Naperville Central gains Final 4,
tops Hinsdale Central in high-scoring affair
Redhawks' 4-3 win delivers 1st state trip since 2013
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Chase Adams was only 3 years old when his father, Troy, first coached in the state finals with Naperville Central.
His brother, Carter, was 5.
It was the beginning of an unprecedented run of success for the Redhawks, who finished second in 2011 and 2012, and third in 2013. They lost to Morton in overtime in the 2011 title game and fell to Warren in the 2012 final.
Of the three members of the Adams family, dad has vivid memories -- his sons, not so much.
“Carter definitely has some,” Troy Adams said. “He bawled his eyes out after the Morton game like it was just the end of the world.
“Chase was still so young. He was like, ‘Somebody get me candy,’ or better yet, ‘Can I have a ball so I can go play behind (the stands)?’”
The Redhawks hadn’t been back to the state finals since then, but they punched their ticket to the 2022 finals Tuesday with a scintillating 4-3 win over Hinsdale Central in the Class 3A East Aurora Supersectional.
Naperville Central (24-3-1) will play Stevenson (21-0-3) in a battle of top sectional seeds in the 7 p.m. state semifinal Friday at Hoffman Estates High School. The Redhawks were ranked no. 3 in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 of the season. Stevenson was fifth-ranked.
Chase and Carter Adams will be there, of course, but not as spectators. They’ll be in the starting lineup as the Redhawks seek the two wins needed to capture the program’s first state championship.
“It’s super exciting,” Carter Adams said. “When we think of great Central teams, I obviously think of those ’11, ’12 and ’13 teams. Hopefully (people will think of) 2022 as well.”
When people ponder this year’s edition of the 2022 Redhawks, the great senior class of forwards Joey LoDuca and Nathan Kwon, midfielders Josh Weigel and Sean O’Reilly, defenders Carter Bilik and Owen Stephens and goalkeeper Austin Waite will come to mind.
But the family angle is equally endearing, and their contribution just as vital.
Carter, a junior midfielder, has been a rock in the middle. Chase, a freshman forward, leads the team in scoring with 22 goals, one more than LoDuca. He is arguably is the best rookie in the state.
The brothers are playing their first season together and savoring every moment.
“It’s such a great opportunity to play with a sibling, let alone your younger brother,” Carter Adams said. “I feel like it should not be taken for granted.
“I’m looking forward to having these great memories that we can make going forward.”
The memories from Tuesday are pretty special. The game ended with Chase Adams, who scored the game-winner, holding onto the ball in the corner of Hinsdale Central’s end, fighting tooth and nail to stave off the desperate attempts of defenders to relieve him of possession.
“Chase has been absolutely terrific for us this year,” Weigel said. “His toughness is probably one of his better qualities.
“He doesn’t get knocked off the ball easily. He keeps fighting. He’s always on the ball and always fighting for the ball, and that’s just helped us a lot.”
That determination allowed Chase Adams to score the biggest goal Naperville Central has notched since 2013.
It came only 38 seconds after Dray Glashin pulled fourth-seeded and 19th-ranked Hinsdale Central (17-5-1) within 3-2 when he tracked down the rebound of an Oliver Pohlenz shot that hit the crossbar from 25 yards, turned and fired a shot past Naperville Central goalkeeper Dylan Scott.
“The team was under a lot of pressure,” Glashin said. “We just tried to stay composed and play the way we played to get this far.”
Adams answered with a typical power move to get around a defender with his left foot before scoring with a shot inside the far post. That gave the Redhawks a 4-2 cushion with 25:08 left in the second half.
“I saw Kwon,” Chase Adams said. “He was kind of 1-on-1.
“I checked my shoulder and saw the space and called for it, then touched it away from the defender and slotted it away from the goalie. I feel as an offensive player that’s one of the things you can utilize, cutting it back across the goal.”
The match was a back-and-forth battle with a goal output few expected.
