Defending Class A champ Wheaton Academy finds success vs. South Elgin
Warriors blank Storm to capture 1st victory of season
By Curt Herron
WEST CHICAGO -- When a team returns 12 players from a state championship squad, they not only have high expectations for continued success but also realize that a lot of their opponents will be looking to turn in their best efforts against them.
That's what defending IHSA Class A champion Wheaton Academy saw in its opening match on Tuesday when it hosted Batavia and had to settle for a scoreless draw.
But coach Cody Snouffer's Warriors welcome the challenge of squaring off against bigger schools to open their season in order to better prepare them for Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division play and perhaps even another strong run like year ago when they won their final 12 matches and captured the program's second state championship.
So there was understandable excitement at Performance Trust Field on Thursday when Wheaton Academy (1-0-1) scored two goals in the opening half against South Elgin. The Warriors then relied on their defense to record its second shutout and capture its first win with a 2-0 nonconference home victory.
Three of the four players who were involved in the scoring were members of the state championship squad, but the individual who scored the team's first goal of the season was not. Sophomore Sam Brown connected following an assist from senior Josiah Pitts in the 16th minute to give the hosts the early advantage. Then junior Ethan Head gave them a big boost heading into the break when he scored in the 38th minute after junior Asher Barton was thwarted.
Senior goalkeeper Declan Finnegan needed to stop several good threats from the Storm (0-2-0) to record his second shutout. He relied on defenders -- seniors Logan Bates, Troy Erickson, Micaiah Bovey and Pitts and juniors Jakob Karlson and Scotty Murray -- to limit the visitor's chances. Wheaton Academy didn't allow the visitors' top threat, junior Ryan Nguyen, to get many good chances. Bates, Erickson, Finnegan, Karlson and Murray were also members of the state title team.
"It's great to return an all-sectional goalkeeper, two or three of our starting defenders and also to get some new blood in there, as well," Snouffer said. "Also to have the Mariotti twins (Caleb and Joshua) come back in the middle of the pitch is huge. We knew that we would have to prepare some young guys really quickly, so we took a freshman and four sophomores on varsity because they earned it, and we knew that we would graduate a big senior class again. If we want to be a program that is consistently going to hit a level, you have to expose young kids early. Tonight it paid off when Sammy Brown hits the opener.
"We're just a firm believer that you have to experience everything possible in the season, because you don't want to have anything happen to you for the first time in the postseason. So we scheduled big, close to home 3A schools and a lot of them have some clubmate rivals and a lot of them are coaches I've known for a long time. So the whole goal is to challenge ourselves. In the middle of September we play our conference and we want to be ready to do well in that, which means that you have to learn as many lessons as possible."
Snouffer, the fourth-year head coach who led his team to a 19-4-1 record a year ago and is 42-13-6 at the school, is hopeful that this year's team can enjoy another successful season and will attempt to capture trophies in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014-16, when coach Jeff Brooke completed a three-year run of top-four finishes which was capped by the program's first state championship.
"Two games in and two shutouts, and we love shutouts," Snouffer said. "I'm excited about our young talent. There's a handful of freshmen that we didn't take on varsity but are on JV that I think will be really special players. And I'm also excited about the weight of opportunity for the upperclassmen. Our senior class in its last two seasons has really been the engine of our success. They've been role players and the players that do the thankless jobs. They've always had juniors and seniors in front of them to finish the product. It's kind of felt like they've been the grind and then a junior or senior gets the glory.
"Now they have the weight of opportunity. They feel it, and they know that the underclassmen are looking at them. They know that opposing coaches know their numbers and aren't always happy to see them back on the pitch. I think for the kids that want to play at the next level, those are the types of things that mentally they need to learn how to handle. And those are the kind of things they need to problem-solve. It's just a really fun and intelligent group to challenge. I tell them that my job, in training, is to challenge them and to make them solve problems, because that's what the opposing coach is going to do. They're a really awesome group of guys to walk that journey with."
There were some good chances in the early going as Brown was thwarted by Storm junior keeper Aaron Cacucciolo-Forbes and Finnegan halted tries by junior opponents Ashton Kerrigan and Xavier Marquez.
Things finally clicked in the 16th minute for the Warriors when Pitts made a long run and then found Brown, who connected from close range to put the hosts up for good.
"It was really fun and a cool experience," said Brown of scoring his team's initial goal. "Josiah had an amazing run into it, and I was just kind of hanging out. It's awesome to be with these guys. I like their reassurance and forgiveness. Whenever you make a mistake on the field, there's always somebody at your back saying, 'You're good, you're good.'
