Wildcats impressive in season opening victory over Saints

By Curt Herron

Most teams would be thrilled to turn in just a few minutes of outstanding play during their opening match of a new season.

Needless to say, receiving nearly half an hour of just that type of effort is not only not anticipated, it very rarely happens.

But that's exactly what unfolded for Neuqua Valley when it kicked off its campaign on Tuesday, much to the chagrin of St. Charles East.

The Wildcats executed so well from the outset that they collected four goals against the stingy Saints during the initial 28 minutes.

With that type of pace nearly impossible to keep up, Neuqua closed things out as well as to be expected to post a 4-0 victory in Naperville.

While both squads are still members of the Upstate Eight Conference, the match was a nonconference affair due to the new division alignments.

Two top returnees from last year's memorable 28-1 squad led the way for the Wildcats (1-0) during the impressive opening demonstration.

Patrick Doody scored a pair of goals while Jacob Brindle added a goal and an assist for Neuqua, which led 2-0 less than 10 minutes in.

Nicko Makropoulos contributed the other score while Pat Kaindl, another staple from a year ago, and Sammy Al-Qady chipped in with assists.

One of the most notable of the many pleasing signs for the Wildcats was the presence on the field of Doody, who is a senior midfielder.

It was initially feared that he might miss much of the start of the campaign due to an injury, but that clearly is no longer the case.

A favorable diagnosis received late last week has allowed the talented performer to begin his season much earlier than he expected to.

Click to hear Patrick Doody interview

Although ranked among the top teams in the state heading into the season, Wildcat coach Tony Kees has approached things with a cautious optimism.

That's due not only to the graduation of so many fine players from last year's nationally-ranked team, but also to injury concerns this season.

But even though the Wildcats hadn't had many chances to practice as a complete group yet, it was hard to realize that following Tuesday's effort.

And although understandably pleased by his team's great debut, Kees realizes that the Wildcats have plenty of things that they need to work on.

Click to hear Tony Kees interview

The Saints actually managed to collect one of their few early scoring chances before Neuqua was able to begin lighting up the scoreboard.

With 6:30 elapsed, Eric Russell sent a dangerous free kick from the midfield stripe that junior keeper Hunter Hollingshead punched away.

But thanks in large part to the efforts of his backline of seniors A.K. Karkazis, Andrew Solomon and Kaindl, he faced few threats afterward.

Neuqua got the only score that it would need just over a minute later following a nice give and go involving seniors Brindle and Al-Qady.

With 32:24 left in the first half, Brindle passed to Al-Qady on the side and he sent a pass back to Brindle, who scored from close range.

Just over two minutes later, the Wildcats connected again, this time following a well-placed effort from Kaindl that found Makropoulos.

Kaindl served up a pass from the side that was directed in front of the Saints' net and senior Makropoulos was there to head the ball in.

Neuqua was back at it just past the midway point when it was the recipient of a penalty kick, which the Saints strongly disagreed with.

Al-Qady and keeper Eric Meesenburg collided near the net and the referee ruled a PK, which Doody promptly converted with 18:50 remaining.

Doody connected again on a shot that found the opposite side of the net with 12:41 left before the break that followed a pass from Brindle.

Click to hear Jacob Brindle interview

The Wildcats started their possession game after that fourth goal and didn't threaten to score again until the second half was underway.

They had a couple of good chances in the opening 10 minutes but senior Will Butler was just wide of the net and Doody was denied on a liner.

East also threatened briefly a short time later when Jesse Nagelberg sent a short header that Hollingshead needed to make a stop on.

In the final 10 minutes, the Wildcat keeper stopped attempts from Dylan Tucker and Ryan Starosto while Keaton O'Connor hit the crossbar.

For good measure, Brindle also applied pressure shortly after that, being denied on a short try before hitting the crossbar on a free kick.

Other Wildcat seniors are Austin Bergstrom, Joe Carlson, Blake Carson, Sammy Diab, Marc Fasshauer, Joey Kaufman and Tom McKinney.

The remainder of this year's squad includes juniors Connor Domek, Andrew Kovacevic, Stephan Kovacevic, Kevin Skrip and Nick Smith.