GLEN ELLYN — The common denominators going into Glenbard West’s match with York Tuesday, were Jackson Chibucos scoring goals and the defense preventing any.

The trends continued in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division match with Chibucos supplying he goal and the Hilltoppers defense holding firm for a 1-0 victory.

“Our offense is going good right now, and the defense has been great,” Chibucos said.

The tally came after a Colin Weil throw-in, a flick from Aidan Adachi and then a wide-open Chibucos converting from dead-center in front of the goal from six yards.

Goal no. 8 for Chibucos was the difference.

“I had some space and time,” Chibucos said. “Basically, on throw-in plays we have positions and one person that flicks it back. Then there’s another person that goes to the near post, and I’m behind that person.

"If the ball gets sent through by two headers or by a cross then I’ll be there for the goal right in front. I saw it go through the gap. It had backspin from the flick, and I just tapped it in.”

No one from York could get into a position to defend Chibucos, who shared the Chicagoland Soccer Man of the Match honor.

“The ball dropped in the box,” York defender Jackson Bui said. “Not much we can do. Got to be better.”

However, the Dukes are better today than they’ve probably been at any point this season. Bui is certainly a reason why. He had another strong effort and shared Man of the Match recognition. 

Dukes coach Jordan Stopka liked his team's performance.

“I’m pleased. I think we played our best game of the season, personally,” he said. “It’s not easy to play our possession-style on this tiny little field, but it is what it is. I think they played well. They were prepared.”

Stopka and Glenbard West coach Phil Wicyk used to battle on the pitch in uniform. Now they do it as coaches.

“Phil and I go way back, to when we used to play against each other in an amateur league 10-15 years ago,” Stopka said. “So, it’s nice to have a little rivalry.

“In talking to him I could tell in his voice how bad he wanted this one, and I know he’s a very good motivational speaker. I knew his kids would be up.

“We were like ‘Match their intensity and limit the mistakes, and we’ll see what happens.’ We had our chances.”

Glenbard West was awarded throw-ins similar to the one from Weil, but to no avail.

That gave credence to what Chibucos shared about jumping ahead in the 14th minute.

"I don’t think their players were ready for that flick. They weren’t expecting it, because it was one of our first ones of the game,” Chibucos said. “As soon as that happened, I got in position and saw like five feet of length on each side of me in space. The ball landed right in front of me, and I put it in.”

York (2-5-2, 1-1-x) had chances to draw even, particularly on a pair of opportunities later in the second half.

In the 58th minute, Dukes midfielder Charlie Dewbray gained possession near the end line and entered into a battle with Glenbard West goalkeeper Nolan Borgman and a defender. The play narrowly missed resulting in an opportunity for the Dukes to shoot an empty netter.

Seven minutes later, York forward Quinn Stratton came running wide before ripping a 27-yard shot toward the far post that required Borgman to dive far to his left to reject.

“It’s hard, but I’ve just got to make the right decision,” Borgman said. “The defense was great. They kept their heads, even when things got chippy and kept it clear, kept it clean. They got the ball out and made it easy for me.” 

Last year, York ended the Hilltoppers season in the sectional semifinals. 

“The biggest thing about this game is not only is it conference, you know, we lost an early one to Lyons so we cannot afford any more slip-ups,” Wicyk said. “But really what this means is I have four-year players who have never beaten York (until tonight).”

Glenbard West controlled last year’s West Chicago Class 3A sectional semifinal before the Dukes rallied to end their season.

“With York you kind of have a chip on your shoulder from the sectional semifinal last year. We were up two, and they dropped us 4-2,” Wicyk said. “They came back and beat us. I’ve got to hand it to them. They are relentless. They just go, go, go. And it catches our guys off-guard sometimes.

“Props to them for picking up another channel. No. 10 (Olliver Connor) was hard as heck to mark. Our backline has been playing great, and the junior in goal (Borgman) started out as our third-string goalie. Now he holds records for most shutouts for me.” 

York’s Bui liked what he saw from his teammates.

“We had a lot of great plays by our wingers and our midfield probably played their best game of the season,” he said. “Our backline has been strong all year and will continue to do that. We just got to get hot at the right time.”

