Glorioso’s OT goal keeps WV alive
Warriors win 1-0 at Plainfield Central in regional quarterfinal
By Gary Larsen
PLAINFIELD — Prior to Waubonsie Valley’s Class 3A regional game at Plainfield Central on Saturday, Waubonsie Valley coach Jose Garcia had a message for his team.
“I told them that I wish I had another month with them, because I see how this team is developing,” Garcia said. “It’s about the future, and now they’re developing into the team we want them to be.”
At the very least, the Warriors gave their coach another game.
As the no. 19 seed of the Geneva sectional, Waubonsie Valley (4-12-1) won 1-0 in overtime against no. 13 Plainfield Central (8-16-0) to earn a spot in a regional semifinal on Tuesday.
The Warriors will take on no. 3 Oswego at Plainfield North.
“It feels great,” Waubonsie Valley’s Noah Glorioso said. “It’s the same thing as last year, when we won in overtime and went on to play the next (playoff) game. Hopefully, this year, we can win it.”
Last year, Waubonsie Valley won 4-3 in overtime in a regional semifinal against West Aurora before losing 3-2 in a regional title game against rival Metea Valley.
It was Glorioso’s goal in a first of two mandatory overtime periods that won it for Waubonsie Valley on Saturday. The junior ran onto a ball sent over the top along the right-side touchline in the final minute of overtime and rose to the occasion from 16 yards.
“Adrian (Mehra) played the ball over, and I just turned and looked at goal,” Glorioso said. “There was just one defender on my side, and I figured I could out-run him. Then I just kind of slotted it back post.”
A scoreless second overtime followed, giving Waubonsie the upset and ending the season for Plainfield Central.
“That’s our ninth 1-0 game,” Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “Credit (Waubonsie Valley). They’re good, they played well, and they made one more better play than us.
“We know they play a tough schedule, and they’ve been playing much better lately. We certainly weren’t looking past them, because I’d say that both teams had similar seasons.”
Plainfield Central won the coin toss and played the first half with a wind at its back. Both teams had chances, but neither Waubonsie Valley keeper Bryan Grimaldo nor Plainfield Central keeper Sebastian Contreras gave up anything.
Waubonsie Valley also had to adjust in the first half to the Wildcats’ style of play.
“They’re a big team, physical, and they like contact,” Waubonsie Valley midfielder Brandon Garduno said. “We just had to be ready for that contact and play fast. Nothing fancy.”
The second half saw Waubonsie Valley apply steadier attacking pressure with the wind at its back. Glorioso, Garduno, Milan Erastus-Obilo, and Jorge Gallegos all found multiple shots on net, and Ryan Sanchez sent numerous free kicks into the box for the Warriors.
Contreras was one busy keeper in the second half but he kept Waubonsie Valley out of net.
“We withheld, and we relied on (Contreras) probably a little more than we should,” Fitzgerald said. “But he’s always up for it and ready to do it. He’s probably a better kid than he is a goalie, and he’s a phenomenal goalie. I don’t know how many saves he made today, but it was probably more than he should have.”
On the other end, Grimaldo also stayed solid in net, rising to every challenge Plainfield Central brought in the counterattack. Grimaldo and defenders Sanchez, Mehra, Matthew Shannon, and Ryan Shea keyed the Warriors' first shutout of the season.
The Warriors struggled for wins this year with a young team. But their coach took the long view all along.
“I’ve been telling them since the beginning of the season: we’re progressing; we’re getting better,” Garcia said.“They had to buy in to our ideas and our philosophy.
“At first they didn’t really grasp it or understand it, but we drilled it and kept telling them to trust us. Once they started to trust, they started playing their game.”
Nine minutes of scoreless overtime play ensued before Glorioso was able to give the game a goal. Glorioso’s big finish and dangerous presence throughout earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Man honor.
“We’ve hit a lot of posts and crossbars and had a lot of unlucky chances this year,” Glorioso said. “We also had a lot of new players at the beginning of the year. Finding the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on the team is a big thing. As we’ve gone through the year we’ve figured out how to play to (those strengths) and how to get the ball flowing,”
If the Warriors can apply attacking pressure against Oswego the way they did against Plainfield Central, they know they have a chance to survive and advance in the postseason.
