Wheaton Warrenville South downs Oswego, ends gap in regional crowns
Oehrlein's 77th-minute goal lifts Tigers to first title since 2012
By Curt Herron
PLAINFIELD -- There was a lengthy victory celebration Saturday following the IHSA Class 3A Plainfield North Regional title match, and with good reason.
Wheaton Warrenville South had just prevailed over Oswego 2-1 after sophomore Jet Oehrlein placed a 25-yard liner just inside the upper corner of the far post in the 77th minute. The victory earned the program its first plaque since 2012.
In just the 10th regional championship matchup of two teams seeded 11th or higher in the 14 years of Class 3A playoffs, the 11th-seeded Tigers had plenty of opportunities, but 13th-seeded Oswego frustrated them for more than an hour following their initial goal from senior Marco Gonzalez in the third minute.
It was obviously also a special day for 2012 Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Guy Callipari, whose team's won six regional titles and played in eight regional finals from 2003, when they placed third in Class AA, through 2012. The Tigers had last played for a regional championship in 2016.
The Tigers (10-6-3) followed up on their dramatic 3-2 semifinal victory over sixth-seed Oswego East on Wednesday to capture their seventh win in their last eight matches. That sends them to Tuesday's 7 p.m. Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal match against second-seed Naperville North (16-3-4), which advanced with a 6-0 win over 10th-seeded Plainfield South in their own regional final on Friday. Top-seed Naperville Central (21-3-1) meets fifth-seed West Aurora (15-3-5) in the 5 p.m. semifinal match.
This is the 10th regional championship won by the Tigers during Callipari's 31-year tenure. The 10 victories that this team has captured this season is the lowest win total for any of the other regional champion. However, the teams that had two or three more wins than the Tigers competed in more matches.
Callipari is the only coach in the Class 3A era to be involved in two regional finals where both teams were seeded 11th or higher. The other time that happened for the veteran coach was in 2014 when 13-seed Glenbard West beat his 11-seeded team 1-0.
Wheaton Warrenville South got off to a 3-0-2 start this season but then lost four in a row and went 0-5-1 in its next six matches to sit at 3-5-3. However, Tigers are now on a roll with wins in seven of their last eight matches. The lone defeat was a 2-0 decision to defending Class 3A champion York on Oct. 1.
Callipari is excited about squaring off once more against coach Jim Konrad and his Huskies, who are ranked seventh in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. The match will undoubtably bring back fond memories of some of the clashes that the programs had while both were members of the DuPage Valley Conference, including those against another Hall of Fame coach in Dave Bucher. Konrad took over for his head coach in 2003.
Wheaton Warrenville South’s post-match party nearly got canceled by coach Gaspar Arias' Panthers (9-9-7), who hoped to claim their third regional title since 2018. They announced they were a team after putting things together following a 2-5-3 start. Oswego upset third-seed and no. 11 Plainfield North 4-3 in Wednesday's other semifinal. The Tigers were top team in Chicagoland Soccer's preseason First 50 state-wide poll.
It was the second meeting of the season between Wheaton Warrenville South and Oswego. The first, on August 25, ended in a 2-2 draw following a late goal by the Tigers.
Playing in blustery conditions that didn't necessarily benefit the side who had the wind at its back, Oswego evened things up in the 23rd minute when junior Mikey Kroll connected on a liner from 30 yards. Although the Tigers had more good chances for the rest of the first half and nearly all of the best opportunities following the break, Oswego seemed to be content with playing to another draw through regulation and then taking its chances in the overtimes or shootout.
"Oswego had seven ties, so they knew they could stay in games long enough until they find a way to figure it out,” Callipari said. “And I didn't want to go into overtime, because they had too much experience in that. And their keeper is big so I didn't want to go to penalties either.
"I'm not sure if this is the least amount of games that we've won with a regional title, but 10 wins is okay. It's a good season.
"It's so hard to come by. Back in the day, we'd win a regional 8-0, and we'd say that the hardware came in the sectional. Now, it's like wow, we're in a regional final, and that's a good thing. And when you win it, you have to stay healthy enough and play well enough to at least be competitive and give yourselves a chance.
“We've had so many goal-scorers over the course of the season, we don't have to rely on any one player."
Oehrlein, whose name is Jethro, got the nickname Jet due to playing a lot of forward when he was younger. Whatever you call him, he put in the picture-perfect game-winner with just 3:40 remaining. He is one of eight sophomores and freshmen who are making contributions for the Tigers, who also have 11 seniors and six juniors on their roster.
