Willowbrook survives WWS in PKs
Warriors win ends Tigers 50th season
By Chris Walker
WHEATON – Time was running out on Willowbrook’s season Saturday afternoon. The 18th-seeded Warriors were trailed no.-14 seed Wheaton Warrenville South by a goal late in the second half in a Class 3A Lake Park Regional quarterfinal.
Then, like he has so often this season, Norman Deci delivered.
The Warriors rode the momentum from the senior forward into a penalty kick shootout where they outfinished the Tigers, 4-2 to keep their season alive. Wheaton Warrenville South closed the 2019 campaign at 7-9-2.
It was a frustrating ending for a Tigers team that was dominant but not able to finish its opportunities. Wheaton Warrenville South outshot the Warriors 23-6 and had a 16-1 corner kick advantage.
“They equalized with four minutes left,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “We had possession but the beautiful game got ugly. We had two goals called back on a push and offsides, and we clearly didn’t get the job done.
“But that’s also the great thing about the game. You can throw the stats out the window. They certainly hung in there, and they got better as the game went on and started to believe. I don’t think they threatened much, but they didn’t go away.”
Kevin Kapica, Devin Guallpa, Ruben Valle and Francisco Perez finished their PKs while goalkeeper Isai Aparicio was a strong presence in net for Willowbrook and was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“It was our third shootout, and we’ve won all three,” Willowbrook coach Dan Riskind said. “Isai usually saves a couple so he’s been really good and we don’t miss and you really shouldn’t miss.”
Early on in the season while the Warriors first started working on PKs, the guys stepped up with confidence and that’s carried over throughout the regular season and now into the post-season. They’ve also edged Little Village and Eisenhower in shootouts.
“It’s not really coaching, but at the beginning of the season we figured whoever makes them is going to take them,” Riskind said. “We’ve practiced it a little bit throughout the season. A lot of the credit goes to Isai. He seems to save a couple each time. We know that we have him there, and we’ve won each time.”
Trailing 1-0 with about 10 minutes left in regulation, Riskind changed formations, transitioning from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-5-2 to give the Warriors a chance to net the equalizer because time was definitely not on their side.
Dorian Mahone had dribbled forward and got into the penalty box and was able to get the ball to Deci, who promptly finished. Riskind was uncertain of team statistics, but said Deci is leading the team in scoring with an estimated 15 or 16 goals.
“He’s been our main scorer,” Riskind said. “He was able to get a shot and put it away.”
With a first-year head coach and 16 seniors, this is an intriguing Willowbrook team that has had to learn quickly and has taken some lumps along the way, especially against some powerhouses.
With teams like Addison Trail, Morton, Solorio and West Chicago (twice) on the schedule (69-11-8 record combined), it hasn’t been easy to win games, let alone be competitive at times, But the Warriors have persevered and gotten better as the season has progressed.
They lost to West Chicago, 8-0, in August. The lost to the Wildcats again in October, 4-1, but the game was far more competitive. It’s progress.
“We’ve really been focusing on being stout defensively and looking to counterattack,” Riskind said. “We’re working on set pieces and corner kicks and trying to increase the odds when we take advantage of it.”
Just two years ago, the Warriors beat Hoffman Estates in a regional quarterfinal only to be blasted 5-0 by St. Charles North in a regional semifinal the next day.
The Warriors win earned them the chance to face second sectional-seed St. Charles East on Wednesday at Lake Park.
The matchup looked like an uphill battled for Willowbrook if you based it on a common opponent. Leyden topped the Warriors 3-0 on Sept. 7. St. Charles East took down that same Eagles club three days later by a 6-2 tally.
The Warriors (7-13-1) battled but fell 3-0 to the Fighting Saints (18-1-3), who were ranked at no. 12 in the final regular season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Wheaton Warrenville South was 6-4-1 at the end of September and earned victories against teams that finished the season with winning records. That included a shootout win over Addison Trail, which finished 16th in the final regular season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Those Blazers (13-5-3), a no. 4 seed, were upset by hot ano. l3 seed at home in a St. Charles North Regional semifinal.
The month of October was a different story for the Tigers. They struggled at 1-6-1. The lone victory came over Speer 2-1 in a Sunday Showdown bracket title match.
