Redhawks take advantage of opportunities, blank Red Devils

CLICK HERE FOR NAPERVILLE CENTRAL'S TEAM PAGE
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO GALLERY COURTESY OF HARRISON BULL

 

By Dave Owen

Taking advantage of good bounces provided an offensive lift for Naperville Central in its nonconference match at Hinsdale Central on Saturday.

But when opportunity knocked for the Red Devils to rally, Redhawks’ senior defender Luke Burnett went the extra mile to slam the door to help his team claim a 2-0 victory.

With goalkeeper Mike Pavliga drawn out of the net on a Hinsdale Central threat with 21:10 left in the match, Burnett came up big with a body block of Gareth Parsons’ point-blank blast.

Pavliga returned to the crease to pounce on a rebound attempt at the right post by Ryan Schwarz, and Naperville Central (10-1) rolled on to complete its shutout win.

“I saw them pass down the field and I could kind of tell that they might be able to beat the keeper,” Burnett said.

“I stepped back into the goal, they passed it to the guy and he had a point-blank shot. He happened to hit it to within stepping range of me, so I just got it with my hip.”

Shutouts are becoming a hip trend for the Redhawks. Saturday’s was their third in a row and seventh of the season as Naperville Central has allowed just four goals all year.

“I feel for the most part the goals we have given up this season have been stupid dead ball mistakes where we haven’t been ready in time,” Burnett said.

“We have to make it so the other team has to really try, make them earn it. I’m really proud of our defense.”

Starting defenders Burnett, Mike Plant, Jay Tegge and Sean Stevens were among the stalwarts in the latest shutout win, with Pat Flynn, Adam Hamielec and Jack Patrick providing support from the midfield.

Junior goalkeeper Pavliga also more than did his part, not only in the aftermath of Burnett’s clutch impromptu save but also with a stop of a nice sliding 20-yard shot by Parsons with 11:45 left.

The last challenge came with 4:55 left off a corner kick by the Red Devils’ Leandro Perez, which Pavliga leapt into a crowd to bat out of harm’s way.

On the offensive end of the field, Naperville Central had numerous chances that didn’t produce results – the first of which came with 17:55 left in the first half when Flynn headed Conner Allen’s cross off the left post from point-blank range.

But much better fortune would come.

Naperville Central followed Flynn’s close call with relentless pressure, which paid off 11:33 before halftime when Mike West took a back pass from Rahul Bhatia and sent a 22-yard laser into the upper left corner of the net for a 1-0 halftime lead.

“Mike West hit a very nice shot,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said of West’s fourth goal of 2011. “That’s two games in a row that he’s had that type of quality shot.”

Hinsdale Central goalkeeper Will Meyer faced waves of pressure from the Redhawks’ offense.

Meyer’s plays included beating unmarked Naperville Central midfielder Devon Amoo-Mensah to a loose ball in the crease off a corner kick late in the first half then making a nice diving save to his left of a 15-yard blast by the Redhawks’ Sam Reskala with 33:40 left in the game.

But what happened with 28:59 left epitomized the day for the Red Devils.

Attempting to clear the zone from near the top of the box with a kick from ground level instead of a punt, Meyer had his attempt intercepted by the Redhawks’ Greg Burdett.

The senior forward cashed in by lofting a 30-yard shot far behind the keeper that bounced into the net for an insurance score.

“The quote I think is that most goals are scored by defense, not offense,” Adams said. “It’s mistakes and you have to capitalize. I don’t care what sport you coach or watch.

"In football take advantage of turnovers, in soccer take advantage of defensive mistakes. The mantra could be the same in every single sport, and today we definitely took advantage of put two in the back of the net."

Hinsdale Central (6-5-1) was already playing without standout senior midfielder Mitch Reavis, and compounded that adversity with a match full of miscues.

“A lot of turnovers,” Red Devils’ coach Mike Wiggins said. “For whatever reason today we continually put ourselves in a bad position, whether it was a touch in a space that didn’t exist…it was just not a typical day for our group for whatever reason.

"As a result of too many turnovers and giving up too much time and space for the opponent, we just found ourselves digging deeper into a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”

One highlight for the Red Devils’ defense was provided by Phillip Gutman, who had a nice deflection/block of a Redhawks’ 15-yard direct kick in the 21st minute of the match.

That chance denied was part of Adams’ own frustration with his team’s inability to finish more often.

“We had a lot of chances today but struggled to put them in the back of the net,” he said. “But we didn’t return somebody who was a big goal scorer for us last year, so it’s a learning process.

“We get a little better each time. And the goal is not to be perfect now, but to be perfect in November and late October.

“It’s been a good season so far, we’ve got a good record,” Adams added, “but what I’m most happy about is that I feel our best soccer is ahead of us. We have not played our best soccer of the year, but that will come.”

The Redhawks are driven to continue to build towards big things down the stretch, including an upcoming key conference battle with Naperville North.

“It happened last year where on our Senior Night we lost one game and that kind of shut down our momentum,” Burnett said. “So we haven’t let that happen. Our momentum has been going strong.

“Going into us vs. Naperville North, I think that’s going to be a critical game. I think we can go there 11-1 or 12-1 or whatever we could be, and then we just have to go in there with our heads on right and not let up any stupid goals.”

Burnett isn’t alone with high hopes.

“I think the best is yet to come,” West said. “ We’re a really good team and I think we should keep getting better as the season goes on.”