Scouting DuPage County boys soccer
Top teams: Benet, Downers Grove North, Hinsdale Central, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley, Wheaton Warrenville South.
Top players: Tim Adelman (Jr. MF), Lake Park, Peter Beasley, (Sr., MF), Naperville Central, Alex Brazeau (Jr., F), Wheaton Warrenville South, Jacob Brindle (Sr., MF), Neuqua Valley, Will Butler (Sr., F), Neuqua Valley, Taylor Cole, (Sr., D), Hinsdale Central, Jon Colucci (Jr., MF) Glenbard North, Kyle DalSanto (So., GK), Benet, Tim Daniels (Sr., MF), Wheaton Academy, Patrick Doody (Sr., F), Neuqua Valley, Lee Grander (Jr., D) Naperville North, Nick Henry (Sr., F/MF), Hinsdale South, Paul Hogan (Sr., F), Downers Grove North, Will Huesing (Sr., D), Wheaton Warrenville South, Jeremy Kaden, Sr., MF, Naperville Central, Conor Kelch (Sr. MF), Downers Grove South, Ben Kucera (Jr., MF), Benet, Kyle Lindberg (Jr., MF), Naperville North, Marcin Modzelewski (Sr., D), Downers Grove North, Sean Mogan, (Sr., MF), Benet, Jason O'Brien (Sr., D), Waubonsie Valley, Mike Paravola (Sr., D), Glenbard West, Adrian Porcayo (Sr., GK), West Chicago, Mitch Reavis (Jr., MF), Hinsdale Central, Jordan Richert, (Sr., MF), Wheaton North, AJ Seaman, (Sr, D), Naperville Central, Dave Selvaggi, (Sr., MF), York, Nick Suker (Sr., MF), Downers Grove South, Evan Trychta (Jr., F), Naperville North.
Scouting report: Once again the DuPage Valley Conference should be extremely competitive with Naperville Central, Naperville North and Wheaton Warrenville South leading the way. If Evan Trychta can continue to be a dominant force up top, the Huskies have a chance to go a long way. While they no longer have the services of all-staters Chris Boswell and Mike Wiest, they return a strong back line, led by Lee Grander and Jimmy Butler. The Huskies will look to rotate players to sustain a pressing attack and hope for big seasons from Kyle Lindberg, Bryan Kanzler and Joe Sullivan.
One year, and 13 seniors ago, Wheaton Warrenville South put together a tremendous 20-5-2 season that ended in an epic four-overtime loss to Neuqua Valley in the Class 3A Naperville North sectional championship. Among those graduating were Drew Bellmer, Ricky Munguia, Aldon Marton and their 44 goals collectively. "There are a lot of questions on that side of the ball regarding who will step up and assume responsibility," Tigers coach Guy Callipari said. "We're young and unproven but very well driven." The Tigers will look to several experienced players to accommodate the less experienced. George Doran, Nate Fluster and Alex Brazeau are three key returnees, along with defensive staple Will Huesing. "We probably won't be quick to start as we try to draw some continuity," Callipari said, "but hopefully that will come as we move toward the latter part of the year."
The graduation of Naperville Central's Chris Prince and Art Garza means that the Redhawks are going to need some new players to step up and take over the scoring reins. Prince and Garza established new school records for career goals and assists. Of the 56 goals scored by the Redhawks last season, only 10 came from players who return this fall. "We have talented players who can do it, but they haven't had the opportunity to step into that scoring role," said first-year coach Troy Adams, who has served as a coach within the program for the past nine seasons. "Peter (Beasley) will move to midfield and hopefully provide more scoring opportunities. He's very talented on the ball, sees the field extremely well and makes all the other players better." Adams said he may start as many as a half dozen new players this season, so the Redhawks will have to adjust quickly. "The nice thing about coaching at a program like Central is that there's always going to be talent," he said. "It's now making the adjustment to the varsity level and making sure that all of them on the field are doing what they need to do, It'll take some time, but hopefully by the end everyone has taken that step up in their play."
Wheaton North was under .500 at 8-10-5 last year but advanced all the way to the Class 3A Hoffman Estates sectional. The Falcons will look for similar success as the 2010 season begins. The team returns six starters, including seniors Jordan Richert, Zak Gudanik, Andrew Carlburg, Dan O'Malley and goalkeeper Nick Barry.
