By Bobby Narang
Last Friday was a night to remember in Elmhurst.
The York High School football team was playing host to Downers Grove North in a battle of unbeatens. The game between the West Suburban Conference team led to a memorable evening at York. Downers Grove North won, 35-14.
But there was another game in Elmhurst that night. A futbol game.
Timothy Christian was host to Wheaton Academy on homecoming.
But this was not just a normal night, or soccer game.
The Wheaton Academy Warriors and Timothy Christian Trojans are among the top small school teams in Illinois, with each team on the hunt for a State championship this season.
A sold-out, overflow crowd was just part of the big-game atmosphere. Red, white, and black balloons, which represented Timothy Christian’s colors, were tied up along several fences. A large tailgate area was set up for the fans.
The Trojans’ student body engulfed an entire side of the main bleachers.
More importantly, the play on the field was elite. The teams needed 100 minutes to sort things out.
Timothy Christian senior forward Owen Wise scored three goals for a hat trick to spearhead a 4-2 victory over the Warriors in double overtime.
Wise and Cooper Rainone each had a goal in the first overtime. Timothy Christian goalie Peter Buikema finished with seven saves, including four in the two overtime sessions.
“The three goals felt great, it would feel good any day but definitely against Wheaton Academy, it’s something I will always remember,” Wise said. “To be fair, I have a sprained toe and I’m so tired and ready to go to bed.”
Timothy Christian soccer coach Joel Zielke said his players overcome a flood of emotions to pull out the late victory.
“Obviously, I’m super proud of our team and how resilient we were throughout the night,” Zielke said. “We knew we would come out on fire with Homecoming with a big night and big crowd. I thought we played really well in the first 10 minutes. The momentum shifted from there. We had a tough stretch for 20 minutes, got out of what we were trying to do, then conceded a second. These boys wanted to make a good memory on Homecoming.
“They kept fighting and we had some good individual performances that were outstanding. I told the boys pregame, I don’t want our highs to be too high and our lows to be too low. We had to manage our emotions and expectations. We talked about it all the week with Homecoming a special week and night. We have a great community that’s very supportive and they come out in big ways. I thought our student section tonight was absolutely fantastic.”