Naperville Central climbs
mountaintop against Romeoville
Weigel goal gives Redhawks’ 1st state championship
By Patrick Z. McGavin
HOFFMAN ESTATES — Tradition is the ultimate double-edged blade.
To paraphrase the great Irish writer James Joyce from his masterpiece “Ulysses,” in Illinois boys soccer terms, history was a nightmare from which Naperville Central was trying to awake.
The Redhawks were always held aloft by their past but had yet to outrun one dubious cruelty that marked it. The program had reached the state championship game three previous times in boys history.
The Redhawks suffered a 3-0 loss in 1988, then fell under current head coach Troy Adams in heartbreaking back-to-back overtime defeats in 2011 and 2012.
Star freshman forward Chase Adams was a child at the time of those final two matches. His memory is clear and immediate.
“Even being five years old, and seeing the sadness of your dad lose a state championship game, that gets to you,” he said.
The only tears Saturday night, however, were of joy, wonder and release.
Senior midfielder Josh Weigel blasted home a 14-yard goal in the 48th minute that catapulted the Redhawks’ to a 1-0 victory over Romeoville in the Class 3A state championship game at Hoffman Estates High School.
Naperville Central (26-3-1) made history and closed out its breakthrough championship season on a 10-game winning streak and 18-game unbeaten run.
Making its first state finals appearance, Romeoville (28-2-1) battled ferociously until the very end.
Both of the Spartans’ losses came against Naperville Central, which beat Romeoville 4-0 in the regular-season finale on October 13.
Just moments before the goal, Weigel had a half-volley from about 22 yards that pushed just wide of the frame.
Naperville Central exerted enormous pressure up to that point. The Redhawks felt certain they could finally punch through a skilled Spartans’ back that posted 15 shutouts.
On the right wing, midfielder Sean O’Reilly took a ball from Chase Adams and slotted it down the channel to the streaking Weigel.
Keeper Lucas Ortiz aggressively charged off his line to cut off the angle.
Weigel nimbly sidestepped around him, and smashed home the game-winner high into the net.
“It was a great pass from Sean,” he said. “It was kind of wide open, and all I had to do was go around the goalie and score.”
O’Reilly staked his claim to Final Four MVP recognition. He scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 semifinal victory over Stevenson on Friday.
Troy Adams called the tie-breaking sequence the logical and telling summation of their system.
“We talked all year about moving from forward to forward, and then finding other people,” Troy Adams said. “We connected Chase to Sean, and then we talk about communication. I heard Josh call Sean’s name to get the ball back.
“Seeing these blank pieces come together makes the season complete. It was an awesome goal, but even before that, what made it special was seeing players communicate where we wanted to go.”
Naperville Central’s fearsome, athletic and dynamic forward attack with Chase Adams, Joey LoDuca and Nathan Kwon created an assaultive formation few teams had an answer for or the physical and tactical means to neutralize.
Chase Adams and LoDuca finished the season with 21 goals each. Kwon, lanky and tough to neutralize inside the box, scored a goal in the semifinal and finished with 14.
Five Redhawks to reached double-figure scoring this season. O’Reilly finished with 12 goals and five assists as did Weigel.
“As the captain, I think my role was to keep the team focused and keep everybody locked in for the whole season,” Weigel said.
“I think something we struggled with last season is we weren’t completely locked in for every game. We lost games we shouldn’t have. This year we won pretty much all the games we should have, and kept everybody on their toes.”
A four-year starter, Weigel earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his outstanding play.
“He completely deserved that, being on the varsity for three and a half years, and being such an important player on our team,” Chase Adams said.
“His work-rate and passion for the game kind of showed. It was beautiful to see him score, because it was what he deserved.”
Romeoville completed a remarkable, two-day run.
They stunned defending state champion York with a three-goal flurry in eight minutes during the first half in a semifinal Friday night. Then the Spartans withstood the Dukes’ extraordinary comeback, and prevailed 4-3 with a 95th-minute goal from junior forward Ruben Mesta.
Romeoville led all three classes in single-season victories and was the lowest seed (three) to compete in a Final Four.
The Spartans learned their lessons from the earlier loss when Naperville Central shocked them with two goals in the first 15 minutes en route to a dominant 3-0 halftime lead.