“It was a very odd year,” Callipari said. “We were up and down. We had our best run in the Pepsi where we beat Metea Valley, Wheaton Academy and Speer, quality sides, and then we’d play a team like Schaumburg and not play very well or let one get away like drawing with Hoffman Estates.”
The Tigers had talent but victories weren't always in the cards.
“We didn’t have players playing at a high level all the time,” Callipari said. “There are challenges coming from a lot of different places and getting everyone on the same page, continuity and rhythm, was difficult. We’d find the right mix some days and other days we had to reinvent ourselves again and find another system.”
One of the benefits of that tack was that the Tigers went deep, seeking contributions on the playing field often from up and down their roster.
“One good thing we did well this year was we were playing 18, 19 players usually,” Callipari said. “I felt like in preparing for the playoffs we had everybody healthy. We only had one injury from the last game of the season (Jack Cooper, senior, midfielder).
"In some situations we’d have four of five games in a week and everybody not in the starting lineup. Consequently we were pretty confident that they were going to put in some minutes, and we were going to be competitive.”
With inconsistent play at times and a varied, rugged schedule, a lot of different things can happen over the course of an 80-minute game, let alone an entire week of games and practices.
“Sometimes subs disrupt the flow,” Callipari said. “But I’m not really sure we were 100 percent fit to play 80 minutes and you’re doing it (playing another game in) 48 hours again and again.”
The length of a high school soccer season might seem long, but it really isn’t. After tryouts, teams dive right into full-on practices and basically are playing games a week later. Then, with weeks filled with games, practices are squeezed in as much as possible. It’s a busy ride with few stops for breathers. With the make-up of this Wheaton Warrenville South squad, the team would probably have benefitted from having more time to develop, especially with the mix of so many different bodies.
“For the World Cup they have one month of training; we have a week to bring it together and then three games a week,” Callipari said. “We are typically regenerating, trying to allow them time to prepare and heal physically and mentally and they’re students. So you have the challenge of trying to continue to move in a positive direction. And you don’t have the time to prepare for it so you use your games as an opportunity to teach some. Then with training we’re taking it back a notch and trying to just get ready for the next game.”
Callipari has seen a little of everything now with close to 30 years at his school. It’s kind of like a poker game.
“It’s sitting at a card table and getting a new hand every time,” he said. “You can’t recruit so you get a new hand every single time and everyone else gets a new hand as well. Nobody quite knows what anybody at the table has so it has to play itself out. By the time we’re at the bottom of the deck we have a handle of who has the 12 card at the end of the day.”
While some programs can boast four-year players, that’s been a rarity at Wheaton Warrenville South.
“We don’t often get those guys who are going to play four years,” he said. “Here they play three or two and some play one at our level. That’s what always makes it fresh and why we need to bring it together as quickly as we can to build for the moment.”
From an historic standpoint, it was a memorable year. The Tigers 2019 campaign marked the 50th anniversary of soccer at the school. A celebration commemorating the occasion was celebrated on Oct. 12, the same day that the Tigers tied Hoffman Estates 0-0.
Though its been a rough decade success-wise for the Tigers with only three winning seasons from 2010-2019, it was preceded 2000-2009 with nine winning seasons and a great run in 2003 that produced a third place state trophy and 23 victories.
Wins aren’t everything though and based on the success of the 50th anniversary celebration of soccer at the school on Oct. 12, the current kids as well as those who played in the 70s, 80s and 90s and beyond are blessed to say they were and always will be a Tiger.
“The Pepsi championship was certainly a nice caveat and a feather in our cap this season,” Callipari said. “And celebrating the 50th season was special with the first team coming back.
“And you can’t help but get caught up in the tradition bestowed upon them. And there’s no entitlement. Everything has been earned, and we need to carry that tradition forward in the best way possible for the integrity of the game. The way we act was a great message for this group, and they rose to the occasion the next day against Speer.”
After struggling to a scoreless draw against Hoffman Estates the day of the anniversary event, the Tigers spent the afternoon and into the evening recognizing the program’s history. All told, it was about a nine to 10-hour day for them.
“It was wonderful,” Callipari said. “The kids were getting jerseys singed by Charlie Fajkus (former Chicago Sting star who played for the school when it was known as Wheaton Central and was a star on the school's 1974 state runnerup team). They were like kids in a candy store.”