Glenbard North is hopeful that leading scorer Jon Colucci, defenders Nick Callard and Tony Lumani, and the leadership of forward Eric Dailly allows the team to battle against the perennial powers of the conference. "We have a group of experienced players that know what it takes to succeed at this level," Glenbard North coach Greg Chrisman said. "I am counting on them to set the level of intensity needed to compete on the field this fall." Goalkeeper Eric Tenut and midfielder Ryan Scott are two sophomores who will play prominent roles for the Panthers.
West Chicago has a four-year starter in goal in Adrian Porcayo. The Wildcats can count on Porcayo to make some big saves this year and can enjoy a strong midfield with Aldair Vega and Richie Paret. "We're very optimistic, probably more so than last year," West Chicago coach Steve Brugmann said. "We only had four seniors graduate. Most guys came back, including seven seniors, and we've set some lofty goals like finishing in the top three in conference."
Only four or five players return to Glenbard East this season who have varsity experience. Junior forward Tyler Ford and senior midfielders Sam Dennis, Oscar Barraza and Brent Disterheft are the top returnees for a Rams team that will try to find an identity by conference time. "We have an extremely inexperienced varsity squad and right now are trying to get adjusted to the varsity game," Glenbard East coach Josh Adler said. "I don't know if we have a superstar, but we have a collective group of juniors and seniors that need to get used to each other."
Metea Valley will be playing its first varsity season this fall, and while growing pains are expected for the young squad, the Mustangs plan on being competitive after achieving a great deal of success with the sophomore team last year. "We won 18 or 19 games and only had one loss and a tie," Metea Valley coach Josh Robinson said. "It's going to be a big step for us this year and we'll see how we handle the adversity against teams that are more seasoned." Junior forward Ryan Soloman and midfielder Danny Shea are expected to lead the Mustangs. "The guys have nice continuity after playing together last year," Robinson said. "Now they like the idea of starting a new tradition here with the great Naperville schools like Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley and they want to be a part of that and create their own."
Neuqua Valley will look much different than it did last fall when it posted a 28-1 record. The Wildcats lost five all-UEC players, three who were also all-state, to graduation. Still, the Wildcats have plenty of reasons to be excited with Jacob Brindle, Pat Kaindl, Will Butler and Patrick Doody, as long as he can recover from an injury, all back for their senior seasons. Nick Smith and Andrew Kovacevic will be key as midfielders, as will Sammy Al-Qady and Nick Makropoulus as forwards. While the Wildcats might not be as deep or as talented as a season ago, they should be one of the top teams in the area.
After boasting a roster of 10 seniors a season ago when it compiled a 13-5-2 record, this year's Waubonsie Valley squad is fairly young with senior defender Jason O'Brien leading the way. Coach Angelo DiBernardo said the Warriors "may surprise some people, but in order to do that we will have to play a little over our heads." A trio of sophomores - Sam Bell, Vish Patel, and Frank Saiz - are three up and coming players to watch for this fall at Waubonsie Valley, as are juniors Luis Kauffman and Tyler Yanisch and senior forward Yvan Foonde.
Lake Park might not have a standout star player, but it will look to have a great mix of newcomers and returnees to improve on last season's 11-12-4 mark. The Lancers played their entire roster in the first half during its season-opening victory over Addison Trail, so depth should play to the team's advantage in the always competitive Upstate Eight Conference, which will also include a match against Geneva, which joined the conference this year. Defenders Chris Mash and Jim Albright, and midfielders Sal Cali, Greg Krzywda and Tim Adelman, all return. Elson Divinagracia, freshman Joe Passarelli and Nick Zanghi give the team three attacking threats, while freshman midfielder Mike Catalano should make an immediate impact.
Glenbard West lost seven senior starters and returns only four starters so it might take some time for the team to become a cohesive unit on both ends. Senior defender Mike Paravola returns to lead the Hilltoppers who also have strength in goal in junior Zach Watson and midfielder Ruslan Seyfulov. Look for newcomers Daniel Ortega, Anthony Sansone and Christopher Sich to play prominent roles. "Our emphasis this season will be directed towards the improvement of our offense," Hilltoppers coach Maciej Kusmierz said. "We have a few players adjusting to their new positions and it will take some time until we become fluid and effective in that aspect of the game."
