Sweet 3-peat: Naperville North tops
Naperville Central for BOTW title
Harvey gets late game-winner; Huskies 1st team to win 3 straight
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North has used star left back Ethan Harvey as an offensive weapon for the past two seasons, mostly on corner kicks and other set pieces.
Last season, Harvey tied for the team lead with 12 assists for the state champion Huskies.
So it came as no surprise that Harvey played a key role in yet another historic accomplishment.
The surprise was how he did it.
Harvey, who was switched to defensive midfielder on Friday, scored in the run of play on a brilliant run up the middle with 3:32 remaining in the Best of the West Tournament championship game Saturday night at Naperville Central's Memorial Stadium.
The senior’s goal, his second game-winner in 24 hours, gave the Huskies a dramatic 2-1 victory over rival Naperville Central made the Huslies the first team to win three-consecutive Best of the West titles.
“(The three-peat) just shows that we’re well-coached and we’ve got great players coming in every year,” Harvey said. “Everyone understands their roles on the team. Everybody just works hard.
“The program is great. We want to be known as one of the best in the state.”
The Huskies ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, recently have been known as a team that scores the majority of its goals on re-starts. Yet that was not the case in this game, leading Harvey to observe that it means they can win games in many different ways.
Naperville North (7-0-1) scored twice in the run of play on great individual efforts, the second of which came just three minutes after Ryan Coleman had stunned them by heading home the equalizer to make the Redhawks (4-3-0) the first team to score on Naperville North in the run of play.
Coleman’s short header came after a header by teammate Cameron Strang, who received a long throw-in from Nate Zain. The goal appeared to give the Redhawks all the momentum. The hosts had outplayed the Huskies in the first half and for the first part of the second half until sophomore Ty Konrad dribbled through four defenders and scored against the run of play with 26:58.
Faced with adversity, Naperville North rose to the challenge of their rival.
“I like tough games,” Harvey said. “That’s when the competitors come out.
“My mentality with these games is it is going to be a hard-fought game. Central is going to give us their best effort all the time. So 1-1 with six minutes left, whoever wins that six minutes, coming out strong and winning those 50-50s, anticipating second balls, (is going to win) and luckily we were there.”
Harvey was there when senior defender Matt Bilardello threw the ball in from the right wing. He ran onto the ball, sprinted into the box, dribbled past a defender and scored.
Bilardello had no idea what would happen after he released he ball.
“I didn’t know,” Bilardello said. “Normally we don’t play for short throw-ins.
“We normally go for the long ones with Jack Barry going for Colin Iverson’s head, but on (that) one I saw that Ty was double=marked, and Pat (Koenig) had a guy behind and in front of him.
“I saw Ethan streaking through the middle of the field so I tried to meet him with the ball. He was able to get through and score.”
Harvey took a chance after observing how Central defended a similar play.
“I kind of saw the (open) area on the previous throw, and obviously it was pretty late in the game,” Harvey said. “Luckily Matt just saw my run in the middle there. I took a good first touch, and it set me up in front of the goal, took a tumble and luckily I saw it in the back of the net.”
Bilardello, who had been one of Harvey’s backline mates, wasn’t surprised at the finish.
“He had a great run,” Bilardello said. “Ethan is a helluva athlete so he’s able to outrun everyone.
“He’s got short, quick steps so he’s able to poke it in front of the defender and finish it.”
Harvey had one goal last season but has two goals and an assist since the position switch. He scored the Huskies’ lone goal in Friday’s 1-0 win over Fremd and had an assist in a 4-0 defeat of Benet in the final game of Group 2 pool play Saturday morning.
That’s the kind of production Naperville North coach Jim Konrad had hoped for when he had Harvey swap places with sophomore Cesar Recendez.
“He can’t defend so I thought why not?” Konrad quipped. “No, I wish I would have a few more of (players like Harvey).
“Ethan gives us someone in the midfield who can hit a ball so it makes us dangerous from 35 (yards) in. He has great vision so he can slip balls through to our forwards.
“He’s also rangy enough that we can spring a counterattack when the ball gets to Ethan’s feet. And as you obviously saw tonight, he can also score on the dribble. Beat four guys and clinical finish.”
While Harvey had never played in the midfield for the Huskies before, he is enjoying the change of pace, especially with Recendez playing well behind him.
“I’ve usually played left back my whole life, so it’s definitely a different scenery, but I like going forward, even from left back,” Harvey said. “It’s good to get a chance at midfield, switch it up, get to run at guys more.
“One of my best things is fitness so I can get up and down the field a lot because obviously defensively we’ve got to track back a lot. I think I’ve been doing a good job of that and Cesar has been doing a great job with the switch, also, playing left back.”
The strong play of the Recendez, Bilardello, Mitch Konrad and Colin Iverson was needed because the Redhawks, who came in riding a four-game winning streak, gave the Huskies all they could handle.
