Record-setting Williams helps
Plainfield North to victory
over Plainfield Central
Shorthanded Tigers squeeze out 1-0 road win
By Bobby Narang
PLAINFIELD – Plainfield North senior midfielder Justin Williams had already accomplished a major item on his to-do list for this season.
But he wants to continue add to his single-season team record for helpers.
He accomplished that goal with an assist in the Tigers final regular-season and league game. It led Plainfield North to a 1-0 win at Plainfield Central in Southwest Prairie Conference action.
Williams slotted a perfect pass to Aiden Smith in the box that allowed the junior to drop in the game-winner.
Williams said the single-season mark is a special milestone for him.
He finished the regular-season with 24 assists, breaking the old mark by Alex Lynch, who had 20 assists in 2015. Williams also holds the program career record for assists with 45. That easily topped the previous record of 31 by Shea Bechtel, who toiled for the Tigers from 2018-2021.
“I’m super happy to … get it,” Williams said of the single-season assist record. “It felt great. It’s been my goal for a while.”
And what did Williams see on the play that led to his newest assist?
“I got the ball at the 20-yard line, started to dribble around a few guys and slotted it right by keeper and Aiden had an open path to shoot it,” he said.
How does Williams, who connected on 17 helpers last season, have the ability to record so many assists?
“Since I was little, I’ve been able to make that pass, just keep my head up and look for that open guy,” he said.
Plainfield North (18-4-1, 8-2-1) finished second in the Southwest Prairie Conference behind champion and fifth-ranked Romeoville (22-1-1, 10-0-1).
The Tigers received the no. 3 seed in the Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional. They start the second season by hosting 13th-seeded Oswego on Wednesday in a Plainfield North Regional semifinal.
The 11th-ranked visitors played without several key players in their regular-season finale.
“We were missing players. Kids nursing injuries and we have a bunch that are sick and missing school,” coach Lukasz Majewski said. “We rather take care of that now then next week when everything starts. Staying healthy is most important thing. It’s a physical game, so you never know. Hopefully, we’re alright and nothing major comes out of this game.”
Majewski said he hopes his team is capable of heating up in the postseason. Plainfield North started the season smoking with wins in their first five games and 11 of their opening 12. They defeated Oswego 1-0 on Sept. 20 in a meeting between the two conference opponents.
“I think for us, we started off really hot, but it’s a grind,” he said. “A lot of these kids are coming from club teams, so from only playing a few times a week to now every single day. These guys are young; they need their bodies to recover, Hopefully, the last couple of weeks by slowing things down, we gave the guys some time off, and they are ready for the postseason.
“Now we can turn up the intensity more and play for our life. Oswego is in our conference. We’ve played them. They’re a good team. They started off slow, kind of opposite of us. I’ve been following them along, seen them play in our tournament (the Plainfield Classic). It’s going be a tough game from the beginning.
“Our conference is stacked. We have really good teams and a lot of solid teams, even today you can see that. Plainfield Central played hard. Both teams battled. We’re hoping everyone is healthy and focused. We practice Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, then let’s go get it. Let the real season begin.”
Smith, a junior defender, scored a goal for the second-straight season against his former school. He transferred his freshman season. He’s scored six goals this season.
“It felt good to score a goal. Last year, my first year at (Plainfield) North, I also scored against (Plainfield) Central, so it felt good to do it again,” Smith said. “I was at the right place at the right time, and Justin played a good ball through to the back post.”
Smith said the Tigers have the potential to be a dangerous team in the postseason. If they beat Oswego, the Tigers will play Oct. 22 against the winner of the Oswego East and Wheaton Warrenville semifinal.
“I think if we stay committed and are focused, we can make it all the way to state,” Smith said. “When we’re all on the same page, we can be unstoppable. We play so well together because of our chemistry.”
Plainfield North senior captain Brady Harwood agreed with Smith’s assessment.
“I think we have all the right pieces,” Harwood said. “We just have to put it all together in the postseason to get the job done. We wanted to get this game over and the regular-season, get through it without any injuries. It was cold out there.
“We struggled (against Oswego), but we have to play strong. I think anything short of state champions would be a failure, but the school hasn’t gotten very far in the playoffs, so we have to play it game by game.”
Meanwhile, Williams said Thursday’s game was an ideal test for the Tigers. The start time was moved up due to busing issues along with potential concerns over the weather. Williams said the Tigers started off the game in the right mindset.
“Mentally preparing is the hardest part, then the game gets delayed and changed and you don’t know what’s going on,” Williams said. “It’s important to lock in right away, which we did and scored early on.
