Naperville Central completes
table turn against Naperville North
Redhawks sweep Huskies, Bohan's D stands out in Sweet 16 win
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – There was no stirring comeback for Naperville North this time.
Patrick Bohan made sure of that.
In a repeat battle this season between 2021 Chicagoland Soccer all-staters, the Naperville Central junior defender held Indiana-bound star Alex Barger scoreless, and the Redhawks beat the Huskies again -- this time by a 3-2 margin in Saturday’s Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional championship.
It was a roller-coaster ride for both teams, just as it was in the sectional final last fall when Barger assisted on the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final 13 minutes to rally the Huskies to a 3-2 victory.
Barger and the Huskies (17-4-4) weren’t as fortunate this time. The top-seeded Redhawks (23-3-1), who were ranked third in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, held on after Joey LoDuca scored his 20th goal of the season to finish the scoring with 33:17 left in the second half.
“We know Barger’s a great player, so we knew we needed to neutralize him from the start,” Bohan said. “We did the exact same thing we did last game where I man-marked him.
“I always had great cover and great support, so I knew I could handle him. He’s a really hard worker, but I know we wanted to win more, so we outworked the rest of their team.”
In many respects, the match was a carbon copy of the first meeting between the two teams, a 2-1 Naperville Central win Sept. 20.
In that game, Sean O’Reilly gave the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. Naperville North’s Jaxon Stokes tallied the equalizer before Chase Adams bagged Naperville Central’s game-winner.
The same thing happened in this one. O’Reilly opened the scoring when he headed in a Carter Adams corner kick just 1:42 after kickoff.
The serve by Adams from the right corner went over the crease to O’Reilly, who headed it from a sharp angle.
“It looked like it was going in the goal. The goalie just got a little tip on it, and it found its way in,” O’Reilly said. “That’s what we needed.
“We just needed a quick start. We got our goal and that kind of shaped how we played the rest of the way.”
But Naperville North, which was riding a 12-game unbeaten streak and aimed for their sixth-consecutive sectional title, struck back with a pair of beautiful goals to take the lead.
First, Stokes ran on to a long punt and split two defenders up the middle before scoring the equalizer at the 22:45 mark. Then the Huskies scored on one of their patented restarts.
Alex Arredondo’s long throw-in from the left wing bounced through the box to Radeke, who scored on a sliding volley to give North at 2-1 lead with 15:46 left in the half.
The second-seeded and seventh-ranked Huskies had history on their side and a lot of confidence going into intermission. The last time they lost short of a supersectional was in 2015, when they were upset 1-0 by their cross-town rival.
“They had the momentum after scoring their first goal, so we just needed to stay disciplined,” O’Reilly said. “2-1 (down) at the half was probably the best we could have had there, considering the way they were playing.
“But then second half we bounced back.”
The Redhawks did so after coach Troy Adams delivered a message at halftime.
“North does such a good job on all those little things,” Troy Adams said. “They don’t beat themselves. They stay disciplined.
“The first half they completely outworked us. We talked at halftime, and I said 'We’ve got to answer that bell. We’ve got to be exceeding them.' And I thought we did a good job.”
LoDuca agreed.
“We knew that North was a hard-working team and … being a no. 2 seed and us being a no. 1 seed, we knew today was going to be a good game,” LoDuca said. “It was a matter of work-rate.
“First half we had a goal, but our work-rate kind of died down toward the end of the first half; and they got two goals. Second half, we knew we had to keep up the work-rate, step it up.”
The Redhawks did that to extend their unbeaten streak to 15 games (14-0-1). They also upped their school-record goal total to 89 and equaled the program record for wins.
Chase Adams tied it at the 37:04 mark. He took a pass from O’Reilly just outside the top of the box and hit a cutback shot inside the left post for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
Less than four minutes later, LoDuca followed with his 20th. He got the ball about 30 yards from the North net without a defender within five yards of him.
That usually spells trouble for opponents, and it did again. LoDuca looked up, then ripped a 25-yard shot past goalkeeper Reed Goss. Just like that, Naperville Central was back on top of the teeter-totter.
“It was super exciting,” Carter Adams said. “He’s done it countless times this year in big games. … When Joe turns inside with his left foot, he can rip it from wherever.”
LoDuca is never afraid, even in big games.
“It’s a chance; it’s a risk,” LoDuca said. “Everyone takes risks.
“I felt that was a good risk to take, being outside the box, wide open. It gave us a goal because of it.”
