Senior Night unforgettable for Wheaton N.
Inexperienced Falcons fly past Schurz in season opener
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON -- Sudanese native Badur Ibrahim emigrated to the United States three years ago and began his high school soccer career on the bottom rung of Wheaton North’s program.
Ibrahim played on the JV2 team as a sophomore and begged and cajoled the coaching staff to elevate him to the JV1 team the following year.
Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen was impressed enough with the forward’s play at that level that he brought Ibrahim up to the varsity for the 2019 season, which began Monday night with a Senior Night match against Schurz.
And what a beginning it was.
Ibrahim made his varsity debut a performance to remember, scoring twice in 27 seconds in the second half to help the Falcons to a 9-0 victory that was shortened to 65 minutes by the mercy rule.
Ibrahim would have had a hat trick, but a spectacular bicycle kick goal was disallowed by an offsides call.
“He’s a great kid,” Stassen said. “We said, 'He’s shown huge improvement, so we’ll give him a whirl.' It was nice to get him some minutes today. Talk about positivity.”
Ibrahim, who hopes to play in college and become a pharmacist, was one of many bright spots for the unheralded and untested Falcons, who return only three starters.
Senior goalkeeper Ray Min, defender Kyle Schauer and midfielder Erik Rozanski are the only Falcons with starting experience. Min did not have to make a save against the Bulldogs, while Schauer and fellow center back Tyler Larson cleared the few balls the visitors were able to get anywhere near the box.
Rozanski, Garrett Robinson and Graham Stephenson completely dominated the midfield and decimated the Schurz defense with pinpoint through-balls throughout the match.
“We’ve been working hard on that,” Stassen said. “We’ve got a brand-new team, brand-new middles.
“Graham Stephenson and Erik Rozinski, they were just lights out. Graham has this way with one-touch play, and Erik has an ability to see plays that don’t seem to exist. He is so smart.
“It was nice to see the guys click and see the confidence grow in some of the guys. They needed to have that confidence to show what they had.”
Ibrahim showed what he had late in the game.
Stephenson scored on a 25-yard rocket to make it 6-0 at the 31:01 mark of the second half, the start of a three-goal barrage over a span of just 88 seconds.
Ibrahim bagged his first goal off a pass from Robinson, which cut 15 minutes off the clock due to the seven-goal margin. He scored again just 27 seconds later.
“For me, I feel very credible with this team, and I appreciate everyone, especially my coaches, for their support,” Ibrahim said. “I love the game, I do everything for the game.”
Robinson, who had a goal and two assists, finished the scoring when he converted a breakaway off a lead pass from Ngun Thawng with 7:15 remaining. Ibrahim’s bicycle kick came shortly after and would have made it 10-0.
That would have merely been the exclamation point on a performance of precision passing of the kind expected from a state-caliber team full of veterans. The Falcons, though, are mostly varsity newcomers and no one expects them to contend for a state title.
“(I was happy) with the passing and the way that (the Falcons) communicated and did everything very well,” Ibrahim said. “I will say that we’re not the perfect team. But as long as we play together, we can do everything.”
Junior forward Jarrett Baumgartner and sophomore striker Ethan Martinez also scored twice for the Falcons, while Robinson and senior captain Will Wanzenburg each added one goal.
Baumgartner said Ibrahim has been doing everything possible to contribute.
“I know Badur,” Baumgartner said. “We played JV1 last year, and he puts everything he does into soccer.
“I know he put a lot of offseason work into this, so he deserves this game tonight and going out with a bang on his Senior Night.”
Ibrahim began the night with a clang, ripping the first shot of the game off the crossbar in the third minute. It was the beginning of a 32-shot barrage against a trio of Schurz goalies who got plenty of practice at stopping shots.
Schurz starting goalkeeper Yahir Flores was absolutely outstanding, making 10 saves in the first half to keep the game competitive. Nearly all of the stops were difficult and many were highlight reel material.
Flores stopped four breakaways in the opening 20 minutes and kept the Falcons off the scoreboard until the 24th minute, when Martinez scored on his own rebound near the back post following a point-blank denial.
“I think we were pretty frustrated in the first half,” Baumgartner said. “But Will Wanzenburg, the captain, pulled us together. He said the floodgates will open, and we will start scoring, we just need to keep our heads up and keep putting the ball towards the goal, and they will come.”
That they did but it took a while. Flores made another sensational stop, denying Rozanski from point-blank range with a kick save around the post with 11:10 left in the first half, but three minutes later Wanzenburg scored on a rebound to make it 2-0.
Baumgartner scored on his next two shots to double the lead to 4-0. The first came on a 10-yard shot tucked inside the left post after Baumgartner took a lead pass from Robinson and attacked 1-on-2 into the middle of the box.
