Teevans/Pearson combo shares praise, leads Wheaton Academy past IC
Dynamic duo combines for 4 goals and 3 assists in Metro win
By Matt Le Cren
WEST CHICAGO – Gretchen Pearson was explaining just how good Wheaton Academy teammate Erin Teevans is when someone tried to protest.
That person was Teevans herself, the only player who had any objection to Pearson’s description of the fleet-footed junior forward, who tallied two goals and three assists in Wheaton Academy’s 9-0 rout of IC Catholic Prep on Monday night.
“Erin is a fantastic player,” Pearson said. “We’ve been playing with each other since seventh grade. We’ve come a long away, and she is honestly one of the most talented players I know.”
Teevans’ response was as futile as it was modest.
“No, I couldn’t do any of it without her,” Teevans said. “And for the glory of God, every single time.”
But Pearson was having none of it.
“She has an insane ability to put the ball in the back of the net,” Pearson said. “She’s the best finisher I know, and so I’m happy for her.”
The Warriors (5-1-0, 3-0-0 in the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division) have much to be happy about and Teevans, and Pearson are two big reasons why.
The two combined for 52 goals last season and show no sign of slowing down. Pearson also scored twice against the Lady Knights (6-3-0, 0-1-0), as did freshman reserve Emma Goebel.
Sophomores Sophie Lindquist and A.C. Hardy and senior Rebecca Smith each scored one goal, while senior Holland Kosiek and junior Morgan Finnegan doled out assists.
“I liked the style of play tonight,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. “I thought they pulled a lot of numbers behind the ball in a good defensive structure, and we were patient.
“We moved the ball one- and two-touch, swung the ball from right to left. It was a good performance in terms of possession, so I was proud of them.”
The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes because of lightning. When it began, it was the underdog Lady Knights who had the first scoring chance when sophomore sensation Olivia Hurt momentarily took the ball away from a defender in the Warriors’ box.
The defender got it back, but freshman Abi Wagner intercepted the clearing attempt. Wagner’s quick shot sailed just wide in the third minute.
Other than a long shot from sophomore defender Suzy Maloney eight minutes later, which Chrislyn Herring saved easily, that would be the extent of IC’s offense.
But IC coach Tom Schergen was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We were very happy with the intensity we came out with,” Schergen said. “After losing 10-1 to them in the regional final last year it would be very easy for these girls to come in here and say this is going to be a blowout, but I thought in the first half they came out and competed.
“We took our entire starting lineup out with about 20 minutes left in the game. We’ve got a long season ahead of us, and we know what our goal is in 1A. No need to get someone hurt in this game.”
Indeed, the Lady Knights’ backline, led by Tess Reardon and Liz Maloney, kept the Warriors at bay for as long as they could, and the Warriors earned their 3-0 halftime lead.
Lindquist got the Warriors on the board at the 29:38 mark, running onto a lead pass from Teevans and attacking from the left wing.
With a defender attempting to cut off the corner, Lindquist instead cut into the middle and made an extra touch to her right to get IC goalie Gabby Smola out of the way before sending a cutback shot inside the left post.
Then it was Teevans’ turn. Three minutes after just missing the left post with a quick shot, Teevans rifled a shot off the arm of a diving Smola and inside the right post to make it 2-0 with 21:59 remaining.
Teevans notched her third point of the night with 4:21 to go, sending a corner kick into traffic in front. The ball found Pearson with her back to the net, but Pearson used a poor man’s version of a bicycle kick to extend the cushion to 3-0.
Instead of falling backward, Pearson simply booted the ball up and backward and the high-arcing shot didn’t go far but it did sail over the head of Smola and bounced over the goal line.
“Honestly, I don’t know (how I did it),” Pearson said. “It was coming this way, and I just kind of flicked it up, and it went in.”
That’s the type of scrappy effort Brooke likes to see.
“She’s just been around the goal so much,” Brooke said. “She does a good job finishing.
“That’s what we’re asking her to do – finish and distribute – so for her to get a goal that’s kind of a work-rate goal like that, kind of in a scrum, is a big step.”
The Warriors weren’t entirely satisfied with their play in the first half. Some halftime adjustments, combined with a key injury to IC, helped open the floodgates after intermission.
IC midfielder Bella Leslie left the game after blocking a shot with her face late in the first half and did not return.
“I thought we played well for the first half,” Schergen said. “We had an injury towards the end there.
