Naperville North senior Arnav Nagpal has methodically worked his way up the ranks of the soccer program.
Nagpal didn’t make his varsity debut until this season. But he immediately earned a starting spot on defense for the Huskies, who allowed just 13 goals in 22 games during the regular season.
“He’s been playing great,” Naperville North senior forward Onkar Lidder said. “This is both of our first years on the team, but to start as a center back at North, where defense is so important, first year, that’s obviously impressive.
“To have the defensive performances we’ve had, that just speaks to him as a player.”
Those defensive performances continued in the Class 3A Romeoville Regional semifinals on Wednesday, when the top-seeded Huskies remained undefeated with a 5-0 win over the 15th-seeded host Spartans.
Lidder, senior forward Josh Pedersen and junior forward Will Boniface each had a goal and an assist for Naperville North (19-0-4), which will play eighth-seeded Waubonsie Valley or ninth-seeded Bolingbrook in the regional championship game at 4 p.m. Friday.
Nagpal wasn’t frustrated that he didn’t get promoted sooner. On the contrary, he feels blessed to have earned his shot.
“It’s amazing just to be a part of the program at any level at Naperville North,” Nagpal said. “We have such a great team, great coaches. I’ve learned a lot.”
Nagpal’s progression in soccer has mirrored his rise in other activities. He’s also a four-year member of Naperville North’s robotics team.
“Robotics is one of the coolest things I’ve done at North,” Nagpal said. “There’s 120 members, and I started off as a regular member, made my way up to drive coach and now the strategic captain.
“That’s also how I see soccer. There’s different strategies. We can play these long balls, we can connect passes, so it’s nice to be able to use my academic skills and transport them onto the soccer field.”
In addition to helping the Huskies’ defense, Nagpal has recorded five assists. He set up the winning goals, one of which was scored by Lidder, in each of the last two regular-season games.
“He’s truly defensive-minded, rarely gets forward, but he’s obviously got great feet, so he’s fine to go,” Naperville North coach Jim Konrad said. “He’s just making sure we’re locked down in the back. He’s a responsible kid.”
Nagpal takes his responsibilities seriously and said his work ethic comes from his parents, who emigrated from India and are his role models. His father, Bharat, is a software engineer, and his mother, Prachi, works in information technology. Nagpal’s 13-year-old sister Anya also plays soccer.
“My mom has sacrificed so much for me and my sister,” Nagpal said. “I really owe a lot of my intelligence to my parents. I don’t want to let them down.”
So Nagpal soaks up knowledge. With the robotics team, he puts in nearly 25 hours a week during the season, which runs from January to April, and has occasional one-day competitions in the summer and fall.
“After winter break ends, we have six to eight weeks to build a whole robot, depending on the game,” Nagpal said. “Our first competition will be in March, and we have another in April, and then at the end of April we go to the world championships in Texas if we qualify.
“It’s an amazing experience. We compete against teams from Mexico, China and Turkey.”
The process requires technical knowledge, problem-solving abilities and teamwork. Each season presents a different challenge.
“Last year we built a robot that was able to pick up these PVC pipes and place them on different rods,” Nagpal said. “It was a water theme, so these pipes were coral, and we placed them on coral reefs to score points.
“We have a full design team. These four people are very experienced, so we come together with them and see what features we want to build on our robot. We use CAD to design and build it before we actually start getting the parts. Then we start fabricating.”
Nagpal and the Huskies fabricated the third unbeaten regular season in program history and hope to win their fifth state championship.
But Nagpal is doing double duty this weekend. After playing in the regional final on Friday, he will leave at 5 a.m. Saturday for a one-day robotics competition in downstate Tremont.
“He’s a smart kid off the field, but on the field there’s a soccer IQ,” Lidder said. “He always knows when to make the cross, make the run.
“Also, playing center back in a three-back is super hard because you’ve got to organize the whole defense. So that intelligence off the field definitely translates on the field.”
That allows Nagpal, who intends to major in finance or prelaw in college, to add to family and program traditions.
“As a family, we want to be smart, to have so much knowledge,” he said. “I feel that’s what makes me able to show that on the soccer field and in the classroom.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.