Great start for Wheaton Academy
Warriors lead Glenbard South, 3-0, before lightning interferes
By Chris Walker
WHEATON – Thunder was rattling.
Lightning was illuminating the sky.
Heavy rains, which would’ve turned Wheaton Academy’s old soccer field into a mud bowl just a couple years ago, only frustrated fans – especially those without umbrellas – but only made the artificial turf wetter and slicker.
As for the Warriors themselves, they were chillaxin’ in their locker room.
And why wouldn’t you relax if forced to sit around for an hour while enjoying a 3-0 lead, despite not even playing 17 minutes in the first half of a soccer game?
Indeed, the Warriors had no problem kicking back and trying to wait out thunderstorms, which ultimately caused the officials to suspend Wheaton Academy’s Metro Suburban Conference game against Glenbard South with 23:32 remaining in the opening half.
“We really had nothing to do so we just tried to stay loose in the locker room,” Wheaton Academy junior midfielder Julia DellaTorre said. “We kept it in the back of our minds about the possibility of coming back and playing so we had that mentality in our mind so we didn’t skip our focus or anything. We were still focused and stretching and stuff, and just chilling and waiting to see what would happen.”
Nothing good would happen the rest of the night though - the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. The good stuff happened earlier though as the Warriors jumped all over the visiting Raiders, scoring three times in the first 11 minutes to seize control.
“I felt like we started really well, but actually, in spite of the score I felt we were a little sloppy early on,” Warriors coach Dave Underwood said. “They put some good high pressure on us, particularly on our backline, and it took us a few minutes to settle in and get comfortable.”
In the 4th minute, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead when Gretchen Pearson slotted in a nice ball to Jamie Netzley.
“I felt like their spacing in the back enabled us to get some balls in,” Underwood said. “Gretchen was able to get on the end of one and sent a nice cross in to Jamie.”
Wheaton Academy (3-1-0, 1-0-0) got a little help on its second goal. Gabi LaMantia scored it as it slipped right through Glenbard South sophomore keeper Allie Jordan’s hands. Jordan has taken the place of regular starting keeper Jacquelyn Wescott, who is currently out of the country but set to return later this month.
“She’s stepped in nicely and has been doing a great job,” Glenbard South coach Glen Eggert said. “I know she’s upset about that goal she gave up, because she doesn’t give up goals like that typically, but there was a little dip on the ball and some wetness and nerves.’
Glenbard South (1-3-1, 0-0-0) fell behind 3-0 in the 11th minute as Izzy McNally found LaMantia who sent in her second goal of the abbreviated night.
“Izzy was coming from the back there and she was able to get it back deep and cross it over to Gabi,” Underwood said. “We obviously were pleased with that and that was a nice start to go up 3-0 not even 20 minutes into the game.”
Netzley and freshman Erin Teevans have proven to be a dynamite combo in the young season, but now LaMantia is making some noise as well, giving the Warriors yet another offensive threat. Opponents, be warned.
“She’s come along really well,” Underwood said. “Having now played in our system for three years, she has a good understanding of what we do and what we want her to do. She’s really playing well to her strengths, and she’s really good with the ball to her feet. So we’d like to see her score more often, like tonight.”
The neat thing about LaMantia is she continues to evolve and finds herself now in her third different role as a Warrior. As a freshman she played center back. Last year she was in the midfield, locking down as more of a defensive presence, Now, she’s again in the midfield, but is more in attack mode.
“We like her in that attacking mid, withdrawing-type striker role,” Underwood said. “She’s really playing well.”
The Warriors are also playing well, although not often. As disappointing as leaving the field without a victory was, the inability to get in another 60-plus minutes of soccer is hurtful for a team which was off for nearly two weeks. Thankfully, the Warriors did get to play a full game on Monday, shutting out St. Edward 4-0.
“Even playing for a few minutes tonight was better, I suppose, than nothing,” Underwood said. “We’ll come back and have a good practice (Friday) and Saturday is supposed to be beautiful.”
