Neuqua Valley ejects East Aurora

If the No. 5 seed East Aurora boys soccer team wasn't already a huge underdog heading into Thursday's Class 3A Naperville North sectional semifinal against No. 1 Neuqua Valley, an early deficit and ejection of a Tomcats player sealed their fate.

The Wildcats picked up a goal from Jacob Brindle before the East Aurora red card and a goal from the Wildcats' Nicko Makropoulos after on their way to a 3-0 win.

“Those scenarios, I've seen it work the other way,” Neuqua coach Tony Kees said. “The other team rallies around the red card and actually plays better than the opponent. We wanted to make sure we didn't fall into that trap, and I thought we kept our foot on the gas.”

Neuqua (16-3-3) will face off with No. 2 Naperville North, a 2-1 winner over Benet Academy, in the sectional final Saturday morning. Brindle got the Wildcats off to a quick start, scoring from 35 yards out in the fourth minute by taking a right-footed shot inside-out to the upper right corner for a 1-0 lead.

“I took a bad first touch so I had to go for the half volley,” Brindle said. “It kind of just floated. I think the wind might have taken it, but I'll take what I can get.”

Then came the Tomcats' red card.

“We take responsibilities for our actions, but it seemed like it was retaliation,” East Aurora coach Jason Rollins said. “It seemed like they did something to us and we retaliated. I thought the ref could have given them a soft red so we could play fair, play 11 on 11. When you go a man down against Neuqua, you're just going to have to fight till the end.”

Playing a man up, Butler found Makropoulos on a left cross to the middle of the box and the senior forward gathered before firing to the left corner for a 2-0 lead.

“It's something we work on constantly,” Kees said. “It's nice to see it work on the field the way you draw it up.”

The Tomcats (17-3-4) could not muster a shot in the first half, while Neuqua fired off 11 shots and six on goal.

“They're very technical and good,” said Kees, whose squad tied with the Tomcats during the regular season. “Our emphasis was on defending. ... I thought we had a really good first 15 minutes.”

Wildcats senior Pat Goody scored in the 66th minute, copying Brindle with a left-footed shot from 28 yards out that ended up in the upper left netting.

Said Brindle, “It felt like things were going our way today.”