It has been an up-and-down season for the Oak Park and River Forest High School boys soccer team. The Huskies finished the regular season with an overall record of 9-9-1 (3-3 in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division).
“We’ve had great moments this season and learning moments,” said OPRF interim coach Dave Bernthal. “We knew from the get-go that we had a tough schedule and the guys have battled every day. We hope all of the lessons we’ve learned will bear fruit as we go into the playoffs.”
OPRF, the eighth seed in the Class 3A Reavis Sectional, is hosting a regional this week. The Huskies meet ninth-seeded Jones in a semifinal, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. A victory would advance OPRF to the title game on Oct. 23 at 5 p.m., likely against top seed Lyons Township.
“Every game is tough in the playoffs, but we welcome the challenge. We expect a great game against Jones,” Bernthal said.
OPRF is led by senior midfielder Chris Denneen, senior forward and co-captain Noah Barnett, senior midfielder and co-captain Cole Grinning, and senior midfielder Tomas Ibanez. Barnett has five goals and six assists this season, while Denneen has eight goals and two assists. Grinning anchors the Huskies’ backline, and Ibanez does a little bit of everything.
“Our goal is to put together a full 80 minutes of quality soccer. We feel strongly that we can give any team a tough game if we do that,” Bernthal said. “Our message is that each player needs to focus on the job at hand. One play at a time; no letdowns, no lapses in focus. We need to keep things simple and stay connected.”
Fenwick
Fenwick finished the regular season with a 6-9-2 record. Despite that, the Friars, who reached a Class 2A supersectional last fall, have the fourth seed in a sectional whose host has not been announced as of press time.
Fenwick opened this year’s 2A tournament with a semifinal versus Rauner at the Elmwood Park Regional on Tuesday. A win would place the Friars in the title game on Oct. 23 at 5 p.m. against the winner of the Elmwood Park-Intrinsic Charter semifinal.
Senior Luke Menacho leads Fenwick with 14 goals and five assists this season. Junior Shane Kupiec has five goals, and junior Alex Krasson has four goals and six assists.
Senior Francis Lynch and sophomore Graham Milder have fared solidly in goal for the Friars this season. Lynch has two shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.78, and Milder has a 1.36 GAA and three clean sheets.
OPRF volleyball takes 3rd at Autumnfest
Following a 21-25, 23-25 defeat at Lyons Township on Oct. 13 that cost an opportunity to clinch a share of the WSC Silver title, it was imperative for the OPRF girls team to turn in a good showing at the Autumnfest tournament hosted by Glenbard East, Oct. 16-17. The Huskies (20-8) did just that, finishing third overall.
“I thought it was a great weekend,” said OPRF coach Symone Speech. “We were able to apply some things we worked on after LT, and the girls did a great job.”
On Oct. 16, OPRF won both of its matches: 25-17, 25-14 over Hononegah and 25-20, 25-13 over St. Charles East.
The following day, the Huskies defeated WSC Silver rival Downers Grove North 25-19, 25-20 to advance to the semifinals. There, OPRF lost in three sets – 17-25, 25-18, 13-25 – to Mother McAuley. But the Huskies rebounded to win the third-place match over another WSC Silver team, Glenbard West, 25-22, 18-25, 25-14.
“It was important,” said Speech of her team bouncing back after the LT loss. “But I wasn’t worried about it. The girls are really resilient and LT caught us on a bad day. I knew they’d be ready to go into the weekend and do their best.”
Senior outside hitter Emmi Bozarth was named to the All-Tournament team. She amassed 43 kills, 13 aces, and 34 digs in five matches.
Other OPRF standouts included senior middle blocker Jaida Garland (18 kills, 9 blocks), senior outside Bella Gray (43 kills, 59 digs), senior libero Devyn Kleidon (56 digs), senior setter Edie Carroll (58 assists), and senior outside Aniyah Scott (25 kills, 10 blocks).
OPRF still had a chance to claim a share of the conference title when it hosted Glenbard West on Tuesday, after press time.
“We played (Glenbard West) over the weekend, so if we execute like we did on Saturday, we should be fine,” Speech said.