“I feel great about this team. We have all the pieces to make it to the state championship. I hope to go far in the playoffs.”
The Tigers controlled the possession for most of the first half, but the Wildcats, especially their seniors, played strong for the final 35-plus minutes. The Wildcats (4-12-5, 1-7-3) took advantage of some of the Tigers’ reserves and applied pressure in the final third for most of the second half.
Plainfield Central senior forward Jesus Diaz nearly tied the game on several occasions, missing on four shots in the final 34:10. He just missed a goal in the 72nd minute, when his shot just cleared over the crossbar. One minute later, Diaz hit a slow roller wide right.
Plainfield Central freshman goalie Marshall DeGraff showed why he was named a starter from the beginning of the season. DeGraff registered eight saves in the game, helping wake up the lightly attended crowd with a pair of memorable saves in a six-minute span late in the second half.
“You have to remind yourself that Marshall is a freshman,” coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “He’s been great all year for us. Tonight, there were at least a few that a lot of goalies don’t get to.
“He’s athletic and skilled and has poise. He’s the best goalie we’ve got. He’s got good size for a freshman, too. He had some impressive saves. He kept us in games and given us a chance, especially when you are down only 1-0 against a quality team like tonight.
“Our guys played hard tonight and played smart and together. We know (Plainfield North’s) talent level. We know they were missing some guys. But I was happy with our effort. We don’t have many wins as we want but not because of a lack of effort.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
GK: Peyton Meyers
D: Ryan Bechtel
D: Brady Harwood
D: Aiden Smith
D: Mathew Hipolito
MF: Jonathan Martinez
MF: Daniel Martinez
MF: Justin Williams
MF: Sean Elster
F: Owen MacPhail
F: Jacob Vu
Plainfield Central
GK: Marshall DeGraff
D: Neil Soans
D: Elijah Rodriguez
D: Henry Lambert
D: Caden Bargas
MF: Peyton Johnson
MF: Gordon Stanich
MF: Jesus Diaz
MF: Abraham Contreras
F: Hunter O’Neill
F: Danny Haberkamp
Chicagoland Men of the Match:
Justin Williams, sr., MF, Plainfield North;
Marshall DeGraff, fr., GK, Plainfield Central
Scoring summary
First half
Plainfield North: Smith (Williams), 19’
Second half
No goals scored
Plainfield North to victory
over Plainfield Central
Shorthanded Tigers squeeze out 1-0 road win
By Bobby Narang
PLAINFIELD – Plainfield North senior midfielder Justin Williams had already accomplished a major item on his to-do list for this season.
But he wants to continue add to his single-season team record for helpers.
He accomplished that goal with an assist in the Tigers final regular-season and league game. It led Plainfield North to a 1-0 win at Plainfield Central in Southwest Prairie Conference action.
Williams slotted a perfect pass to Aiden Smith in the box that allowed the junior to drop in the game-winner.
Williams said the single-season mark is a special milestone for him.
He finished the regular-season with 24 assists, breaking the old mark by Alex Lynch, who had 20 assists in 2015. Williams also holds the program career record for assists with 45. That easily topped the previous record of 31 by Shea Bechtel, who toiled for the Tigers from 2018-2021.
“I’m super happy to … get it,” Williams said of the single-season assist record. “It felt great. It’s been my goal for a while.”
And what did Williams see on the play that led to his newest assist?
“I got the ball at the 20-yard line, started to dribble around a few guys and slotted it right by keeper and Aiden had an open path to shoot it,” he said.
How does Williams, who connected on 17 helpers last season, have the ability to record so many assists?
“Since I was little, I’ve been able to make that pass, just keep my head up and look for that open guy,” he said.
Plainfield North (18-4-1, 8-2-1) finished second in the Southwest Prairie Conference behind champion and fifth-ranked Romeoville (22-1-1, 10-0-1).
The Tigers received the no. 3 seed in the Class 3A Bolingbrook Sectional. They start the second season by hosting 13th-seeded Oswego on Wednesday in a Plainfield North Regional semifinal.
The 11th-ranked visitors played without several key players in their regular-season finale.
“We were missing players. Kids nursing injuries and we have a bunch that are sick and missing school,” coach Lukasz Majewski said. “We rather take care of that now then next week when everything starts. Staying healthy is most important thing. It’s a physical game, so you never know. Hopefully, we’re alright and nothing major comes out of this game.”
Majewski said he hopes his team is capable of heating up in the postseason. Plainfield North started the season smoking with wins in their first five games and 11 of their opening 12. They defeated Oswego 1-0 on Sept. 20 in a meeting between the two conference opponents.
