Plainfield North finds the finishing touch
Trio of set piece finishes power 4-1 Best of West win over Bartlett
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – Plainfield North coach Steve Berry noted his team’s recent history of struggles finishing set pieces.
But those woes seemed like ancient history Thursday against Bartlett in the Best of the West tournament at Naperville Central.
The Tigers (3-3-0) scored three goals off of set pieces, including two gorgeous free kicks from distance, to roll to a 4-1 win over the Hawks (0-2-1) in a huge night for the Plainfield North offense.
“We haven’t scored on many free kicks over the last couple of years, but we did that today,” Berry said. “It was nice to see that, and we had some banged-up players. Other players stepped up on the field.
“We’ve been good all year. We’ve had the ball as much or more than other opponents, but we just haven’t been great yet in the final third. But we’re starting to get that.”
Finishes were elusive early Thursday, including a Brian Bertoni 20-yarder lined just over the net in the 17th minute.
Then 35 seconds later, Adan Juarez burst up the middle past two defenders and unloaded a low 15-yard rocket only to be denied on a sliding kick save by Bartlett goalkeeper Jeremy Taylor.
Sophomore midfielder Shea Bechtel was the passer on Bertoni’s chance, and also on a Yousef Ismail 14-yard shot just over the net in the 30th minute.
But just 2:47 before halftime, it was Bechtel’s speed near the net that broke the 0-0 tie.
After a Bartlett foul, Yousef sent a nice 22-yard free kick from the right sideline. Timing his run perfectly, Bechtel drove a sprinting header into the net from 6 yards to put the Tigers up 1-0.
“I just ran at it and tried to flick it over the top,” Bechtel said. “I was just trying to get anything going towards the goal.”
Bartlett had started the game with the advantage in pressure and quality chances, starting with a header wide off a corner kick six minutes in. Then in the 27th minute, Omar Chavez’s 18-yard shot was denied on a nice save by Tigers goalkeeper Alex Noser.
“Honestly in the first half we looked like we were going to put one away,” Bartlett assistant coach Vince Revak said. “We looked really dangerous, and we looked like we were really going to compete, and then we had just far too many small mistakes, mindless passes, a couple unlucky plays.
“We let the pressure get to us, and we threw the game away essentially in the second half.”
Plainfield North did its part, turning the latter part of the second half into their best offensive sequence of the late summer.
Alex Ryan foreshadowed the fun with 31:40 left, chipping a 25-yard shot after a scramble in the box just over the crossbar.
Then after the Tigers endured two Bartlett free kicks in a 45-second span 18 minutes into the half (the first a 42-yarder saved by Noser, the second nicely cleared by Kanon Woodill), Plainfield North again worked set piece magic with 21:06 to play.
Bechtel’s left side corner kick was perfectly struck, finding 6-foot-2 Nathan Green free in the crease for a header putaway and a 2-0 Tigers lead.
“We just talked about having a little more urgency to the game,” Berry said of his halftime message, “and how people had to find focus to kind of make a stand individually.
“It wasn’t anything we did (technically). We just challenged them a little bit for them to do a little better job and be accountable for their position.”
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Bechtel certainly did his part, pressuring the Bartlett defense both in the run of play and on two set piece finishes.
“I was just going at defenders and trying to get into space,” the sophomore said, “so I could create space for my teammates and get forward as well.
“(The key was) just getting the ball forward, and behind their backline, because we had faster forwards, and we were able to get through and get touches on the ball at goal.”
The second half push continued with 15:05 left, when nice passes from Farouq Sellami and Bertoni set up Dilan Anweiler’s open 20-yard left side shot that was denied on a sliding save by Taylor.
Then a very eventful final seven minutes began with another well-executed Tigers set piece.
Off a Woodill 40-yard free kick, Green had an initial header flick at the left post towards the front of the net – where Bertoni was on the spot to pound home the goal for a 3-0 lead.
“Kanon, our center back, just lofts the ball in to try to have one of our tall players win a header,” Bertoni said. “It worked. It fell into the box, and I tapped it in.”
Said Berry: “We have to do a good job of holding on to the ball, and we did that better today. Not consistent, but we did better. And we had some key moments when we started pressing the goal and had some good free kicks.”
But the seemingly secure 3-0 lead served to ignite Bartlett.
After a corner kick was redirected just wide with 3:40 to go, a continued Hawks push paid off with 2:18 left when Rudy Reyes lined a low 30-yard shot inside the left post to cut the difference to 3-1.
The Hawks weren’t done, nearly drawing within one goal with 50 seconds left when a two-man attack into the box by Matthew Tobin and Hernan Garcia appeared to result in a Garcia goal – only to be nullified by an offsides call.
Surviving that Bartlett surge, Plainfield North capped its breakout night in style.
Off a long send by Green, Bertoni chipped a 20-yard shot past charging goalkeeper Taylor with just three seconds left to add an insurance tally.
