Highly efficient Naperville North takes
down Neuqua Valley
Huskies score on 5-of-11 shots in DVC-opening shutout win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Connor Hanrahan has done a little bit of everything so far this season for Naperville North.
The sophomore has made a couple starts while also coming off the bench. He’s played some on defense and also up-top.
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad prizes players who can be versatile, and he’s got some good young ones on his roster.
“I moved Caden Hill to the back, so I moved Connor up-top,” Konrad said. “He’s been playing primarily forward, but if I need someone on defense, I can slide him in the back.
“He’s pretty versatile kid, and he’s only a sophomore. So it’s nice I’ve got him and (Jaxon) Stokes and (Noah) Radeke as sophomores that are playing key minutes. That’s a huge thing.”
Hanrahan didn’t start Tuesday’s DuPage Valley Conference opener against Neuqua Valley, but he made a huge play midway through the first half, scoring his second goal of the season to break a scoreless tie.
The strike turned out to be the game-winner as the visiting Huskies snapped Neuqua Valley’s three-game winning streak with a 5-0 victory.
Hanrahan’s goal came with 20:29 left in the first half. Left back Alex Arredondo sent a beautiful diagonal ball from the left side of the midfield over the defense and into the right side of the box.
Hanrahan and Barger were in the vicinity and when a defender went to step in on Barger, that gave Hanrahan an opening. He got to the ball and hit a cutback shot that Neuqua goalkeeper Nick Varrone got two hands on but couldn’t prevent from trickling inside the far post.
“It was a great ball over the top,” Hanrahan said. “Alex was there and he kind of dummied it, and I just took a touch away from the defender and put it back post.”
Given that game play had been even up until that point, the goal energized the Huskies (6-2-0, 1-0-0) while provoking the opposite reaction from the Wildcats (3-4-1, 0-1-0), who conceded again just 56 seconds later.
“We didn’t score early, and DVC can always be hard. So we just had to get one to get us going, and then it would be easier,” Hanrahan said. “So, the first goal got us going, I guess.”
Indeed, Naperville North, which is ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, struck again from the same area of the box. This time it was the Indiana-bound Barger who did the honors, taking a feed from freshman Sam Hess and ripping a left-footed shot off the glove of a diving Varrone to make it 2-0 with 19:36 left in the half.
“It was 21 minutes when the first goal came in,” Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “It was a great play, but you cannot shut down two times in a row.
“Within two minutes it is already 2-0, so you know what you’re thinking. We were going to have to play close to a perfect game. Otherwise, you cannot give them an opportunity, because they will capitalize on it.”
But the Wildcats did give the Huskies another opportunity, and the visitors did capitalize on it. Freshman Josh Pedersen was taken down in the box at the 14:19 mark, strode to the penalty spot and calmly rolled his penalty inside the left post to make it 3-0.
It was Pedersen’s first varsity goal.
“It felt great, especially to get my first goal,” Pedersen said. “I was just focusing on staying focused and being calm with it and just placing it into the bottom corner.”
Pedersen’s strike essentially put the game away for the Huskies, who scored on five-consecutive shots bridging halftime. Radeke added two goals in the second half off assists from Hindo Allie and Ryan Konrad.
“We were offsides a lot, because we were pushing that backline as much as we could, but the boys did a good job,” Jim Konrad said. “We got behind a couple times and luckily Connor had a great finish to get things rolling. Then Alex gets a goal right away, and then we get the PK.
“I think we could have been sharper at points in the back, but obviously a shutout is great, and it definitely didn’t feel like a 5-0 game.”
That’s because the Neuqua Valley actually held a 12-11 edge in shots, though they weren’t dangerous until the final 10 minutes when the Huskies were playing their reserves.
Starting goalkeeper Reed Goss and backup Jeremy Moss, who played the final 30 minutes, each made six saves for Naperville North. Neuqua backup keeper Vincent Stanislao made two saves in the second half.
The one-sided score might not have been indicative of the action, though it did demonstrate how wide the gulf is between the Huskies and some other teams.
“It’s great,” Hanrahan said. “It shows we’re a great team, and we can score.”
But did Hanrahan expect to see a 5-0 margin?
“Yeah, I think we had it in us,” Hanrahan said. “We have a lot of good players and a lot of players that can score. So, I can see it.”
