Sunny finish for Wheaton Academy
Warriors beat Glenbard South after 23-day wait
By Dave Owen
WEST CHICAGO - After a storm suspended Wheaton Academy's match against Glenbard South on April 9, the Warriors enjoyed a delayed victory celebration Saturday.
Rough weather forced the suspension of the game after Wheaton Academy built a 3-0 and 22:18 left in the first half.
The tone of completion of the final 62 minutes was different, with sunny skies and a strong defensive effort by the visiting Raiders. But Wheaton Academy (12-3, 6-0) was seldom threatened and sealed the Metro Suburban Conference title with a 4-0 win.
“Overall I’m really pleased with how we played,” said Warriors coach Dave Underwood. “We knew this was a little bit of a dangerous game, just from the standpoint that it would be really easy to come out here up 3-0 and just go through the motions.
“I didn’t think our girls did that at all. They played with energy and intensity and got after it. They didn’t give them any good opportunities to score, maybe one half chance. They did exactly what we asked them to do.”
The April 9 portion of the game was dominated by Wheaton Academy’s Gabi LaMantia. After Jamie Netzley’s goal (assisted by Gretchen Pearson) had given the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match LaMantia scored two goals in a three-minute span gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead 11 minutes in.
“It was a rainy day (April 9) and the ball skipped a lot,” LaMantia recalled. “The first goal I shot it with my left foot and the ball took a good bounce. The second one Izzy McNally ran down the left and then cut it back, passed it back to me at the top of the box and I was able to put a foot on it.”
Picking up where they left off wasn’t easy for the Warriors, as Glenbard South (5-7-1) put up a defensive wall to deny numerous great threats.
“We were significantly better defensively than the first time,” Raiders coach Glen Eggert said. “We’re pretty inexperienced, so every day they prepare makes them better. And today’s effort is indicative of the improvements they’ve made in their game.
“We weathered the first five minutes and then our girls started to play. I was proud of them. They’re playing with more desire and more intensity trying to win balls, and definitely their organization is significantly better than when we were first trying to patch everyone together.”
The Warriors produced an immediate wave of chances with the resumption of play Saturday.
The first great threat came 14:40 before halftime. Pearson’s initial 10-yard shot was blocked at the post by Raider goalkeeper Allison Jordan. Defender Marlena Benner then blocked a point-blank rebound attempt by LaMantia to deny her bid for a hat trick.
Jordan made a save on Anna Joy Setran’s low 15-yard shot. Then with 7:55 left in the half, Emily Mascari’s block of a Raider corner kick ignited a quick end-to-end counterattack that ended with Jordan’s stop of a Netzley 18-yard drive.
“We felt like we created a lot of chances,” Underwood said. “But the last couple of games we’ve been struggling a little with our final touch, the one going on goal.
“We tend to be not as intentional and precise as I’d like in our finishing. She (Jordan) is a good goalkeeper, and if you just hit in on frame she’s going to make the save. You have to look up, have composure and be intentional about where you’re placing the ball. But I’d be far more concerned if we weren’t creating shots.”
The Warrior shots kept coming in the first 10 minutes of the second half. McNally lined a 28-yarder over the net, then Jordan blocked a 20-yard try by Netzley.
The frustration peaked with 22:20 left when Setran’s 18-yarder clanged off the crossbar, and Emmerson Fuller’s header off an Erin Teevans corner kick five minutes later went just over the net.
The Warriors finally scored their first goal of the day with just 3:25 left, on a nice finish by sophomore Holland Kosiek into the upper corner of the net.
“There was a great ball out to Britta (Cassel),” Kosiek said. “She just carried it down the line, set it up to Jamie (Netzley) and Jamie laid it off perfectly to me. I was able to go far corner.”
That late goal was the only crack in the Raiders’ defensive effort.
“It was a shame to have a little lapse at the end,” Eggert said, “but the truth is I was only playing 13 players today. We lost our primary impact player Taylor Ray from the (April 9 start) to this, and she’s a kid who can really wreak havoc with balls in behind.
“But the girls were still creating opportunities. I was proud of the way they picked up that slack from her as well.”
Kosiek’s finished opportunity Saturday was her latest highlight.
“Holland Kosiek is good at playing that attacking center mid,” Underwood said. “We started her at an outside back to get her comfortable and then moved her inside, and she’s really grown into the game and is playing at a pace that we like. She scored in the last game as well. It’s nice to see her hard work being rewarded.”
Underwood also praised the offensive play of freshman Teevans (“she leads us with 13 or 14 goals,” he said) and Pearson.
