Hinsdale Central boys soccer coach Michael Wiggins said he has been fortunate to have had a number of great goalkeepers with the Red Devils over the years. He mentioned recent graduate Wes Bergevin, who is now at Penn State, as well as Patrick Sperry, who played at Michigan, and even someone who predates Wiggins’ tenure in Imad Haque, who graduated in 1990 and will be inducted into the Hinsdale Central Hall of Fame at the end of the month.
Senior goalkeeper Connor Wilke, Wiggins believes, is poised to follow in their footsteps.
Wilke, standing at 6-foot-5, looms over the pitch with a formidable presence. During the Red Devils’ 5-2 victory over York on Tuesday, Sept. 6, he leaped over players and would snatch the ball with ease. And when he wasn’t grabbing saves, he was directing his teammates — some of whom were 80 yards away — like a field marshal.
“It’s a trait of a strong goalkeeper who is confident who in himself,” Wiggins said. “Even when things get down or don’t get the way you hope, he remains confident, but also remains level. Never gets too high or too low.”
Assured, vocal leadership didn’t come naturally to Wilke.
“It was definitely something I had to work on,” Wilke said. “When I joined the team as a freshman, I started out shy and I didn’t really want to talk to people. But I kept at it.
“The confidence (my teammates) have given me over the years has really helped me develop into a better player.”
Wilke and the Red Devils found a way to shake off a difficult start Tuesday after twice falling behind to York, a West Suburban Silver opponent. As the Red Devils attacking players found their rhythm, scoring four unanswered goals, Wilke did his part in the second half with a couple of diving saves and deflections that prevented the Dukes from retaking the lead.
“I know my teammates will put in the time and the effort, and I just have to do my job,” Wilke said.
York coach takes away positives
Lukasz Majewski is the first to admit that his team is young, but the York boys soccer coach also sees positive strides early this season.
The Dukes finished second in Lake Park’s tournament and played Hinsdale Central tough for the first 60 minutes of their West Suburban Silver opener.
“We’re learning that not everything is going to go your way. Soccer is a game of breaks and if you take advantage of them, you’re going to win,” Majewski said. “Good teams find a way to take advantage of those and win. The whole season is a learning experience.”
The lessons are coming fast for the Dukes as they enter conference play.
“The final score doesn’t reflect the game we played tonight,” Majewski said. “We did a lot of things really well, and there are things that the guys can feel good about. They really fought hard tonight, and we’ve got a few things that we can build on.”
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The Dukes’ front line stood out, especially early on, as they were challenging the Red Devils’ defenders and keeping the ball in their territory. Junior forward Joe Reinhofer took advantage of a defensive miscue to score the first goal of the game, and junior forward Christian Waldschmidt gave the Dukes a 2-1 lead later in the first half.
York junior goalkeeper Sam Kritikos made several excellent stops (14 in total) to hold off Hinsdale Central’s mounting pressure as long as he could.
“I told them that sometimes we’re going to blow leads, and that the key is to maintain your composure and keep fighting when that happens,” Majewski said.
Spreading the goals around
Hinsdale Central’s five goals against York came from five players. Seniors Jake Semba and Ari Bourtsos scored in the first half, and second-half goals from Jeremy Yi, Alex Cole and Brady McKay put the game out of reach.
Chris Vavra is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @ChrisVavra1