Wheaton N. win an imperfect 10 vs. WWS
Falcons soar with 3 goals a man down to top Tigers 4-2
By Chris Walker
WHEATON -- Jarrett Baumgartner is the kind of kid who walks around Wheaton North with a smile on his face. It’s the kind of smile that has undoubtedly widened ever since the senior returned to high school soccer after the boys season was postponed in the fall.
Baumgartner smile was especially huge on Tuesday night after he scored twice to lead the Falcons to a 4-2 victory over crosstown rival Wheaton Warrenville South in DVC action on a rainy night.
Making it even more enjoyable was that he did it -- and the Falcons found a way to do it -- playing a man down on Wheaton North Boys’ Soccer School Appreciation Day. At halftime, the program honored teachers and school representatives who continue to make positive changes in students' and student-athletes’ lives, including Baumgartner’s guidance counselor, Matt Schoon.
Schoon, who was at the game to help record it, as well as to receive his recognition in-person, has been Baumgartner’s school counselor since his freshman year.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Schoon said. “I was actually talking to coach (Rob) Stassen, and Jarrett’s been playing great. In school he’s pretty unassuming, a super-nice kid with a smile on his face, and then you watch him play and he’s a lot of fun to watch. I’m just so proud of him and how hard he works. The whole team is exciting to watch.”
Schoon has seen Baumgartner, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, grow in those seemingly short four years.
“He’s gotten so confident,” he said. “You see him around in the classroom and unassuming has been his thing. You watch him play and he’s a lot of fun to watch. He’s just explosive. He’s a lot quicker.”
And he’s back to doing something that was taken away from him unexpectedly. It’s something millions of kids are dealing with nationwide. Everyone didn't get an opportunity to return. For example, the girls program at Wheaton North bid farewell to its 10 seniors last year without them getting the opportunity of playing together again as Falcons.
“I think the idea that it’s getting a little close to normal, or a new normal, has produced more energy in the building from the kids,” Schoon said. “With basketball starting and now as we’ve gotten into soccer and football and spring sports, it’s starting to resemble what it was like in February, 2020.”
Schoon, Kyle Padera (nominated by Tim Dulzer and J.J. Lee), Aaron Pearlman (Diego Evangelista and Tristan MacKay), Michael Pribaz (Noah Froebe), Jared Burress (Thein Han), Tim McEvilly (Caleb Hodel), Justin Hineman (Robbie Larsen and Peter Tiesman), Nick Slezak (Ethan Martinez), Officer Mike Schumaker (Crystian Powell), Angela Shaw (Kevin Ramirez), Joe Klingelhoffer (Erik Rozanski and Kyle Schauer), Ben Yergler (Graham Stephenson) Jessica Lim (Sam Wakemann) and Jackie Corso, Matt Fisher and Matt Biscan (nominated by the entire Falcon student body) as well as a special thanks to coach Rob Stassen and assistant coach Henry Ospina were honored for continuing to make positive changes in the lives of these kids.
They were thanked for their commitment to the students and for the personal sacrifices they continue to make, especially during these challenging, unprecedented times.
“The varsity game we had 15 people nominated and 13 came out and for the JV game there were 18 teachers nominated and 10 came out in the rain on a late night, and they all have got family and have already given a lot, but they came out when they were asked,” Stassen said. “It’s a phenomenal school with phenomenal kids and phenomenal leadership. I couldn’t be happier with where we work and the guys we have.”
He also couldn’t have been happier, albeit surprised, to see his team score three times while playing a man down. It all started after a head-scratching call by the referee that resulted in Falcons goalkeeper Sam Wakeman being red carded and removed from the game. Defender Peter Tiesman replaced him as the Falcons continued with 10 players on the field.
There was little doubt that Wakeman had a hand ball while standing outside of the box, but the way it all went down afterward left seemingly everyone confused about what happened.
“When you get a card, (the referee) typically comes over to the coach and explains it,” Stassen said. “He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t explain anything. Was it a purposeful handball? It can’t be a purposeful handball when it’s touched by (an opposing) player in a 50/50, and then to give a straight red?”
Stassen acknowledged that he’s been around the game far long enough to know that all sorts of crazy things seem to happen in this beautiful game and calls that you disagree with, right or wrong, are also part of the game. But on Appreciation Day, it was the response from his kids that he appreciated most.
First though, Wheaton Warrenville South figured to take advantage of the opportunity, and they did.