Naperville Central didn’t stop attacking after taking the lead, but aside from a long shot from Josh Weigel that Goss made a diving stop on with 29:35 to go, they didn’t get any more scoring chances.
That meant the defense had to kick in as Barger and his teammates tried to save their season. For that, the Redhawks relied on Bohan.
“Patrick Bohan now for two games has marked Alex 1-on-1, and I thought he’s done an outstanding job,” Troy Adams said. “He also marked a kid from OPRF (Oak Park and River Forest's Easton Bogard) as well.
“It’s hard to delineate, but I would be willing to say he’s the best 1-on-1 defender in the state. Those are two kids going to Indiana (University). I’m not going to say he took them out, because they’re great players.
“In the second half Alex got free, and he almost put one in. Obviously, Alex had his moments, but I thought Patrick just did an outstanding job of being disciplined and focused and making sure he was doing what he was supposed to do.”
After Barger burned Naperville Central several times and went undefeated against his rivals the past three seasons, he was shut out twice this season. He had one shot in the regular-season meeting and two Saturday.
“We just know the threat he’s got going forward,” O’Reilly said. “He’s an all-around great player, and we know that. And we know he was going to be the guy, the difference-maker for them.
“Seems like we had a really good game against him today. Bohan really controlled him. He’s our lockdown guy. He stayed with him most of the game. He still had a good game but didn’t really do much.”
Barger’s only real scoring chance came with 4:10 left in the first half, but his 34-yard free kick missed wide left. The Huskies had one final chance when Adam Zielke fired a 48-yard free kick into the box with 1:15 to go in the game, but Naperville Central goalkeeper Dylan Scott came out and nabbed the ball just before Barger could get to it.
“It was a great battle,” Barger said. “Central is a great team. They always give us a run for our money.
“It didn’t fall our way today, but I’m really proud of how our guys handled themselves. We gave our all throughout the entire game. It was really a tough battle, but I’m really proud of the way we fought to the end.”
Barger, who is currently a two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-stater and ends his career as one of Naperville North’s all-time greats, lauded the Redhawks’ effort.
“They really brought the intensity,” Barger said. “We brought the intensity as well, but I think we could have been a little cleaner in a general sense.
“But they’ve got great players; they’re going to make great plays, and sometimes it just didn’t fall our way.”
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad was happy with the effort.
“I’m proud of the boys,” he said. “They battled the whole way.
“We just weren’t good enough in a couple areas and gave them a little too much space, and they took advantage of it.”
The Redhawks have been doing that all season. They advance to play Hinsdale Central (17-4-1) in the East Aurora Supersectional at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Naperville Central beat Hinsdale Central 3-1 on Sept. 23.
It was the middle game of the Red Devils three-game losing streak (5-2 vs. Lyons, Sept. 20; 5-1 to defending state champion York 5-1, Sept. 27), but coach Mike Wiggins' team hasn't lost since. They carry a 10-game win streak, including upsets of Lyons and Benet in their sectional, to the Elite Eight.
Even so, Hinsdale Central will have a tough chore in trying to slow down the Redhawks’ potent offense.
“To our attacking credit, three guys that are difference-makers all scored goals,” Troy Adams said. “Sean, Chase and Joey all scored.
“When you get to this stage of the game, the guys that are the difference-makers, the guys can finish balls, they’ve got to do it.
“Next game it could be (Nathan) Kwon, Josh and somebody else. We don’t know. And I think that’s truly one of the strengths of this team … there isn’t necessarily this one guy that has to carry us.
“We’ve got a bunch of very good players. However a team plays us, we’re going to take advantage of it. We’re going to score. We just have no idea who it’s going to be.”
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
Naperville North
GK: Reed Goss
D: Alex Arredondo
D: Adam Zielke
D: Ryan Konrad
M: Owen Gaccione
M: Caden Hill
M: Hindo Allie
M: Noah Radeke
F: Aidan McMahon
F: Alex Barger
F: Jaxon Stokes
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Patrick Bohan, jr., D, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
NC: Sean O’Reilly (Carter Adams), 38:18 remaining
NN: Jaxon Stokes (unassisted), 22:45 remaining
NN: Noah Radeke (Alex Arredondo), 15:46 remaining
Second half
NC: Chase Adams (O’Reilly), 37:04 remaining
NC: Joey LoDuca (unassisted), 33:17 remaining
table turn against Naperville North
Redhawks sweep Huskies, Bohan's D stands out in Sweet 16 win
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – There was no stirring comeback for Naperville North this time.
