Naperville North downs Plainfield North
for 7th-straight regional crown
Barger stars again, scores both goals in 2-0 victory
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – Everybody has been wondering how Naperville North star Alex Barger has been so successful this season despite being the focus of every opposing defense.
Well, pull up a chair. We’re going to hear the secret from the boy wonder himself.
“Find the right spot and get there,” Barger said.
Six words. That’s about as succinct an answer as you’re going to get.
Barger makes it sound so simple, while making it look so sublime on the field.
The junior midfielder did it again Friday night at the Class 3A Bolingbrook Regional final.
Plainfield North came in seeking its first regional championship. Thanks to Barger, the Tigers are still looking for it.
The Indiana-bound junior scored both goals in the second half, one on an incredible header with his back turned to the goal, as the top-seeded Huskies won 2-0 to capture their seventh-consecutive regional championship and 29th overall.
Naperville North (19-5-2) advances to Tuesday’s Plainfield North Sectional semifinals, where the opponent will be 13th-seeded Neuqua Valley, which upset no. 4-seed West Aurora and no. 5 seed Plainfield East to win its first regional title since 2016.
Second-seeded Oswego East, which won its first regional, will face no. 3-seed Naperville Central in the other semifinal.
“Credit to Plainfield North,” Naperville North senior midfielder Jacob Ryu said. “They were definitely a team that made us battle.
“They definitely made all of us work. I’m kind of grateful for this team, especially since it’s my senior year, thankful we can come out here and continue North’s legacy with a good soccer program.”
Barger is continuing the Huskies’ legacy of producing great players, and Ryu has played a major role in that. The club teammates have assisted on several of each other’s goals this season, and they combined again for the decisive blow.
The Huskies led 1-0 when Ryu teed up a 45-yard free kick with 15:16 left in the second half. He was going to try to score but thought better of it when he glimpsed Barger being minded by only one defender.
“Coach told me to just put it on goal from there,” Ryu said. “We were already 1-nil up.
“We just wanted all the chances we could get. I saw Barger singled out so I figured why not have him slip the ball through and hope for the best.”
Why not, indeed. Barger usually looks for Ryu’s head when taking corner kicks and Ryu searches for Barger when launching long free kicks. It frequently results in the ball ending up in the back of the net.
That was the case on this one. Ryu’s kick came down about 10 yards in front of the Plainfield North net and found the head of Barger, who while standing with his back to the goal redirected the ball into the net.
“I can’t recall any times where I’ve gotten that behind flick,” Barger said. “Definitely a few headers I’ve gotten, but that for sure was a special one.
“It was a great ball from Jacob. Me and Jacob play in club, so we’ve got a good amount of chemistry there, and then coming out today on the field, we just found the right spots.”
Barger has a knack for finding the right spots, no matter where he is on the field, or what position he is playing.
The Huskies send him all over the pitch in search of space. Against the Tigers he played on both wings, in the midfield and in the back helping out on defense, depending on what the situation warranted.
“I don’t think it was anything new,” Barger said. “In a sense, it was a kind of a go-with-the-flow moment. I found my pockets here to make space for the other guys as well.”
Can you imagine the havoc that creates for a defense when you have to chase an opponent all over the field because he’s so dangerous on the ball? It tends to break down formation and cause confusion.
That’s how Barger scored the first goal, which came at the 27:29 mark of the second half. Senior Keegan Flaherty hurled a throw-in from deep in the left corner.
The ball somehow bounced untouched into the 6, where Barger deflected it in.
“Keegan played a good throw-in, and I think it just slipped its way through,” Barger said. “I was in the right spot at the right time, just got my body over it and buried it in the back of the net.”
Both goals were high-quality, but Naperville North coach Jim Konrad found it ironic that neither came on plays that went according to script.
“You know how much we work on restarts,” Konrad said. “We work and work, and we put in probably four new plays and both goals are on busted plays.
“As much as we pride ourselves on trying to be organized, we lucked out tonight.”
On the other hand, the Huskies did create a fairly good amount of scoring chances. Barger missed on two opportunities in the first half, volleying one ball just wide after a ball went off a defender’s head and hitting the outside of the right post after taking a long free kick from Adam Zielke, turning and firing.
