Naperville Central avenges 2016 heartbreak
Tops Plainfield C. 3-0, earns sectional final berth vs. Naperville N.
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE - Revenge was served very chilled by Naperville Central on Tuesday. And very early.
In 2016, Plainfield Central pulled the upset of the postseason when it entered the regional semifinal as a no. 15-seed and stunned second-seeded Naperville Central 1-0.
But in the 45-degree cold of the 2017 rematch at the Class 3A Naperville North sectional semifinals, the Redhawks were revved up.
Scoring twice in the first 7:56 of play, the again no. 2-seeded Redhawks (15-4-3) took instant command and never looked back en route to a 3-0 win over third-seed Plainfield Central (16-5-2).
“Last year I think we just overlooked them,” said Naperville Central senior Nate Zain, whose throw-ins led to the first two goals. “It was the first game of the postseason, and the year before that we went really far in the playoffs and no one was expecting it.
“(Last year) we were like, ‘We’re a higher seed this year; it should be an easy game.’ And that’s not at all what happened.”
What happens next for the Redhawks is another high-stakes, high-emotion test. With Naperville North’s 2-0 win over Metea Valley in the other semifinal, the North-Central rivalry is renewed in Friday’s sectional final.
The defending state champion Huskies and Redhawks have split two regular season matchups.
“I feel our defenses are pretty even,” Naperville Central senior defender Rokas Stadalninkas said. “We’ve had a lot of shutouts just like they have, so I think the difference-maker on Friday is going to be the attackers for sure.”
The Redhawks’ offensive attack was sharp from the start Tuesday. And the bad memory from last October certainly helped provide the spark.
“That was a lot of motivation for the returning guys, and also the new guys on the team this year,” Redhawks senior Zack Kokes said. “They understood what happened last year, and they hopped right on it and wanted it as bad as we did.”
Kokes and the Redhawks hopped on early chances Tuesday.
After Plainfield Central goalkeeper Shane Badertscher got a hand on Kokes’ header off a Zain throw-in just 1:15 into the match, the same combination struck for a 1-0 lead a mere 4:56 in.
Zain’s throw-in from 20 yards was headed by Cameron Strang to Kokes in front. Turning towards the goal, Kokes lined a 6-yard shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
Then exactly three minutes later, it was deja vu. A Zain throw-in from the 18, a header by Strang to the back post, and this time Niko Couropmitree on the spot for an open putaway and a 2-0 edge just 7:56 into the match.
“Usually on throw-ins I just try to find Cam’s head,” Zain said. “He’s the tall center back we have, and he wins every ball in the air. And then he usually tries to flick it, and we have someone back post. Hopefully they just tap it in, and that’s what happened on both plays.”
Expecting a fired-up Redhawks side coming in, Plainfield Central was quickly on the ropes.
“We awoke a sleeping giant, huh?,” Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “We wouldn’t trade that (2016 regional win), but you knew coming in that obviously they had that on their minds. And they’re good to begin with. They didn’t need any extra motivation.
“It’s a little disappointing when you give up two quick ones and already you’re on your heels a little bit. And obviously we never quite recovered. We settled down a little bit, but the damage was done.”
The Wildcats were also without star forward Joel Sanchez (concussion suffered in Saturday’s regional final), making for an uphill climb already. Then the fired-up Redhawks scorched their hopes in quick fashion.
”He (Sanchez) is a handful, and as tough as they come,” Fitzgerald said. “We missed him obviously, and we didn’t find out for sure he couldn’t go until today,” Fitzgerald said. “But next guy up, try to get the job done, and everybody else has to do a little more.
“We were hoping to somehow get one and then somehow hold them off,” Fitzgerald added of his team’s strategy. “I hate to say the second goal might have ended it, but the second goal might have ended it. I can do the math.”
The arithmetic was no different when it came to scoring chances. Plainfield Central’s first shot on goal didn’t come until 11:55 before halftime, a 32-yard shot well wide left.
