Boys soccer: For the record, Wittenbrink, Libertyville win Showcase
Indiana-bound Ryan Wittenbrink keeps breaking records - and it's only five games into the season.
For the first time in his career, Wittenbrink contributed to 5 goals in a single game, getting 4 assists along with the first strike of the matchup.
His efforts led Libertyville past host New Trier 5-2 in the fourth annual Northside College Showcase finale in boys soccer on Saturday afternoon. Wildcats keeper Thomas Pearson also came up big, making saves on a pair of penalty kicks.
Through five games for the Wildcats (4-0-1, 3-0-1 in the tournament) this season, Wittenbrink already has 5 goals and 5 assists.
"After we tied Glenbrook North (0-0), I thought we wanted to get off to a good start (against New Trier)," Wittenbrink said. "We wanted to get out of a slump game. So we really wanted to get all over them. We were fortunate to get a few early and build off of that."
Glenbrook North has an strong defense, and so does New Trier (5-1, 3-1), which had allowed just 3 goals in their first five games.
"I think we mesh really well," Wittenbrink said. "I mean, we all get along and hang out outside of soccer. We like to play a similar style. We mesh really well, create chances and we're really solid defensively. The key will be consistency this year."
Wittenbrink started the scoring on Saturday by finishing a chance that came after a long free kick. Evan Rasmussen headed the ball toward Wittenbrink, who finished the chance it in the fifth minute.
Wittenbrink returned the favor three minutes later, sending a cross to Rasmussen who scored on a half-volley for a 2-0 Wildcats advantage.
In the 20th minute, Wittenbrink served up a free kick again, and Rasmussen finished for a 3-0 lead.
Pearson made a total of 5 stops. His two penalty kick saves came two minutes apart, first against Ryan Krueger and later against Will Felitto.
In the second half, Wittenbrink set up two more goals, both scored by Brandon Murphy. New Trier got theirs from Andrew Kuhn and Felitto.
"Give Libertyville credit, because they came in with the game plan that we expected them to have - to be big on set pieces and throwing numbers forward, to be direct," said New Trier coach Matt Ravenscraft. "We struggled to deal with that. We did get out of rhythm, and it took us some time to settle down.
"Libertyville was just good on set pieces - that's as good a front four or five as we've seen this season, and we've seen some good teams this year. We just couldn't deal with their athleticism. All the credit to them."
The Wildcats are encouraged by their results against this kind of top-notch tournament competition.
"It was exciting to win this, and we came out to get some quick goals," Libertyville coach Kevin Thunholm said. "This whole tournament was amazing for us because every game you learn something amazing about our team.
"I knew this team would be this way. In the off-season, these guys love each other like brothers. I knew they would click."
The Wildcats open their North Suburban Conference schedule against Warren in Gurnee on Thursday night.