Saturday means the PepsiCo Showdown, something Underwood and the rest of the Warriors look forward to every year. They’ll open against Highland Park at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“I know nothing about Highland Park, but I do know they’re in a great conference, so we’ll see,” he said. “We love the Pepsi and have been doing it since the tournament began so we’re excited about that.”
The scoreboard undoubtedly made it appear as if the Raiders were being dominated, but one shouldn’t count out a team that could ultimately become the Warriors biggest rival in the reshuffled conference.
“We knew this could be the deciding game for who wins the conference so we wanted to come out here and play strong and play big, and I think we accomplished that,” DellaToree said. “I think when we come out next time to finish it, we’ll come out even stronger.”
Glenbard South also believes it can be better once play resumes.
“”I definitely feel like we can come out strong next time we play them,” Raiders midfielders Julia Rausch said. “They had more speed than we thought so we have to deal with that better.”
The Raiders are young though, so inconsistency at times has to be expected.
“I think the girls are closer than they think to sorting this out,” Raiders coach Glen Eggert said. “Hopefully they’ll embrace the challenge and continue to sort this out and move significantly in the right direction.
"I thought our pressure tonight was pretty good. It wasn’t quite as directional as we wanted, so they were able to counter us some, but compared to the beginning of the season, when our pressure was nonexistent, it’s a big difference.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard South
GK: Allie Jordan
D: Marlena Benner
D: Sarah Cohen
D: Sarah Ziegler
MF: Jennifer Larson
MF: Hannah Nelson
MF: Jordan Zych
MF: Julia Rausch
MF: Fiona VanTeylingen
F: Bridget Pyle
F: Taylor Ray
Wheaton Academy
GK: Liana Ledesma
D: Emmerson Fuller
D: Izzy McNally
D: Molly Thorson
MF: Julia DellaTorre
MF: Holland Kosiek
MF: Gabi LaMantia
MF: Anna Joy Setran,
F: Jamie Netzly
F: Gretchen Pearson
F: Erin Teevans
Warriors lead Glenbard South, 3-0, before lightning interferes
By Chris Walker
WHEATON – Thunder was rattling.
Lightning was illuminating the sky.
Heavy rains, which would’ve turned Wheaton Academy’s old soccer field into a mud bowl just a couple years ago, only frustrated fans – especially those without umbrellas – but only made the artificial turf wetter and slicker.
As for the Warriors themselves, they were chillaxin’ in their locker room.
And why wouldn’t you relax if forced to sit around for an hour while enjoying a 3-0 lead, despite not even playing 17 minutes in the first half of a soccer game?
Indeed, the Warriors had no problem kicking back and trying to wait out thunderstorms, which ultimately caused the officials to suspend Wheaton Academy’s Metro Suburban Conference game against Glenbard South with 23:32 remaining in the opening half.
“We really had nothing to do so we just tried to stay loose in the locker room,” Wheaton Academy junior midfielder Julia DellaTorre said. “We kept it in the back of our minds about the possibility of coming back and playing so we had that mentality in our mind so we didn’t skip our focus or anything. We were still focused and stretching and stuff, and just chilling and waiting to see what would happen.”
Nothing good would happen the rest of the night though - the weather just wouldn’t cooperate. The good stuff happened earlier though as the Warriors jumped all over the visiting Raiders, scoring three times in the first 11 minutes to seize control.
“I felt like we started really well, but actually, in spite of the score I felt we were a little sloppy early on,” Warriors coach Dave Underwood said. “They put some good high pressure on us, particularly on our backline, and it took us a few minutes to settle in and get comfortable.”
In the 4th minute, the Warriors took a 1-0 lead when Gretchen Pearson slotted in a nice ball to Jamie Netzley.
“I felt like their spacing in the back enabled us to get some balls in,” Underwood said. “Gretchen was able to get on the end of one and sent a nice cross in to Jamie.”
Wheaton Academy (3-1-0, 1-0-0) got a little help on its second goal. Gabi LaMantia scored it as it slipped right through Glenbard South sophomore keeper Allie Jordan’s hands. Jordan has taken the place of regular starting keeper Jacquelyn Wescott, who is currently out of the country but set to return later this month.
