The ties that bind

Senior Jaymie Bullard, left, and the rest of the Neuqua Valley Wildcats want a return trip to the state tournament. Neuqua finished second in Class AA in 2007 and will compete in Class AAA this year.
Jonathan Miano / Staff photographer

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No other team has been able to play Neuqua Valley quite like Naperville Central this season.

Of course, the same could be said about Central when it comes to Neuqua.

The top two seeds in tonight's Neuqua Valley Sectional have twice played to a 2-2 result in regulation. The first meeting - the Best of the West championship - ended in favor of the Wildcats (20-1-4) after a 20-minute scoreless overtime and penalty kicks. The second tie came a week later when the game didn't go into overtime.

"They're a great team. They're fast, they're well-disciplined, they're good on restarts," Central coach Jay Konrad said of Neuqua. "A couple of the guys they brought up for the postseason have made a positive impact. Ian Krol, he's been scoring goals, he's a big body. You know what, they're a very good team."

Konrad expects a similar game tonight to that of his team's 1-0 win over Naperville North in Tuesday's second sectional semifinal at Neuqua. Defenses shined and scoring chances were few and far between.

In addition to each team's back-line play, the midfield should play a large factor in the title game.

Konrad said that Neuqua center midfielders Bryan Gaul and Paul Box have given the second-seeded Redhawks (19-3-1) problems this season. It's no secret that Box protects the top-seeded Wildcats defense while Gaul aids their offense.

"They are very good on restarts, they are very good at working the ball around and finishing as well," Central goalkeeper Tyler Kelley said. "I'd say (they have) one of the top five offenses in the state. They're very strong. We got to make sure we're concentrating 100 percent of the time. From the first minute, to the 80th minute, we can't have any mistakes."

After losing to the Wildcats 4-1 in the first sectional semifinal Tuesday at Neuqua, Benet coach Henry Wind said a mistake-free game is the key to beating the Wildcats.

After all, that's exactly how Wind credited his team's 0-0 result (5-4 shootout win) over the Wildcats during Best of the West play.

"They keep everything very simple," Wind said. "They go from the back to the front and they put a lot of pressure on you, and they do it for 80 minutes."

In the postseason, the nationally-ranked Wildcats (fifth by the Associated Press Sports Editors) have beaten IMSA 9-1, Waubonsie Valley 3-0 and Benet 4-1. The Wildcats, who won the Upstate Eight Conference, suffered their only loss of the year 11 games ago to Rockhurst of Kansas City in the Quincy Tournament.

Central, which won the DuPage Valley Conference, has beaten Kaneland 8-0, Marmion Academy 3-2 and North 1-0 in the playoffs. The Redhawks will be making their first sectional title-game appearance in five years under Konrad.

"I hope the boys are ready for that challenge," Konrad said. "I mean, that's a huge task. (Neuqua's) lost one game on a technicality, in a shootout, in a tournament. Nobody around here has beaten them so we're going to have our hands full for sure."

The winner advances to Monday's Benedictine University Super-Sectional, slated for 4:30 p.m. in Lisle, which also will feature the winner of Thursday's Wheaton Academy Sectional between Wheaton Academy and Geneva.

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