W. Aurora nets important win over Bartlett
Blackhawks get a leg up in Upstate 8 race
By Steve Nemeth
AURORA -- Since the 2015 revamp of the Upstate Eight Conference, West Aurora has endured one close loss after another to a Bartlett program that lately has always figured into the league championship picture.
Coach Laura Wagley’s Blackhawks (10-4-1, 5-1-1) had a breakthrough victory Monday and the significance of the 2-0 home triumph could grow in importance.
And that’s not to say Bartlett (6-9-2, 4-2-0) is out of the running for the title, but the Hawks must take care of business and scoreboard watch hoping for some help.
The evening began with South Elgin surprisingly atop the UEC with a 4-0-2 conference record still having to play three more loop matches -- all on the road.
Yes, the Storm drew more than a few double-takes with a runnerup finish in the Knights Invitational at Prospect which vaulted them into the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. South Elgin posted a shocking 2-0 upset of Glenbard East (still UEC relevant at 3-1-1), however, the Storm then squeaked by Larkin (4-3) and lost to Wheaton Academy 2-0 -- two programs also trying to build win streaks. That accounted for South Elgin’s drop into the honorable mention ranks, one rung above Glenbard East.
To remain in the ratings, South Elgin (9-3-2) faces a daunting gauntlet of playing at Bartlett on Wednesday, at Glenbard South (9-3-1, 3-1-1) on Monday (May 6), plus the regular-season conclusion at West Aurora on May 8.
Should Bartlett prevail over the Storm, the Hawks need to add road victories against lower-half standings dwellers Elgin and Streamwood for a maximum 7-2-0 showing. That’s Bartlett’s hope for at least sharing a title as the Hawks did with Glenbard East for the two previous years when the Upstate eight had a Valley Division.
In both of those campaigns, West Aurora had to settle for third place finishes at 3-1-1 with the lone setback being a season finale loss to Bartlett. So was this match circled on the Blackhawks calendar?
“Not really. We didn’t build it up too much, because the reality is we’d still have two more conference matches left,” Wagley said. “Usually we’d finish with Bartlett, and we were aware of how they’d beaten us and kept us from being conference champs. But the aim today was to get another UEC victory and then focus on getting two more.”
Achieving one more victory will also be a milestone on its own. If the Blackhawks beat visiing crosstown rival East Aurora (0-7-0 UEC) on Wednesday, Wagley will collect her 100th coaching win. That would bring her career ledger to 100-99-25 -- a long way from her inaugural 2010 campaign that ended 4-19-2.
That’s the one and only time that Wagley’s teams didn’t register eight or more victories. The Blackhawks make a nonconference visit to honorable mention-ranked Metea Valley on Friday, and then hope for a showdown finish versus South Elgin. That brings us back to the UEC tangle with Bartlett.
“We knew going in it was a big game in the sense that we needed to do A-B-C. So without beating them, it could impact matches with East (Aurora) and South (Elgin),” explained Olivia McPherson, whose two goals against the Hawks earned her Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match status. “However, we were aware of previous losses to them, so this was a nice win for our seniors.”
Last year Bartlett used a Mikayla Brown second half strike to earn a 1-0 win over the Blackhawks. In 2017, the Hawks captured a 3-1 victory in their visit to Aurora; and the two previous seasons also included one-goal triumphs for Bartlett.
“While we were aware of the losses to them, our view was they were the first of three (league) matches we have to win to achieve our goal of a conference title,” senior Audrey Stephens said. “I think our success this year is a result of everyone on the roster. All our returnees learned what we needed to do from last year’s seniors, so we’ve done our part and pushed the younger players as well to help.”
West Aurora got off to an aggressive start as Bartlett senior defender Abigail Hawes had to make a defensive clear from just off the goal line less than a minute into the match. Three minutes in saw Blackhawks scoring leader Stephens with an opportunity that sailed high and a little wide. Then Olivia McPherson had a cross aimed for sister Kiara McPherson, but the Hawks’ Kaley Kowal stepped into the passing lane to cut off that threat.
