Neuqua Valley dominates Plainfield Central
Wildcats set up marquee final with Benet
By Derek Wolff
BOLINGBROOK -- A pregame announcement blared throughout the stadium, thanking a number of sponsors, including Wilson for providing the game balls.
Neuqua Valley (14-3-2) might have argued that they were the owners of them however, dominating possession and Plainfield Central en route to a breezy 5-0 win Wednesday night in a Bolingbrook Regional semifinal.
Wildcats coach Joe Moreau said his side needed to adjust to the speed of Bolingbrook’s turf field, since Neuqua Valley plays its home games on thick grass.
“First half, we were a little off,” Moreau said. “Our turf at home, it's great if it's your lawn but it's not so great to play soccer on. The first half we were trying to find our feet and in the second we were able to play how we wanted.”
Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match Lauren Ciesla led the fifth-seeded Wildcats with four points in the game, assisting on the game-winner and scoring twice.
The University of Illinois bound senior missed three weeks due to injury earlier in the season but looked like she was in good health Wednesday.
“I guess we can say I'm fully back and healthy, so it's nice to be back on the field,” Ciesla said. “It's nice to be back out and playing.”
Neuqua Valley, ranked no. 9 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 20, set the tone early in the first half, scoring on 3-of-6 shots and forcing Central to defend its back third for the vast majority of the time.
The Wildcats didn’t waste much time getting on the board. After Jamie Goralski’s searching cross for Veda Tappin nearly put Neuqua up 1-0 in the first minute, senior defender Dannah Williams broke through in the fifth.
Williams took a pass from Ciesla inside the 18, spun and buried it past Plainfield Central’s Sophia Tuligowski.
The Purdue-bound senior chose to play at the club level last season but returned to the high school game this season and made the most of her opportunities in Game 1 of the postseason.
“Do whatever you can to try and get something on the ball,” Williams said, on her offensive mindset despite playing defense. “You want to score; it's playoffs, so don't leave any fears behind.”
Freshman midfielder Alyssa Bombacino assisted on Ciesla’s first goal in the 15th minute as Neuqua Valley continued to put the pressure on.
Ciesla’s second goal came 10 minutes later and set the Wildcats halftime cushion to 3-0.
“She's playing very, very well,” Williams said on her teammate. “Just putting things from practice into play.”
Bombacino played a ball in from the 45-yard line up into the 18 and onto the feet of defender Anna Toersloev in the 48th minute, but the latter couldn’t finish.
Neuqua Valley earned a corner from the left flag in the 52nd, with Ciesla spun a ball into traffic inside the box. Williams came barreling in and finished the play, bombing a header into the back of the net near the far post for the 4-0 lead.
“As a corner kick taker, it's nice to know you have someone like Dannah on the back of your corners,” Ciesla said. “We've been working a lot in practice on setting those up, and I just have to do my job and place it and she has to do her job and finish it. We executed in this game, and I think we did a good job with that.”
Bombacino capped things off in the 59th minute, settling down a bouncing cross from Goralski near the left side of the 18 and kneeing it into the net at the near post.
Plainfield Central coach Ken Schoen said his side was simply outplayed.
“They're a good squad, you know,” Schoen said. “I thought we were trying out there but they're fast, technical, a lot of precision with what they were doing.”
The Wildcats lost four starters to injury in the past few weeks leading to the postseason, but Schoen didn’t make any excuses and praised the work ethic of his remaining players while wishing Neuqua Valley luck.
“The girls that kept playing played hard,” Schoen said. “I think Neuqua definitely has a chance to go far in the tournament.”
The Wildcats advance to take on Benet, ranked no. 15 in the Chicagoland Soccer poll and seeded fourth in the sectional, for the regional title at 7 p.m. Friday back at Bolingbrook High School.
“Obviously they're a very good team, and they're the higher seed so hopefully we'll come out and play well and attack the goal,” Moreau said.
The gameplan will remain unchanged according to Williams.
“Just do what we did tonight. Work the ball on our feet and play quickly, going hard when we have opportunites and trying to score whenever we can,” she said.0
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK Sophia Tuligowski
D Jessica Schroeder
D Sarah Graham
D Mia Selefski
D Maddie Conroy
M Jessie Birchall
M Paige Fuller
M Amanda Arnold
M Anirae McAllister
F Bri Smith
F Erin Graefen
Neuqua Valley
GK Hannah Parrish
D Sophia Moreau
D Dannah Williams
D Tatiana Espinoza
D Nicole Mondi
M Jamie Goralski
M Veda Tappin
M Anna Toersloev
M Lauren Ciesla
F Kiley Czerwinski
F Alyssa Bombacino
MVP of the Match: Lauren Ciesla, NV, Neuqua Valley
Wildcats set up marquee final with Benet
By Derek Wolff
BOLINGBROOK -- A pregame announcement blared throughout the stadium, thanking a number of sponsors, including Wilson for providing the game balls.
