Wheaton Warrenville S. earns
another shot against Wheaton N.
Fank's 4-goal frenzy leads Tigers
over W. Chicago in regional opener
By Derek Wolff
WHEATON -- West Chicago's Kayla Kirkwood headed in a beautiful ball off a free kick, and for a split second halfway through the first half, the Wildcats pulled level with Wheaton Warrenville South.
A blink later, the Tigers (12-7-2) regained control when Alexis Jakuszewski scored the game-winner in what turned into a 5-1 victory Tuesday night in a Wheaton North Regional semifinal.
Jakuszewski took a ball from midfielder Rachel Deeman at the 25-yard line, gained separation on a quick turn and sped into the box to finish at the 12.
“It's just nice to get back into finishing, because I haven't scored in a little bit,” Jakuszewski said. “Especially with it being the playoffs, it's nice to have that feeling after seeing the ball in the back of the net.”
The senior finished with one goal and two assists on the evening, with both her helpers setting up forward Anna Fank, who scored four times for the Tigers, including a pre-buzzerbeater with 6.3 seconds left in the first half to extend the lead to 3-1.
“It took us a little while, and I think certainly with the six seconds left and the goal that Anna scored cutting in, I think that broke them a little bit, their spirit,” said Tigers coach Guy Callipari. “I think they felt they were in the game. As long as they stayed in the game and had (Kirkwood) it gave them a chance to do something spectacular.”
The goal did help relieve some of the pressure the Tigers had put on themselves.
“Having Anna get that last goal to give us the two-goal lead, it was nice to have that little cushion so we didn't need to be on pins and needles,” Jakuszewski said. “We could still come out strong because we knew they would, so getting that next goal helped seal the deal. We were all able to play comfortable and when we're not anxious and riled up it's better for us to keep the ball, and we were able to play control. It was nice to just play soccer and play the way we're supposed to.”
Kirkwood’s marker and stellar first half forced the Tigers to routinely put two or three defenders on her, and her presence on the pitch was enough to motivate South to score more, Fank said.
“It was a little nervewracking when they scored, but I had confidence in my team and knew that we could pull through and get some more goals,” Fank said. “After halftime when we were up 3-1, we knew we had to get a few more to secure the lead.”
Fank beat her defender off the line in the 49th minute and walked in all alone, dribbling around West Chicago goalkeeper Emma Gaggioli to cement her hat-trick.
Two minutes later, she found space again, this time chipping one past Gaggioli for her fourth of the night as the Tigers extended their lead to the final 5-1.
Having watched Wheaton North take out Schaumburg in the opener of the evening, Fank and the Tigers had extra motivation heading into their match with the Wildcats.
“We just knew we had to come out super strong,” Fank said. “We didn't know much about West Chicago but we knew Wheaton North was a possibility, playing them on Friday. We wanted to redeem ourselves against them so we knew we had to come out really strong, and I just kept firing at the goal and making runs. People had their passes right to me so that was great.”
Kirkwood had a pair of close chances following Fank’s fourth goal, striking one just over the net off the goal post crossbar on a free kick in the 52nd minute and splitting the uprights above the crossbar in the 55th.
Wildcats coach J. Cesar Gomez lauded his small senior class, including Kirkwood, on leading an extremely young team. The entire roster got playing time in the loss.
“We're still in the learning process of the thing,” Gomez said. “Guy has a very quality structure to their system, and it worked for them perfectly today. I'm proud of our kids who fought all the way through it; we didn't give up.”
The Tigers are 3-0-2 in their last five games and have only given up one goal over that stretch.
“We've been, unfortunately, so depleted by injuries that we haven't been able to get into any rhythm at all,” Callipari said. “Anytime we show any continuity or understanding between three or four people, that's a major step forward.”
South will take on fifth-ranked Wheaton North at 6 p.m. Friday for the regional title.
“We're just excited to have an opportunity to maybe go another step,” Callipari said. “It will be a tough game against North. They have tremendous athletes and obviously being crosstown rivals, the emotions will be high. So it's about how you can play within those emotions and step up to the level of the game and what it deserves, so it will be exciting.”
The Falcons won the lone meeting between the pair on the season, 2-1, on a game-winning penalty kick with 29 seconds remaining back on April 7.
“It's awesome to have a second chance,” Jakuszewski said. “Losing to them was really a bitter loss. It's hard to come back from that but also that game helped fuel us for the rest of the season, helped us work harder because after that loss we needed to fix stuff. Hopefully that's what we've been building up to do, fixing everything we need to. It's going to be a good game.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK Emma Gaggioli
D Genesis Garcia
D Jessie Maldonado
D Vicki Cantu
M Stephanie Mata
M Karen Ibarra
M Katie Reitz
M Alexa Vega
F Jasmine Mendoza
F Kayla Kirkwood
F Maddie Aguilar
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Nell Rosenthal
D Allie Harvey
D Ava Fickle
D Rachel Conrady
D Julia Hildebrand
D Shannon Erhardt
M Tori Adomshick
M Alexis Jakuszewski
M Nikki Molino
M Julia Martz
F Anna Fank
MVP of the Match: Anna Fank, F, Wheaton Warrenville South
MVP of the Match: Anna Fank, WWS
another shot against Wheaton N.
