Neuqua well-tested by Naperville Central

By Eddie Burns

Even top-dog Neuqua Valley likes to be pushed every now and then.

The Wildcats received all they could have asked for during their Class 3A Naperville North Sectional semifinal match against Naperville Central.

In the end, Neuqua secured a 2-1 victory and a spot in Saturday’s sectional championship match opposite Wheaton Warrenville South.

“We were just good enough tonight,” Neuqua coach Tony Kees said. “(Our) guys need tests. We haven’t had to gut out too many games, but we did tonight and we’ve shown that we can and that is big for us.”

Co-captain Bryan Ciesiulka scored the winning goal in the 58th minute when he sent a left-footed shot from approximately 23 yards out past Central keeper Cam Thulin.

“I got a really good ball from Brandon Loncar and I just tried to redirect it into the goal,” Ciesiulka said.

From there, the Wildcats managed to hold off Central and its dynamic duo of Chris Prince and Art Garza.

Neuqua’s players relished the challenge.

“We had our hands full with Garza and Prince,” said Neuqua’s Zach Kovacevic, who was responsible for marking Garza. “It definitely made things a lot more exciting – a little more nerve-wrecking when you go up against quality competition like that, but it gets you pumped up and gets you to play how you want to play.”

It was the Redhawks (15-4-2) who appeared to strike first in the 15th minute, but a Prince goal was waved off because of an offsides call.

Central coach Jay Konrad said it was the correct ruling by the officials.

Neuqua (26-0-1) countered a few minutes later when Scott Davis scored off a Keegan Balle restart. It was Davis’ 24th goal of the season.

“We’re getting better at restart goals and it is starting to show off this postseason,” Davis said.

The Wildcats, who have won 23 straight games, maintained a 1-0 lead until the early portion of the second half when the Redhawks began to apply the pressure. Prince, who had Neuqua defenders surrounding him all night, helped set up the tying goal when his shot hit the post and deflected to teammate Pat Flynn who tapped the ball into the net to tie the match at 1-1 in the 48th minute.

It was the first time since an Oct. 10 match against Addison Trail that the Wildcats had allowed a goal, a streak spanning five matches.

“When (Central) scored that goal it was like, ‘Oh boy.’ You could just feel the rush of the crowd because we knew they were a second-half team and we knew we had our hands full,” Davis said.

Prince and teammate Art Garza were the main focal point of the Wildcats’ defense.

“(Central) is a dangerous team,” Ciesiulka said. “Art and Chris do some stuff we haven’t seen this year. I think our defense played really well. We knew they were dangerous and we wanted them to adjust to us and I think we did a good job of doing that.”

Once the match was tied the loud and enthusiastic crowd that had gathered at North was in a frenzy state.

“They are an awesome team and they had us on our heels most of the match,” Ciesiulka said. “It wasn’t like we were scared (when the match was tied). We calmed down and regained our composure. We knew we’d get scoring chances and when those occurred, we had to put them away, but we just couldn’t let them get any more.”

And that is exactly what happened.

A few minutes later Ciesiulka, who was all over the field, tallied the winning goal.

“That is his game,” Kees said. “The ball follows him around. He has a good feel for the game.”

Kees also said he appreciated how his squad stepped up once there was pressure to score.

“I think the biggest thing for us was that (the match) was a nice, tightly contested game and we had players who played with more guts than flare,” he said.

Neuqua Valley's 2009 Schedule
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Postseason play