South Elgin cold to West Chicago
Storm wins own tournament behind 4 Struwing goals
By Matt Le Cren
STREAMWOOD – Ella Struwing claimed she wasn’t bothered by the 26-degree temperatures.
That might be because she was too busy scoring goals. The South Elgin sophomore striker was on fire in the frigid conditions Friday afternoon, bagging a career-high four goals to lead the Storm past West Chicago 5-1 in the championship game of the South Elgin Spring Fling at Millenium Field.
“Surprisingly it’s not too bad,” Struwing said. “The sun is out, which does help.
“There was one point where I was hot. I was like ‘Get this Under Armour off me.’”
West Chicago would have liked to keep Struwing off the scoreboard but couldn’t figure out how. She scored on her first three shots against the shell-shocked Wildcats defense.
It was Struwing’s second career hat trick but first in a meaningful game.
“I think for the most part, last season and this season, I would get [in position to score] and think I’m not going to make it,” Struwing said. “But this time I just got there and was like, ‘It’s going to go in,’ and I was confident and it worked.”
Struwing opened the scoring with a goal that was anything but pretty. She took a pass from Grace Franks and got off a weak dribbler from the middle of the box that got past Emma Gaggioli and trickled inside the right post at the 29:17 mark of the first half.
West Chicago (3-4), which had enjoyed the better of the play to that point, got the equalizer seven minutes later when senior Kayla Kirkwood received a short ball from Karen Ibarra just inside the top right corner of the penalty area, turned a defender and sent a perfectly placed 17-yard shot inside the left post.
It was Kirkwood’s seventh goal of the season and sixth in the past three games. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was far from enough. They mustered only three other shots and were thoroughly outplayed over the final 60 minutes.
“It’s tough because it takes teamwork,” Kirkwood said. “All of us have to come out here and work together, so it was really frustrating at times to try to do it all by myself.
“I needed help out there. I thought there were times where we could connect and do really good passes, but it didn’t work out today.”
But it worked out fine for the Storm (4-0), who seized control by scoring on its next three shots in a 2:23 span.
Struwing tallied the first two, starting with the eventual game-winner with 14:01 left.
Melissa Greco dribbled to the left baseline and sent a cross that was headed backward by a defender. Gaggioli punched the ball away but Struwing alertly volleyed it home from eight yards out.
That seemed to take the air out of the Wildcats, who conceded twice more in quick succession. Struwing completed her hat trick with 11:57 remaining on a counterattack, firing a strong finish past Gaggioli after a cross from Alyssa Kalke.
Just 29 seconds later, Greco made it 4-1 on a 23-yard bullet from just outside the circle.
“I just think they came out with that desire, that extra oomph,” Kirkwood said. “They came out wanting the game.
“I feel like that’s what we’re missing. We’ve got to want the ball, we’ve got to fight for extra inches. This game is all about inches and whoever is willing to go that extra inch is going to get that ball.
“No matter how technical you are with your skill or how fast or slow you are, whoever works the hardest, I believe, is going to come out with the win.”
South Elgin was clearly that in the latest edition of what is turning into a nice rivalry. The two teams have played each other in four-consecutive Spring Fling finals, with the Wildcats winning in 2012 and 2013 before the Storm answered with wins this year and last.
“I think a lot of us have friends on that team so it was more competitive in a different way,” Struwing said. “We won it last year and we made goals as a team this season.
“We’re like, ‘We’re going to win this tournament.’ So we all kind of came together and once we saw that we could do it, that it could happen, we all just kind of went for it.”
Struwing capped the scoring with 6:42 to go in an otherwise uneventful second half. Citali Sanchez sent a 23-yard free kick across the box to Struwing, who chipped a high-arcing 18-yard shot under the crossbar.
“This rivalry is always good,” West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez said. “I like their style of play.
“They play good soccer, aggressive soccer. It’s not that they hit you in the mouth [with fists]. They hit you in the mouth with goals.”
