Blackhawks drop another tough loss to Huskies

By Darryl Mellema
Photo courtesy of Scott Butler

A different sort of West Aurora team took the field on Thursday at Naperville North.

The Blackhawks were different in attitude, different in their approach to the task at hand – and they were different in personnel, too.

And for 80 minutes of regulation play and nearly 10 minutes of overtime – that determined group kept the Huskies at bay.

Then Madisen Gonzalez scored – 19 seconds before the first overtime expired – and Naperville North claimed a 1-0 DuPage Valley Conference victory.

"It happens," West Aurora coach Joe Sustersic said. "I wish we could drop the last minute of play against Naperville North.

"They've beaten us in the 79th minute, the 80th minute and now in the 90th minute and a few years back, the 78th minute."

On a night when West Aurora's defense was mostly air-tight, one mistake proved very costly.

A quickly taken throw-in on the right wing sent Bob Ren free into the right corner momentarily free of the defense.

Ren was able to look up and see Gonzalez in the six-yard box, and sent the ball over.

Gonzalez did not strike the ball hard, but it popped up and over the defense and goalkeeper and into West Aurora's goal.

"They executed at the end and took advantage of one mistake and scored," Sustersic said.

"They deserve it. I think my kids played really well with three starters not playing today. They showed a lot of heart today."

Sustersic shuffled his lineup, in part due to suspension and injury – but also to combat what he called a “blue flu” that infiltrated his team after Tuesday's 2-1 loss to Naperville Central.

"A lot of my kids thought 'I am a starter because I am a starter,'" Sustersic said.

"We ruffled a few feathers today. Three starters didn't play today because of injury, suspension or coach's decision.

"Four others didn’t play until the second half and now maybe they will realize 'hey, now maybe I do have to bust my butt in practice. Maybe I do have to be at practice.'

"I had three kids who decided that they'd take the day off after we played Naperville Central. They chose to take the easy route and today they realized how easy it is to sit on the bench."

The Blackhawks (4-4, 0-2 DVC) used a collective effort to keep Naperville North at bay.

If not goalkeeper Fernando Ortiz stopping shots with everything from his feet to his hands – West Aurora got some tremendous defense from a variety of players.

Included among them was David Quinones, who cleared a powerful Ren shot nearly from the goal line nine minutes into the second half.

"I think that David Quinones, Matt Koth and Collin Molina – who each played all 90 minutes played exceptional," Sustersic said.

"They're three juniors. Last year, one was playing from the bench and the other two were JV players at different positions than they're playing now. I think Fernando played tremendously too."