Neuqua passes test in sectional final

Neuqua Valley goalie Jack Turanchik makes a leaping save late in Saturday's sectional final that the Wildcats won.
(Terence Guider-Shaw/For Sun-Times Media)

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Neuqua Valley met and passed another challenge on its quest for a second state boys soccer championship.

Wheaton Warrenville South pushed Neuqua further than it had been all season.

The Tigers and Wildcats played to a draw after 80 minutes of regulation and four 10-minute overtimes sessions before Neuqua took matters into its own hands and scored a 4-2 victory in penalty kicks to earn a 2-1 win Saturday afternoon to claim the Class 3A Naperville North Sectional championship.

"That was the toughest and hardest game we've played all year," Neuqua goalie Jack Turanchik said. "I don't think we put forth our best effort. We did get tired, but give it to them. They played four overtimes the other night (against Naperville North) and then they turned around and did it again against us. It was a heck of a game."

WW South coach Guy Callipari agreed.

"We needed a monumental effort and we got that today from everybody," he said. "It is the sign of a great team to be able to find a way to win when you are not playing your best soccer and having difficulties and Neuqua was able to do that."

The match reached its climax in the penalty-kick round.

Each team converted its first two attempts before WW South's Andrew Gurrero had his attempt hit the post in the third round. Neuqua's Nate Freed made his attempt to give the Wildcats a 3-2 advantage.

Turanchik gave the Wildcats (27-0-1) the edge when he stopped WW South's Manny Munguia in the fourth round.

"I could tell (Manny) Munguia looked pretty nervous," Turanchik said. "The pressure was on him. I just made the save. It is not the complicated. For penalty kick shootouts, it is not on me. The pressure is on the shooters."

Neuqua's Pat Doody finished off WW South (20-5-2) when he converted his chance in the fourth round.

"You always want to be in the position to be the hero, but when it actually happens, you start to think, 'I don't know about this,'" Doody said. "Jack put us in a great position and all the credit goes to him, but I liked being there and able to put it away. I'm very happy I was successful with it."

The Wildcats put forth one of their finest efforts in the first half and dictated the tempo and flow of the match. Bryan Ciesiulka's 16th goal gave Neuqua a 1-0 lead at intermission.

The second half was a different story.

WW South came out and played much more aggressive. The Tigers eventually pulled even when Colin Ringel sent a restart in toward the Wildcats' net where teammate Alden Marton managed to get his head on it and redirect it past Turanchik in the 56th minute.

From there, each team had plenty of chances to score.

WW South had the best chance in the overtimes when a Ringel restart hit the post in the closing minutes of the fourth overtime.

"With the kind of season we've had, you would prefer to not roll the dice and get to a shootout situation, but it is part of the game this time of year," Neuqua coach Tony Kees said.

Neuqua advances to meet Lyons Township (23-3) in a supersectional at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at Benedictine University in Lisle.

The Wildcats already own a pair of victories against the Lions this season. Lyons needed two overtimes to get past Hinsdale Central to claim the Hinsdale Central Sectional on Saturday.