Boys soccer / Postseason scouting, Northwest
The boys soccer postseason is once again here, and every sectional features a tough group of teams. Yet the prevailing mood is one of, "providing we play at our best, we stand a chance to advance."
Why?
There are so many clubs of similar talent, many with head-stratching results on their on records, making the definitive choice to advance to the supersectionals nearly impossible.
There will be plenty of twists and turns along the way, beginning Tuesday evening as even some of the top seeds will have to play well to move on.
Class 3A Bartlett sectionalTop four seeds (in order): St. Charles East (15-2-2), Lake Park (16-1-4), Wheaton North (9-7-5), St. Charles North (10-5-4). The sectional champion advances into Barrington supersectional on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 4:30 p.m.
Lowdown: As it stands, all that have been questioned agree that the No. 1 seed will be tough to beat. "On the other side of our sectional group, unless something surprising happens, St. Charles East will be in that sectional semifinals in two weeks," says Schaumburg's Hamid Mehreioskouei, who along with MSL rival Conant, are dangerous seeds and No. 9 and 10, respectively. "If we can win our opener (against No. 7 Glenbard North), we'll finally be at full strength for the first time this season, and I like our chances to get through."
The Saxons (7-4-2) have dealt with injuries and ineligibility this fall, so a full roster could make a bigdifference for them in a regional final that could feature No. 2 seed Lake Park.
Neither Conant coach Jason Franco nor his counterpart at Rolling Meadows (9-7-2), Peter Mikulak, especially enjoyed the final two weeks of the regular season as both prgrams struggled.
"We faded down the stretch," begins Mikulak, whose club was in the MSL East race before a loss to eventual champ Wheeling did them in. "We sustained a number of injuries during that time, so others have to help, and our sectional is deep and dangerous. But I feel if we can just be better in that final third, we can be one of many who can challenge for the top spot here."
"We've struggled of late too," said Franco. "If we win our opener (vs. West Chicago), then we have St. Charles East, which has a ton of depth, talent and athletic players and is easily the class of a sectional which is wide open (otherwise). There's a lot who are just about the same as the other, which makes for some interesting regional openers, and finals."
Class 3A Niles North sectionalTop 4 seeds: Evanston (11-2-1) New Trier (17-3-2), Lane Tech (17-5-4), Glenbrook South (7-7-4). Sectional champion advances into Barrington supersectional on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
Lowdown: While both Evanston and New Trier were the clear choice to be the top seeds, No. 5 Leyden (10-5-3) might not be too far off from the two CSL powers. Coach Mark Valintis' club recently handed highly regarded Lyons Township a 3-1 defeat to claim its intent for the postseason, the second time in three seasons the Eagles have done so. "We've been so close against top-ranked Morton, St. Viator, and others, so this win came at the perfect time, against a very good team," said Valintis. "It was a full, hard 80 minutes that we had to play, and the guys answered every challenge thrown at them. We walked out of our place with a feeling and belief we not only can play with the best, but also beat the best as well."
Valintis admits it remains to be seen how the victory will help his club moving forward, but what he does know is the Eagles are battle tested with a highly competitive schedule. "I like our seed, and honestly believe it is a fair one, and with us finally 100 percent healthy and fit, hopefully we'll be in good shape and ready to add to the excitement of the playoffs."
New Trier, which has shown great ability all season, has lost to Evanston, Lyons and St. Charles East, while the Wildkits show a surprising 4-0 defeat on its overall record against No. 4 Glenbrook South.
A young Maine West, which has struggled all season to put balls into the back of the net, is seeded at No. 10 and opens tournament play with No. 7 Glenbrook North.
Class 3A Palatine sectionalTop four seeds: Warren (15-2-4), Libertyville (11-3-0), Fremd (14-5-1), Barrington (15-7-2). Sectional champion advances into Barrington supersectional on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m.
Lowdown: Life is seemingly good at Fremd and Warren after the two clubs lifted championship trophies following their impressive victories in the Mid-Suburban League and North Suburban Conference finals. However, despite inspiring performances from each, both are wary of what lies ahead.
A potential regional final between crosstown rivals Fremd and No. 6 Palatine (10-5-2) looms if both win their openers at Lake Zurich, while No. 1 Warren may have its biggest challenge of the playoffs when it meets a very dangerous No. 14 seed (Buffalo Grove) in its opener at the home park of the Bison. Many remember last season, when a 15th-seeded Bison squad stunned the No. 2 Blue Devils 1-0 in a regional opener to jump-start BG's cinderella state series run.
"Looking back at the last few weeks of the season, we were up 1-0 in four different MSL games, but lost three and tied the other. If we win two of them, maybe we're in the MSL Cup. Three or four, maybe we go from a No. 14 to 4-6," figures Bison coach Rick Carlson. "So I always have confidence in my guys, and their abilities, and we're very exited about the last leg of this season. Warren is a great team and deserves the top seed, but we're hoping the team is ready to rise to the challenge, especially on our home pitch."
"There's no way Buffalo Grove is a No. 14 seed," says Barrington's Scott Steib. "That's not a team anyone would want to play. But that's the way it goes this time of the year, and for us, if we can be consistent from here on out and play 80 minutes of quality soccer, we can put ourselves into a position of playing at our own supersectional. But that's a long way off."
The Broncos have a dicey group at their own venue during this first week, with an opener against No. 13 Stevenson and a potential final with No. 5 Hersey (11-3-5) this weekend.
MSL runner-up Wheeling (12-5-4) would be the opponent of either Buffalo Grove or Warren, while up at No. 7 Mundelein is quite capable of springing a surprise there against NSC rival Libertyville.
Class 2A Grayslake Central sectionalTop 4 seeds (in order): Antioch (10-6-2), Marian Central (11-3-1), Grayslake North (11-8-2), Grayslake Central. Sectional champion advances into Stevenson supersectional on Tuesday, Nov. 4 at 6:30 p.m.
Lowdown: Years of league success and plenty of history apparently didn't influence the coaches from the north when they voted East Suburban Catholic Conference champion St. Viator as the No. 5 seed in this sectional, which is dominated by the NSC Prairie Division, as well as several clubs from the FVC.
"Not a problem," said Lions coach Mike Taylor, whose club faced its share of top 3A sides during the regular season, including one of the best in the nation, Chaminade from Missouri.
The Lions (16-5-1) have been coming on of late, playing their best football of the year during the past two weeks, so any perceived seeding snub likely will be used as a prime motivation factor before each contest.
"None of that matters," Taylor said with a wry smile. "We just have to go out and play our game, and the rest will take care of itself."
The Lions will first try to take care of host Amundsen this Tuesday on the northwest side of Chicago, then No. 4 seed Grayslake Central in a likely regional final before the sectional semis.
"Central is solid. They have a tough backline, good keeper and some nice midfielders," says Lakes coach Kevin Kullby of the FVC Fox division co-champs, who play through talented all-sectional MF star Isaac Longnecker (15 goals) as much as possible. Kullby believes Antioch will hold its No. 1 seed if the Sequoits all-time leading scorer, Iven Hernandez is on his game.
"Ivan is a remarkable player, with an uncanny ability to score and set others up. He's a gamer, and no doubt gives his team incredible confidence. But if an opponent can bottle him up, then their stoy might be different."
Kullby's club held Hernandez (33 goals) scoreless for 70 minutes before dropping a 3-1 decision.
No. 2 seed Marian Central Catholic pinned a 1-0 loss on St. Viator during the midseason, but has dropped off its level of play of late.
- Mike Garofola