Alex Barger was a popular guy this season.
The Naperville North senior is one of those rare talents who draws attention everywhere he goes. Fans took notice whenever he got the ball, with many cheering him and a few jeering, and coaches schemed against him.
Then there were the opposing defenders who trailed him all over the field, often in packs, an unwanted entourage of the desperate and the determined.
The attention was understandable, if often unsuccessful.
“If you plan for Barger at one spot, he just goes someplace else,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “It’s tough for teams to game-plan for him at all, much less when you’re moving around.”
Konrad moved the Indiana-bound Barger around the field, playing him at several positions, often in the same game, in the midfield and up top.
No matter where he went, Barger, the 2022 Naperville Sun Boys Soccer Player of the Year, was a threat to score.
“He’s always got that cannon hanging off his left hip,” Konrad said. “You can’t give him an inch, otherwise he could hit the dream shot on you.
“He has the ability to hit a ball with both feet, but his left foot is special. You’ve got to respect that at all times.”
Opponents did, hence the frequent double- and triple-teams. Barger didn’t mind.
“The biggest thing is pressure is a privilege,” Barger said. “I take it day by day, and it’s really something special when you’ve got eyes on you. I guess it gives the team more of an opportunity so I can lay it to them, and we just work together.”
Barger was equally effective shooting and passing. He led the Huskies (17-4-4) to their eighth consecutive sectional final, totaling a team-high and career-best 14 goals and 12 assists, double the amount of any other teammate.
Even more impressive was how the four-year starter led a talented but inexperienced group. Barger is the only player on the roster currently committed to play in college, although others are sure to follow.
“We’ve got a ton of new faces on this team, and I have high hopes for them in terms of the next two, three, four years,” Barger said. “I think they can really bring it next year.
“But in terms of my leadership, I try to bring them up as much as I can. We’ve got a ton of guys that are going to fill new roles, and I’m really looking forward to how they can adapt.”
Barger was a master of adaptation. He finished his career with 43 goals and 42 assists. He is second on Naperville North’s career assists list and tied for seventh on the career goals list even though he played defender as a freshman and had his sophomore season limited to 13 games due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And those dream shots Konrad mentioned? They were things of beauty for soccer purists and nightmares for opponents.
Barger scored two of them in a 5-2 win against Wheaton Warrenville South in a Class 3A sectional semifinal, the final victory of his career. The first was a corner kick he bent into the net, and the second was a 25-yard rocket.
“We kind of expect him to score like that because he’s been scoring like that all season,” sophomore forward Jaxon Stokes said. “It still stuns me sometimes, though.”
Barger will soon head to the Big Ten, but he won’t forget his time with the Huskies.
“It was a really special season,” Barger said. “My success doesn’t go anywhere without these guys. At the practice field, they’re pushing me to be my best. Every game we’re always cheering each other on. It’s really just a special group of guys, and I’m going to miss all of them.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.