Wheaton Academy gets key MSC win at Glenbard South

Wheaton Academy wasted little time in jumping on Glenbard South in Monday night's Metro Suburban Conference boys soccer game in Glen Ellyn.

The Warriors couldn't pull away after an early score but still managed to pull out a 3-1 victory.

"We got spread out so we had to cover a lot of space and we wanted to make it more compact," Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. "I thought Glenbard South really swarmed us with numbers and we didn't respond as naturally as I thought we would have."

Wheaton Academy (4-0-0, 2-0-0) received its early goal from junior forward Ty Seager as he seemingly caught the Raiders off-guard.

"It was quick and I just got to the left side and spun around," Seager said. "I bent it near the far post and it dipped in."

Glenbard South (2-3-0, 0-1-0) didn't have many scoring chances in the first half, but the Raiders also didn't allow the Warriors to pull ahead by a second or third goal.

"I was happy with how we played today, but you have to give Wheaton Academy credit, they took advantage of our bad turnovers in the middle of the field," Raiders coach T.J. King said. "I think as the season goes on, we'll continue to eliminate some of those costly mistakes. Today, they made us pay."

The Raiders tied the game at 1-1 with 27:28 left in the second half on Jonathan Gutierrez's penalty kick, but Wheaton Academy responded with a penalty kick of its own when Jacob Kapitaniuk netted what proved to be the game-winner with 17:16 remaining.

"Once they scored I thought we were a different team in terms of chatter, camaraderie and pace," Brooke said. "That was the main comment I had to them after the game. We can't wait to act until after we give up a goal."

The Warriors gave themselves a cushion when Seager connected for the second time with 7:16 remaining.

"We really ramped up after they tied it up, so we were really emphasizing trying to get that second or third goal to get ahead," he said. "We always emphasize getting that extra goal and then trying to open up the flood gates and seal the game away."

Despite the loss King liked seeing his team battle a team that has been a power in Class 2A.

"They're probably the watermark," he said. "We need to be more disciplined, but I think we'll get there. At the same time it's part of my putting my stamp on it and changing the culture of the program here. Wheaton is established. For us, we're just thinking one game at a time and hoping to put ourselves in a position to be there at the end of the season."