But there was no stopping the Blackhawks at 14:12 when Stephens picked up her seventh assist for the year (to go with a team-best 13 goals for 33 points). She fed the ball to Olivia McPherson for a 15-yarder parked inside the right post.
“It started with Kiara getting the ball out wide to Audrey near the end line,” Olivia recalled. “She slipped it back to the top of the box so I could take a touch with my right foot and then left-foot the shot for the corner.”
Less than a minute later, Bartlett hoped it had a quick response. However, Maddie Donnelly’s 31-yard rocket shot kept rising and flew above the crossbar.
The Blackhawks bench thought Olivia McPherson had scored again with a right-wing try that caromed down off the field goal crossbar and ruffled the back side of the netting.
Bartlett’s Tess Evans launched an attempt from the left side that didn’t curve in and instead went past the far post on the right. West’s Stephens put another one off the field goal crossbar, but the Blackhawks still had their 1-0 lead at halftime. For the first nine matches of the season and in two of the next three games, the Blackhawks had opening goals but discovered that was no guarantee of victory.
Perhaps fueled by that fact, West Aurora started the second half just as aggressively. Gracie Prather earned her sixth assist with a quick pass to the far right where Olivia McPherson had open space to operate. Despite advancing on a difficult angle, the junior was able to curve the ball around Bartlett goalie Jessica Hill and inside the far left post a mere 1:49 after intermission. The two goals brought her season total to 11; the total ncludes four game-winners.
“Gracie played a great ball over their defenders. Once I got control I was able to get my hips around for a good shot,” McPherson said before a shy grin accentuated her response to the question “Were you specifically trying for the right English on the attempt”? “Actually, my sister and I have been messing around recently with curving the ball, either as a pass or a shot.”
Trailing by two was an immediate wake-up call for Bartlett and the onus was on West Aurora to respond to the push.
“Good communication was the key to helping us out when it came to their attack,” Blackhawks senior defender Isela Chavez said. “It’s important to simply stay calm, keep battling, and always go hard.”
Bartlett's Brown tried a chip shot that unfortunately dipped only after it passed the crossbar and landed on the back side of the net. Donnelly had a textbook cross that West goalie Maddie Russell cleared. Another Donnelly try was too high and a well-placed corner kick by Brown was headed directly into Russell’s arms.
With 30 minutes still to play, West made a counter attack, but Hawks keeper Hill rushed out to cover the ball before Stephens could get there. Bartlett’s Evans then pivoted to the middle and cranked an attempt from 26 yards that was also denied. Another Hawks corner kick was potentially dangerous until West’s defense booted the ball away. Brown made a strong pass to Evans, but that try also narrowly missed to the right.
“The difficult thing is that we really can compete with good teams, but we just struggle to finish,” Bartlett coach Vince Revak lamented. “We have to stop burying ourselves with mistakes. Even though we talk about it, we made some of the same mistakes over and over.
“Credit to West Aurora, they’re having a great year and halfway through the season, we identified them as one of the teams we’d be battling,” Revak noted. “We seem to be missing the last piece to our puzzle. Whether it’s that extra five percent, or realizing that every second is critical, we shoot ourselves in the foot. Today I didn’t feel we had too many quality chances.”
There was no shortage of disappointment and frustration for Bartlett. It was painfully evident as the Hawks lineup left the field, removed their cleats and gathered belongings after the match.
“Our record really doesn’t define our team,” Bartlett’s Paige Bednarke stated emphatically. “People may continue to look past us because we’re relatively young, but our unity is solid. We may still be searching for that one element, but when it finally clicks, I know we’ll make the comebacks or find that extra momentum to push us into a win.”
Bednarke, who was tabbled as a Chicagoland Soccer Player to Watch this season, is the bedrock of the Bartlett defense. Her absence for a series of games forced a number of lineup shuffles. Her presence and senior leadership is a stabilizing factor the Hawks can build upon in their quest for momentum to stay in the UEC race and prep for the postseason.
Both programs put the emphasis on the remaining matches in order to build momentum for the always difficult postseason. Although assigned to different sectional groupings, both schools can expect major roadblocks. In three of the last four campaigns, Bartlett lost a regional title match. The lone exception was 2016 when the Hawks topped Batavia for a regional crown, only to lose a sectional semi to St. Charles North, which also vanquished them in the 2018 regional.
