Ay, Karubas! Neuqua Valley freshman surprises Waubonsie Valley in OT
Defender's 1st prep goal is golden for Wildcats
By Chris R. Walker
NAPERVILLE -- Wesley Karubas is the only freshman on the Neuqua Valley varsity.
Prior to Tuesday’s DuPage Valley Conference game against Indian Prairie School District 204 foe Waubonsie Valley, Karubas hadn’t scored.
Timing is everything in life, right?
Just a little more than two minutes into overtime, Karubas etched an athletic memory he will never forget. He netted the golden goal that lifted the Wildcats to a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the Warriors.
He was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match for his heroics.
“I drove in and saw Parker (Kurtenbach) open and passed him the ball. I just wanted to run off, because I saw a lot of space in the middle,” Karubas said. “He played me a great ball, and I was able to drive through and score the goal.”
Acknowledging that he’s been playing this game for as long as he can remember, Karubas was happy to have a cheering section on-hand supporting his team. Of course, not even the most optimistic athlete could anticipate making their first high school goal golden to beat arguably his school’s biggest rival.
“This is huge for me,” Karubas said. “I’ve been with the Galaxy club since I was five, but this was a huge goal for me in a big rivalry game. I loved it.
“I had some family and friends here for the big rivalry, because we wanted as many people here as possible. This is a huge win for us. I think this turns our season around. Maybe we can build from this and be even better in October and get more Ws.”
Rivalry games are at their best when they go down to the wire. Ending with sudden death is about as awesome as it gets.
“Sometimes I think when you go into overtime it’s going to be a matter of who wants it,” Wildcats coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “It’s almost like a state playoff game. I know your record plays in it a little bit, but who wants it? And I think it was the same thing here. The records were out of the door.”
Karubas, an outside back, has been working hard all season. The payoff of seeing his teammates swallowing him up in a joyous celebration in the late afternoon of a windy and chilly fall day, provided reason enough for Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez to smile.
“It’s one of those games that everyone wants to play in and to get a winning goal,” Gonzalez said. “I can imagine what he’s feeling. It was a great game and aside from the goal or not, (Karubas) has had a great season for us. He’s put in good shifts. Even when he’s hurt, he’s still at it.”
The coach said the youngster stays out of trouble on the field and plays beyond his years.
“He’s good going upfield, and … does add a lot to the attack,” Gonzalez said. “At the same time he’s very conscious that he needs to get back, so he does lot of 18 to 18. It’s a plus when you have an outside back that does that for you. It’s a good thing to have.”
It was a good thing to have the wind at your back at Neuqua Valley on Tuesday night, too. All the goals were scored with the advantage.
Neuqua Valley (4-7-3, 1-2-1) punished Waubonsie Valley (6-10-1, 2-2-0) when it proved unable to clean up a corner kick from Andrew Tedrow that landed on the natural surface. With the ball in a dangerous place, Sattam Alharbi was able to gain possession and roll in a goal with 24:43 remaining in the opening half for a 1-0 lead.
Whereas Alharbi barely got enough juice on his shot for it to successfully situate itself in the back of net, Ege Tunar blasted his shot from about 20 yards with 4:23 left before halftime that made it 2-0 at the break.
Waubonsie Valley finally got on the scoreboard after another of Michael Cullen’s impressive long throw-ins. He was able to find Tate Deasy who assisted Gean Ribeiro Scarpelli with 32:48 left in regulation to make it 2-1.
“We said before going into the half that we had to get one early (in the second half),” Deasy said. “We were down two, obviously, which is tough to come back from. When we got one right away, it switched the momentum. I felt like everybody felt the momentum change when we scored. It’s great we have someone (Cullen) that can throw it as far as he can. We catch them off guard usually and score a lot of goals like that.”
It didn’t take the Warriors very long to net the equalizer either. Amiel Nichani was able to secure possession in the penalty area and fire in a shot to make it 2-2 with 26:11 remaining.
“There was a huge advantage with the wind today,” Deasy said. “It was blowing directly at the goal this way. They put up two when they were going that way and when we went that way it was a whole different game.
“Unfortunately, they got to go that way for OT. There was nothing we could really do about that, but we fought back hard. We always fight back. We never give up until the final whistle. Obviously today it was the golden goal.”
Tadiwa Nyamunduru, Garrett Lee and Derek Sisbarro tried to break the regulation tie in Neuqua Valley’s favor. Sisbarro just fired a bit too high. Nyamunduru almost scored when he smashed a free kick which proceeded to curve towards the inside of the far post, but was batted away by Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Ben Burlingame.
His teammate, with a split second of time or another yard of space may have given the Warriors the lead with only two minutes left in regulation.
Scarpelli, working with Nichani, eluded Neuqua Valley goalkeeper Nick Varrone, who had drifted outside the front of the net. While Scarpelli’s athleticism allowed him to somehow catch up with and get his foot on the ball before it bounced out of play, his window to scoring was slim and his shot sailed into the side of the net.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game and both teams would be going on and off,” Scarpelli said. “We didn’t know how they were going to come out. They came out stronger than us in the first 20 minutes, but then we got our stuff together. We had more energy in the second half and created a lot of chances.
