Wiest shines brightest in North's win over Central

By Eddie Burns

The way Naperville North goalie Mike Wiest is playing the Huskies might be disappointed that they have a full week off until their next match.

Wiest was a beast in net helping the Huskies take down rival Naperville Central by a 1-0 decision at North on Thursday night.
“He was the difference,” said Central’s Chris Prince, who had numerous chances snuffed out by Wiest.

North coach Jim Konrad couldn’t say enough positive comments about his senior goalie.

“The only reason we won tonight was because of Mike Wiest,” Jim Konrad said. “I would argue Mike is the best goalie around. I would take Wiest over anybody in the state. He is that good.”

Wiest registered his sixth straight shutout and his eighth of the season. The Huskies have allowed one goal since coughing up five in three games in the Best of the West Tournament earlier this month.

Wiest said he is just locked in right now.

“I didn’t know goalies could get in a groove like this,” said Wiest, who had coaches from the Bowling Green State University on-hand to witness his performance. “It is amazing. Shutting out Central is incredible. Our defense stepped up. I stepped up. It was one of the best games I’ve played all season. It had to be one of my best because without me playing that well that they could have scored five or six goals because they had so many opportunities.”

It wasn’t just saves. Wiest was aggressive throughout the night blowing up potential breakaways before they could occur and challenging everything inside the box.

“So many times he had to fight through guys to make saves,” Jim Konrad said. “(Central) did a good job of putting pressure on him and he did a real nice job of handling all the pressure. I want to say it was a world-class performance for that level because he looked like it was his game. He was in complete control out there. He must have handled the ball 40-50 times tonight. He had the ball in his hand a lot. He took some hard hits and played through it. ”

Wiest had to be sharp because the action was fast and furious as these two DuPage Valley Conference rivals went back and forth throughout the match.

It was scoreless at intermission, but North’s Evan Trychta changed that in the 47th minute. Trychta won the ball away from Central defender Andy Miltonberger and moved toward the Redhawks’ net before firing the ball in the net for his 12th goal of the season.

“Evan just has a way of making things happen,” Jim Konrad said. “There is always going to be a dangerous shot when Evan’s shooting. He is almost always dangerous when he hits the ball in on goal.”

Central coach Jay Konrad credited the Huskies (9-0-4, 3-0) for seizing the moment.

“They finished one of their chances and they are a nice team,” Jay Konrad said. “We had chances and didn’t get the job done.”

The Redhawks (7-3-1, 1-2) had plenty of opportunities the rest of the way, but Wiest and the Huskies' defense stood strong against the Redhawks’ attack.

“Jay was smart and played his outside midfielder forward a lot, so Central played with three players up top most of the game,” Jim Konrad said. “We did not take advantage of that. We did not punish them for pushing forward. They did a nice job of putting pressure on the ball, so we didn’t have time to convert.”

North’s back line featuring Ramsey Elshafei, Chris Boswell, Jake Remegi, Lee Grander and Jimmy Butler did a nice job handling Central’s three forward attack.

Wiest said he and his defenders have a really started to gel.

“The defense and me are getting tighter and tighter,” Wiest said. “Our defense is what is helping us win games, and right now we’re really, really rolling right now.”

The Huskies should be one of the top two seeds in the Class 3A Downers Grove South Sectional when they are announced next week.

“They are clearly one of the top two teams in the sectional,” Jay Konrad said about North. “Maybe No. 1. They tied Neuqua Valley and both of them are undefeated. Those two are the top two teams in our sectional.”

Naperville North, Waubonsie Valley, Bolingbrook and Plainfield North are the four regional sites in the Downers Grove South Sectional.

Man of the match: Chris Boswell

By Eddie Burns

The latest chapter in Naperville North-Naperville Central rivalry will have a section about the goal that wasn’t.

In the 58th minute, controversy arose.

Central appeared to tie the match when Chris Prince used his body to push the ball over the line and into North’s net, but the Huskies managed to quickly clear it out of the net before the officials could signal a goal.

There was visual evidence on a photographer’s digital camera that the ball was in North’s net.

Huskies’ defenders Chris Boswell and Ramsey Elshafei were near the action.

“Let’s just say the score tells what happened,” said Boswell, who cleared the ball out of North’s net and onto the playing field.

“We’re lucky we got it out and it didn’t go in the net, so I’m just happy it didn’t go in. You have to do what you have to do sometimes to get it out of the net.”

Boswell said there is a simply thought process for most defenders to go through when the ball is close to one’s own net.

“If the ball is in the 6-yard box, you don’t have to be pretty about how you do it, but just get the ball out of there,” Boswell said.

“I’m excited that I got it out of there.”

Boswell’s heady play saved the Huskies on this night, but it could serve as a motivator if the two schools were to meet down the road.