Cesiulka leads Neuqua Valley

It figures that "B" would be the busiest bee and the hardest worker on the pitch.

Junior midfeilder Bryan Ciesiulka, called "B" by his coach, had a foot in all 3 goals as the Neuqua Valley boys soccer team recorded its fourth straight shutout with a 3-0 win over visiting Streamwood.

" 'B' is a fantastic player," said Neuqua Valley coach Jim Johns. "He's all over the field. If he gets close he's going to get the ball."

It was Ciesiulka's corner kick in the sixth minute that was punched away by a Streamwood defender that set up the penalty kick to give teammate Jaymie Bullard the Wildcats first goal.

In the 25th minute, it was Ciesiulka's opportunity to score when Dan O'Leary worked the ball down the right side and connected with Scott Davis in the 18-yard box. Davis flipped a short pass to Ciesiulka, who shot a ground ball past the Sabres' keeper to make it 2-0, the lead the Wildcats (9-2-1, 3-1-1) took to halftime.

The Sabres (11-3-2, 3-1) came out attacking in the second half, but the Wildcats' defense, which has been outstanding in recent game, held its shape and thwarted several Streamwood drives.

"Our defense played really solid," said Wildcats goalkeeper Jack Turancik. "They played patiently and didn't dive in on defense. They make it really easy for me."

Johns credits assistant coach Dan DeMarco, "the guru of the defense," with the defenders' maturation. DeMarco has been working with the unit on patience, keeping its shape and working as a team.

"The outside defenders Pat Doody and Zach Kovacevic took the width away from Streamwood," said Johns. "They queezed the space and narrowed the opponents' attack. They also don't mind popping up and attacking once in awhile."

"Whenever we tried to put the ball through," said Streamwood coach Matt Polovin, "one of their backline stepped forward and took the ball."

Neuqua's passing was also outstanding, creating many opportunities throughout the game.

Perhaps the best example of the Wildcats' quick movement and one-touch passing was the third goal midway through the second half.

Ciesiulka has the ball about 40 yards out on the left side pushed it up ahead to Bullard, who needed only one touch to feed it across the goalmouth to a charging O'Leary for the score .

Streamwood created several chances in each half but the closest the Sabres came to scoring a goal was a thunderous free kick by Mike Chwistek, that hit the post from 25 yards away with five minutes to go in the game.

"We had some good chances, we just couldn't capitalize," said Polovin. "Neuqua moves the ball around quickly. We try to do that, but today we had a team come out and play a little faster."

Sabres' forward Roma Patino was forced to the sidelines early in the game with a hamstring problem, which took Streamwood out of its customary three-forward attack.