Hinsdale Central, which came in as the underdog despite riding a 10-game winning streak, struck first when Ardit Abdullai’s 15-yard shot from the right side of the box deflected off a defender and inside the right post at the 27:25 mark of the first half.
It was a shock to many, but not Weigel.
“Hinsdale Central is a great team,” Weigel said. “We knew going into it that they were going to be a really hard-working team and just never stop running.
“We know that they drop really fast, and in transition they’re really fast. We just wanted to make sure we came in with a lot of energy, and I think maybe at the start of the game we struggled a little bit with that, but we picked it up.”
They sure did. The Redhawks answered with three-straight goals to take a 3-1 lead into intermission.
The first two came on back-to-back shots from junior defender Michael Cavalleri and LoDuca, whose strike momentarily tied him with Chase Adams for the team scoring lead.
LoDuca had a hand – or rather a head – in Cavalleri’s game-tying goal with 15:47 remaining. He got under defender Patrick Bohan’s long throw-in from the right wing and back-headed it toward the far post, where Cavalleri slammed it home.
It was Cavalleri’s third goal in as many games. He had both scores in a 2-0 sectional semifinal win over West Aurora.
“With this team, we never know who it is going to be,” Troy Adams said. “It’s been Chase and Joey pretty consistently, but Nathan has 13 goals. And I think that was Michael’s sixth.
“You always need that guy. If you’re going to go far, you’ve got to get contributions from everyone. In practice with guys who don’t get as much playing time, but if they’re not focused and into it, the practice sessions aren’t valuable.
“It takes every guy on the team to be able to get to this stage.”
LoDuca was the next to take a star turn, and it came only 2:14 after Cavalleri got the equalizer. Weigel’s lead pass up the left wing found the foot of LoDuca, who raced past a defender and tucked his shot inside the right post to give the Redhawks their first lead.
It was part of relentless pressure by the Redhawks. Chase Adams nearly scored six minutes later, but missed just wide from a similar spot.
Then it was Bohan’s turn. The junior teed up a 50-yard free kick from the left side of midfield.
The ball sailed over the backline and bounced over the head of Hinsdale Central goalie Martin Contreras and into the net with 50 seconds left in the half.
With Naperville Central rolling and only 40 minutes left, the outcome appeared to be a foregone conclusion. But nobody told Hinsdale Central that.
“They had that stretch of about 10 minutes there in the first half where we couldn’t seem to get out of our end,” Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins said. “When they got those two quick goals, I thought that certainly shifted momentum in their favor. But we hung in there with them, and we started to generate some chances.
“Dray obviously really provided a spark for us. I was really happy for him.
“He’s played in spurts but he really got some extended time and you really got to see how impactful he was in the second half. I thought that really gave us a boost.”
Indeed, Glashin kept the Red Devils alive. His second goal, which came off a scramble in front following a corner kick, cut the deficit to 4-3 with 16:15 to go.
“For me on those two goals I just started working a little harder off the ball, got myself to open space and that's how I got the goals,” Glashin said.
“This is my first year at the school. It took me awhile to blend in with the guys and get used to their playing style.
“It's unfortunate we didn't come up with a win today, but I'm proud of what all the guys have done.
“This is the game I scored the most goals. I thought I could help my team get back in the game, so it will be very memorable for me.”
Glashin’s second goal turned out to be Hinsdale Central’s final shot, but the action was end-to-end for much of the remaining time.
“To their credit, they had a game plan and stuck to it,” Troy Adams said. “It was effective. It caused us a lot of problems.
“The biggest (reason) is that they worked. So they were challenging every first ball and then worked and got the second ball. The game ebbed and flowed depending on who was working more.
“Luckily, at the end I think we outworked them a little bit, especially those last 10 minutes, and kind of got after it.”
The Red Devils got after it following a three-game losing streak which dropped their record to 7-4-1. Those losses came against Lyons, Naperville Central and defending state champion and unbeaten York (20-0-3). The top-seeded and second-ranked Dukes topped fellow no. 1 seed and top-ranked Elgin 2-2 (4-2) in Streamwood for their semifinal berth.
