Huskies beat Benet in Best of the West

By Darryl Mellema
Photos courtesy of Dennis Wiest

After controlling much of the first half on Saturday against Benet, Naperville North found itself level at 1-1 and needing some form of response. The Huskies found they had plenty left to show their home fans in their Best of the West finale.

Naperville North got a pair of goals from sophomore Evan Trychta and defeated the Redwings 3-1. More than the goals, the Huskies (2-0-3) returned to their solid play and kept Benet on its heels until the late stages of the match.

"I thought they were outplaying us at the end of the first half," Naperville North senior midfielder Chris Boswell said. "We stuck with it and (Trychta) scored those goals."

Trychta's first came with 21 minutes left when he took the ball from a defender, moved in and chipped Benet goalie Alex Senetar.

Ten minutes later, the score was a dominant 3-1 when an initial Naperville North shot was deflected only to fall kindly for Trychta, who scored.

"At halftime, Coach (Jim Konrad) was like 'someone needs to step up and put goals in,'" Trychta said. "I got the opportunities and I put them away."

Konrad's halftime speech came with the teams tied 1-1. The Huskies took the lead after a quarter-hour thanks to a Boswell penalty kick but Benet got back on level terms in the late stages of the half on a Connor Miller free kick.

"We were a little aggravated at the half because we were giving them the ball so much," Konrad said. "It wasn't so much that it was 1-1. I watched Benet play against Neuqua Valley (4-2 loss on Thursday). And they seemed so fast and tough and I was nervous coming in."

Five games is not always enough to show the full character of a team but some things are beginning to become apparent about the 2009 Huskies.

One is that they are willing to work for each other. Despite the relative youth of the squad, the off the ball movement was constant on Saturday, especially in the middle of the second half.

"We've gotten hard work from all of our guys," Boswell said. "A lot of people wouldn't expect us to be competing with teams like Neuqua (Valley) and Benet, and we have."

Efforts like Saturday's don't take place if only a handful of players are working and the rest of the squad is being carried.

The young players have certainly gelled quickly with the more experienced members of the team. Naperville North started four sophomores and one junior against Benet.

"It's hard to explain, but it's working," Trychta said.

With each successive match, the Huskies are less a youthful team. They had to stand together in the final 10 minutes when Benet tried for a big finish.

Goalie Mike Wiest made a strong save with six minutes to play when Connor Miller hit a hard shot from the top of the penalty area.

"We have to take advantage of our chances," Trychta said. "We have a great goalie in Mike Wiest. He's saved us a lot."

Naperville North is in the early stages of its first season with an artificial surface on its home field. Saturday's game was the sort of match that, in the past, might have suffered from the effects of overuse of a grass field.

The Huskies football team played on Friday night, defeating St. Charles East. Roughly 12 hours after the last people left the stadium for football, the soccer teams took the field.

"Football would tear it up and then there would be puddles and mud everywhere," Boswell said. "Now it's just firm. It's good. It's good to play on it. On Saturday games when it was torn up, it was tough to play on."

Man of the Match: Evan Trychta

By Darryl Mellema

In need of some scoring punch this season, Naperville North has found it through the opening five matches with sophomore forward Evan Trychta.

His two second-half goals against Benet on Saturday give him six for the season.

"We were hoping to get 15 out of him and 20 optimistically, We were kind of kidding him about that," Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. "Now he's got a shot to do it if he keeps at it. He's a special player."

Konrad said Trychta's goals have been key to matches, just as they were against Benet.

"He's a really gifted kid," Konrad said. "If you watch him play the whole game, you'll see he makes the right runs almost every single time. He reads the game very well."

Trychta was active when not scoring goals. He nearly turned creator with 19 minutes left in Saturday's match when his cross was volleyed over the bar by Kyle Lindberg.

"I haven't had a kid like (Trychta) in the program who's such a smart soccer player at such a young age," Konrad said.

Naperville North starters vs. Benet