Motivated Weisheit leads
WWS past Lake Park
Late-season hot streak continues with game-winner in 3-2 victory
By Bobby Narang
ROSELLE — Many are enjoying Jason Weisheit's late-season scoring surge.
The forward is on a spree that’s helped Wheaton Warrenville South garner some nice results.
Weisheit scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win over Batavia on Senior Night on Sept. 23. He scored both goals in a 2-2 draw against Glenbard West on Sept. 25.
He said he built confidence in the spring season. Now the senior is motivated to play well to aid his chances for an opportunity to play at the next level. Every goal is a stepping stone.
“I’m hoping to continue my career in college, so I have to perform,” Weisheit said. “I’ve also been playing with a lot of confidence. That always helps when you are always in the attacking third. We’re all also getting used to each other. The last year, it’s basically the same team from the spring. We’re finding our groove now, and I’m finding my groove with the goals.”
Weisheit added another chapter to his growing legacy with the eventual game-winner that led the Tigers to a 3-2 win over Lake Park in DuKane Conference play Tuesday night.
The Tigers (7-5-4, 3-2-1) gained a key victory in the conference heading into the final week of the regular season. The Lancers (4-9-4, 2-3-1) made the game interesting with a goal in the 77th minute and a shot from star Frankie Caira that smacked off the crossbar with 20 seconds left in regulation.
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said beating Lake Park is a confidence builder for the playoffs, especially after the Lancers' huge league upset.
“Lake Park is well-coached, has the only (conference win) against St. Charles East. So they came into this match with a lot of clout and momentum and confidence,” Callipari said. “We were little worried about playing here. We typically don’t play on grass. We were little concerned about the pace which we were able to play, but the grass actually played very well.
“We were concerned about how slick it was at night. So there was a lot of things outside the opposition that we weren’t comfortable with. But at the end of the day, I thought we got into some rhythm and found we could play in the final third where we had opportunities. We made the best of some of them. (Lake Park) never gave up, but we had enough in the bank to get a win. We’ll take the three points in the conference. It’s a tight conference, so we’ll go into the last week to see where we fall.”
After both teams played 160 minutes of action in the spring with two draws and two total goals, Tuesday’s five-goal game was a welcome reprieve. Many Tigers expressed happiness finally beating the Lancers.
“To win this just feels awesome, really awesome,” Wheaton Warrenville South’s Brian Tunney said. “We have a lot of momentum going forward, because we’re starting to connect and have a lot of good chemistry. I think everyone has something to bring to the table, and they’re finding their role. We’re starting to execute.”
Junior midfielder Gael Alfaro agreed.
“It means everything to us, because we were coming into this as underdogs,” Alfaro said. “This win feels good. We can make it very far in the playoffs. When we play like this, we’re a very confident team.”
Despite falling into an early 2-0 hole, Lake Park nearly recovered and forced a draw. Lancers coach Sean Crosby said he was encouraged by his team’s aggressive play, but he noted the importance of playing hard for a full 80 minutes.
“We wanted to win after tying with them home and away in the spring,” Crosby said. “Wheaton Warrenville South is a good team and a well-coached team. They have some speed upfront that is definitely tough. That’s the strength of their game. I felt we put ourselves in a pressure situation not fully able to clear two chances on their goals.
“It’s tough. You have to be really sharp defensively against a team with talent, speed and shooting ability upfront. It’s hard to cover that backside when you’re trying to recover and score goals. It’s a talented team with a good group and was a good test that will help us for the postseason. Unfortunately, we were hoping to get more than zero points today.”
Tunney notched the first goal of the game in the 19th minute. His 30-yard shot off an assist from Marco Gonzalez found the far corner of the net.
“I saw the ball come to Marco, and there was space behind him,” Tunney said. “I had faith Marco could place a good ball to me. I decided to rip it.”
Weisheit helped build the lead to 2-0 by providing a great pass to junior Issa Husseini in the 36th minute.
