LA GRANGE – Maine South entered new territory Sunday afternoon.

The Hawks had yet to win a BodyArmor bracket title in program history.

Making the Sunday championship matches, put them within reach.

Since they were wearing the white kit, they brought their all-red uniform just in case.

The Hawks used four different scorers to find the back of the net in a 4-0 afternoon victory over Wheaton Warrenville South at the Lyons Soccer Complex.

After the game, each member of the Hawks changed from their white uniforms into the all-red uniforms to prepare for the postgame soda spray for which each team member received a 2-liter bottle to soak each other with.

Maine South coach Dan States said his players came prepared.

“We’ve never won the title, so credit to the guys,” States said. “They are going to get sprayed on now. I was told that ‘It doesn’t stain; it’s just syrup.’ It’s going to stain, though.”

Maine South (8-5-1) were ready for a hard-charging but slightly depleted Wheaton Warrenville South team. The Hawks let off some steam after an 0-3-1 run against fellow-ranked teams that included a 4-0 loss to Evanston, a 2-1 defeat to Glenbrook South, a 4-0 loss to New Trier and a 2-2 draw with Glenbrook North.

“Without question, that’s a well-organized and well-coached team,” States said of Wheaton Warrenville South. “They’ve had a lot of good outings this season, particularly defensively. 

“We were able to spread them out and break them down. I know they were a little bit banged up and tired. We felt we could take advantage of that, especially in the second half. That’s pretty much the way it went down.”

Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said it was a difficult situation for his team, which played without senior defender Quentin Oker and had numerous other players banged up. 

The tournament final was rained out Sept. 22 and rescheduled for Sunday. That hurt the Tigers. It was their fourth game in six days, and the second half of back-to-back games after a solid 1-1 tie Saturday vs. then no. 15 Glenbrook North.

Wheaton Warrenville South fell apart after allowing a goal in the second minute of the second half to trail 2-0. The Hawks added two more after.

Callipari, who played soccer at Eastern Illinois, noted his team can learn from the loss. He pointed out several players who received valuable playing time. Senior backup goalie Troy Dunlap played for 30-plus minutes and finished with three saves for the Tigers (4-5-4).

“I think we still felt inspired that we could respond, because we have done so in the past,” Callipari said. “That one goal wasn’t going to matter much, but it did put us in a position to chase. 

“We were susceptible in the back. It kind of broke our spirit a bit, but we’ve been down before and responded. I was hoping for a bit more.

“I was happy we got a lot of players in the game today. Troy did a good job holding his own at goalie, giving us a chance and providing leadership.

“We’re still a team of 20, regardless of people missing, and everyone has to contribute. We can’t point fingers at anybody. We can’t play perfect every day. Give credit to Maine South for playing to their strength.”

Dunlap welcomed the playing time in the tourney.

“I have played three halves,” Dunlap said of his playing time before Sunday. “You have to prepare for a moment like this. I’m always ready, but I was not expecting it at all. 

“I think generally our defense did a good job, and I did my job. It was great to play here, hearing about it from all the other varsity guys the last three years. It seemed like a ton of fun. To come out here and play three very competitive games, it was a lot of fun.”

Maine South rode goals from Michal Tkaczyk, Sean Schermerhorn, Will Smucker and Stefan Radosavljevic to their first victory since beating Notre Dame 1-0 on Sept. 16.

Tkaczyk, senior defender, scored the opening goal in the 25th minute, sliding past a defender from the corner to get close to the box and tapping in a shot for a 1-0 lead through the thick grass. It was his first goal of the season.

“It was a high pressure by me, and I saw there was a little panic in the back by them. I just dribbled the ball and got past the center back,” Tkaczyk said. “The keeper kind of grabbed the ball, but I toe-tapped it, and the ball slowly rolled to the goal line. 

“The centerback booted it out after it went past the line. It was very special to me, my first varsity goal plus we made history winning this.”

The Chicagoland Man of the Match, who earned the honor for his ice-breaking goal and defense, felt his goal settled down the team in the pressure-packed game.

“At first, we were panicking the first 10 minutes, but then after that, we gained more confidence and momentum and the other team went down with their (energy),” Tkaczyk said. “We showed the potential of this team. We’re a very strong defense.

Maine South missed two chances in the final eight-plus minutes of the first half to increase their lead but delivered a tough blow to the Tigers’ hopes with the goal in the 41st minute.

Schermerhorn said he saw an opportunity to take control of the game for his team to start the second half.

“There was a deflection and the ball kind of bounced to me,” Schermerhorn said. “There was a 50/50, and I came out with the ball. 

“I saw the defense backing away from me as I was running to them. I saw the space to take the ball, dribbled it to the house, all the way through. 

“I had a nice shot that kind of bounced off the post, and it slid it. After I scored that I was little surprised, because I dribbled far and was shocked that I managed to finish it.

“After we scored the first goal in the first half, just scoring so quickly, they kind of put their heads down a bit. After scoring so quickly in the second half, they kind of folded, which helped us the rest of the game. This shows we can play at a high level, and it’s a constant reminder that we’re able to perform against good teams. We have to keep a level head and finish.”

Smucker, a senior forward, provided extra cushion with a slow roller in the 49th minute for a 3-0 lead 

“I saw Kosta (Loucopoulos) on the wing, saw the through-ball. He gave me a perfect pass, and I slid it home,” Smucker said. “It’s a good confidence booster. It was great to win. We’ve never won this tournament, so that means a lot. We’ve been getting better, and this was great.”

Radosavljevic put his imprint on the game with the final tally. He hammered a shot that hit Dunlap’s hands but trickled into the back of the net for a 4-0 lead in the 79th minute. It was Radosavljevic’s fourth goal of the season.

“The keeper almost saved it,” Radosavljevic said. “I passed it to my teammate, he chested it back. I kind of stole a shot. Tommy (Puchacz) passed it to me. 

“It was great, our first Bodyarmor title. We’ve been here before. I can’t wait to spill (cola) on all of us.”
 

Starting lineups

Maine South
GK: Joseph Figula
D: Michal Tkaczyk
D: Wyatt Kelleher
D: Oscar Podraza
D: Augie Ladewski
MF: Sean Schermerhorn
MF: Andrej Oman
MF: Adrian Malik
MF: Aleksandar Petkovic
F: Kosta Loucopoulos
F: Will Smucker
 
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK: Jared Ferreyra
D: Santiago Mosca
D: Rob Redlich
D: Noah Giannasi
D: Nick Girup
MF: Diego Bautista
MF: Am ZaLian
MF: Aaron Escareno
MF: Laim Smeir
F: Jet Oehrlein
F: Semin Razman
 
Chicagoland Man of the Match: Michal Tkaczyk, sr., D, Maine South

 
Scoring summary

First half
Maine South: Tkaczyk (unassisted), 25’
 
Second half
Maine South: Schermerhorn (Kelleher), 42’
Maine South: Smucker (Loucopoulos), 49’
Maine South: Radosavljevic (Puchacz), 79’