Aderholt comes up big again,
Willowbrook holds off Fenwick
Junior keeper stands tall in 1-0 nonconference win
By Curt Herron
VILLA PARK - What a difference a couple of matches can make.
After getting off to a 5-1-0 start when it only allowed four goals, Willowbrook ran into a tough stretch where it lost three in a row and four of five matches while yielding 18 goals.
But after scoring twice in the second half to rally for a 2-1 victory over local rival Glenbard East on Friday, the Warriors got an early goal in Tuesday's nonconference home match against Fenwick and made that stand as they recorded their fifth shutout of the season and improved to 8-5-0 with a 1-0 home victory.
In the 17th minute, senior Erin Fitzgibbon sent a pass to senior Brooke Vandergrift and she connected for the match's lone goal. Junior teammate Maddie Aderholt followed up on her quality performance in the net against Glenbard East with a similar showing by making several big stops against the Friars.
With seniors Izzy Manning, Allie Knudson and Ali Vittorio and freshman Halie Ahrens providing support along the backline for Aderholt, coach Julio DelReal's Warriors were able to prevail despite Fenwick having many more good scoring chances.
"These were two difficult teams that we actually stepped up to," Vittorio said. "We had a losing streak … so we sort of modified our backline a little bit. Instead of being super flat, we have a lot more communication, and we have a better line in general. And Maddie is one of the best that we've had in a while.
"We're all very supportive, even if we're under a lot of stress. And it seems like people are getting antsy to just get better. I think that we're good at communicating and telling each other what we need to fix, like right on the spot, and we're good at listening to that and doing it immediately."
Rallying in the final half against Glenbard East and then grabbing an early lead and making it stand against Fenwick is just the type of boost that the Warriors needed after they had a rough stretch where they allowed five goals on three occasions during a five-match stretch.
"It feels really good, especially since we all know people on both of the teams we just beat," Knudson said. "We used to play with Fenwick's goalie in club and everyone from (Glenbard) East we basically know, so it's kind of good to have those little bragging rights.
“We started off a little rough. But now it's getting better, and I think we're going to keep getting better, and we'll have a strong ending to the season.
"We've been realizing that all of us need to take our criticisms to each other and just know that they're not bad things about the person, but we just want to make sure that everyone's playing good and the team is getting better. We know that we all are trying to help each other, and I think that we're getting better at that."
Shortly after Fenwick senior Kate Henige sent in the first of several first half shots toward the Willowbrook goalie, the hosts connected for the match's lone goal in the 17th minute when Fitzgibbon found Vandergrift, who fired in a liner from about 15 yards.
Over the next few minutes, the Fenwick (5-4-2) got good shots from senior Julia Cianci, sophomore Caroline Henige and Kate Henige. During the final 10 minutes of the first half, they continued to apply pressure with senior Abbie Rogowski and Kate Henige again being turned away before Vandergrift was also denied shortly before the break.
"I think that we have really excelled and progressed a lot from the beginning of the season," Cianci said. "We're kind of a young team, but we have a lot of seniors, so it's all about team chemistry and working together as a team.
"Playing against bigger schools has really helped us to progress and to get better as a team because harder competition makes us better as a team. I like our team chemistry and how the underclassmen are really good friends with the upperclassmen so that really helps the team on the field."
Early in the second half, sophomore Maddie Rogowski and Kate Henige again applied pressure on Aderholt. On the other side of the field, Warriors sophomore Emma Anderlik was stopped on the other side of the field.
As regulation play was winding down, Kate Henige threatened to score on a couple of occasions but Aderholt came up with key stops to help assure her of the shutout.
"I think that we have been progressing really well," Maddie Rogowski said. "Coach (Craig) Blazer has had us possess the ball more, which we're all not used to, especially since we're all playing on different club teams.
“And I think that our chemistry has helped a lot because we've been good at connecting balls, playing through the back and knowing when to clear the ball up and working side-to-side and having us draw them in and then playing over.
"Caroline and I both have sisters who are seniors so we have the upperclassmen-underclassmen thing going on. We make friends with the freshmen and introduce them to the juniors and seniors, and it works really well. We all get along. I like our drive. Even like today if things aren't going our way, we keep our heads up and we keep progressing. And even if we do lose, we are ready to get back to practice. We focus on what we did wrong, and we work from there."
The Friars got off to a 4-1-2 start to the season with their lone loss in that stretch a 1-0 setback at current no. 17 Oak Park and River Forest on March 23. That stretch included a 2-2 draw with no. 14 Deerfield on March 31.