Neuqua Valley (14-3-2) might have argued that they were the owners of them however, dominating possession and Plainfield Central en route to a breezy 5-0 win Wednesday night in a Bolingbrook Regional semifinal.
Wildcats coach Joe Moreau said his side needed to adjust to the speed of Bolingbrook’s turf field, since Neuqua Valley plays its home games on thick grass.
“First half, we were a little off,” Moreau said. “Our turf at home, it's great if it's your lawn but it's not so great to play soccer on. The first half we were trying to find our feet and in the second we were able to play how we wanted.”
Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match Lauren Ciesla led the fifth-seeded Wildcats with four points in the game, assisting on the game-winner and scoring twice.
The University of Illinois bound senior missed three weeks due to injury earlier in the season but looked like she was in good health Wednesday.
“I guess we can say I'm fully back and healthy, so it's nice to be back on the field,” Ciesla said. “It's nice to be back out and playing.”
Neuqua Valley, ranked no. 9 in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 20, set the tone early in the first half, scoring on 3-of-6 shots and forcing Central to defend its back third for the vast majority of the time.
The Wildcats didn’t waste much time getting on the board. After Jamie Goralski’s searching cross for Veda Tappin nearly put Neuqua up 1-0 in the first minute, senior defender Dannah Williams broke through in the fifth.
Williams took a pass from Ciesla inside the 18, spun and buried it past Plainfield Central’s Sophia Tuligowski.
The Purdue-bound senior chose to play at the club level last season but returned to the high school game this season and made the most of her opportunities in Game 1 of the postseason.
“Do whatever you can to try and get something on the ball,” Williams said, on her offensive mindset despite playing defense. “You want to score; it's playoffs, so don't leave any fears behind.”
Freshman midfielder Alyssa Bombacino assisted on Ciesla’s first goal in the 15th minute as Neuqua Valley continued to put the pressure on.
Ciesla’s second goal came 10 minutes later and set the Wildcats halftime cushion to 3-0.
“She's playing very, very well,” Williams said on her teammate. “Just putting things from practice into play.”
Bombacino played a ball in from the 45-yard line up into the 18 and onto the feet of defender Anna Toersloev in the 48th minute, but the latter couldn’t finish.
Neuqua Valley earned a corner from the left flag in the 52nd, with Ciesla spun a ball into traffic inside the box. Williams came barreling in and finished the play, bombing a header into the back of the net near the far post for the 4-0 lead.
“As a corner kick taker, it's nice to know you have someone like Dannah on the back of your corners,” Ciesla said. “We've been working a lot in practice on setting those up, and I just have to do my job and place it and she has to do her job and finish it. We executed in this game, and I think we did a good job with that.”
Bombacino capped things off in the 59th minute, settling down a bouncing cross from Goralski near the left side of the 18 and kneeing it into the net at the near post.
Plainfield Central coach Ken Schoen said his side was simply outplayed.
“They're a good squad, you know,” Schoen said. “I thought we were trying out there but they're fast, technical, a lot of precision with what they were doing.”
The Wildcats lost four starters to injury in the past few weeks leading to the postseason, but Schoen didn’t make any excuses and praised the work ethic of his remaining players while wishing Neuqua Valley luck.
“The girls that kept playing played hard,” Schoen said. “I think Neuqua definitely has a chance to go far in the tournament.”
The Wildcats advance to take on Benet, ranked no. 15 in the Chicagoland Soccer poll and seeded fourth in the sectional, for the regional title at 7 p.m. Friday back at Bolingbrook High School.
“Obviously they're a very good team, and they're the higher seed so hopefully we'll come out and play well and attack the goal,” Moreau said.
The gameplan will remain unchanged according to Williams.
“Just do what we did tonight. Work the ball on our feet and play quickly, going hard when we have opportunites and trying to score whenever we can,” she said.0
Starting lineups
Plainfield Central
GK Sophia Tuligowski
D Jessica Schroeder
D Sarah Graham
D Mia Selefski
D Maddie Conroy
M Jessie Birchall
M Paige Fuller
M Amanda Arnold
M Anirae McAllister
F Bri Smith
F Erin Graefen
Neuqua Valley
GK Hannah Parrish
D Sophia Moreau
D Dannah Williams
D Tatiana Espinoza
D Nicole Mondi
M Jamie Goralski
M Veda Tappin
M Anna Toersloev
M Lauren Ciesla
F Kiley Czerwinski
F Alyssa Bombacino
MVP of the Match: Lauren Ciesla, NV, Neuqua Valley