Neuqua Valley exploits South Elgin's defense

Neuqua Valley's boys soccer team spent time on Monday practicing getting the ball over the top of the defense.

What the Wildcats didn't know was that the practice would pay great dividends in Tuesday's key Upstate Eight Conference match against South Elgin.

Neuqua Valley (16-0-1, 4-0) scored 4 times in the first 13 minutes and manhandled the Storm 8-0. It was South Elgin's first loss since dropping its season opener to Wheaton North on Aug. 24.

"They played flat and a high line and we were able to get some balls over the top that we actually worked on yesterday," Wildcats coach Tony Kees said. "It kind of played in with how we trained."

Senior Scott Davis scored less a minute into the match on a cross from Nate Freed. Davis would beat goalkeeper Ryan Hicks two more times to finish with a hat trick before the match was 10 minutes in.

"I can't say I had a game like this before," Davis said. "We definitely came in with the mindset to play hard. My team made it very easy for me. All the goals I scored I should have scored and I was just pleased with our work ethic and intensity."

Davis now has 14 goals this fall.

South Elgin (7-2-1, 3-1) simply didn't have an answer for Neuqua Valley's approach.

"It was like the perfect storm and everything," South Elgin coach Mark Neville said. "They unbalanced our defense and when they had gaps to exploit, they did, like every time."

After registering big conference wins over St. Charles East and Bartlett, Neville hopes this lopsided loss serves as a wake-up call.

"There's things that we've done in this game that we haven't done in any other game as far as pressuring under control from the start and supporting our defense," he said. "I think we were ball watching because it was such a quick precise game plan."

In addition to Davis' three scores, the Wildcats received goals from Brandon Loncar, Alex Karkazis and Nico Makropolous, along with a pair from Nate Freed. The score was more than enough for the Wildcats defense and goalkeeper Jack Turanchik. Neuqua Valley has now shutout 5 of its last 6 opponents.

"We prepared to play our toughest game in conference and we knew they were coming in with some momentum, " Kees said. "We were able to jump on them pretty quick. We were sharp around the ball and had a good day finishing on one-on-ones with the keeper."