The top 'Cat of soccer

Plainfield Central's Al Palar (right) attempts to head the ball past North's goal keeper, James Wagner, during the first half of their game Wednesday evening in Plainfield.
MICHAEL R. SCHMIDT/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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The tightly cropped golden locks. The golden toe.

Almost everything about Plainfield Central High School's Al Palar suggests he should be dubbed the Golden Boy of area soccer.

Except he is being recruited by DePaul, not Notre Dame.

But, maybe that's OK, too, because there is a metropolitan flavor to Palar's game in the sense he is the hub of everything Central does on the offensive end of the field. The ball -- and the play -- goes through him.

He brings to soccer's grass surface the basketball play-making abilities of a Jason Kidd and the highlight-reel scoring of a Michael Jordan.

Palar netted three goals in Central's 4-0 victory over district rival Plainfield North on Wednesday afternoon. He time and again shredded double- and triple-coverage and so thoroughly impressed Tigers coach Ty Winkelhake she asked if she could borrow him after the game.

Central coach Kevin Fitzgerald's response was along the lines of, "Not on your life."

"He does what Al does," Fitzgerald said. "He's the best player on the field every game we play. I know we played Lincoln-Way Central (and lost 5-1). But I'll still say he's the best player on the field every game. And what's nice is he's got a group around him. He uses them and he plays team first.

"But, yeah, he's a superb player. He's the best I've seen in a long time."

Palar took a feed from Grant Fuller, moved in on a one-on-none play and beat North keeper James Wagner to put Central on top 1-0 at halftime.

The Wildcats (7-4, 4-0) erupted for three more goals in a span of 27 minutes before Fitzgerald emptied his bench.

"Obviously, in soccer, there is no 'I' in team, like everybody says," Palar said. "It's a team sport. Everything that I do I have to dedicate to all my players and give them all the credit. Because, really, they are the ones who make me the player that I am."

Palar scored in the second half on a North turnover and then again on a header off a crossing pass from Louie Vasquez. The hat trick pushed Palar's season goal total to 15 and enabled the Wildcats to run their two-year series record to a 2-0 against North.

"He's a very good player," Winkelhake said. "His vision, his touches -- they're great. It was fun watching him. Too bad he was playing against us. But, no, he's a very talented player."

Palar's talent runs the gamut from field awareness to dribbling and passing. He has a knack for putting himself in a position to make plays.

And, even when he draws a crowd, even when opponents appear to have him bottled up, and the get-rid-of-it thought is spoken out loud, Palar invariably finds a way to make somebody look silly.

"I've been playing with him for four years now," Fuller said. "He's an awesome player. He's real quick. He's got good moves. I always know he's going to beat that one person. Every time I give him the ball, he's going to beat that one person and that's when I'm on the run because, once he beats him, then he can play the ball right to me."

Fuller capped Central's onslaught when he pounded home a one-timer with 10:37 remaining. The goal came after Fuller twice earlier missed on opportunities from point-blank-range. Chris Goldsmith and Nick DuPree also were credited with assists for the Wildcats.

"At first, I was getting a little frustrated," Fuller said. "I just kept hitting it over the crossbar. But, then, finally that one ball came to me and once I lifted my foot I knew it was in."

North (6-6-2, 0-3) had no such luck.

The Tigers were outshot 32-13 and spent much of the game trying to clear the ball out of their own end. Limber Osorio's shot kicked off the left post in the first half. Jamie Arambula's run was snuffed by Central keeper Giovanni DeLira in the second.

DeLira later was shaken up in a collision. He returned to notch his first shutout. He made six saves.

"That's our story pretty much this year, close games every single time," Winkelhake said. "Just because we're hitting the posts and not finishing right there on the goal line. We can't tap it in. All of our losses up until today were 2-1 type games, close games, because of that."