“It was just our moving up-top,” Bertoni said of the Tigers’ success. “This is two great years that we’ve had with a front line that really has an understanding with each other.
“I think our experience overall is really helping. Having young guys getting their second and third year (on varsity) I think has really helped tremendously.”
The experience includes three sophomore starters (Bechtel, Woodill and Anweiler) who were also varsity contributors last fall, and a senior midfielder who is the Tigers’ glue.
“We’re always really good when (senior) Patrick Elster dictates everything,” Berry said. “And our center back Kanon Woodill reads the game. They do a good job of playing off of each other.
“And today (junior) Alex Ryan stepped up (at defender) coming off the bench. He started for us some last year, and he’s come in and is regaining his position.”
Thursday’s strong second half was made all the more impressive by the Tigers’ recent schedule.
“For us, we played a good team in Bartlett, and this is our third game in four days so we have some tired legs,” Berry said. “We went to a lot of different people.
“It’s nice to see us score some goals and get going, because we’ve played good soccer all year.”
And now quality soccer is paying off in the win column.
“We’re really feeling great,” Bertoni said. “We’re coming off a great win and feeling really confident going into our next game.”
“We need to just keep attacking, keep playing our style of game, pushing up and keep trying to score goals.”
Bechtel shares that optimism heading into September.
“I think we’re heading up,” he said. “It was a great game to get our momentum going forward. Hopefully we’ll get some more wins in the next couple games.”
Said Berry: “It was a good team win for us, and we move on to Naperville Central on Saturday.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
GK Alex Noser
D Colin Russell
D Kanon Woodill
D Ryan Kuffel
D Nathan Green
M Yousef Ismail
M Patrick Elster
M John Seeley
M Shea Bechtel
F Dilan Anweiler
F Brian Bertoni
Bartlett
GK Jeremy Taylor
D Jose Espinoza
D Matthew Tobin
D Sebastian Gonzalez
D Austin Cichon
M Tyler Serpico
M Zander Zamora
M Carlos Alfaro
M Amine Medmoun
F Hernan Garcia
F Rudy Reyes
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Shea Bechtel, so. M, Plainfield North
Scoring summary
First half
PN – Shea Bechtel (Yousef Ismail assist), 37:13
Second half
PN – Nathan Green (Bechtel), 58:54
PN – Brian Bertoni (Green), 73:33
Bart – Rudy Reyes, 77:42
PN – Bertoni (Green), 79:57
Trio of set piece finishes power 4-1 Best of West win over Bartlett
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – Plainfield North coach Steve Berry noted his team’s recent history of struggles finishing set pieces.
But those woes seemed like ancient history Thursday against Bartlett in the Best of the West tournament at Naperville Central.
The Tigers (3-3-0) scored three goals off of set pieces, including two gorgeous free kicks from distance, to roll to a 4-1 win over the Hawks (0-2-1) in a huge night for the Plainfield North offense.
“We haven’t scored on many free kicks over the last couple of years, but we did that today,” Berry said. “It was nice to see that, and we had some banged-up players. Other players stepped up on the field.
“We’ve been good all year. We’ve had the ball as much or more than other opponents, but we just haven’t been great yet in the final third. But we’re starting to get that.”
Finishes were elusive early Thursday, including a Brian Bertoni 20-yarder lined just over the net in the 17th minute.
Then 35 seconds later, Adan Juarez burst up the middle past two defenders and unloaded a low 15-yard rocket only to be denied on a sliding kick save by Bartlett goalkeeper Jeremy Taylor.
Sophomore midfielder Shea Bechtel was the passer on Bertoni’s chance, and also on a Yousef Ismail 14-yard shot just over the net in the 30th minute.
But just 2:47 before halftime, it was Bechtel’s speed near the net that broke the 0-0 tie.
After a Bartlett foul, Yousef sent a nice 22-yard free kick from the right sideline. Timing his run perfectly, Bechtel drove a sprinting header into the net from 6 yards to put the Tigers up 1-0.
“I just ran at it and tried to flick it over the top,” Bechtel said. “I was just trying to get anything going towards the goal.”
Bartlett had started the game with the advantage in pressure and quality chances, starting with a header wide off a corner kick six minutes in. Then in the 27th minute, Omar Chavez’s 18-yard shot was denied on a nice save by Tigers goalkeeper Alex Noser.
“Honestly in the first half we looked like we were going to put one away,” Bartlett assistant coach Vince Revak said. “We looked really dangerous, and we looked like we were really going to compete, and then we had just far too many small mistakes, mindless passes, a couple unlucky plays.
“We let the pressure get to us, and we threw the game away essentially in the second half.”
Plainfield North did its part, turning the latter part of the second half into their best offensive sequence of the late summer.
Alex Ryan foreshadowed the fun with 31:40 left, chipping a 25-yard shot after a scramble in the box just over the crossbar.
