Wheaton A. looks to rise up in Class 3A
Warriors set for big-school test this season, top Elmwood Park 9-0
By Gary Larsen
ELMWOOD PARK -- Wheaton Academy won a state title in 2014 and has finished third downstate twice and fourth twice. The traditional state power has also reached the state finals eight times in its 41-year program history.
This year marks a first for the small-school Warriors: a third-place finish in Class AA last year automatically moved them up in class this year per IHSA rules.
They’ll compete in the 3A playoffs in 2018 for the first time since the three-class system in soccer was adopted in 2008.
But even with a student population of roughly 650 students, in competing against schools typically three times and four times its size, the goal remains the same for the sixth-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
“The goal is to win state, every year,” Warriors central defender Eli Lebo said. “There’s no way to slack off when that’s your goal.”
The mountain may be a bit steeper to meet that goal this year, but Wheaton Academy has a long history of loading its regular season schedule with big-school competition in preparing for postseason play.
The Warriors started the season with a 3-1 win over Batavia and then a 2-0 victory over Geneva. They play at Wheaton Warrenville South on Thursday.
On Monday, Wheaton Academy traveled to play a fellow "small" school and Metro Suburban Conference cross-over foe Elmwood Park (930 students). The host Tigers battled well to keep the Warriors out of net for the game’s first 23 minutes, before Wheaton Academy found its finishing touch and steamrolled to a 9-0 victory.
The Warriors were predictably happy with the one-sided win, but when a state-title run is the annual objective, controlling play but failing to finish for the first quarter of the game had senior Seamus Kilgallon less than pleased.
Kilgallon led the Warriors with three goals in the win.
“When we get off the bus, we have to make sure our heads are in the right place,” Kilgallon said. “We had to get used to the surface a little bit, and our touches were just a little off, but we had some chances early. When we play teams that we struggle to score against, we have to finish. We can’t wait 20 minutes like that.”
In his eleventh season as head coach, Jeff Brooke is well-practiced in the patience a coach has to have where early-season finishing is concerned. Brooke has always required his teams to play unselfish and aggressive soccer. And this year’s team might be slightly ahead of the curve.
“Early in the year we’re always working on finishing and getting that final connecting pass,” Brooke said. “The thing that’s been a highlight for us so far has been the quick style of play on the deck. Sometimes we’re fighting to get there, but these guys have shown some combination play early that’s encouraging. We haven’t arrived, but it’s been encouraging.”
From Seamus and brother Jack Kilgallon, to Owen Setran, Brian Henry, Daniel Rychenkov, and Logan Finnegan, it was a team of attacking Warriors creating havoc in the final third through Monday’s first 20 minutes.
Elmwood Park keeper Hubert Witkos was up to the task, turning away or gathering every shot Wheaton Academy could muster early. Setran and Jack Kilgallon combined twice for quality shots through 10 minutes, with a trio of corner kicks in between. Witkos saved Kilgallon’s first shot and his second flew high of frame.
Witkos saved a Setran header at 18 minutes and a shot from eight yards taken by Henry at 19 minutes. Henry sent a long one-hopper in that Witkos fielded one minute later.
Seamus Kilgallon broke the ice at 23 minutes, combining with Givanni Nicoski to get behind the Tigers’ defense and go in alone on Witkos to break the Warriors drought.
“Today, the guys continued to pursue the goal in the first half, and in the second half they had a couple really nice finishes,” Brooke said.
Witkos made another quality save on a Setran header at 24 minutes, and Setran sent a shot wide from distance at 29 minutes. Jack Kilgallon tore up the right side on the dribble and sent a low blast just wide of the far post at 30 minutes, and then cut a few defenders before sending a shot off the post from 16 yards at 31 minutes.
Seamus Kilgallon found space in the middle of the penalty area at 32 minutes and scored from 10 yards, Jack Kilgallon went in alone on net and scored a minute later past a sprawling Witkos, and Setran was finally rewarded for all of his hard work in the first half when his shot from 20 yards tore inside the post on the right side past a diving Witkos at 38 minutes.
Elmwood Park managed an occasional trip into its final third in the first half but Wheaton Academy defenders Lebo, John Liechty, Jonathan Austriaco, and Christofor Eklund stayed solid, and keeper R.J. Simmons made every play required.
The Warriors have only given up one goal through their first three games.
“Eli Lebo was a center back last year and this year as a senior center back, for us to only give up one goal in our first three games, you have to credit him because he has logged a lot of minutes,” Brooke said.
Lebo knew he’d have to accept more responsibility in his senior season on the Warriors’ backline.