Less than two minutes later, Baumgartner struck again after Rozanski got around the right end and fired from 10 yards.
Flores made a reflex save to punch the ball up in the air, but Baumgartner buried the rebound at the 4:48 mark.
“We just came out in this game looking to kind of connect as one, because we’re a very new team,” Baumgartner said. “We had a lot of guys step up from JV this year, but we didn’t expect 9-0.
“We just started clicking in the second half and everything just started falling in place.”
Tougher games await the Falcons, or course, especially in the DuKane Conference, but Monday’s opener had to be encouraging for Stassen.
“What we lost in finesse, we gained in that pit bull, bulldog mentality and when you have a team that is anchored by center mids like Garrett Robinson, Graham and Erik, slipping those through-balls, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Stassen said. “We’re trying to click, and they were running with each other today.
“It will be interesting to see what happens this season.”
Baumgartner is one of a slew of Falcons who have yet to make a name for themselves, but that may change in the coming weeks.
“Like coach said, we’re a new team but we have the talent,” Baumgartner said. “Even though we lost 13 seniors from last year, we have the talent to be good this year.
“But it’s just getting that bond of we’re a team and we will do anything for each other. That will take us to the next level.”
Starting lineups
Schurz
GK Yahir Flores
D Jorge Esquivel
D Stephen Garcia
D Edgar Gonzalez
D Ivan Roman
M Jose Hernandez
M Leonides Hernandez
M Alan Galindo
F Leonardo Hernandez
F Socrates Martinez
F Kenny Fox
Wheaton North
GK Ray Min
D Kyle Schauer
D Tyler Larson
D Tristan Mackay
M Ngun Thawng
M Garrett Robinson
M Graham Stephenson
F Liam Lindsay
F Badur Ibrahim
F Lael Mondragon
F Will Wanzenburg
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jarrett Baumgartner, jr., F, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton North – Ethan Martinez 17:57
Wheaton North – Will Wanzenburg 8:00
Wheaton North – Jarrett Baumgartner (Garrett Robinson) 6:43
Wheaton North – Baumgartner 4:48
Second half
Wheaton North – Martinez 35:47
Wheaton North – Graham Stephenson 31:01
Wheaton North – Badur Ibrahim (Robinson) 30:00
Wheaton North – Ibrahim 14:33
Wheaton North – Robinson (Ngun Thawng) 7:15
Inexperienced Falcons fly past Schurz in season opener
By Matt Le Cren
WHEATON -- Sudanese native Badur Ibrahim emigrated to the United States three years ago and began his high school soccer career on the bottom rung of Wheaton North’s program.
Ibrahim played on the JV2 team as a sophomore and begged and cajoled the coaching staff to elevate him to the JV1 team the following year.
Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen was impressed enough with the forward’s play at that level that he brought Ibrahim up to the varsity for the 2019 season, which began Monday night with a Senior Night match against Schurz.
And what a beginning it was.
Ibrahim made his varsity debut a performance to remember, scoring twice in 27 seconds in the second half to help the Falcons to a 9-0 victory that was shortened to 65 minutes by the mercy rule.
Ibrahim would have had a hat trick, but a spectacular bicycle kick goal was disallowed by an offsides call.
“He’s a great kid,” Stassen said. “We said, 'He’s shown huge improvement, so we’ll give him a whirl.' It was nice to get him some minutes today. Talk about positivity.”
Ibrahim, who hopes to play in college and become a pharmacist, was one of many bright spots for the unheralded and untested Falcons, who return only three starters.
Senior goalkeeper Ray Min, defender Kyle Schauer and midfielder Erik Rozanski are the only Falcons with starting experience. Min did not have to make a save against the Bulldogs, while Schauer and fellow center back Tyler Larson cleared the few balls the visitors were able to get anywhere near the box.
Rozanski, Garrett Robinson and Graham Stephenson completely dominated the midfield and decimated the Schurz defense with pinpoint through-balls throughout the match.
“We’ve been working hard on that,” Stassen said. “We’ve got a brand-new team, brand-new middles.
“Graham Stephenson and Erik Rozinski, they were just lights out. Graham has this way with one-touch play, and Erik has an ability to see plays that don’t seem to exist. He is so smart.
“It was nice to see the guys click and see the confidence grow in some of the guys. They needed to have that confidence to show what they had.”
Ibrahim showed what he had late in the game.
Stephenson scored on a 25-yard rocket to make it 6-0 at the 31:01 mark of the second half, the start of a three-goal barrage over a span of just 88 seconds.
Ibrahim bagged his first goal off a pass from Robinson, which cut 15 minutes off the clock due to the seven-goal margin. He scored again just 27 seconds later.