Meanwhile, the Redhawks never let up.
A Zain drive just over the net in the 11th minute and an Ivan Dosen left-footed 15-yarder denied by a high-reaching Badertscher near the crossbar in the 25th minute were near misses to add to the 2-0 edge.
Badertscher later made a diving save at the left post after a Dosen interception and low 22-yard drive 8:15 before the break.
The Redhawk rampage continued to the first half horn. Off a Jimmy Kalkofen throw-in, Kyle Kokes lined a straight-on 15-yarder with 15 seconds left that Badertscher again dove to deny.
His team’s brilliant offensive execution impressed Naperville Central coach Troy Adams.
“The way the boys looked to combine and play off of each other -- it’s one of the best games I’ve seen where we were making runs with the expectation we were going to get it, and we did,” Adams said. “I thought that really helped us for awhile pinning them in, because they weren’t sure where the ball was going to go.”
Then just in case the early first half message wasn’t clear enough, the Redhawks acted even faster to start the second.
Just 20 seconds in, a Zack Kokes-to-Kalkofen pass set up a chance in front. Kalkofen’s effort was broken up by a sliding block from Badertscher, but with the keeper out of the net, Ryan Coleman chipped home the rebound off a sliding Wildcats defender at the line for a 3-0 lead.
In the next 10 minutes, Badertscher needed more acrobatics with diving saves on Coleman (35:20 left) and Strang (a header in front off a great Kalkofen cross with 30:20 to go).
“I thought the second half, the first 20 minutes especially, we played really well,” Adams said. “We were looking to connect and link together, and when we do that we’re very good and dangerous in the attack.
“Today was awesome, one of the better team efforts -- not just one individual.”
The tests continued for the Wildcats goalkeeper with 25 minutes left, on a 23-yard Zain free kick deflected just wide by Badertscher. Strang sent a 6-yard header off a Dosen corner kick just over the net 30 seconds later. Then with 20:15 to go, Owen Jarrell nicely angled a left side shot that bounced off the right side of the crossbar.
Even goalkeeper Ethan Conners got into the act. With 17:10 left, his 55-yard free kick try was sent just wide of the right post by Zack Kokes.
An offside call nullified a would-be Robert Comer goal with 10:05 to go. But the Redhawks defense made any extra offense unneccessary.
Conners’ first save of the half came on a 40-yard, two-hop shot on goal with 11:10 left. Backup Ron Marchionna then entered with 7:05 to play, and capped the shutout with the catch on Ish Contreras’ well-struck 50-yard free kick with 45 seconds left.
After a 2016 match with the Wildcats they could painfully never forget, the Redhawks made an impression in Tuesday’s rematch.
“Really it was just us wanting to get revenge for that, especially for the varsity seniors who had their season ended short last year and were hoping to make a good run,” Stadalninkas said. “Right off the bat intensity was high. We just tried to get one early, and got two in the first 10 minutes. So that was really nice to kind of put them a step back.
“We definitely had a fire against them. I felt that made the difference.”
Now comes another match to get fired up for-- the Redhawks’ main rival with a spot in the supersectionals on the line.
“Taking it one game at a time has been our motto all postseason,” Stadalninkas said, “because last season we overlooked these guys (Plainfield Central) and got beat 1-0. We won this one and now focus on North on Friday.”
Another sharp effort will be needed.
“We just need to work hard on defense and lock down on dead balls,” Zain said. “They (the Huskies) score a lot of goals off dead balls and throw-ins. If we find our marks and match up in the box, I feel we’re the better team in the flow of play. We just have to work on our dead ball matchups.”
Said Kokes: “We need to play our game. When we played here (Sept. 9) in the DVC we played our game and got the result we wanted. So just moving the ball, getting shots on frame and playing our game, I think we have a good shot.”
Tuesday marked the end of a great two-year run for Plainfield Central’s seniors.