West Aurora fell short in last year’s regional against Naperville North. In 2017, the Blackhawks topped Naperville Central to earn a regional plaque, but then lost a sectional semi to the Huskies.
Both powerhouse North teams -- St. Charles and Naperville -- are potential regional final opponents once again to Bartlett and West Aurora, respectively.
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK Jessica Hill
D Abigail Hawes
D Sabrina Fowler
D Paige Bednarke
D Kaley Kowal
M Mikayla Brown
M Morgan Myers
M Maddie Donnelly
M Christina Mondelli
F Serena Salvato
F Tess Evans
West Aurora
GK Madison Russell
D Mackenzie Thompson
D Lizzy Kuhn
D Krystal Diaz
D Isela Chavez
M Sarai Munoz
M Gracie Prather
M Yuvia Ontiveros
F Kiara McPherson
F Audrey Stephens
F Olivia McPherson
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Olivia McPherson, jr. MF, West Aurora
Officials: Doug Neufeldt (center), Manny Mbende, Jose Gonzalez
Game summary
West Aurora 2, Bartlett 0
Bartlett 0 0 -- 0 (6-9-2, 4-2-0)
West Aurora 1 1 -- 2 (10-4-1, 5-1-1)
Scoring
First half
WA: O. McPherson 15-yarder inside right post (Stephens assist), 14:12 gone
Second half
WA: O. McPherson 17-yard kick curved inside far left post (Prather assist), 41:49 gone
Shots
B 5 – 8 -- 13
WA 7 – 4 --- 11
Shots on goal
B 3 – 2 -- 5
WA 4 – 4 -- 8
Saves (goalie)
B (Hill, 2; 1 by defender) 3 – 3 -- 6
WA (Russell) 3 – 2 -- 5
Corner kicks
B 0 – 4 -- 4
WA 0 – 2 -- 2
Offsides
B 0 – 1 -- 1
WA 0 – 0 -- 0
Blackhawks get a leg up in Upstate 8 race
By Steve Nemeth
AURORA -- Since the 2015 revamp of the Upstate Eight Conference, West Aurora has endured one close loss after another to a Bartlett program that lately has always figured into the league championship picture.
Coach Laura Wagley’s Blackhawks (10-4-1, 5-1-1) had a breakthrough victory Monday and the significance of the 2-0 home triumph could grow in importance.
And that’s not to say Bartlett (6-9-2, 4-2-0) is out of the running for the title, but the Hawks must take care of business and scoreboard watch hoping for some help.
The evening began with South Elgin surprisingly atop the UEC with a 4-0-2 conference record still having to play three more loop matches -- all on the road.
Yes, the Storm drew more than a few double-takes with a runnerup finish in the Knights Invitational at Prospect which vaulted them into the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. South Elgin posted a shocking 2-0 upset of Glenbard East (still UEC relevant at 3-1-1), however, the Storm then squeaked by Larkin (4-3) and lost to Wheaton Academy 2-0 -- two programs also trying to build win streaks. That accounted for South Elgin’s drop into the honorable mention ranks, one rung above Glenbard East.
To remain in the ratings, South Elgin (9-3-2) faces a daunting gauntlet of playing at Bartlett on Wednesday, at Glenbard South (9-3-1, 3-1-1) on Monday (May 6), plus the regular-season conclusion at West Aurora on May 8.
Should Bartlett prevail over the Storm, the Hawks need to add road victories against lower-half standings dwellers Elgin and Streamwood for a maximum 7-2-0 showing. That’s Bartlett’s hope for at least sharing a title as the Hawks did with Glenbard East for the two previous years when the Upstate eight had a Valley Division.
In both of those campaigns, West Aurora had to settle for third place finishes at 3-1-1 with the lone setback being a season finale loss to Bartlett. So was this match circled on the Blackhawks calendar?
“Not really. We didn’t build it up too much, because the reality is we’d still have two more conference matches left,” Wagley said. “Usually we’d finish with Bartlett, and we were aware of how they’d beaten us and kept us from being conference champs. But the aim today was to get another UEC victory and then focus on getting two more.”
