Top-seeded Naperville Central finds
its offense vs. Plainfield East
Redhawks record 3-0 win for Batavia Regional crown
By Matt Le Cren
BATAVIA – Joey LoDuca and his Naperville Central teammates knew they had to perform better than they did after mustering only one goal in the first round of the playoffs against Yorkville.
“I felt today we were more mentally prepared than we were for our last game against Yorkville,” LoDuca said. “It’s another step up from our last game. That’s how we’re supposed to do it in the playoffs – take a step forward each time, and we should be better our next game.”
The top-seeded Redhawks were a lot better Saturday, though not good enough to entirely please coach Troy Adams. Naperville Central beat eighth-seeded Plainfield East 3-0 to win the Class 3A Batavia Regional championship.
LoDuca opened and closed the scoring. In between fellow senior striker Nathan Kwon also found the the net for Naperville Central, which is ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
The Redhawks (21-3-1) now are two victories away from tying the school record for wins. Gettting there won't be easy. They will play fifth-seeded West Aurora (15-3-5) in a Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday. With a win, second-seeded and seventh-ranked Naperville North (16-3-4) or 11th-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South (10-6-3) await.
The performance Saturday was a far cry from the 1-0 win the Redhawks eked out over seventeenth-seeded Yorkville, which packed it in defensively.
“We definitely learned from our mistakes in the game against Yorkville, so we just came into this game more prepared,” Kwon said. “We’re taking every game one at a time, so whatever we need to work on, we work on it in practice and make sure that we can improve on it next game.”
The Redhawks obviously needed to improve on their finishing, and they came up with three fine ones against the Bengals (9-5-4), who were outshot 14-3.
LoDuca got things started when he and senior midfielder Josh Weigel worked a beautiful give-and-go that parted the middle of the Plainfield East defense like the Red Sea. Weigel’s through-ball found LoDuca in stride in the middle of the box, and he rolled his shot inside the right post with 17:20 left in the first half.
“We’ve been playing club for years now, so we basically know how we play and everything we do,” LoDuca said. “Doing that one-two, it was like intuitive.”
It was a thing of beauty to the Redhawks fans and especially the other Redhawks.
“Joey is a great team player,” Kwon said. “He can connect and pass well with anybody on the team, especially with Josh in the middle.
“They work very well together, and that connection that they have plays out really well for us.”
Weigel wasn’t the only Redhawk who found LoDuca. Senior midfielder Sean O’Reilly did it too, on the final goal.
Freshman Chase Adams dug the ball out of the corner and passed to Weigel, who sent the ball to LoDuca in the left side of the box for a 12-yard finish to make it 3-0. That put the exclamation point on Naperville Central’s third-consecutive regional title and 18th overall.
“When we play as a unit, and we’re moving the ball; and we’re being unselfish, we’re really good,” Troy Adams said. “You want to have forwards that want to score and you want them to go at it. But you have to find out hey, is this the right time, is that the right place?”
Kwon was in the right space at the wrong time three minutes into the second half. He took a lead pass from Chase Adams and scored on a short shot up the middle but was ruled offsides on the play.
No matter. Four minutes later he struck again, and this time it was legit. Chase Adams raced up the left wing, got around the corner and centered to Kwon, who had a step on the nearest defender and tapped in from inside the six to give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead with 32:06 to go.
With the Redhawks dominating possession at that point, Kwon’s goal practically eliminated any hopes the Bengals had of an upset.
“I was just making my back-post run. I noticed there were no defenders in the box, so I was like ‘Might as well go in there,’” Kwon said. “Chase just gave me a beautiful ball in.
“I was lucky enough to be open and had a good shot on it.”
The Redhawks have had a lot of good shots this year. They bagged 84 goals in the regular season, smashing the regular-season school record of 59. They now are at 88 and counting.
Chase Adams leads the way with 20 goals. LoDuca’s brace gives him 19, and Kwon is up to 13.
The season-long offensive fireworks have overshadowed the fine work of Naperville Central’s defense, which was nearly airtight against Plainfield East.
The only real scoring threat the Bengals had came 14 minutes in when Benjamin Basta got in behind, but his shot was deflected wide and high by Carter Adams.
“The defense did a much better job in the second half of making sure that we had cover behind,” Troy Adams said. “First half, sometimes you can be going with the wind and you get a little overconfident.
“But I think the second half we made sure that somebody was always in behind, because they had some dangerous players. They could have really taken advantage if we had let them break free.”
But the backline of Patrick Bohan, Patrick Berryman, Carter Bilik and Michael Cavalleri knows it will have to be on its toes going forward. The Redhawks have allowed 22 goals but only seven have come during their current 13-game unbeaten streak.
“From here on out, that’s the way it’s going to be,” Troy Adams said. “You don’t get to this spot unless you’ve got those types of players.
“Every team we play is going to have that type of ability to really punish us if we don’t do the right thing.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Austin Waite
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
Plainfield East
GK: Braxton Francis
D: Andres Vega
D: Joseph DiCosimo
D: Angel Casillas
D: Xander Wettergren
M: Keith McCray
M: Benjamin Basta
M: Yandel Reyes
M: Juan Pablo Escobar
M: Trey Atkin
F: Justin Fuernstahl
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Joey LoDuca, sr., F, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
NC: Joey LoDuca (Josh Weigel) 17:20 remaining
Second half
NC: Nathan Kwon (Chase Adams) 32:06 remaining
NC: LoDuca (Sean O’Reilly) 1:58 remaining
its offense vs. Plainfield East
Redhawks record 3-0 win for Batavia Regional crown
By Matt Le Cren
BATAVIA – Joey LoDuca and his Naperville Central teammates knew they had to perform better than they did after mustering only one goal in the first round of the playoffs against Yorkville.
