Soccer Shocker: After Surprising Loss, a Formidable Foe Visits

Saturday night, Neuqua Valley's boys soccer team experienced something it hadn't experienced in 35 regular-season matches.

For the first time in that span, the Wildcats actually lost a regular-season match, a stunning 1-0 defeat in the finals of the Best of the Midwest tournament to Palatine's Fremd High School. The winning goal came on a free kick that squeezed through the Neuqua wall, and it stood for the game's lone tally.

"It was shocking," Neuqua left winger Patrick Doody said. "Not to put down Fremd, they played well enough to beat us, but I wasn't anticipating that. It was shocking and upsetting that we couldn't win the tournament. That was one of our goals."

The loss signals a couple of important points. After graduating what second-year coach Tony Kees called a "mini college team," this is a new group, led by Doody, who committed to Indiana University back in February.

"We're a little younger, different group this year," Kees said. "We have some work to do in terms of building cohesion and building an identity. But there is some talent there."

The other point is that the Wildcats are only 6-1-1 this season,  meaning there is a whole lot of season left. The rest of that season got started at cross-town rival Waubonsie Valley last night, where Neuqua won 1-0.

"The only positive we can take (from Saturday), is seeing what our reaction is from the loss and hopefully not letting it bother us," Doody said. "It will be interesting to see how we come around. I think it will be a good test for us to see how we go against scrutiny."

The Wildcats have a unique opportunity on Thursday as Jesuit of Carmichael, Calif., a nationally ranked team outside Sacramento, comes calling at Neuqua with a program that was the nation's No. 1 team in 2003 and 2008 and was No. 2 last season.

"Coach told us about that last week," Doody said. "They want to play us, and we're ready to play them. It's exciting; it's new. It will be a good test, good experience. It will give us a chance to see how we fit in nationally with all of those kinds of teams. It will be a fun day."

That is one of a special set of opportunities afforded the Wildcats this season thanks to their prior success.

Neuqua travels to play Marquette High in Milwaukee on Saturday, Oct. 9, a tradition Kees built in his 25 years coaching at Conant. The Wildcats also head to St. Louis on Oct. 1 and 2 to face Missouri power Chaminade and downstate Illinois stalwart Collinsville.

"It helps to have a higher profile program to go out and play these games," Kees said.

"It's cool that what we've done in the past is adding up and people take interest and reward us with opportunities because of it," Doody added.