Boys Soccer notes: Led by high-scoring junior Christ Keleba, Plano chasing program win record

Christ Keleba has the height that is perhaps best-suited for the basketball court. And the 6-foot-2 Plano junior is, in fact, a basketball-first athlete.

He apparently has super-sized skills on the soccer field, too.

Keleba on Wednesday recorded his fourth hat trick in a win over Coal City. That puts him at 15 goals on the season for the 8-4-1 Reapers, who are closing in on the school record for wins.

“He is a talented athlete,” Plano coach Tom Dean said. “I know soccer is not his primary sport but he is on a tear for us.”

Keleba was good last year, but not Plano’s leading scorer, with five goals and two assists. Keleba was moved from center to up top this season and has blossomed at the position for a young Plano team with just three seniors, none who start.

“He is strong to the ball, a natural athlete, and a strong finisher. When he is on he is absolutely on,” Dean said. “He has those long legs and I think people underestimate how quick he is. He has had a couple corners but most of his goals have been striking goals.”

An unselfish group, 11 different Plano players have scored this season, and 16 different players have recorded assists. Sophomore Santiago Cervantes has scored 10 goals and has broken a school record with 14 assists, and junior Henry Trujillo has eight goals. Cervantes recorded a hat trick earlier this week at Morris.

Dean recalls two seasons ago when Plano had just 13 players in its program, and every guy played pretty much every minute of every game. Now the Reapers have 35 players program-wise, with just the three seniors.

“We’re hoping to start something and keep it moving for a while,” Dean said. “It is fun. Last year we could see the beginnings of it.”

That team last season scored the second or third-most goals in program history, but the Reapers gave up over 100 goals themselves. This season, junior Juan Quinones has four shutouts in goal, aided by a back line of Nathan Smotzer, Tristin Cervantes, Felipe Mendoza and Christain Sanchez.

“We’re definitely a more complete team,” Dean said.

Plano has twice won 11 games in a season, a record that is clearly within reach. Games next week with Kaneland and Earlville will be tough, but Dean thinks his team can have a good showing against Ottawa and Somonauk going into the conference tournament. Plano finishes its regular season against Reed-Custer, Westmont and Yorkville Christian.

“I believe we’re going to break the [win] mark,” Dean said, “and then we’ll see how far we can push it.”

Yu the man for Oswego East

Oswego East coach Steve Szymanski knew that his team would be heavily reliant on DuPablo Parodis-Yu this season, one of just four returners from the best Wolves’ team in program history.

He has not disappointed.

Parodis-Yu, heading into this week’s action, had a hand in 18 of Oswego East’s 26 goals this season. He has 12 goals and six assists, already surpassing last season’s goal total. Parodis-Yu recorded a hat trick against Downers Grove North, and had two goals and an assist against Yorkville.

“He has blended in with these younger guys which has been a huge help,” Szymanski said. “He is a competitor. In games he gets knocked down, he gets a lot of attention. He scored a nice goal against Sandburg and the rest of the game they were all over him so he picked up two assists which was nice to see.”

Szymanski can’t fully explain Parodis-Yu’s tremendous success scoring other than he has a knack for it. He had nine goals and 12 assists last season, despite missing five games because of injury.

“He’s fast, but he’s not big. He doesn’t really lift weights,” Szymanski said. “He’s not intimidating but he is very good with the ball at his feet and good on one-on-one situations creating opportunities for himself and others.”

The Wolves, despite their youth, are 5-2-2 after a 4-0 win over Lincoln-Way East that put them into Saturday’s semifinals of the Plainfield Classic.

“A lot of people said it was a rebuilding year, but I don’t accept the rebuild. We are reloading this year,” Szymanski said. “The freshman team we had last season was the most successful freshman team we ever had, and we have nine of those kids [on varsity] now. I think it’s paying dividends. Guys are blending in and meshing. I think we are ahead of where we thought we’d be. Guys have stepped up. It’s a fun group to coach. I can’t wait to see how the season progresses.”

The Wolves next week get Plainfield South, then a Plainfield North team that Szymanski said “everybody is talking about.”

“We beat them last year 8-2,” he said. “I’m sure that game is etched in their mind.”

Foxes offer helping hand

Yorkville’s soccer team started its season on the right foot – with actions that had nothing to do with sports. The Foxes’ varsity boys went out the last week of August to the Early Childhood Center to get it ready to open for the school year, moving desks and furniture, cleaning and other necessary prep work.

“They asked for three hours a day for three days and the guys went out there and did a heck of a job,” Yorkville coach Chris Palmisano said. “The last day they were so efficient they weren’t needed the whole day.”

Palmisano said his program has done other types of community service in the past, and raised money for causes. That all came to a sudden stop when the pandemic hit. The Foxes’ coach looked at this project as a good way to restart their community service work.

“As a program our main mission is to put good young men and citizens out into the world,” Palmisano said. “We pride ourselves on extraordinary character, a culture and a representation of what the community is all about. This is a good way of starting things back up. This school year, things are finally back to normal. This was an amazing way to kickstart the year.”

On the field, Palmisano has seen progress with close losses to quality conference teams like Oswego East, and a recent win over Mendota.

“It’s about building a program, building blocks,” he said. “Controlling the ball, maintaining possession, the same consistent energy and effort on the field as what we’re showing representing the community. It’s not easy, but we continue to move in the right direction.”