“I felt today we were more mentally prepared than we were for our last game against Yorkville,” LoDuca said. “It’s another step up from our last game. That’s how we’re supposed to do it in the playoffs – take a step forward each time, and we should be better our next game.”
The top-seeded Redhawks were a lot better Saturday, though not good enough to entirely please coach Troy Adams. Naperville Central beat eighth-seeded Plainfield East 3-0 to win the Class 3A Batavia Regional championship.
LoDuca opened and closed the scoring. In between fellow senior striker Nathan Kwon also found the the net for Naperville Central, which is ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
The Redhawks (21-3-1) now are two victories away from tying the school record for wins. Gettting there won't be easy. They will play fifth-seeded West Aurora (15-3-5) in a Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal at 5 p.m. Tuesday. With a win, second-seeded and seventh-ranked Naperville North (16-3-4) or 11th-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South (10-6-3) await.
The performance Saturday was a far cry from the 1-0 win the Redhawks eked out over seventeenth-seeded Yorkville, which packed it in defensively.
“We definitely learned from our mistakes in the game against Yorkville, so we just came into this game more prepared,” Kwon said. “We’re taking every game one at a time, so whatever we need to work on, we work on it in practice and make sure that we can improve on it next game.”
The Redhawks obviously needed to improve on their finishing, and they came up with three fine ones against the Bengals (9-5-4), who were outshot 14-3.
LoDuca got things started when he and senior midfielder Josh Weigel worked a beautiful give-and-go that parted the middle of the Plainfield East defense like the Red Sea. Weigel’s through-ball found LoDuca in stride in the middle of the box, and he rolled his shot inside the right post with 17:20 left in the first half.
“We’ve been playing club for years now, so we basically know how we play and everything we do,” LoDuca said. “Doing that one-two, it was like intuitive.”
It was a thing of beauty to the Redhawks fans and especially the other Redhawks.
“Joey is a great team player,” Kwon said. “He can connect and pass well with anybody on the team, especially with Josh in the middle.
“They work very well together, and that connection that they have plays out really well for us.”
Weigel wasn’t the only Redhawk who found LoDuca. Senior midfielder Sean O’Reilly did it too, on the final goal.
Freshman Chase Adams dug the ball out of the corner and passed to Weigel, who sent the ball to LoDuca in the left side of the box for a 12-yard finish to make it 3-0. That put the exclamation point on Naperville Central’s third-consecutive regional title and 18th overall.
“When we play as a unit, and we’re moving the ball; and we’re being unselfish, we’re really good,” Troy Adams said. “You want to have forwards that want to score and you want them to go at it. But you have to find out hey, is this the right time, is that the right place?”
Kwon was in the right space at the wrong time three minutes into the second half. He took a lead pass from Chase Adams and scored on a short shot up the middle but was ruled offsides on the play.
No matter. Four minutes later he struck again, and this time it was legit. Chase Adams raced up the left wing, got around the corner and centered to Kwon, who had a step on the nearest defender and tapped in from inside the six to give the Redhawks a 2-0 lead with 32:06 to go.
With the Redhawks dominating possession at that point, Kwon’s goal practically eliminated any hopes the Bengals had of an upset.
“I was just making my back-post run. I noticed there were no defenders in the box, so I was like ‘Might as well go in there,’” Kwon said. “Chase just gave me a beautiful ball in.
“I was lucky enough to be open and had a good shot on it.”
The Redhawks have had a lot of good shots this year. They bagged 84 goals in the regular season, smashing the regular-season school record of 59. They now are at 88 and counting.
Chase Adams leads the way with 20 goals. LoDuca’s brace gives him 19, and Kwon is up to 13.
The season-long offensive fireworks have overshadowed the fine work of Naperville Central’s defense, which was nearly airtight against Plainfield East.
The only real scoring threat the Bengals had came 14 minutes in when Benjamin Basta got in behind, but his shot was deflected wide and high by Carter Adams.
“The defense did a much better job in the second half of making sure that we had cover behind,” Troy Adams said. “First half, sometimes you can be going with the wind and you get a little overconfident.
“But I think the second half we made sure that somebody was always in behind, because they had some dangerous players. They could have really taken advantage if we had let them break free.”
But the backline of Patrick Bohan, Patrick Berryman, Carter Bilik and Michael Cavalleri knows it will have to be on its toes going forward. The Redhawks have allowed 22 goals but only seven have come during their current 13-game unbeaten streak.
“From here on out, that’s the way it’s going to be,” Troy Adams said. “You don’t get to this spot unless you’ve got those types of players.
“Every team we play is going to have that type of ability to really punish us if we don’t do the right thing.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Austin Waite
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
Plainfield East
GK: Braxton Francis
D: Andres Vega
D: Joseph DiCosimo
D: Angel Casillas
D: Xander Wettergren
M: Keith McCray
M: Benjamin Basta
M: Yandel Reyes
M: Juan Pablo Escobar
M: Trey Atkin
F: Justin Fuernstahl
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Joey LoDuca, sr., F, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
NC: Joey LoDuca (Josh Weigel) 17:20 remaining
Second half
NC: Nathan Kwon (Chase Adams) 32:06 remaining
NC: LoDuca (Sean O’Reilly) 1:58 remaining