Chesterton’s Soren Vagenius never had hit a free kick so beautifully in practice, let alone in a game.

But the senior’s shot Wednesday night helped the visiting Trojans top Valparaiso 4-2 in a Duneland Athletic Conference game.

Vagenius smiled sheepishly when asked to describe his goal.

“It was a stroke of luck,” the forward/midfielder said. “It was crazy. That was one of the best free kicks I’ve ever scored.”

The picture-perfect strike from 25 yards sailed into the upper-left corner to give Chesterton (5-0, 2-0) a 2-0 lead with 21 minutes left in the first half. It certainly caught the attention of coach Lucas Sabedra.

“That was the best shot Soren’s ever taken in his life,” Sabedra said. “That was something you see on ESPN. That kick was amazing.”

Senior forward Seth Conway had two goals for the Chesterton, last season’s Class 3A state champion and ranked No. 2 in the state coaches poll, and junior forward Zack Bowser added a goal and an assist.

Bowser’s blast from the top of the penalty box on a pass from senior midfielder Carter Nance gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead 10 minutes into the game. Following Vagenius’ goal, Conway’s penalty kick after Bowser was fouled made it 3-0 with five minutes left in the first half.

“It’s a good rivalry, and you know it’s going to be competitive, one of those games where it’s going to be toe to toe the whole time,” Sabedra said. “So even though we had the lead in the first half, the game’s not over.

“They outscored us 2-1 in the second half, and they outplayed us, and finishing the rest of the game, that’s something we have to do better. But they had great effort throughout the second half.

“They’re a young team doing a pretty good job figuring out their identity.”

Junior forward Ryan Thien scored three minutes into the second half for Valparaiso (2-1, 1-1), neatly rolling a free kick from 20 yards into the lower-left corner. Chesterton reopened a three-goal lead when Bowser’s pass sprung Conway for a goal with 15 minutes left.

The Vikings added a goal with less than three minutes to go when senior defender Blake Rittgers scored off a corner kick.

Coach Danny Jeftich believes Valparaiso can build on its performance.

“First half, we made some mental mistakes,” Jeftich said. “But we played much better in the second half. We moved the ball around better, moved the ball quicker. We have to maintain possession better, but scoring two goals is encouraging against a very, very tough Chesterton team. Hopefully we can play them again here for sectionals and tweak a few things and do better.”

Chesterton had outscored opponents 35-0 in its first four games.

“We’re at a good point,” Vagenius said. “The first four games weren’t the most challenging, but this one was our most challenging, and we came out with a win. We just have to keep going.”