Tigers beat Raiders for program's first playoff win

By Curt Herron

 

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You're never quite sure of what to expect when teams meet up in preliminary round matches in the state playoffs.

Depending on how things have been going in their seasons, there are varying degrees in the level of performance.

While some are excited about getting another match against an excellent team, others are playing out the string.

Plainfield North and Bolingbrook met in just such a match on Saturday in the Class 3A Naperville North Regional.

On a rainy, windy day where both squads could easily have just gone through the motions, the opposite happened.

The Tigers and Raiders went toe-to-toe throughout in order to meet up with the host Huskies on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

And for all but the final few minutes, little separated the sides in the second and biggest meeting of the year.

North gained the upper hand with an early score but Bolingbrook hung tough until two late goals ended the drama.

When all was said and done, the Tigers moved on following an efficient 3-0 win over the Raiders in Plainfield.

It marks the first time that North has won a postseason match. They were 0-6 in their previous playoff contests.

James Thompson got the early goal while Garrett Gathman and Andres Castellanos both connected in the late going.

Keeper Aaron Dunn and defenders Thomas DeVaux, Sam Puglisi, Travis Foust and Gathman led the effort in the back.

The result gave North a season-best three-match win streak and also its third shutout, plus its second straight.

North (8-9-3) settled for a 2-2 draw when it faced the Raiders back on September 5 in the teams' earlier match.

"I knew it was going to be a battle since we had played them earlier this season," Tigers coach Jim O'Hara said. "That was awhile ago but we battled to a 2-2 tie. Both of our seasons are comparable so we knew that it would be a good game and would come down to a couple of plays here and there.

"In my mind, while it was a 3-0 game, it was only 1-0 when Aaron made a spectacular save. If they score there, it changes the whole dynamics of the game. But once he made that save, it was kind of full-force for us going in the other direction.

"I liked our defensive game in general. Our back four played very well but also our mids were getting back and we applied a lot of back pressure, and when you do that, anything can happen. It was a very good team game all the way around and I was very pleased from our goalie up to our forwards."

The strong finish is an encouraging sign for a squad that figures to return most of its players for next season.

There's only four seniors on the 20-man roster. That foursome features Zach Foust, Castellanos, DeVaux and Dunn.

"We have a lot of young guys who will coming back next year with some experience," O'Hara said. "This was our program's first victory in the playoffs and now we get the opportunity to play Naperville North, which is what we wanted. We know that we'll be the underdogs but anything can happen."

The Tigers scored the go-ahead goal in the 13th minute when Thompson connected following an assist from Puglisi.

But what didn't happen during the initial 40 minutes was of some concern for O'Hara and his Tigers at the break.

North had several good scoring opportunities in the last part of the initial half, but still only had one goal.

Of particular note were three Tyler Petprachan corner kicks which led to threatening tries which were thwarted.

A liner from Jordan Schure, a header by Emmanuel Bofah and a short shot from Logan Wright were all turned away.

The best chances early in the second half were a long free kick from Raider John Lund and an attempt by Bofah.

Following the final half's midpoint, Dunn saved a long try by Luis Loya before one of the match's key moments.

In the 70th minute, Frimpong Sintim took a shot that Dunn deflected, as he also did on the subsequent rebound.

"It wasn't an easy game at all since Bolingbrook played really hard and they are tough competitors," Dunn said. "I thought we dominated in the first half and we should have had more than one goal but they made some great stops.

"In the second half, we just powered through and got a couple more goals to give us some insurance. I thought that we played an incredible game and we've had a great last couple of weeks. This program has a really good future.

"There's only four seniors on this team and we didn't want this to be our last game. So we pushed and we won it and that lets us play at least one more game and we'll come out and play hard against Naperville North."

North nearly connected again in the 74th minute, but even though it didn't, it helped to set up the next goal.

After a Jake Novacek attempt was deflected wide, the corner kick by Petprachan was cleared away by a defender.

Following another altered Novacek effort, Petprachan found Gathman, who flicked in a score in the 75th minute.

"This was a good team effort," Gathman said. "Our midfield was dropping back and winning balls in the air, which helped us a lot since we didn't have to step through. On this surface, if the ball skips through, you're in trouble.

"Coach stresses that no one is any more important than the rest of us and it showed since everyone played their hearts out. Bolingbrook's a good team and they came back and tied us earlier so I didn't want that to happen again.

"We have a junior-heavy roster and also some kids who aren't playing this year who will play next year. So I think that next year can be an even better year for us than this year has been."

About half a minute after that score, the hosts collected their third goal when Castellanos fired in a liner.

Bolingbrook continued to keep up the pressure until the final whistle, forcing Puglisi to make a late clear.

But North was able to keep the Raiders at bay and now have not allowed an opponent goal in over 200 minutes.

"Our defense did a good job today since we held them scoreless," DeVaux said. "And our offense also obviously did a great job with some good goals.

"This was just an awesome game for us. We always try to go out and play hard since we feel that if you do that, then you can beat a lot of teams."