Neuqua escapes WW South in PKs
A little of everything.
That's what boys soccer fans were treated to Saturday afternoon when top-seeded Neuqua Valley eventually bested Wheaton Warrenville South 2-1 following four overtimes and penalty kicks in the Class 3A Naperville North sectional championship.
In the first half they witnessed an amazing goal by Wildcats All-America Bryan Ciesiulka and domination by a Neuqua squad that looked worthy of its No. 2 national ranking. But after intermission the third-seeded Tigers not only drew even on a header by Alden Marton off a perfectly placed long serve from Colin Ringel, but No. 3-seeded WW South (20-5-2) actually got the better of the play while playing a superb 40 minutes of soccer that had the favorites on the ropes.
Each team then had some solid chances in the four overtime sessions, including a header by Tiger Nathan Fuster late in the final OT that hit off the post, allowing the Wildcats to escape the upset by a matter of inches.
Then came the round of PKs, which ended after Neuqua (27-0-1) went 4 of 4 and after the Tigers missed on one shot that hit the crossbar and then were stopped on a leaping save by goalkeeper Jack Turanchik on a shot by WW South's Manny Munguia.
Turanchik, who needed to stop 6 shots in the second half after facing just 1 soft shot on the goal in the first half, said he was confident in the shootout after his teammates connected on their first 3 shots and after the Tigers had nailed the crossbar on their third offering.
"The pressure was on him," he said. "I just made the save. But we wouldn't have won this if our guys didn't make their shots. Our guys did an amazing job in the shootout."
For Tigers senior Andrew Bellmer, who had notched an overtime winner Wednesday night to get his team this far, it was a gut-wrenching loss and a hold-your-head-high moment all in one on Saturday.
"I think we gave them about all they could handle," Bellmer said. "It's the best and the worst way to go out."
Wildcats coach Tony Kees, whose team will take on Lyons Twp. for a third time this season in Tuesday's supersectional at Benedictine University, it was unclear as to whether his team got a little away from its play in the second half or if the Tigers' great effort was what caused his team so much trouble.
"That's the age-old question. Was it them or was it us?" he said. "We were stretched, no doubt about it. Did we just get out of our game on our own or was it them? I don't really know."
What WW South Guy Callipari does know for sure is that his senior-laden squad did all it could to extend the Wildcats to the limit.
"We needed a monumental effort and we got that today from everybody," Calipari said. "To a game plan the boys played it out to a T. We gave it all we had. There wasn't much left in the tank.
"(Neuqua) beat up a lot of people this year. Being in that short list (of playing them tough) certainly feels good. Obviously, we'd feel better if we got through, but we had our chances and that's all you can ask for."