Brace yourself – Cavelleri scores twice, Naperville Central blanks West Aurora
Defennder leads Redhawks to sectional final, unbeaten run at 14
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – Naperville Central defender Michael Cavalleri has spent most of his rookie varsity season preventing balls from going into his team’s net.
On Tuesday, the junior put two in the other team’s net.
Cavalleri stunned everyone by scoring both goals in the Redhawks’ 2-0 victory over West Aurora in a Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal.
It was Cavelleri’s first two-goal game and returned top-seeded Naperville Central to the sectional final for the second-consecutive season. The Redhawks (22-3-1), who are ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will play second-seeded and seventh-ranked Naperville North, which beat Wheaton Warrenville South 5-2 in the nightcap, in a rematch of a 2021 sectional championship, which the Huskies won 3-2.
“Yeah, the betting line on that was probably pretty high,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said of Cavelleri’s offensive feat. “But you know what, he’s up there on dead balls for a reason.
“He’s fearless. He’s courageous, and he’s willing to throw his body in there into situations.
“The huge thing today was it was two kind of mucky goals, and those have been hard to come by for us this year.”
Cavalleri should have had a hat-trick, but he had a goal disallowed by an iffy offsides call in the fifth minute. It was one of two Naperville Central goals that were called back.
No matter. Cavalleri and his teammates kept grinding away and eventually wore down the fifth-seeded Blackhawks (15-4-5), who conceded twice on restarts.
The first came with 15:00 left in the first half. Patrick Bohan’s throw-in from the left side bounced around the box, hit a defender and then deflected off of Cavalleri and just under the crossbar.
“It bounced around. They headed it back, and it went into his own goal,” Cavalleri said. “I’m not sure (if I touched it). The second one was clean.”
Indeed, and it was the dagger. Sean O’Reilly sent a corner kick in from the left side toward Carter Adams, who was running toward him on a diagonal angle.
Adams turned and ripped a wicked volley across the crease that slammed into the right post and caromed right to Cavalleri, who buried the rebound for the final score at the 28:43 mark of the second half.
“I didn’t expect to be the one to score the goals,” said Cavalleri, who came into the game with three. “But everyone else was helping out with the work, and I was the one it dropped to.”
Carter Adams was pleased to see Cavalleri rewarded for the hard work.
“Michael’s really stepped up,” Carter Adams said. “He played JV1 last year, and we’re really grateful to have him.
“He’s really a big aerial and physical presence in the back.”
And the front, at least on restarts.
“Almost every day in practice we work on dead balls,” Carter Adams said. “Three at every spot we take them, and it’s always those dirty goals that find a way in.
“That’s really what we try to work on. Those goals get you to go later in the season.”
Indeed, goals through the run of play become harder in the playoffs, and this match was no exception. The two sides combined for only 11 shots, including seven on goal.
West Aurora was stingy defensively, holding Naperville Central freshman sensation Chase Adams without a shot and senior striker Joey LoDuca to just two. Those two have combined for 39 goals.
But the Redhawks were able to overcome the resistance.
“I think when it came down to those moments to work hard, we worked hard enough,” Cavalleri said. “We got a little bit of luck with the first goal, but even the second one, it was being in the right spot at the right time.
“Then we had other moments where if we were there to follow it in, we potentially could have had more goals. I think at the end we were just there ready for that.”
The Redhawks were ready at the other end, too.
Goalkeeper Dylan Scott had to make only three saves in posting Naperville Central’s fourth-consecutive shutout. The Redhawks have not been scored upon during the state tournament.
“It’s so good to be part of such a solid backline,” Cavalleri said. “Just to be a part of this unit is a great feeling.”
Two of the four fullback spots were up for grabs in training camp, but Cavalleri and senior Carter Bilik have joined returning stalwarts Bohan and Patrick Berryman in forming a cohesive unit.
“He had a good preseason, played well as we started, and he’s gotten better at the position as we’ve gone along,” Troy Adams said of Cavalleri. “Playing center back is no different than playing center forward.
“It requires an understanding, and Michael has picked it up quickly. We’re still working on a couple things, but I’ve been very pleased with how disciplined he’s been, and that when he does make a mistake, he learns from it and corrects it.”
Now the Redhawks get a chance to avenge last season’s final loss to their cross-town rivals. They beat the Huskies 2-1 during the regular-season, so they have plenty of confidence.
“It feels great,” Cavalleri said. “We knew we had a good team this year to make it this far.
“We’re hoping to get past the sectional final and go really far for the first time in a while.”
The Redhawks haven’t won a sectional title since 2015, when they upset the Huskies in the sectional final. None of the current players were in high school at the time, of course, but Carter and Chase Adams, who are the coach's sons, were at that game.
Carter played in last season’s gut-wrenching loss, in which Naperville North rallied from a goal down in the final 15 minutes, but this will be Chase’s first chance at postseason glory.
“Whenever I’ve watched my dad, it’s been North versus Central a lot of years,” Chase Adams said. “We think we can win it and if we do win (there will be a lot of) happiness and satisfaction, because winning sectionals is one of our goals.”
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
West Aurora
GK: Nico Martinez
D: Pasifique Ndayishimiye
D: Misael Martell
D: Jose Acevedo
D: Pedro Delgado
M: Blake Studdard
M: Ayub Rashidi
M: Hector Huerta
M: Matthew Lopez-Martinez
F: Omari Rashidi
F: Loretto Lopez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Michael Cavalleri, jr., D, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
NC: Michael Cavalleri (Patrick Bohan), 25th minute
Second half
NC: Cavelleri (unassisted), 52nd minute
Defennder leads Redhawks to sectional final, unbeaten run at 14
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – Naperville Central defender Michael Cavalleri has spent most of his rookie varsity season preventing balls from going into his team’s net.