“(Leslie) is a big part of our midfield, so that hurt, but that is a very good soccer team. Look at their results so far. They’re beating some very good teams, and it’s a great game for us. Our girls can hopefully take a lot from it.”
The Warriors certainly showed the Lady Knights how it is done, scoring three goals in a four-shot sequence midway through the period and then on their final three shots of the game.
Teevans and Hardy scored 24 seconds apart to make it 5-0 with 19:23 to go. Goebel then tallied twice in a 34-second span before Smith capped the scoring 65 seconds later. Nearly all of those goals came on quick breakaways as the Warriors diced through the IC reserves.
“It felt like we had options on how we were attacking the goal,” Brooke said. “We would attack the goal from the middle,, then from the outside and then a big serve and a slotted ball. I was pleased with the options in the attack.”
So were the players.
“I think in the first half we kind of misjudged how fast the ball was playing,” Teevans said. “So at halftime we realized that we just needed to come out really strong and just put the ball in the net.”
Pearson said the weather played a factor.
“I think it was just regrouping at half and telling each other what we were doing wrong, because I think we just needed to work on precision and finding feet,” Pearson said. “We were a little flustered with the weather and the delay. We focused on playing to feet rather than those long balls.”
The Lady Knights are focused on getting better. They won’t face any fellow Class A teams as tough as the Warriors, who moved up to Class 2A after winning the small school state title last season,
“Our girls came out with a tremendous amount of intensity today, and that was very good to see,” Schergen said.
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep
GK Gabby Smola
D Suzy Maloney
D Liz Maloney
D Tess Reardon
D Kaitlyn Grady
D Annie Guinan
M Tessa Langan
M Grace Fuller
M Abi Wagner
F Sophie Zanoni
F Olivia Hurt
Wheaton Academy
GK Chrislyn Herring
D Emmerson Fuller
D Anah Southard
D Holland Kosiek
D Izzy McNally
D Anna Joy Setran
D Rachel Doncel
M Maggie Liechty
M Gretchen Pearson
F Erin Teevans
F Sophie Lindquist
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Erin Teevans, jr., F, Wheaton Academy
Dynamic duo combines for 4 goals and 3 assists in Metro win
By Matt Le Cren
WEST CHICAGO – Gretchen Pearson was explaining just how good Wheaton Academy teammate Erin Teevans is when someone tried to protest.
That person was Teevans herself, the only player who had any objection to Pearson’s description of the fleet-footed junior forward, who tallied two goals and three assists in Wheaton Academy’s 9-0 rout of IC Catholic Prep on Monday night.
“Erin is a fantastic player,” Pearson said. “We’ve been playing with each other since seventh grade. We’ve come a long away, and she is honestly one of the most talented players I know.”
Teevans’ response was as futile as it was modest.
“No, I couldn’t do any of it without her,” Teevans said. “And for the glory of God, every single time.”
But Pearson was having none of it.
“She has an insane ability to put the ball in the back of the net,” Pearson said. “She’s the best finisher I know, and so I’m happy for her.”
The Warriors (5-1-0, 3-0-0 in the Metro Suburban Conference Blue Division) have much to be happy about and Teevans, and Pearson are two big reasons why.
The two combined for 52 goals last season and show no sign of slowing down. Pearson also scored twice against the Lady Knights (6-3-0, 0-1-0), as did freshman reserve Emma Goebel.
Sophomores Sophie Lindquist and A.C. Hardy and senior Rebecca Smith each scored one goal, while senior Holland Kosiek and junior Morgan Finnegan doled out assists.
“I liked the style of play tonight,” Wheaton Academy coach Jeff Brooke said. “I thought they pulled a lot of numbers behind the ball in a good defensive structure, and we were patient.
“We moved the ball one- and two-touch, swung the ball from right to left. It was a good performance in terms of possession, so I was proud of them.”
The start of the game was delayed 35 minutes because of lightning. When it began, it was the underdog Lady Knights who had the first scoring chance when sophomore sensation Olivia Hurt momentarily took the ball away from a defender in the Warriors’ box.
The defender got it back, but freshman Abi Wagner intercepted the clearing attempt. Wagner’s quick shot sailed just wide in the third minute.
Other than a long shot from sophomore defender Suzy Maloney eight minutes later, which Chrislyn Herring saved easily, that would be the extent of IC’s offense.