Senior Eric Vargas took the ensuing free kick after Wakeman exited and Drew Murman put in the rebound with 33:39 left to play to make it 1-1.
Wheaton North had enjoyed a 1-0 lead after Gyan Patel scored from Diego Evangelista with 17:45 remaining in the first half.
“I’m glad we took care of that opportunity, mind you to get back into the game, because time was probably heavy on our minds, and we got it right away,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “So we had to equalize and then we just made some careless mistakes where we’re in between two ideas. When you’re young and it’s early (in the season), you’re going to see that. They took advantage of following up and being hungry and keeping your feet moving because you never know, and good things can happen. If there is any indecisiveness, then be ready for that to happen.”
Suddenly tied 1-1 with the call against their starting keeper stuck in their heads, things could’ve gotten ugly really quickly for the Falcons. Instead, they took it as a blow but nowhere near a knockout punch.
“It was more of (coach) Stassen telling us and the captains telling us that you can’t get in your head and take yourself out of the game telling yourself you’re not going to play as well," Baumgartner said. "That puts us a guy down and no one wanted to put us a guy down, we were already a guy down.”
Wheaton North sophomore defender Tim Dulzer said the focus was to remain positive and to play their game without getting caught up in questionable calls and other things that already happened in the game.
“I think we just had to keep our heads up the whole game,” he said. “We can’t stop, can’t let up our effort. We just got to play simple and play our game. We started to get in our head a little bit and started going too direct, but I think we started to play our game a bit. So you just can’t put your head down. You can’t let up with rivals like this; you have to stay with the mentality that you’re in the game the whole time and got to turn around and keep your head up and look forward.”
Their response began with their positive reaction to the adverse situation. Then it was a matter of execution.
“So we said that we can’t get in our heads, but we need to work even harder,” Baumgartner said. “Put in that 120 percent to kind of offset losing that player, and that’s what we did.”
He gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead with 29:38 remaining after talking to Rozanski.
“So Erik was like, ‘I’m going to shoot it, and it’s going to rebound so put it in the back of the net,’” Baumgartner said. “We crashed and all you got to do is get a foot on it, and it put us up a goal. That’s something we work on in practice, and it doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to go to the back of the net. It really brought the momentum back to our team."
Did it ever as the Falcons made it 3-1 just 46 seconds later with the emergency backup keeper, Tiesman, assisting Rozanski.
“Coming into this game we were hyped, and obviously we got the goals,” Rozanski said. “But they responded with a goal as well. I feel like we responded to the adversity really well and once we got one (in the second half) we got two and then another one and just didn’t stop.”
Unbeknownst at the time was the importance of Rozanski’s goal as the Tigers pulled to within 3-2 with 6:27 left to play after Jason Weisheit angled a shot from near the corner of the penalty area.
“Being a man down we were a bit on edge,” Rozanski said. “So we had to play with the animal mentality that we got to get out there and get another before they get one. It’s good that (our third goal) came fast. I felt we responded well after getting that second one to go up 3-1, which helped us keep our heads and just play on.”
They played a full 80 minutes and were short-handed a player for almost 34 of them.
“We had a lot of energy,” Rozanski said “It goes back to coach Stassen always saying to play all 80 minutes. I felt we really did that today, winning every ball, and I mean, playing with a man down, that is no easy feat, so getting three goals with 10 men is something. I feel like it was a great performance, especially in the second half.”
Stassen acknowledged that he didn’t know how things would turn after losing his keeper. It’s one of the exciting things about this game at this level, you just never know.
“I’ve had games like this with teenage boys, and one of two things is going to happen,” he said. “You’re going to fall apart or bond, and they bonded together. I said, ‘Guys, I don’t understand, you play with 10 men and you play light’s out,’ and they tell me, ‘Hey coach, let’s start with 10 men on Thursday (at Geneva) and see what happens.”
Baumgartner sealed the victory with 1:48 remaining when he was able to secure possession in the penalty box and sneak in a shot barely to the left of the inside post.
“I was yelling at him at the three-minute mark that we’re a goal up and a man down so don’t chase him, let him be in there,” Stassen said. “I told him it’s the worst mistake he’s ever made that’s paid off. I don’t know what happened there.”
What happened was his kid saw a chance to make something happen so he went for it and made it a reality and a 4-2 advantage.
“He saw the play before where (the goalkeeper) went back and bobbled it so he went for it,” Stassen said. “The guys are fun to watch and be around and the excitement when we score was crazy. That was huge.”
