SCN, Libertyville both feel challenged
By Steve Nemeth
French philosopher Albert Camus said “You cannot create experience, you must undergo it.”
That quest for team knowledge is the cornerstone behind the battle of Chicagoland Soccer’s no. 2-ranked Libertyville visiting no. 17 St. Charles North at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“We believe the best way to push ourselves is facing strong teams,” Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said when politely questioned about the sanity behind the Wildcats’ early schedule.
In compiling a 6-0-0 record, Libertyville has faced and beaten currently rated no. 6 Lyons, no. 8 New Trier and no. 20 Loyola.
Plus the Wildcats can expect every opponent’s best shot in light of the target on their backs following consecutive, state runner-up finishes.
“They’re as tough as they come,” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson noted. “We also have the mindset that to be truly challenged, you have to want to be tested by the best.”
A potentially epic meeting almost came to pass in 2017. St. Charles North (5-1-1) was beaten 2-0 in the Class 3A semifinal by Naperville North while the opposite bracket had Libertyville slip past Bradley-Bourbonnais 2-1. Both teams shared the same losing fate in their next match.
The Wildcats were edged 1-0 by Naperville North, which took its second-consecutive Class 3A title.
Libertyville finished with a 20-1-2 record. St. Charles North lost 4-3 to Bradley-Bourbonnais to end up fourth at 16-4-4.
Much to Libertyville’s frustration the 2018 state finals also concluded with Naperville North squeezing out a 1-0 triumph to leave the Wildcats with a final 22-1-0 ledger.
Despite graduating Chicagoland Soccer All-Staters Evan Rasmussen (now playing at Michigan), Grant Herbek (DePaul), and Mason Williams and having only one of five All-North Suburban Conference players back, Thunholm doesn’t care about the Wildcats' current ranking.
“We don’t discuss rankings because I’ve made it clear to them that early in the year they are still a measure of the season before. We are not last year’s team or the year before. You have to earn things and that starts with this group finding and creating its own identity,” Thunholm said.
While the bulk of the wins led to Libertyville winning the Northside College Showcase for a third-straight year, it didn’t come easily.
“Playing those three (rated) teams and having someone like Grayslake Central throw everything they had at us, we’re pretty banged up right now." Thunholm said. “That tourney had us playing every other day.”
The coach had to welcome an unexpected break when the team's Sept. 12 North Suburban Conference showdown with Stevenson was postponed due to field condition.
“Although this group may show signs of having a higher game IQ, we’re not as deep,” Thunholm added. “Plus we have a number of guys still learning about the difference in playing varsity soccer when it comes to style, passion and conference rivalries.”
Leading the squad with six goals is the lone All-NSC returnee and Chicagoland Soccer All-stater Mickey Reilly, a tri-captain along with fellow senior midfielders Luke Underwood and Patrick Graham. The latter plus junior midfielder-forward Jack Brennan both made the 2018 CS All-State Watch List.
A 1993 Libertyville grad himself, Thunholm’s passion for the Wildcats program is evident when talking about taking over for “a great leader” in “a great community.” Thunholm played for and served as assistant coach before taking over from the legendary Andy Bitta.
Of course the St. Charles community doesn’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to IHSA soccer and Willson is equally driven to have the North Stars continue their tradition of success. Now in his 16th campaign at North, only once has Willson’s program had single-digit victories. He surpassed the 200-win milestone last year and hopes to continue to add to a 208-97-35 career mark.
“At this point, our guys have trained together enough to understand the approach we take for success. It is still early enough that we’re trying to make the puzzle fit perfectly,” Willson admitted. “Libertyville has incredible talent all over the field and can do damage in a variety of ways, there’s no question about that. However we want to see how well we can play with them and where we can capitalize on our strengths.
“I do think it will require all 24 of our guys doing the right things,” Willson cautioned. “Our captains Xander (Jao), Faizan (Mohiuddin) and Gabriel (D’Amico) have done a nice job leading us. Also Tommy Weber and Jared Sinnaeve have played very well for us in midfield.”
The North Stars Bobby Curran has stood tall in goal for North, which began the season with three-straight shutouts. The North Stars won five-consecutive matches before coming up short in the second portion of overtime in the second annual St. Charles Invitational co-hosted with its east side rival.
Metea Valley managed to pull off a 2-1 triumph in that event’s title match. And that was followed by a 1-1 draw on the road against DuKane Conference defending co-champion Wheaton North.