Five other shots were turned away by Plainfield North goalkeeper Peyton Meyers.
The Tigers (14-5-4) were dangerous, too, especially in the first half. But Naperville North goalie Patrick Horn was up to the task, making eight saves.
Six came in the first half, but the best one came in between Barger’s goals, when he fully extended to stop Ryan Mauder’s 25-yard shot on the left post.
“Patrick was great tonight,” Konrad said. “It was probably his best game of the year.
“I thought we did a great job defensively. That’s a team that can score goals in bunches.
“They’ve got some special kids that I’ve known for a long time. My son and a bunch of my guys play with their kids on the club team.”
The Huskies’ backline of Zielke, Ryan Konrad, Cole Ritzmann and Alex Arredondo, the team’s biggest question mark at the start of the season, came through, helping Horn record the shutout. The Huskies and Naperville Central are the only teams to blank the Tigers this fall.
“I thought Ryan and Adam did a fantastic job at center back handling Cooper (Allen),” Konrad said. “Then outside backs Cole and Keegan and Alex did a great job of handling (Ryan) Bechtel.
“Our midfield did enough. They managed the game, and while we weren’t as dangerous as we wanted to be in the flow of the game, fortunately we got a couple breaks and made them count.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Patrick Horn
D Cole Ritzmann
D Adam Zielke
D Ryan Konrad
D Alex Arredondo
M Tyson Amoo-Mensah
M Jacob Ryu
M Bryan Higgs
F Cam Radeke
F Keegan Flaherty
F Alex Barger
Plainfield North
GK Peyton Meyers
D Brady Harwood
D Noah Horner
D Ryan Mauder
D Mathew Hipolito
M Ryan Bechtel
M Sean Elster
M Justin Williams
F Timi Usikalu
F Dylan Gustafson
F Cooper Allen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Alex Barger, jr., F, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NN: Alex Barger (Keegan Flaherty) 27:29 remaining
NN: Barger (Jacob Ryu) 15:16 remaining
for 7th-straight regional crown
Barger stars again, scores both goals in 2-0 victory
By Matt Le Cren
BOLINGBROOK – Everybody has been wondering how Naperville North star Alex Barger has been so successful this season despite being the focus of every opposing defense.
Well, pull up a chair. We’re going to hear the secret from the boy wonder himself.
“Find the right spot and get there,” Barger said.
Six words. That’s about as succinct an answer as you’re going to get.
Barger makes it sound so simple, while making it look so sublime on the field.
The junior midfielder did it again Friday night at the Class 3A Bolingbrook Regional final.
Plainfield North came in seeking its first regional championship. Thanks to Barger, the Tigers are still looking for it.
The Indiana-bound junior scored both goals in the second half, one on an incredible header with his back turned to the goal, as the top-seeded Huskies won 2-0 to capture their seventh-consecutive regional championship and 29th overall.
Naperville North (19-5-2) advances to Tuesday’s Plainfield North Sectional semifinals, where the opponent will be 13th-seeded Neuqua Valley, which upset no. 4-seed West Aurora and no. 5 seed Plainfield East to win its first regional title since 2016.
Second-seeded Oswego East, which won its first regional, will face no. 3-seed Naperville Central in the other semifinal.
“Credit to Plainfield North,” Naperville North senior midfielder Jacob Ryu said. “They were definitely a team that made us battle.
“They definitely made all of us work. I’m kind of grateful for this team, especially since it’s my senior year, thankful we can come out here and continue North’s legacy with a good soccer program.”
Barger is continuing the Huskies’ legacy of producing great players, and Ryu has played a major role in that. The club teammates have assisted on several of each other’s goals this season, and they combined again for the decisive blow.
The Huskies led 1-0 when Ryu teed up a 45-yard free kick with 15:16 left in the second half. He was going to try to score but thought better of it when he glimpsed Barger being minded by only one defender.
“Coach told me to just put it on goal from there,” Ryu said. “We were already 1-nil up.
“We just wanted all the chances we could get. I saw Barger singled out so I figured why not have him slip the ball through and hope for the best.”
