Falcons keep battling in loss to Redhawks

By Casey Callanan
Photo courtesy of Bret Richter

Mr. Versatility came up huge for Naperville Central on Tuesday night.

The nickname coined by head coach Troy Adams belongs to Redhawk senior A.J. Seaman whose goal and assist keyed Naperville Central's 2-0 road win over Wheaton North. 

“(Seaman) started the season playing in the back while other players got comfortable playing on the varsity level,” Adams said. “We always knew that he could play up top.”

Seaman ended the scoring draught after both sides failed to score in the first half. Ten minutes into the second half he charged to the goal while carefully controlling the ball (on the fast artificial surface) and scored.

“I saw the defender going for the header but the ball was really low,” Seaman said. “Coach told me to always go for the ball in that situation by going right through chest first.”

Seaman proved his big day wasn’t over when his assist allowed Redhawk senior Peter Beasley to score with three minutes remaining. The late goal clinched the victory for Central. 

“We seem to know where each other are on the field. I think that comes from practice,” Beasley said. “We’ve been working hard since preseason through now.”

The Redhawks controlled the game’s first twenty minutes, and dominated the possession battle with a patient and relentless attack. The offense did everything but find the back of the net with speedy sophomores Conner Allen and Jack Patrick helping lead the early threat.

Wheaton North defenders Gareth Phillips and Zac Gudanik stepped up to deny Redhawk goals during some of the most tense moments of the first half for the Falcons. The duo’s impressive play was aided by the near flawless first half goalkeeping from senior Nick Barry for the Falcons.

“We’ve been in every matched we’ve played,” said Wheaton North coach Bryce Cann. “But, we’re trying to generate more consistency for an 80 minute period.”

Wheaton North’s offense came to life in an important turn of events midway through the first half. 

“In the last fifteen minutes of the first half we did a great job controlling the midfield,” Cann said. “We were able to generate a consistent attack from (senior Dan O’Malley) and (senior Jordan Richert).”  

The sudden surge in offense for Wheaton North resulted in two solid scoring chances from senior Jacques Ntahoturi. Ntahoruri’s ability to fire quick shots off tough angles brought a new confidence to the Falcon’s attack.

“We realized we were getting pounded and we had to step it up,” said Wheaton North senior Andrew Carlburg. “At halftime we were feeling good about things, but we ended up making one mistake and it cost us a goal.”

As his team trailed with nine minutes left, Carlburg bolted completely past the Central defense and found himself all alone. With a head full of steam and just the goalie to beat, Carlburg couldn’t slow down his momentum enough and missed the goal high.

Carlburg’s breakaway was the best scoring opportunity of the entire game for the Falcons.

“We’ve shown we can hang with the best,” Carlburg said. “It’s just, we have to make one more play.”

Before Beasley’s game clinching goal, Naperville Central missed two prime chances to extend the lead.

First it was Seaman setting up Jimmy Altosino with a beautiful pass that Altosino had denied by Barry. Barry came up big again two minutes later when Seaman’s short shot was quickly wrestled away by the senior goalkeeper.

Wheaton North (3-8-2, 2-2-1 in DVC play) will try to bounce back Friday night at the Mid-State Classic in Schaumburg.

Naperville Central (9-3, 3-0) will host Plainfield North on Saturday for Senior Night, before finishing its season with four straight conference games.