“In the last game, the mistakes we did all throughout the season happened in one game,” star forward Joseph Duarte said.
“We knew tonight was different. This was the state championship game. We had the mentality that we wanted to win it.”
Junior Imanol Casillas, who had a team-best 24 assists, created the game-winner against York.
His explosive quickness and ability to create off the dribble presented early difficulties for Napeville Central.
Midfielder Demain Martinez, who had 14 goals and 10 assists, also challenged the Redhawks in the final third.
The Spartans showed they belonged on the field.
“The last game was the final game of the regular-season, and we just told the guys to play freely in that game,” coach Nick Cirrincione said.
“The state brackets were already out, and we knew they were on the opposite side. Win, lose or draw, the goal was to get them again in the state finals.”
The Spartans won 19 games in the fall of 2021. That was their warning to the rest of the state. Many did not heed it.
“We saw the potential last year,” Duarte said. “We grew as a team, and we always had the mindset from the beginning of the season -- we want it, and we know it’s there.”
In the final 20 minutes of the championship game, Romeoville generated four corner kicks as it clawed for the equalizer.
The Spartans stretched the Redhawks’ skilled, physical backline of Patrick Berryman, Patrick Bohan, Carter Bilik and Michael Cavalleri.
“Naperville has tough, high-club-level guys,” Duarte said.
“We felt like we could compete against anybody. Whatever you want to call it, but I felt like there were moments where we were the better team.”
Ortiz kept the Spartans in the game with eight saves and the wherewithal to play far off his line to stifle threats.
“We knew where they were good, and we had to battle in those positions,” Cirrincione said. “We changed a couple of things up. It was awesome to see our players take the plan and implemented it.
‘Our goal was to win 1-0 or take it to penalty kicks. At halftime we were right where we wanted to be.”
Redhawks’ senior Austin Waite started the game at keeper.
Junior Dylan Scott replaced him in the 37th minute. He made a crucial stop in the 77th minute.
He also secured the victory in the 79th minute by taking a hard foul from a charging Spartans’ player after catching a looping ball inside the box.
He finished with three saves.
“That mentality really showed Dylan’s toughness, and his ability to dial things in,” Troy Adams said.
“Taking that last foul, a lot of keepers would have turned their body and avoided the foul, and then the ball goes into the net. It showed who he is as a player and more importantly who he is as a person.”
Naperville Central endured. The Redhawks suffered their own adversity at the start of the year in the top shelf Best of the West tournament. The Redhawks lost on penalty kicks against an excellent Sandburg team, and suffered a 5-2 shellacking against then no. 1 Plainfield North.
The defining moment came on the windy and rainy evening of Sept. 20 against rival Naperville North.
The 2-1 victory marked the beginning of the 17-0-1 closing run to the season.
“This is my senior year, and we had never beaten North once,” LoDuca said.
“That was a game-changer for us. It showed who we are as a team, and it showed how we are able to compete with other great teams, like Romeoville.”
Troy Adams celebrated with his two sons, Chase and junior midfielder Carter.
The Redhawks made three-consecutive state Final Fours from 2011 to 2013. After the two overtime championship losses, the 2013 team was victimized by some highly questionable officiating in a state semifinal loss against Edwardsville and finished third.
This season, everything came together, and the right kind of Redhawks' history was made.
“I think it was the state championship game that was deserved,” Troy Adams said.
“Romeoville only had two losses. It was two teams that got after it the whole year with great work-rates. You saw the size of the crowd, and the fans from both sides were awesome.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Austin Waite
D: Patrick Berryman
D: Patrick Bohan
D: Carter Bilik
D: Michael Cavalleri
MF: Josh Weigel
MF: Sean O’Reilly
MF: Carter Adams
F: Joey LoDuca
F: Chase Adams
F: Nathan Kwon
Romeoville
GK: Lucas Ortiz
D: Imanol Casillas
D: Josh Silvar
D: Gavin Carrasco
D: Isaiah Pino
MF: Ryan Budz
MF: Christian Agyekum
MF: Demain Martinez
MF: Luis Orizaba
F: Joseph Duarte
F: Juan Jimenez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Josh Weigel, sr., MF, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville Central—Josh Weigel (Sean O’Reilly), 48th minute
mountaintop against Romeoville
Weigel goal gives Redhawks’ 1st state championship
By Patrick Z. McGavin
HOFFMAN ESTATES — Tradition is the ultimate double-edged blade.