“It was a tough game to lose,” he added. “Today wasn’t our day and with the way we’ve been playing the last few games, I feel like we should’ve played way better.”
The Warriors have now dropped three-straight games, although among those losses was a 2-1 decision to 25th-ranked East Aurora and a 3-0 defeat to a Streamwood squad that has played two competitive games with top-ranked Elgin.
“The seedings will be out Thursday, so it is what it is,” Warriors coach Jose Garcia said. “The goal is the postseason at this point.”
Missed opportunities continue to plague the Warriors.
“We had our chances but you have to capitalize on those opportunities,” Garcia said. “I think that was a big factor. We missed ones we should’ve made. It would’ve been a different game altogether, but that’s the way soccer is.”
What wasn’t lost on Garcia was how his kids continued to fight back, overcoming adeficit to force overtime.
“Going down 2-0 is tough for any team, so the fact that we got up and scored two goals right away and fought back was impressive for my boys,” Garcia said. “Can we just please be more consistent? But that’s high school soccer for you. It is what it is.”
It was a huge victory for Neuqua Valley, which hadn’t won since beating Minooka 4-1 on Sept. 1.
“I think it was deserved and about time we got that ‘W,’” Gonzalez said. “Our record doesn’t show it and our results don’t show it, but actually we’ve been playing good soccer. But you can’t just say we’re playing great soccer if the record’s not there.”
Starting lineups
Waubonsie Valley
GK: Ben Burlingame
FP: Nick Cerrilli
FP: Michael Cullen
FP: Cade Valek
FP: Tate Deasy
FP: Lachlan Ladd
FP: Michael Spano
FP: Gean Ribeiro Scarpelli
FP: Amiel Nichani
FP: Angel Gallegos
FP: Stephen Thomas
Neuqua Valley
GK: Nick Varrone
D: Jack Doll
D: Ayel Kikama
D: Justin Senese
D: Ayel Kikama
D: Justin Senese
MF: Esteban Pimentel
MF: Derek Sisbarro
MF: Andrew Tedrow
F: Garrett Lee
F: Tadiwa Nyamunduru
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Wesley Karubas, fr., D, Neuqua Valley
Scoring summary
First half
NV – Sattam Alharbi (Andrew Tedrow), 15:17
NV – Ege Tunar (unassisted), 35:37
Second half
WV – Gean Ribeiro Scarpelli (Tate Deasy), 47:12
WV – Amiel Nichani (unassisted), 53:49
First overtime
NV – Wesley Karubas (unassisted), 82:02
Defender's 1st prep goal is golden for Wildcats
By Chris R. Walker
NAPERVILLE -- Wesley Karubas is the only freshman on the Neuqua Valley varsity.
Prior to Tuesday’s DuPage Valley Conference game against Indian Prairie School District 204 foe Waubonsie Valley, Karubas hadn’t scored.
Timing is everything in life, right?
Just a little more than two minutes into overtime, Karubas etched an athletic memory he will never forget. He netted the golden goal that lifted the Wildcats to a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory over the Warriors.
He was named Chicagoland Soccer’s Man of the Match for his heroics.
“I drove in and saw Parker (Kurtenbach) open and passed him the ball. I just wanted to run off, because I saw a lot of space in the middle,” Karubas said. “He played me a great ball, and I was able to drive through and score the goal.”
Acknowledging that he’s been playing this game for as long as he can remember, Karubas was happy to have a cheering section on-hand supporting his team. Of course, not even the most optimistic athlete could anticipate making their first high school goal golden to beat arguably his school’s biggest rival.
“This is huge for me,” Karubas said. “I’ve been with the Galaxy club since I was five, but this was a huge goal for me in a big rivalry game. I loved it.
“I had some family and friends here for the big rivalry, because we wanted as many people here as possible. This is a huge win for us. I think this turns our season around. Maybe we can build from this and be even better in October and get more Ws.”
Rivalry games are at their best when they go down to the wire. Ending with sudden death is about as awesome as it gets.
“Sometimes I think when you go into overtime it’s going to be a matter of who wants it,” Wildcats coach Arnoldo Gonzalez said. “It’s almost like a state playoff game. I know your record plays in it a little bit, but who wants it? And I think it was the same thing here. The records were out of the door.”
Karubas, an outside back, has been working hard all season. The payoff of seeing his teammates swallowing him up in a joyous celebration in the late afternoon of a windy and chilly fall day, provided reason enough for Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez to smile.
“It’s one of those games that everyone wants to play in and to get a winning goal,” Gonzalez said. “I can imagine what he’s feeling. It was a great game and aside from the goal or not, (Karubas) has had a great season for us. He’s put in good shifts. Even when he’s hurt, he’s still at it.”
The coach said the youngster stays out of trouble on the field and plays beyond his years.
“He’s good going upfield, and … does add a lot to the attack,” Gonzalez said. “At the same time he’s very conscious that he needs to get back, so he does lot of 18 to 18. It’s a plus when you have an outside back that does that for you. It’s a good thing to have.”
It was a good thing to have the wind at your back at Neuqua Valley on Tuesday night, too. All the goals were scored with the advantage.