“I knew I had pace up-top, and they didn’t seem as fast as I was. So I just took it down the line and went baseline and tried to slide it across to him,” Weisheit said. “At first, I didn’t think Issa was going to get to that. I was afraid he was going to give me some (grief) for that since we’ve been working on that in practice. Thankfully he scored. I was happy about that.”
Husseini said he “hasn’t scored many goals this year,” so he was happy to put one away in a conference game.
“He was dribbling down the line, and I had to sprint into the box," Husseini said. "He crossed it, and the defender had a bad touch. I saw it, and I tucked in the shot. We have been working hard, and we needed this win to place high in the conference. This win feels great.”
Lake Park nearly broke into the scoring column on a bullet shot from Raim Ramani in the 37th minute, but Wheaton Warrenville South goalie Jared Ferreya deflected the ball away. As the final seconds ticked down in the first half, Lake Park’s Jason Salwach hurried to set up for a corner kick. He quickly steadied the ball, glanced at the box and sent in a buzzer-beater that curved into the net with three seconds left until halftime.
Tunney said Wheaton Warrenville South was not happy.
“It was a little disappointing,” he said. “That’s soft. I was disappointed in mostly myself, because I was on the back post. I didn’t want it to affect the second half. I played aggressive.”
Then Weisheit played the hero role again for the Tigers. He scored off a rebound in the 46th minute to increase the lead to 3-1 with his seventh goal of the season.
“It was just a good ball,” he said. “I was in the position at the right time. It was a tough angle with my weak foot. But it hit the back post, and it went it.”
Lake Park put some fear into their visitors when senior midfielder Jose Maldonado knocked into a shot from 23 yards in the 77th minute.
“I felt we kept fighting until the end,” Maldonado said. “I got the ball on my feet and got a quick goal to help my team out. It was late in the game, but at that moment, I felt anything could happen. It was a booster for us.”
Caira failed to score a goal, but nearly scored on two shots -- one in the first 20 seconds and another in the final 20 seconds.
“We played better in the second half,” Caira said. “We had a lot of chances in the end. We put two forwards up-top, and it worked out well. The first 40 (minutes) weren’t working our way, but we played well in the end.”
Crosby said the Lancers weren’t able to take advantage of the last first half goal, even with several Wheaton Warrenville South players clearly dejected while walking to the bench for the halftime talk.
“We felt we had the momentum going into halftime,” Crosby said. “The first few minutes we gave them a good test, but it took our guys a long time to bounce back after they scored their third goal so early in the second half. Angel scored on a nice strike. He hit it so well with pace and on the floor. I’m really proud of him and happy to see him score today. Frankie’s been in a little drought.
“He was chasing. Our attacking group was not letting the game come to them, because we were down. We had to be patient. Overall, I liked that our boys hung in and played to the last minute. Frankie had a close shot at the end. I appreciate the fight in them. We had a lot of heavy legs. A lot of teams would quit, but we didn’t.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Jared Ferreya
D Tim Foley
D Drew Murman
D Nikhil Bawa
D Brian Tunney
MF Edgar Guzman
MF Chase Kedzior
MF Gael Alfaro
F Marco Gonzalez
F Issa Hussseini
F Jason Weisheit
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Eric Reyes
D Erdet Agaj
D Oscar Sagan
D Aidan Killmer
MF Shane Donnelly
MF Frankie Caira
MF Edgar Villagran
MF Jason Salwach
F Jose Maldonado
F Raim Ramani
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jason Weisheit, sr., F, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Warrenville South — Brian Tunney (Marco Gonzalez), 19th minute
Wheaton Warrenville South — Issa Husseini (Jason Weisheit), 36th minute
Lake Park — Jason Salwach (unassisted), 40th minute
Second half
Wheaton Warrenville South — Jason Weisheit (unassisted), 46th minute
Lake Park — Jose Maldonado (unassisted), 77th minute
WWS past Lake Park
Late-season hot streak continues with game-winner in 3-2 victory
By Bobby Narang
ROSELLE — Many are enjoying Jason Weisheit's late-season scoring surge.