Hinsdale Central’s other previous loss was to New Trier, which lost 1-0 in overtime to Stevenson in the Hersey Supersectional.
The Red Devils closed the regular-season with six consecutive wins, then won four more in the playoffs, upsetting top-seeded Lyons and third-seeded Benet to win their own sectional.
“It was a surprise to everybody, but it wasn’t a surprise to us,” Wiggins said. “We’ve got some really talented players that stepped up and competed. I’m proud of every one of those guys.
“But credit to (the Redhawks). I don’t mind saying it, they’re really good.”
And now two wins away from school history.
“Oh, man, it feels awesome,” Weigel said. “It’s an experience that none of us have done in our high school careers.
“Coach was saying how it’s always a great experience going downstate. We’re really excited, and we hope we can do well.”
Editor’s note: Dave Owen contributed to the story.
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Dylan Scott
D: Patrick Bohan
D: Patrick Berryman
D: Carter Bilik
D: Michael Cavalleri
M: Carter Adams
M: Sean O’Reilly
M: Josh Weigel
F: Joey LoDuca
F: Nathan Kwon
F: Chase Adams
Hinsdale Central
GK: Martin Contreras
D: Greg Theotikos
D: Kevin Gottschalk
D: Oliver Pohlenz
D: Cody Jurgenson
M: Austen Szurgot
M: Enzo Cinque
F: Braden Henry
F: Luca Davies
F: Ardit Abdullai
F: Owen Peterson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Chase Adams, fr., F, Naperville Central.
Scoring summary
First half
HC: Ardit Abdullai 37:25 remaining
NC: Michael Cavalleri (Joey LoDuca, Patrick Bohan) 15:47 remaining
NC: LoDuca (Josh Weigel) 13:33 remaining
NC: Bohan (free kick) :50 remaining
Second half
HC: Dray Glashin 25:45 remaining
NC: Chase Adams (Nathan Kwon) 25:08 remaining
HC: Glashin 16:15 remaining
tops Hinsdale Central in high-scoring affair
Redhawks' 4-3 win delivers 1st state trip since 2013
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – Chase Adams was only 3 years old when his father, Troy, first coached in the state finals with Naperville Central.
His brother, Carter, was 5.
It was the beginning of an unprecedented run of success for the Redhawks, who finished second in 2011 and 2012, and third in 2013. They lost to Morton in overtime in the 2011 title game and fell to Warren in the 2012 final.
Of the three members of the Adams family, dad has vivid memories -- his sons, not so much.
“Carter definitely has some,” Troy Adams said. “He bawled his eyes out after the Morton game like it was just the end of the world.
“Chase was still so young. He was like, ‘Somebody get me candy,’ or better yet, ‘Can I have a ball so I can go play behind (the stands)?’”
The Redhawks hadn’t been back to the state finals since then, but they punched their ticket to the 2022 finals Tuesday with a scintillating 4-3 win over Hinsdale Central in the Class 3A East Aurora Supersectional.
Naperville Central (24-3-1) will play Stevenson (21-0-3) in a battle of top sectional seeds in the 7 p.m. state semifinal Friday at Hoffman Estates High School. The Redhawks were ranked no. 3 in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 of the season. Stevenson was fifth-ranked.
Chase and Carter Adams will be there, of course, but not as spectators. They’ll be in the starting lineup as the Redhawks seek the two wins needed to capture the program’s first state championship.
“It’s super exciting,” Carter Adams said. “When we think of great Central teams, I obviously think of those ’11, ’12 and ’13 teams. Hopefully (people will think of) 2022 as well.”
When people ponder this year’s edition of the 2022 Redhawks, the great senior class of forwards Joey LoDuca and Nathan Kwon, midfielders Josh Weigel and Sean O’Reilly, defenders Carter Bilik and Owen Stephens and goalkeeper Austin Waite will come to mind.
But the family angle is equally endearing, and their contribution just as vital.
