Tigers pick up first DVC victory after blanking Rams

By Matt Le Cren

Wheaton Warrenville South has never gone winless in the DuPage Valley Conference and thanks in part to senior midfielder Thomas Schubert and sophomore goalie Tim Reinders that streak will continue.

Schubert scored his first goal of the season in the 48th minute and Reinders made it stand up by making two great saves to lift the host Tigers to a 1-0 victory over Glenbard East Monday at Red Grange Field.

The victory snapped a five-game winless [0-4-1] streak for the Tigers (7-10-3, 1-5), who moved past the visiting Rams (3-13-1, 1-5-1) into seventh place in the DVC standings.

"It's no secret that we've really had our troubles during the season," Schubert said. "Wheaton Warrenville South has never finished last in the DVC, so this is pretty much all we're going for is not to [do that].

"We haven't been a bad team. We're always right there and we just lose it or give up the win."

Schubert's unassisted goal came with 32:04 left in the second half and gave the Tigers their first lead in five matches.

The ball caromed around the top of the Glenbard East penalty area before coming straight to Schubert, who alertly one-timed an 18-yard shot inside the left post.

While that was the lone goal of the game, the Tigers did dominate much of the action, outshooting Glenbard East 13-3.

Ten of those shots came after intermission and only the play of Rams keeper Brad Suszek prevented the hosts from scoring an insurance goal.

Suszek made all four of his saves in the second half, including a diving stop to parry a 20-yard shot by Thomas Kerby around the left post with 10:30 remaining.

"[My play has been] just up and down," Suszek said. "I have a couple bad games and then I come back into [form]."

For the first time in a long while, the Tigers were on their form for 80 minutes.

They did it despite being without senior forward George Doran, who missed his fifth game since suffering a perforated ear drum against West Chicago but is expected to play Thursday against Wheaton Academy.

Also absent was junior forward Jarrod Jakubowski, who has five staples in his scalp after a collision last week. Sophomore midfielder Max Carey also missed the game with an injury.

"Today we really put it together," Schubert said. "Usually we have a few elements right and a few wrong, but today it seemed like everything was just going together well for us.

"I think this is one of our better games. I think now until the end of the [regular] season and through the playoffs we should be able to continue on this track."

WW South's back line of Nathan Fuster, Jospeh Holz, Michael Kania and Daniel Tomazin allowed East to muster only three shots.

Two of those, however, would have been goals if not for Reinders, who played the second half after Joshua Dix did not have to make a save in the first half. The pair teamed up to record the Tigers’ second shutout.

Reinders' first save came with 27:40 to go when he dove to his left to knock an 18-yard bullet from Stephen Plotke around the left post.

Glenbard East leading scorer Sam Dennis had an even better chance at the 13:30 mark but his hard shot from just outside the box was tipped over the bar by Reinders.

"I think I did good," Reinders said. "I was actually really happy about the one that I punched up over the bar, because I didn't really see that because someone was screening me.

"They kind of shot it over their own player, but I saw it and got it and that's really all that matters."

Reinders said the victory gives the Tigers a big confidence boost for the upcoming playoffs.

The Tigers are seeded 10th at the Class 3A Naperville North Sectional and will face N0. 8 seed Plainfield South a regional semifinal October 20 at Neuqua Valley.

"We're pretty happy about [the win]," Reinders said. "It seems like every game something goes wrong and it's not always in our control. This is nice that we actually got a win and we controlled and dominated the game.

"I think we're turning it around. We were kind of leading up to a turnaround, but I think we've got this. I think we can go far."

Indeed, given the fact that WW South coach Guy Callipari said his team has played to the level of its competition this year, the Tigers could make a postseason run if they play up to their capabilities.

"There's got to be a reason for [the bad breaks the Tigers have gotten this year] and obviously some of it is our own responsibility," Callipari said.

"We're always on our heels a little bit because we make a mistake or two and teams have been fortunate enough to make us pay for them. Typically that doesn't happen at this level as frequently as has happened to us this year. High school teams get away with a lot of mistakes and we have not been able to get away with the mistakes.

"But we did get on the board and I think that was the difference today. I think we played a little bit more comfortable and everybody contributed nicely. We were without our middle line today, but the guys who came in did a nice job. Will [Huesing] stepped up and did a great job and Alec Brazeau did a good job in the first half."

While both sides played well in what was a clean contest, Glenbard East was done in again by its lack of scoring.

The Rams, who have lost six straight, were shutout for the seventh time and have scored just 16 goals. This was their sixth one-goal loss of the year and third straight such defeat in league play.

"All these games are pretty close," Suszek said. "[Most of] the conference games that we've had are double-overtime, one-goal losses, stuff like that. We're actually looking good though.

"We've just got to get the ball moving up top. It's really bugging us that we can't get a goal in the back of the net in some of our games."

But Suszek said the Rams are still thinking positively and believe they can make some noise in the postseason.

East is the 14th seed at the Class 3A Schaumburg Sectional and will host No. 19 Willowbrook, a team the Rams beat 3-1 on September 23, at 1 p.m. Saturday in a regional quarterfinal. The winner will visit No. 3 seed Elk Grove on October 19.

"I think we're looking forward to the postseason," Suszek said. "Playoffs are a different ballgame. It's not about whether you're a 1-seed or a 14-seed. It's all about emotions at that point. We’re still positive."

So is East coach Josh Adler.

"The good thing is we've been really competitive in these games," Adler said. "We're making things happen for ourselves when we want to come out and work hard. I feel good about it.

"I thought for the most part we were pretty organized today and disciplined with things and didn't lose our shape too much. It was a fun game to watch."