Achieving one more victory will also be a milestone on its own. If the Blackhawks beat visiing crosstown rival East Aurora (0-7-0 UEC) on Wednesday, Wagley will collect her 100th coaching win. That would bring her career ledger to 100-99-25 -- a long way from her inaugural 2010 campaign that ended 4-19-2.
That’s the one and only time that Wagley’s teams didn’t register eight or more victories. The Blackhawks make a nonconference visit to honorable mention-ranked Metea Valley on Friday, and then hope for a showdown finish versus South Elgin. That brings us back to the UEC tangle with Bartlett.
“We knew going in it was a big game in the sense that we needed to do A-B-C. So without beating them, it could impact matches with East (Aurora) and South (Elgin),” explained Olivia McPherson, whose two goals against the Hawks earned her Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match status. “However, we were aware of previous losses to them, so this was a nice win for our seniors.”
Last year Bartlett used a Mikayla Brown second half strike to earn a 1-0 win over the Blackhawks. In 2017, the Hawks captured a 3-1 victory in their visit to Aurora; and the two previous seasons also included one-goal triumphs for Bartlett.
“While we were aware of the losses to them, our view was they were the first of three (league) matches we have to win to achieve our goal of a conference title,” senior Audrey Stephens said. “I think our success this year is a result of everyone on the roster. All our returnees learned what we needed to do from last year’s seniors, so we’ve done our part and pushed the younger players as well to help.”
West Aurora got off to an aggressive start as Bartlett senior defender Abigail Hawes had to make a defensive clear from just off the goal line less than a minute into the match. Three minutes in saw Blackhawks scoring leader Stephens with an opportunity that sailed high and a little wide. Then Olivia McPherson had a cross aimed for sister Kiara McPherson, but the Hawks’ Kaley Kowal stepped into the passing lane to cut off that threat.
But there was no stopping the Blackhawks at 14:12 when Stephens picked up her seventh assist for the year (to go with a team-best 13 goals for 33 points). She fed the ball to Olivia McPherson for a 15-yarder parked inside the right post.
“It started with Kiara getting the ball out wide to Audrey near the end line,” Olivia recalled. “She slipped it back to the top of the box so I could take a touch with my right foot and then left-foot the shot for the corner.”
Less than a minute later, Bartlett hoped it had a quick response. However, Maddie Donnelly’s 31-yard rocket shot kept rising and flew above the crossbar.
The Blackhawks bench thought Olivia McPherson had scored again with a right-wing try that caromed down off the field goal crossbar and ruffled the back side of the netting.
Bartlett’s Tess Evans launched an attempt from the left side that didn’t curve in and instead went past the far post on the right. West’s Stephens put another one off the field goal crossbar, but the Blackhawks still had their 1-0 lead at halftime. For the first nine matches of the season and in two of the next three games, the Blackhawks had opening goals but discovered that was no guarantee of victory.
Perhaps fueled by that fact, West Aurora started the second half just as aggressively. Gracie Prather earned her sixth assist with a quick pass to the far right where Olivia McPherson had open space to operate. Despite advancing on a difficult angle, the junior was able to curve the ball around Bartlett goalie Jessica Hill and inside the far left post a mere 1:49 after intermission. The two goals brought her season total to 11; the total ncludes four game-winners.
“Gracie played a great ball over their defenders. Once I got control I was able to get my hips around for a good shot,” McPherson said before a shy grin accentuated her response to the question “Were you specifically trying for the right English on the attempt”? “Actually, my sister and I have been messing around recently with curving the ball, either as a pass or a shot.”
Trailing by two was an immediate wake-up call for Bartlett and the onus was on West Aurora to respond to the push.
“Good communication was the key to helping us out when it came to their attack,” Blackhawks senior defender Isela Chavez said. “It’s important to simply stay calm, keep battling, and always go hard.”
Bartlett's Brown tried a chip shot that unfortunately dipped only after it passed the crossbar and landed on the back side of the net. Donnelly had a textbook cross that West goalie Maddie Russell cleared. Another Donnelly try was too high and a well-placed corner kick by Brown was headed directly into Russell’s arms.
