Joseph Kallan’s hat trick a treat as Yorkville bests Oswego East 4-2

YORKVILLE – Halloween’s still more than two weeks away, but that didn’t stop Joseph Kallan from trickery Tuesday afternoon at Campbell Field.

The Yorkville senior scored a hat trick to lead the Foxes to a 4-2 victory over Oswego East in a Southwest Prairie Conference game.

The Foxes (10-3-3, 5-3-3) are done with their regular-season schedule. They’ll face old foe West Aurora next week in a regional semifinal.

“It’s my senior, so to have my first hat trick of the season is kind of crazy,” Kallan said. “This was (the seniors’) last game ever here. Coming off a loss last year (6-0) against this team in our last game of the season too, it was a hard loss. So to be able to come back home and beat them my senior year is just special.”

Kallan got free and had an open look in the 13th minute after a pass from Lukas Kleronomos.

“I’m fast,” Kallan said as to how he got open. “I ran down the sideline and beat them down the sideline, I guess. They definitely didn’t expect us after last year’s game. They probably were underestimating us a little but, but we just came out ready.”

Kallan connected for the second time in the 18th minute from 22 yards out. Kallan was able to get a touch before Oswego East goalkeeper Jack Urbanowski could snatch the ball from his path. With a gigantic opening as a result, Kallan rolled it home inside the far post to make it 2-0.

Kleronomos worked some magic near the endline before sending a cross back into the box, where Kallan was once again waiting to make another big play. His third goal of the night with 4:25 made it 3-0.

“It’s so crowded in there at the six, so I figured he (Kleronomos) would have to cut it back, so I tried to get open,” he said. “I was there.”

The Wolves (11-5-4, 4-2-3) answered 24 seconds later when Dylan Drendel converted a PK to make it 3-1.

Any concerns of scoring into the wind were put to rest less than two minutes into the second half when Kallan narrowly missed scored again. Instead, senior Joseph Pabon scored on a rebound to make it 4-1.

“It was a fun moment with the coaches and my teammates,” Pabon said. “We had good work today. Very fun game. So glad for the opportunity to be here. This is not just me, not just the people who scored, it’s the whole team and all of the coaches. It’s a big win for us.”

The Wolves ended Plainfield Central’s bid for an undefeated season last Thursday and hung with top-ranked Naperville North for the better part of Saturday’s game, but they couldn’t match the Foxes.

“To Yorkville’s credit, they came out and played harder than us,” Wolves coach Steve Szymanskis said. “They beat us to every ball on every play. They played quickly, they played fast.”

The Foxes impressed.

“They’ve had a great season,” Szymanski said. “Those kids were playing their butts off the entire time. We knew that we were in for a dogfight, but I don’t think the kids on the field knew that. We just didn’t come out ready to play. We show up for Plainfield Central because we want to beat an undefeated team. We show up for Naperville North because our buddies are on the team, but then when when play a team in our conference, we just aren’t ready to play.”

The Foxes were.

“A big win against a very good team in Oswego East,” Foxes coach Chris Palmisano said. " We have a lot of respect for the coaching staff as well as the program. It was our 10th win. It’s been a very successful year. I couldn’t be prouder of our coaching staff and these guys. They played hard today, and we’re looking to continue to build as we get into the postseason.”

The Wolves have an opportunity to polish up for next Tuesday’s regional semifinal game against Oswego on Thursday. They’ll travel to Plainfield North in their SPC and regular-season final.