They also know they’ll need to finish.
“Scoring is something we’ve struggled with all season. The season hasn’t been great,” Garduno said. “But we’ve become better friends during the year, and we’re talking on the field more. We weren’t doing that at the beginning of the year. And now we just want to go as far as we can.”
For Plainfield Central, a core of players among 11 departing seniors will be missed.
“We lose our whole backline, our goalie, and Hunter (Fuss) at midfield,” Fitzgerald said. “We only had three juniors, we have a lot of sophomores, and we played a few freshmen today. Hopefully, they’ll develop for next year.”
Contreras hopes the leadership this year’s seniors aimed to provide will bear fruit for the program next season.
“Our offense was very young. A lot of them were sophomores or freshmen,” Contreras said. “I hope they’ve learned that every minute, every second, is a battle.
“I’ve been through a lot in four years here, and I learned a lot from seniors from past years. The biggest thing I hope I’ve helped teach our younger players is that you have to play together as a family. We wanted to do as much as we could to help teach them, to help us get to our goals. Obviously the goal part didn’t happen but hopefully we’ve taught them a lot about hard work.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK Sebastian Contreras
D Victor Saunoris
D Zach Bargas
D Omar Zavala
D Alan Ontiveros
MF Humberto Jaimes
MF Lukas Macha
MF Michael Finder
MF Berto Centeno
F Tanner Rains
F Hunter Fuss
Waubonsie Valley
GK Bryan Grimaldo
D Ryan Sanchez
D Matthew Shannon
D Adrian Mehra
D Ryan Shea
MF Brandon Garduno
MF Zach Stanley
MF Aaron Griffith
MF Milan Erastus-Obilo
MF Daniel Fritz
F Noah Glorioso
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Noah Glorioso, jr., F, Waubonsie Valley
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
Waubonsie Valley: Glorioso (Mehra) 89 minutes
Second overtime
No scoring
Warriors win 1-0 at Plainfield Central in regional quarterfinal
By Gary Larsen
PLAINFIELD — Prior to Waubonsie Valley’s Class 3A regional game at Plainfield Central on Saturday, Waubonsie Valley coach Jose Garcia had a message for his team.
“I told them that I wish I had another month with them, because I see how this team is developing,” Garcia said. “It’s about the future, and now they’re developing into the team we want them to be.”
At the very least, the Warriors gave their coach another game.
As the no. 19 seed of the Geneva sectional, Waubonsie Valley (4-12-1) won 1-0 in overtime against no. 13 Plainfield Central (8-16-0) to earn a spot in a regional semifinal on Tuesday.
The Warriors will take on no. 3 Oswego at Plainfield North.
“It feels great,” Waubonsie Valley’s Noah Glorioso said. “It’s the same thing as last year, when we won in overtime and went on to play the next (playoff) game. Hopefully, this year, we can win it.”
Last year, Waubonsie Valley won 4-3 in overtime in a regional semifinal against West Aurora before losing 3-2 in a regional title game against rival Metea Valley.
It was Glorioso’s goal in a first of two mandatory overtime periods that won it for Waubonsie Valley on Saturday. The junior ran onto a ball sent over the top along the right-side touchline in the final minute of overtime and rose to the occasion from 16 yards.
“Adrian (Mehra) played the ball over, and I just turned and looked at goal,” Glorioso said. “There was just one defender on my side, and I figured I could out-run him. Then I just kind of slotted it back post.”
A scoreless second overtime followed, giving Waubonsie the upset and ending the season for Plainfield Central.
“That’s our ninth 1-0 game,” Plainfield Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. “Credit (Waubonsie Valley). They’re good, they played well, and they made one more better play than us.
“We know they play a tough schedule, and they’ve been playing much better lately. We certainly weren’t looking past them, because I’d say that both teams had similar seasons.”
Plainfield Central won the coin toss and played the first half with a wind at its back. Both teams had chances, but neither Waubonsie Valley keeper Bryan Grimaldo nor Plainfield Central keeper Sebastian Contreras gave up anything.
