Wildcats ready to roll
Neuqua Valley was everything Naperville Central hoped to be Thursday night: aggressive, focused, solid in back.
Sectional champion.
The top-ranked and top-seeded Wildcats struck early and often at the Class AA Neuqua Valley sectional to win the program's second boys soccer sectional title, 3-0 against the Redhawks.
"We weren't ready to roll today and Neuqua was ready to roll and that's a recipe for disaster," Redhawks coach Jay Konrad said.
The first goal -- in just the fourth minute -- caught the Redhawks off guard, a Jaymie Bullard tap-in at the back post when the Redhawks couldn't clear a corner kick.
"(Neuqua Valley is) a nice team," Konrad added. "Give them chances to score and they'll put them away."
The second put the weight of the world on the Redhawks' shoulders. In a crowd Paul Box had the vision to find sophomore forward Bryan Ciesiulka lurking wide to the left. Box headed the ball to a wide-open Ciesiulka, who went 1-on-1 with goalkeeper Tyler Kelley and won the matchup with a crisp finishing stroke in the 14th minute.
"We just wanted to get on top of them," Ciesiulka said. "(Box) gave me a pretty good ball. It was pretty easy."
The third goal all but buried Naperville Central. Again it was Ciesiulka, this time winning a Bret Hruby cross from a Redhawks defender and going near post with it for a shocking 3-0 lead in the 32nd minute.
"It takes a lot of pressure off us," Ciesiulka said of the early lead. "It settles us down so we play better."
The Wildcats were very settled defensively, keeping the Redhawks attack out of rhythm and away from sophomore goalkeeper Jack Turanchik, who made 3 saves for the shutout.
"It's hard to get shots, much less score," Konrad said.
The Redhawks finish 19-4-1, one victory shy of the school record but the most in five years for them.
Neuqua Valley (21-1-4), ranked fifth nationally, advances to Monday's Benedictine supersectional, where it meets Geneva, a 4-1 victor vs. Wheaton Academy on Thursday.
Bullard admitted the Wildcats know "nothing" about the red-hot Vikings, but "we're going to learn quick."