“This year with three new backs, I had to step into a leadership role,” Lebo said. “It’s to be that returner and kind of lead them in back, and organize, and kind of use my voice is probably the biggest thing.
“We have yet to face a really challenging offense that’s been able to test us, but we’re taking steps towards being able to handle that.”
Seamus Kilgallon scored his third goal of the game at 49 minutes, cleaning up an initial shot taken by brother Jack to make it 5-0. Rychenkov struck at 50 minutes and
Allen Rodriguez made it 7-0 at 60 minutes on a feed from Setran.
Remaining time was halved to 10:30 due to the seven-goal differential, and Rychenkov and Finnegan each scored down the stretch to finish the day’s scoring.
After the Wheaton Warrenville South game Thursday, the Warriors will next face big-school competition when the PepsiCo Showdown begins on Sept. 8. Kilgallon is looking forward to the test and moving toward preparing his program for its first 3A state playoffs in early October.
“We’re not going to set the bar any lower because of it,” senior Seamus Kilgallon said. “We’re still aiming high.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Academy
GK R.J. Simmons
D Eli Lebo
D John Liechty
D Jonathan Austriaco
D Christofor Eklund
MF Logan Finnegan
MF Brian Henry
MF Seamus Kilgallon
MF Owen Setran
MF Jack Kilgallon
F Daniel Rychenkov
Elmwood Park
GK Hubert Witkos
D Patryk Kaszuba
D Elliot Caterer
D Joe Scheidt
D McKinley Barile
MF Patryk Szado
MF Kevin Ryczek
MF Ivan Andrukhiv
MF Oscar Hamera
F Matt Osborne
F Kacper Olszewski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Seamus Kilgallon, sr., MF, Wheaton Academy
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Academy: S. Kilgallon (UA) 23rd minute
Wheaton Academy: S. Kilgallon (Setran) 32nd minute
Wheaton Academy: J. Kilgallon (Rychenkov) 33rd minute
Wheaton Academy: Setran (Rodriguez) 38th minute
Second half
Wheaton Academy: S. Kilgallon (J. Kilgallon) 49th minute
Wheaton Academy: Rychenkov (J. Kilgallon) 53rd minute
Wheaton Academy: Rodriguez (Setran) 58th minute
Wheaton Academy: Rychenkov (UA) 72nd minute
Wheaton Academy: Finnegan (UA) 74th minute
Warriors set for big-school test this season, top Elmwood Park 9-0
By Gary Larsen
ELMWOOD PARK -- Wheaton Academy won a state title in 2014 and has finished third downstate twice and fourth twice. The traditional state power has also reached the state finals eight times in its 41-year program history.
This year marks a first for the small-school Warriors: a third-place finish in Class AA last year automatically moved them up in class this year per IHSA rules.
They’ll compete in the 3A playoffs in 2018 for the first time since the three-class system in soccer was adopted in 2008.
But even with a student population of roughly 650 students, in competing against schools typically three times and four times its size, the goal remains the same for the sixth-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
“The goal is to win state, every year,” Warriors central defender Eli Lebo said. “There’s no way to slack off when that’s your goal.”
The mountain may be a bit steeper to meet that goal this year, but Wheaton Academy has a long history of loading its regular season schedule with big-school competition in preparing for postseason play.
The Warriors started the season with a 3-1 win over Batavia and then a 2-0 victory over Geneva. They play at Wheaton Warrenville South on Thursday.
On Monday, Wheaton Academy traveled to play a fellow "small" school and Metro Suburban Conference cross-over foe Elmwood Park (930 students). The host Tigers battled well to keep the Warriors out of net for the game’s first 23 minutes, before Wheaton Academy found its finishing touch and steamrolled to a 9-0 victory.
The Warriors were predictably happy with the one-sided win, but when a state-title run is the annual objective, controlling play but failing to finish for the first quarter of the game had senior Seamus Kilgallon less than pleased.
Kilgallon led the Warriors with three goals in the win.
“When we get off the bus, we have to make sure our heads are in the right place,” Kilgallon said. “We had to get used to the surface a little bit, and our touches were just a little off, but we had some chances early. When we play teams that we struggle to score against, we have to finish. We can’t wait 20 minutes like that.”
In his eleventh season as head coach, Jeff Brooke is well-practiced in the patience a coach has to have where early-season finishing is concerned. Brooke has always required his teams to play unselfish and aggressive soccer. And this year’s team might be slightly ahead of the curve.
“Early in the year we’re always working on finishing and getting that final connecting pass,” Brooke said. “The thing that’s been a highlight for us so far has been the quick style of play on the deck. Sometimes we’re fighting to get there, but these guys have shown some combination play early that’s encouraging. We haven’t arrived, but it’s been encouraging.”