"This is a blessing. It's fun for them to teach me, because I'm kind of inexperienced at this level. It's awesome to listen to the other midfielders around me to give me advice. In the locker room right before the game is so awesome. We sing a song right before we come out and it's fun to get hyped up right before a game."
Seniors such as Pitts, one of eight on the squad who were on last year's title team, hope that they can build on their historic season and end their Warriors career on a high note.
"It was amazing to be able to have the experience of winning state and even going down to state," Pitts said. "Coming into the season, coach told us not to dwell so much on the past and to have a vision of what this team can be. After Batavia, we didn't lose, but it felt like a loss and the guys were frustrated with their performances. But in the locker room there was just a different energy, and you could tell that, since we wished that we could have done better.
"Coming into this game, coach had a great game plan and he analyzed what we did wrong and what we could do better. And we just came into this game with the mentality that we were better than what we showed against Batavia, so we just played to the best of our abilities today. It was a hard-fought battle on both sides and you could just tell that it was 100 percent on the field the whole game. I feel like everyone, regardless of their role, they all play a part on the team. We feel the energy from the guys on the bench the whole game and that encouragement is really nice to have. And every guy knows when they go on the field that they give 100 percent since you're out there for the team."
After South Elgin got a good attempt from sophomore Justin Defensor, the Warriors countered with threatening shots from sophomore Cuyler Finnegan and Pitts before Barton was stymied but Head was there to put in the short attempt to complete the scoring.
"This is kind of the atmosphere that we're going to see in the middle and in late October," South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron said. "We were here last year on their Homecoming and it's a very college-like atmosphere, and it gets the kids ready. We were fortunate to let a lot of our younger kids and JV kids play last year, so we were ready this year and played a lot better. It was the same thing that happened to us on Tuesday. We had a couple of mishaps, and they made us pay for it. But credit to them, they're very organized, incredibly disciplined and very-well coached. It's beautiful to watch the way that coach has them play, so we'll come back every year if he has us.
"This is Ryan Nguyen's third year starting on varsity, and he just gets better and better every year. We just need to find guys who are willing to step up and play with him at his level. He's one of the top attacking players in our area but numbers matter when you go for postseason awards and if you can't get the goals and assists, he;'s not going to the recognition that he truly deserves. It helps that for the majority of our players that this is their fourth year under me, so they understand what I expect. At halftime, we threw another formation at them. All summer we were working on a bunch of different stuff and they don't ask why, because they want to learn and that makes it a lot easier for me."
Marquez Kerrigan and Guido Gonzalez-Ortiz all had good chances for the Storm shortly after the break while Barton and senior Caleb Mariotti countered with threatening attempts for the hosts. Following plenty of opportunities early in the second half, the remainder of the contest was highlighted by both defenses largely preventing any more drama.
For the seniors returning from the state championship season, which also includes Lucas Landstrom, Caleb Mariotti, Joshua Mariotti and Luke Poland, the hope is that a strong start against bigger programs and subsequent success in conference play could lead to another special year as they close out their Warriors career.
"Obviously we have a big target on our back because we won the state championship," Declan Finnegan said. "I love playing these big 3A schools because it shows that we're in A, but we're still a hard-to-beat team. It's been good to have two good shutouts, and it's so fun playing with the boys again.
"It all starts with a great backline. Since we lost basically our whole backline because they all graduated, it was a little bit scary and intense about who we'd put in the back. But the boys have just been amazing with evolving and changing into their new position, and that's been very helpful for me. The boys are always buzzing about either a practice or a game, but especially games now, since we get to show how hard we've worked and put that into games and to get the result that we've worked for."
Starting lineups
South Elgin
GK: Aaron Cacucciolo-Forbes
CB:: Jonah Stueck
CB: Xavier Marquez
CB: Carlos Barajas
WB: Edwin Porter
WB: Vito DiVietro
CM: Ryan Nguyen
CM: Justin Defensor
CM: Guido Gonzalez-Ortiz
F: Ashton Kerrigan
F: Lucas McMillan
Wheaton Academy
GK: Declan Finnegan
D: Scotty Murray
D: Troy Erickson
D: Jakob Karlson
D: Logan Bates
M: Sam Brown
M: Lucas Landstrom
M: Joshua Mariotti
M: Caleb Mariotti
F: Asher Barton
F: Josiah Pitts
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Josiah Pitts, Sr., F, Wheaton Academy
Scoring summary
First half
WA: Sam Brown (Josiah Pitts), 16'
WA: Ethan Head (Asher Barton), 38'
Second half
No scoring
Warriors blank Storm to capture 1st victory of season
By Curt Herron
WEST CHICAGO -- When a team returns 12 players from a state championship squad, they not only have high expectations for continued success but also realize that a lot of their opponents will be looking to turn in their best efforts against them.
