Boys soccer: Curtis, St. Charles North shut out Neuqua Valley
As his teammates lined up to get cups of water following the game, St. Charles North goalkeeper Alex Curtis put a bag of ice on the top of his head.
It was the result of a collision when Curtis charged out of the net to stop a breakaway by Neuqua Valley's Garrett Lee in the first half.
"I got kneed, I think, when I came out," Curtis said. "In the first half, I was kind of iffy, but now it's better."
It was that kind of game for Curtis, who finished with six saves as the visiting North Stars knocked off Neuqua Valley, 3-0, on Thursday in Naperville.
The Wildcats (3-5-1) sprung Lee on two breakaways in the first half. Curtis raced out to cut down the angle on both of them, resulting in Lee firing wide right on the first at the 24:30 mark.
The second came eight minutes later. This time Curtis slide-tackled the ball away from Lee, who collided with him at the top of the penalty area.
"I just saw the space and I just took it because I felt like I could get to it," Curtis said. "We've been practicing that a lot, so I felt good doing that."
St. Charles North coach Eric Willson feels good about having Curtis between the pipes. The junior is already in his third season on varsity and one of the team co-captains.
"I think we're pretty lucky to have a goalkeeper like Alex," Willson said. "He's a kid who works on his craft on a regular basis and his technique does not let him down most times.
"He's aggressive and he knows when to come out. He came out on a few plays today and made some important plays early in that game to keep us around and let his teammates do the rest."
Indeed, the play of Curtis kept the game scoreless until the North Stars (5-2) eventually wore down the Wildcats in the second half. Jacob Glanzman delivered the game-winning goal by scoring on a 20-yard rebound shot with 31:14 remaining in the second half.
Arnel Dizdarevic and Charlie Mazurek scored on consecutive shots in the final 10 minutes to put the game out of reach.
"It's tough to win on the road, tough to play against a strong Neuqua side and I really liked our response in the second half," Willson said. "Once Jacob got that first one, it just kind of opened the floodgates for us. It was a good second half, for sure."
Neuqua, which actually outshot St. Charles North 13-12, gummed up the works in a frustrating first half for both teams.
Dizdarevic just missed giving the North Stars the lead when his 25-yard shot struck the outside of the right post at the 10:04 mark, while the Wildcats came up empty on the two breakaways and also saw Curtis make a leaping save on Lee's runner from 25 yards out just 19 seconds later.
"Their defense had good tackles and the first half definitely wasn't our best, but I feel like that's been a common theme," Curtis said. "Second half we always wake up and that's when we score the most goals."
Neuqua Valley coach Arnoldo Gonzalez has seen his team lose consecutive games despite outshooting both opponents. The Wildcats lost, 5-0, to Naperville North on Tuesday despite holding a 12-11 edge on shots.
"The frustrating thing was the first half was super ugly, but we had two clear breakaways," Gonzalez said. "Those should be in the net, and those come back to haunt you."
Curtis easily could have been haunted by memories of the injuries he has suffered in the past thanks to his aggressive play. He suffered torn ligaments in his ankle and elbow in 2021.
"It was kind of similar to the play when I got hit in the head," Curtis said. "My arm went inward and I got torn ligaments."
Such danger is par for the course for goalkeepers. It's not for everyone, and not all are as competent as Curtis.
"It's part of the position," Willson said. "You've got to have some ability to say I'm going to throw caution to the wind and I'm going to put my body out there for my teammates.
"He definitely does that. That's a special kid to have."