Quick strike, strong 'D' stuns Naperville C.
Redhawks’ unbeaten run ends with 1-0 loss to Sandburg
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – Sandburg mixed 80 minutes of strong defense with 10 seconds of well-executed offense to end Naperville Central’s season-opening four-game unbeaten streak.
But the Redhawks (2-1-2) are keeping Thursday’s 1-0 setback in the Best of the West Tournament in proper perspective.
“Today was more of a learning experience than a heartbreaking loss,” Naperville Central senior co-captain Cameron Strang said.
After a short and somewhat solemn postgame talk, Redhawks coach Troy Adams similarly focused more on the calendar than the scoreboard.
“Luckily it’s early in the season,” Adams said. “We don’t want to be great in August. We want to be great in October. We’ll keep plugging away, and hopefully we can fix it.”
One major element in Thursday’s adversity was the excellent play of Sandburg goalkeeper Connor Baker.
He set the tone for the day in the seventh minute, when Baker made a deflection wide right of Roman Krupka’s 6-yard shot on a left wing breakaway.
And over the rest of the match, Baker had to seem more like an octopus to the Redhawks than a 6-foot-1 senior, with his all-out arm stretches to grab balls in traffic and near the crossbar.
“I had to make sure that when their tall guys were going for it, I had to watch the flick on over me,” said Baker, whose efforts earned him Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. “And my main goal today was to not hesitate, because I’ve been hesitating recently. I think I did a better job doing that.
“We held the 18,” Baker added of his team’s defensive effort, “and on set plays for them, we all marked very well and got to the ball first, got the first ball out and second ball out.”
The combination of factors turned Naperville Central quality chances into frustration.
“I think they (Sandburg’s defense) physically just battled some of our forwards really well,” Strang said. “Dead ball-wise they double-teamed some of our bigger guys, so that made it a little more difficult to target them. And we didn’t have many runs following, so that made it difficult to score off rebounds.
“And their goalie had really good hands,” Strang added. “He caught all those balls.”
Baker’s first good hands play came in the 13th minute, when he leaped high at the back post to grab Rohan Bhargava’s well-struck corner kick.
The strong plays early in the game Thursday by Krupka and Bhargava were symbolic of their efforts all day.
“Roman got in behind and had a breakaway that he just couldn’t finish,” Adams said. “But he’s done a really good job of holding the ball. And he’s not a big kid. It’s not your size, it’s how you angle your body and your first touch away from pressure.
“And Rohan’s work rate is phenomenal,” Adams added. “He gets up; he gets back. He never stops working. He’s the kid that’s never going to show up in a highlight reel, but he’s going to be the glue that holds it together. He’s played a nice five games so far.
“And Cam (Strang) and Jake (Crawford) in the back – it’s good to have two center backs that can lead us that way.”
But 21:52 before halftime, Sandburg (2-1-1) stunned the Redhawks with a quick send, a well-struck shot – and a sudden 1-0 deficit.
Colin Kroll’s left side diagonal pass from just inside midfield found Adam Azhari in on right wing. Azhari’s 18-yard liner inside the right post proved to be the difference in the match.
“Adam had an awesome goal,” Sandburg coach Desi Vuillaume said. “Between Adam and Colin Kroll they’ve been playing together most of their lives. It’s almost like they know where the other one is going to be. That’s the second great goal I’ve seen out of Adam this year. He has a good one-touch shot.”
The goal was also a bit of déjà vu for Adams and the Redhawks.
“It’s something that had actually also happened in Tuesday night’s game,” Adams said. “The same thing, a guy kind of leaked into the back side. We had talked about it before the game, that we have to identify it.
“And it’s not one player’s fault, not the goalkeeper or the backs. Forwards are looking at the field, they could identify that.
“I get it,” Adams added. “I played long enough that it’s hard to really think the game through. But it’s about identifying it early, instead of watching the game, really playing it. And that’s a struggle for a lot of players, whether they’re 15 or 16 (years old) or professionals.
“So we’ve got to keep working on that communication piece, making sure we’re organized. We can’t, in my mind, possess the ball for the majority of the game and have one bad play that lets us lose.”
Outside of that brief lapse, the story of the game was strong defense at both ends.