As for the Tigers, while they didn’t take advantage of the Falcons being a man down, they saw their opponent take advantage of their own indecisiveness.
“I think that was the tale for them in terms of taking advantage of some of our uncertainties and just being in two places with our mind and not having clarity on what we wanted to do and how we needed to manage the game,” Callipari said. “We needed to go forward and be a little more direct with the time running.”
Despite coming up short, Callipari continues to see progress from a team that featured three sophomores and two juniors in the starting lineup.
“Drew (Murman) hasn’t played this much in about a year and hence the reason why he was cramping at the end of it all, so some people are still trying to get their legs a bit,” he said. “I like Chase (Kedzior) who has shown good instincts around the ball. I thought Eric Vargas being the one-man shop up-top and coming in underneath a little bit gave us a couple nice through-balls and Chase maybe could’ve had one and been a one-goal balance.
“Kevin (Stumbris) just needs to find a little more consistency in his game and I thought Jackson (Moran) has been doing a pretty job winning the balls in the air and taking some control there. We just need to get on the same page when the ball is down at their feet.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
G - Ramsey Khayal
D - Aidan O’Hara
D - Nikhil Bawa
D - Jackson Moran
D - Ben Webber
M - Eladio Reyes
M - Kevin Stumbris
M - Gael Alfara
M - Eric Vargas
M - Chase Kedzior
F- Jason Weisheit
Wheaton North
G – Sam Wakeman
D - Tim Dulzer
D - Noah Froebe
D - Tristan Mackay
D - Kyle Schauer
M - Caleb Hodel
M - Erik Rozanski
M -Graham Stephenson
M - Gyan Patel
F - Jarrett Baumgartner
F - Ethan Martinez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jarrett Baumgartner, sr., F, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton North – Gyan Patel (Diego Evangelista), 17th minute
Second half
Wheaton Warrenville South – Drew Murman (Issa Husseini), 46th minute
Wheaton North – Jarrett Baumgartner (Erik Rozanski), 51st minute
Wheaton North – Erik Rozanski (Peter Tiesman), 52nd minute
Wheaton Warrenville South – Jason Weisheit (Eric Vargas), 74th minute
Wheaton North – Jarrett Baumgartner (u/a), 79th minute
Falcons soar with 3 goals a man down to top Tigers 4-2
By Chris Walker
WHEATON -- Jarrett Baumgartner is the kind of kid who walks around Wheaton North with a smile on his face. It’s the kind of smile that has undoubtedly widened ever since the senior returned to high school soccer after the boys season was postponed in the fall.
Baumgartner smile was especially huge on Tuesday night after he scored twice to lead the Falcons to a 4-2 victory over crosstown rival Wheaton Warrenville South in DVC action on a rainy night.
Making it even more enjoyable was that he did it -- and the Falcons found a way to do it -- playing a man down on Wheaton North Boys’ Soccer School Appreciation Day. At halftime, the program honored teachers and school representatives who continue to make positive changes in students' and student-athletes’ lives, including Baumgartner’s guidance counselor, Matt Schoon.
Schoon, who was at the game to help record it, as well as to receive his recognition in-person, has been Baumgartner’s school counselor since his freshman year.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Schoon said. “I was actually talking to coach (Rob) Stassen, and Jarrett’s been playing great. In school he’s pretty unassuming, a super-nice kid with a smile on his face, and then you watch him play and he’s a lot of fun to watch. I’m just so proud of him and how hard he works. The whole team is exciting to watch.”
Schoon has seen Baumgartner, who was named the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match, grow in those seemingly short four years.
“He’s gotten so confident,” he said. “You see him around in the classroom and unassuming has been his thing. You watch him play and he’s a lot of fun to watch. He’s just explosive. He’s a lot quicker.”
And he’s back to doing something that was taken away from him unexpectedly. It’s something millions of kids are dealing with nationwide. Everyone didn't get an opportunity to return. For example, the girls program at Wheaton North bid farewell to its 10 seniors last year without them getting the opportunity of playing together again as Falcons.
“I think the idea that it’s getting a little close to normal, or a new normal, has produced more energy in the building from the kids,” Schoon said. “With basketball starting and now as we’ve gotten into soccer and football and spring sports, it’s starting to resemble what it was like in February, 2020.”