Naperville North goalkeeper Tommy Welch had one of the busiest games of his career and finished with nine saves. Scoring against the Huskies is an accomplishment -- Coleman’s header for the Redhawks was just the second goal allowed by the Huskies this season.
Welch's work included great diving stops on Strang, a tip over the bar of Rokas Stadalninkas’ rocket shot in the first half and a denial of a Coleman volley in the second half.
“It was a great game,” Jim Konrad said. “Obviously they are an exceptional team.
“They are terrifying in the attack. They’ve got some good kids. Obviously Nate Zain is one of the best players in the state. Every time he gets the ball you hold your breath.
“As the game went on I think we did a little bit better job trying to corral him, but you’re just hoping. He made some fantastic plays in the second half.”
But the Huskies showed resiliency after giving up the tying goal, rallying for a goal of their own to beat a formidable opponent on its own turf.
“Giving up a goal in the run of play was something new for us,” Jim Konrad said. “It’s the first time it’s happened this year.
“But I’m proud of the boys for obviously being resilient enough to take that shot and then come back. It wasn’t easy.
“Their goal really humbled us,” Bilardello said. “We knew that we had to stay in front and that it wasn’t going to come easy, so that was a little punch in the mouth. So that motivated us to keep going.”
Naperville Central coach Troy Adams was pleased with his team's performance.
"I thought we played well," he said. "We matched their work rate and aggressiveness. Not giving up a goal on a dead ball was a plus for us.
"I thought this was a fairly even game where one side was able to capitalize on chances more than the other. We need to keep working on the mental part of the game, keeping our focus and composure after we score and ignore what the offical is calling or not calling."
Starting lineups
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Tommy Welch
D Matt Bilardello
D Mitch Konrad
D Colin Iverson
D Cesar Recendez
M Ethan Harvey
M Jack Barry
M Will Ritzmann
F Ty Konrad
F Patrick Koenig
F Ian Guppy
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Connors
D Jake Crawford
D Tanner Greenhagen
D Rokas Stadalninkas
D Cameron Strang
M Rohan Bhargava
M Nate Zain
M Owen Jarrell
F Ryan Coleman
F Zack Kokes
F Jimmy Kalkofen
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Ethan Harvey, sr., MF, Naperville North
Scoring summary
2nd Half
Naperville North: Ty Konrad 26:58
Naperville Central: Ryan Coleman (Cameron Strang, Nate Zain) 6:32
Naperville North: Ethan Harvey (Matt Bilardello) 3:14
Naperville Central for BOTW title
Harvey gets late game-winner; Huskies 1st team to win 3 straight
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Naperville North has used star left back Ethan Harvey as an offensive weapon for the past two seasons, mostly on corner kicks and other set pieces.
Last season, Harvey tied for the team lead with 12 assists for the state champion Huskies.
So it came as no surprise that Harvey played a key role in yet another historic accomplishment.
The surprise was how he did it.
Harvey, who was switched to defensive midfielder on Friday, scored in the run of play on a brilliant run up the middle with 3:32 remaining in the Best of the West Tournament championship game Saturday night at Naperville Central's Memorial Stadium.
The senior’s goal, his second game-winner in 24 hours, gave the Huskies a dramatic 2-1 victory over rival Naperville Central made the Huslies the first team to win three-consecutive Best of the West titles.
“(The three-peat) just shows that we’re well-coached and we’ve got great players coming in every year,” Harvey said. “Everyone understands their roles on the team. Everybody just works hard.
“The program is great. We want to be known as one of the best in the state.”
The Huskies ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, recently have been known as a team that scores the majority of its goals on re-starts. Yet that was not the case in this game, leading Harvey to observe that it means they can win games in many different ways.
Naperville North (7-0-1) scored twice in the run of play on great individual efforts, the second of which came just three minutes after Ryan Coleman had stunned them by heading home the equalizer to make the Redhawks (4-3-0) the first team to score on Naperville North in the run of play.
Coleman’s short header came after a header by teammate Cameron Strang, who received a long throw-in from Nate Zain. The goal appeared to give the Redhawks all the momentum. The hosts had outplayed the Huskies in the first half and for the first part of the second half until sophomore Ty Konrad dribbled through four defenders and scored against the run of play with 26:58.
Faced with adversity, Naperville North rose to the challenge of their rival.
“I like tough games,” Harvey said. “That’s when the competitors come out.
“My mentality with these games is it is going to be a hard-fought game. Central is going to give us their best effort all the time. So 1-1 with six minutes left, whoever wins that six minutes, coming out strong and winning those 50-50s, anticipating second balls, (is going to win) and luckily we were there.”
Harvey was there when senior defender Matt Bilardello threw the ball in from the right wing. He ran onto the ball, sprinted into the box, dribbled past a defender and scored.
Bilardello had no idea what would happen after he released he ball.
“I didn’t know,” Bilardello said. “Normally we don’t play for short throw-ins.