He stressed the power of positive thinking.

“It’s all about sticking together as a team,” he said. “We’re a family. We’ve got to stay a family. We’ve got a positive mindset. We’re doing the right things. It will come.” 

Stopka told his kids to not feel sorry for themselves.

“All you can do is wake up and get better tomorrow. That’s the goal.,” he said. “We can just get better or lay down and quit for the season.” 

Stopka praised senior Aaron Jobi’s effort, among others.

“Aaron Jobi played well at holding mid. He’s been a bit of a revelation, because we had him at wing/forward. One of our biggest deficiencies is we don’t have attackers this year,” he said. “The back, with what we’ve been conceding, if you see the amount of pressing they’re under, they’ve played very well. Jackson Boi played well. Freddie (Steen) came back from an injury today. Cam Coates has been wonderful on the outside.

“You’ve got to do the simple things. One of the things was marking and playing the ball wide, and all that good stuff. We limited most of those mistakes today, but it did show you that you can do well on 15 of the 16 (plays) but then don’t mark a kid in the middle of the box (and things go south).”

With the calendar turning to October in less than a week, the scent of the playoffs will accompany the changing colors of the trees.

“We want to be playing our best at the end of the season,” Stopka said. “And if you don’t have it in the win column the beautiful thing about high school soccer is you’re automatically in the playoffs and anything can happen.”

The win marked the first time Glenbard West has beaten the Dukes since April 6, 2021, when they won 2-1 in two overtimes during the pandemic-shortened spring season. The Hilltoppers beat the Dukes 3-2 in the fall of 2019. 

York had won the previous four meetings, including twice last season.

“It always feels great to beat York, especially this year since we’ve kept the streaks going. It was a hard-fought battle and just felt great to win,” Borgman said. “At the beginning of the season, we started slow. I think we’ve found our groove now.

“The defense has figured how to clean things up. We fixed the mistakes. Beyond that we stayed strong through the losses, and now we’ve got a streak going.”

This was the first 1-0 game between the schools since the Dukes beat the Hilltoppers by the same score in Elmhurst on Oct. 8, 2015. Seamus Ward had an assist and Peter Barabolak scored the goal in a game that featured a 40-minute delay due to weather. Coincidentally, it rained most of the day in Glen Ellyn on Tuesday but only a whisper of a drizzle remained around kickoff. The turf was wet, but it didn’t appear to slow the players.

It also didn’t keep away under-level Hilltoppers players from packing one of the sets of bleachers and supporting the hosts in a loud fashion.

“They definitely helped,” Chibucos said. “It feels great when the fans come out and keep it loud – 100 percent it helps. It keeps you energized. You want to play the game. You want to keep going.”

Two streaks continued and one ended after Glenbard West's sixth-straight win, a 4-0 performance at Willowbrook on Wednesday. Chibucos saw his scoring run end, but sophomore forward Alex Ginder had a monster game with a hat-trick and assist. Aidan Adachi scored the third goal of the day, and Holden Glibkowski recorded two assists. Borgman and the backline recorded their sixth-consecutive shutout. 

The Hilltoppers (9-5-0, 2-1-x) will be back in action Saturday, when they try to clinch the Glenbard Cup at home against Glenbard South.  

 
Starting lineups

York
GK: Diego Ochoa
D: Jackson Bui
D: Cameron Coates
D: Daniel Miranda
D: Freddie Steen
MF: John O’Connor
MF: Charlie Dewberry
MF: Olliver Connor
MF: Aaron Jobi
F: Quinn Stratton
F: Carrie DiMiele

Glenbard West
GK: Nolan Borgman
D: Holden Glibkowski
D: Christopher Weber
D: Colin Weil
D: Spencer Melms
MF: Sam Nieto
MF: Jackson Chibucos
MF: Johan Palacios
MF: Angel Garnica
MF: Davis Barta
F: Alex Ginder
 
Chicagoland Soccer Men of the Match: Jackson Bui, sr., D, York; Jackson Chibucos, jr., MF, Glenbard West

Scoring summary

First half
GW: Jackson Chibucos (Aidan Adachi), 14’

Second half
No scoring