Yorkville commits to developing success
Foxes soccer true to mascot’s nature
By Steve Nemeth
It’s essentially the mid-point of 2018 and the measure of Yorkville soccer is far greater than a .500 record indicates.
A better analogy for Andrew Johnson’s program would be to borrow from a different “football” legend: “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
Vince Lombardi’s quote seems tailor-made for Johnson’s blood, sweat and vision for Yorkville soccer.
Since the advent of the IHSA’s three-class system, the list of Yorkville’s early postseason exits has persisted from the Class AA days to the elevation in 2013 to present-day 3A. The most notable exception is a AA regional title 1-0 loss in 2011.
However, the change in the Foxes is apparent in attitude, ability and aspirations, as well as the cornerstone foundation for future success. All of which will be heavily challenged in the second half of the year that includes seven of nine remaining contests on the road.
Monday (Sept. 17) marks the first of two, seven-day stretches in which Yorkville (5-5-0) has four matches to test its stamina and work ethic. After a visit to Plainfield East, the Foxes host Kaneland on Tuesday (Sept. 18).
In a combination of community outreach and seeking additional support, the evening is billed as “Kids Day” in order to involve local club teams as well as park district programs. The idea of building the sport and program loyalty is something Johnson began working on initially as the JV coach and varsity assistant from 2011 until 2015, when he was elevated to varsity head man to the present.
“Going from AA to 3A meant we needed to set higher standards and define greater expectations,” Johnson explained. “Between staff, players and parents, we’ve put a lot of time into achieving that with the aim of being a more competitive 3A program.
“We’ve worked with youth teams from the ground up to create a feeder program and brand ‘Yorkville Soccer,’ and we’re evolving. We still have work to do, but there are areas that are now a given,” Johnson said, noting boys soccer was “the most represented sport” at Yorkville when it came to academic all-conference honorees.
While the Foxes exceeded that classroom bar, 2017 was an off-year on the pitch when it came to the Northern Illinois Big XII Conference. In 2016, Yorkville won the league crown at 6-1-1 the year after being the East Division runner-up at 4-2-2.
Back to the present, the strict adherence to academic standards necessitate changing lineups for this week’s matches. There are no long-term casualties, but week-to-week benchmarks overrule the schedule regardless of opposition.
“I’m a teacher first and a coach second. They’re students first and athletes second,” Johnson said. “For those that have collegiate playing aspirations, academics and on-field achievements have to go hand-in-hand.
“Ideally we prefer to alter lineups for favorable matchups, however, we still suffer from inconsistency and have yet to play our best,” Johnson admitted. “In four seasons as a JV coach, we couldn’t beat Kaneland. Then that changed (Yorkville won visits and had home draws the first two years; the Knights won both last year).
“Right now I believe they’re similar to us in that they’ve lost to the larger, deeper and more talented teams on the schedule, but beat others and showed progress.”
Granted this is the NIB12’s last year of existence, but enough matches remain to make it anyone’s title. Going into their first meeting Tuesday, Kaneland and the Foxes are 2-1-0 in the loop having both lost to DeKalb, thumped Morris, and most recently blanked Sycamore by identical 2-0 tallies.
“We’ve lost some matches due to a mix of quality opponents and frustration with our own effort,” Ryan Schwarz said. “We can’t just simply try our best, we have to put it all on the line, connect more passes, finish opportunities. We know we can compete with anyone and have a pretty good shot at another conference title.”
Teammate Edgar Barrientos shares that optimism.
“Both Plainfield East and Kaneland are always competitive matches, but we’re just lacking a little more movement to score," he said. "Between team outings and time together off the field, I believe we’ve bonded and our team chemistry has improved.”
In the preseason, Johnson labeled team cohesion and buy-in as keys to success since the Foxes had a only a handful of starters returning. However, he also said the squad's “biggest strength is a lot of talented players with high soccer IQs.”
Regardless of any lineup changes, Johnson views his backline and goalie as Yorkville’s most consistent third of the field.
“Since we haven’t scored a ton, the defensive play has been crucial,” Johnson noted. “(Goalie) Brandon (Ducoing) is the most comfortable keeper I’ve been around. He calms things down for us. While we’ve rotated some people – (Ryan Schwarz, Caleb Law, and Evan Torok) -- around them, our two center backs, Alex (Barrientos) and Nathan (Batres) are great at two-touch play; gain possession and find the midfielders’ feet. They don’t just clear it and kick it.”
The other Barrientos brother (Edgar) along with Juan Carlos “J.C.” Noyola plus Preston Huitron are locks in midfield while the forward position has been a committee match-up generally involving Julie Segura, Caleb Aquino, Peyton Senffner, and Jake Rodgers. However, everyone else on the roster can earn playing time.
“With Kaneland we know they have an extremely talented scorer (Tucker Jahns – averaging 1.3 goals for 12 matches) who is having a great season. So we know we need to be prepared mentally and physically, but I’m also counting on the guys taking pride on our (home) field. That will be one of our last two regular season home games.”
That’s in keeping with the traits most often associated with their namesake Foxes according to the internet: “They live in small, cozy environments and their houses are usually organized and neat. Flamboyance is usually not a fox’s style, preferring to remain inconspicuous and choosing subtlety and cunning over brute strength.”
“Yeah, I’d say that fits our mentality,” Edgar Barrientos said. “We play hard to the whistle, are well-conditioned, talented, and let our work ethic speak for us.”
“In the past people used to think of us as just another school,” Schwarz added. “But I believe we’re now viewed as a competitive program that never gives up.”
To paraphrase Lombardi and Johnson, “it’s harder to surrender” for Yorkville soccer.
