Wildcats strike quickly against Tomcats in sectional semis

Neuqua takes on hosts in Naperville North championship

Photos and photo gallery courtesy of Mark Hollingshead

CLICK TO SEE PHOTO GALLERY FROM THE MATCH

By Curt Herron

When Neuqua Valley played at East Aurora in an Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division match on October 7, neither team could find the net.

However, it was a different story on Thursday when the Wildcats and Tomcats met again in the Class 3A Naperville North Sectional semifinals.

Neuqua scored just 3:57 into the contest and then added another score with 14:06 gone to help it capture a 3-0 win over East in Naperville.

Jacob Brindle connected for the first score and Nicko Makropoulos added the second, with Will Butler adding an assist on the middle goal.

Patrick Doody closed out the scoring in the second half and Hunter Hollingshead stopped everything that came his way for his 11th shutout.

Coach Tony Kees' Wildcats (16-3-3) won their fifth straight match and now advance to Saturday's 11 a.m. sectional championship.

The Wildcats will meet up with host Naperville North (19-2-2), which defeated Benet Academy 2-1 in Thursday's second semifinal match.

In the teams' earlier meeting on August 31, Neuqua edged the Huskies 1-0 in a match in the Best of the West Tournament.

Neuqua will be going after its fourth straight sectional championship while North seeks its first sectional title since 2005.

The winner of Saturday's title match advances to Tuesday's 7 p.m. Hinsdale Central Super-Sectional against Lyons Township or Morton.

After earning the draw in the teams' previous meeting, East Aurora (17-3-4) edged Neuqua to claim the UEC Valley championship.

Coach Jason Rollins' Tomcats definitely enjoyed a special season, capturing their school's first conference title in the sport.

But the magic wasn't there in Thursday's match after Neuqua got the only goal that it would need less than four minutes into the match.

Then to compound matters, East Aurora lost a player to a red card with 26:34 left in the first half, forcing it to play a man down.

The Wildcats capitalized on the advantage just 40 seconds after that to go up by two scores and the Tomcats faced an uphill battle.

Click to hear coach Tony Kees interview

Neuqua got things started against East Aurora about two and a half minutes into the match when Makropoulos got the initial shot on goal.

Then less than 90 seconds later, Brindle lined a long attempt that curved inside the post to give the Wildcats the early advantage.

The Wildcats kept the pressure up over the next few minutes as Brindle was denied on a grounder and Blake Carson saw his liner stopped.

Click to hear Jacob Brindle interview

The Tomcats received a damaging blow to their hopes when they lost a player to a red card with 26:34 remaining in the opening half.

Right after that, Butler sent a pass to Makropoulos, who fired off a short attempt that found the net to make it 2-0 with 25:54 left.

Over the next few minutes, Doody bounced a long free kick toward the net and Brindle sent a shot over the net off a pass from Doody.

Sammy Al-Qady saw a try from the side cleared by Sergio Vidrio and Brindle sent another attempt high around the half's midway point.

The Wildcats continued to attack as Doody was wide on one try, Brindle sent a header to the keeper and Doody was denied on a corner.

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, Austin Bergstrom had a shot altered before Nick Smith saw a liner cleared by Ruben Torres.

Brindle was stopped on a close-range try before Doody sent one liner over the net and the next went to the keeper on a corner kick.

Click to hear Patrick Doody interview

The Tomcats began to apply some pressure in the final 40 minutes, beginning with Eddie Gaytan's liner that Hollingshead dove for.

After Patrick Kaindl saw a liner denied and Doody sent a shot wide, the Wildcat keeper hauled in a free kick from Juan Luis Perez.

Near the midpoint of the half, Hollingshead stopped Abe Kanneh before Butler hit the post and Carson was denied on the rebound.

Brindle followed with a short attempt that required a diving save before Butler had a shot stopped and Al-Qady hit the crossbar.

Neuqua closed out the scoring with 14:14 left when Doody lined in a long-range attempt to give his squad a three-goal advantage.

With Andrew Solomon still out with an injury on defense, Kees had Jim Kotowski work with Alex Karkazis at the center back spot.

The Wildcats will need to play good defense in the sectional championship against a Huskie team that doesn't allow many goals.

Naperville North, which has won seven straight and gone 14-0-2 in its last 16 matches, has only given up 11 goals this season.

But Neuqua has also played well defensively, allowing just 18 goals this season and just one during its three playoff matches.

Click to hear Patrick Kaindl interview