Carter, a junior midfielder, has been a rock in the middle. Chase, a freshman forward, leads the team in scoring with 22 goals, one more than LoDuca. He is arguably is the best rookie in the state.
The brothers are playing their first season together and savoring every moment.
“It’s such a great opportunity to play with a sibling, let alone your younger brother,” Carter Adams said. “I feel like it should not be taken for granted.
“I’m looking forward to having these great memories that we can make going forward.”
The memories from Tuesday are pretty special. The game ended with Chase Adams, who scored the game-winner, holding onto the ball in the corner of Hinsdale Central’s end, fighting tooth and nail to stave off the desperate attempts of defenders to relieve him of possession.
“Chase has been absolutely terrific for us this year,” Weigel said. “His toughness is probably one of his better qualities.
“He doesn’t get knocked off the ball easily. He keeps fighting. He’s always on the ball and always fighting for the ball, and that’s just helped us a lot.”
That determination allowed Chase Adams to score the biggest goal Naperville Central has notched since 2013.
It came only 38 seconds after Dray Glashin pulled fourth-seeded and 19th-ranked Hinsdale Central (17-5-1) within 3-2 when he tracked down the rebound of an Oliver Pohlenz shot that hit the crossbar from 25 yards, turned and fired a shot past Naperville Central goalkeeper Dylan Scott.
“The team was under a lot of pressure,” Glashin said. “We just tried to stay composed and play the way we played to get this far.”
Adams answered with a typical power move to get around a defender with his left foot before scoring with a shot inside the far post. That gave the Redhawks a 4-2 cushion with 25:08 left in the second half.
“I saw Kwon,” Chase Adams said. “He was kind of 1-on-1.
“I checked my shoulder and saw the space and called for it, then touched it away from the defender and slotted it away from the goalie. I feel as an offensive player that’s one of the things you can utilize, cutting it back across the goal.”
The match was a back-and-forth battle with a goal output few expected.
Hinsdale Central, which came in as the underdog despite riding a 10-game winning streak, struck first when Ardit Abdullai’s 15-yard shot from the right side of the box deflected off a defender and inside the right post at the 27:25 mark of the first half.
It was a shock to many, but not Weigel.
“Hinsdale Central is a great team,” Weigel said. “We knew going into it that they were going to be a really hard-working team and just never stop running.
“We know that they drop really fast, and in transition they’re really fast. We just wanted to make sure we came in with a lot of energy, and I think maybe at the start of the game we struggled a little bit with that, but we picked it up.”
They sure did. The Redhawks answered with three-straight goals to take a 3-1 lead into intermission.
The first two came on back-to-back shots from junior defender Michael Cavalleri and LoDuca, whose strike momentarily tied him with Chase Adams for the team scoring lead.
LoDuca had a hand – or rather a head – in Cavalleri’s game-tying goal with 15:47 remaining. He got under defender Patrick Bohan’s long throw-in from the right wing and back-headed it toward the far post, where Cavalleri slammed it home.
It was Cavalleri’s third goal in as many games. He had both scores in a 2-0 sectional semifinal win over West Aurora.
“With this team, we never know who it is going to be,” Troy Adams said. “It’s been Chase and Joey pretty consistently, but Nathan has 13 goals. And I think that was Michael’s sixth.
“You always need that guy. If you’re going to go far, you’ve got to get contributions from everyone. In practice with guys who don’t get as much playing time, but if they’re not focused and into it, the practice sessions aren’t valuable.
“It takes every guy on the team to be able to get to this stage.”
LoDuca was the next to take a star turn, and it came only 2:14 after Cavalleri got the equalizer. Weigel’s lead pass up the left wing found the foot of LoDuca, who raced past a defender and tucked his shot inside the right post to give the Redhawks their first lead.
It was part of relentless pressure by the Redhawks. Chase Adams nearly scored six minutes later, but missed just wide from a similar spot.
Then it was Bohan’s turn. The junior teed up a 50-yard free kick from the left side of midfield.