Warriors win ends Tigers 50th season
By Chris Walker
WHEATON – Time was running out on Willowbrook’s season Saturday afternoon. The 18th-seeded Warriors were trailed no.-14 seed Wheaton Warrenville South by a goal late in the second half in a Class 3A Lake Park Regional quarterfinal.
Then, like he has so often this season, Norman Deci delivered.
The Warriors rode the momentum from the senior forward into a penalty kick shootout where they outfinished the Tigers, 4-2 to keep their season alive. Wheaton Warrenville South closed the 2019 campaign at 7-9-2.
It was a frustrating ending for a Tigers team that was dominant but not able to finish its opportunities. Wheaton Warrenville South outshot the Warriors 23-6 and had a 16-1 corner kick advantage.
“They equalized with four minutes left,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “We had possession but the beautiful game got ugly. We had two goals called back on a push and offsides, and we clearly didn’t get the job done.
“But that’s also the great thing about the game. You can throw the stats out the window. They certainly hung in there, and they got better as the game went on and started to believe. I don’t think they threatened much, but they didn’t go away.”
Kevin Kapica, Devin Guallpa, Ruben Valle and Francisco Perez finished their PKs while goalkeeper Isai Aparicio was a strong presence in net for Willowbrook and was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match.
“It was our third shootout, and we’ve won all three,” Willowbrook coach Dan Riskind said. “Isai usually saves a couple so he’s been really good and we don’t miss and you really shouldn’t miss.”
Early on in the season while the Warriors first started working on PKs, the guys stepped up with confidence and that’s carried over throughout the regular season and now into the post-season. They’ve also edged Little Village and Eisenhower in shootouts.
“It’s not really coaching, but at the beginning of the season we figured whoever makes them is going to take them,” Riskind said. “We’ve practiced it a little bit throughout the season. A lot of the credit goes to Isai. He seems to save a couple each time. We know that we have him there, and we’ve won each time.”
Trailing 1-0 with about 10 minutes left in regulation, Riskind changed formations, transitioning from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-5-2 to give the Warriors a chance to net the equalizer because time was definitely not on their side.
Dorian Mahone had dribbled forward and got into the penalty box and was able to get the ball to Deci, who promptly finished. Riskind was uncertain of team statistics, but said Deci is leading the team in scoring with an estimated 15 or 16 goals.
“He’s been our main scorer,” Riskind said. “He was able to get a shot and put it away.”
With a first-year head coach and 16 seniors, this is an intriguing Willowbrook team that has had to learn quickly and has taken some lumps along the way, especially against some powerhouses.
With teams like Addison Trail, Morton, Solorio and West Chicago (twice) on the schedule (69-11-8 record combined), it hasn’t been easy to win games, let alone be competitive at times, But the Warriors have persevered and gotten better as the season has progressed.
They lost to West Chicago, 8-0, in August. The lost to the Wildcats again in October, 4-1, but the game was far more competitive. It’s progress.
“We’ve really been focusing on being stout defensively and looking to counterattack,” Riskind said. “We’re working on set pieces and corner kicks and trying to increase the odds when we take advantage of it.”
Just two years ago, the Warriors beat Hoffman Estates in a regional quarterfinal only to be blasted 5-0 by St. Charles North in a regional semifinal the next day.
The Warriors win earned them the chance to face second sectional-seed St. Charles East on Wednesday at Lake Park.
The matchup looked like an uphill battled for Willowbrook if you based it on a common opponent. Leyden topped the Warriors 3-0 on Sept. 7. St. Charles East took down that same Eagles club three days later by a 6-2 tally.
The Warriors (7-13-1) battled but fell 3-0 to the Fighting Saints (18-1-3), who were ranked at no. 12 in the final regular season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25.
Wheaton Warrenville South was 6-4-1 at the end of September and earned victories against teams that finished the season with winning records. That included a shootout win over Addison Trail, which finished 16th in the final regular season Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Those Blazers (13-5-3), a no. 4 seed, were upset by hot ano. l3 seed at home in a St. Charles North Regional semifinal.
The month of October was a different story for the Tigers. They struggled at 1-6-1. The lone victory came over Speer 2-1 in a Sunday Showdown bracket title match.
