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Players' Choice 2009-10: Defenders and Goalkeepers By Gary Larsen
They were spread throughout our readership this year, and for this story players far and wide weighed in on the biggest villains around. Part I of our Players’ Choice stories focused on scorers, and in Part II we’ll take a look at the best defenders and goalkeepers that West Suburban Soccer reported on this year. In Part III we’ll look at where players’ opinions fell on the best midfielders/playmakers from the fall season. Every player listed in this story was mentioned by someone among the roughly 80 players from 25 programs interviewed. Defenders For starters, you could do a lot worse than Henrry Perez, West Aurora’s senior sweeper. Perez was converted to the back line from midfield, and more than any other player it was Perez that helped the Blackhawks hold opponents to 17 goals in 24 games. “He was very tough in the back,” WW South senior Drew Bellmer said. “He was frustrating. He had good presence, he’s a good leader and he kept that back line in tact.” Chris Prince and Art Garza haunted defense all year for Naperville Central, and Garza was similarly impressed by Perez. “He did a fantastic job of reading the plays,” Garza said. “You have to be sure when you’re going in and he always was.” Benet’s Connor Miller paid Lyons Township’s Chris Meingast the best compliment you can give an outside defender, while St. Charles North’s Noah Anthony applauded the play of Geneva defender Robbie Johnson. “Meingast was a workhorse against us,” Miller said. “He was just up and down the field.” “Robbie is one of the best defenders I’ve seen,” Anthony said of Johnson. “He’s hard to go at, he’s good in the air, and he’s really strong.” WW South goalkeeper Derek Babb was impressed by Wheaton Academy defender Josh Kremers, and Benet’s George Elliot had good things to say about Naperville Central defender Andy Miltonberger. There was no shortage of kind words to be found about Waubonsie Valley defender Nik Patel, who thinks the game and reacts as quickly to it as any defender you’ll find. “Very fast, very physical, and very smart,” Neuqua Valley forward Scott Davis said of Patel. “He’s unique.” “Nik is really aggressive and he’s a positive leader,” Garza said. “He’ll tell you where to be and when to be there. He’s just a solid center back.” There was a pair of underclassmen central defenders that players noticed in WW South’s Will Huesing and Benet’s Ryan Reilly. And whatever the state of Marmion’s offense next year, the Cadets can count on two exceptional returning defenders in sophomore Mike Maley and freshman Matthew Switzer. The play of Barrington’s Marc Drouin and Marmion’s Steve Anderson in back also drew mention, as did DG North defender Neil Corcoran, a center back who helped the Trojans to an 11-8-3 record and a trip to a regional final. One of Corcoran’s running mates in back also drew attention. “Marcin (Modzelewski) was a kamikaze back there,” DG South’s Matt LaLonde said. “He throws himself at everything. He flies under the radar but he’s one of the guys that makes them click.” Prospect’s Kyle Mataloni keyed the Knights’ defensive effort in a 12-5-3 season that saw the program reach the MSL title game. Brett Dini was instrumental in a 15-6 season for Bartlett, for a defense that only gave up 16 goals in 21 games. And Wheaton Academy’s back line simply wasn’t the same when Stephen Fernandes sat out with an injury this year. South Elgin broke the program record for wins in an 11-6-3 season, and central defender Devin Crockett was one of the big reasons why. “He’s just rock-solid in the back,” Bartlett’s Brian Roman said of Crockett. “Nothing gets past him in the air or when you’re playing a through ball.” Geneva’s Kevin Hilgart was similarly impressed by Batavia sophomore defender Anthony Torres. “He’s really physical, good at defending, and really skilled. He plays well beyond his years,” Hilgart said. “He’s versatile and he’d be an asset on any team.” Neuqua Valley senior Bryan Ciesiulka was a high school all-American midfielder for this year’s Wildcats. Teams had to neutralize Ciesiulka as much as possible to have any chance against Neuqua this year. Who did the best job defending him? “Colin Rook,” Ciesiulka said of the Naperville Central senior defender. “He’s a really hard-working defender and he’s not afraid to put a body on you. Every chance he got he was putting a body on me and making it hard on me.” Naperville North goalkeeper Michael Wiest also appreciated what he saw from Rook. “He was in the background because of Garza and Prince,” Wiest said. “But he’s just a leader and the thing is, whatever happens to his team, he never gives up. He keeps working his tail off. He’s so strong defensively.” One of Ciesiulka’s teammates received wide acclaim from opposing players. From his central defensive spot, Neuqua’s Keegan Balle directed play for the 28-1 Wildcats with the calmness, poise, and intelligence of a top-shelf quarterback. “He’s definitely one of the best defenders,” Garza said. “He’s strong in the air, he reads the game really well, and he’s always in the right spot.” An authority on smarts no less than the aforementioned Patel summed up Balle this way: “He’s a natural leader on the field,” Patel said. “He’s very good at organizing, he makes sure the team follows his orders and when they do, everything comes together. When you listen to him you realize how much easier the game can come for your team. He simplifies it.” Cal Roselieb was one of the best defenders around when he wasn’t being employed elsewhere by DG South coach Jon Stapleton, and another player that defied categorization this year was Fremd’s Spencer Filosa, who started the season in back for coach Steve Keller. “He was the force on that team,” Hinsdale Central’s Michael Oleszkiewicz said of Roselieb. “He goes in hard and he’s good in the air. He’s just a solid defender.” And talk about sacrificing position for success – Class 2A state champion St. Viator’s Brendan King moved to the back line this year and helped lead a defense that gave up 28 goals in 29 games for the 24-4-1 Lions. But when every last comment and opinion was tallied up, one defender’s name came up with more frequency than any other: Billy McGuinness. The Princeton-bound central defender was a