With 30 minutes still to play, West made a counter attack, but Hawks keeper Hill rushed out to cover the ball before Stephens could get there. Bartlett’s Evans then pivoted to the middle and cranked an attempt from 26 yards that was also denied. Another Hawks corner kick was potentially dangerous until West’s defense booted the ball away. Brown made a strong pass to Evans, but that try also narrowly missed to the right.
“The difficult thing is that we really can compete with good teams, but we just struggle to finish,” Bartlett coach Vince Revak lamented. “We have to stop burying ourselves with mistakes. Even though we talk about it, we made some of the same mistakes over and over.
“Credit to West Aurora, they’re having a great year and halfway through the season, we identified them as one of the teams we’d be battling,” Revak noted. “We seem to be missing the last piece to our puzzle. Whether it’s that extra five percent, or realizing that every second is critical, we shoot ourselves in the foot. Today I didn’t feel we had too many quality chances.”
There was no shortage of disappointment and frustration for Bartlett. It was painfully evident as the Hawks lineup left the field, removed their cleats and gathered belongings after the match.
“Our record really doesn’t define our team,” Bartlett’s Paige Bednarke stated emphatically. “People may continue to look past us because we’re relatively young, but our unity is solid. We may still be searching for that one element, but when it finally clicks, I know we’ll make the comebacks or find that extra momentum to push us into a win.”
Bednarke, who was tabbled as a Chicagoland Soccer Player to Watch this season, is the bedrock of the Bartlett defense. Her absence for a series of games forced a number of lineup shuffles. Her presence and senior leadership is a stabilizing factor the Hawks can build upon in their quest for momentum to stay in the UEC race and prep for the postseason.
Both programs put the emphasis on the remaining matches in order to build momentum for the always difficult postseason. Although assigned to different sectional groupings, both schools can expect major roadblocks. In three of the last four campaigns, Bartlett lost a regional title match. The lone exception was 2016 when the Hawks topped Batavia for a regional crown, only to lose a sectional semi to St. Charles North, which also vanquished them in the 2018 regional.
West Aurora fell short in last year’s regional against Naperville North. In 2017, the Blackhawks topped Naperville Central to earn a regional plaque, but then lost a sectional semi to the Huskies.
Both powerhouse North teams -- St. Charles and Naperville -- are potential regional final opponents once again to Bartlett and West Aurora, respectively.
Starting lineups
Bartlett
GK Jessica Hill
D Abigail Hawes
D Sabrina Fowler
D Paige Bednarke
D Kaley Kowal
M Mikayla Brown
M Morgan Myers
M Maddie Donnelly
M Christina Mondelli
F Serena Salvato
F Tess Evans
West Aurora
GK Madison Russell
D Mackenzie Thompson
D Lizzy Kuhn
D Krystal Diaz
D Isela Chavez
M Sarai Munoz
M Gracie Prather
M Yuvia Ontiveros
F Kiara McPherson
F Audrey Stephens
F Olivia McPherson
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Olivia McPherson, jr. MF, West Aurora
Officials: Doug Neufeldt (center), Manny Mbende, Jose Gonzalez
Game summary
West Aurora 2, Bartlett 0
Bartlett 0 0 -- 0 (6-9-2, 4-2-0)
West Aurora 1 1 -- 2 (10-4-1, 5-1-1)
Scoring
First half
WA: O. McPherson 15-yarder inside right post (Stephens assist), 14:12 gone
Second half
WA: O. McPherson 17-yard kick curved inside far left post (Prather assist), 41:49 gone
Shots
B 5 – 8 -- 13
WA 7 – 4 --- 11
Shots on goal
B 3 – 2 -- 5
WA 4 – 4 -- 8
Saves (goalie)
B (Hill, 2; 1 by defender) 3 – 3 -- 6
WA (Russell) 3 – 2 -- 5
Corner kicks
B 0 – 4 -- 4
WA 0 – 2 -- 2
Offsides
B 0 – 1 -- 1
WA 0 – 0 -- 0