“Gretchen Pearson has been outstanding for us,” he said. “She doesn’t have near the goals she had last year, but her assists...she creates so much for us on the outside. She’s been playing really well.”
The Warrior defense has allowed just one goal in conference play, and goalkeeper Liana Ledesma’s emergence has been a big reason.
“That’s her first year playing goalkeeper,” Underwood said. “Unbelievable. She’s done really well this year.”
When tested, Ledesma and the Warrior defense came through Saturday. She made a pair of second-half saves, and nice defensive plays by Fuller, Teevans and Mascari prevented late chances in the final third.
“We’ve just been playing as a team,” Kosiek said. “We’re very in sync with each other.”
“Our team motto is ‘One Team, One Spirit,’” LaMantia said. “So we’re really trying to play connected and stay together as a team.”
Youth and balance are two other key elements as the 2009 Class 2A state champions and 2011 state qualifiers hope to recapture past glory with a new formula.
“We start one senior,” Underwood said. “The difference between this team and some of those in the past is that for a number of years, I think five out of seven, we had an all-state player. Some of these young girls might be, but we don’t have that one standout player. What we have now is more depth across the board.
“I don’t know who’s going to be the conference player of the year off of our team. That’s a great problem to have, that depth and balance. And given the fact that we’re young, I’m very excited about that.”
A conference championship is only the start.
“That’s always been our goal since the beginning of the season,” LaMantia said. “It’s the first step to hopefully make a long playoff run.”
Re-starting lineups
Glenbard South
GK: Allison Jordan
D: Terra Glab
D: Sarah Cohen
D: Marlena Benner
D: Andrea Rose
M: Fiona Van Teylingen
M: Sarah Ziegler
M: Alexis Rico
M: Jennifer Larson
F: Alejandra Villasenor
F: Bridget Pyle
Wheaton Academy
GK: Liana Ledesma
D: Molly Thorson
D: Emmerson Fuller
D: Izzy McNally
D: Britta Cassel
M: Jamie Netzley
M: Gabi LaMantia
M: Emily Mascari
M: Anna Joy Setran
F: Gretchen Pearson
F: Erin Teevans
MVP of Match: Gabi LaMantia, M, Wheaton Academy
Warriors beat Glenbard South after 23-day wait
By Dave Owen
WEST CHICAGO - After a storm suspended Wheaton Academy's match against Glenbard South on April 9, the Warriors enjoyed a delayed victory celebration Saturday.
Rough weather forced the suspension of the game after Wheaton Academy built a 3-0 and 22:18 left in the first half.
The tone of completion of the final 62 minutes was different, with sunny skies and a strong defensive effort by the visiting Raiders. But Wheaton Academy (12-3, 6-0) was seldom threatened and sealed the Metro Suburban Conference title with a 4-0 win.
“Overall I’m really pleased with how we played,” said Warriors coach Dave Underwood. “We knew this was a little bit of a dangerous game, just from the standpoint that it would be really easy to come out here up 3-0 and just go through the motions.
“I didn’t think our girls did that at all. They played with energy and intensity and got after it. They didn’t give them any good opportunities to score, maybe one half chance. They did exactly what we asked them to do.”
The April 9 portion of the game was dominated by Wheaton Academy’s Gabi LaMantia. After Jamie Netzley’s goal (assisted by Gretchen Pearson) had given the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match LaMantia scored two goals in a three-minute span gave the Warriors a 3-0 lead 11 minutes in.
“It was a rainy day (April 9) and the ball skipped a lot,” LaMantia recalled. “The first goal I shot it with my left foot and the ball took a good bounce. The second one Izzy McNally ran down the left and then cut it back, passed it back to me at the top of the box and I was able to put a foot on it.”
Picking up where they left off wasn’t easy for the Warriors, as Glenbard South (5-7-1) put up a defensive wall to deny numerous great threats.
“We were significantly better defensively than the first time,” Raiders coach Glen Eggert said. “We’re pretty inexperienced, so every day they prepare makes them better. And today’s effort is indicative of the improvements they’ve made in their game.
“We weathered the first five minutes and then our girls started to play. I was proud of them. They’re playing with more desire and more intensity trying to win balls, and definitely their organization is significantly better than when we were first trying to patch everyone together.”
The Warriors produced an immediate wave of chances with the resumption of play Saturday.
The first great threat came 14:40 before halftime. Pearson’s initial 10-yard shot was blocked at the post by Raider goalkeeper Allison Jordan. Defender Marlena Benner then blocked a point-blank rebound attempt by LaMantia to deny her bid for a hat trick.
