Boys Soccer: Brian Tunney, Wheaton Warrenville South start fast, beat Lake Park

Compared to the past two series meetings, Wheaton Warrenville South and Lake Park combined for a goal-scoring party on Tuesday night.

After the two teams combined for one goal each in 160 minutes of action during two draws in the condensed spring season, WW South scored two goals in a 17-minute span during the first half to pull out a 3-2 victory over Lake Park in DuKane Conference action in Roselle.

The Tigers (7-5-4, 3-2-1) gained a big moment victory heading closer to the playoffs, and moved up the conference standings by knocking off the Lancers (4-9-4, 3-2-1).

WW South senior defender Brian Tunney sparked the victory, scoring the first goal of the game on a long shot into the far post in the 19th minute. Tunney said beating the Lancers after two disappointing draws in the spring was special.

“To win this just feels awesome, really awesome,” Tunney said, laughing. “We have a lot of momentum going forward because we’re starting to connect and have a lot of good chemistry. I think everyone has something to bring to the table, and they’re finding their role. We’re starting to execute.”

WW South junior Issa Husseini padded the lead with a goal off an assist from Jason Weisheit in the 36th minute.

“We have been working hard and we needed this win to place high in the conference, so this win feels great,” Husseini said.

The Lancers were the beneficiary some of luck late in the first half. Senior midfielder Jason Salwach raced to the ball to attempt a corner kick in the final seconds, setting up for the corner with eight seconds left. He lofted a perfectly curved ball into the back of the net, lowering the margin to 2-1 with three seconds remaining.

Lake Park senior midfielder Jose Maldonado sliced the deficit to 3-2 with a beautiful shot from 23 yards into the far post in the 77th minute.

“I saw the goalie running and his eyes looking at me, so I started making the run and took a shot and it just went in,” Maldonado said of his goal. “We’ll have a clean sheet in the playoffs, so we have to keep this pace for a full 80 minutes and we can do good. We have to play hard the whole game, not just at the end.”

The Lancers nearly added another draw to the series, when senior captain Frankie Caira blasted a shot off the crossbar with 20 seconds left in regulation. Caira also opened the game with a shot wide of the goal in the first minute.

“We had a lot of chances at the end of the game,” Caira said. “We played well at the end ... I tried to get that last shot, taking a touch and tried to get it upper 90 but it went too high.”

Lake Park goalie Andrew Swacha collected six of his 10 saves in the first half.