Flynn, Naperville Central break records, beat Metea
One school’s historic postseason run came to a close, while the other school is counting on its own historic evening to lead to even better things.
Behind the history-making goals from senior Pat Flynn, Naperville Central blasted Metea Valley 6-1 Friday night at the Class 3A sectional boys soccer final at West Chicago. The Redhawks (21-1) also set the school record for victories along the way.
Naperville Central (21-1) scored three times in the first half and, after the Mustangs scored to make it 3-1 with 33:20 left to play, rattled off three more second-half goals to pull away from a young Metea Valley program that recently claimed its first regional title and then its first sectional win Tuesday against Wheaton Warrenville South.
“We talked about jumping on teams early and getting that rhythm and groove earlier,” Redhawks coach Troy Adams said. “Before this game it kind of took us 10 minutes to get our feet under us and get moving.”
On Friday the Redhawks — who advance to Tuesday’s Normal supersectional against the winner of the O’Fallon sectional — struck early and often. Sophomore Jordi Heeneman opened the scoring after Flynn chested him a ball and he spun and unleashed a 28-yard rope under the crossbar.
“I saw an opening and just took my shot,” Heeneman said. “I thought this game would be a lot closer, but we played one of our best games all season.”
The lead grew to 2-0 after David Murphy scored a pretty goal after volleying a pass from Michael Marchionna out of the air and past Mustangs goalkeeper Gabe Gongora, who played well in his half game of work but who had little chance on any of the Redhawks’ first-half tallies.
Flynn then scored to make it 3-0, breaking the school’s single-season goal record along the way. His second-half goal gives him 29 this fall, beating the old mark of 27.
“Not a bad night at all,” Flynn said when asked about his record and the team’s victory record. “We knew we had to come out strong because Metea has a lot of weapons up top. I was happy it started early with Jordi’s goal.”
The Mustangs (11-7-4) tallied first in the second half on a nice charge and finish by Christopher Freeman, who beat goalkeeper Mike Pavliga, who had yet to allow a goal in the playoffs. But the Redhawks answered in commanding fashion as Flynn struck for a second time and Sam Reskala and Mike West also reached the back of the net as the DuPage Valey Conference champs scored three times in a little over five minutes for a 6-1 lead.
“Congrats to Naperville Central for how they played,” Mustangs coach Josh Robinson said. “They’re a fantastic team. But I couldn’t be prouder of what this team accomplished. For our third year as a program to be in a sectional championship, I can’t thank them enough. The seniors on this team are a great group of young men that grew so much. They set a high bar for Metea.”