"Coach just kept telling me to Cut in! Cut in!' because their kid was taking me down the line. So I was like ‘I'm going to listen to him this time,’ and I cut it in, and I shot it," Oehrlein said. "Honestly when I struck it, I was just hoping that it would go in, I didn't think about it going in, especially in the top corner. When I saw it, I blinked a little bit and thought, 'Did that go in?' and then I just wanted to go celebrate right away. For my first year playing in high school, it feels great.
"We hadn't won a regional in a while, but after we beat Oswego East, we got all of the confidence and that helped us a lot. Once we started seeing that we were playing how we wanted to play, and we all had our chemistry up, it was just a great moment.
“Our hard work has led us here. We weren't having too much of a good season but at the end of the season we started getting together and came back. We just pushed through."
The Tigers defense of seniors Nikhil Bawa, Tim Foley and Christian Triscik and junior Brooks Becker did a good job of limiting chances for Oswego, who had few good scoring attempts in the final half when they were headed into the wind. After pulling even in the opening half with the wind, Oswego only had a couple more threatening attempts, which resulted in a relatively uneventful afternoon for Wheaton Warrenville South sophomore goalkeeper Jared Ferreyra.
Meanwhile, Wheaton Warrenville South kept Oswego senior goalkeeper Colby Nance very busy, especially after the break. Seniors Gael Alfaro, Jack Beres, Chase Kedzior and Gonzalez, junior Edgar Guzman and sophomores Diego Bautista and Oehrlein all had good attempts in the second half, but Nance was able to keep the Tigers at bay until the very late going when Oehrlein put his team back on top for good.
The work of midfielders Alfaro, Beres, Guzman and Kedzior adapted to the conditions and kept the ball on the ground. That strategy led to plenty of good scoring opportunities for their teammates.
"The wind was really a big factor for us, with the ball going in like every direction in the middle of the field," Beres said. "So we really just tried to play it on the ground and play our own game. We definitely have a lot of players who have nver played together before, so it really took us a little time to get the chemistry going. Once we got it going it was like the end of the story.
"I'm ecstatic that it has actually turned out great. We had a couple of players who weren't the most confident going into the season, but we were all trying to get them going with the team.
“It's really our combination play. When someone makes a good play, everyone else is going to play better, because they're going to have more confidence. I love the way that we play together and that we're able to talk to everyone. All the time that we've spent together at practice has really brought us together, and we're very close friends."
It didn't take long for the Tigers to take the lead. On their first good attempt of the day, Gonzalez sent in a liner from 20 yards. Kedzior tried to add to the early advantage but had two attempts halted by Nance.
"It was a super tough battle the whole game," said Gonzalez, who shares captain duties along with seniors Jerry Cuatzo, Alfaro and Kedzior. "(Coach) Cal always talks about when all of the goals come either in the first five minutes or the last five minutes of a half or a game, so to see that really come true is crazy.
"We were battling the whole game, and I think that the wind just got to them. It felt like you were running with weights on running into it, so it was really tough. We're super happy to get the win, and I know that it means a lot to the boys because it's been so long since our school was able to win a regional.
"I know this meant a lot to the seniors. We hammered it home, especially to the younger guys, that this could be our last time coming out. We really channeled all of our energy coming into the regional trying to get a win. I could tell they had made changes (since the first game they played), and that it wasn't the same team at all. So we tried to take that into account. We felt really confident coming in.
"We're just a team. We do it for each other; we don't do it for one person. We've really been connecting well. We're coming together and coach has a lot to do with that, putting all of us out there."
The highlight of the day for Oswego came in the 23rd minute when Kroll lined one in from 30 yards. Over the remaining time in the opening half, Kedzior and Bautista were denied before Oswego senior Salvador Martinez sent one shot to Ferreyra and had another one headed away by Triscik.
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Jared Ferreyra
D: Tim Foley
D: Christian Triscik
D: Brooks Becker
D: Nikhil Bawa
MF: Chase Kedzior
MF: Edgar Guzman
MF: Jack Beres
MF: Gael Alfaro
F: Jet Oehrlein
F: Marco Gonzalez
Oswego
GK: Colby Nance
D: Joseph Walters
D: Ryan Walsh
D: Benjamin Sobecki
MF: Mikey Kroll
MF: Killyan Avila
MF: Alexander Mathew
MF: Lucas Ensign
F: Salvador Martinez
F: William Kalsto
F: Ian Laird
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Marco Gonzalez, sr., F, Wheaton Warrenville South;
Jet Oehrlein, so., F, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
WWS: Marco Gonzalez (unassisted), 3'
Oswego: Mikey Kroll (unassisted), 23'
Second half
WWS: Jet Oehrlein (unassisted), 77'
Oehrlein's 77th-minute goal lifts Tigers to first title since 2012
By Curt Herron
PLAINFIELD -- There was a lengthy victory celebration Saturday following the IHSA Class 3A Plainfield North Regional title match, and with good reason.
