Tigers use early burst to defeat rival Falcons in DVC finale

 

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By Matt Le Cren

Even defenders want to score a memorable goal in a big game and that’s just what Wheaton Warrenville South senior Mike Kania did Wednesday night.

Playing in his final game at Red Grange Field, Kania volleyed home a cross from fellow defender Jarrod Jakubowski 2:51 into the contest and that triggered an avalanche of goals for the Tigers, who rolled past crosstown rival Wheaton North 6-2 to clinch sole possession of fourth place in the DuPage Valley Conference.

It was the sixth goal of the season for Kania, who is better known as a stalwart on the back line. Four of those goals have come on headers, but not this one.

“It’s always nice in any game to score the first goal,” Kania said. “Obviously, a lot of momentum gets built from that and to score my senior year in my last home again, against Wheaton North, it’s really exciting for me that I was able to put a foot on it and put it in.

“I was just really glad that the ball happened to be there in the right spot and I’m also glad that I didn’t score with my head because I haven’t [scored with my feet] very often. I’m happy that I can still use my foot.”

The Tigers (13-6-3, 4-3) used their feet plenty in the early going. The hosts tallied four goals in the first 18 minutes, the last two of which came 20 seconds apart.

Senior Dan Burns scored the next two goals, the first coming on a breakaway at the 31:09 mark off a nice feed from Javier Rojas. He made it 3-0 with 22:31 remaining by finishing a cross from Rojas, then set up Nick Smith for a header that bumped the lead to 4-0 the next time down the field.

“The boys came ready to play today,” said Burns, who now has 14 goals, equaling his 2010 total. “It was great.”

Kania got the sense it was going to be South’s night after his early goal.

“I really thought once that one went in that we were going to be pretty dominant and I think we were,” Kania said. “We controlled the majority of the game and I think it started there. It was a real momentum builder for us.”

South coach Guy Callipari substituted liberally midway through the first half, wanting to get his reserves playing time in his team’s penultimate regular season match.

But North (1-14-3, 0-6-1) didn’t quit as Robert Jaimes scored twice, both on penalty kicks.

The Falcons, whose winless streak reached 16 games, got on the board when Jaimes converted the first penalty with 1:13 left in the half. He made another with 23:59 remaining in the second half to cut the gap to 4-2 and make things interesting.

“We knew they were going to come out hard,” Kania said. “The North-South rivalry is always big. Some of the things we talked about is when they got that first goal off the penalty shot and halftime came we knew they were building inspiration up and we knew we had to smash that out of them. It’s good that we scored those insurance goals at the end.”

Indeed, the Tigers did not put the game out of reach until senior forward Alec Brazeau ripped a 45-yard shot from the left wing off the inside of the upper portion of the right post and in for a 5-2 Tigers lead with 7:44 remaining. Brazeau’s throw-in with 4:48 to go was knocked in by junior Sam Gesessew to complete the scoring.

“You probably wouldn’t expect that [high of a score] with a Wheaton North-Wheaton South contest,” Callipari said. “Everybody is very disciplined and strict defensively, but we got off, I thought, so well and with such high-octane rhythm that we needed to get people in there quickly to give them an opportunity and that kind of slowed us down considerably.

“[The Falcons] getting the goal just before halftime certainly inspired them. It’s much easier going into the second half down three as opposed to four. Unfortunately, I kind of put it out there that it’s not over and they could get another penalty kick, and they did."

The Falcons actually had two good scoring chances before the second goal by Jaimes.

Isaac Oberlin missed a header just wide of the left post off a corner kick 75 seconds into the second half and 12 minutes later, Michael Marquez sent a pass to Sam Klatt cutting into the box, but Klatt missed the right pipe by inches.

Had either one of those shots gone in, it would have given the Falcons their best offensive showing of the year. North came into the game have scored only six goals this season, two of which came in a 2-2 tie with Conant in the season opener.

“We played a lot better in the second half, no doubt,” North coach Bryce Cann said. “We probably had three good opportunities in the first 15 minutes. We take advantage on one of those the game changes.

“Obviously the bigger issue is you dig yourself a big hole like that because you’re not taking care of business on restarts, we’re not taking care of business on small little one-on-one plays when we need to eliminate an opportunity. That’s been one of the challenges this year.

“But what I do like to see is we continue to be resilient. We dig ourselves a big hole, it’s very easy to, especially with the experience we’ve had this year, just cash it in, and they continue to find a way to come back. I’m very proud of them for that.”

There hasn’t been much for the Falcons to cheer about this fall, especially offensively. They have lost eight straight matches and had been shut out 12 times, including five straight before this contest.

Other teams seem to rise to the occasion against the Falcons, as the Tigers did in scoring on six of their 12 shots on frame.

“I don’t know that we’ve ever given up six goals in a match since I’ve been here, but at the same time, it’s not like we don’t play people tough,” Cann said. “The scores are often deceiving. [The Tigers] shot 50 percent. That’s unheard of in a soccer match.

“It could have been 4-4. We missed two great opportunities and limited theirs. Just to put them in that position was nice, but at the end of the day, the regular season is done and I think we might be one of the happier teams around to say that our record gets wiped clean and we get to start fresh.”

The Falcons are seeded 17th in the 18-team Class 3A Bartlett Sectional. They host No. 15 seed Glenbard East (4-10-3) at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a regional quarterfinal game.

North tied the Rams 0-0 on September 13. A win would send the Falcons to the regional semifinal Tuesday at top-seeded Schaumburg.

“We like our chances against Glenbard East,” Cann said. “Obviously, we think we’ve got an opportunity and that’s all you ask for when you’re in a competitive environment. I think we’ve got a shot and if we’re fortunate to make it past the quarterfinal round we will look forward to that opportunity as well. It’s more fun when nobody expects it.”

The Tigers, who finish the regular season Thursday when they visit Wheaton Academy in an attempt to win back the Wheaton Cup, are in much better position heading into the playoffs.

South is seeded sixth at the Naperville North Sectional and will face No. 11 West Aurora, a team it beat 3-0 in Wheaton on September 22, in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Naperville Central. No. 3 seed Naperville Central could await in the regional final.

The Tigers have played well of late, dropping a 2-0 decision to top-ranked Naperville North on Saturday and knocking off No. 2 seed Batavia 3-1 on the road Monday.

“I couldn’t really think of a better situation right now,” Burns said. “We lost 2-0 to Naperville North on Saturday, but we were in the game and I think that’s a good sign coming into playoffs knowing that we can play with the best. We beat Batavia, so we’re getting some confidence going into regionals.”

South will be doing it without senior co-captain Will Huesing, who is out for the season with a torn ACL. Huesing was a rock in the middle of the defense, but Burns said Kania and sophomore Joe Spera have raised their game in an attempt to pick up the slack.

“Losing my colleague like that is big, but I think we can rally around the guys that we still have and we do it for Will,” Kania said.

“We were very emotional tonight about losing Will for the remainder of the campaign but as I told him, he prepared us all year for this,” Callipari noted. “He allowed us to get comfortable in the roles that we’re playing and I think we’re ready to go.”