Wheaton N. tops Hoffman for Hillner lead
Falcons remain undefeated with 3-1 tournament win
By Bill McLean
HOFFMAN ESTATES — The giddy fan in passionate Wheaton North soccer coach Rob Stassen made an appearance late in the second half of a Hillner Classic match Tuesday night.
Falcons senior midfielder Garrett Robinson had just curled in a left-footed, free-kick goal from 22 yards against Hoffman Estates’ Hawks. The tally — it entered the extreme northeast corner of the structure — upped Wheaton North’s lead to 3-1 in the 68th minute.
Stassen, standing in front of his squad’s bench, turned into a highly animated Stassen just like that, whooping it up as if he had scored the Falcons’ first goal since WN went up 2-0 in the eighth minute on a mild night in the northwest suburb.
“That was an outstanding goal, wasn’t it?” a still-thrilled Stassen said after the 3-1 victory improved the Falcons’ record in Hillner Classic contests to 3-0-0. “And that was Garrett’s weak foot. What confidence he showed. I’m telling you, when he shows confidence, he’s quite a player. He’d been working on that kind of free kick in practice. A lot.”
The 5-foot-8 Robinson figured he had struck at least 20 free kicks from between 20 and 25 yards in practice Sept. 2. The young man worked diligently on Labor Day.
“Before that?” responded Robinson, a clarinetist and avid chess player interested in attending MIT, Stassen noted before the kickoff. “Not sure. Too many free kicks to count.”
Robinson had also impressed Stassen with his indefatigable defense after the gorgeous goal. Robinson sprinted, full-out, for 35 yards to halt a Hoffman Estates rush. Coaches notice things like that, things that don’t show up in box scores or scoring summaries.
Coaches are also quick to praise moments like that.
“The motor Garrett has … the motors so many of our guys have are fantastic,” Stassen gushed.
Robinson’s breathing-room goal increased his season total to two goals, which happened to be junior teammate Jarrett Baumgartner’s goals-per-game number after three matches. Baumgartner, a 5-9 forward, settled for one goal against Hoffman Estates, giving him seven already in the 2019 season.
Imagine that: you score a goal in a match and your average output … drops.
“Jarrett,” Stassen said, “is on fire.
“We played well in the first 10 minutes tonight,” the coach added, alluding to the one minute that separated goals from sophomore forward Ethan Martinez and Baumgartner, as well as the Falcons’ sturdy defense in front of senior keeper Ray Min. “I also liked what we did at the end.”
Wheaton North (4-0-0), ranked at the top of the honorable mention list of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, booted 11 shots on goal in the final 13 minutes.
Hoffman Estates (2-2-0 overall, 2-1-0 in the Hillner Classic) had applied similar heat in the first seven minutes of the second half after nearly cutting Wheaton North’s 2-0 advantage in half on a left-post-denting shot by freshman midfielder Connor Kurzynski as time expired in the first half. With their head coach Sean Armstrong off the sideine — he is hospitalized but expected to be released soon — the Hawks displayed steady urgency on offense and created a number of scoring threats.
“More energy, that’s what I noticed from our players at the start of the second half,” Hawks assistant coach David Rodriguez said. “The players talked [at halftime]; they knew what they had to do in order to play better soccer. We’re young [four sophomores and two freshmen starters], trying to keep our composure.
“We lost to a very good Wheaton North side, and that free kick goal was phenomenal.”
Armstrong sent a group text to his players before the match, and Rodriguez texted Armstrong the halftime score. The gist of Armstrong’s message: I’d give anything to see you play tonight. Believe in yourselves, defend the home field.'”
Hawks junior midfielder Juan Figueroa gave his side a lift with a goal in the 61st minute. Figueroa hustled to settle a shot from senior forward Jesus Martinez that had banged off the crossbar.
“Controlled the ball, made a little touch, took the shot,” the speedy Figueroa recounted.
Falcons midfielder Wednesday Woo almost had a Tuesday to remember. The 5-foot-9 junior nearly scored on a lengthy, left-footed shot with 2:05 remaining in the game.
Wheaton North played without injured senior forwards Will Wanzenberg and Badur Ibrahim, a native of Sudan. That left Stassen with 16 Falcons.
“We have flair in the middle, speed on the outside and discipline in the back,” Stassen, who was born in Ireland and grew up in England, said of his ’19 edition, which includes only three returning starters. “It’s a perfect mix. We brought up some youth — fast and aggressive youth. It’s a fit, gritty team.
“It’s also a fun group to watch,” added the fifth-year coach, a Wheaton North PE teacher who would teach gym classes at the school for free “because of Wheaton North’s administration.”