On Tuesday, the junior put two in the other team’s net.
Cavalleri stunned everyone by scoring both goals in the Redhawks’ 2-0 victory over West Aurora in a Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal.
It was Cavelleri’s first two-goal game and returned top-seeded Naperville Central to the sectional final for the second-consecutive season. The Redhawks (22-3-1), who are ranked third in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, will play second-seeded and seventh-ranked Naperville North, which beat Wheaton Warrenville South 5-2 in the nightcap, in a rematch of a 2021 sectional championship, which the Huskies won 3-2.
“Yeah, the betting line on that was probably pretty high,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said of Cavelleri’s offensive feat. “But you know what, he’s up there on dead balls for a reason.
“He’s fearless. He’s courageous, and he’s willing to throw his body in there into situations.
“The huge thing today was it was two kind of mucky goals, and those have been hard to come by for us this year.”
Cavalleri should have had a hat-trick, but he had a goal disallowed by an iffy offsides call in the fifth minute. It was one of two Naperville Central goals that were called back.
No matter. Cavalleri and his teammates kept grinding away and eventually wore down the fifth-seeded Blackhawks (15-4-5), who conceded twice on restarts.
The first came with 15:00 left in the first half. Patrick Bohan’s throw-in from the left side bounced around the box, hit a defender and then deflected off of Cavalleri and just under the crossbar.
“It bounced around. They headed it back, and it went into his own goal,” Cavalleri said. “I’m not sure (if I touched it). The second one was clean.”
Indeed, and it was the dagger. Sean O’Reilly sent a corner kick in from the left side toward Carter Adams, who was running toward him on a diagonal angle.
Adams turned and ripped a wicked volley across the crease that slammed into the right post and caromed right to Cavalleri, who buried the rebound for the final score at the 28:43 mark of the second half.
“I didn’t expect to be the one to score the goals,” said Cavalleri, who came into the game with three. “But everyone else was helping out with the work, and I was the one it dropped to.”
Carter Adams was pleased to see Cavalleri rewarded for the hard work.
“Michael’s really stepped up,” Carter Adams said. “He played JV1 last year, and we’re really grateful to have him.
“He’s really a big aerial and physical presence in the back.”
And the front, at least on restarts.
“Almost every day in practice we work on dead balls,” Carter Adams said. “Three at every spot we take them, and it’s always those dirty goals that find a way in.
“That’s really what we try to work on. Those goals get you to go later in the season.”
Indeed, goals through the run of play become harder in the playoffs, and this match was no exception. The two sides combined for only 11 shots, including seven on goal.
West Aurora was stingy defensively, holding Naperville Central freshman sensation Chase Adams without a shot and senior striker Joey LoDuca to just two. Those two have combined for 39 goals.
But the Redhawks were able to overcome the resistance.
“I think when it came down to those moments to work hard, we worked hard enough,” Cavalleri said. “We got a little bit of luck with the first goal, but even the second one, it was being in the right spot at the right time.
“Then we had other moments where if we were there to follow it in, we potentially could have had more goals. I think at the end we were just there ready for that.”
The Redhawks were ready at the other end, too.
Goalkeeper Dylan Scott had to make only three saves in posting Naperville Central’s fourth-consecutive shutout. The Redhawks have not been scored upon during the state tournament.
“It’s so good to be part of such a solid backline,” Cavalleri said. “Just to be a part of this unit is a great feeling.”
Two of the four fullback spots were up for grabs in training camp, but Cavalleri and senior Carter Bilik have joined returning stalwarts Bohan and Patrick Berryman in forming a cohesive unit.
“He had a good preseason, played well as we started, and he’s gotten better at the position as we’ve gone along,” Troy Adams said of Cavalleri. “Playing center back is no different than playing center forward.
“It requires an understanding, and Michael has picked it up quickly. We’re still working on a couple things, but I’ve been very pleased with how disciplined he’s been, and that when he does make a mistake, he learns from it and corrects it.”
Now the Redhawks get a chance to avenge last season’s final loss to their cross-town rivals. They beat the Huskies 2-1 during the regular-season, so they have plenty of confidence.
“It feels great,” Cavalleri said. “We knew we had a good team this year to make it this far.
“We’re hoping to get past the sectional final and go really far for the first time in a while.”
The Redhawks haven’t won a sectional title since 2015, when they upset the Huskies in the sectional final. None of the current players were in high school at the time, of course, but Carter and Chase Adams, who are the coach's sons, were at that game.
Carter played in last season’s gut-wrenching loss, in which Naperville North rallied from a goal down in the final 15 minutes, but this will be Chase’s first chance at postseason glory.
“Whenever I’ve watched my dad, it’s been North versus Central a lot of years,” Chase Adams said. “We think we can win it and if we do win (there will be a lot of) happiness and satisfaction, because winning sectionals is one of our goals.”
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
West Aurora
GK: Nico Martinez
D: Pasifique Ndayishimiye
D: Misael Martell
D: Jose Acevedo
D: Pedro Delgado
M: Blake Studdard
M: Ayub Rashidi
M: Hector Huerta
M: Matthew Lopez-Martinez
F: Omari Rashidi
F: Loretto Lopez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Michael Cavalleri, jr., D, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
NC: Michael Cavalleri (Patrick Bohan), 25th minute
Second half
NC: Cavelleri (unassisted), 52nd minute