Wheaton Academy defeats Schaumburg

A year ago J.D. Gunn was living in Panama, enjoying life in a tropical climate, where the average year-round temperature is 81 degrees.

On Wednesday night the Wheaton Academy sophomore, who just moved to the United States a year ago, was in the goal during a Class 3A Wheaton Academy sectional semifinal game on a night when it was raining, windy and barely 40 degrees.

He might have been out his element in the unfavorable elements, but it didn't prevent him from leaving Schaumburg out in the cold in a 3-0 victory.

"It's hard to adapt to these conditions, but I feel like I did pretty well today," Gunn said. "I had a chance to play a couple games in the cold and that helped me prepare for this game."

Wheaton Academy (19-3-1) took a 1-0 lead with 11:53 remaining in the first half thanks to great teamwork from Jacob Kapitaniuk, Elias McCloud and Timothy Steininger.

Kapitaniuk crossed the ball to McCloud in the middle of the penalty area. He paused to look at his potential shot before tapping it to his left to Steininger.

"You could see Elias prep-touch it, and the excitement of the moment, but instead of just swinging, he slots into Timothy who's all alone," Warriors coach Jeff Brooke said. "Timothy has worked on finishing from that side and he tucked it in the inside against a very good goalkeeper."

Schaumburg (19-3-0) came out strongly in the second half, putting a handful of shots on goal right away, but Gunn either made the save, the defense clogged things up or the Mid-Suburban League champion simply was off target.

"I just don't think it was in the cards for us tonight because we created some chances, but it seemed like there was a lid on the goal," Schaumburg coach Hamid Mehreioskouei said. "Not many things went well for us. Balls weren't bouncing our way, no shots were going in and (Wheaton Academy) played well. They were the better team today and deserved the 'W.' "

Nikolaos Davis, Alexis Flores and Noah Kostkiewicz frequently tested Gunn and the Warriors with shots, in especially the second half, but none could finish.

"I thought we swarmed the ball with good numbers, and obviously Schaumburg can attack really well," Brooke said. "I thought we positioned ourselves well. It wasn't a flawless defensive performance, but to keep them off the board in the sectional semis is an unbelievable accomplishment."

Ty Seager, who was playing in his 24th varsity postseason game, gave the Warriors some breathing room when he scored off a free kick with 31:35 left in the game.

"It was just a normal free kick and I happened to strike it well," he said. "I was just trying to keep it down and on frame in these conditions, and it ended up going in."

Isaac Anthony completed the scoring with just 1:43 left while Gunn finished his shutout.

"I've never been in a game this big before," Gunn said. "I have to give credit to my defense because they made a couple good saves that maybe I wouldn't have saved, but I also think I played really well today too."