Then after the Tigers endured two Bartlett free kicks in a 45-second span 18 minutes into the half (the first a 42-yarder saved by Noser, the second nicely cleared by Kanon Woodill), Plainfield North again worked set piece magic with 21:06 to play.
Bechtel’s left side corner kick was perfectly struck, finding 6-foot-2 Nathan Green free in the crease for a header putaway and a 2-0 Tigers lead.
“We just talked about having a little more urgency to the game,” Berry said of his halftime message, “and how people had to find focus to kind of make a stand individually.
“It wasn’t anything we did (technically). We just challenged them a little bit for them to do a little better job and be accountable for their position.”
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match Bechtel certainly did his part, pressuring the Bartlett defense both in the run of play and on two set piece finishes.
“I was just going at defenders and trying to get into space,” the sophomore said, “so I could create space for my teammates and get forward as well.
“(The key was) just getting the ball forward, and behind their backline, because we had faster forwards, and we were able to get through and get touches on the ball at goal.”
The second half push continued with 15:05 left, when nice passes from Farouq Sellami and Bertoni set up Dilan Anweiler’s open 20-yard left side shot that was denied on a sliding save by Taylor.
Then a very eventful final seven minutes began with another well-executed Tigers set piece.
Off a Woodill 40-yard free kick, Green had an initial header flick at the left post towards the front of the net – where Bertoni was on the spot to pound home the goal for a 3-0 lead.
“Kanon, our center back, just lofts the ball in to try to have one of our tall players win a header,” Bertoni said. “It worked. It fell into the box, and I tapped it in.”
Said Berry: “We have to do a good job of holding on to the ball, and we did that better today. Not consistent, but we did better. And we had some key moments when we started pressing the goal and had some good free kicks.”
But the seemingly secure 3-0 lead served to ignite Bartlett.
After a corner kick was redirected just wide with 3:40 to go, a continued Hawks push paid off with 2:18 left when Rudy Reyes lined a low 30-yard shot inside the left post to cut the difference to 3-1.
The Hawks weren’t done, nearly drawing within one goal with 50 seconds left when a two-man attack into the box by Matthew Tobin and Hernan Garcia appeared to result in a Garcia goal – only to be nullified by an offsides call.
Surviving that Bartlett surge, Plainfield North capped its breakout night in style.
Off a long send by Green, Bertoni chipped a 20-yard shot past charging goalkeeper Taylor with just three seconds left to add an insurance tally.
“It was just our moving up-top,” Bertoni said of the Tigers’ success. “This is two great years that we’ve had with a front line that really has an understanding with each other.
“I think our experience overall is really helping. Having young guys getting their second and third year (on varsity) I think has really helped tremendously.”
The experience includes three sophomore starters (Bechtel, Woodill and Anweiler) who were also varsity contributors last fall, and a senior midfielder who is the Tigers’ glue.
“We’re always really good when (senior) Patrick Elster dictates everything,” Berry said. “And our center back Kanon Woodill reads the game. They do a good job of playing off of each other.
“And today (junior) Alex Ryan stepped up (at defender) coming off the bench. He started for us some last year, and he’s come in and is regaining his position.”
Thursday’s strong second half was made all the more impressive by the Tigers’ recent schedule.
“For us, we played a good team in Bartlett, and this is our third game in four days so we have some tired legs,” Berry said. “We went to a lot of different people.
“It’s nice to see us score some goals and get going, because we’ve played good soccer all year.”
And now quality soccer is paying off in the win column.
“We’re really feeling great,” Bertoni said. “We’re coming off a great win and feeling really confident going into our next game.”
“We need to just keep attacking, keep playing our style of game, pushing up and keep trying to score goals.”
Bechtel shares that optimism heading into September.
“I think we’re heading up,” he said. “It was a great game to get our momentum going forward. Hopefully we’ll get some more wins in the next couple games.”
Said Berry: “It was a good team win for us, and we move on to Naperville Central on Saturday.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield North
GK Alex Noser
D Colin Russell
D Kanon Woodill
D Ryan Kuffel
D Nathan Green
M Yousef Ismail
M Patrick Elster
M John Seeley
M Shea Bechtel
F Dilan Anweiler
F Brian Bertoni
Bartlett
GK Jeremy Taylor
D Jose Espinoza
D Matthew Tobin
D Sebastian Gonzalez
D Austin Cichon
M Tyler Serpico
M Zander Zamora
M Carlos Alfaro
M Amine Medmoun
F Hernan Garcia
F Rudy Reyes
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Shea Bechtel, so. M, Plainfield North
Scoring summary
First half
PN – Shea Bechtel (Yousef Ismail assist), 37:13
Second half
PN – Nathan Green (Bechtel), 58:54
PN – Brian Bertoni (Green), 73:33
Bart – Rudy Reyes, 77:42
PN – Bertoni (Green), 79:57