OPRF Boys Soccer Stays Perfect

The boys soccer team learned what it’s like to be the top dog.

Playing for the first time since being ranked No. 1 by the Chicago Tribune, the Huskies kept their record perfect by fending off Wheaton Academy 2-1 on a late goal by Stephen Golz in the opening round of the Pepsi Showdown Tuesday evening in Oak Park.

“We escaped,” OPRF coach Paul Wright said.

Wheaton Academy (3-2-1) outplayed OPRF (6-0) in the first half, which ended tied at 1-1. The Huskies cranked up their effort and execution in the second half, but they went unrewarded until Golz gained possession of a long ball and calmly kicked in a shot from about 15 yards in front of the net with four minutes remaining.

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Golz was glad to see his team return to normal following its halftime talk about a rough first 40 minutes.

“We felt the pressure and we were focusing on other things rather than just playing the game,” said Golz, who has scored six goals this season. “We just basically said that we can’t let this ranking get to our heads. We need to calm down and we just need to play the game we played the first five games when we weren’t ranked that high when we were just a team and not a team up in the lights. It’s definitely how we played in the second half.”

Golz’s goal didn’t mean the Huskies were in the clear. With two minutes remaining, Wheaton Academy’s Casey Zimmerman fired a shot off the chest of OPRF goalkeeper Granger Sheppard. The ball ricocheted back to Zimmerman, whose second attempt bounced off the right post.

“It’s just unfortunate,” Zimmerman said. “The post, that’s a killer. Unlucky. That completely changed the whole game. We go into overtime and maybe overtime gives us the win.”

OPRF jumped ahead 1-0 just 59 seconds into the match when Ryan Huettel booted in a goal from in front of the right side of the net off a pass from Zack Weigel. It was Huettel’s fifth score of the season.

Wheaton Academy responded five minutes later when Mark Rougas spun in the box and beat Sheppard on the right side. It was the first goal the Huskies allowed in five matches.

Intermission gave the Huskies a chance to regain their bearings after the Warriors took it to them in the first half.

“They played spectacular,” Huettel said. “I don’t really know much about Wheaton Academy. We weren’t expecting this, but they were really good. They’re a tough team.”

“The first half that team manhandled us on the balls,” Golz said. “They won almost every 50-50.”

But OPRF eventually turned the tables on Wheaton Academy. Outside of a handful of rushes by the Warriors, the Huskies spent most of the second half on the visitor’s side of the field.

“They brought a ton in the second half, particularly numbers, energy and pressure, all in our half of the field,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said of the Huskies.

Wright hopes his players learned a lesson about playing as the top-ranked team in the Chicago area.

“This is a great reality check for our guys,” Wright said. “On Thursday, whoever we play, I’m sure we’ll come in there with a different focus.”

“Everybody was really excited to get the ranking, of course,” Huettel said. “Nobody really knew what it was like because we usually hang out like 8, 9, 10 for the last three years so when we got it everybody was just bouncing off the walls and going crazy. We still got to just go game by game. Right after we got it coach sent out a text saying you’re only as good as your last game.”