Wheaton Academy shuts out Kaneland

Wheaton Academy forward Reid Culberson says the game of soccer is 80 percent skill, 20 percent luck. And every time you hit that post "that 20 percent's lacking."

Maybe to other teams when they take 21 shots and nail a combination of 5 crossbars and posts, that luck has really run out. But for the top-seeded Warriors, may be there's a little bit of extra on their side as those loud clanks of iron didn't prevent Wheaton Academy from cruising to a 3-0 win in a Class 2A Hampshire sectional semifinal over No. 2 seed Kaneland Tuesday night.

"We hit a lot of posts. There was a lot of offensive attack but we need to start getting that ratio up, goals to opportunities," said Culberson. "It took awhile to warm up a bit, we started off a little flat. After that first goal we kind of found our feet, started knocking it a little bit. It just took a little while to warm up."

The Warriors (21-1-1), the top-ranked Daily Herald team and winners of 12 of their last 13, move on to Friday's sectional title at 5 p.m. against Belvidere North, who defeated Sterling 3-2 prior.

Wheaton Academy advanced with a 21-4 shot edge while gaining a 4-0 edge in corner kicks and good possession play from their central minds, who provided the Warriors a balanced attack.

"I thought we were dangerous throughout the entire game. You have to be pleased with the way we attacked. Obviously you hope you can close the door, we always talked about closing the door earlier," Warriors coach Jeff Brooke said. "But Kaneland had a good defensive strategy and slowed (us) down in the final third. But once again props to our central midfield for controlling the game with the possession, I think they did a real nice job."

The Warriors got an early lift from the Knights (13-9-2) after Jacob Kapitaniuk's free kick sailed to the box, hit off Ty Seager but bounced off a Kaneland defender for an own goal in the 10th minute. Culberson then tapped in a cross in the 25th minute from Grant Rougas for a 2-0 lead. Lucas Hoepner managed to find the net off a Seager pass in the 65th minute for even more insurance.

"It kind of comes down to discipline and watching your foot strike the ball and doing the little things right that we have been," said Seager. "We had a lot of opportunities and those will start falling and we know we can bury them and we'll be looking for our next opportunity."

There wasn't much there for the Knights as a goal late in the second half was taken off the board due to an offsides call.

Nonetheless Scott Parillo's team had everything to be proud about.

"I told the boys we may have played our perfect game and it may have not been good enough. They're just bigger, stronger, faster," he said. "I don't know if you could have asked anybody, 'Hey, Kaneland's 1-4-1, you think they're going to win a regional championship?' I'm pretty sure everyone would have said, 'No.'"