The group celebrated Wheaton North senior midfielder Ngun Thawng, who became a U.S. citizen last week. Thawng’s work rate and effective play, Stassen pointed out after Tuesday’s match, eased the Falcons' tall order of having to battle without the 6-foot-1 Wanzenberg.
With the win, Wheaton North took the lead in the Hillner Classic. The fourth-of-five tournament games comes against host Lake Park at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Hoffman Estates, who ranks in second place, visits South Elgin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Wheaton North and Hoffman Estates conclude Classic action Saturday with clashes against York (9 a.m., at Lake Park’s East campus) and Lake Park (1 p.m.), respectively.
Footnotes
Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen suffered four torn knee ligaments (ACL) and three cartilage injuries in his soccer career. … Stassen guided Wheaton North’s Falcons to a Class 3A regional championship in 2017. The program had claimed three regional titles between 2008-13. … Early in Tuesday’s Wheaton North-Hoffman Estates Hillner Classic match, Wheaton North forward Ethan Martinez pushed-pushed-pushed the ball with his right foot in fairly heavy traffic in the goal box. Hoffman’s defense stymied him. “Martinez!” Stassen yelled. “Left foot!” Shortly thereafter, Martinez, off a feed from junior midfielder Erik Rozanski, tallied the match’s first goal. He used his right foot.
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK: Ray Min
D: Kyle Schauer
D: Noah Froebe
D: Tyler Larsen
D: Tristan MacKay
MF: Garrett Robinson
MF: Erik Rozanski
MF: Graham Stephenson
F: Ethan Martinez
F: Jarrett Baumgartner
F: Gyan Patel
Hoffman Estates
GK: Adrian Huerta
D: Siva Nakka
D: Colin Grochal
D: Kaden Eberman
MF: Juan Figueroa
MF: Julian Rios
MF: Connor Kurzynski
MF: Georgi Kyosev
F: Manny Amezcua
F: Simeon Georgiev
F: Jesus Martinez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Garrett Robinson, sr., MF, Wheaton North
Referee: Arek Pugacewicz
Scoring summary
First half
WN — E. Martinez (Rozanski) 7’
WN — Baumgartner (Stephenson) 8’
Second half
HE — Figueroa (J. Martinez) 61’
WN — Robinson (UA) 68’
Falcons remain undefeated with 3-1 tournament win
By Bill McLean
HOFFMAN ESTATES — The giddy fan in passionate Wheaton North soccer coach Rob Stassen made an appearance late in the second half of a Hillner Classic match Tuesday night.
Falcons senior midfielder Garrett Robinson had just curled in a left-footed, free-kick goal from 22 yards against Hoffman Estates’ Hawks. The tally — it entered the extreme northeast corner of the structure — upped Wheaton North’s lead to 3-1 in the 68th minute.
Stassen, standing in front of his squad’s bench, turned into a highly animated Stassen just like that, whooping it up as if he had scored the Falcons’ first goal since WN went up 2-0 in the eighth minute on a mild night in the northwest suburb.
“That was an outstanding goal, wasn’t it?” a still-thrilled Stassen said after the 3-1 victory improved the Falcons’ record in Hillner Classic contests to 3-0-0. “And that was Garrett’s weak foot. What confidence he showed. I’m telling you, when he shows confidence, he’s quite a player. He’d been working on that kind of free kick in practice. A lot.”
The 5-foot-8 Robinson figured he had struck at least 20 free kicks from between 20 and 25 yards in practice Sept. 2. The young man worked diligently on Labor Day.
“Before that?” responded Robinson, a clarinetist and avid chess player interested in attending MIT, Stassen noted before the kickoff. “Not sure. Too many free kicks to count.”
Robinson had also impressed Stassen with his indefatigable defense after the gorgeous goal. Robinson sprinted, full-out, for 35 yards to halt a Hoffman Estates rush. Coaches notice things like that, things that don’t show up in box scores or scoring summaries.
Coaches are also quick to praise moments like that.
“The motor Garrett has … the motors so many of our guys have are fantastic,” Stassen gushed.
Robinson’s breathing-room goal increased his season total to two goals, which happened to be junior teammate Jarrett Baumgartner’s goals-per-game number after three matches. Baumgartner, a 5-9 forward, settled for one goal against Hoffman Estates, giving him seven already in the 2019 season.
Imagine that: you score a goal in a match and your average output … drops.
“Jarrett,” Stassen said, “is on fire.
“We played well in the first 10 minutes tonight,” the coach added, alluding to the one minute that separated goals from sophomore forward Ethan Martinez and Baumgartner, as well as the Falcons’ sturdy defense in front of senior keeper Ray Min. “I also liked what we did at the end.”