Patrick Bohan made sure of that.
In a repeat battle this season between 2021 Chicagoland Soccer all-staters, the Naperville Central junior defender held Indiana-bound star Alex Barger scoreless, and the Redhawks beat the Huskies again -- this time by a 3-2 margin in Saturday’s Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional championship.
It was a roller-coaster ride for both teams, just as it was in the sectional final last fall when Barger assisted on the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final 13 minutes to rally the Huskies to a 3-2 victory.
Barger and the Huskies (17-4-4) weren’t as fortunate this time. The top-seeded Redhawks (23-3-1), who were ranked third in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, held on after Joey LoDuca scored his 20th goal of the season to finish the scoring with 33:17 left in the second half.
“We know Barger’s a great player, so we knew we needed to neutralize him from the start,” Bohan said. “We did the exact same thing we did last game where I man-marked him.
“I always had great cover and great support, so I knew I could handle him. He’s a really hard worker, but I know we wanted to win more, so we outworked the rest of their team.”
In many respects, the match was a carbon copy of the first meeting between the two teams, a 2-1 Naperville Central win Sept. 20.
In that game, Sean O’Reilly gave the Redhawks a 1-0 lead. Naperville North’s Jaxon Stokes tallied the equalizer before Chase Adams bagged Naperville Central’s game-winner.
The same thing happened in this one. O’Reilly opened the scoring when he headed in a Carter Adams corner kick just 1:42 after kickoff.
The serve by Adams from the right corner went over the crease to O’Reilly, who headed it from a sharp angle.
“It looked like it was going in the goal. The goalie just got a little tip on it, and it found its way in,” O’Reilly said. “That’s what we needed.
“We just needed a quick start. We got our goal and that kind of shaped how we played the rest of the way.”
But Naperville North, which was riding a 12-game unbeaten streak and aimed for their sixth-consecutive sectional title, struck back with a pair of beautiful goals to take the lead.
First, Stokes ran on to a long punt and split two defenders up the middle before scoring the equalizer at the 22:45 mark. Then the Huskies scored on one of their patented restarts.
Alex Arredondo’s long throw-in from the left wing bounced through the box to Radeke, who scored on a sliding volley to give North at 2-1 lead with 15:46 left in the half.
The second-seeded and seventh-ranked Huskies had history on their side and a lot of confidence going into intermission. The last time they lost short of a supersectional was in 2015, when they were upset 1-0 by their cross-town rival.
“They had the momentum after scoring their first goal, so we just needed to stay disciplined,” O’Reilly said. “2-1 (down) at the half was probably the best we could have had there, considering the way they were playing.
“But then second half we bounced back.”
The Redhawks did so after coach Troy Adams delivered a message at halftime.
“North does such a good job on all those little things,” Troy Adams said. “They don’t beat themselves. They stay disciplined.
“The first half they completely outworked us. We talked at halftime, and I said 'We’ve got to answer that bell. We’ve got to be exceeding them.' And I thought we did a good job.”
LoDuca agreed.
“We knew that North was a hard-working team and … being a no. 2 seed and us being a no. 1 seed, we knew today was going to be a good game,” LoDuca said. “It was a matter of work-rate.
“First half we had a goal, but our work-rate kind of died down toward the end of the first half; and they got two goals. Second half, we knew we had to keep up the work-rate, step it up.”
The Redhawks did that to extend their unbeaten streak to 15 games (14-0-1). They also upped their school-record goal total to 89 and equaled the program record for wins.
Chase Adams tied it at the 37:04 mark. He took a pass from O’Reilly just outside the top of the box and hit a cutback shot inside the left post for his team-leading 21st goal of the season.
Less than four minutes later, LoDuca followed with his 20th. He got the ball about 30 yards from the North net without a defender within five yards of him.
That usually spells trouble for opponents, and it did again. LoDuca looked up, then ripped a 25-yard shot past goalkeeper Reed Goss. Just like that, Naperville Central was back on top of the teeter-totter.
“It was super exciting,” Carter Adams said. “He’s done it countless times this year in big games. … When Joe turns inside with his left foot, he can rip it from wherever.”
LoDuca is never afraid, even in big games.
“It’s a chance; it’s a risk,” LoDuca said. “Everyone takes risks.
“I felt that was a good risk to take, being outside the box, wide open. It gave us a goal because of it.”