Benet appears to have the talent and depth, along with size and physicality, to have a very special season. The Redwings return seven starters, including senior midfielders Sean Mogan and Brian Morefield, forward Sean O'Hara and senior defenders Hunter Miller and Ryan Reilly. Then there are newcomers, arguably the best duo to join a team in the state, in junior midfielder Ben Kucera and sophomore goalkeeper Kyle DalSanto. With tough matches against Neuqua Valley, Naperville Central, Naperville North and Downers Grove North at the beginning of the season, first-year coach Sean Wesley will soon know how good his team really is this fall.
The only way Wheaton Academy's year could've started any worse would've been with a loss in its season opener. While the Warriors won the match, they likely lost senior Tim Daniels (34 goals, 12 assists in 2009) for the season with a broken foot. "We feel like we have a lot of guys and a good talent level and it's just going to be about finding a different way to piece it together with Tim out," Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. "I think we have a nice season in place. It's just repiecing things." Seniors Stephen Fernandez and Devin Moore, and juniors Josh Urban, Frank Della Torre and goalkeeper Jesse Carmody are expected to do good things this fall for the Warriors.
Glenbard South has a new coach in Michelle Pero, a former assistant coach. The team also has a new conference, the Metro Suburban, which it believes it can win this fall. "I think we'll have good competition in the conference and this is a team that has set its expectations pretty high," Pero said. "I think we'll be a strong team that can play toward (a conference title)." One of the Raiders' strengths should come at midfield with twins Michael and David Pyle and Matt Traynor. Defender Matt Kulpa, goalkeeper Eric Good and sophomore left back Troy Good all will play big roles this season.
St. Francis also welcomes a new coach as Kristin Keigley replaces the legendary Tim Dailey. Keigley is employing a new defensive scheme for the Spartans, so it could take a little while for the team to click.
In Class 1A Timothy Christian will try to defend its state title from Halloween 2009. The Trojans only lost four starters from last year's team so they return many key players, including senior Corey Phillip who scored the championship-clinching goal. On the flip side in Class 1A are the Lisle Lions who will be young and inexperienced. Senior Grant Fitzgerald is the only experienced senior who returns. "They will have to grow up fast, " coach Paul Kohorn said. The Lions may have as many as five underclassmen playing significant minutes.
Downers Grove North appears to be tops among the West Suburban Conference teams. The team has a tremendous player on both ends of the field with Marcin Modzelewski responsible for shutting down opponents by leading the defense and Paul Hogan as a dangerous goal scorer. In addition, the team returns eight additional seniors from last year's team.
"We have all the pieces, specifically the seniors who are worth more than people think they are, especially at the end of the year," Trojans coach Brian Gervase said. "Paul Hogan is a goal scorer and a team has to have that guy to have goals and the way Marcin plays defense is significant. The guys have played together a long time, are familiar with each other and all the right pieces are there." The Trojans also have dynamite sophomore AJ Jeffries back in the mix.
Hinsdale Central might not be returning a great deal of varsity experience, but the Red Devils have some top-notch players back and expect several newcomers to fill the voids. Four-year starter Taylor Cole and Mitch Reavis will lead the way for a hard-working, energetic group that should be a fun team to watch play.
Downers Grove South should be able to improve on last season's 8-10-5 campaign, which did include a co-conference championship, mainly because a very solid core of juniors who are now ready for their final high school season. The team's strength looks to be midfield with seniors Nick Suker, Joe McLean and Conor Kelch leading the way.
Hinsdale South returns a solid core of midfielders and an experienced defense. The Hornets are led by senior forward/midfielder Nick Henry, who assisted or scored on 58 percent of the team's goals last year.
York has a four-year starter in DePaul-bound Dave Selvaggi to lead a team that returns a good amount for experience. Along with Selvaggi, the Dukes welcome the return of fellow seniors Dave Akre, Tim Ireland, Cody Kliethermes, Eric Lund, Joe Martino, Alex Mortimer, Mo Watkins and goalkeeper Carmine Sementa. A solid group of newcomers should allow the Dukes to remain competitive in a strong West Suburban Conference Silver Division. They'll look to avoid fading late, like they did last season, after starting so strongly.