Wheaton Warrenville South had just prevailed over Oswego 2-1 after sophomore Jet Oehrlein placed a 25-yard liner just inside the upper corner of the far post in the 77th minute. The victory earned the program its first plaque since 2012.
In just the 10th regional championship matchup of two teams seeded 11th or higher in the 14 years of Class 3A playoffs, the 11th-seeded Tigers had plenty of opportunities, but 13th-seeded Oswego frustrated them for more than an hour following their initial goal from senior Marco Gonzalez in the third minute.
It was obviously also a special day for 2012 Illinois High School Soccer Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee Guy Callipari, whose team's won six regional titles and played in eight regional finals from 2003, when they placed third in Class AA, through 2012. The Tigers had last played for a regional championship in 2016.
The Tigers (10-6-3) followed up on their dramatic 3-2 semifinal victory over sixth-seed Oswego East on Wednesday to capture their seventh win in their last eight matches. That sends them to Tuesday's 7 p.m. Bolingbrook Sectional semifinal match against second-seed Naperville North (16-3-4), which advanced with a 6-0 win over 10th-seeded Plainfield South in their own regional final on Friday. Top-seed Naperville Central (21-3-1) meets fifth-seed West Aurora (15-3-5) in the 5 p.m. semifinal match.
This is the 10th regional championship won by the Tigers during Callipari's 31-year tenure. The 10 victories that this team has captured this season is the lowest win total for any of the other regional champion. However, the teams that had two or three more wins than the Tigers competed in more matches.
Callipari is the only coach in the Class 3A era to be involved in two regional finals where both teams were seeded 11th or higher. The other time that happened for the veteran coach was in 2014 when 13-seed Glenbard West beat his 11-seeded team 1-0.
Wheaton Warrenville South got off to a 3-0-2 start this season but then lost four in a row and went 0-5-1 in its next six matches to sit at 3-5-3. However, Tigers are now on a roll with wins in seven of their last eight matches. The lone defeat was a 2-0 decision to defending Class 3A champion York on Oct. 1.
Callipari is excited about squaring off once more against coach Jim Konrad and his Huskies, who are ranked seventh in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. The match will undoubtably bring back fond memories of some of the clashes that the programs had while both were members of the DuPage Valley Conference, including those against another Hall of Fame coach in Dave Bucher. Konrad took over for his head coach in 2003.
Wheaton Warrenville South’s post-match party nearly got canceled by coach Gaspar Arias' Panthers (9-9-7), who hoped to claim their third regional title since 2018. They announced they were a team after putting things together following a 2-5-3 start. Oswego upset third-seed and no. 11 Plainfield North 4-3 in Wednesday's other semifinal. The Tigers were top team in Chicagoland Soccer's preseason First 50 state-wide poll.
It was the second meeting of the season between Wheaton Warrenville South and Oswego. The first, on August 25, ended in a 2-2 draw following a late goal by the Tigers.
Playing in blustery conditions that didn't necessarily benefit the side who had the wind at its back, Oswego evened things up in the 23rd minute when junior Mikey Kroll connected on a liner from 30 yards. Although the Tigers had more good chances for the rest of the first half and nearly all of the best opportunities following the break, Oswego seemed to be content with playing to another draw through regulation and then taking its chances in the overtimes or shootout.
"Oswego had seven ties, so they knew they could stay in games long enough until they find a way to figure it out,” Callipari said. “And I didn't want to go into overtime, because they had too much experience in that. And their keeper is big so I didn't want to go to penalties either.
"I'm not sure if this is the least amount of games that we've won with a regional title, but 10 wins is okay. It's a good season.
"It's so hard to come by. Back in the day, we'd win a regional 8-0, and we'd say that the hardware came in the sectional. Now, it's like wow, we're in a regional final, and that's a good thing. And when you win it, you have to stay healthy enough and play well enough to at least be competitive and give yourselves a chance.
“We've had so many goal-scorers over the course of the season, we don't have to rely on any one player."
Oehrlein, whose name is Jethro, got the nickname Jet due to playing a lot of forward when he was younger. Whatever you call him, he put in the picture-perfect game-winner with just 3:40 remaining. He is one of eight sophomores and freshmen who are making contributions for the Tigers, who also have 11 seniors and six juniors on their roster.