“She’s stepped in nicely and has been doing a great job,” Glenbard South coach Glen Eggert said. “I know she’s upset about that goal she gave up, because she doesn’t give up goals like that typically, but there was a little dip on the ball and some wetness and nerves.’
Glenbard South (1-3-1, 0-0-0) fell behind 3-0 in the 11th minute as Izzy McNally found LaMantia who sent in her second goal of the abbreviated night.
“Izzy was coming from the back there and she was able to get it back deep and cross it over to Gabi,” Underwood said. “We obviously were pleased with that and that was a nice start to go up 3-0 not even 20 minutes into the game.”
Netzley and freshman Erin Teevans have proven to be a dynamite combo in the young season, but now LaMantia is making some noise as well, giving the Warriors yet another offensive threat. Opponents, be warned.
“She’s come along really well,” Underwood said. “Having now played in our system for three years, she has a good understanding of what we do and what we want her to do. She’s really playing well to her strengths, and she’s really good with the ball to her feet. So we’d like to see her score more often, like tonight.”
The neat thing about LaMantia is she continues to evolve and finds herself now in her third different role as a Warrior. As a freshman she played center back. Last year she was in the midfield, locking down as more of a defensive presence, Now, she’s again in the midfield, but is more in attack mode.
“We like her in that attacking mid, withdrawing-type striker role,” Underwood said. “She’s really playing well.”
The Warriors are also playing well, although not often. As disappointing as leaving the field without a victory was, the inability to get in another 60-plus minutes of soccer is hurtful for a team which was off for nearly two weeks. Thankfully, the Warriors did get to play a full game on Monday, shutting out St. Edward 4-0.
“Even playing for a few minutes tonight was better, I suppose, than nothing,” Underwood said. “We’ll come back and have a good practice (Friday) and Saturday is supposed to be beautiful.”
Saturday means the PepsiCo Showdown, something Underwood and the rest of the Warriors look forward to every year. They’ll open against Highland Park at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“I know nothing about Highland Park, but I do know they’re in a great conference, so we’ll see,” he said. “We love the Pepsi and have been doing it since the tournament began so we’re excited about that.”
The scoreboard undoubtedly made it appear as if the Raiders were being dominated, but one shouldn’t count out a team that could ultimately become the Warriors biggest rival in the reshuffled conference.
“We knew this could be the deciding game for who wins the conference so we wanted to come out here and play strong and play big, and I think we accomplished that,” DellaToree said. “I think when we come out next time to finish it, we’ll come out even stronger.”
Glenbard South also believes it can be better once play resumes.
“”I definitely feel like we can come out strong next time we play them,” Raiders midfielders Julia Rausch said. “They had more speed than we thought so we have to deal with that better.”
The Raiders are young though, so inconsistency at times has to be expected.
“I think the girls are closer than they think to sorting this out,” Raiders coach Glen Eggert said. “Hopefully they’ll embrace the challenge and continue to sort this out and move significantly in the right direction.
"I thought our pressure tonight was pretty good. It wasn’t quite as directional as we wanted, so they were able to counter us some, but compared to the beginning of the season, when our pressure was nonexistent, it’s a big difference.”
Starting lineups
Glenbard South
GK: Allie Jordan
D: Marlena Benner
D: Sarah Cohen
D: Sarah Ziegler
MF: Jennifer Larson
MF: Hannah Nelson
MF: Jordan Zych
MF: Julia Rausch
MF: Fiona VanTeylingen
F: Bridget Pyle
F: Taylor Ray
Wheaton Academy
GK: Liana Ledesma
D: Emmerson Fuller
D: Izzy McNally
D: Molly Thorson
MF: Julia DellaTorre
MF: Holland Kosiek
MF: Gabi LaMantia
MF: Anna Joy Setran,
F: Jamie Netzly
F: Gretchen Pearson
F: Erin Teevans