What a Breese

Throw-in artist, Riley Breese, leads Huskies to easy victory

Normally, pretending to twist the arm of an opponent during the postgame handshake would not make any sense at a soccer game.

Unless, of course, the recipient of that horseplay used both of his arms (instead of his legs) to assist four goals against your team.

Bryan Forand's teasing of Riley Breese provided the perfect visual ending to Naperville North's 6-1 win over Naperville Central on Thursday, during which Breese recorded four assists via the throw-in.

"I don't think I've ever seen a player get four assists in a game," Central coach Jay Konrad said. "And as a defender. And all from his hands.

"That was unbelievable."

North (9-1-3, 3-0-1 DuPage Valley Conference) has come to count on Breese's special weapon so much so that he has hand signals to indicate where he's going to throw the ball in the penalty box.

Breese now has 12 assists this season. On Thursday, he set up both of junior Ediz Yorulmazoglu's goals, as well as senior Tyler Cortez's and senior Kyle Green's.

Senior forward Augustin Celentano and senior midfielder George Boumitri scored the other two for North.

"That definitely wasn't a 6-1 game," Breese said. "We're not five goals better than them. They're a good team, but we finished our shots and took over."

While North had the most goals, it didn't have the best. By all accounts, Central junior Tim Zimmer's goal will be the one to remember from this year's crosstown matchup.

Zimmer converted a free kick from just outside the penalty box with a left-footed laser that stung the upper left-hand corner of the goal, cutting the Huskies lead to 3-1.

"Zimmer's free kick was nasty," North coach Jim Konrad said. "That was one of the best goals I've seen in high school soccer."

Central (9-2-1, 2-1) owned the first 30 minutes of play despite falling behind 1-0 on Cortez's goal. Cortez finished the rebound off of Redhawks goalkeeper Danny Altosino's attempt to save it.

Breese started that scoring play with a throw-in, the first of three that skipped into the goalmouth - a defensive no-no, according to the Redhawks coach.

"It's a bomb, you know?" Zimmer said. "We need to get more guys in (the box) and they just had great headers in the box. I don't think there was much we could do besides getting guys in."

The 2-0 halftime lead became 3-0 in the 58th minute when Breese unleashed what may have been his longest throw. It carried about 40 yards before Altosino jumped upward and deflected the ball into the net.

"I use my back I think," said Breese, trying to pinpoint the key to his throwing success. "I try to stay on my back foot (and leg) and just try to get the ball in there."

Breese said his throws started getting longer and longer about three years ago. Not only can he throw, Konrad said he's the fastest kid in their school.

Overall, both programs are celebrating 30 years of soccer. In the all-time series between the Konrad brothers - a five-year span - Jim now owns a 4-2-1 mark over Jay.

Central entered the game ranked ninth regionally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, five spots ahead of North.

The Redhawks grabbed the No. 2 seed in the Neuqua Valley Sectional on Wednesday night, one spot ahead of the Huskies.

Contact Brad Engel at bengel@scn1.com or 630-416-5289.