WW South boys soccer looks back at season

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

All the Wheaton Warrenville South boys soccer team wanted was a shot at the best.

The Tigers received their chance on Oct. 31 when they met top-ranked Neuqua Valley in the championship match of the Class 3A Naperville North Sectional.

WW South and Neuqua staged an epic contest. The Tigers and Wildcats were tied after 80 minutes of regulation. Then the two squads remained deadlocked after playing through four 10-minute overtimes before having to settle matters in penalty kicks.

Neuqua won the penalty kicks 4-2 and took the match by a 2-1 decision to end the Tigers' season at 20-5-2.

"It is the best and the worst way to go – we gave them all we could for 120 minutes," WW South midfielder Drew Bellmer said. "We gave up the one goal and then we held them scoreless for 100 minutes. To lose in penalty kicks, is a rough way to go down. It is a great way to win, but rough way to lose."

WW South coach Guy Callipari had nothing but praise for his squad.

"They're one of the best teams I've seen in 10 or 15 years at the high school level," Callipari said about Neuqua, "but we were able to play with them."

The Tigers spotted the Wildcats a one-goal advantage when they allowed Bryan Ciesiulka enough space to place a shot from 25 yards out past WW South keeper Derek Babb. It was the first goal the Tigers had allowed after scoring shutouts in their first three postseason matches against Bolingbrook, Benet and Naperville North.

Neuqua (27-0-1) dominated the tempo and possession through the opening half.

WW South adjusted its game plan and played like an entirely different team for the final 40 minutes of regulation and through the overtime periods.

"What it was is that we realized that we only had 40 minutes remaining in our season and that put us over the edge because we had nothing to lose and they had everything to lose," WW South's Alden Marton said. "So, it was a goal to put everything we had into the final 40 minutes and maybe things would go our way and they almost did."

The Tigers played like a completely different team. They attacked, possessed the ball and were aggressive in the final third.

"We were stretched – there is no question about it," Neuqua coach Tony Kees said. "They took the game to us."

The Tigers eventually pulled even when Colin Ringel sent a restart in toward the Wildcats' net where Marton managed to get his head on the ball and redirect it past Neuqua goalie Jack Turanchik in the 56th minute.

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

The Tigers had plenty of chances during counterattacks in the overtime sessions, but they couldn't seal the deal.

"Honestly, we couldn't pull the trigger," said Marton, who finished the season with eight goals. "We felt that if held onto the ball for a little bit longer we might get that perfect shot, but their defense definitely stepped up and really made some nice plays. Pulling the trigger is one of the things we could have done better today – especially in the overtimes."

WW South did manage the best scoring chance when a Ringel restart hit the post in the closing minutes of the fourth overtime.

"We almost had one at the very end off the post," Callipari said. "To a game plan, the boys played it out to perfectly and that is all we had – we gave it everything we had. There wasn't much left in the tank at the end.

"Not many teams have taken the action to them. To be on that list, feels good – but we had our chance and that is all you can ask for."

When the match went to penalty kicks Bellmer and Ricky Munguia converted before Andrew Gurrero and Manny Munguia missed their chances.

"We are disappointed because we felt that we really missed out on some opportunities to put the match away," Marton said. "We got our hopes up near the end of the game because we were playing really well, it's disappointing that we weren't able to put one in the net, but at the same time, there is no shame in losing to a team like that."

WW South was 7-7-8 a season ago and nearly tripled its win total thanks to the efforts of a large senior class that included. Bellmer, Marton, Ringel, Babb, Guerrero, Matt Krieger, Tim Rezabek, Ricky Munguia, Manny Munguia, , Joe Bianucci, Adam Casario, Kevin Allingham, Christian Enriquez, and Juan Pablo Manzo.

"Toward the end we had a sophomore and a junior on the field, and the rest were guys you won't see again. That's a big chunk of change that's hard for any program to recover from," Callipari said.

Will Huesing, Nathan Fuster, Alec Brazeau, George Doran, Colin Fedor and Thomas Schubert will return next season for Callipari in 2010.