From Seamus and brother Jack Kilgallon, to Owen Setran, Brian Henry, Daniel Rychenkov, and Logan Finnegan, it was a team of attacking Warriors creating havoc in the final third through Monday’s first 20 minutes.
Elmwood Park keeper Hubert Witkos was up to the task, turning away or gathering every shot Wheaton Academy could muster early. Setran and Jack Kilgallon combined twice for quality shots through 10 minutes, with a trio of corner kicks in between. Witkos saved Kilgallon’s first shot and his second flew high of frame.
Witkos saved a Setran header at 18 minutes and a shot from eight yards taken by Henry at 19 minutes. Henry sent a long one-hopper in that Witkos fielded one minute later.
Seamus Kilgallon broke the ice at 23 minutes, combining with Givanni Nicoski to get behind the Tigers’ defense and go in alone on Witkos to break the Warriors drought.
“Today, the guys continued to pursue the goal in the first half, and in the second half they had a couple really nice finishes,” Brooke said.
Witkos made another quality save on a Setran header at 24 minutes, and Setran sent a shot wide from distance at 29 minutes. Jack Kilgallon tore up the right side on the dribble and sent a low blast just wide of the far post at 30 minutes, and then cut a few defenders before sending a shot off the post from 16 yards at 31 minutes.
Seamus Kilgallon found space in the middle of the penalty area at 32 minutes and scored from 10 yards, Jack Kilgallon went in alone on net and scored a minute later past a sprawling Witkos, and Setran was finally rewarded for all of his hard work in the first half when his shot from 20 yards tore inside the post on the right side past a diving Witkos at 38 minutes.
Elmwood Park managed an occasional trip into its final third in the first half but Wheaton Academy defenders Lebo, John Liechty, Jonathan Austriaco, and Christofor Eklund stayed solid, and keeper R.J. Simmons made every play required.
The Warriors have only given up one goal through their first three games.
“Eli Lebo was a center back last year and this year as a senior center back, for us to only give up one goal in our first three games, you have to credit him because he has logged a lot of minutes,” Brooke said.
Lebo knew he’d have to accept more responsibility in his senior season on the Warriors’ backline.
“This year with three new backs, I had to step into a leadership role,” Lebo said. “It’s to be that returner and kind of lead them in back, and organize, and kind of use my voice is probably the biggest thing.
“We have yet to face a really challenging offense that’s been able to test us, but we’re taking steps towards being able to handle that.”
Seamus Kilgallon scored his third goal of the game at 49 minutes, cleaning up an initial shot taken by brother Jack to make it 5-0. Rychenkov struck at 50 minutes and
Allen Rodriguez made it 7-0 at 60 minutes on a feed from Setran.
Remaining time was halved to 10:30 due to the seven-goal differential, and Rychenkov and Finnegan each scored down the stretch to finish the day’s scoring.
After the Wheaton Warrenville South game Thursday, the Warriors will next face big-school competition when the PepsiCo Showdown begins on Sept. 8. Kilgallon is looking forward to the test and moving toward preparing his program for its first 3A state playoffs in early October.
“We’re not going to set the bar any lower because of it,” senior Seamus Kilgallon said. “We’re still aiming high.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Academy
GK R.J. Simmons
D Eli Lebo
D John Liechty
D Jonathan Austriaco
D Christofor Eklund
MF Logan Finnegan
MF Brian Henry
MF Seamus Kilgallon
MF Owen Setran
MF Jack Kilgallon
F Daniel Rychenkov
Elmwood Park
GK Hubert Witkos
D Patryk Kaszuba
D Elliot Caterer
D Joe Scheidt
D McKinley Barile
MF Patryk Szado
MF Kevin Ryczek
MF Ivan Andrukhiv
MF Oscar Hamera
F Matt Osborne
F Kacper Olszewski
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Seamus Kilgallon, sr., MF, Wheaton Academy
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Academy: S. Kilgallon (UA) 23rd minute
Wheaton Academy: S. Kilgallon (Setran) 32nd minute
Wheaton Academy: J. Kilgallon (Rychenkov) 33rd minute
Wheaton Academy: Setran (Rodriguez) 38th minute
Second half
Wheaton Academy: S. Kilgallon (J. Kilgallon) 49th minute
Wheaton Academy: Rychenkov (J. Kilgallon) 53rd minute
Wheaton Academy: Rodriguez (Setran) 58th minute
Wheaton Academy: Rychenkov (UA) 72nd minute
Wheaton Academy: Finnegan (UA) 74th minute