““I think we played pretty well defensively,” Strang said. “We obviously had the one breakdown that led to a goal, but overall I think we just need to work on our offensive efficiency and start improving our scoring chances.”
To Adams, the offensive emphasis means developing more finishing prowess at the forward spots.
“We probably had the ball in the middle third or over their line the majority of the game,” Adams said. “Then it’s been the last couple of games, the struggles of that final third. Not really having a good feel for where we need to go and what we need to do.
“And really there probably aren’t a lot of our players super comfortable with it. We’re not returning a guy who scored a lot of goals, and so far nobody has really stepped up into that role.”
Offense nearly came from the back in the 32nd minute. Off a left-side attack triggered by defender Andrew Zain’s pass, Bhargava lined a low 12-yard shot just wide of the right post.
Many of Naperville Central’s subsequent chances came via headers by another defender, the 6-foot-4 Strang.
The first came 3:20 before halftime, when Owen Jarrell’s 33-yard free kick was headed just wide of the right post by Strang.
The next quality chance for either side came 11 minutes into the second half. Off a Zain throw-in at the 8-yard-line, a high header by Strang was nicely grabbed at the crossbar by a leaping Baker.
While excelling as the last line of Sandburg's defense, Baker gave huge credit to the entire defensive unit.
“In previous games we didn’t defend as a collective team,” said Baker. “We struggled to close gaps and to get back. Today we had those gaps closed. We played as a team and played a strong defensive game, and that really got us the win.”
The Eagles’ offense made its presence felt with 28:55 left. Off a corner kick, Jan Goryl’s back-post header was denied on a nice one-handed block by Naperville Central goalkeeper Brad Palagi.
Entering the game at the start of the second half, Palagi made his presence felt both in the nets and on set pieces.
With 26:20 to play, Palagi drove a strong 52-yard free kick that connected with Strang. But as was the case all day, Baker was on the spot to grab Strang’s 8-yard header flick.
Baker then showed his hops from the run of play. With 23:20 to go, a Bhargava send sprung Jarrell in on left wing. Jarell’s cross set up an 8-yard header by Anthony Saavedra – with Baker making the leaping catch at the crossbar.
Later, two Palagi free kicks were denied by a Naperville Central foul and an offsides call, and Baker’s final save of the match was a one-hop stop on a 10-yard Strang header off a Palagi free kick with 2:10 to play.
“It’s great,” Baker said. “We started off the season with a rough loss (5-0 at Lyons) and a tie. This win is just going to boost our confidence and make us better as a team.”
For Naperville Central, forward progress is literally and figuratively the theme heading into September.
“I kind of told the forwards, ‘You guys have all been given opportunities to play. I’m looking for somebody to take ownership of it,’” Adams said.
“I thought Roman played a good game today. He’s probably the only (forward) who’s solidified himself, that ‘I have to play.’ The rest of them, you get to play if you play well. It’s the reality of sports.
“We unfortunately right now have way too many forwards who are not holding the ball long enough for us to develop an attacking pattern,” Adams added. “But we’ll keep working at it.”
Time and more experience should solve those problems for the talented Redhawks.
For Sandburg, early season troubles dissolved with Thursday’s huge win.
“We had a rough start at the beginning of the year, and we’ve worked out a few kinks and are starting to come together defensively,” Vuillaume said.
“I think some of it was coming in a little presumptuous against Lyons. The grass (field at Lyons) caught a few of them off, and it was a rough first half. It’s good to see them improving every game. For the second week of the season I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Conners
D Andrew Zain
D Cameron Strang
D Jake Crawford
D Rokas Burnos
M Owen Jarrell
M Rohan Bhargava
M Yogsan Agripino
M Finn Wolfe
F Roman Krupka
F Anthony Saavedra
Sandburg
GK Connor Baker
D Yriyoris Georgiou
D Charlie Gainer
D Michael Poulos
D Julian Hernandez
M Christopher Mendez
M Yannis Georgiou
M Adam Azhari
M Arnas Miskinis
F Coliin Kroll
F Alex Atkinson
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Connor Baker, sr. GK, Sandburg
Scoring summary
First half
Sandburg – Adam Azhari (Colin Kroll assist), 18:08
Second half
None
Redhawks’ unbeaten run ends with 1-0 loss to Sandburg
By Dave Owen
NAPERVILLE – Sandburg mixed 80 minutes of strong defense with 10 seconds of well-executed offense to end Naperville Central’s season-opening four-game unbeaten streak.
