Trojans hit the gas pedal vs. York
By Matt Le Cren

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Downers Grove North coach Brian Gervase calls Reid Melton, Cullen Cummings and Josh Triechel his “triangle of offense.”

The senior trio proved to be as confounding as the Bermuda Triangle for York on Monday night.

Melton had two goals and two assists and Cummings and Triechel scored a goal each as the visiting Trojans dominated the Dukes 4-0 in West Suburban Conference Silver Division action in Elmhurst.

“I think we played the best we have all season,” Melton said. “We moved the ball around really well and we connected passes, which I don’t think we’ve been able to do the rest of the season.”

That was due mainly to a change in lineup. Cummings, who was North’s leading scorer last year, started the season in the back in order to shore up an inexperienced defense, while Melton was listed as a midfielder and often played defense. But Gervase moved both up top with Triechel for this game and the move worked wonders.

“We’ve had them in our back line for a while trying to get our season rolling a little bit, but getting them up front has been important for us and it will be for the rest of the year,” Gervase said. “We’re going to need to find guys who can play defense behind them so they can be our scorers.”

They scored plenty against the Dukes (2-4, 0-1), who were unfortunate to be facing the Trojans just when their lineup rounded into form after being hampered by some injuries and suspensions.

“Today we finally had what we think is our best lineup on the field,” Gervase said. “It was a good game today.”

Downers North (4-4-1, 1-1) ran circles around the York defense from the start. Just two minutes into the contest, Melton sent a 22-yard free kick into the box to Cummings, who volleyed it just wide.

Four minutes later, Triechel passed to Cummings, whose hard shot was saved by York keeper David Quaglia, and a rebound try by Triechel missed the left post by a foot.

Quaglia kept the game scoreless for a while, making three diving saves while a Dukes defender cleared another shot off the line. But the Trojans broke through with 16:18 left in the opening half when Melton and Cummings worked their magic.

Melton triggered the play by sending a lead pass into the box to Cummings, who rifled a shot on frame. Quaglia made a nice diving stop but gave up a rebound and Melton raced in and blasted the ball into the net just before Quaglia upended him.

The Trojans made it 2-0 with 2:05 left when Melton got the ball outside the penalty area and set up Triechel for a 12-yard shot.

The offense continued to flow in the second half, with Melton assisting Cummings to stretch the lead to 3-0 with 23:36 left, sending a 28-yard free kick to Cummings, who outjumped Quaglia for the header. Five minutes later, Melton scored off assists from Austin Walker and Triechel.

“I think everybody is getting more comfortable in their roles that we’re been playing,” Triechel said. “We’ve been switching spots a lot. Now everybody is getting used to what they have to do and as we start scoring, that sort of opens the floodgates.”

The Trojans clearly enjoy the new lineup. All four goals were quality plays and North could have scored several more. Reserves Anthony Zea and Xavier Derosa had shots hit the left and right posts, respectively, during one flurry in the 67th minute.

“[Playing up front] will really help us because us three, we’ve been playing together for a while now, so I think we can move the ball around,” Melton said. “And I think our defense showed tonight that they are really solid, so if they can keep that up then we’ll be good.”

Indeed, the new back line led by Jake Maurer, Jacob Stevenson, Kevin Mitchell and Mike Raines didn’t allow the Dukes many open looks at the net and the few chances the Dukes did get were snuffed by junior goalie Jim Barkei, who made five saves in recording his second shutout.

Barkei, who played for the Fire Academy club team the past two years, aggressively charged off his line to cut off 50-50 balls and some potential breakaways, including one in which he raced out 35 yards before booting the ball out of trouble.

“He decided to come play with us this year,” Gervase said of Barkei. “He’s a very solid goaltender as you saw today. He can handle the ball very well and he’s very aggressive.

“He’s used to playing on his club maybe not so aggressive because he [had] better players in front of him, but he’s adjusting to the high school game and he’s I believe an all-state caliber goalie. He’s the kind of guy that can command that type of respect.”

Barkei is actually a two-way threat. He already has three assists and it was his booming punt that set up the early missed chance by Cummings.

Barkei also had two of Downers North’s 20 shots, both coming on free kicks from midfield. The first was a 58-yarder that was caught by Quaglia near the left post seven minutes into the second half and the other a 50-yarder that sailed over the crossbar in the 68th minute.

The victory was an important one for the Trojans, who were beaten 6-2 by Hinsdale Central in their first league game.

“I think it’s a huge confidence boost,” Melton said. “Now we can come out thinking every game that if we play this well we can take any team in our conference. There’s no one we really have to be afraid of.”