Waubonsie Valley also had to adjust in the first half to the Wildcats’ style of play.
“They’re a big team, physical, and they like contact,” Waubonsie Valley midfielder Brandon Garduno said. “We just had to be ready for that contact and play fast. Nothing fancy.”
The second half saw Waubonsie Valley apply steadier attacking pressure with the wind at its back. Glorioso, Garduno, Milan Erastus-Obilo, and Jorge Gallegos all found multiple shots on net, and Ryan Sanchez sent numerous free kicks into the box for the Warriors.
Contreras was one busy keeper in the second half but he kept Waubonsie Valley out of net.
“We withheld, and we relied on (Contreras) probably a little more than we should,” Fitzgerald said. “But he’s always up for it and ready to do it. He’s probably a better kid than he is a goalie, and he’s a phenomenal goalie. I don’t know how many saves he made today, but it was probably more than he should have.”
On the other end, Grimaldo also stayed solid in net, rising to every challenge Plainfield Central brought in the counterattack. Grimaldo and defenders Sanchez, Mehra, Matthew Shannon, and Ryan Shea keyed the Warriors' first shutout of the season.
The Warriors struggled for wins this year with a young team. But their coach took the long view all along.
“I’ve been telling them since the beginning of the season: we’re progressing; we’re getting better,” Garcia said.“They had to buy in to our ideas and our philosophy.
“At first they didn’t really grasp it or understand it, but we drilled it and kept telling them to trust us. Once they started to trust, they started playing their game.”
Nine minutes of scoreless overtime play ensued before Glorioso was able to give the game a goal. Glorioso’s big finish and dangerous presence throughout earned him the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Man honor.
“We’ve hit a lot of posts and crossbars and had a lot of unlucky chances this year,” Glorioso said. “We also had a lot of new players at the beginning of the year. Finding the strengths and weaknesses of everyone on the team is a big thing. As we’ve gone through the year we’ve figured out how to play to (those strengths) and how to get the ball flowing,”
If the Warriors can apply attacking pressure against Oswego the way they did against Plainfield Central, they know they have a chance to survive and advance in the postseason.
They also know they’ll need to finish.
“Scoring is something we’ve struggled with all season. The season hasn’t been great,” Garduno said. “But we’ve become better friends during the year, and we’re talking on the field more. We weren’t doing that at the beginning of the year. And now we just want to go as far as we can.”
For Plainfield Central, a core of players among 11 departing seniors will be missed.
“We lose our whole backline, our goalie, and Hunter (Fuss) at midfield,” Fitzgerald said. “We only had three juniors, we have a lot of sophomores, and we played a few freshmen today. Hopefully, they’ll develop for next year.”
Contreras hopes the leadership this year’s seniors aimed to provide will bear fruit for the program next season.
“Our offense was very young. A lot of them were sophomores or freshmen,” Contreras said. “I hope they’ve learned that every minute, every second, is a battle.
“I’ve been through a lot in four years here, and I learned a lot from seniors from past years. The biggest thing I hope I’ve helped teach our younger players is that you have to play together as a family. We wanted to do as much as we could to help teach them, to help us get to our goals. Obviously the goal part didn’t happen but hopefully we’ve taught them a lot about hard work.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK Sebastian Contreras
D Victor Saunoris
D Zach Bargas
D Omar Zavala
D Alan Ontiveros
MF Humberto Jaimes
MF Lukas Macha
MF Michael Finder
MF Berto Centeno
F Tanner Rains
F Hunter Fuss
Waubonsie Valley
GK Bryan Grimaldo
D Ryan Sanchez
D Matthew Shannon
D Adrian Mehra
D Ryan Shea
MF Brandon Garduno
MF Zach Stanley
MF Aaron Griffith
MF Milan Erastus-Obilo
MF Daniel Fritz
F Noah Glorioso
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Noah Glorioso, jr., F, Waubonsie Valley
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
No scoring
First overtime
Waubonsie Valley: Glorioso (Mehra) 89 minutes
Second overtime
No scoring