So can opponents, who are trying to use any tack they can to slow down the Huskies. The Wildcats tried to use an offsides trap, but Naperville North figured out a way around it.
“Because Alex and me are both playing up-top now, teams are trying to press in a little bit,” Naperville North forward Aidan McMahon said. “They dropped off a little bit so we couldn’t play balls through today. They would step up at the high line so we would be offsides.
“Obviously, we exploited that. We kind of played around in the midfield a little bit and kind of drew them out. We’re just trying to find different ways to get into the backline.”
Clearly, the Huskies have plenty of players who can do that, and they’re not all veterans with lengthy resumes. Players like Pedersen may not break into the starting lineup this season, but they represent the next generation of talent coming through North’s seemingly endless pipeline.
“We have a freshman camp in the summertime, and he stood out,” Jim Konrad said of Pederson. “I was like, ‘Is he a kid who is standing out because he’s playing against freshmen, or is he really this good?’
“When we did the full program camp in July, and he still stood out. I said this kid deserves a spot on varsity. Obviously with as good of a group that we have up-front, he’s fighting for minutes. But when he’s played, he’s done very well. I’m expecting really great things from him going forward.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK: Reed Goss
D: Alex Arredondo
D: Adam Zielke
D: Ryan Konrad
D: Caden Hill
M: Owen Gaccione
M: Alex Barger
M: Noah Radeke
F: Aidan McMahon
F: Hindo Allie
F: Jaxon Stokes
Neuqua Valley
GK: Nick Varrone
D: Jack Doll
D: Ege Tunar
D: Wesley Karubas
D: Ayel Kikama
D: Justin Senese
M: Andrew Tedrow
M: Derek Sisbarro
F: Parker Kurtenbach
F: Garrett Lee
F: Ryan Mulligan
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Connor Hanrahan, so., F, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
Naperville North – Connor Hanrahan (Alex Arredondo) 20:29 remaining
Naperville North – Alex Barger (Sam Hess) 19:36 remaining
Naperville North – Josh Pedersen (PK) 14:19 remaining
Secondh half
Naperville North – Noah Radeke (Hindo Allie) 34:36 remaining
Naperville North – Radeke (Ryan Konrad) 29:42 remaining
down Neuqua Valley
Huskies score on 5-of-11 shots in DVC-opening shutout win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Connor Hanrahan has done a little bit of everything so far this season for Naperville North.
The sophomore has made a couple starts while also coming off the bench. He’s played some on defense and also up-top.
Naperville North coach Jim Konrad prizes players who can be versatile, and he’s got some good young ones on his roster.
“I moved Caden Hill to the back, so I moved Connor up-top,” Konrad said. “He’s been playing primarily forward, but if I need someone on defense, I can slide him in the back.
“He’s pretty versatile kid, and he’s only a sophomore. So it’s nice I’ve got him and (Jaxon) Stokes and (Noah) Radeke as sophomores that are playing key minutes. That’s a huge thing.”
Hanrahan didn’t start Tuesday’s DuPage Valley Conference opener against Neuqua Valley, but he made a huge play midway through the first half, scoring his second goal of the season to break a scoreless tie.
The strike turned out to be the game-winner as the visiting Huskies snapped Neuqua Valley’s three-game winning streak with a 5-0 victory.
Hanrahan’s goal came with 20:29 left in the first half. Left back Alex Arredondo sent a beautiful diagonal ball from the left side of the midfield over the defense and into the right side of the box.
Hanrahan and Barger were in the vicinity and when a defender went to step in on Barger, that gave Hanrahan an opening. He got to the ball and hit a cutback shot that Neuqua goalkeeper Nick Varrone got two hands on but couldn’t prevent from trickling inside the far post.
“It was a great ball over the top,” Hanrahan said. “Alex was there and he kind of dummied it, and I just took a touch away from the defender and put it back post.”
Given that game play had been even up until that point, the goal energized the Huskies (6-2-0, 1-0-0) while provoking the opposite reaction from the Wildcats (3-4-1, 0-1-0), who conceded again just 56 seconds later.
“We didn’t score early, and DVC can always be hard. So we just had to get one to get us going, and then it would be easier,” Hanrahan said. “So, the first goal got us going, I guess.”
Indeed, Naperville North, which is ranked fourth in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, struck again from the same area of the box. This time it was the Indiana-bound Barger who did the honors, taking a feed from freshman Sam Hess and ripping a left-footed shot off the glove of a diving Varrone to make it 2-0 with 19:36 left in the half.