But the Redhawks (2-1-2) are keeping Thursday’s 1-0 setback in the Best of the West Tournament in proper perspective.
“Today was more of a learning experience than a heartbreaking loss,” Naperville Central senior co-captain Cameron Strang said.
After a short and somewhat solemn postgame talk, Redhawks coach Troy Adams similarly focused more on the calendar than the scoreboard.
“Luckily it’s early in the season,” Adams said. “We don’t want to be great in August. We want to be great in October. We’ll keep plugging away, and hopefully we can fix it.”
One major element in Thursday’s adversity was the excellent play of Sandburg goalkeeper Connor Baker.
He set the tone for the day in the seventh minute, when Baker made a deflection wide right of Roman Krupka’s 6-yard shot on a left wing breakaway.
And over the rest of the match, Baker had to seem more like an octopus to the Redhawks than a 6-foot-1 senior, with his all-out arm stretches to grab balls in traffic and near the crossbar.
“I had to make sure that when their tall guys were going for it, I had to watch the flick on over me,” said Baker, whose efforts earned him Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. “And my main goal today was to not hesitate, because I’ve been hesitating recently. I think I did a better job doing that.
“We held the 18,” Baker added of his team’s defensive effort, “and on set plays for them, we all marked very well and got to the ball first, got the first ball out and second ball out.”
The combination of factors turned Naperville Central quality chances into frustration.
“I think they (Sandburg’s defense) physically just battled some of our forwards really well,” Strang said. “Dead ball-wise they double-teamed some of our bigger guys, so that made it a little more difficult to target them. And we didn’t have many runs following, so that made it difficult to score off rebounds.
“And their goalie had really good hands,” Strang added. “He caught all those balls.”
Baker’s first good hands play came in the 13th minute, when he leaped high at the back post to grab Rohan Bhargava’s well-struck corner kick.
The strong plays early in the game Thursday by Krupka and Bhargava were symbolic of their efforts all day.
“Roman got in behind and had a breakaway that he just couldn’t finish,” Adams said. “But he’s done a really good job of holding the ball. And he’s not a big kid. It’s not your size, it’s how you angle your body and your first touch away from pressure.
“And Rohan’s work rate is phenomenal,” Adams added. “He gets up; he gets back. He never stops working. He’s the kid that’s never going to show up in a highlight reel, but he’s going to be the glue that holds it together. He’s played a nice five games so far.
“And Cam (Strang) and Jake (Crawford) in the back – it’s good to have two center backs that can lead us that way.”
But 21:52 before halftime, Sandburg (2-1-1) stunned the Redhawks with a quick send, a well-struck shot – and a sudden 1-0 deficit.
Colin Kroll’s left side diagonal pass from just inside midfield found Adam Azhari in on right wing. Azhari’s 18-yard liner inside the right post proved to be the difference in the match.
“Adam had an awesome goal,” Sandburg coach Desi Vuillaume said. “Between Adam and Colin Kroll they’ve been playing together most of their lives. It’s almost like they know where the other one is going to be. That’s the second great goal I’ve seen out of Adam this year. He has a good one-touch shot.”
The goal was also a bit of déjà vu for Adams and the Redhawks.
“It’s something that had actually also happened in Tuesday night’s game,” Adams said. “The same thing, a guy kind of leaked into the back side. We had talked about it before the game, that we have to identify it.
“And it’s not one player’s fault, not the goalkeeper or the backs. Forwards are looking at the field, they could identify that.
“I get it,” Adams added. “I played long enough that it’s hard to really think the game through. But it’s about identifying it early, instead of watching the game, really playing it. And that’s a struggle for a lot of players, whether they’re 15 or 16 (years old) or professionals.
“So we’ve got to keep working on that communication piece, making sure we’re organized. We can’t, in my mind, possess the ball for the majority of the game and have one bad play that lets us lose.”
Outside of that brief lapse, the story of the game was strong defense at both ends.
