Plainfield Central Soccer Squad Runs Record to 5-0

There are bigger challenges on the horizon for Plainfield Central's boys soccer team, but the Wildcats have to be pleased with the start to their season.

Central improved to its record to 5-0 with a dominating 4-0 nonconference win Saturday at Andrew in Tinley Park. The win comes in advance of the Wildcats' participation in the prestigious Pepsi Challenge, which gets under way at Rolling Meadows on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.

"(Andrew) was pretty decent, so we've had some good tuneups," Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald said. "We should be ready to go. Bigger tests to come: Thursday we play Morton, and they're a Top 10 team. That will be a good test."

The Wildcats left little doubt as to the outcome Saturday. In the first 33 minutes, Central already had built a 4-0 lead. The Wildcats cruised from there, completing the shutout behind sophomore keeper Tyler Badertscher.

Central was balanced in its offensive prowess, as four different Wildcats scored. John Hurley, Jon Iniguez, Jesse Rodriguez and Josh Rosenbaum each tallied goals, while Iniguez, Tyler Gill and Karim Al-Musawi each was credited with an assist.

"We didn't play our best earlier this week, so we knew that we had to come out and play better," senior defender Jon Rosenbaum said. "We did that in the first half. We worked the ball around, pressured them, did exactly what we had to do. We're just going to keep building on this."

The rugged Pepsi Challenge will give the Wildcats a better idea of what they have this season. But Fitzgerald already thinks he knows.

"I think we learned our identity — we're defense first," he said. "And the first couple of weeks here, we've gone with a lot of guys not healthy. Right now, we have our full squad."

Central started Saturday's game with its full squad, but it didn't end it that way. Senior forward Giuliano DiNardo, playing his first game of the season after recovering from an injury, took a wicked shot to the face and had to leave the game. Fitzgerald thinks that he DiNardo could miss up to a week of action.

But the Wildcats will take their perfect record and some good momentum into the Pepsi Challenge.

"Every game we play, we go out there and try to play our best," Jon Rosenbaum said. "We do what we can, play as a team, and see how it turns out."