Plainfield North keeps
streak, tops Metea Valley
Tigers complete perfect home slate, teams look to postseason
By Steve Nemeth
PLAINFIELD -- It could be said Austin Collier used his head twice in leading Plainfield North to a 2-0 victory in Thursday’s regular season finale against visiting Metea Valley.
Collier broke a scoreless deadlock 6:05 into the second half when he forcefully struck a 12-yard header inside the right post.
The senior forward said he used a little mind game magic on Mustang goalie Joey Coryell to complete the victory with a 14-yard cannon shot that sailed inside the left post with 4:54 remaining in regulation.
“I’ve played against their keeper a lot, and I’ve always gone to the right, so I purposefully wanted to play a mind game setting up the same way but going to my left,” Collier noted. “If there was a video to check, I’m pretty sure it would show he at least was leaning the wrong way to start.”
Right from the start it seemed possible to have any of three factors affect the outcome for the nonconference outing which served as a final tune-up for the Class 3A regional play.
No. 1 for the host Tigers – ranked sixth in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 – was what affect Senior Night changes to the starting line-up might create.
No. 2 for Metea Valley was how the Mustangs would cover up the absence of two standouts, defender Ryan Donovan and midfielder Ryan Barry.
The no. 3 factor was a constantly gusting wind that either whipped across the field or favored Metea for the first 40 minutes. The wind was easily felt, clearly affecting any ball in the air, and heard in the constant flapping of pennants representing Plainfield North on one side of the field and flags on the other representing the IHSA and the Southwest Prairie Conference and its eight member schools.
The latter was the most evident in the opening half.
“I was really proud of the way all the seniors started executing on what is an emotional night,” North coach Stephen Berry said. “In addition to defending against the wind, we were playing a quality team, so gaining and keeping possession was a key.
“We had two initial goals in the preseason, one was winning the conference and the other was being undefeated at home,” Berry said.
The Tigers (17-2-0) achieved the initial aim two days before by beating Minooka 4-2.
The second goal was achieved Thursday with a win that gave Plainfield North a perfect 10-0 record on its home field. And that target will remain unchanged in 2016 when the Tigers will aim to continue a 24-game home winning streak. This year’s success was preceded by a 9-0 standard in 2014 and the last five home dates after a Sept. 17, 2013, loss to Romeoville.
Obviously the boys soccer program has done its share to add to the electric bill when it comes to “lighting the V,” as in the large red letter V adorning the outside of the school’s gymnasium which is illuminated whenever any boys or girls varsity squad records a victory.
Despite a mere .500 record coming in, Metea Valley the type of aggressive play that could easily produce postseason upsets for the Mustangs (9-10-1) showed. Off an overlapping run, Wesley Anderson had a booming shot carom off a Tiger defender. A pair of Metea corner kicks tested goalie Trevor Hansen, one of the featured eight starters for Senior Night.
The Tigers’ best first half chances chances came at 21:57 when Ryan Cartwright’s header off a Hunter Houslet corner sailed wide, and an Alex Lynch direct free kick was secured by Coryell. Just three seconds prior to the halftime horn, Metea Valley's John Lynch put a direct free kick over the upper right corner of the North goal.
“We played even with them and at times, I thought we even played better,” Mustangs coach Josh Robinson said. “But it comes down to finishing, Austin (Collier) did twice, and we didn’t despite having plenty of chances.
“Don’t get me wrong, (Berry) has a great group of boys, but getting goals has been our hurdle all season. Come the playoffs, we’ll survive if we score early, but the season will surely end if we can’t put the ball in the net,” Robinson added. “We’ll be glad to have a couple leaders back in the lineup, but tonight we had to do what’s best for them and the team.”
Coryell made a quality stop on a Collier shot less than five minutes into the second half. But two minutes later there was no stopping the header on which Patrick Elster earned an assist with his cross.
“Coach had me playing out wide to help open up space in the middle, on that particular play I just continued my run inward and Elster gave me a great ball,” Collier said.
