No. 1 Wheaton Academy starts title defense
against Wheaton Warrenville South
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Every new season is a narrative to itself. Wheaton Academy is looking forward as it also celebrates its greatest accomplishment.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Warriors start the new season as hosts against local rival Wheaton Warrenville South. As both teams ponder the excitement of a new year, the game also marks the Warriors’ home debut since the team trashed St. Joseph 5-1 in the Class 2A state championship game last November at Hoffman Estates.
The collision of past and present is a good mix to play off. Thirteen seniors from that team have graduated, but Ty Seager is back. The electrifying forward put together one of the greatest individual seasons in state history as a junior last year with 39 goals and 15 assists for the 25-1-1 Warriors.
Wheaton Academy, ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, enters the game with a nine-game winning streak and a 16-game unbeaten streak.
Speed is on Seager's side. He medaled in the 100 and 200 meters as a sophomore, but was unable to qualify as a junior due to an injury. The Northwestern soccer commit is the anchor of a group that returns three starters and eight players who saw action last year.
“He’s hungry,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. "He overpowers smaller players and is too big and fast for bigger players. His ability to create in space is uncanny."
That presents a problem for Wheaton Warrenville South and its longtime coach Guy Callipari.
“At another level you can corral and get enough support to alienate or isolate him,” he said. “In high school we don’t read the game as well. He exploits every hesitation in decision-making, and he makes you pay.”
Wheaton Academy senior midfielder Jacob Kapitaniuk provides a strong complementary player in support. He scored seven goals and registered a team-best 16 assists last year. Like Seager, he has excellent size (6-0) and ability out wide.
The Warriors also feature junior midfielders Isaac Anthony (eight goals, four assists last year) and Elias McCloud (four goals, four assists). Sophomore midfielder Ethan Stoneman is another talented player.
The only question mark is the back as Brooke reconstructs an entire new starting unit, but this is a team blessed with a great player, strong experience and superb intangibles.
“The guys are trying to get back to f level of last year,” Brooke said. "We’ve grown so much in the last week-and-a-half. We have grown by leaps and bounds. A lot of guys are trying to understand the level we are trying to get back to.”
The Warriors begin the first week against the Tigers, West Chicago and Geneva. The only significant difference from a year ago is that this season the Warriors have been elevated to Class 3A as a result of the newly deployed IHSA success formula. Outside of its Metro Suburban Conference schedule, the bulk of the Warriors' opponents last year were larger schools.
For the Wheaton Warrenville South (6-13-3 in 2014), the skilled and experienced Warriors offer an early-season measuring stick. The combination of the new and the experienced is an occasion for excitement combined with a degree of uncertainty.
The Tigers have 11 new varsity players, and Callipari is interested to track their development with his experienced returning players.
Senior midfielder Anthony Berardi (six goals, five assists) is the Tigers’ best player. He has the ability to play either a holding or more offensively oriented midfielder.
“He’s always going to be around the ball,” Callipari said.
Senior forward Danny Jimenez had five goals last season. Senior midfielder Felipe Speraggi, a Kaneland transfer, is particularly skilled at creating opportunities in the offensive third.
Callipari is excited for the match-up.
“From this experience we are going to try and gain some cohesiveness and try to utilize some of our strengths,” he said.
The Tigers greatest concern is a rebuilt backline. They face a tough early rest against Seager.
“We like the challenge,” Callipari said. “If we can figure the [defense] out this early in the season, we’re going to be okay.”
The game is also part of the Wheaton Cup that Callipari started 11 years ago against rival Wheaton North.
“It started out as a traveling trophy between the two schools, and those years when St. Francis and Wheaton Academy are also on our schedule, they sequenced into it,” he said.
against Wheaton Warrenville South
By Patrick Z. McGavin
Every new season is a narrative to itself. Wheaton Academy is looking forward as it also celebrates its greatest accomplishment.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Warriors start the new season as hosts against local rival Wheaton Warrenville South. As both teams ponder the excitement of a new year, the game also marks the Warriors’ home debut since the team trashed St. Joseph 5-1 in the Class 2A state championship game last November at Hoffman Estates.
The collision of past and present is a good mix to play off. Thirteen seniors from that team have graduated, but Ty Seager is back. The electrifying forward put together one of the greatest individual seasons in state history as a junior last year with 39 goals and 15 assists for the 25-1-1 Warriors.
Wheaton Academy, ranked no. 1 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25, enters the game with a nine-game winning streak and a 16-game unbeaten streak.
Speed is on Seager's side. He medaled in the 100 and 200 meters as a sophomore, but was unable to qualify as a junior due to an injury. The Northwestern soccer commit is the anchor of a group that returns three starters and eight players who saw action last year.
“He’s hungry,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. "He overpowers smaller players and is too big and fast for bigger players. His ability to create in space is uncanny."
That presents a problem for Wheaton Warrenville South and its longtime coach Guy Callipari.
“At another level you can corral and get enough support to alienate or isolate him,” he said. “In high school we don’t read the game as well. He exploits every hesitation in decision-making, and he makes you pay.”
Wheaton Academy senior midfielder Jacob Kapitaniuk provides a strong complementary player in support. He scored seven goals and registered a team-best 16 assists last year. Like Seager, he has excellent size (6-0) and ability out wide.
The Warriors also feature junior midfielders Isaac Anthony (eight goals, four assists last year) and Elias McCloud (four goals, four assists). Sophomore midfielder Ethan Stoneman is another talented player.
The only question mark is the back as Brooke reconstructs an entire new starting unit, but this is a team blessed with a great player, strong experience and superb intangibles.
“The guys are trying to get back to f level of last year,” Brooke said. "We’ve grown so much in the last week-and-a-half. We have grown by leaps and bounds. A lot of guys are trying to understand the level we are trying to get back to.”
The Warriors begin the first week against the Tigers, West Chicago and Geneva. The only significant difference from a year ago is that this season the Warriors have been elevated to Class 3A as a result of the newly deployed IHSA success formula. Outside of its Metro Suburban Conference schedule, the bulk of the Warriors' opponents last year were larger schools.
For the Wheaton Warrenville South (6-13-3 in 2014), the skilled and experienced Warriors offer an early-season measuring stick. The combination of the new and the experienced is an occasion for excitement combined with a degree of uncertainty.
The Tigers have 11 new varsity players, and Callipari is interested to track their development with his experienced returning players.
Senior midfielder Anthony Berardi (six goals, five assists) is the Tigers’ best player. He has the ability to play either a holding or more offensively oriented midfielder.
“He’s always going to be around the ball,” Callipari said.
Senior forward Danny Jimenez had five goals last season. Senior midfielder Felipe Speraggi, a Kaneland transfer, is particularly skilled at creating opportunities in the offensive third.
Callipari is excited for the match-up.
“From this experience we are going to try and gain some cohesiveness and try to utilize some of our strengths,” he said.
The Tigers greatest concern is a rebuilt backline. They face a tough early rest against Seager.
“We like the challenge,” Callipari said. “If we can figure the [defense] out this early in the season, we’re going to be okay.”
The game is also part of the Wheaton Cup that Callipari started 11 years ago against rival Wheaton North.
“It started out as a traveling trophy between the two schools, and those years when St. Francis and Wheaton Academy are also on our schedule, they sequenced into it,” he said.