
The Panthers backline showed fortitude, including freshman goalie Martin Argirov, who replaced Pauling for good after the yellow card. The two have been sharing playing time with Argirov generally taking over in the second half.
“We didn’t go into a shell,” Glenbard North coach Gregg Koeller said. “They certainly had the run of play in the first half, and I expected that because they’re one of the best teams in the area, and we have not played a team that big, fast and strong yet.”
“We were a little overwhelmed to start the game. They got the penalty, which it is what it is. The second half, I felt we matched it a little better. If we can do that again against a lot of teams on our schedule, we’ll be just fine.”
After the Panthers got a long-distance shot on goal in the fifth minute, the Redhawks began attacking readily. In the seventh minute, Strang delivered a long diagonal ball that Kokes left untouched to continue. It reached senior Ryan Coleman for a breakaway, but his shot went over the net.
Even the penalty kick was a close call, depending on various perspectives. Kokes temporarily left the game following the collision but felt fine afterwards.
“It was a good ball. I didn’t look for the goalie, because I had my eyes on the ball,” Kokes said. “I tried to put the header on it and felt the goalie hit me, and I got hit pretty hard. The ref made the right call. I got bruised on my shin a little bit, but I was OK to play the second half. Nothing too bad.”
Like Kokes, Pauling said he was focused on the potentially dangerous serve. Pauling, in his second varsity season, already had made two saves on shots by Stadalninkas and junior Ivan Dosen and withstood two corner kicks. Pauling received a sore jaw from the collision.
“It just ended up not going our way. (The referee) thought I was trying to obstruct (Kokes) and just go after him and not the ball, but I was going after the ball,” Pauling said. “I was already up in the air, saw that I was going to collide with him and just shut my eyes and tried to keep myself from getting as hurt as possible.”
In the closing seconds before halftime, Argirov dove to his right to stop a blistering 30-yard free kick by Zain after he had been fouled.
“Keeper’s a dicey position,” Koeller said. “I don’t like pull them in, pull them out, and we’ve been splitting time. Martin would have played the second half anyway so I just figured (not to switch back) “I didn’t want to play musical chairs with the position. Sam did a nice job when he was in there, and then Martin I thought showed very well, too.”
To recap Naperville Central night on offense, basically every attacking member of the Redhawks could cite a potential scoring chance that got away.
Less than three minutes into the second half, Kokes headed Zain’s throw-in from the left sideline over the goal.
“Cam (Strang) flicked it off the throw from Nate. It was probably a header I should have put away. I was kind of upset with myself about that,” Kokes said.
With 23 minutes left, Kokes worked around and found sophomore Owen Jarrell, whose shot just missed the left post. Dosen had three shots in the first half and senior Jimmy Kalkofen three in the second.
Another Zain throw-in in the 61st minute required Argirov to push the ball through the crease.
“Putting our chances away is obviously something we’ve got to work on, especially for DVC. Wins aren’t going to come easy,” Kokes said. “We played well defensively so we only needed the one, but we’ve got (Naperville) North on Saturday so one might not be enough.”
The defense felt the challenge, especially when Glenbard North made a brief offensive surge. In the first half, their lone shot on goal was a long-distance one by senior Fabrizio Guajardo five minutes into play.
In the 55th minute, sophomore Ode Emena’s strong 36-yard free kick forced Palagi to jump and catch the ball over his head and just under the crossbar. Four minutes earlier, the Panthers had a free kick from the 25 but senior Erik Lopez’s attempt was wide to the left.
“It was actually pretty stressful. Although it was 1-0, honestly it could have felt like it was 0-0, they were up 1-0,” Greenhagen said. “They didn’t really have that many chances, but because we were only up one goal it was intense. Every single play mattered. We couldn’t take our foot off the accelerator.”
Currently it’s been a good ride for the defense. After losing the Aug. 21 season opener to currently fourth-ranked Morton 4-1, the Redhawks have allowed just three goals.
“Since (Morton) we’ve put together a lot of effort on defense. We have gotten our stuff together and now every ball we’re challenging,” Greenhagen said. “We’re not going to let the ball get by us. We are done letting up four goals in one game.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: 1 Brad Palagi
D: 21 Rokas Stadalninkas
D: 24 Cameron Strang
D: 17 Tanner Greenhagen
M: 4 Mitch Becker
M: 16 Jack Crawford
M: 3 Owen Jarrell
M: 20 Nate Zain
M: 6 Anthony Saavedra
F: 7 Ryan Coleman
F: 9 Zack Kokes
Glenbard North
GK: 1 Sam Pauling
D: 5 Andres Sanchez
D: 4 Evan Scott
D: 21 Ben Solano
D: 11 Danny Le
M: 14 Jesse Aragon
M: 19 Nestor Dominguez
M: 10 Erik Lopez
M: 7 Abood Nasr
F: 26 Fabrizio Guajardo
F: 2 Brian Dasso
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Nate Zain, Sr. MF, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
Naperville Central 1 0 – 1
Glenbard North 0 0 – 0
First half
Naperville Central – Nate Zain (penalty kick) 25:04