Wheaton North (4-0-0), ranked at the top of the honorable mention list of the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, booted 11 shots on goal in the final 13 minutes.
Hoffman Estates (2-2-0 overall, 2-1-0 in the Hillner Classic) had applied similar heat in the first seven minutes of the second half after nearly cutting Wheaton North’s 2-0 advantage in half on a left-post-denting shot by freshman midfielder Connor Kurzynski as time expired in the first half. With their head coach Sean Armstrong off the sideine — he is hospitalized but expected to be released soon — the Hawks displayed steady urgency on offense and created a number of scoring threats.
“More energy, that’s what I noticed from our players at the start of the second half,” Hawks assistant coach David Rodriguez said. “The players talked [at halftime]; they knew what they had to do in order to play better soccer. We’re young [four sophomores and two freshmen starters], trying to keep our composure.
“We lost to a very good Wheaton North side, and that free kick goal was phenomenal.”
Armstrong sent a group text to his players before the match, and Rodriguez texted Armstrong the halftime score. The gist of Armstrong’s message: I’d give anything to see you play tonight. Believe in yourselves, defend the home field.'”
Hawks junior midfielder Juan Figueroa gave his side a lift with a goal in the 61st minute. Figueroa hustled to settle a shot from senior forward Jesus Martinez that had banged off the crossbar.
“Controlled the ball, made a little touch, took the shot,” the speedy Figueroa recounted.
Falcons midfielder Wednesday Woo almost had a Tuesday to remember. The 5-foot-9 junior nearly scored on a lengthy, left-footed shot with 2:05 remaining in the game.
Wheaton North played without injured senior forwards Will Wanzenberg and Badur Ibrahim, a native of Sudan. That left Stassen with 16 Falcons.
“We have flair in the middle, speed on the outside and discipline in the back,” Stassen, who was born in Ireland and grew up in England, said of his ’19 edition, which includes only three returning starters. “It’s a perfect mix. We brought up some youth — fast and aggressive youth. It’s a fit, gritty team.
“It’s also a fun group to watch,” added the fifth-year coach, a Wheaton North PE teacher who would teach gym classes at the school for free “because of Wheaton North’s administration.”
The group celebrated Wheaton North senior midfielder Ngun Thawng, who became a U.S. citizen last week. Thawng’s work rate and effective play, Stassen pointed out after Tuesday’s match, eased the Falcons' tall order of having to battle without the 6-foot-1 Wanzenberg.
With the win, Wheaton North took the lead in the Hillner Classic. The fourth-of-five tournament games comes against host Lake Park at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Hoffman Estates, who ranks in second place, visits South Elgin at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Wheaton North and Hoffman Estates conclude Classic action Saturday with clashes against York (9 a.m., at Lake Park’s East campus) and Lake Park (1 p.m.), respectively.
Footnotes
Wheaton North coach Rob Stassen suffered four torn knee ligaments (ACL) and three cartilage injuries in his soccer career. … Stassen guided Wheaton North’s Falcons to a Class 3A regional championship in 2017. The program had claimed three regional titles between 2008-13. … Early in Tuesday’s Wheaton North-Hoffman Estates Hillner Classic match, Wheaton North forward Ethan Martinez pushed-pushed-pushed the ball with his right foot in fairly heavy traffic in the goal box. Hoffman’s defense stymied him. “Martinez!” Stassen yelled. “Left foot!” Shortly thereafter, Martinez, off a feed from junior midfielder Erik Rozanski, tallied the match’s first goal. He used his right foot.
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK: Ray Min
D: Kyle Schauer
D: Noah Froebe
D: Tyler Larsen
D: Tristan MacKay
MF: Garrett Robinson
MF: Erik Rozanski
MF: Graham Stephenson
F: Ethan Martinez
F: Jarrett Baumgartner
F: Gyan Patel
Hoffman Estates
GK: Adrian Huerta
D: Siva Nakka
D: Colin Grochal
D: Kaden Eberman
MF: Juan Figueroa
MF: Julian Rios
MF: Connor Kurzynski
MF: Georgi Kyosev
F: Manny Amezcua
F: Simeon Georgiev
F: Jesus Martinez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Garrett Robinson, sr., MF, Wheaton North
Referee: Arek Pugacewicz
Scoring summary
First half
WN — E. Martinez (Rozanski) 7’
WN — Baumgartner (Stephenson) 8’
Second half
HE — Figueroa (J. Martinez) 61’
WN — Robinson (UA) 68’