That's what defending IHSA Class A champion Wheaton Academy saw in its opening match on Tuesday when it hosted Batavia and had to settle for a scoreless draw.
But coach Cody Snouffer's Warriors welcome the challenge of squaring off against bigger schools to open their season in order to better prepare them for Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division play and perhaps even another strong run like year ago when they won their final 12 matches and captured the program's second state championship.
So there was understandable excitement at Performance Trust Field on Thursday when Wheaton Academy (1-0-1) scored two goals in the opening half against South Elgin. The Warriors then relied on their defense to record its second shutout and capture its first win with a 2-0 nonconference home victory.
Three of the four players who were involved in the scoring were members of the state championship squad, but the individual who scored the team's first goal of the season was not. Sophomore Sam Brown connected following an assist from senior Josiah Pitts in the 16th minute to give the hosts the early advantage. Then junior Ethan Head gave them a big boost heading into the break when he scored in the 38th minute after junior Asher Barton was thwarted.
Senior goalkeeper Declan Finnegan needed to stop several good threats from the Storm (0-2-0) to record his second shutout. He relied on defenders -- seniors Logan Bates, Troy Erickson, Micaiah Bovey and Pitts and juniors Jakob Karlson and Scotty Murray -- to limit the visitor's chances. Wheaton Academy didn't allow the visitors' top threat, junior Ryan Nguyen, to get many good chances. Bates, Erickson, Finnegan, Karlson and Murray were also members of the state title team.
"It's great to return an all-sectional goalkeeper, two or three of our starting defenders and also to get some new blood in there, as well," Snouffer said. "Also to have the Mariotti twins (Caleb and Joshua) come back in the middle of the pitch is huge. We knew that we would have to prepare some young guys really quickly, so we took a freshman and four sophomores on varsity because they earned it, and we knew that we would graduate a big senior class again. If we want to be a program that is consistently going to hit a level, you have to expose young kids early. Tonight it paid off when Sammy Brown hits the opener.
"We're just a firm believer that you have to experience everything possible in the season, because you don't want to have anything happen to you for the first time in the postseason. So we scheduled big, close to home 3A schools and a lot of them have some clubmate rivals and a lot of them are coaches I've known for a long time. So the whole goal is to challenge ourselves. In the middle of September we play our conference and we want to be ready to do well in that, which means that you have to learn as many lessons as possible."
Snouffer, the fourth-year head coach who led his team to a 19-4-1 record a year ago and is 42-13-6 at the school, is hopeful that this year's team can enjoy another successful season and will attempt to capture trophies in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2014-16, when coach Jeff Brooke completed a three-year run of top-four finishes which was capped by the program's first state championship.
"Two games in and two shutouts, and we love shutouts," Snouffer said. "I'm excited about our young talent. There's a handful of freshmen that we didn't take on varsity but are on JV that I think will be really special players. And I'm also excited about the weight of opportunity for the upperclassmen. Our senior class in its last two seasons has really been the engine of our success. They've been role players and the players that do the thankless jobs. They've always had juniors and seniors in front of them to finish the product. It's kind of felt like they've been the grind and then a junior or senior gets the glory.
"Now they have the weight of opportunity. They feel it, and they know that the underclassmen are looking at them. They know that opposing coaches know their numbers and aren't always happy to see them back on the pitch. I think for the kids that want to play at the next level, those are the types of things that mentally they need to learn how to handle. And those are the kind of things they need to problem-solve. It's just a really fun and intelligent group to challenge. I tell them that my job, in training, is to challenge them and to make them solve problems, because that's what the opposing coach is going to do. They're a really awesome group of guys to walk that journey with."
There were some good chances in the early going as Brown was thwarted by Storm junior keeper Aaron Cacucciolo-Forbes and Finnegan halted tries by junior opponents Ashton Kerrigan and Xavier Marquez.
Things finally clicked in the 16th minute for the Warriors when Pitts made a long run and then found Brown, who connected from close range to put the hosts up for good.
"It was really fun and a cool experience," said Brown of scoring his team's initial goal. "Josiah had an amazing run into it, and I was just kind of hanging out. It's awesome to be with these guys. I like their reassurance and forgiveness. Whenever you make a mistake on the field, there's always somebody at your back saying, 'You're good, you're good.'