To paraphrase the great Irish writer James Joyce from his masterpiece “Ulysses,” in Illinois boys soccer terms, history was a nightmare from which Naperville Central was trying to awake.
The Redhawks were always held aloft by their past but had yet to outrun one dubious cruelty that marked it. The program had reached the state championship game three previous times in boys history.
The Redhawks suffered a 3-0 loss in 1988, then fell under current head coach Troy Adams in heartbreaking back-to-back overtime defeats in 2011 and 2012.
Star freshman forward Chase Adams was a child at the time of those final two matches. His memory is clear and immediate.
“Even being five years old, and seeing the sadness of your dad lose a state championship game, that gets to you,” he said.
The only tears Saturday night, however, were of joy, wonder and release.
Senior midfielder Josh Weigel blasted home a 14-yard goal in the 48th minute that catapulted the Redhawks’ to a 1-0 victory over Romeoville in the Class 3A state championship game at Hoffman Estates High School.
Naperville Central (26-3-1) made history and closed out its breakthrough championship season on a 10-game winning streak and 18-game unbeaten run.
Making its first state finals appearance, Romeoville (28-2-1) battled ferociously until the very end.
Both of the Spartans’ losses came against Naperville Central, which beat Romeoville 4-0 in the regular-season finale on October 13.
Just moments before the goal, Weigel had a half-volley from about 22 yards that pushed just wide of the frame.
Naperville Central exerted enormous pressure up to that point. The Redhawks felt certain they could finally punch through a skilled Spartans’ back that posted 15 shutouts.
On the right wing, midfielder Sean O’Reilly took a ball from Chase Adams and slotted it down the channel to the streaking Weigel.
Keeper Lucas Ortiz aggressively charged off his line to cut off the angle.
Weigel nimbly sidestepped around him, and smashed home the game-winner high into the net.
“It was a great pass from Sean,” he said. “It was kind of wide open, and all I had to do was go around the goalie and score.”
O’Reilly staked his claim to Final Four MVP recognition. He scored a hat-trick in the 5-0 semifinal victory over Stevenson on Friday.
Troy Adams called the tie-breaking sequence the logical and telling summation of their system.
“We talked all year about moving from forward to forward, and then finding other people,” Troy Adams said. “We connected Chase to Sean, and then we talk about communication. I heard Josh call Sean’s name to get the ball back.
“Seeing these blank pieces come together makes the season complete. It was an awesome goal, but even before that, what made it special was seeing players communicate where we wanted to go.”
Naperville Central’s fearsome, athletic and dynamic forward attack with Chase Adams, Joey LoDuca and Nathan Kwon created an assaultive formation few teams had an answer for or the physical and tactical means to neutralize.
Chase Adams and LoDuca finished the season with 21 goals each. Kwon, lanky and tough to neutralize inside the box, scored a goal in the semifinal and finished with 14.
Five Redhawks to reached double-figure scoring this season. O’Reilly finished with 12 goals and five assists as did Weigel.
“As the captain, I think my role was to keep the team focused and keep everybody locked in for the whole season,” Weigel said.
“I think something we struggled with last season is we weren’t completely locked in for every game. We lost games we shouldn’t have. This year we won pretty much all the games we should have, and kept everybody on their toes.”
A four-year starter, Weigel earned the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match distinction for his outstanding play.
“He completely deserved that, being on the varsity for three and a half years, and being such an important player on our team,” Chase Adams said.
“His work-rate and passion for the game kind of showed. It was beautiful to see him score, because it was what he deserved.”
Romeoville completed a remarkable, two-day run.
They stunned defending state champion York with a three-goal flurry in eight minutes during the first half in a semifinal Friday night. Then the Spartans withstood the Dukes’ extraordinary comeback, and prevailed 4-3 with a 95th-minute goal from junior forward Ruben Mesta.
Romeoville led all three classes in single-season victories and was the lowest seed (three) to compete in a Final Four.
The Spartans learned their lessons from the earlier loss when Naperville Central shocked them with two goals in the first 15 minutes en route to a dominant 3-0 halftime lead.