"Coach just kept telling me to Cut in! Cut in!' because their kid was taking me down the line. So I was like ‘I'm going to listen to him this time,’ and I cut it in, and I shot it," Oehrlein said. "Honestly when I struck it, I was just hoping that it would go in, I didn't think about it going in, especially in the top corner. When I saw it, I blinked a little bit and thought, 'Did that go in?' and then I just wanted to go celebrate right away. For my first year playing in high school, it feels great.
"We hadn't won a regional in a while, but after we beat Oswego East, we got all of the confidence and that helped us a lot. Once we started seeing that we were playing how we wanted to play, and we all had our chemistry up, it was just a great moment.
“Our hard work has led us here. We weren't having too much of a good season but at the end of the season we started getting together and came back. We just pushed through."
The Tigers defense of seniors Nikhil Bawa, Tim Foley and Christian Triscik and junior Brooks Becker did a good job of limiting chances for Oswego, who had few good scoring attempts in the final half when they were headed into the wind. After pulling even in the opening half with the wind, Oswego only had a couple more threatening attempts, which resulted in a relatively uneventful afternoon for Wheaton Warrenville South sophomore goalkeeper Jared Ferreyra.
Meanwhile, Wheaton Warrenville South kept Oswego senior goalkeeper Colby Nance very busy, especially after the break. Seniors Gael Alfaro, Jack Beres, Chase Kedzior and Gonzalez, junior Edgar Guzman and sophomores Diego Bautista and Oehrlein all had good attempts in the second half, but Nance was able to keep the Tigers at bay until the very late going when Oehrlein put his team back on top for good.
The work of midfielders Alfaro, Beres, Guzman and Kedzior adapted to the conditions and kept the ball on the ground. That strategy led to plenty of good scoring opportunities for their teammates.
"The wind was really a big factor for us, with the ball going in like every direction in the middle of the field," Beres said. "So we really just tried to play it on the ground and play our own game. We definitely have a lot of players who have nver played together before, so it really took us a little time to get the chemistry going. Once we got it going it was like the end of the story.
"I'm ecstatic that it has actually turned out great. We had a couple of players who weren't the most confident going into the season, but we were all trying to get them going with the team.
“It's really our combination play. When someone makes a good play, everyone else is going to play better, because they're going to have more confidence. I love the way that we play together and that we're able to talk to everyone. All the time that we've spent together at practice has really brought us together, and we're very close friends."
It didn't take long for the Tigers to take the lead. On their first good attempt of the day, Gonzalez sent in a liner from 20 yards. Kedzior tried to add to the early advantage but had two attempts halted by Nance.
"It was a super tough battle the whole game," said Gonzalez, who shares captain duties along with seniors Jerry Cuatzo, Alfaro and Kedzior. "(Coach) Cal always talks about when all of the goals come either in the first five minutes or the last five minutes of a half or a game, so to see that really come true is crazy.
"We were battling the whole game, and I think that the wind just got to them. It felt like you were running with weights on running into it, so it was really tough. We're super happy to get the win, and I know that it means a lot to the boys because it's been so long since our school was able to win a regional.
"I know this meant a lot to the seniors. We hammered it home, especially to the younger guys, that this could be our last time coming out. We really channeled all of our energy coming into the regional trying to get a win. I could tell they had made changes (since the first game they played), and that it wasn't the same team at all. So we tried to take that into account. We felt really confident coming in.
"We're just a team. We do it for each other; we don't do it for one person. We've really been connecting well. We're coming together and coach has a lot to do with that, putting all of us out there."
The highlight of the day for Oswego came in the 23rd minute when Kroll lined one in from 30 yards. Over the remaining time in the opening half, Kedzior and Bautista were denied before Oswego senior Salvador Martinez sent one shot to Ferreyra and had another one headed away by Triscik.
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Jared Ferreyra
D: Tim Foley
D: Christian Triscik
D: Brooks Becker
D: Nikhil Bawa
MF: Chase Kedzior
MF: Edgar Guzman
MF: Jack Beres
MF: Gael Alfaro
F: Jet Oehrlein
F: Marco Gonzalez
Oswego
GK: Colby Nance
D: Joseph Walters
D: Ryan Walsh
D: Benjamin Sobecki
MF: Mikey Kroll
MF: Killyan Avila
MF: Alexander Mathew
MF: Lucas Ensign
F: Salvador Martinez
F: William Kalsto
F: Ian Laird
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match:
Marco Gonzalez, sr., F, Wheaton Warrenville South;
Jet Oehrlein, so., F, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
WWS: Marco Gonzalez (unassisted), 3'
Oswego: Mikey Kroll (unassisted), 23'
Second half
WWS: Jet Oehrlein (unassisted), 77'