They don’t say goodbye at Wheaton Warrenville South.

It’s too final, too unpleasant.

“It’s always, ‘See you soon,’ or, ‘See you later,’” Tigers coach Guy Callipari said.

“It’s a Tigers thing,” Wheaton Warrenville South senior back and quad-captain Quentin Oker said. “We like to look forward to seeing our teammates somewhere, wherever that may be.”

Callipari and his Tigers had to bid adieu to the state playoffs too early last month. Seeded seventh in the Class 3A St. Charles North Sectional, DuKane Conference champion Wheaton Warrenville South fell 0-0 (4-1 PKs) to 11th-seeded St. Charles East in the Fighting Saints regional East semifinal Oct. 22.

Exactly a week earlier, the Tigers had defeated St. Charles East’s Saints 4-1 in their regular-season and league-clinching finale.

“St. Charles East did their homework and research before the playoff game,” Tigers senior forward and co-captain Jet Oehrlein said.

Wheaton Warrenville South, which finished 11-6-5 overall and 6-0-1 in the DuKane for its first league championship, took a voluminous 25 shots (12 on, 13 off) in the harsh postseason loss.

“They made the game difficult, taking away space and time from us,” Callipari recalled. “They shortened the field and created more numbers in that space.

“They marked (junior forward and leading scorer) Semin Razman well.”

Razman had a magnificent season, amassing 21 goals and delivering two assists in 22 games. He took a mere 48 shots, meaning he scored at a .438 clip.

“Pretty impressive,” said Callipari, who completed his 34th season at the helm in the program’s 55th season. “Semin loves the one-on-one environment. He was riding a good wave all season. What makes him so effective is his combination of dribbling at pace and soccer intellect, along with his ability to create space for his shots; he doesn’t need much.

“Semin,” the coach continued, “can off-balance any defender, because he has such a good feel for pressure.”

The junior ended the season three goals off the Tigers all-time list.

Razman and five mates made the all-DuKane Conference team. The others were Oehrlein; senior midfielder and co-captain Diego Bautista; senior back Rob Redlich; senior midfielder Liam Smeir; and senior goalkeeper and co-captain Jared Ferreyra. Oehrlein ranked second among Tigers in points with seven goals and seven assists.

“I wanted to be that captain who likes to lead,” Oehrlein said. “I was eager to host captain practices in June. Yes, I’d get mad and frustrated at times, especially if mistakes were repeated. But I also was that captain who praised teammates when they did things right.

“I wanted to be a mentor for my teammates.”

Smeir netted four goals and dished four assists. Redlich finished with four assists and five shots on goal and was as rugged on defense as he was fast in transition.

“We came into the season with high expectations, hoping to win the conference and go far in the playoffs,” said Oker. “Toward the end of the season we had established good momentum.”

Indeed. Callipari’s crew — an honorable mention team in the final Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 on Oct. 22 — had gone 7-0-1 with a goal differential of 30-11 ahead of its second date with St. Charles East. His boys also had a strong start, edging highly regarded Geneva 2-1 and tying St. Charles North 1-1 in their first two DuKane Conference tests.

“One of my favorite wins,” Oker said of the match vs. visiting Geneva on Sept. 10. “Our defense was moving so well and winning every 50/50 ball. We were all playing with this different kind of intensity — a high intensity.”

“Locked in from the start,” Bautista recalled. “Our whole team played well on that day.”

Topping host and league foe Glenbard North 3-1 on Oct.12 won’t soon be forgotten, either.

The Panthers scored first in the Tigers’ penultimate conference game.

“We wanted to win that one, badly,” Oker said. “We threw our bodies all over the place. We were all sore the next day, but it was worth it.”

Wheaton Warrenville South then capped the run to its first DuKane Conference championship with that 4-1 defeat of host St. Charles East on Oct. 15.

“We put our best foot forward in DuKane games,” Callipari said. “You could not take a day off when you went up against a team in our conference.”

The Tigers hadn’t won a conference title since 2006, when the school competed in the DuPage Valley Conference.

Footnotes

Wheaton Warrenville South notched a program hat-trick in 2024, winning the varsity, JV and freshman DuKane Conference titles. The JVers (14-1-2) went 7-0-0 in DuKane action, while the frosh matched the varsity’s 6-0-1 conference record. The JV squad finished runnerup to Elgin on PKs at last month’s unsanctioned JV state tournament held at Triton College in River Grove. “It was called the HSSA (High School Soccer Association) tournament,” Callipari said. “They took the loss hard, but that’s because our players played with passion. They were either going to feel sorrow or elation afterward, and I told them, ‘At least you got to feel something in soccer, and there’s nothing wrong with that at the end of a fine season.” … Oehrlein, on his nickname Jet, which is short for Jethro: “When I was young, my friends thought I was named Jet because I was fast.” He’s still fast. … Ask anyone in the Wheaton Warrenville South program about the performance turned in by St. Charles East senior goalkeeper Ivan Campobasso in the Saints’ PKs defeat of the Tigers in the playoff game and they’ll praise him without hesitation. “Props to him,” Bautista said. “So good, so quick,” Oker said. “Such quick reactions.” “Their keeper played extremely well in front of a defense that stood up,” Callipari said. “St. Charles East must have felt good going into PKs, because their keeper had built a lot of confidence in regulation and overtime. (Campobasso) had to be excited about the opportunity that awaited him in PKs.” …. Bautista, who sat out a couple of games with an injury, on his role this fall. “I felt I was the connector in the middle.” … Callipari pointed to Redlich and senior defender Santiago Mosca as the team’s pleasant surprises in 2024. “Rob Redlich was impactful on defense and offense, and Santiago and ‘Q’ (Oker) played as one in the back for us. Santiago was strong in the air; tackles from ‘Q’ stood out.” … Callipari, on Bautista, the Tigers’ unsung hero: “He wasn’t a core player for us along the backline or in the midfield, but as our six, he served as a glue. He made good decisions, using his soccer intellect and soccer skills. He was like a quarterback out there, possessing the ball often, chasing, winning tackles, organizing. Diego did his job quietly. Sure, he went unnoticed at times, but his teammates certainly knew he was a key player throughout the season.” … Senior keeper Ferreyra finished his Wheaton Warrenville South career third all-time with 311 saves and fifth in shutouts with 15.5.