Tigers roll to victory over Addison Trail

Photos courtesy of Vince Kania

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By Christine Kania

The Wheaton Warrenville South boys’ varsity soccer team won a near shut-out against the Addison Trail Blazers in a non-conference game on Saturday afternoon at Wheaton Warrenville South.

Senior forward and captain Dan Burns led the Tigers to a 5-1 victory with three goals, assisted by sophomore Javier Rojas. After two early goals in the 9th and 12th minutes, Burns completed the hat trick in the second half at the 37th minute.

“Two of [the goals] were those easy goals you expect to make. The other one was more challenging,” said Burns, who has scored five times in the past two games. “I hadn’t been scoring earlier in the season, so it was nice to break out of that and get the pressure off my shoulders.”

Rojas scored in the 19th minute on a rebounded shot of a shot taken by junior midfielder Max Carey. Senior defender Mike Kania scored the Tigers’ final goal in the 58th minute with an assist by fellow defender Will Huesing.

The Tigers began with an early push, earning two scoring attempts in the first five minutes. They ended the first half 3-0. A misdirected pass among the Tigers' defenders resulted in a fluke goal for the Blazers in the 75th minute, ending the shut-out.

This week has been an uphill climb for the Tigers, after a 4-1 loss to West Chicago on Tuesday and a 3-0 win against West Aurora on Thursday. Saturday's game gave the Tigers’ record a much-needed boost, bumping them up to 7-4-3. The win also redeems the Tigers from a somewhat embarrassing 5-4 loss to Addison Trail last season.

Tigers’ head coach Guy Callipari is hopeful that the team will keep its momentum. “We are developing continuity and rhythm,” he said. “We established ourselves early and maintained pressure throughout the game.”