Naperville Central senior goalkeeper Connor Waite spends most of his time trying hard to prevent goals.
But that’s not the only thing on his mind. Most goalkeepers dream of scoring a point, whether it be a goal or an assist.
With the Redhawks locked in a scoreless tie against Neuqua Valley on Tuesday, Waite made a kick save and then quickly surveyed the field. He saw senior forward Nathan Laird waving his arms near midfield.
“I wasn’t expecting the shot to be that hard that close,” Waite said. “It hit my foot, it popped up in the air, I grabbed it and did quick a scan, and Nathan just jumped right up. He was wide open.”
Waite punted the ball directly to Laird, who expertly picked the ball out of the air. The DePaul recruit then raced up the middle of the field past two defenders and ripped a 19-yard shot inside the right post with 23:06 left in the second half.
“I decided, ‘I’m going to get him the ball,’ so I hit a side volley right to him, and he makes a great touch and play and goes to goal,” Waite said. “It was an amazing goal.”
It was the first of two goals for Laird and proved to be the game-winner as the third-seeded Redhawks beat the 14th-seeded Wildcats 3-0 in a Class 3A Naperville Central Regional semifinal at Memorial Stadium.
“Connor loves to look forward and see if there’s options,” Naperville Central coach Troy Adams said. “The biggest thing is he’s worked on when is the right time to do it. That was clearly the right time. We had a counterattack on, and he recognized it.”
Laird said it wasn’t a set play, but he recognized that Neuqua Valley was pressing hard for a goal and was vulnerable to a quick transition.
“I noticed that my defender was going a little bit forward, so I stayed a little bit back,” Laird said. “As soon as (Waite) got it, I was yelling for the ball, and he played me perfectly.”
The speedy Laird immediately attacked. Naperville Central junior midfielder Matias Jacobs made a diagonal run that took a defender away from the middle of the field, opening up a lane for Laird, who then had two options.
“Obviously, it was the pass or keep dribbling,” Laird said. “I decided to keep dribbling, and the shot opened up, so I took it.”
When the ball went into the net, Waite had an assist. It was the first point of his varsity career.
“I was like, ‘Score, score,’” Waite said. “He banged it in the corner, and I was like, ‘It’s an assist. Please put it on the stat sheet.’
“But credit to Nathan. Yeah, I hit it 45 (yards), but he brought it 45, so thanks to him.”
Laird’s strike changed the complexion of the game as the Redhawks (13-4-4), who will play 10th-seeded Romeoville (17-4-4) in the regional championship game on Saturday, dominated the rest of the action against the Wildcats (6-8-4). Senior midfielder Ryan Lafferty made it 2-0 at the 17:54 mark, and Laird scored another insurance goal off a pass from senior forward Nolan Ewanic with 3:04 to go.
Laird has 12 goals, two behind Ewanic for the team lead, and eight assists in his first and only season of high school soccer. He had played in MLS Next, the highest level of club, for Chicago FC United.
“We’ve seen this season the potential of Nathan, and he’s played really well, but there’s more there,” Adams said. “It’s him kind of getting used to our style of play and us getting used to him. It’s gotten better as the season has gone on, and that’s kind of what you want.
“We hope this is the start of him being what we knew he could be in the beginning of the year.”
The Redhawks knew what they had in Waite, who is in his second varsity season but first as the full-time starter after splitting the duties last year. This was his seventh shutout of the season and second against Neuqua Valley.
“I would say it’s a big confidence thing,” Waite said. “Last year, I remember I played against Oswego in the playoffs, and I was so nervous.
“Now, every game, no nerves. Part of it is just trusting in the hard work I’ve put in. I worked as much as I can, so now it’s mostly just, ‘I’ve done this thousands of times. I can do it again.’”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