““I think we played pretty well defensively,” Strang said. “We obviously had the one breakdown that led to a goal, but overall I think we just need to work on our offensive efficiency and start improving our scoring chances.”
To Adams, the offensive emphasis means developing more finishing prowess at the forward spots.
“We probably had the ball in the middle third or over their line the majority of the game,” Adams said. “Then it’s been the last couple of games, the struggles of that final third. Not really having a good feel for where we need to go and what we need to do.
“And really there probably aren’t a lot of our players super comfortable with it. We’re not returning a guy who scored a lot of goals, and so far nobody has really stepped up into that role.”
Offense nearly came from the back in the 32nd minute. Off a left-side attack triggered by defender Andrew Zain’s pass, Bhargava lined a low 12-yard shot just wide of the right post.
Many of Naperville Central’s subsequent chances came via headers by another defender, the 6-foot-4 Strang.
The first came 3:20 before halftime, when Owen Jarrell’s 33-yard free kick was headed just wide of the right post by Strang.
The next quality chance for either side came 11 minutes into the second half. Off a Zain throw-in at the 8-yard-line, a high header by Strang was nicely grabbed at the crossbar by a leaping Baker.
While excelling as the last line of Sandburg's defense, Baker gave huge credit to the entire defensive unit.
“In previous games we didn’t defend as a collective team,” said Baker. “We struggled to close gaps and to get back. Today we had those gaps closed. We played as a team and played a strong defensive game, and that really got us the win.”
The Eagles’ offense made its presence felt with 28:55 left. Off a corner kick, Jan Goryl’s back-post header was denied on a nice one-handed block by Naperville Central goalkeeper Brad Palagi.
Entering the game at the start of the second half, Palagi made his presence felt both in the nets and on set pieces.
With 26:20 to play, Palagi drove a strong 52-yard free kick that connected with Strang. But as was the case all day, Baker was on the spot to grab Strang’s 8-yard header flick.
Baker then showed his hops from the run of play. With 23:20 to go, a Bhargava send sprung Jarrell in on left wing. Jarell’s cross set up an 8-yard header by Anthony Saavedra – with Baker making the leaping catch at the crossbar.
Later, two Palagi free kicks were denied by a Naperville Central foul and an offsides call, and Baker’s final save of the match was a one-hop stop on a 10-yard Strang header off a Palagi free kick with 2:10 to play.
“It’s great,” Baker said. “We started off the season with a rough loss (5-0 at Lyons) and a tie. This win is just going to boost our confidence and make us better as a team.”
For Naperville Central, forward progress is literally and figuratively the theme heading into September.
“I kind of told the forwards, ‘You guys have all been given opportunities to play. I’m looking for somebody to take ownership of it,’” Adams said.
“I thought Roman played a good game today. He’s probably the only (forward) who’s solidified himself, that ‘I have to play.’ The rest of them, you get to play if you play well. It’s the reality of sports.
“We unfortunately right now have way too many forwards who are not holding the ball long enough for us to develop an attacking pattern,” Adams added. “But we’ll keep working at it.”
Time and more experience should solve those problems for the talented Redhawks.
For Sandburg, early season troubles dissolved with Thursday’s huge win.
“We had a rough start at the beginning of the year, and we’ve worked out a few kinks and are starting to come together defensively,” Vuillaume said.
“I think some of it was coming in a little presumptuous against Lyons. The grass (field at Lyons) caught a few of them off, and it was a rough first half. It’s good to see them improving every game. For the second week of the season I couldn’t be happier right now.”
Starting lineups
Naperville Central
GK Ethan Conners
D Andrew Zain
D Cameron Strang
D Jake Crawford
D Rokas Burnos
M Owen Jarrell
M Rohan Bhargava
M Yogsan Agripino
M Finn Wolfe
F Roman Krupka
F Anthony Saavedra
Sandburg
GK Connor Baker
D Yriyoris Georgiou
D Charlie Gainer
D Michael Poulos
D Julian Hernandez
M Christopher Mendez
M Yannis Georgiou
M Adam Azhari
M Arnas Miskinis
F Coliin Kroll
F Alex Atkinson
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Connor Baker, sr. GK, Sandburg
Scoring summary
First half
Sandburg – Adam Azhari (Colin Kroll assist), 18:08
Second half
None