Jordan made a save on Anna Joy Setran’s low 15-yard shot. Then with 7:55 left in the half, Emily Mascari’s block of a Raider corner kick ignited a quick end-to-end counterattack that ended with Jordan’s stop of a Netzley 18-yard drive.
“We felt like we created a lot of chances,” Underwood said. “But the last couple of games we’ve been struggling a little with our final touch, the one going on goal.
“We tend to be not as intentional and precise as I’d like in our finishing. She (Jordan) is a good goalkeeper, and if you just hit in on frame she’s going to make the save. You have to look up, have composure and be intentional about where you’re placing the ball. But I’d be far more concerned if we weren’t creating shots.”
The Warrior shots kept coming in the first 10 minutes of the second half. McNally lined a 28-yarder over the net, then Jordan blocked a 20-yard try by Netzley.
The frustration peaked with 22:20 left when Setran’s 18-yarder clanged off the crossbar, and Emmerson Fuller’s header off an Erin Teevans corner kick five minutes later went just over the net.
The Warriors finally scored their first goal of the day with just 3:25 left, on a nice finish by sophomore Holland Kosiek into the upper corner of the net.
“There was a great ball out to Britta (Cassel),” Kosiek said. “She just carried it down the line, set it up to Jamie (Netzley) and Jamie laid it off perfectly to me. I was able to go far corner.”
That late goal was the only crack in the Raiders’ defensive effort.
“It was a shame to have a little lapse at the end,” Eggert said, “but the truth is I was only playing 13 players today. We lost our primary impact player Taylor Ray from the (April 9 start) to this, and she’s a kid who can really wreak havoc with balls in behind.
“But the girls were still creating opportunities. I was proud of the way they picked up that slack from her as well.”
Kosiek’s finished opportunity Saturday was her latest highlight.
“Holland Kosiek is good at playing that attacking center mid,” Underwood said. “We started her at an outside back to get her comfortable and then moved her inside, and she’s really grown into the game and is playing at a pace that we like. She scored in the last game as well. It’s nice to see her hard work being rewarded.”
Underwood also praised the offensive play of freshman Teevans (“she leads us with 13 or 14 goals,” he said) and Pearson.
“Gretchen Pearson has been outstanding for us,” he said. “She doesn’t have near the goals she had last year, but her assists...she creates so much for us on the outside. She’s been playing really well.”
The Warrior defense has allowed just one goal in conference play, and goalkeeper Liana Ledesma’s emergence has been a big reason.
“That’s her first year playing goalkeeper,” Underwood said. “Unbelievable. She’s done really well this year.”
When tested, Ledesma and the Warrior defense came through Saturday. She made a pair of second-half saves, and nice defensive plays by Fuller, Teevans and Mascari prevented late chances in the final third.
“We’ve just been playing as a team,” Kosiek said. “We’re very in sync with each other.”
“Our team motto is ‘One Team, One Spirit,’” LaMantia said. “So we’re really trying to play connected and stay together as a team.”
Youth and balance are two other key elements as the 2009 Class 2A state champions and 2011 state qualifiers hope to recapture past glory with a new formula.
“We start one senior,” Underwood said. “The difference between this team and some of those in the past is that for a number of years, I think five out of seven, we had an all-state player. Some of these young girls might be, but we don’t have that one standout player. What we have now is more depth across the board.
“I don’t know who’s going to be the conference player of the year off of our team. That’s a great problem to have, that depth and balance. And given the fact that we’re young, I’m very excited about that.”
A conference championship is only the start.
“That’s always been our goal since the beginning of the season,” LaMantia said. “It’s the first step to hopefully make a long playoff run.”
Re-starting lineups
Glenbard South
GK: Allison Jordan
D: Terra Glab
D: Sarah Cohen
D: Marlena Benner
D: Andrea Rose
M: Fiona Van Teylingen
M: Sarah Ziegler
M: Alexis Rico
M: Jennifer Larson
F: Alejandra Villasenor
F: Bridget Pyle
Wheaton Academy
GK: Liana Ledesma
D: Molly Thorson
D: Emmerson Fuller
D: Izzy McNally
D: Britta Cassel
M: Jamie Netzley
M: Gabi LaMantia
M: Emily Mascari
M: Anna Joy Setran
F: Gretchen Pearson
F: Erin Teevans
MVP of Match: Gabi LaMantia, M, Wheaton Academy