Defense keys Naperville Central triumph
It would have taken a special effort to pierce the Naperville Central defense Tuesday night.
Led by its back line, the Redhawks scored a 5-0 DuPage Valley Conference victory at West Chicago.
"Peter Beasley and Andy Miltonberger have really done a nice job and they kind of blended our backs," Redhawks coach Jay Konrad said. "We had Connor Cunningham in the back, Jeremy Kaden, AJ Seaman. Those three guys at our outside backs did a great job tonight, they really did.
"Just working together basically is the main key," Seaman added. "Communicating between center backs and outside backs. Peter and 'Milton,' Jeremy and Connor, all of us, we played, I think, phenomenal today."
In fact Seaman got in on the scoring with a 52nd-minute blast from 28 yards out to the upper corner of the net. But by then the Redhawks (9-3-1, 2-2) were in control of the game. It was a long way from the start, when West Chicago (2-8-2, 0-3) seemed like it might take the upper hand.
"They definitely were attacking a lot more with more of their passing and foot skills," Seaman said. "Once we got that goal we started to hammer them, we started to realize, hey, we can attack now against them instead of them attacking more against us. It kind of changed the tides there."
The tides changed in the 28th minute, when freshman Pat Flynn made his first varsity goal look easy with a one-touch shot off a cross from the right side.
"It was just a great ball by Chris Prince," Flynn said, deferring to his senior teammate. "...I just happened to be in the right place and finished it."
Chris Bedell made it 2-0 in the 31st minute with a half volley off an Art Garza cross. In the 49th Colin Rook took his turn, scoring from the top of the penalty area. After Seaman got his goal Joe Yarshen finished things off in the 68th minute.
It was a score that surprised even the Redhawks, who were impressed with the Wildcats' skill.
"They're a good team. We just exploited some positions that we had. They're a very solid team," Flynn said.
"If you look at the first goal - a beautiful run from behind - we're still making those kind of mistakes, and when you have a young team you're going to do that," said Wildcats coach Steve Brugmann, whose team was missing a few key players Tuesday. "Eventually our goal is that throughout the rest of the season that we're going to continue to play together. This is the first game we've been blown out of. We really feel like we've been in every other game."