Until Friday, the Wildcats were scoring plenty of goals, though not consistently. They blanked Bartlett 4-0 on Wednesday and beat Elgin 5-2 on Thursday.
But Kirkwood was the only dangerous offensive player for West Chicago on Friday, and she was held to two shots -- the other being a point-blank re-direct of a Jessie Maldonado free kick which was tipped around the post by South Elgin goalie Jourdan Valkner eight minutes into the second half.
“The inconsistency has hurt us,” Gomez said. “We’re just not completely engaged in what we’re trying to do. They haven’t bought in completely yet.
“It would have been nice to go up above .500 today.”
But Gomez was pleased with the play of Ibarra in the midfield and freshman Genesis Garcia, who played well off the bench and is vying for a starting role. The Wildcats were without two starters, including junior sweeper Stephanie Mata, who was serving a one-game suspension after receiving a red card on Thursday.
Despite the loss, Kirkwood said the Wildcats learned a valuable lesson from their runner-up showing.
“I think the tournament was good because it can show you that you can’t go from one game playing up here to then come in the next game and play all the way down here,” Kirkwood said. “We’ve got to bring the same intensity every day. We’ve got to play hard every game. It can’t be whenever we want.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK: Emma Gaggioli
D: Marli Welch
D: Kimmy Diaz
D: Patty Fernandez
D: Jessie Maldonado
M: Jasmine Mendoza
M: Karen Ibarra
M: Alexa Vega
M: Maddie Aguilera
F: Alli Oglanian
F: Kayla Kirkwood
South Elgin
GK: Jourdan Valkner
D: Corinne Hildebrandt
D: Arielle Walters
D: Weronika Noyszewski
D: Alyssa Kalke
M: Melissa Greco
M: Alyssa Shipon
M: Alena Ignatev
F: Ella Struwing
F: Grace Franks
F: Citali Sanchez
MVP of the Match: Ella Struwing, F, South Elgin.
Storm wins own tournament behind 4 Struwing goals
By Matt Le Cren
STREAMWOOD – Ella Struwing claimed she wasn’t bothered by the 26-degree temperatures.
That might be because she was too busy scoring goals. The South Elgin sophomore striker was on fire in the frigid conditions Friday afternoon, bagging a career-high four goals to lead the Storm past West Chicago 5-1 in the championship game of the South Elgin Spring Fling at Millenium Field.
“Surprisingly it’s not too bad,” Struwing said. “The sun is out, which does help.
“There was one point where I was hot. I was like ‘Get this Under Armour off me.’”
West Chicago would have liked to keep Struwing off the scoreboard but couldn’t figure out how. She scored on her first three shots against the shell-shocked Wildcats defense.
It was Struwing’s second career hat trick but first in a meaningful game.
“I think for the most part, last season and this season, I would get [in position to score] and think I’m not going to make it,” Struwing said. “But this time I just got there and was like, ‘It’s going to go in,’ and I was confident and it worked.”
Struwing opened the scoring with a goal that was anything but pretty. She took a pass from Grace Franks and got off a weak dribbler from the middle of the box that got past Emma Gaggioli and trickled inside the right post at the 29:17 mark of the first half.
West Chicago (3-4), which had enjoyed the better of the play to that point, got the equalizer seven minutes later when senior Kayla Kirkwood received a short ball from Karen Ibarra just inside the top right corner of the penalty area, turned a defender and sent a perfectly placed 17-yard shot inside the left post.
It was Kirkwood’s seventh goal of the season and sixth in the past three games. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was far from enough. They mustered only three other shots and were thoroughly outplayed over the final 60 minutes.
“It’s tough because it takes teamwork,” Kirkwood said. “All of us have to come out here and work together, so it was really frustrating at times to try to do it all by myself.
“I needed help out there. I thought there were times where we could connect and do really good passes, but it didn’t work out today.”