Neuqua Valley (4-7-3, 1-2-1) punished Waubonsie Valley (6-10-1, 2-2-0) when it proved unable to clean up a corner kick from Andrew Tedrow that landed on the natural surface. With the ball in a dangerous place, Sattam Alharbi was able to gain possession and roll in a goal with 24:43 remaining in the opening half for a 1-0 lead.
Whereas Alharbi barely got enough juice on his shot for it to successfully situate itself in the back of net, Ege Tunar blasted his shot from about 20 yards with 4:23 left before halftime that made it 2-0 at the break.
Waubonsie Valley finally got on the scoreboard after another of Michael Cullen’s impressive long throw-ins. He was able to find Tate Deasy who assisted Gean Ribeiro Scarpelli with 32:48 left in regulation to make it 2-1.
“We said before going into the half that we had to get one early (in the second half),” Deasy said. “We were down two, obviously, which is tough to come back from. When we got one right away, it switched the momentum. I felt like everybody felt the momentum change when we scored. It’s great we have someone (Cullen) that can throw it as far as he can. We catch them off guard usually and score a lot of goals like that.”
It didn’t take the Warriors very long to net the equalizer either. Amiel Nichani was able to secure possession in the penalty area and fire in a shot to make it 2-2 with 26:11 remaining.
“There was a huge advantage with the wind today,” Deasy said. “It was blowing directly at the goal this way. They put up two when they were going that way and when we went that way it was a whole different game.
“Unfortunately, they got to go that way for OT. There was nothing we could really do about that, but we fought back hard. We always fight back. We never give up until the final whistle. Obviously today it was the golden goal.”
Tadiwa Nyamunduru, Garrett Lee and Derek Sisbarro tried to break the regulation tie in Neuqua Valley’s favor. Sisbarro just fired a bit too high. Nyamunduru almost scored when he smashed a free kick which proceeded to curve towards the inside of the far post, but was batted away by Waubonsie Valley goalkeeper Ben Burlingame.
His teammate, with a split second of time or another yard of space may have given the Warriors the lead with only two minutes left in regulation.
Scarpelli, working with Nichani, eluded Neuqua Valley goalkeeper Nick Varrone, who had drifted outside the front of the net. While Scarpelli’s athleticism allowed him to somehow catch up with and get his foot on the ball before it bounced out of play, his window to scoring was slim and his shot sailed into the side of the net.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game and both teams would be going on and off,” Scarpelli said. “We didn’t know how they were going to come out. They came out stronger than us in the first 20 minutes, but then we got our stuff together. We had more energy in the second half and created a lot of chances.
“It was a tough game to lose,” he added. “Today wasn’t our day and with the way we’ve been playing the last few games, I feel like we should’ve played way better.”
The Warriors have now dropped three-straight games, although among those losses was a 2-1 decision to 25th-ranked East Aurora and a 3-0 defeat to a Streamwood squad that has played two competitive games with top-ranked Elgin.
“The seedings will be out Thursday, so it is what it is,” Warriors coach Jose Garcia said. “The goal is the postseason at this point.”
Missed opportunities continue to plague the Warriors.
“We had our chances but you have to capitalize on those opportunities,” Garcia said. “I think that was a big factor. We missed ones we should’ve made. It would’ve been a different game altogether, but that’s the way soccer is.”
What wasn’t lost on Garcia was how his kids continued to fight back, overcoming adeficit to force overtime.
“Going down 2-0 is tough for any team, so the fact that we got up and scored two goals right away and fought back was impressive for my boys,” Garcia said. “Can we just please be more consistent? But that’s high school soccer for you. It is what it is.”
It was a huge victory for Neuqua Valley, which hadn’t won since beating Minooka 4-1 on Sept. 1.
“I think it was deserved and about time we got that ‘W,’” Gonzalez said. “Our record doesn’t show it and our results don’t show it, but actually we’ve been playing good soccer. But you can’t just say we’re playing great soccer if the record’s not there.”
Starting lineups
Waubonsie Valley
GK: Ben Burlingame
FP: Nick Cerrilli
FP: Michael Cullen
FP: Cade Valek
FP: Tate Deasy
FP: Lachlan Ladd
FP: Michael Spano
FP: Gean Ribeiro Scarpelli
FP: Amiel Nichani
FP: Angel Gallegos
FP: Stephen Thomas
Neuqua Valley
GK: Nick Varrone
D: Jack Doll
D: Ayel Kikama
D: Justin Senese
D: Ayel Kikama
D: Justin Senese
MF: Esteban Pimentel
MF: Derek Sisbarro
MF: Andrew Tedrow
F: Garrett Lee
F: Tadiwa Nyamunduru
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match:
Wesley Karubas, fr., D, Neuqua Valley
Scoring summary
First half
NV – Sattam Alharbi (Andrew Tedrow), 15:17
NV – Ege Tunar (unassisted), 35:37
Second half
WV – Gean Ribeiro Scarpelli (Tate Deasy), 47:12
WV – Amiel Nichani (unassisted), 53:49
First overtime
NV – Wesley Karubas (unassisted), 82:02