“This senior group raised the bar forever,” Fitzgerald said. “We had never won a regional title in school history and we just won two straight. Last year beating these guys. And this year we’re the three-seed and Plainfield North is 18, which was kind of laughable they were an 18 because it’s a shootout (on Saturday) after we had beat them in overtime (in the regular season).
“These guys found a way to be successful, even when it wasn’t easy. It’s kind of the end of an era, but they’ll all move on to bigger and better things. I know they wanted their shot at the state champs Friday – you measure yourself against a school like that, and Central too.”
Measuring up with Naperville Central’s explosive offense and taste for revenge was a tough task Tuesday.
“The kids learned a lesson,” Adams said of the 2016 loss. “We have enough returning guys, and they know nothing is given to you and nobody’s handing you anything. It’s a good life lesson. You have to work and earn your 80 minutes. We talk before games -- you get 80 and work towards earning another 80. And we earned another 80 today.”
And an interesting 80 minutes Friday will be.
“As a player you’d love to have it where you know you’re the better team,” Adams said, “but at the same time we love playing these games where there’s going to be a good crowd and it means something.
“And it means even more than just a sectional final. It’s neat to play these games. This is why you want to play high school soccer.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK Shane Badertscher
D Alan Ontiveros
D Ish Contreras
D Jose Ramirez
D Roger Vera
M Josh De Avila
M Zach Bargas
M Hunter Fuss
M Andrit Salihu
F Simeon Adesina
F Noah Selefski
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Conners
D Rokas Stadalninkas
D Cameron Strang
D Jimmy Kalkofen
D Tanner Greenhagen
M Rohan Bhargava
M Owen Jarrell
M Nate Zain
M Nico Couropmitree
F Ryan Coleman
F Zack Kokes
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Zack Kokes, sr. F, Naperville Central.
Scoring summary
1st HALF
NC – Z. Kokes (Strang) 4:56
NC – Couropmitree (Strang) 7:56
2nd HALF
NC – Coleman (Kalkofen) 40:20
Tops Plainfield C. 3-0, earns sectional final berth vs. Naperville N.
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE - Revenge was served very chilled by Naperville Central on Tuesday. And very early.
In 2016, Plainfield Central pulled the upset of the postseason when it entered the regional semifinal as a no. 15-seed and stunned second-seeded Naperville Central 1-0.
But in the 45-degree cold of the 2017 rematch at the Class 3A Naperville North sectional semifinals, the Redhawks were revved up.
Scoring twice in the first 7:56 of play, the again no. 2-seeded Redhawks (15-4-3) took instant command and never looked back en route to a 3-0 win over third-seed Plainfield Central (16-5-2).
“Last year I think we just overlooked them,” said Naperville Central senior Nate Zain, whose throw-ins led to the first two goals. “It was the first game of the postseason, and the year before that we went really far in the playoffs and no one was expecting it.
“(Last year) we were like, ‘We’re a higher seed this year; it should be an easy game.’ And that’s not at all what happened.”
What happens next for the Redhawks is another high-stakes, high-emotion test. With Naperville North’s 2-0 win over Metea Valley in the other semifinal, the North-Central rivalry is renewed in Friday’s sectional final.
The defending state champion Huskies and Redhawks have split two regular season matchups.
“I feel our defenses are pretty even,” Naperville Central senior defender Rokas Stadalninkas said. “We’ve had a lot of shutouts just like they have, so I think the difference-maker on Friday is going to be the attackers for sure.”
The Redhawks’ offensive attack was sharp from the start Tuesday. And the bad memory from last October certainly helped provide the spark.
“That was a lot of motivation for the returning guys, and also the new guys on the team this year,” Redhawks senior Zack Kokes said. “They understood what happened last year, and they hopped right on it and wanted it as bad as we did.”
Kokes and the Redhawks hopped on early chances Tuesday.