Schoon, Kyle Padera (nominated by Tim Dulzer and J.J. Lee), Aaron Pearlman (Diego Evangelista and Tristan MacKay), Michael Pribaz (Noah Froebe), Jared Burress (Thein Han), Tim McEvilly (Caleb Hodel), Justin Hineman (Robbie Larsen and Peter Tiesman), Nick Slezak (Ethan Martinez), Officer Mike Schumaker (Crystian Powell), Angela Shaw (Kevin Ramirez), Joe Klingelhoffer (Erik Rozanski and Kyle Schauer), Ben Yergler (Graham Stephenson) Jessica Lim (Sam Wakemann) and Jackie Corso, Matt Fisher and Matt Biscan (nominated by the entire Falcon student body) as well as a special thanks to coach Rob Stassen and assistant coach Henry Ospina were honored for continuing to make positive changes in the lives of these kids.
They were thanked for their commitment to the students and for the personal sacrifices they continue to make, especially during these challenging, unprecedented times.
“The varsity game we had 15 people nominated and 13 came out and for the JV game there were 18 teachers nominated and 10 came out in the rain on a late night, and they all have got family and have already given a lot, but they came out when they were asked,” Stassen said. “It’s a phenomenal school with phenomenal kids and phenomenal leadership. I couldn’t be happier with where we work and the guys we have.”
He also couldn’t have been happier, albeit surprised, to see his team score three times while playing a man down. It all started after a head-scratching call by the referee that resulted in Falcons goalkeeper Sam Wakeman being red carded and removed from the game. Defender Peter Tiesman replaced him as the Falcons continued with 10 players on the field.
There was little doubt that Wakeman had a hand ball while standing outside of the box, but the way it all went down afterward left seemingly everyone confused about what happened.
“When you get a card, (the referee) typically comes over to the coach and explains it,” Stassen said. “He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t explain anything. Was it a purposeful handball? It can’t be a purposeful handball when it’s touched by (an opposing) player in a 50/50, and then to give a straight red?”
Stassen acknowledged that he’s been around the game far long enough to know that all sorts of crazy things seem to happen in this beautiful game and calls that you disagree with, right or wrong, are also part of the game. But on Appreciation Day, it was the response from his kids that he appreciated most.
First though, Wheaton Warrenville South figured to take advantage of the opportunity, and they did.
Senior Eric Vargas took the ensuing free kick after Wakeman exited and Drew Murman put in the rebound with 33:39 left to play to make it 1-1.
Wheaton North had enjoyed a 1-0 lead after Gyan Patel scored from Diego Evangelista with 17:45 remaining in the first half.
“I’m glad we took care of that opportunity, mind you to get back into the game, because time was probably heavy on our minds, and we got it right away,” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. “So we had to equalize and then we just made some careless mistakes where we’re in between two ideas. When you’re young and it’s early (in the season), you’re going to see that. They took advantage of following up and being hungry and keeping your feet moving because you never know, and good things can happen. If there is any indecisiveness, then be ready for that to happen.”
Suddenly tied 1-1 with the call against their starting keeper stuck in their heads, things could’ve gotten ugly really quickly for the Falcons. Instead, they took it as a blow but nowhere near a knockout punch.
“It was more of (coach) Stassen telling us and the captains telling us that you can’t get in your head and take yourself out of the game telling yourself you’re not going to play as well," Baumgartner said. "That puts us a guy down and no one wanted to put us a guy down, we were already a guy down.”
Wheaton North sophomore defender Tim Dulzer said the focus was to remain positive and to play their game without getting caught up in questionable calls and other things that already happened in the game.
“I think we just had to keep our heads up the whole game,” he said. “We can’t stop, can’t let up our effort. We just got to play simple and play our game. We started to get in our head a little bit and started going too direct, but I think we started to play our game a bit. So you just can’t put your head down. You can’t let up with rivals like this; you have to stay with the mentality that you’re in the game the whole time and got to turn around and keep your head up and look forward.”
Their response began with their positive reaction to the adverse situation. Then it was a matter of execution.
“So we said that we can’t get in our heads, but we need to work even harder,” Baumgartner said. “Put in that 120 percent to kind of offset losing that player, and that’s what we did.”
He gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead with 29:38 remaining after talking to Rozanski.
“So Erik was like, ‘I’m going to shoot it, and it’s going to rebound so put it in the back of the net,’” Baumgartner said. “We crashed and all you got to do is get a foot on it, and it put us up a goal. That’s something we work on in practice, and it doesn’t have to be pretty, it just has to go to the back of the net. It really brought the momentum back to our team."
