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Players' Choice Part III: The playmakers By Gary Larsen
His name is Bryan Ciesiulka. In polling player opinions on which opposing players they were most impressed with this year, no name came up more frequently than Neuqua Valley’s Ciesiulka. The central midfielder was the first person mentioned by the vast majority of the roughly 80 players interviewed for this story. Why? Well, for starters there’s his passing ability. “He always wants the ball and he’s very creative,” Lyons Township’s Billy McGuinness said. “He sees things other people don’t see and makes passes that don’t seem possible.” “He never had a bad touch against us and his passes always went right where they were supposed to go,” WW South’s Alden Marton said. Great distributors seem to read developing plays just a little bit earlier than everyone else, and Ciesiulka has the knack. “He sees everything happen before it happens,” Lyons’ Chris Meingast said. “He sees the runs, he knows who is in front of him, behind him, and on both sides of him. And the kid can do everything.” “One of the best first touches I’ve ever seen, and the best soccer mind,” Lake Park’s Mike Keane said of Ciesiulka. “He always knows exactly where to put the ball and he can always get it there.” Ciesiulka was a coaches’ all-American this year, and the Marquette-bound senior was also named Illinois’ Gatorade player of the year. His combination of skills simply put Ciesiulka on another level this season. “That was the first time I’d ever seen him play,” St. Charles North’s Noah Anthony said of his squad’s Upstate Eight game vs. Neuqua Valley. “He’s something else. He had a great touch, saw the field really well, controlled the game, kept possession, and he was always very relaxed.” Relaxed and impossible to pin down. “You always think you’re going to tackle him, but you never do,” Naperville North midfielder Chris Boswell said. “He’s just a great attacking player.” “He had the biggest individual impact on the field of anyone we played,” WW South’s Drew Bellmer said of Ciesiulka. “His presence meant so much for that team.” Ciesiulka headlined Illinois’ annual core of talented midfielders for the 2009-10 school year. As it always is, whether they attacked or defended, midfielders were often their teams’ best players. They do the hard work that gets you places. Lyons Township's Brian Heimerdinger and Kyle Kurfirst were instrumental at midfield for the state champion Lions this year, and just ask St. Charles North midfielder Anthony what he thinks of Geneva midfielder Brady Wahl. “He’s really skilled and great on the ball,” Anthony said. “What he does really well is he not only scores goals but he’s also good at setting people up. He creates a lot of opportunities for other people.” And Anthony earned the respect of Geneva senior Kevin Hilgart. “He’s another one that’s really fast, he knows the game, better than most kids I saw this year,” Hilgart said of the North Stars’ junior. “He’s not big but he’s so good tactically.” Anthony’s teammate in the fall, senior Angelo Catalano, was a coaches’ all-stater and an attacking player that impressed Lake Park’s Keane. “He was very skilled, and he could find the back of the net,” Keane said. Midfielder Keane was Lake Park’s most important player in the fall. “He’s a very good player,” Catalano said. “He’s a big kid that was hard to play against.” Downers Grove South’s Matt LaLonde didn’t have Keane’s size, but his ball skills helped make the Mustangs go. “He possessed the ball as well as anyone I saw this year,” Naperville Central defender Peter Beasley said. West Aurora had its best season ever in the fall, and the Blackhawks’ Mario Alvarez, Victor Alfaro, and Jesse Ortiz could wreak attacking havoc on teams. Ortiz got particular mention. “He was always the best player,” Naperville North’s Boswell said. “It was his composure and his touch. He played really well with that team.” “You could tell he grew up with the game,” Batavia’s Mitch Albrecht said of Ortiz. “He’s one of those smart, quick players, and he just reads the game.” Naperville North goalkeeper Michael Wiest also appreciated Ortiz. “He was just dangerous with a ball at his feet. He’s a huge threat and it was very frustrating to go against him,” Wiest said. “They’d play balls we weren’t used to seeing and I’d have to come out and get them. He was always right there, pressuring.” Naperville Central’s Art Garza: “(Ortiz) did a fantastic job of holding onto the ball. It’s really hard to take it off him, and he gives time for everyone to push up. He calms the game down.” If you were looking for someone that could both score and finish, arguably no one did it any better than WWSouth’s Bellmer, who finished the fall season with 19 goals and 20 assists. “My boy, Drew Bellmer,” Neuqua forward Scott Davis said. “He was all-state over me by one vote and I texted him as soon as I heard. We’re great friends and he’s an all-around great player. He’s got pace and he’s very good with a ball at his feet.” “He had an amazing ability to find people and send amazing through balls,” Marmion’s Tommy Cruger said of Bellmer. “He controlled the game the way a good center mid can.” Bellmer and Marton were in the middle of the field for a Tigers team that got all the way to a sectional title game against top-ranked Neuqua Valley. Neuqua won the game in a shootout, with keeper Jack Turanchik coming up big. “One thing we noticed when we were looking at (WWSouth) is that he was pretty much involved in everything they did,” Turanchik said of Bellmer. “He did everything.”
