Seth Conway didn’t take long to continue his excellent form.
The junior forward scored with a little more than a minute elapsed Wednesday night, setting the tone in Chesterton’s 4-0 Duneland Athletic Conference win against visiting Valparaiso.
Conway has six goals for the Trojans (4-0, 2-0).
“My teammates are putting me in good spots and I’m just finishing,” Conway said.
His goal against the Vikings (2-1, 1-1) could be included in that category. Nathan Arthur’s pass sent Conway into the clear and he buried the shot from close range.
First-year Chesterton coach Lucas Sabedra, a former standout player who graduated in 2006 and spent five seasons as an assistant, likes the way Conway has been playing.
“He’s really good at making himself available,” Sabedra said of Conway. “He’s really creative. He’s not selfish — he’s selfish when he needs to be. He has such an attacking mindset and he’s such a team player — he will work his butt off more than anyone on this team.
“He’s a gritty player. If he loses the ball, he doesn’t give up, he’ll fight for it right back. He’s a player everyone wants to have and no one likes to play against.”
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The Trojans took a 2-0 lead with less than four minutes left in the first half. After the Vikings couldn’t fully clear a corner kick, central defender Jack Eaton headed home a cross from Bailey Arthur.
Chesterton missed a penalty kick with 43.4 seconds left in the half, before Nick Biel converted a PK with 33:22 left in the second.
A little more than two minutes later, Zach Bowser made it 4-0 by scoring off a long looping pass from Jordan Carlson.
Sabedra saw improvement from Chesterton in the second half.
“We had a rough first half,” he said. “We weren’t connecting on passes like we should have. We were worried about them scoring instead of worrying about how we play.”
The Trojans posted their eighth straight win against Valparaiso, including three sectional games. The Vikings last won in the series in 2013.
“We just played really well as a team and got the result we wanted,” Conway said.
Valparaiso coach Danny Jeftich viewed the game as part of a learning process.
“On our part, it’s a lack of experience,” Jeftich said. “Guys at this level, there aren’t there yet.
“We played hard, but in certain situations, you have to earn experience. We didn’t match up with them.”