The ball sailed over the backline and bounced over the head of Hinsdale Central goalie Martin Contreras and into the net with 50 seconds left in the half.
With Naperville Central rolling and only 40 minutes left, the outcome appeared to be a foregone conclusion. But nobody told Hinsdale Central that.
“They had that stretch of about 10 minutes there in the first half where we couldn’t seem to get out of our end,” Hinsdale Central coach Mike Wiggins said. “When they got those two quick goals, I thought that certainly shifted momentum in their favor. But we hung in there with them, and we started to generate some chances.
“Dray obviously really provided a spark for us. I was really happy for him.
“He’s played in spurts but he really got some extended time and you really got to see how impactful he was in the second half. I thought that really gave us a boost.”
Indeed, Glashin kept the Red Devils alive. His second goal, which came off a scramble in front following a corner kick, cut the deficit to 4-3 with 16:15 to go.
“For me on those two goals I just started working a little harder off the ball, got myself to open space and that's how I got the goals,” Glashin said.
“This is my first year at the school. It took me awhile to blend in with the guys and get used to their playing style.
“It's unfortunate we didn't come up with a win today, but I'm proud of what all the guys have done.
“This is the game I scored the most goals. I thought I could help my team get back in the game, so it will be very memorable for me.”
Glashin’s second goal turned out to be Hinsdale Central’s final shot, but the action was end-to-end for much of the remaining time.
“To their credit, they had a game plan and stuck to it,” Troy Adams said. “It was effective. It caused us a lot of problems.
“The biggest (reason) is that they worked. So they were challenging every first ball and then worked and got the second ball. The game ebbed and flowed depending on who was working more.
“Luckily, at the end I think we outworked them a little bit, especially those last 10 minutes, and kind of got after it.”
The Red Devils got after it following a three-game losing streak which dropped their record to 7-4-1. Those losses came against Lyons, Naperville Central and defending state champion and unbeaten York (20-0-3). The top-seeded and second-ranked Dukes topped fellow no. 1 seed and top-ranked Elgin 2-2 (4-2) in Streamwood for their semifinal berth.
Hinsdale Central’s other previous loss was to New Trier, which lost 1-0 in overtime to Stevenson in the Hersey Supersectional.
The Red Devils closed the regular-season with six consecutive wins, then won four more in the playoffs, upsetting top-seeded Lyons and third-seeded Benet to win their own sectional.
“It was a surprise to everybody, but it wasn’t a surprise to us,” Wiggins said. “We’ve got some really talented players that stepped up and competed. I’m proud of every one of those guys.
“But credit to (the Redhawks). I don’t mind saying it, they’re really good.”
And now two wins away from school history.
“Oh, man, it feels awesome,” Weigel said. “It’s an experience that none of us have done in our high school careers.
“Coach was saying how it’s always a great experience going downstate. We’re really excited, and we hope we can do well.”
Editor’s note: Dave Owen contributed to the story.
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Dylan Scott
D: Patrick Bohan
D: Patrick Berryman
D: Carter Bilik
D: Michael Cavalleri
M: Carter Adams
M: Sean O’Reilly
M: Josh Weigel
F: Joey LoDuca
F: Nathan Kwon
F: Chase Adams
Hinsdale Central
GK: Martin Contreras
D: Greg Theotikos
D: Kevin Gottschalk
D: Oliver Pohlenz
D: Cody Jurgenson
M: Austen Szurgot
M: Enzo Cinque
F: Braden Henry
F: Luca Davies
F: Ardit Abdullai
F: Owen Peterson
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Chase Adams, fr., F, Naperville Central.
Scoring summary
First half
HC: Ardit Abdullai 37:25 remaining
NC: Michael Cavalleri (Joey LoDuca, Patrick Bohan) 15:47 remaining
NC: LoDuca (Josh Weigel) 13:33 remaining
NC: Bohan (free kick) :50 remaining
Second half
HC: Dray Glashin 25:45 remaining
NC: Chase Adams (Nathan Kwon) 25:08 remaining
HC: Glashin 16:15 remaining