The forward is on a spree that’s helped Wheaton Warrenville South garner some nice results.
Weisheit scored the winning goal in a 1-0 win over Batavia on Senior Night on Sept. 23. He scored both goals in a 2-2 draw against Glenbard West on Sept. 25.
He said he built confidence in the spring season. Now the senior is motivated to play well to aid his chances for an opportunity to play at the next level. Every goal is a stepping stone.
“I’m hoping to continue my career in college, so I have to perform,” Weisheit said. “I’ve also been playing with a lot of confidence. That always helps when you are always in the attacking third. We’re all also getting used to each other. The last year, it’s basically the same team from the spring. We’re finding our groove now, and I’m finding my groove with the goals.”
Weisheit added another chapter to his growing legacy with the eventual game-winner that led the Tigers to a 3-2 win over Lake Park in DuKane Conference play Tuesday night.
The Tigers (7-5-4, 3-2-1) gained a key victory in the conference heading into the final week of the regular season. The Lancers (4-9-4, 2-3-1) made the game interesting with a goal in the 77th minute and a shot from star Frankie Caira that smacked off the crossbar with 20 seconds left in regulation.
Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said beating Lake Park is a confidence builder for the playoffs, especially after the Lancers' huge league upset.
“Lake Park is well-coached, has the only (conference win) against St. Charles East. So they came into this match with a lot of clout and momentum and confidence,” Callipari said. “We were little worried about playing here. We typically don’t play on grass. We were little concerned about the pace which we were able to play, but the grass actually played very well.
“We were concerned about how slick it was at night. So there was a lot of things outside the opposition that we weren’t comfortable with. But at the end of the day, I thought we got into some rhythm and found we could play in the final third where we had opportunities. We made the best of some of them. (Lake Park) never gave up, but we had enough in the bank to get a win. We’ll take the three points in the conference. It’s a tight conference, so we’ll go into the last week to see where we fall.”
After both teams played 160 minutes of action in the spring with two draws and two total goals, Tuesday’s five-goal game was a welcome reprieve. Many Tigers expressed happiness finally beating the Lancers.
“To win this just feels awesome, really awesome,” Wheaton Warrenville South’s Brian Tunney said. “We have a lot of momentum going forward, because we’re starting to connect and have a lot of good chemistry. I think everyone has something to bring to the table, and they’re finding their role. We’re starting to execute.”
Junior midfielder Gael Alfaro agreed.
“It means everything to us, because we were coming into this as underdogs,” Alfaro said. “This win feels good. We can make it very far in the playoffs. When we play like this, we’re a very confident team.”
Despite falling into an early 2-0 hole, Lake Park nearly recovered and forced a draw. Lancers coach Sean Crosby said he was encouraged by his team’s aggressive play, but he noted the importance of playing hard for a full 80 minutes.
“We wanted to win after tying with them home and away in the spring,” Crosby said. “Wheaton Warrenville South is a good team and a well-coached team. They have some speed upfront that is definitely tough. That’s the strength of their game. I felt we put ourselves in a pressure situation not fully able to clear two chances on their goals.
“It’s tough. You have to be really sharp defensively against a team with talent, speed and shooting ability upfront. It’s hard to cover that backside when you’re trying to recover and score goals. It’s a talented team with a good group and was a good test that will help us for the postseason. Unfortunately, we were hoping to get more than zero points today.”
Tunney notched the first goal of the game in the 19th minute. His 30-yard shot off an assist from Marco Gonzalez found the far corner of the net.
“I saw the ball come to Marco, and there was space behind him,” Tunney said. “I had faith Marco could place a good ball to me. I decided to rip it.”
Weisheit helped build the lead to 2-0 by providing a great pass to junior Issa Husseini in the 36th minute.