By Steve Nemeth
French philosopher Albert Camus said “You cannot create experience, you must undergo it.”
That quest for team knowledge is the cornerstone behind the battle of Chicagoland Soccer’s no. 2-ranked Libertyville visiting no. 17 St. Charles North at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“We believe the best way to push ourselves is facing strong teams,” Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said when politely questioned about the sanity behind the Wildcats’ early schedule.
In compiling a 6-0-0 record, Libertyville has faced and beaten currently rated no. 6 Lyons, no. 8 New Trier and no. 20 Loyola.
Plus the Wildcats can expect every opponent’s best shot in light of the target on their backs following consecutive, state runner-up finishes.
“They’re as tough as they come,” St. Charles North coach Eric Willson noted. “We also have the mindset that to be truly challenged, you have to want to be tested by the best.”
A potentially epic meeting almost came to pass in 2017. St. Charles North (5-1-1) was beaten 2-0 in the Class 3A semifinal by Naperville North while the opposite bracket had Libertyville slip past Bradley-Bourbonnais 2-1. Both teams shared the same losing fate in their next match.
The Wildcats were edged 1-0 by Naperville North, which took its second-consecutive Class 3A title.
Libertyville finished with a 20-1-2 record. St. Charles North lost 4-3 to Bradley-Bourbonnais to end up fourth at 16-4-4.
Much to Libertyville’s frustration the 2018 state finals also concluded with Naperville North squeezing out a 1-0 triumph to leave the Wildcats with a final 22-1-0 ledger.
Despite graduating Chicagoland Soccer All-Staters Evan Rasmussen (now playing at Michigan), Grant Herbek (DePaul), and Mason Williams and having only one of five All-North Suburban Conference players back, Thunholm doesn’t care about the Wildcats' current ranking.
“We don’t discuss rankings because I’ve made it clear to them that early in the year they are still a measure of the season before. We are not last year’s team or the year before. You have to earn things and that starts with this group finding and creating its own identity,” Thunholm said.
While the bulk of the wins led to Libertyville winning the Northside College Showcase for a third-straight year, it didn’t come easily.
“Playing those three (rated) teams and having someone like Grayslake Central throw everything they had at us, we’re pretty banged up right now." Thunholm said. “That tourney had us playing every other day.”
The coach had to welcome an unexpected break when the team's Sept. 12 North Suburban Conference showdown with Stevenson was postponed due to field condition.
“Although this group may show signs of having a higher game IQ, we’re not as deep,” Thunholm added. “Plus we have a number of guys still learning about the difference in playing varsity soccer when it comes to style, passion and conference rivalries.”
Leading the squad with six goals is the lone All-NSC returnee and Chicagoland Soccer All-stater Mickey Reilly, a tri-captain along with fellow senior midfielders Luke Underwood and Patrick Graham. The latter plus junior midfielder-forward Jack Brennan both made the 2018 CS All-State Watch List.
A 1993 Libertyville grad himself, Thunholm’s passion for the Wildcats program is evident when talking about taking over for “a great leader” in “a great community.” Thunholm played for and served as assistant coach before taking over from the legendary Andy Bitta.
Of course the St. Charles community doesn’t take a back seat to anyone when it comes to IHSA soccer and Willson is equally driven to have the North Stars continue their tradition of success. Now in his 16th campaign at North, only once has Willson’s program had single-digit victories. He surpassed the 200-win milestone last year and hopes to continue to add to a 208-97-35 career mark.
“At this point, our guys have trained together enough to understand the approach we take for success. It is still early enough that we’re trying to make the puzzle fit perfectly,” Willson admitted. “Libertyville has incredible talent all over the field and can do damage in a variety of ways, there’s no question about that. However we want to see how well we can play with them and where we can capitalize on our strengths.
“I do think it will require all 24 of our guys doing the right things,” Willson cautioned. “Our captains Xander (Jao), Faizan (Mohiuddin) and Gabriel (D’Amico) have done a nice job leading us. Also Tommy Weber and Jared Sinnaeve have played very well for us in midfield.”
The North Stars Bobby Curran has stood tall in goal for North, which began the season with three-straight shutouts. The North Stars won five-consecutive matches before coming up short in the second portion of overtime in the second annual St. Charles Invitational co-hosted with its east side rival.
Metea Valley managed to pull off a 2-1 triumph in that event’s title match. And that was followed by a 1-1 draw on the road against DuKane Conference defending co-champion Wheaton North.