Armando Jarquin got his first taste of Wheaton North varsity soccer when he got called up last October after he finished his JV1 schedule as a freshman.

The Wheaton North sophomore is one of the young and fresh faces for the Falcons, who graduated 25 seniors a season ago from a 2-15-2 team.

He scored twice, including the game-winner with just under 10 minutes remaining, to lift the Falcons to a 2-1 win over Geneva in the Addison Trail Joe Novy Classic on Aug. 28.

Jarquin curled a 22-yard shot from sophomore wing Miguel Maldonado out of the reach of the Geneva goalkeeper to tie the Vikings midway through the second half.

That set the stage for his game-winner off a long ball that senior defender Chris Mann sent deep into the box. Jarquin pounced on the ball on one hop, where it skied into the air before he was able to bicycle kick it from 10 yards away while eluding a pair of Geneva defenders.

“We have a lot of new faces,” Falcons coach Joe Klingelhoffer said. “We’ll have ups and downs, but Geneva has been really strong for the last few years, so we see it as an indication of who we can be and who we hope to consistently be by the end of the season. Coming back with two second-half goals after conceding in the first 10 minutes of the game showcases our resilience.”

The Falcons had dropped their previous three games against the Vikings, including twice last season. Their last victory against the Vikings was a 2-1 victory in the 2022 Class 3A Conant Regional semifinals. The Vikings are coming off a regional title season.

Young Hornets

Hinsdale South sat on the pitch listening to its coaching staff after losing in heartbreaking fashion to Thornton Fractional North/Thornton Fractional South co-op during Saturday’s Windy City Classic.

The Hornets had taken the lead with under nine minutes remaining, but lost it a couple minutes later. The Meteors would walk them off, 5-4, scoring the golden goal with 1:09 left in overtime.

The loss dropped Hinsdale South to 1-2.

“The tournament is a good experience,” Hornets coach Danny Makarcic said. “The first game was very bad (6-0 loss to Reavis), the second game we played a good game (3-2 win against Marist), like today, and then this is just soccer. It’s soccer. We were very confident going in and that we were going to score again, but the breakaways and set pieces are killing us.”

Hinsdale South is young, but is coming off its first winning season in a long time.

“Our defensive line is freshman, freshman, sophomore and junior,” Makarcic said. “So we are very, very young in back and are going to make mistakes.”

600 wins for Hinsdale Central

Hinsdale Central won its 600th game in program history on Aug. 25, traveling to Plainfield South and beating the Cougars, 5-1.

The Red Devils won their first game in 1973. Plainfield South didn’t open until 2001.

“To be a part of the program’s 600th win is special,” Red Devils coach Mike Wiggins said. “I never forget about the years that led up to my first year back at Central in 2002. Coach (Richard) Ohl, Coach (Richard) Flesher and Coach (Skip) Begley were all extremely influential in the years that led to my coming to Hinsdale. They all played a big part in many victories contributing to the 600 we reached.”

Matt Gantar scored twice and Andrew Zeis, Gavin Panveno and Carter Lewis also scored.

Tourney time

Many area teams are continuing or beginning play in tournaments this week, including Glenbard West in the 39th annual Jim Wolter/Titan Invitational at Glenbrook South.

Wheaton North and Willowbrook are playing in the 14th Joe Novy Classic at Addison Trail, Riverside-Brookfield and Downers Grove North are participating in the Windy City Classic and Benet, Lyons, Morton and York are among the squads competing in Naperville North’s inaugural Tournament of Champions.