Wheaton Academy's attack too much for feisty St. Francis

By Gary Larsen

Pit a team that fights tooth-and-nail against a team with an exceptional attack and you’ve got the makings for an intense soccer match on your hands.

Wheaton Academy’s skill in the possession game ultimately won out over a gutsy defensive effort put in by a young St. Francis squad, with the Warriors winning 4-1 in West Chicago on Monday.

“We hate those 7-0 blowouts. They’re no fun and they’re not a contest,” said Warriors senior Brandon VanderVeen. “They came out and fought. They played us tough.”

Wheaton Academy came into Monday’s Suburban Christian Conference game after winning 3-0 over Marist on Saturday, as part of this year’s Pepsi Showdown.

After a strong attacking push by St. Francis to open the game, Warriors’ pressure led to a barrage of long flip-throws from Wheaton Academy’s Alex Varga, who sent no shortage of dangerous balls to the Spartans’ far post.

It wasn’t until VanderVeen slammed home a head shot in the game’s 25th minute on a serve from Josh Urban that the Warriors finally solved the Spartans’ defense and goalkeeper Ryan Suerte.

“That was a great ball by Josh,” VanderVeen said. “A phenomenal ball.”

Ten minutes later Varga took a pass from Frank Della Torre, dribbled up the heart of the defense, went left around a defender and ripped a shot through a seam to the back netting.

Down 2-0 at halftime, St. Francis continued to fight hard. Wheaton Academy continued to pressure until Stephen Fernandes made it 3-0 with less than 20 minutes left to play on a feed from VanderVeen.

That third goal couldn’t come fast enough Warriors coach Jeff Brooke.

“Game management. The urgency to know how to handle a lead,” Brooke said. “We were up 2-0 to New Trier and lost 3-2. We were up 2-0 in this game but we didn’t get the third goal until about 20 minutes left to play.”

“So it’s just the killer instinct to really finish a team off that I’d like to see us work towards.”

Tim Daniels scored off a Devin Moore assist thereafter, until St. Francis’ Adam Fetter quick-hit a free kick at the top of the penalty area and tucked it inside the far post.

“It was unfortunate that we didn’t get the shutout, but we were happy with the way we knocked it around,” Varga said.

Brooke liked the composure his side showed through a scoreless first 25 minutes.

“We’re pleased. We want to get to that level of possession we’ve talked about and we’re starting to get there in terms of believing in it,” Brooke said. “Instead of getting into that mentality of ‘we’ve got to score, we’ve got to score’.”

“It took us a while to find some chances in this game, but our patience level was better than it was during our last game. We’re getting there.”

Another bright spot for the Warriors was senior Babel Daniel, who can be a whirlwind on the outside of the field.

At one point in the first half, Daniel spun past a defender on the dribble near midfield, swooped in up the right side and centered a great diagonal ball to a teammate running on.

The Spartans’ recovered in time to destroy the play. But while Daniel’s feed didn’t bear any fruit on the scoreboard, it perfectly illustrated his value to the team since coming over from his homeland in Ethiopia.

“Babel is playing with energy and his work rate is pushing the rest of our guys to a higher level,” Brooke said. “The guys respect him and we need the kind of leadership he’s providing. And he really has made an impact on our entire school.”

Man of the match: Alex Varga

By Gary Larsen

When Wheaton Academy's attack gets rolling like it did for long stretches of play on Monday, there's one cog in the machinery that tends to be humming particularly well.

“I like what we’re doing in the central mid,” said Warriors coach Jeff Brooke. “We really run based on their decision-making, and their decision-making tonight was more mature, more composed, and more comfortable.”

Alex Varga, Josh Kremers, and Devin Moore have all been key components in the middle of the field, for an attack that has managed to possess the ball well against top-shelf competition.

“The Plainfield Central game was the only game that we struggled to knock it around the field. But it was a football field so it was a little rough, and it was extremely narrow.”Varga said.

Varga was all over the field on Monday, winning balls at midfield, distributing, and sending flip-throws to the St. Francis goalmouth throughout the Warriors' 4-1 win.

He also dribbled up the heart of the Spartans' defense and buried the game's second goal before halftime.