Naperville Central didn’t stop attacking after taking the lead, but aside from a long shot from Josh Weigel that Goss made a diving stop on with 29:35 to go, they didn’t get any more scoring chances.
That meant the defense had to kick in as Barger and his teammates tried to save their season. For that, the Redhawks relied on Bohan.
“Patrick Bohan now for two games has marked Alex 1-on-1, and I thought he’s done an outstanding job,” Troy Adams said. “He also marked a kid from OPRF (Oak Park and River Forest's Easton Bogard) as well.
“It’s hard to delineate, but I would be willing to say he’s the best 1-on-1 defender in the state. Those are two kids going to Indiana (University). I’m not going to say he took them out, because they’re great players.
“In the second half Alex got free, and he almost put one in. Obviously, Alex had his moments, but I thought Patrick just did an outstanding job of being disciplined and focused and making sure he was doing what he was supposed to do.”
After Barger burned Naperville Central several times and went undefeated against his rivals the past three seasons, he was shut out twice this season. He had one shot in the regular-season meeting and two Saturday.
“We just know the threat he’s got going forward,” O’Reilly said. “He’s an all-around great player, and we know that. And we know he was going to be the guy, the difference-maker for them.
“Seems like we had a really good game against him today. Bohan really controlled him. He’s our lockdown guy. He stayed with him most of the game. He still had a good game but didn’t really do much.”
Barger’s only real scoring chance came with 4:10 left in the first half, but his 34-yard free kick missed wide left. The Huskies had one final chance when Adam Zielke fired a 48-yard free kick into the box with 1:15 to go in the game, but Naperville Central goalkeeper Dylan Scott came out and nabbed the ball just before Barger could get to it.
“It was a great battle,” Barger said. “Central is a great team. They always give us a run for our money.
“It didn’t fall our way today, but I’m really proud of how our guys handled themselves. We gave our all throughout the entire game. It was really a tough battle, but I’m really proud of the way we fought to the end.”
Barger, who is currently a two-time Chicagoland Soccer all-stater and ends his career as one of Naperville North’s all-time greats, lauded the Redhawks’ effort.
“They really brought the intensity,” Barger said. “We brought the intensity as well, but I think we could have been a little cleaner in a general sense.
“But they’ve got great players; they’re going to make great plays, and sometimes it just didn’t fall our way.”
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad was happy with the effort.
“I’m proud of the boys,” he said. “They battled the whole way.
“We just weren’t good enough in a couple areas and gave them a little too much space, and they took advantage of it.”
The Redhawks have been doing that all season. They advance to play Hinsdale Central (17-4-1) in the East Aurora Supersectional at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Naperville Central beat Hinsdale Central 3-1 on Sept. 23.
It was the middle game of the Red Devils three-game losing streak (5-2 vs. Lyons, Sept. 20; 5-1 to defending state champion York 5-1, Sept. 27), but coach Mike Wiggins' team hasn't lost since. They carry a 10-game win streak, including upsets of Lyons and Benet in their sectional, to the Elite Eight.
Even so, Hinsdale Central will have a tough chore in trying to slow down the Redhawks’ potent offense.
“To our attacking credit, three guys that are difference-makers all scored goals,” Troy Adams said. “Sean, Chase and Joey all scored.
“When you get to this stage of the game, the guys that are the difference-makers, the guys can finish balls, they’ve got to do it.
“Next game it could be (Nathan) Kwon, Josh and somebody else. We don’t know. And I think that’s truly one of the strengths of this team … there isn’t necessarily this one guy that has to carry us.
“We’ve got a bunch of very good players. However a team plays us, we’re going to take advantage of it. We’re going to score. We just have no idea who it’s going to be.”
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
Naperville North
GK: Reed Goss
D: Alex Arredondo
D: Adam Zielke
D: Ryan Konrad
M: Owen Gaccione
M: Caden Hill
M: Hindo Allie
M: Noah Radeke
F: Aidan McMahon
F: Alex Barger
F: Jaxon Stokes
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Patrick Bohan, jr., D, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
NC: Sean O’Reilly (Carter Adams), 38:18 remaining
NN: Jaxon Stokes (unassisted), 22:45 remaining
NN: Noah Radeke (Alex Arredondo), 15:46 remaining
Second half
NC: Chase Adams (O’Reilly), 37:04 remaining
NC: Joey LoDuca (unassisted), 33:17 remaining