Why not, indeed. Barger usually looks for Ryu’s head when taking corner kicks and Ryu searches for Barger when launching long free kicks. It frequently results in the ball ending up in the back of the net.
That was the case on this one. Ryu’s kick came down about 10 yards in front of the Plainfield North net and found the head of Barger, who while standing with his back to the goal redirected the ball into the net.
“I can’t recall any times where I’ve gotten that behind flick,” Barger said. “Definitely a few headers I’ve gotten, but that for sure was a special one.
“It was a great ball from Jacob. Me and Jacob play in club, so we’ve got a good amount of chemistry there, and then coming out today on the field, we just found the right spots.”
Barger has a knack for finding the right spots, no matter where he is on the field, or what position he is playing.
The Huskies send him all over the pitch in search of space. Against the Tigers he played on both wings, in the midfield and in the back helping out on defense, depending on what the situation warranted.
“I don’t think it was anything new,” Barger said. “In a sense, it was a kind of a go-with-the-flow moment. I found my pockets here to make space for the other guys as well.”
Can you imagine the havoc that creates for a defense when you have to chase an opponent all over the field because he’s so dangerous on the ball? It tends to break down formation and cause confusion.
That’s how Barger scored the first goal, which came at the 27:29 mark of the second half. Senior Keegan Flaherty hurled a throw-in from deep in the left corner.
The ball somehow bounced untouched into the 6, where Barger deflected it in.
“Keegan played a good throw-in, and I think it just slipped its way through,” Barger said. “I was in the right spot at the right time, just got my body over it and buried it in the back of the net.”
Both goals were high-quality, but Naperville North coach Jim Konrad found it ironic that neither came on plays that went according to script.
“You know how much we work on restarts,” Konrad said. “We work and work, and we put in probably four new plays and both goals are on busted plays.
“As much as we pride ourselves on trying to be organized, we lucked out tonight.”
On the other hand, the Huskies did create a fairly good amount of scoring chances. Barger missed on two opportunities in the first half, volleying one ball just wide after a ball went off a defender’s head and hitting the outside of the right post after taking a long free kick from Adam Zielke, turning and firing.
Five other shots were turned away by Plainfield North goalkeeper Peyton Meyers.
The Tigers (14-5-4) were dangerous, too, especially in the first half. But Naperville North goalie Patrick Horn was up to the task, making eight saves.
Six came in the first half, but the best one came in between Barger’s goals, when he fully extended to stop Ryan Mauder’s 25-yard shot on the left post.
“Patrick was great tonight,” Konrad said. “It was probably his best game of the year.
“I thought we did a great job defensively. That’s a team that can score goals in bunches.
“They’ve got some special kids that I’ve known for a long time. My son and a bunch of my guys play with their kids on the club team.”
The Huskies’ backline of Zielke, Ryan Konrad, Cole Ritzmann and Alex Arredondo, the team’s biggest question mark at the start of the season, came through, helping Horn record the shutout. The Huskies and Naperville Central are the only teams to blank the Tigers this fall.
“I thought Ryan and Adam did a fantastic job at center back handling Cooper (Allen),” Konrad said. “Then outside backs Cole and Keegan and Alex did a great job of handling (Ryan) Bechtel.
“Our midfield did enough. They managed the game, and while we weren’t as dangerous as we wanted to be in the flow of the game, fortunately we got a couple breaks and made them count.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Patrick Horn
D Cole Ritzmann
D Adam Zielke
D Ryan Konrad
D Alex Arredondo
M Tyson Amoo-Mensah
M Jacob Ryu
M Bryan Higgs
F Cam Radeke
F Keegan Flaherty
F Alex Barger
Plainfield North
GK Peyton Meyers
D Brady Harwood
D Noah Horner
D Ryan Mauder
D Mathew Hipolito
M Ryan Bechtel
M Sean Elster
M Justin Williams
F Timi Usikalu
F Dylan Gustafson
F Cooper Allen
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Alex Barger, jr., F, Naperville North
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
NN: Alex Barger (Keegan Flaherty) 27:29 remaining
NN: Barger (Jacob Ryu) 15:16 remaining