Foxes soccer true to mascot’s nature
By Steve Nemeth
It’s essentially the mid-point of 2018 and the measure of Yorkville soccer is far greater than a .500 record indicates.
A better analogy for Andrew Johnson’s program would be to borrow from a different “football” legend: “The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
Vince Lombardi’s quote seems tailor-made for Johnson’s blood, sweat and vision for Yorkville soccer.
Since the advent of the IHSA’s three-class system, the list of Yorkville’s early postseason exits has persisted from the Class AA days to the elevation in 2013 to present-day 3A. The most notable exception is a AA regional title 1-0 loss in 2011.
However, the change in the Foxes is apparent in attitude, ability and aspirations, as well as the cornerstone foundation for future success. All of which will be heavily challenged in the second half of the year that includes seven of nine remaining contests on the road.
Monday (Sept. 17) marks the first of two, seven-day stretches in which Yorkville (5-5-0) has four matches to test its stamina and work ethic. After a visit to Plainfield East, the Foxes host Kaneland on Tuesday (Sept. 18).
In a combination of community outreach and seeking additional support, the evening is billed as “Kids Day” in order to involve local club teams as well as park district programs. The idea of building the sport and program loyalty is something Johnson began working on initially as the JV coach and varsity assistant from 2011 until 2015, when he was elevated to varsity head man to the present.
“Going from AA to 3A meant we needed to set higher standards and define greater expectations,” Johnson explained. “Between staff, players and parents, we’ve put a lot of time into achieving that with the aim of being a more competitive 3A program.
“We’ve worked with youth teams from the ground up to create a feeder program and brand ‘Yorkville Soccer,’ and we’re evolving. We still have work to do, but there are areas that are now a given,” Johnson said, noting boys soccer was “the most represented sport” at Yorkville when it came to academic all-conference honorees.
While the Foxes exceeded that classroom bar, 2017 was an off-year on the pitch when it came to the Northern Illinois Big XII Conference. In 2016, Yorkville won the league crown at 6-1-1 the year after being the East Division runner-up at 4-2-2.
Back to the present, the strict adherence to academic standards necessitate changing lineups for this week’s matches. There are no long-term casualties, but week-to-week benchmarks overrule the schedule regardless of opposition.
“I’m a teacher first and a coach second. They’re students first and athletes second,” Johnson said. “For those that have collegiate playing aspirations, academics and on-field achievements have to go hand-in-hand.
“Ideally we prefer to alter lineups for favorable matchups, however, we still suffer from inconsistency and have yet to play our best,” Johnson admitted. “In four seasons as a JV coach, we couldn’t beat Kaneland. Then that changed (Yorkville won visits and had home draws the first two years; the Knights won both last year).
“Right now I believe they’re similar to us in that they’ve lost to the larger, deeper and more talented teams on the schedule, but beat others and showed progress.”
Granted this is the NIB12’s last year of existence, but enough matches remain to make it anyone’s title. Going into their first meeting Tuesday, Kaneland and the Foxes are 2-1-0 in the loop having both lost to DeKalb, thumped Morris, and most recently blanked Sycamore by identical 2-0 tallies.
“We’ve lost some matches due to a mix of quality opponents and frustration with our own effort,” Ryan Schwarz said. “We can’t just simply try our best, we have to put it all on the line, connect more passes, finish opportunities. We know we can compete with anyone and have a pretty good shot at another conference title.”
Teammate Edgar Barrientos shares that optimism.
“Both Plainfield East and Kaneland are always competitive matches, but we’re just lacking a little more movement to score," he said. "Between team outings and time together off the field, I believe we’ve bonded and our team chemistry has improved.”
In the preseason, Johnson labeled team cohesion and buy-in as keys to success since the Foxes had a only a handful of starters returning. However, he also said the squad's “biggest strength is a lot of talented players with high soccer IQs.”
Regardless of any lineup changes, Johnson views his backline and goalie as Yorkville’s most consistent third of the field.
“Since we haven’t scored a ton, the defensive play has been crucial,” Johnson noted. “(Goalie) Brandon (Ducoing) is the most comfortable keeper I’ve been around. He calms things down for us. While we’ve rotated some people – (Ryan Schwarz, Caleb Law, and Evan Torok) -- around them, our two center backs, Alex (Barrientos) and Nathan (Batres) are great at two-touch play; gain possession and find the midfielders’ feet. They don’t just clear it and kick it.”
The other Barrientos brother (Edgar) along with Juan Carlos “J.C.” Noyola plus Preston Huitron are locks in midfield while the forward position has been a committee match-up generally involving Julie Segura, Caleb Aquino, Peyton Senffner, and Jake Rodgers. However, everyone else on the roster can earn playing time.
“With Kaneland we know they have an extremely talented scorer (Tucker Jahns – averaging 1.3 goals for 12 matches) who is having a great season. So we know we need to be prepared mentally and physically, but I’m also counting on the guys taking pride on our (home) field. That will be one of our last two regular season home games.”
That’s in keeping with the traits most often associated with their namesake Foxes according to the internet: “They live in small, cozy environments and their houses are usually organized and neat. Flamboyance is usually not a fox’s style, preferring to remain inconspicuous and choosing subtlety and cunning over brute strength.”
“Yeah, I’d say that fits our mentality,” Edgar Barrientos said. “We play hard to the whistle, are well-conditioned, talented, and let our work ethic speak for us.”
“In the past people used to think of us as just another school,” Schwarz added. “But I believe we’re now viewed as a competitive program that never gives up.”
To paraphrase Lombardi and Johnson, “it’s harder to surrender” for Yorkville soccer.