A minute-plus after the restart, Metea Valley nearly got an equalizer when Lynch raced into the middle for a shot only to have Cade Fink, who took over in goal for Plainfield North, rush out for a block. The spin off the rebound left the ball in prime position for a follow-up, but the Mustangs whiffed and Fink covered it up.
With 26:20 still to play, Dominic Duffy took a sidewinder snuffed by Fink in what would elicit a “big save” description from Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley.
“No question Cade made a great save to keep things positive for us. Actually both Trevor and Cade came through with good saves,” Berry said. “Everyone put their stamp on this victory at some point. We brought up three guys (Nick Thompson, Brian Bertoni and Elster) to varsity, and they have made an impact. Our best player all year has been Jake (Farley), he’s consistently solid in back, talks and organizes things, wins balls and then starts us into possession.”
One of Farley’s many through-balls set in motion the Tigers’ insurance goal. Ian Aslam’s cross was slightly deflected before Collier chalked up his second goal of the match and boosted his season total to 17.
“I thought about a bicycle kick but kind of lost it against the lights. So I trapped it and made as solid a kick as I could,” Collier said.
Within the 18-school Class 3A Metea Valley Sectional brackets, Plainfield North is the no. 2 seed and starts with a 5 p.m. semifinal Wednesday against the winner of no. 15 Plainfield East and eighteenth-seeded East Aurora. That could present the Tigers with a chance to avenge a 3-1 Southwest Prairie Conference loss that marks one-of-two times they failed to score more than a goal in 19 games. Eleven-of-17 triumphs have featured three or more goals.
“Even with some guys making a rare start, or some other seniors playing in a different position, we basically did what we needed to do to win,” Farley said. “We finished unbeaten at home and kept our home win streak going. That’s something to be proud of. My job as center back is to organize everything in back, make certain I communicate with everyone. We’ve had a great season, but we believe we have a lot more games to go.”
Surprisingly, Plainfield North has never won a boys soccer regional plaque. An initial postseason win would put them into the title game against either SPC foe in No. 10 seed Plainfield South (one of the Tigers six shutout victims this season) or regional host and no. 8 seed Naperville Central. Although the Redhawks have struggled this year, they finished third in Class 3A in 2013 after runner-up showings in 2011 and 2012.
Metea Valley’s Connor Lang earned praise from Robinson for his play against the Tigers, and the junior was encouraged about the Mustangs’ playoff chances despite the last setback.
“In some aspects, we outplayed a really good team. Once again we know we can run with the big dogs,” Lang said. “Tonight we probably had double or triple the opportunities to score, the trick remains finishing. Obviously we left too many of those chances on the table. Having switched to the DuPage Valley (Conference) meant we were facing better competition in every league game, yet we’ve never been demolished by anyone this year. As they say, every team is 0-0 to start the playoffs.”
The Mustangs, seeded no. 5 in their own sectional, start off in the Bolingbrook Regional with a 7 p.m. Wednesday game against no. 12 Oswego. A win advances Metea Valley info a Friday regional championship against either no. 4 seed Bolingbrook or no. 13 Yorkville. In 2013, the Mustangs lost a regional final to Naperville Central one year after the Redhawks defeated the Mustangs for a sectional trophy.
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
G Joey Coryell
D Ethan Williams
D Wesley Anderson
D Brandon Howard
D Ethan Ytterberg
M Lucas Francisco
M Jake Toepfer
M Esteban Castillo
M Michael Adams
F Dominic Duffy
F John Lynch
Plainfield North
G Trevor Hansen
D Luke Stell
D Adam Ratini
D Jake Farley
D Alex Lynch
M Mariano Franchi
M Nathan Marston
M Austin Collier
M Mitch Rathbun
F Hunter Houslet
F Austin Hansen
Man of the Match: Austin Collier, F, Plainfield North
Officials: Jose Gonzalez (center), Tony Martinez, Justin O'Bryan
streak, tops Metea Valley
Tigers complete perfect home slate, teams look to postseason
By Steve Nemeth
PLAINFIELD -- It could be said Austin Collier used his head twice in leading Plainfield North to a 2-0 victory in Thursday’s regular season finale against visiting Metea Valley.