one-man gang in back this year for Class 3A state champion Lyons Township. “He makes the big tackle,” Benet’s Connor Miller said. “You can rely on him. He puts his body into the tackle, plays it simple, and plays it well. I’d take him any day as the center back on my team.” St. Charles North’s Angelo Catalano played against McGuinness this year in a 1-0 Lyons’ win. “He made every little chance harder,” Catalano said. “And if he wasn’t making the play on the ball he made sure somebody else did.” Oleszkiewicz played in the same conference as McGuinness, and saw quite enough of him. “He always seems to know what’s going to happen,” Oleszkiewicz said. “He steps in front of you, he’s physical, he’s smart, and he’s a lot stronger than he looks.” Neuqua Valley forward Scott Davis played against Lyons Township three times this year, and he gets the final word on McGuinness. “It was really frustrating playing against him,” Davis said. “I had to do something very, very good just to come close to getting behind him. He won everything out of the air, and he didn’t make a mistake.” “Between McGuinnes and Meingast on that side of the field, forget trying to get by those two.” Goalkeepers
There was Bartlett’s Jeff Gal and Prospect’s Jim Brault, whose 8 shutouts left him one shy of the Knight’s program record for a season. Wheaton North’s Nick Barry kept the Falcons in close games all season, and shined in helping carry an 8-10-5 team to a sectional title game. “He made some huge saves against us,” Bartlett’s Brian Roman said after his squad’s 2-1 regional loss to the Falcons. Downers Grove had a pair of steady performers between the pipes, in South’s Andrew Reed and North’s Matt Paprocki, Hinsdale Central’s Jack O’Donnell posted 11 shutouts in a 16-7-2 season, and St. Charles North’s Zach Hosler and Tyler McEnery spent a few quality seasons sharing time in net, culminating in another strong post-season for the North Stars this season. A pair of keepers did a fine job of growing into their roles this season in Barrington junior Will Cotopolis and Wheaton Academy senior Philip Oster, while Batavia’s Ty Witkowski bid farewell with a fine senior season for the Bulldogs. Ryan Hicks more than held up his end in net during South Elgin's best season yet. “I hit a couple shots in on him this year, and I have no idea how he stopped them,” Naperville North’s Chris Boswell said. West Aurora junior Abel Diaz busted his tail in net for a Blackhawks team that set a program record for wins with 18, and St. Francis sophomore Ryan Suerte stood on his head for a long early stretch of the season in Wheaton this year. Geneva senior goalkeeper Ryan Ward posted 9 shutouts in an 18-5-2 campaign as another quality two-sport athlete. Ward won a regional wrestling title at 189 pounds this year. LT went on a 15-game winning streak to a Class 3A state crown, with Fox posting 10 shutouts during that streak. The senior’s aggressive play in net sealed a super-sectional title win over previously unbeaten Neuqua Valley. Faul was arguably the player-of-the-game in St. Viator’s 1-0 win over Peoria Notre Dame, which gave the Lions the 2A crown. It was only the second time all season that the defending state champions were kept out of net. The Big Two Neuqua Valley out-possessed nearly every team it played this year, and Turanchik had a quality, Keegan Balle-led defense in front of him, but the senior stood tall whenever the Wildcats needed him. Turanchik did the same thing in a shootout against Geneva during Pepsi Tournament play, diving right and stuffing a shootout kick that gave his squad the win. Neuqua went on to win the tournament, and Turanchik was between the pipes for 17 shutouts in a 28-1 season. “Just watch him warm up and you can tell he’s a stud at shot-blocking,” Wiest said. “Jack’s a great goalie.” That would be the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. While it must be noted that – even though St. Charles East wasn’t in our coverage range -- numerous players brought up the Saints’ Charlie Lyons as one of the best goalkeepers around, nobody had more accolades poured on them than Wiest. Try a few of these on for size: “There were other great goalies this year,” WW South’s Drew Bellmer said. “But for just pure raw talent he was the best goalie we saw all year. He made five or six saves on shots that should have gone in.” “He’s just a really good shot-blocker and he can throw the ball farther than most goalies can punt it,” Benet’s George Eliot said. “He’s big, he can jump, and you don’t want to be near him when he’s going up after a ball.” Wiest’s physicality and athleticism carried the day for Naperville North this year. The Huskies went 16-3-4 with a new back line that scrapped and clawed, but it was their senior goalkeeper that coach Jim Konrad called “the most valuable player for any team I’ve coached.” Wiest had a streak of 8 shutouts and finished with 14 on the year.
“He’s a great goalie. Very strong, very aggressive, smart, and we couldn’t score on him,” Naperville Central’s Art Garza said. In North’s 2-1 regional title win over Downers Grove North, the Trojans Neil Corcoran saw a few prime examples of what teams witnessed against Wiest all season. Once upon a time, Corcoran’s brother Matt was one of Illinois’ best keepers for the Trojans, and he went on to play at Northern Illinois. Matt Corcoran was in the stands to watch the regional final this year between the Huskies and Trojans. “We had a shot from the six and Wiest stopped it. My brother said it was one of the best saves he’s ever seen,” Neil Corcoran said. “He was so hard to score on. We had a few shots to the upper ninety in that game and he made it look like they were just nothing."
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They’re charged with stopping opposing teams from doing what sports fans love to see most: scoring. In that way, you can view defenders and goalkeepers as soccer’s biggest villains.
The work that a goalkeeper does is always most appreciated by his coach and teammates, and our teams were loaded with keepers that may not have been household names but had steady, solid seasons.
“I wasn’t even aware of who he was before the season started,” WW South keeper Babb said. “I read about him and then when we played them – he’s just so physical. He was a true warrior for them back there.”
