Sports
OPRF Boys' Soccer Wins 1st Class 3A Sectional in School History
Huskies fend off a tough Evanston Township team, 3-0, as Easton Bogard records a hat trick and goalkeeper Clark Turk logs another shutout
The Oak Park and River Forest High School boys’ soccer team won its first Class 3A Sectional championship on Saturday evening, triumphing 3-0 over the Evanston Township High School Wildkits.
In a clutch performance befitting his All-State status, sophomore Easton Bogard scored all three goals for the Huskies, whose seventh straight win lifts their record to 19-3 and sends them to the Super-Sectional on Tuesday evening against Fremd High School.
The final score belies a shaky start for OPRF, which struggled in the early going to fend off Evanston Township’s relentlessly aggressive style of play. ETHS (16-3-4) dominated action throughout the first 40 minutes and appeared to score in the game’s 13th minute before the goal was nullified by an offsides ruling.
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Some three minutes later, Bogard tallied his first goal on a nifty move up the middle that really represented OPRF’s only serious opportunity of the first half. Alex Hauck delivered the assist on the play.
Meanwhile, OPRF goalkeeper Clark Turk turned in several big saves to help bail out teammates who were frequently on their heels. The Huskies had trouble stringing together passes that would move the ball past their end of the pitch at New Trier High School, which hosted the Sectional tournament.
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“Evanston, to be honest, was the better team in the first half,” said OPRF Coach Jason Fried. “They pressed us really good and we were having a really hard time. We took advantage of the one good chance we had the whole half.”
At halftime, aware that his team was fortunate to be leading, Fried implemented a tactical shift.
“We had to start skipping their defense—their press—and then we were able to combine (passes) in the middle, and then suddenly it opened up,” said Fried. “Doing that opened up the game for us. Then you could see us start controlling the game.”
In the ninth minute of the second half, a few nervous moments accompanied a Wildkit free kick that, if successful, would have tied the game. Only 11 seconds later, Bogard scored after he outmaneuvered a defender in open space, then lightly tapped the ball over the Evanston goalkeeper’s onrushing attempt to stymie the opportunity.
Ben Nisbet assisted on the high-finesse score that put OPRF up, 2-0. Less than three minutes later, junior Jadyn Hsieh-Bailey’s tenacious will and skillful footwork drew a foul inside the box that rewarded OPRF with a penalty kick.
“Jadyn played awesome,” said Fried. “He’s been maturing more and more, and staying focused, not getting overly emotional. He’s doing fantastic.”
As the Huskies’ designated penalty kicker, Bogard secured his third goal on the ensuing PK. It marked his second hat trick of the season, and his third in two varsity seasons at OPRF. Bogard has now scored the team’s last four goals. On Tuesday, his brilliant give-and-go collaboration with Hauck, a senior, was the only score in the Huskies’ upset of New Trier, the state’s top-rated team, and sent the Huskies to the Sectional title match.
For the season, Bogard has 29 of OPRF’s 67 goals; the team has allowed only 16 goals, and none in its last three matches.
Defensively, the Huskies back line maintained their adept ability to foil would-be scoring chances—increasingly so in the second half. Eric Jackson, Tukura Hess, David Schalich-Ayllon and Josh Dennis, among others, turned in stalwart performances.
The Sectional title is the first for OPRF since the Illinois High School Association reclassification placed the school in Class 3A in 1998.
The game on Tuesday begins at 6:30 p.m. at Barrington High School. On Friday, Mid-Suburban League champion Fremd (19-3-1) defeated Barrington, 4-0. The winner of Tuesday’s contest advances to the state semifinals, which will be played at Hoffman Estates High School on Friday, Nov. 5th. The championship game—and the consolation game for the semifinal losers—will be held on Saturday, Nov. 6th.
More details are available in the boys’ soccer section of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) website.
Previous stories on the OPRF boys’ soccer team:
October 27, 2021: OPRF Boys’ Soccer Team Pulls Off 1-0 Upset of Top-Rated New Trier
October 22, 2021: OPRF Beats Niles West, 2-0, to Take Regional Boys' Soccer Title
October 4, 2021: Oak Park & River Forest Boys' Soccer Team Boasts 11-2 Record