“It was 21 minutes when the first goal came in,” Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “It was a great play, but you cannot shut down two times in a row.
“Within two minutes it is already 2-0, so you know what you’re thinking. We were going to have to play close to a perfect game. Otherwise, you cannot give them an opportunity, because they will capitalize on it.”
But the Wildcats did give the Huskies another opportunity, and the visitors did capitalize on it. Freshman Josh Pedersen was taken down in the box at the 14:19 mark, strode to the penalty spot and calmly rolled his penalty inside the left post to make it 3-0.
It was Pedersen’s first varsity goal.
“It felt great, especially to get my first goal,” Pedersen said. “I was just focusing on staying focused and being calm with it and just placing it into the bottom corner.”
Pedersen’s strike essentially put the game away for the Huskies, who scored on five-consecutive shots bridging halftime. Radeke added two goals in the second half off assists from Hindo Allie and Ryan Konrad.
“We were offsides a lot, because we were pushing that backline as much as we could, but the boys did a good job,” Jim Konrad said. “We got behind a couple times and luckily Connor had a great finish to get things rolling. Then Alex gets a goal right away, and then we get the PK.
“I think we could have been sharper at points in the back, but obviously a shutout is great, and it definitely didn’t feel like a 5-0 game.”
That’s because the Neuqua Valley actually held a 12-11 edge in shots, though they weren’t dangerous until the final 10 minutes when the Huskies were playing their reserves.
Starting goalkeeper Reed Goss and backup Jeremy Moss, who played the final 30 minutes, each made six saves for Naperville North. Neuqua backup keeper Vincent Stanislao made two saves in the second half.
The one-sided score might not have been indicative of the action, though it did demonstrate how wide the gulf is between the Huskies and some other teams.
“It’s great,” Hanrahan said. “It shows we’re a great team, and we can score.”
But did Hanrahan expect to see a 5-0 margin?
“Yeah, I think we had it in us,” Hanrahan said. “We have a lot of good players and a lot of players that can score. So, I can see it.”
So can opponents, who are trying to use any tack they can to slow down the Huskies. The Wildcats tried to use an offsides trap, but Naperville North figured out a way around it.
“Because Alex and me are both playing up-top now, teams are trying to press in a little bit,” Naperville North forward Aidan McMahon said. “They dropped off a little bit so we couldn’t play balls through today. They would step up at the high line so we would be offsides.
“Obviously, we exploited that. We kind of played around in the midfield a little bit and kind of drew them out. We’re just trying to find different ways to get into the backline.”
Clearly, the Huskies have plenty of players who can do that, and they’re not all veterans with lengthy resumes. Players like Pedersen may not break into the starting lineup this season, but they represent the next generation of talent coming through North’s seemingly endless pipeline.
“We have a freshman camp in the summertime, and he stood out,” Jim Konrad said of Pederson. “I was like, ‘Is he a kid who is standing out because he’s playing against freshmen, or is he really this good?’
“When we did the full program camp in July, and he still stood out. I said this kid deserves a spot on varsity. Obviously with as good of a group that we have up-front, he’s fighting for minutes. But when he’s played, he’s done very well. I’m expecting really great things from him going forward.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK: Reed Goss
D: Alex Arredondo
D: Adam Zielke
D: Ryan Konrad
D: Caden Hill
M: Owen Gaccione
M: Alex Barger
M: Noah Radeke
F: Aidan McMahon
F: Hindo Allie
F: Jaxon Stokes
Neuqua Valley
GK: Nick Varrone
D: Jack Doll
D: Ege Tunar
D: Wesley Karubas
D: Ayel Kikama
D: Justin Senese
M: Andrew Tedrow
M: Derek Sisbarro
F: Parker Kurtenbach
F: Garrett Lee
F: Ryan Mulligan
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Connor Hanrahan, so., F, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
Naperville North – Connor Hanrahan (Alex Arredondo) 20:29 remaining
Naperville North – Alex Barger (Sam Hess) 19:36 remaining
Naperville North – Josh Pedersen (PK) 14:19 remaining
Secondh half
Naperville North – Noah Radeke (Hindo Allie) 34:36 remaining
Naperville North – Radeke (Ryan Konrad) 29:42 remaining