Collier broke a scoreless deadlock 6:05 into the second half when he forcefully struck a 12-yard header inside the right post.
The senior forward said he used a little mind game magic on Mustang goalie Joey Coryell to complete the victory with a 14-yard cannon shot that sailed inside the left post with 4:54 remaining in regulation.
“I’ve played against their keeper a lot, and I’ve always gone to the right, so I purposefully wanted to play a mind game setting up the same way but going to my left,” Collier noted. “If there was a video to check, I’m pretty sure it would show he at least was leaning the wrong way to start.”
Right from the start it seemed possible to have any of three factors affect the outcome for the nonconference outing which served as a final tune-up for the Class 3A regional play.
No. 1 for the host Tigers – ranked sixth in the latest Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 – was what affect Senior Night changes to the starting line-up might create.
No. 2 for Metea Valley was how the Mustangs would cover up the absence of two standouts, defender Ryan Donovan and midfielder Ryan Barry.
The no. 3 factor was a constantly gusting wind that either whipped across the field or favored Metea for the first 40 minutes. The wind was easily felt, clearly affecting any ball in the air, and heard in the constant flapping of pennants representing Plainfield North on one side of the field and flags on the other representing the IHSA and the Southwest Prairie Conference and its eight member schools.
The latter was the most evident in the opening half.
“I was really proud of the way all the seniors started executing on what is an emotional night,” North coach Stephen Berry said. “In addition to defending against the wind, we were playing a quality team, so gaining and keeping possession was a key.
“We had two initial goals in the preseason, one was winning the conference and the other was being undefeated at home,” Berry said.
The Tigers (17-2-0) achieved the initial aim two days before by beating Minooka 4-2.
The second goal was achieved Thursday with a win that gave Plainfield North a perfect 10-0 record on its home field. And that target will remain unchanged in 2016 when the Tigers will aim to continue a 24-game home winning streak. This year’s success was preceded by a 9-0 standard in 2014 and the last five home dates after a Sept. 17, 2013, loss to Romeoville.
Obviously the boys soccer program has done its share to add to the electric bill when it comes to “lighting the V,” as in the large red letter V adorning the outside of the school’s gymnasium which is illuminated whenever any boys or girls varsity squad records a victory.
Despite a mere .500 record coming in, Metea Valley the type of aggressive play that could easily produce postseason upsets for the Mustangs (9-10-1) showed. Off an overlapping run, Wesley Anderson had a booming shot carom off a Tiger defender. A pair of Metea corner kicks tested goalie Trevor Hansen, one of the featured eight starters for Senior Night.
The Tigers’ best first half chances chances came at 21:57 when Ryan Cartwright’s header off a Hunter Houslet corner sailed wide, and an Alex Lynch direct free kick was secured by Coryell. Just three seconds prior to the halftime horn, Metea Valley's John Lynch put a direct free kick over the upper right corner of the North goal.
“We played even with them and at times, I thought we even played better,” Mustangs coach Josh Robinson said. “But it comes down to finishing, Austin (Collier) did twice, and we didn’t despite having plenty of chances.
“Don’t get me wrong, (Berry) has a great group of boys, but getting goals has been our hurdle all season. Come the playoffs, we’ll survive if we score early, but the season will surely end if we can’t put the ball in the net,” Robinson added. “We’ll be glad to have a couple leaders back in the lineup, but tonight we had to do what’s best for them and the team.”
Coryell made a quality stop on a Collier shot less than five minutes into the second half. But two minutes later there was no stopping the header on which Patrick Elster earned an assist with his cross.
“Coach had me playing out wide to help open up space in the middle, on that particular play I just continued my run inward and Elster gave me a great ball,” Collier said.