“I knew I had pace up-top, and they didn’t seem as fast as I was. So I just took it down the line and went baseline and tried to slide it across to him,” Weisheit said. “At first, I didn’t think Issa was going to get to that. I was afraid he was going to give me some (grief) for that since we’ve been working on that in practice. Thankfully he scored. I was happy about that.”
Husseini said he “hasn’t scored many goals this year,” so he was happy to put one away in a conference game.
“He was dribbling down the line, and I had to sprint into the box," Husseini said. "He crossed it, and the defender had a bad touch. I saw it, and I tucked in the shot. We have been working hard, and we needed this win to place high in the conference. This win feels great.”
Lake Park nearly broke into the scoring column on a bullet shot from Raim Ramani in the 37th minute, but Wheaton Warrenville South goalie Jared Ferreya deflected the ball away. As the final seconds ticked down in the first half, Lake Park’s Jason Salwach hurried to set up for a corner kick. He quickly steadied the ball, glanced at the box and sent in a buzzer-beater that curved into the net with three seconds left until halftime.
Tunney said Wheaton Warrenville South was not happy.
“It was a little disappointing,” he said. “That’s soft. I was disappointed in mostly myself, because I was on the back post. I didn’t want it to affect the second half. I played aggressive.”
Then Weisheit played the hero role again for the Tigers. He scored off a rebound in the 46th minute to increase the lead to 3-1 with his seventh goal of the season.
“It was just a good ball,” he said. “I was in the position at the right time. It was a tough angle with my weak foot. But it hit the back post, and it went it.”
Lake Park put some fear into their visitors when senior midfielder Jose Maldonado knocked into a shot from 23 yards in the 77th minute.
“I felt we kept fighting until the end,” Maldonado said. “I got the ball on my feet and got a quick goal to help my team out. It was late in the game, but at that moment, I felt anything could happen. It was a booster for us.”
Caira failed to score a goal, but nearly scored on two shots -- one in the first 20 seconds and another in the final 20 seconds.
“We played better in the second half,” Caira said. “We had a lot of chances in the end. We put two forwards up-top, and it worked out well. The first 40 (minutes) weren’t working our way, but we played well in the end.”
Crosby said the Lancers weren’t able to take advantage of the last first half goal, even with several Wheaton Warrenville South players clearly dejected while walking to the bench for the halftime talk.
“We felt we had the momentum going into halftime,” Crosby said. “The first few minutes we gave them a good test, but it took our guys a long time to bounce back after they scored their third goal so early in the second half. Angel scored on a nice strike. He hit it so well with pace and on the floor. I’m really proud of him and happy to see him score today. Frankie’s been in a little drought.
“He was chasing. Our attacking group was not letting the game come to them, because we were down. We had to be patient. Overall, I liked that our boys hung in and played to the last minute. Frankie had a close shot at the end. I appreciate the fight in them. We had a lot of heavy legs. A lot of teams would quit, but we didn’t.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Jared Ferreya
D Tim Foley
D Drew Murman
D Nikhil Bawa
D Brian Tunney
MF Edgar Guzman
MF Chase Kedzior
MF Gael Alfaro
F Marco Gonzalez
F Issa Hussseini
F Jason Weisheit
Lake Park
GK Andrew Swacha
D Eric Reyes
D Erdet Agaj
D Oscar Sagan
D Aidan Killmer
MF Shane Donnelly
MF Frankie Caira
MF Edgar Villagran
MF Jason Salwach
F Jose Maldonado
F Raim Ramani
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jason Weisheit, sr., F, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton Warrenville South — Brian Tunney (Marco Gonzalez), 19th minute
Wheaton Warrenville South — Issa Husseini (Jason Weisheit), 36th minute
Lake Park — Jason Salwach (unassisted), 40th minute
Second half
Wheaton Warrenville South — Jason Weisheit (unassisted), 46th minute
Lake Park — Jose Maldonado (unassisted), 77th minute