“I think for us, we started off really hot, but it’s a grind,” he said. “A lot of these kids are coming from club teams, so from only playing a few times a week to now every single day. These guys are young; they need their bodies to recover, Hopefully, the last couple of weeks by slowing things down, we gave the guys some time off, and they are ready for the postseason.
“Now we can turn up the intensity more and play for our life. Oswego is in our conference. We’ve played them. They’re a good team. They started off slow, kind of opposite of us. I’ve been following them along, seen them play in our tournament (the Plainfield Classic). It’s going be a tough game from the beginning.
“Our conference is stacked. We have really good teams and a lot of solid teams, even today you can see that. Plainfield Central played hard. Both teams battled. We’re hoping everyone is healthy and focused. We practice Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, then let’s go get it. Let the real season begin.”
Smith, a junior defender, scored a goal for the second-straight season against his former school. He transferred his freshman season. He’s scored six goals this season.
“It felt good to score a goal. Last year, my first year at (Plainfield) North, I also scored against (Plainfield) Central, so it felt good to do it again,” Smith said. “I was at the right place at the right time, and Justin played a good ball through to the back post.”
Smith said the Tigers have the potential to be a dangerous team in the postseason. If they beat Oswego, the Tigers will play Oct. 22 against the winner of the Oswego East and Wheaton Warrenville semifinal.
“I think if we stay committed and are focused, we can make it all the way to state,” Smith said. “When we’re all on the same page, we can be unstoppable. We play so well together because of our chemistry.”
Plainfield North senior captain Brady Harwood agreed with Smith’s assessment.
“I think we have all the right pieces,” Harwood said. “We just have to put it all together in the postseason to get the job done. We wanted to get this game over and the regular-season, get through it without any injuries. It was cold out there.
“We struggled (against Oswego), but we have to play strong. I think anything short of state champions would be a failure, but the school hasn’t gotten very far in the playoffs, so we have to play it game by game.”
Meanwhile, Williams said Thursday’s game was an ideal test for the Tigers. The start time was moved up due to busing issues along with potential concerns over the weather. Williams said the Tigers started off the game in the right mindset.
“Mentally preparing is the hardest part, then the game gets delayed and changed and you don’t know what’s going on,” Williams said. “It’s important to lock in right away, which we did and scored early on.
“I feel great about this team. We have all the pieces to make it to the state championship. I hope to go far in the playoffs.”
The Tigers controlled the possession for most of the first half, but the Wildcats, especially their seniors, played strong for the final 35-plus minutes. The Wildcats (4-12-5, 1-7-3) took advantage of some of the Tigers’ reserves and applied pressure in the final third for most of the second half.
Plainfield Central senior forward Jesus Diaz nearly tied the game on several occasions, missing on four shots in the final 34:10. He just missed a goal in the 72nd minute, when his shot just cleared over the crossbar. One minute later, Diaz hit a slow roller wide right.
Plainfield Central freshman goalie Marshall DeGraff showed why he was named a starter from the beginning of the season. DeGraff registered eight saves in the game, helping wake up the lightly attended crowd with a pair of memorable saves in a six-minute span late in the second half.
“You have to remind yourself that Marshall is a freshman,” coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “He’s been great all year for us. Tonight, there were at least a few that a lot of goalies don’t get to.
“He’s athletic and skilled and has poise. He’s the best goalie we’ve got. He’s got good size for a freshman, too. He had some impressive saves. He kept us in games and given us a chance, especially when you are down only 1-0 against a quality team like tonight.
“Our guys played hard tonight and played smart and together. We know (Plainfield North’s) talent level. We know they were missing some guys. But I was happy with our effort. We don’t have many wins as we want but not because of a lack of effort.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
GK: Peyton Meyers
D: Ryan Bechtel
D: Brady Harwood
D: Aiden Smith
D: Mathew Hipolito
MF: Jonathan Martinez
MF: Daniel Martinez
MF: Justin Williams
MF: Sean Elster
F: Owen MacPhail
F: Jacob Vu
Plainfield Central
GK: Marshall DeGraff
D: Neil Soans
D: Elijah Rodriguez
D: Henry Lambert
D: Caden Bargas
MF: Peyton Johnson
MF: Gordon Stanich
MF: Jesus Diaz
MF: Abraham Contreras
F: Hunter O’Neill
F: Danny Haberkamp
Chicagoland Men of the Match:
Justin Williams, sr., MF, Plainfield North;
Marshall DeGraff, fr., GK, Plainfield Central
Scoring summary
First half
Plainfield North: Smith (Williams), 19’
Second half
No goals scored