After Plainfield Central goalkeeper Shane Badertscher got a hand on Kokes’ header off a Zain throw-in just 1:15 into the match, the same combination struck for a 1-0 lead a mere 4:56 in.
Zain’s throw-in from 20 yards was headed by Cameron Strang to Kokes in front. Turning towards the goal, Kokes lined a 6-yard shot inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.
Then exactly three minutes later, it was deja vu. A Zain throw-in from the 18, a header by Strang to the back post, and this time Niko Couropmitree on the spot for an open putaway and a 2-0 edge just 7:56 into the match.
“Usually on throw-ins I just try to find Cam’s head,” Zain said. “He’s the tall center back we have, and he wins every ball in the air. And then he usually tries to flick it, and we have someone back post. Hopefully they just tap it in, and that’s what happened on both plays.”
Expecting a fired-up Redhawks side coming in, Plainfield Central was quickly on the ropes.
“We awoke a sleeping giant, huh?,” Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “We wouldn’t trade that (2016 regional win), but you knew coming in that obviously they had that on their minds. And they’re good to begin with. They didn’t need any extra motivation.
“It’s a little disappointing when you give up two quick ones and already you’re on your heels a little bit. And obviously we never quite recovered. We settled down a little bit, but the damage was done.”
The Wildcats were also without star forward Joel Sanchez (concussion suffered in Saturday’s regional final), making for an uphill climb already. Then the fired-up Redhawks scorched their hopes in quick fashion.
”He (Sanchez) is a handful, and as tough as they come,” Fitzgerald said. “We missed him obviously, and we didn’t find out for sure he couldn’t go until today,” Fitzgerald said. “But next guy up, try to get the job done, and everybody else has to do a little more.
“We were hoping to somehow get one and then somehow hold them off,” Fitzgerald added of his team’s strategy. “I hate to say the second goal might have ended it, but the second goal might have ended it. I can do the math.”
The arithmetic was no different when it came to scoring chances. Plainfield Central’s first shot on goal didn’t come until 11:55 before halftime, a 32-yard shot well wide left.
Meanwhile, the Redhawks never let up.
A Zain drive just over the net in the 11th minute and an Ivan Dosen left-footed 15-yarder denied by a high-reaching Badertscher near the crossbar in the 25th minute were near misses to add to the 2-0 edge.
Badertscher later made a diving save at the left post after a Dosen interception and low 22-yard drive 8:15 before the break.
The Redhawk rampage continued to the first half horn. Off a Jimmy Kalkofen throw-in, Kyle Kokes lined a straight-on 15-yarder with 15 seconds left that Badertscher again dove to deny.
His team’s brilliant offensive execution impressed Naperville Central coach Troy Adams.
“The way the boys looked to combine and play off of each other -- it’s one of the best games I’ve seen where we were making runs with the expectation we were going to get it, and we did,” Adams said. “I thought that really helped us for awhile pinning them in, because they weren’t sure where the ball was going to go.”
Then just in case the early first half message wasn’t clear enough, the Redhawks acted even faster to start the second.
Just 20 seconds in, a Zack Kokes-to-Kalkofen pass set up a chance in front. Kalkofen’s effort was broken up by a sliding block from Badertscher, but with the keeper out of the net, Ryan Coleman chipped home the rebound off a sliding Wildcats defender at the line for a 3-0 lead.
In the next 10 minutes, Badertscher needed more acrobatics with diving saves on Coleman (35:20 left) and Strang (a header in front off a great Kalkofen cross with 30:20 to go).
“I thought the second half, the first 20 minutes especially, we played really well,” Adams said. “We were looking to connect and link together, and when we do that we’re very good and dangerous in the attack.
“Today was awesome, one of the better team efforts -- not just one individual.”
The tests continued for the Wildcats goalkeeper with 25 minutes left, on a 23-yard Zain free kick deflected just wide by Badertscher. Strang sent a 6-yard header off a Dosen corner kick just over the net 30 seconds later. Then with 20:15 to go, Owen Jarrell nicely angled a left side shot that bounced off the right side of the crossbar.
