Top-seeded and No. 9 Conant was without two of its top offensive weapons–Brent Clarbour and Josh Kwiatkowski–because of red cards and Fremd took advantage with a 3-0 shutout victory in the Hersey Class AA soccer sectional Thursday.
Senior forward Nathan Micklos scored all three goals for the fourth-seeded Vikings (15-5-3).
“We knew we had to be the more physical team,” said Micklos, who has 18 goals and recorded his first hat trick of the season. “We wanted to take it to them. We just dominated the game.”
“I thought we were out of rhythm,” Conant coach Tony Kees said. “I was hoping for a deflected goal or something. You can beat your opponent but you can’t beat the game. Every so often the game reaches up and bites you.”
Clarbour received a red card in Conant’s last game, while Kwiatkowski picked one up in this contest. Conant finished at 15-6-2.
In the other game at Hersey, Paul Mongillo and Dan Romza scored as Buffalo Grove (19-5) blanked Hoffman Estates 2-0.
“I was on top of it from the beginning,” said goalkeeper Mike Fischer, who had 11 saves for his 13th shutout. “When I communicate with the defense it’s a better game. If we slack off in back [on defense], we’re in trouble.”
At Eisenhower: Fifth-seeded Brother Rice upset top-seeded Eisenhower with a 3-2 victory. Brother Rice (12-10-2) trailed 1-0, but got goals from Brendan Duffner, Cesar Zambrano and Paul Montagano. Eisenhower is 17-3-2.
At Niles West: Dylan Pender, Kenneth Nightingale and Tyrone Pennant scored as Evanston (21-1-2) defeated Glenbrook North 3-0.
Michael Hartigan and Adrien DeBontin scored as New Trier (18-2-3) eliminated Maine South 2-0.
At Plainfield: Steve Doster and Ned Grabavoy each scored twice as Lincoln-Way (22-0-1) routed Andrew 7-1.
At Prairie Ridge: Dustin Hitzeman scored both goals as Dundee-Crown topped Cary-Grove 2-1 in double overtime.
At St. Charles East: Seventh-ranked St. Charles East held off Batavia 1-0 behind Grant Markgraf’s second-half goal, which was assisted by Preston Jones. Batavia outshot St. Charles 17-7. … James Marti scored as Bartlett (20-4-1) topped West Chicago 1-0.
At Waubonsie Valley: Freshman forward Dan Malloy scored on a penalty kick 10 seconds into overtime as Waubonsie Valley (13-4-6) downed Naperville North 1-0. Mark Ficarra and Dustin Fuller scored first-half goals as Naperville Central (12-5-6) eliminated Downers Grove South 2-1.
Class A semifinals
At St. Joseph: Wheaton Academy senior Nick Fichera didn’t have to dig deep to remember the last time the Warriors played St. Joseph–in the quarterfinals of the state playoffs.
Fichera exacted a sliver of revenge for last year’s season-ending overtime loss by recording a hat trick in No. 8 Wheaton Academy’s 4-2 win over St. Joseph to advance to Saturday’s sectional final.
“We definitely wanted a little bit of revenge,” said Fichera, a two-time All-State selection who improved his goal total to 35. “It was a big game, so we were up for it, but it just added to it.”
Playing on a sprained ankle that he sustained last week, Fichera scored the Warriors’ first three goals, including the game-winner at the 69-minute mark when he received a give-and-go pass from Scott Mathews and buried the ball in the back-left corner of the net. Mathews followed Fichera’s goal a minute later with one of his own, giving Wheaton Academy (22-2) a 4-2 advantage.
Fichera broke a 1-1 halftime score nine minutes in the second half when he flicked a pass from Chris Groenendal with the back of his foot. St. Joseph (14-5-2) tied the game at the 61-minute mark on Lenny Rizzo’s goal before the Warriors took the lead for good.
In the other game, Benet ripped Timothy Christian 5-0 as Luke Rojo continued his torrid pace, scoring the first two goals in the No. 3 Redwings’ semifinal victory. Rojo, who was coming off a three-goal performance on Tuesday, got Benet (17-0-4) off to a quick lead.
At Geneva: Ryan Mittman scored the decisive penalty kick as Geneva (23-1-1) edged DeKalb 3-2. Geneva built a 2-0 lead on goals by Jake Bennett and Kyle Markuson, but DeKalb rallied on scores by Nick Bradley and Steve Franklin.
At Lemont: Kevin Earnest recorded a hat trick and Michael Wirtz added two goals as No. 2 seed Lemont (16-3-2) shut out Morris 6-0.