“In the last game, the mistakes we did all throughout the season happened in one game,” star forward Joseph Duarte said.
“We knew tonight was different. This was the state championship game. We had the mentality that we wanted to win it.”
Junior Imanol Casillas, who had a team-best 24 assists, created the game-winner against York.
His explosive quickness and ability to create off the dribble presented early difficulties for Napeville Central.
Midfielder Demain Martinez, who had 14 goals and 10 assists, also challenged the Redhawks in the final third.
The Spartans showed they belonged on the field.
“The last game was the final game of the regular-season, and we just told the guys to play freely in that game,” coach Nick Cirrincione said.
“The state brackets were already out, and we knew they were on the opposite side. Win, lose or draw, the goal was to get them again in the state finals.”
The Spartans won 19 games in the fall of 2021. That was their warning to the rest of the state. Many did not heed it.
“We saw the potential last year,” Duarte said. “We grew as a team, and we always had the mindset from the beginning of the season -- we want it, and we know it’s there.”
In the final 20 minutes of the championship game, Romeoville generated four corner kicks as it clawed for the equalizer.
The Spartans stretched the Redhawks’ skilled, physical backline of Patrick Berryman, Patrick Bohan, Carter Bilik and Michael Cavalleri.
“Naperville has tough, high-club-level guys,” Duarte said.
“We felt like we could compete against anybody. Whatever you want to call it, but I felt like there were moments where we were the better team.”
Ortiz kept the Spartans in the game with eight saves and the wherewithal to play far off his line to stifle threats.
“We knew where they were good, and we had to battle in those positions,” Cirrincione said. “We changed a couple of things up. It was awesome to see our players take the plan and implemented it.
‘Our goal was to win 1-0 or take it to penalty kicks. At halftime we were right where we wanted to be.”
Redhawks’ senior Austin Waite started the game at keeper.
Junior Dylan Scott replaced him in the 37th minute. He made a crucial stop in the 77th minute.
He also secured the victory in the 79th minute by taking a hard foul from a charging Spartans’ player after catching a looping ball inside the box.
He finished with three saves.
“That mentality really showed Dylan’s toughness, and his ability to dial things in,” Troy Adams said.
“Taking that last foul, a lot of keepers would have turned their body and avoided the foul, and then the ball goes into the net. It showed who he is as a player and more importantly who he is as a person.”
Naperville Central endured. The Redhawks suffered their own adversity at the start of the year in the top shelf Best of the West tournament. The Redhawks lost on penalty kicks against an excellent Sandburg team, and suffered a 5-2 shellacking against then no. 1 Plainfield North.
The defining moment came on the windy and rainy evening of Sept. 20 against rival Naperville North.
The 2-1 victory marked the beginning of the 17-0-1 closing run to the season.
“This is my senior year, and we had never beaten North once,” LoDuca said.
“That was a game-changer for us. It showed who we are as a team, and it showed how we are able to compete with other great teams, like Romeoville.”
Troy Adams celebrated with his two sons, Chase and junior midfielder Carter.
The Redhawks made three-consecutive state Final Fours from 2011 to 2013. After the two overtime championship losses, the 2013 team was victimized by some highly questionable officiating in a state semifinal loss against Edwardsville and finished third.
This season, everything came together, and the right kind of Redhawks' history was made.
“I think it was the state championship game that was deserved,” Troy Adams said.
“Romeoville only had two losses. It was two teams that got after it the whole year with great work-rates. You saw the size of the crowd, and the fans from both sides were awesome.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK: Austin Waite
D: Patrick Berryman
D: Patrick Bohan
D: Carter Bilik
D: Michael Cavalleri
MF: Josh Weigel
MF: Sean O’Reilly
MF: Carter Adams
F: Joey LoDuca
F: Chase Adams
F: Nathan Kwon
Romeoville
GK: Lucas Ortiz
D: Imanol Casillas
D: Josh Silvar
D: Gavin Carrasco
D: Isaiah Pino
MF: Ryan Budz
MF: Christian Agyekum
MF: Demain Martinez
MF: Luis Orizaba
F: Joseph Duarte
F: Juan Jimenez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Josh Weigel, sr., MF, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville Central—Josh Weigel (Sean O’Reilly), 48th minute