Even goalkeeper Ethan Conners got into the act. With 17:10 left, his 55-yard free kick try was sent just wide of the right post by Zack Kokes.
An offside call nullified a would-be Robert Comer goal with 10:05 to go. But the Redhawks defense made any extra offense unneccessary.
Conners’ first save of the half came on a 40-yard, two-hop shot on goal with 11:10 left. Backup Ron Marchionna then entered with 7:05 to play, and capped the shutout with the catch on Ish Contreras’ well-struck 50-yard free kick with 45 seconds left.
After a 2016 match with the Wildcats they could painfully never forget, the Redhawks made an impression in Tuesday’s rematch.
“Really it was just us wanting to get revenge for that, especially for the varsity seniors who had their season ended short last year and were hoping to make a good run,” Stadalninkas said. “Right off the bat intensity was high. We just tried to get one early, and got two in the first 10 minutes. So that was really nice to kind of put them a step back.
“We definitely had a fire against them. I felt that made the difference.”
Now comes another match to get fired up for-- the Redhawks’ main rival with a spot in the supersectionals on the line.
“Taking it one game at a time has been our motto all postseason,” Stadalninkas said, “because last season we overlooked these guys (Plainfield Central) and got beat 1-0. We won this one and now focus on North on Friday.”
Another sharp effort will be needed.
“We just need to work hard on defense and lock down on dead balls,” Zain said. “They (the Huskies) score a lot of goals off dead balls and throw-ins. If we find our marks and match up in the box, I feel we’re the better team in the flow of play. We just have to work on our dead ball matchups.”
Said Kokes: “We need to play our game. When we played here (Sept. 9) in the DVC we played our game and got the result we wanted. So just moving the ball, getting shots on frame and playing our game, I think we have a good shot.”
Tuesday marked the end of a great two-year run for Plainfield Central’s seniors.
“This senior group raised the bar forever,” Fitzgerald said. “We had never won a regional title in school history and we just won two straight. Last year beating these guys. And this year we’re the three-seed and Plainfield North is 18, which was kind of laughable they were an 18 because it’s a shootout (on Saturday) after we had beat them in overtime (in the regular season).
“These guys found a way to be successful, even when it wasn’t easy. It’s kind of the end of an era, but they’ll all move on to bigger and better things. I know they wanted their shot at the state champs Friday – you measure yourself against a school like that, and Central too.”
Measuring up with Naperville Central’s explosive offense and taste for revenge was a tough task Tuesday.
“The kids learned a lesson,” Adams said of the 2016 loss. “We have enough returning guys, and they know nothing is given to you and nobody’s handing you anything. It’s a good life lesson. You have to work and earn your 80 minutes. We talk before games -- you get 80 and work towards earning another 80. And we earned another 80 today.”
And an interesting 80 minutes Friday will be.
“As a player you’d love to have it where you know you’re the better team,” Adams said, “but at the same time we love playing these games where there’s going to be a good crowd and it means something.
“And it means even more than just a sectional final. It’s neat to play these games. This is why you want to play high school soccer.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK Shane Badertscher
D Alan Ontiveros
D Ish Contreras
D Jose Ramirez
D Roger Vera
M Josh De Avila
M Zach Bargas
M Hunter Fuss
M Andrit Salihu
F Simeon Adesina
F Noah Selefski
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Conners
D Rokas Stadalninkas
D Cameron Strang
D Jimmy Kalkofen
D Tanner Greenhagen
M Rohan Bhargava
M Owen Jarrell
M Nate Zain
M Nico Couropmitree
F Ryan Coleman
F Zack Kokes
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Zack Kokes, sr. F, Naperville Central.
Scoring summary
1st HALF
NC – Z. Kokes (Strang) 4:56
NC – Couropmitree (Strang) 7:56
2nd HALF
NC – Coleman (Kalkofen) 40:20