“For me, I feel very credible with this team, and I appreciate everyone, especially my coaches, for their support,” Ibrahim said. “I love the game, I do everything for the game.”
Robinson, who had a goal and two assists, finished the scoring when he converted a breakaway off a lead pass from Ngun Thawng with 7:15 remaining. Ibrahim’s bicycle kick came shortly after and would have made it 10-0.
That would have merely been the exclamation point on a performance of precision passing of the kind expected from a state-caliber team full of veterans. The Falcons, though, are mostly varsity newcomers and no one expects them to contend for a state title.
“(I was happy) with the passing and the way that (the Falcons) communicated and did everything very well,” Ibrahim said. “I will say that we’re not the perfect team. But as long as we play together, we can do everything.”
Junior forward Jarrett Baumgartner and sophomore striker Ethan Martinez also scored twice for the Falcons, while Robinson and senior captain Will Wanzenburg each added one goal.
Baumgartner said Ibrahim has been doing everything possible to contribute.
“I know Badur,” Baumgartner said. “We played JV1 last year, and he puts everything he does into soccer.
“I know he put a lot of offseason work into this, so he deserves this game tonight and going out with a bang on his Senior Night.”
Ibrahim began the night with a clang, ripping the first shot of the game off the crossbar in the third minute. It was the beginning of a 32-shot barrage against a trio of Schurz goalies who got plenty of practice at stopping shots.
Schurz starting goalkeeper Yahir Flores was absolutely outstanding, making 10 saves in the first half to keep the game competitive. Nearly all of the stops were difficult and many were highlight reel material.
Flores stopped four breakaways in the opening 20 minutes and kept the Falcons off the scoreboard until the 24th minute, when Martinez scored on his own rebound near the back post following a point-blank denial.
“I think we were pretty frustrated in the first half,” Baumgartner said. “But Will Wanzenburg, the captain, pulled us together. He said the floodgates will open, and we will start scoring, we just need to keep our heads up and keep putting the ball towards the goal, and they will come.”
That they did but it took a while. Flores made another sensational stop, denying Rozanski from point-blank range with a kick save around the post with 11:10 left in the first half, but three minutes later Wanzenburg scored on a rebound to make it 2-0.
Baumgartner scored on his next two shots to double the lead to 4-0. The first came on a 10-yard shot tucked inside the left post after Baumgartner took a lead pass from Robinson and attacked 1-on-2 into the middle of the box.
Less than two minutes later, Baumgartner struck again after Rozanski got around the right end and fired from 10 yards.
Flores made a reflex save to punch the ball up in the air, but Baumgartner buried the rebound at the 4:48 mark.
“We just came out in this game looking to kind of connect as one, because we’re a very new team,” Baumgartner said. “We had a lot of guys step up from JV this year, but we didn’t expect 9-0.
“We just started clicking in the second half and everything just started falling in place.”
Tougher games await the Falcons, or course, especially in the DuKane Conference, but Monday’s opener had to be encouraging for Stassen.
“What we lost in finesse, we gained in that pit bull, bulldog mentality and when you have a team that is anchored by center mids like Garrett Robinson, Graham and Erik, slipping those through-balls, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” Stassen said. “We’re trying to click, and they were running with each other today.
“It will be interesting to see what happens this season.”
Baumgartner is one of a slew of Falcons who have yet to make a name for themselves, but that may change in the coming weeks.
“Like coach said, we’re a new team but we have the talent,” Baumgartner said. “Even though we lost 13 seniors from last year, we have the talent to be good this year.
“But it’s just getting that bond of we’re a team and we will do anything for each other. That will take us to the next level.”
Starting lineups
Schurz
GK Yahir Flores
D Jorge Esquivel
D Stephen Garcia
D Edgar Gonzalez
D Ivan Roman
M Jose Hernandez
M Leonides Hernandez
M Alan Galindo
F Leonardo Hernandez
F Socrates Martinez
F Kenny Fox
Wheaton North
GK Ray Min
D Kyle Schauer
D Tyler Larson
D Tristan Mackay
M Ngun Thawng
M Garrett Robinson
M Graham Stephenson
F Liam Lindsay
F Badur Ibrahim
F Lael Mondragon
F Will Wanzenburg
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jarrett Baumgartner, jr., F, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton North – Ethan Martinez 17:57
Wheaton North – Will Wanzenburg 8:00
Wheaton North – Jarrett Baumgartner (Garrett Robinson) 6:43
Wheaton North – Baumgartner 4:48
Second half
Wheaton North – Martinez 35:47
Wheaton North – Graham Stephenson 31:01
Wheaton North – Badur Ibrahim (Robinson) 30:00
Wheaton North – Ibrahim 14:33
Wheaton North – Robinson (Ngun Thawng) 7:15