A minute-plus after the restart, Metea Valley nearly got an equalizer when Lynch raced into the middle for a shot only to have Cade Fink, who took over in goal for Plainfield North, rush out for a block. The spin off the rebound left the ball in prime position for a follow-up, but the Mustangs whiffed and Fink covered it up.
With 26:20 still to play, Dominic Duffy took a sidewinder snuffed by Fink in what would elicit a “big save” description from Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley.
“No question Cade made a great save to keep things positive for us. Actually both Trevor and Cade came through with good saves,” Berry said. “Everyone put their stamp on this victory at some point. We brought up three guys (Nick Thompson, Brian Bertoni and Elster) to varsity, and they have made an impact. Our best player all year has been Jake (Farley), he’s consistently solid in back, talks and organizes things, wins balls and then starts us into possession.”
One of Farley’s many through-balls set in motion the Tigers’ insurance goal. Ian Aslam’s cross was slightly deflected before Collier chalked up his second goal of the match and boosted his season total to 17.
“I thought about a bicycle kick but kind of lost it against the lights. So I trapped it and made as solid a kick as I could,” Collier said.
Within the 18-school Class 3A Metea Valley Sectional brackets, Plainfield North is the no. 2 seed and starts with a 5 p.m. semifinal Wednesday against the winner of no. 15 Plainfield East and eighteenth-seeded East Aurora. That could present the Tigers with a chance to avenge a 3-1 Southwest Prairie Conference loss that marks one-of-two times they failed to score more than a goal in 19 games. Eleven-of-17 triumphs have featured three or more goals.
“Even with some guys making a rare start, or some other seniors playing in a different position, we basically did what we needed to do to win,” Farley said. “We finished unbeaten at home and kept our home win streak going. That’s something to be proud of. My job as center back is to organize everything in back, make certain I communicate with everyone. We’ve had a great season, but we believe we have a lot more games to go.”
Surprisingly, Plainfield North has never won a boys soccer regional plaque. An initial postseason win would put them into the title game against either SPC foe in No. 10 seed Plainfield South (one of the Tigers six shutout victims this season) or regional host and no. 8 seed Naperville Central. Although the Redhawks have struggled this year, they finished third in Class 3A in 2013 after runner-up showings in 2011 and 2012.
Metea Valley’s Connor Lang earned praise from Robinson for his play against the Tigers, and the junior was encouraged about the Mustangs’ playoff chances despite the last setback.
“In some aspects, we outplayed a really good team. Once again we know we can run with the big dogs,” Lang said. “Tonight we probably had double or triple the opportunities to score, the trick remains finishing. Obviously we left too many of those chances on the table. Having switched to the DuPage Valley (Conference) meant we were facing better competition in every league game, yet we’ve never been demolished by anyone this year. As they say, every team is 0-0 to start the playoffs.”
The Mustangs, seeded no. 5 in their own sectional, start off in the Bolingbrook Regional with a 7 p.m. Wednesday game against no. 12 Oswego. A win advances Metea Valley info a Friday regional championship against either no. 4 seed Bolingbrook or no. 13 Yorkville. In 2013, the Mustangs lost a regional final to Naperville Central one year after the Redhawks defeated the Mustangs for a sectional trophy.
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
G Joey Coryell
D Ethan Williams
D Wesley Anderson
D Brandon Howard
D Ethan Ytterberg
M Lucas Francisco
M Jake Toepfer
M Esteban Castillo
M Michael Adams
F Dominic Duffy
F John Lynch
Plainfield North
G Trevor Hansen
D Luke Stell
D Adam Ratini
D Jake Farley
D Alex Lynch
M Mariano Franchi
M Nathan Marston
M Austin Collier
M Mitch Rathbun
F Hunter Houslet
F Austin Hansen
Man of the Match: Austin Collier, F, Plainfield North
Officials: Jose Gonzalez (center), Tony Martinez, Justin O'Bryan