Naperville North’s Wiest also had to stay on his toes whenever the ball found Bellmer’s feet. “He moved the ball so well,” Wiest said. “He got the ball in the middle and knew where to go. If he didn’t see Ricky (Munguia), he’d move it out wide. He’d move it back and forth, he has a good shot, and he’s just a dangerous player. He had a swagger and he never stopped working.” There was an outstanding midfield duo this year over at Prospect, where Sam Slusher and Mike Stankiewicz guided the Knights to an MSL division title and a spot in this year’s MSL Cup. Stankiewicz is a current member of the Chicago Fire Academy’s U-18 team, and “Slusher was skilled,” Fremd’s Michael Heika said. “He’s just very good with the ball.” Benet’s duo of George Elliot and Connor Miller were also a force to be reckoned with. Elliot slid back and forth between forward and midfielder but when he and Miller roamed the middle against Neuqua, they had a whale of a day. “They definitely won the midfield battle for a good part of that game,” Ciesiulka said. “Miller controlled the midfield for them and at times their midfield definitely outplayed us.” “He had an absolute rip against me off the post and went in from 18 yards out,” North’s Wiest said of Miller. “That was one of the best goals scored against me all season. He’s a very good player.” Lyons’ Township’s Chris Meingast also saw the danger of Elliot and Miller at midfield. “They made each other exponentially more dangerous. Connor was able to break things down in the middle and go right at us,” Meingast said. Waubonsie Valley defender Nik Patel appreciated what Elliot brought to the table. “You never know what he’s going to do with the ball,” Patel said. “It’s always hard to predict what he’s going to do, and that makes him difficult. He can dribble, he can hit a ball from range, and he keeps you on your toes.” For his part, Elliot also knows the boys from Saint Viator as well as anyone. Alan Aboona, Jack Horvath, Kevin Cavers, Billy Hamilton, and Trevor Wheeler keyed the attack for a Viator team that won a state title this year. Elliot played 3-on-3 soccer with Cavers, Hamilton, and Wheeler. “They’re all very good technically, they all play a good ball, and all have a good shot,” he said of the Viator trio. “They’re all just very good attacking players.” “(Wheeler) has incredible footwork and he’s a good scorer. He’s one of the better technical players around.” Miller agreed with his former teammate. “Wheeler is like Ciesiulka. He’s very technical and very calm on the ball,” Miller said. “He makes those small cuts that get the defender going one way and then creates space to go forward. And Cavers was one of the better forwards in terms of holding the ball and being able to beat our defenders.” Waubonsie’s Patel had a teammate in midfielder Oliver Mayer that carried the Warriors’ offense in the fall. “He’s a pretty big kid but he’s really quick and he caused us a lot of problems,” St. Charles North’s Catalano said. “He has good abilities on the ball and good speed off the ball. We couldn’t really figure out a way to stop him.” “He’s big and he won the majority of the balls in the air against us,” Naperville Central’s Garza said of Mayer. “His physical presence was huge, he’s a hard runner, he follows the play and he reads the game really well.” “He reminds me of Scott Davis,” Wiest said. “He never stopped working and he’s very good with a ball at his feet. In our game most of their offense went through Oliver. He was dangerous whenever the ball got to his feet.” After he recovered from off-season leg surgery, Central’s Garza teamed with all-everything forward Chris Prince as arguably the top attacking tandem in the state. Garza’s smoothness over the ball and distribution skills helped take Central all the way to a sectional semi-final game this year. Bellmer didn’t hesitate to weigh in on Garza. “I think he has every tool in the box. He can shoot, pass, dribble – Chris (Prince) had a great year, but Art had something to do with that.” Benet’s Elliot was similarly impressed with Garza. “He plays a great ball,” Eliot said. “He can serve balls from distance really well, he’s very technical, and he can score goals too.” Batavia’s Albrecht is a defender by trade but he possesses offensive skills that keyed the Bulldogs’ midfield in the fall. “He’s very versatile,” Patel said. “He has great skills on the ball, he reads it well, he can shoot -- he can do all of that.” “He has great ball skills,” WW South’s Bellmer said of Albrecht. “He can thread the needle, find that guy on a 60-yard run and get him the ball.” “He can put the ball on your head from anywhere,” Garza said of Doody. Defender Patel saw Doody as a threat in more ways than one. “When he gets going on the outside you don’t know if he’s going to get down the line and whip in a pinpoint cross, or fake it outside, take it inside and rip a shot from 20 yards out,” Patel said. “He’s another guy that if you lose him for one second, he’s gone.” For hard-nosed play in the middle you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone that surpassed Hinsdale Central’s Robbie LaRocque. “He was good,” North’s Boswell said. “He was tough and he had really good touch. He played hard and technical.” “He was quick with the ball and he’s a very smart player. He made a lot of smart passes and fast decisions against us,” said Dini, who had a teammate in Brian Roman that “controlled the middle of the field very well,” according to Lake Park’s Keane. Keane was also impressed by Bartlett senior Joe McCullough. “He was skilled and he had a very good first touch,” Keane said. “And he knew how to get them transitioned from one side of the field to the other.” In addition to Bellmer and Garza, the DuPage Valley Conference had a third coaches’ all-state midfielder in North’s Boswell, who was a tireless force on the field for the Huskies all year.
“Boswell’s a great player,” Neuqua’s Davis said. “He doesn’t give the ball up, he’s physical, and he works hard at getting the ball back.” “I thought Boswell was an awesome player,” Hinsdale Central’s Michael Oleszkiewicz said. “He’s one of the best. He just never got tired.” Boswell moved into the attack more for this year’s Huskies, and whenever he moved up top his absence in the middle stood out. “The game got easier for us when they took him out of the middle,” DG South’s LaLonde said. “We had more of the possession because he wasn’t in there working. And he’s tough to play against because of his physicality.”
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The final segment of our three-part Players’ Choice story is dedicated to the midfielders and playmakers of the boys’ fall soccer season, and we’ve saved the best for last.
And when you’re doing everything, you better be able to keep the gas pedal to the floor. “Extremely quick, extremely fast, and very hard to keep up with,” Naperville Central’s Garza said of Bellmer.
The senior was great in the air and simply left everything he had on the field, every time out. “Probably one of the hardest-working players in the state,” WW South goalkeeper Derek Babb said of Boswell.