But it worked out fine for the Storm (4-0), who seized control by scoring on its next three shots in a 2:23 span.
Struwing tallied the first two, starting with the eventual game-winner with 14:01 left.
Melissa Greco dribbled to the left baseline and sent a cross that was headed backward by a defender. Gaggioli punched the ball away but Struwing alertly volleyed it home from eight yards out.
That seemed to take the air out of the Wildcats, who conceded twice more in quick succession. Struwing completed her hat trick with 11:57 remaining on a counterattack, firing a strong finish past Gaggioli after a cross from Alyssa Kalke.
Just 29 seconds later, Greco made it 4-1 on a 23-yard bullet from just outside the circle.
“I just think they came out with that desire, that extra oomph,” Kirkwood said. “They came out wanting the game.
“I feel like that’s what we’re missing. We’ve got to want the ball, we’ve got to fight for extra inches. This game is all about inches and whoever is willing to go that extra inch is going to get that ball.
“No matter how technical you are with your skill or how fast or slow you are, whoever works the hardest, I believe, is going to come out with the win.”
South Elgin was clearly that in the latest edition of what is turning into a nice rivalry. The two teams have played each other in four-consecutive Spring Fling finals, with the Wildcats winning in 2012 and 2013 before the Storm answered with wins this year and last.
“I think a lot of us have friends on that team so it was more competitive in a different way,” Struwing said. “We won it last year and we made goals as a team this season.
“We’re like, ‘We’re going to win this tournament.’ So we all kind of came together and once we saw that we could do it, that it could happen, we all just kind of went for it.”
Struwing capped the scoring with 6:42 to go in an otherwise uneventful second half. Citali Sanchez sent a 23-yard free kick across the box to Struwing, who chipped a high-arcing 18-yard shot under the crossbar.
“This rivalry is always good,” West Chicago coach Cesar Gomez said. “I like their style of play.
“They play good soccer, aggressive soccer. It’s not that they hit you in the mouth [with fists]. They hit you in the mouth with goals.”
Until Friday, the Wildcats were scoring plenty of goals, though not consistently. They blanked Bartlett 4-0 on Wednesday and beat Elgin 5-2 on Thursday.
But Kirkwood was the only dangerous offensive player for West Chicago on Friday, and she was held to two shots -- the other being a point-blank re-direct of a Jessie Maldonado free kick which was tipped around the post by South Elgin goalie Jourdan Valkner eight minutes into the second half.
“The inconsistency has hurt us,” Gomez said. “We’re just not completely engaged in what we’re trying to do. They haven’t bought in completely yet.
“It would have been nice to go up above .500 today.”
But Gomez was pleased with the play of Ibarra in the midfield and freshman Genesis Garcia, who played well off the bench and is vying for a starting role. The Wildcats were without two starters, including junior sweeper Stephanie Mata, who was serving a one-game suspension after receiving a red card on Thursday.
Despite the loss, Kirkwood said the Wildcats learned a valuable lesson from their runner-up showing.
“I think the tournament was good because it can show you that you can’t go from one game playing up here to then come in the next game and play all the way down here,” Kirkwood said. “We’ve got to bring the same intensity every day. We’ve got to play hard every game. It can’t be whenever we want.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK: Emma Gaggioli
D: Marli Welch
D: Kimmy Diaz
D: Patty Fernandez
D: Jessie Maldonado
M: Jasmine Mendoza
M: Karen Ibarra
M: Alexa Vega
M: Maddie Aguilera
F: Alli Oglanian
F: Kayla Kirkwood
South Elgin
GK: Jourdan Valkner
D: Corinne Hildebrandt
D: Arielle Walters
D: Weronika Noyszewski
D: Alyssa Kalke
M: Melissa Greco
M: Alyssa Shipon
M: Alena Ignatev
F: Ella Struwing
F: Grace Franks
F: Citali Sanchez
MVP of the Match: Ella Struwing, F, South Elgin.