“It was a very odd year,” Callipari said. “We were up and down. We had our best run in the Pepsi where we beat Metea Valley, Wheaton Academy and Speer, quality sides, and then we’d play a team like Schaumburg and not play very well or let one get away like drawing with Hoffman Estates.”
The Tigers had talent but victories weren't always in the cards.
“We didn’t have players playing at a high level all the time,” Callipari said. “There are challenges coming from a lot of different places and getting everyone on the same page, continuity and rhythm, was difficult. We’d find the right mix some days and other days we had to reinvent ourselves again and find another system.”
One of the benefits of that tack was that the Tigers went deep, seeking contributions on the playing field often from up and down their roster.
“One good thing we did well this year was we were playing 18, 19 players usually,” Callipari said. “I felt like in preparing for the playoffs we had everybody healthy. We only had one injury from the last game of the season (Jack Cooper, senior, midfielder).
"In some situations we’d have four of five games in a week and everybody not in the starting lineup. Consequently we were pretty confident that they were going to put in some minutes, and we were going to be competitive.”
With inconsistent play at times and a varied, rugged schedule, a lot of different things can happen over the course of an 80-minute game, let alone an entire week of games and practices.
“Sometimes subs disrupt the flow,” Callipari said. “But I’m not really sure we were 100 percent fit to play 80 minutes and you’re doing it (playing another game in) 48 hours again and again.”
The length of a high school soccer season might seem long, but it really isn’t. After tryouts, teams dive right into full-on practices and basically are playing games a week later. Then, with weeks filled with games, practices are squeezed in as much as possible. It’s a busy ride with few stops for breathers. With the make-up of this Wheaton Warrenville South squad, the team would probably have benefitted from having more time to develop, especially with the mix of so many different bodies.
“For the World Cup they have one month of training; we have a week to bring it together and then three games a week,” Callipari said. “We are typically regenerating, trying to allow them time to prepare and heal physically and mentally and they’re students. So you have the challenge of trying to continue to move in a positive direction. And you don’t have the time to prepare for it so you use your games as an opportunity to teach some. Then with training we’re taking it back a notch and trying to just get ready for the next game.”
Callipari has seen a little of everything now with close to 30 years at his school. It’s kind of like a poker game.
“It’s sitting at a card table and getting a new hand every time,” he said. “You can’t recruit so you get a new hand every single time and everyone else gets a new hand as well. Nobody quite knows what anybody at the table has so it has to play itself out. By the time we’re at the bottom of the deck we have a handle of who has the 12 card at the end of the day.”
While some programs can boast four-year players, that’s been a rarity at Wheaton Warrenville South.
“We don’t often get those guys who are going to play four years,” he said. “Here they play three or two and some play one at our level. That’s what always makes it fresh and why we need to bring it together as quickly as we can to build for the moment.”
From an historic standpoint, it was a memorable year. The Tigers 2019 campaign marked the 50th anniversary of soccer at the school. A celebration commemorating the occasion was celebrated on Oct. 12, the same day that the Tigers tied Hoffman Estates 0-0.
Though its been a rough decade success-wise for the Tigers with only three winning seasons from 2010-2019, it was preceded 2000-2009 with nine winning seasons and a great run in 2003 that produced a third place state trophy and 23 victories.
Wins aren’t everything though and based on the success of the 50th anniversary celebration of soccer at the school on Oct. 12, the current kids as well as those who played in the 70s, 80s and 90s and beyond are blessed to say they were and always will be a Tiger.
“The Pepsi championship was certainly a nice caveat and a feather in our cap this season,” Callipari said. “And celebrating the 50th season was special with the first team coming back.
“And you can’t help but get caught up in the tradition bestowed upon them. And there’s no entitlement. Everything has been earned, and we need to carry that tradition forward in the best way possible for the integrity of the game. The way we act was a great message for this group, and they rose to the occasion the next day against Speer.”
After struggling to a scoreless draw against Hoffman Estates the day of the anniversary event, the Tigers spent the afternoon and into the evening recognizing the program’s history. All told, it was about a nine to 10-hour day for them.
“It was wonderful,” Callipari said. “The kids were getting jerseys singed by Charlie Fajkus (former Chicago Sting star who played for the school when it was known as Wheaton Central and was a star on the school's 1974 state runnerup team). They were like kids in a candy store.”