Blackhawks can't finish vs. Wheaton North
By Eddie Burns

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Wheaton North found just enough offense combined with a stingy defensive effort and it added up to a victory.

The Falcons scored in the 17th minute and it held up during their 1-0 victory against West Aurora in a DuPage Valley Conference match played Tuesday night in Wheaton.

“A win feels great and the shutout feels even better,” said Wheaton North goalie A.J. Bibergall.

The victory was only the second this season for the Falcons, who are 2-5-3 overall and 1-2 in DVC action.

Wheaton North won the match by virtue of its ability to take advantage of its first real scoring threat when the Falcons were awarded a restart from approximately 27 yards out from the West Aurora goal. Isaac Roberts put the ball back into play as he sent a shot in the direction of the Blackhawks’ goal. Teammate Brooks Joy found his way to the ball and flicked it just enough that it found its way past goalie Alex Guillen for what turned out to be the winning goal.

“I saw the ball coming and I noticed that their defenders lined up all around us,” Brooks said. “But they didn’t really mark us, so I just tried to sneak in behind them. I saw the ball coming and I just got my head on it and put it away. It was a good feeling.”

The goal is only the fifth scored this season by the Falcons.

“We need to score because it gets us going and gets our energy up, which in turn, helps us generate more opportunities,” Joy said. “We did a fairly nice job for the rest of the first half of creating chances – we didn’t actually take a lot of shots, but we did generate our share of scoring chances. We did get a little sloppy there in the second half. We worked through it and came out with the win.”

The Falcons did manage to create a few more scoring chances as the teams went to halftime about even with scoring opportunities.

The second half was a much different story as the Blackhawks (3-6-1; 0-2) seemingly dominated play, but failed to produce a goal. It’s a scene that has unfolded all too often as of late for the Blackhawks. West Aurora has lost six of seven matches and in four of those matches the Blackhawks lost by a 1-0 margin.

“We aren’t finishing,” West Aurora’s Danny Talancon said. “You can’t dominate the match and then not finish at the net, but that is what we are doing.”

The Blackhawks had several great scoring chances in the second half. In the 44th minute, Manny Gurrola, Jose Gallegos and Geovanni Martinez strung together a series of passes and Martinez found himself one verse one with Bibergall, but Bibergall stopped the opportunity from point-blank range. Then after the rebound Gurrola gained possession and sent a cross through the box near the far post, but it was just beyond the reach of Gallegos’ foot as the ball slid out of play.

Juan Cerda had a chance turned away by Biebergall as did Steve Rivera and Juan Cerda in the 69th minute. The chance in the 69th minute was West Aurora’s second best chance of the match as Rivera got in on Bibergall only to be turned away while Cerda’s rebound attempt on the open net sailed wide.

“We dominated every part of that game,” Talancon said. “I don’t know how we could have done any better than we did – other than by scoring a goal. We can’t finish around the goal. They put one in the net and it was their first shot of the match, but it held up. We have to learn to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Despite their inability to finish, the Blackhawks remain optimistic.

“If we continue to play hard good things will happen,” Talancon said. “All it takes is one and that will get us going again. We definitely might be spending too much time trying to look good rather than just putting the ball in the goal. We need to practice on just finishing.”

Teammate Ibo Kibarov agreed.

“I’m just as surprised as my teammates are about our inability to score,” Kibarov said. “We just have issues finishing. It will only get better with practice.”

Kibarov played stopper for most of the final 60-plus minutes of the match and he was the last line of defense before Guillen as the Blackhawks really pushed forward in the second half.

The extra attackers didn’t seem to bother the Wheaton North back line where Joy, Julian Barrera, Aaron Deeke and Brian Pfaff among others were able to maintain and contain the Blackhawks attack. 

“It was a little easier for us to create shape and not let the ball get behind us because of the style of soccer that they play,” Pfaff said. “We were solid the whole time. It is a process with us in the back. We fix any issues that arise and continue to push through and communicate.”

Biebergall said that one of the best attributes of this group is its ability to lend a helping hand – when necessary.

“We really do a nice job of covering for each other,” Biebergall said. “Whenever there is a mistake, there is someone else flying in there. We have guys like Julian Barrera and Nathan Robinson who work their tails off to cover all ends of the field, if necessary.”

With the Blackhawks committing so much of the attack in the offensive third, it did create quick counter opportunities for the Falcons. Jeremy Stapleton had a chance to put some additional distance between the Falcons and Blackhawks when he worked his way past Kibarov and found himself one on one with Guillen, but Guillen managed to stop Stapleton’s shot.

The Falcons are one of the youngest teams around with a roster that features 14 sophomores and juniors. There have been some growing pains, but the squad is in good spirits.

“It is difficult to make up for the experience, but what we lack for in experience we make up for with all of our hard work and we will just continue to work hard,” Biebergall said.

And on nights like Tuesday, that hard work paid off.