Fank's 4-goal frenzy leads Tigers
over W. Chicago in regional opener
By Derek Wolff
WHEATON -- West Chicago's Kayla Kirkwood headed in a beautiful ball off a free kick, and for a split second halfway through the first half, the Wildcats pulled level with Wheaton Warrenville South.
A blink later, the Tigers (12-7-2) regained control when Alexis Jakuszewski scored the game-winner in what turned into a 5-1 victory Tuesday night in a Wheaton North Regional semifinal.
Jakuszewski took a ball from midfielder Rachel Deeman at the 25-yard line, gained separation on a quick turn and sped into the box to finish at the 12.
“It's just nice to get back into finishing, because I haven't scored in a little bit,” Jakuszewski said. “Especially with it being the playoffs, it's nice to have that feeling after seeing the ball in the back of the net.”
The senior finished with one goal and two assists on the evening, with both her helpers setting up forward Anna Fank, who scored four times for the Tigers, including a pre-buzzerbeater with 6.3 seconds left in the first half to extend the lead to 3-1.
“It took us a little while, and I think certainly with the six seconds left and the goal that Anna scored cutting in, I think that broke them a little bit, their spirit,” said Tigers coach Guy Callipari. “I think they felt they were in the game. As long as they stayed in the game and had (Kirkwood) it gave them a chance to do something spectacular.”
The goal did help relieve some of the pressure the Tigers had put on themselves.
“Having Anna get that last goal to give us the two-goal lead, it was nice to have that little cushion so we didn't need to be on pins and needles,” Jakuszewski said. “We could still come out strong because we knew they would, so getting that next goal helped seal the deal. We were all able to play comfortable and when we're not anxious and riled up it's better for us to keep the ball, and we were able to play control. It was nice to just play soccer and play the way we're supposed to.”
Kirkwood’s marker and stellar first half forced the Tigers to routinely put two or three defenders on her, and her presence on the pitch was enough to motivate South to score more, Fank said.
“It was a little nervewracking when they scored, but I had confidence in my team and knew that we could pull through and get some more goals,” Fank said. “After halftime when we were up 3-1, we knew we had to get a few more to secure the lead.”
Fank beat her defender off the line in the 49th minute and walked in all alone, dribbling around West Chicago goalkeeper Emma Gaggioli to cement her hat-trick.
Two minutes later, she found space again, this time chipping one past Gaggioli for her fourth of the night as the Tigers extended their lead to the final 5-1.
Having watched Wheaton North take out Schaumburg in the opener of the evening, Fank and the Tigers had extra motivation heading into their match with the Wildcats.
“We just knew we had to come out super strong,” Fank said. “We didn't know much about West Chicago but we knew Wheaton North was a possibility, playing them on Friday. We wanted to redeem ourselves against them so we knew we had to come out really strong, and I just kept firing at the goal and making runs. People had their passes right to me so that was great.”
Kirkwood had a pair of close chances following Fank’s fourth goal, striking one just over the net off the goal post crossbar on a free kick in the 52nd minute and splitting the uprights above the crossbar in the 55th.
Wildcats coach J. Cesar Gomez lauded his small senior class, including Kirkwood, on leading an extremely young team. The entire roster got playing time in the loss.
“We're still in the learning process of the thing,” Gomez said. “Guy has a very quality structure to their system, and it worked for them perfectly today. I'm proud of our kids who fought all the way through it; we didn't give up.”
The Tigers are 3-0-2 in their last five games and have only given up one goal over that stretch.
“We've been, unfortunately, so depleted by injuries that we haven't been able to get into any rhythm at all,” Callipari said. “Anytime we show any continuity or understanding between three or four people, that's a major step forward.”
South will take on fifth-ranked Wheaton North at 6 p.m. Friday for the regional title.
“We're just excited to have an opportunity to maybe go another step,” Callipari said. “It will be a tough game against North. They have tremendous athletes and obviously being crosstown rivals, the emotions will be high. So it's about how you can play within those emotions and step up to the level of the game and what it deserves, so it will be exciting.”
The Falcons won the lone meeting between the pair on the season, 2-1, on a game-winning penalty kick with 29 seconds remaining back on April 7.
“It's awesome to have a second chance,” Jakuszewski said. “Losing to them was really a bitter loss. It's hard to come back from that but also that game helped fuel us for the rest of the season, helped us work harder because after that loss we needed to fix stuff. Hopefully that's what we've been building up to do, fixing everything we need to. It's going to be a good game.”
Starting lineups
West Chicago
GK Emma Gaggioli
D Genesis Garcia
D Jessie Maldonado
D Vicki Cantu
M Stephanie Mata
M Karen Ibarra
M Katie Reitz
M Alexa Vega
F Jasmine Mendoza
F Kayla Kirkwood
F Maddie Aguilar
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Nell Rosenthal
D Allie Harvey
D Ava Fickle
D Rachel Conrady
D Julia Hildebrand
D Shannon Erhardt
M Tori Adomshick
M Alexis Jakuszewski
M Nikki Molino
M Julia Martz
F Anna Fank
MVP of the Match: Anna Fank, F, Wheaton Warrenville South
MVP of the Match: Anna Fank, WWS