"This is a blessing. It's fun for them to teach me, because I'm kind of inexperienced at this level. It's awesome to listen to the other midfielders around me to give me advice. In the locker room right before the game is so awesome. We sing a song right before we come out and it's fun to get hyped up right before a game."
Seniors such as Pitts, one of eight on the squad who were on last year's title team, hope that they can build on their historic season and end their Warriors career on a high note.
"It was amazing to be able to have the experience of winning state and even going down to state," Pitts said. "Coming into the season, coach told us not to dwell so much on the past and to have a vision of what this team can be. After Batavia, we didn't lose, but it felt like a loss and the guys were frustrated with their performances. But in the locker room there was just a different energy, and you could tell that, since we wished that we could have done better.
"Coming into this game, coach had a great game plan and he analyzed what we did wrong and what we could do better. And we just came into this game with the mentality that we were better than what we showed against Batavia, so we just played to the best of our abilities today. It was a hard-fought battle on both sides and you could just tell that it was 100 percent on the field the whole game. I feel like everyone, regardless of their role, they all play a part on the team. We feel the energy from the guys on the bench the whole game and that encouragement is really nice to have. And every guy knows when they go on the field that they give 100 percent since you're out there for the team."
After South Elgin got a good attempt from sophomore Justin Defensor, the Warriors countered with threatening shots from sophomore Cuyler Finnegan and Pitts before Barton was stymied but Head was there to put in the short attempt to complete the scoring.
"This is kind of the atmosphere that we're going to see in the middle and in late October," South Elgin coach Jerzy Skowron said. "We were here last year on their Homecoming and it's a very college-like atmosphere, and it gets the kids ready. We were fortunate to let a lot of our younger kids and JV kids play last year, so we were ready this year and played a lot better. It was the same thing that happened to us on Tuesday. We had a couple of mishaps, and they made us pay for it. But credit to them, they're very organized, incredibly disciplined and very-well coached. It's beautiful to watch the way that coach has them play, so we'll come back every year if he has us.
"This is Ryan Nguyen's third year starting on varsity, and he just gets better and better every year. We just need to find guys who are willing to step up and play with him at his level. He's one of the top attacking players in our area but numbers matter when you go for postseason awards and if you can't get the goals and assists, he;'s not going to the recognition that he truly deserves. It helps that for the majority of our players that this is their fourth year under me, so they understand what I expect. At halftime, we threw another formation at them. All summer we were working on a bunch of different stuff and they don't ask why, because they want to learn and that makes it a lot easier for me."
Marquez Kerrigan and Guido Gonzalez-Ortiz all had good chances for the Storm shortly after the break while Barton and senior Caleb Mariotti countered with threatening attempts for the hosts. Following plenty of opportunities early in the second half, the remainder of the contest was highlighted by both defenses largely preventing any more drama.
For the seniors returning from the state championship season, which also includes Lucas Landstrom, Caleb Mariotti, Joshua Mariotti and Luke Poland, the hope is that a strong start against bigger programs and subsequent success in conference play could lead to another special year as they close out their Warriors career.
"Obviously we have a big target on our back because we won the state championship," Declan Finnegan said. "I love playing these big 3A schools because it shows that we're in A, but we're still a hard-to-beat team. It's been good to have two good shutouts, and it's so fun playing with the boys again.
"It all starts with a great backline. Since we lost basically our whole backline because they all graduated, it was a little bit scary and intense about who we'd put in the back. But the boys have just been amazing with evolving and changing into their new position, and that's been very helpful for me. The boys are always buzzing about either a practice or a game, but especially games now, since we get to show how hard we've worked and put that into games and to get the result that we've worked for."
Starting lineups
South Elgin
GK: Aaron Cacucciolo-Forbes
CB:: Jonah Stueck
CB: Xavier Marquez
CB: Carlos Barajas
WB: Edwin Porter
WB: Vito DiVietro
CM: Ryan Nguyen
CM: Justin Defensor
CM: Guido Gonzalez-Ortiz
F: Ashton Kerrigan
F: Lucas McMillan
Wheaton Academy
GK: Declan Finnegan
D: Scotty Murray
D: Troy Erickson
D: Jakob Karlson
D: Logan Bates
M: Sam Brown
M: Lucas Landstrom
M: Joshua Mariotti
M: Caleb Mariotti
F: Asher Barton
F: Josiah Pitts
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Josiah Pitts, Sr., F, Wheaton Academy
Scoring summary
First half
WA: Sam Brown (Josiah Pitts), 16'
WA: Ethan Head (Asher Barton), 38'
Second half
No scoring