Did it ever as the Falcons made it 3-1 just 46 seconds later with the emergency backup keeper, Tiesman, assisting Rozanski.
“Coming into this game we were hyped, and obviously we got the goals,” Rozanski said. “But they responded with a goal as well. I feel like we responded to the adversity really well and once we got one (in the second half) we got two and then another one and just didn’t stop.”
Unbeknownst at the time was the importance of Rozanski’s goal as the Tigers pulled to within 3-2 with 6:27 left to play after Jason Weisheit angled a shot from near the corner of the penalty area.
“Being a man down we were a bit on edge,” Rozanski said. “So we had to play with the animal mentality that we got to get out there and get another before they get one. It’s good that (our third goal) came fast. I felt we responded well after getting that second one to go up 3-1, which helped us keep our heads and just play on.”
They played a full 80 minutes and were short-handed a player for almost 34 of them.
“We had a lot of energy,” Rozanski said “It goes back to coach Stassen always saying to play all 80 minutes. I felt we really did that today, winning every ball, and I mean, playing with a man down, that is no easy feat, so getting three goals with 10 men is something. I feel like it was a great performance, especially in the second half.”
Stassen acknowledged that he didn’t know how things would turn after losing his keeper. It’s one of the exciting things about this game at this level, you just never know.
“I’ve had games like this with teenage boys, and one of two things is going to happen,” he said. “You’re going to fall apart or bond, and they bonded together. I said, ‘Guys, I don’t understand, you play with 10 men and you play light’s out,’ and they tell me, ‘Hey coach, let’s start with 10 men on Thursday (at Geneva) and see what happens.”
Baumgartner sealed the victory with 1:48 remaining when he was able to secure possession in the penalty box and sneak in a shot barely to the left of the inside post.
“I was yelling at him at the three-minute mark that we’re a goal up and a man down so don’t chase him, let him be in there,” Stassen said. “I told him it’s the worst mistake he’s ever made that’s paid off. I don’t know what happened there.”
What happened was his kid saw a chance to make something happen so he went for it and made it a reality and a 4-2 advantage.
“He saw the play before where (the goalkeeper) went back and bobbled it so he went for it,” Stassen said. “The guys are fun to watch and be around and the excitement when we score was crazy. That was huge.”
As for the Tigers, while they didn’t take advantage of the Falcons being a man down, they saw their opponent take advantage of their own indecisiveness.
“I think that was the tale for them in terms of taking advantage of some of our uncertainties and just being in two places with our mind and not having clarity on what we wanted to do and how we needed to manage the game,” Callipari said. “We needed to go forward and be a little more direct with the time running.”
Despite coming up short, Callipari continues to see progress from a team that featured three sophomores and two juniors in the starting lineup.
“Drew (Murman) hasn’t played this much in about a year and hence the reason why he was cramping at the end of it all, so some people are still trying to get their legs a bit,” he said. “I like Chase (Kedzior) who has shown good instincts around the ball. I thought Eric Vargas being the one-man shop up-top and coming in underneath a little bit gave us a couple nice through-balls and Chase maybe could’ve had one and been a one-goal balance.
“Kevin (Stumbris) just needs to find a little more consistency in his game and I thought Jackson (Moran) has been doing a pretty job winning the balls in the air and taking some control there. We just need to get on the same page when the ball is down at their feet.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
G - Ramsey Khayal
D - Aidan O’Hara
D - Nikhil Bawa
D - Jackson Moran
D - Ben Webber
M - Eladio Reyes
M - Kevin Stumbris
M - Gael Alfara
M - Eric Vargas
M - Chase Kedzior
F- Jason Weisheit
Wheaton North
G – Sam Wakeman
D - Tim Dulzer
D - Noah Froebe
D - Tristan Mackay
D - Kyle Schauer
M - Caleb Hodel
M - Erik Rozanski
M -Graham Stephenson
M - Gyan Patel
F - Jarrett Baumgartner
F - Ethan Martinez
Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match: Jarrett Baumgartner, sr., F, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
First half
Wheaton North – Gyan Patel (Diego Evangelista), 17th minute
Second half
Wheaton Warrenville South – Drew Murman (Issa Husseini), 46th minute
Wheaton North – Jarrett Baumgartner (Erik Rozanski), 51st minute
Wheaton North – Erik Rozanski (Peter Tiesman), 52nd minute
Wheaton Warrenville South – Jason Weisheit (Eric Vargas), 74th minute
Wheaton North – Jarrett Baumgartner (u/a), 79th minute