But IC coach Tom Schergen was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We were very happy with the intensity we came out with,” Schergen said. “After losing 10-1 to them in the regional final last year it would be very easy for these girls to come in here and say this is going to be a blowout, but I thought in the first half they came out and competed.
“We took our entire starting lineup out with about 20 minutes left in the game. We’ve got a long season ahead of us, and we know what our goal is in 1A. No need to get someone hurt in this game.”
Indeed, the Lady Knights’ backline, led by Tess Reardon and Liz Maloney, kept the Warriors at bay for as long as they could, and the Warriors earned their 3-0 halftime lead.
Lindquist got the Warriors on the board at the 29:38 mark, running onto a lead pass from Teevans and attacking from the left wing.
With a defender attempting to cut off the corner, Lindquist instead cut into the middle and made an extra touch to her right to get IC goalie Gabby Smola out of the way before sending a cutback shot inside the left post.
Then it was Teevans’ turn. Three minutes after just missing the left post with a quick shot, Teevans rifled a shot off the arm of a diving Smola and inside the right post to make it 2-0 with 21:59 remaining.
Teevans notched her third point of the night with 4:21 to go, sending a corner kick into traffic in front. The ball found Pearson with her back to the net, but Pearson used a poor man’s version of a bicycle kick to extend the cushion to 3-0.
Instead of falling backward, Pearson simply booted the ball up and backward and the high-arcing shot didn’t go far but it did sail over the head of Smola and bounced over the goal line.
“Honestly, I don’t know (how I did it),” Pearson said. “It was coming this way, and I just kind of flicked it up, and it went in.”
That’s the type of scrappy effort Brooke likes to see.
“She’s just been around the goal so much,” Brooke said. “She does a good job finishing.
“That’s what we’re asking her to do – finish and distribute – so for her to get a goal that’s kind of a work-rate goal like that, kind of in a scrum, is a big step.”
The Warriors weren’t entirely satisfied with their play in the first half. Some halftime adjustments, combined with a key injury to IC, helped open the floodgates after intermission.
IC midfielder Bella Leslie left the game after blocking a shot with her face late in the first half and did not return.
“I thought we played well for the first half,” Schergen said. “We had an injury towards the end there.
“(Leslie) is a big part of our midfield, so that hurt, but that is a very good soccer team. Look at their results so far. They’re beating some very good teams, and it’s a great game for us. Our girls can hopefully take a lot from it.”
The Warriors certainly showed the Lady Knights how it is done, scoring three goals in a four-shot sequence midway through the period and then on their final three shots of the game.
Teevans and Hardy scored 24 seconds apart to make it 5-0 with 19:23 to go. Goebel then tallied twice in a 34-second span before Smith capped the scoring 65 seconds later. Nearly all of those goals came on quick breakaways as the Warriors diced through the IC reserves.
“It felt like we had options on how we were attacking the goal,” Brooke said. “We would attack the goal from the middle,, then from the outside and then a big serve and a slotted ball. I was pleased with the options in the attack.”
So were the players.
“I think in the first half we kind of misjudged how fast the ball was playing,” Teevans said. “So at halftime we realized that we just needed to come out really strong and just put the ball in the net.”
Pearson said the weather played a factor.
“I think it was just regrouping at half and telling each other what we were doing wrong, because I think we just needed to work on precision and finding feet,” Pearson said. “We were a little flustered with the weather and the delay. We focused on playing to feet rather than those long balls.”
The Lady Knights are focused on getting better. They won’t face any fellow Class A teams as tough as the Warriors, who moved up to Class 2A after winning the small school state title last season,
“Our girls came out with a tremendous amount of intensity today, and that was very good to see,” Schergen said.
Starting lineups
IC Catholic Prep
GK Gabby Smola
D Suzy Maloney
D Liz Maloney
D Tess Reardon
D Kaitlyn Grady
D Annie Guinan
M Tessa Langan
M Grace Fuller
M Abi Wagner
F Sophie Zanoni
F Olivia Hurt
Wheaton Academy
GK Chrislyn Herring
D Emmerson Fuller
D Anah Southard
D Holland Kosiek
D Izzy McNally
D Anna Joy Setran
D Rachel Doncel
M Maggie Liechty
M Gretchen Pearson
F Erin Teevans
F Sophie Lindquist
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Erin Teevans, jr., F, Wheaton Academy