“We normally go for the long ones with Jack Barry going for Colin Iverson’s head, but on (that) one I saw that Ty was double=marked, and Pat (Koenig) had a guy behind and in front of him.
“I saw Ethan streaking through the middle of the field so I tried to meet him with the ball. He was able to get through and score.”
Harvey took a chance after observing how Central defended a similar play.
“I kind of saw the (open) area on the previous throw, and obviously it was pretty late in the game,” Harvey said. “Luckily Matt just saw my run in the middle there. I took a good first touch, and it set me up in front of the goal, took a tumble and luckily I saw it in the back of the net.”
Bilardello, who had been one of Harvey’s backline mates, wasn’t surprised at the finish.
“He had a great run,” Bilardello said. “Ethan is a helluva athlete so he’s able to outrun everyone.
“He’s got short, quick steps so he’s able to poke it in front of the defender and finish it.”
Harvey had one goal last season but has two goals and an assist since the position switch. He scored the Huskies’ lone goal in Friday’s 1-0 win over Fremd and had an assist in a 4-0 defeat of Benet in the final game of Group 2 pool play Saturday morning.
That’s the kind of production Naperville North coach Jim Konrad had hoped for when he had Harvey swap places with sophomore Cesar Recendez.
“He can’t defend so I thought why not?” Konrad quipped. “No, I wish I would have a few more of (players like Harvey).
“Ethan gives us someone in the midfield who can hit a ball so it makes us dangerous from 35 (yards) in. He has great vision so he can slip balls through to our forwards.
“He’s also rangy enough that we can spring a counterattack when the ball gets to Ethan’s feet. And as you obviously saw tonight, he can also score on the dribble. Beat four guys and clinical finish.”
While Harvey had never played in the midfield for the Huskies before, he is enjoying the change of pace, especially with Recendez playing well behind him.
“I’ve usually played left back my whole life, so it’s definitely a different scenery, but I like going forward, even from left back,” Harvey said. “It’s good to get a chance at midfield, switch it up, get to run at guys more.
“One of my best things is fitness so I can get up and down the field a lot because obviously defensively we’ve got to track back a lot. I think I’ve been doing a good job of that and Cesar has been doing a great job with the switch, also, playing left back.”
The strong play of the Recendez, Bilardello, Mitch Konrad and Colin Iverson was needed because the Redhawks, who came in riding a four-game winning streak, gave the Huskies all they could handle.
Naperville North goalkeeper Tommy Welch had one of the busiest games of his career and finished with nine saves. Scoring against the Huskies is an accomplishment -- Coleman’s header for the Redhawks was just the second goal allowed by the Huskies this season.
Welch's work included great diving stops on Strang, a tip over the bar of Rokas Stadalninkas’ rocket shot in the first half and a denial of a Coleman volley in the second half.
“It was a great game,” Jim Konrad said. “Obviously they are an exceptional team.
“They are terrifying in the attack. They’ve got some good kids. Obviously Nate Zain is one of the best players in the state. Every time he gets the ball you hold your breath.
“As the game went on I think we did a little bit better job trying to corral him, but you’re just hoping. He made some fantastic plays in the second half.”
But the Huskies showed resiliency after giving up the tying goal, rallying for a goal of their own to beat a formidable opponent on its own turf.
“Giving up a goal in the run of play was something new for us,” Jim Konrad said. “It’s the first time it’s happened this year.
“But I’m proud of the boys for obviously being resilient enough to take that shot and then come back. It wasn’t easy.
“Their goal really humbled us,” Bilardello said. “We knew that we had to stay in front and that it wasn’t going to come easy, so that was a little punch in the mouth. So that motivated us to keep going.”
Naperville Central coach Troy Adams was pleased with his team's performance.
"I thought we played well," he said. "We matched their work rate and aggressiveness. Not giving up a goal on a dead ball was a plus for us.
"I thought this was a fairly even game where one side was able to capitalize on chances more than the other. We need to keep working on the mental part of the game, keeping our focus and composure after we score and ignore what the offical is calling or not calling."
Starting lineups
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Tommy Welch
D Matt Bilardello
D Mitch Konrad
D Colin Iverson
D Cesar Recendez
M Ethan Harvey
M Jack Barry
M Will Ritzmann
F Ty Konrad
F Patrick Koenig
F Ian Guppy
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Connors
D Jake Crawford
D Tanner Greenhagen
D Rokas Stadalninkas
D Cameron Strang
M Rohan Bhargava
M Nate Zain
M Owen Jarrell
F Ryan Coleman
F Zack Kokes
F Jimmy Kalkofen
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Ethan Harvey, sr., MF, Naperville North
Scoring summary
2nd Half
Naperville North: Ty Konrad 26:58
Naperville Central: Ryan Coleman (Cameron Strang, Nate Zain) 6:32
Naperville North: Ethan Harvey (Matt Bilardello) 3:14