Class AA Fenwick has gone 1-3-0 in its last four matches but all three losses have come to Class3A teams.
The team has five matches remaining. Two of them are in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division, where they are tied for first place with Loyola with a 3-0-0 record. The Friats plays at 3-1-0 Saint Ignatius on May 3 and visit no. 9 Loyola Academy on May 10.
The Friars plan to get back to their winning when they end a stretch of six road games at Montini on Thursday and host Proviso West on Saturday at the Priory field.
"I'm really proud of how we've progressed over the season," Caroline Henige said. "It definitely has been an adjustment coming off of last year with different players and switching our formation a little bit and how we played.
“I definitely think that over the course of the season that we've gotten to know each other better, and our style of play has progressed.
"We have to learn to deal with what the other team has. When a team has a good goalkeeper, that's just another adjustment that we need to make. We have to switch to be more offensive, and we just need to be able to finish. I think we're very hard-working, and you could definitely see at the end of the game that we wanted to get a goal.”
Willowbrook hosts West Chicago on Thursday and Ridgewood on Saturday in nonconference action. The Warriors travel to Hinsdale South and hosts Proviso East next week in West Suburban Conference Gold Division play.
"Winning really boosts my confidence and after being on a three-game losing streak, we needed this," Ahrens said. "Maddie did a wonderful job. I love her; she's great. She knows when she needs to get the ball and, she speaks very well with us and knows her job very well. She knows how to communicate with us and that helps us as a team.
"I like that we all work together and try to help each other. We always lift each other up when something bad happens. If I make a mistake, someone will say, 'It's okay. Just pick your head up and don't worry about it. We'll get it back together.' and things like that. And that helps me personally."
Starting lineups
Fenwick
GK Leah Hyland.
D Gabi Kapusta
D Emily Ortiz
D Grace Kaptsch
D Abbie Rogowski
MF Julia Cianci
MF Natalie LoGiuduce
MF Kiera Mullarkey
MF Caroline Henige
MF Maddie Rogowski
F Kate Henige
Willowbrook
G Maddie Aderholt
D Halie Ahrens
D Izzy Manning
D Allie Knudson
D Ali Vittorio
M Brooke Vandergrift
M Molly Brennan
M Mackenzie Parente
M Rachael Klamecki
F Kennedy Vannoy
F Erin Fitzgibbon
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Maddie Aderholt, jr., GK, Willowbrook
Scoring summary
First half
W: Brooke Vandergrift (Erin Fitzgibbon), 17th
Second half
No scoring
Willowbrook holds off Fenwick
Junior keeper stands tall in 1-0 nonconference win
By Curt Herron
VILLA PARK - What a difference a couple of matches can make.
After getting off to a 5-1-0 start when it only allowed four goals, Willowbrook ran into a tough stretch where it lost three in a row and four of five matches while yielding 18 goals.
But after scoring twice in the second half to rally for a 2-1 victory over local rival Glenbard East on Friday, the Warriors got an early goal in Tuesday's nonconference home match against Fenwick and made that stand as they recorded their fifth shutout of the season and improved to 8-5-0 with a 1-0 home victory.
In the 17th minute, senior Erin Fitzgibbon sent a pass to senior Brooke Vandergrift and she connected for the match's lone goal. Junior teammate Maddie Aderholt followed up on her quality performance in the net against Glenbard East with a similar showing by making several big stops against the Friars.
With seniors Izzy Manning, Allie Knudson and Ali Vittorio and freshman Halie Ahrens providing support along the backline for Aderholt, coach Julio DelReal's Warriors were able to prevail despite Fenwick having many more good scoring chances.
"These were two difficult teams that we actually stepped up to," Vittorio said. "We had a losing streak … so we sort of modified our backline a little bit. Instead of being super flat, we have a lot more communication, and we have a better line in general. And Maddie is one of the best that we've had in a while.
"We're all very supportive, even if we're under a lot of stress. And it seems like people are getting antsy to just get better. I think that we're good at communicating and telling each other what we need to fix, like right on the spot, and we're good at listening to that and doing it immediately."
Rallying in the final half against Glenbard East and then grabbing an early lead and making it stand against Fenwick is just the type of boost that the Warriors needed after they had a rough stretch where they allowed five goals on three occasions during a five-match stretch.
"It feels really good, especially since we all know people on both of the teams we just beat," Knudson said. "We used to play with Fenwick's goalie in club and everyone from (Glenbard) East we basically know, so it's kind of good to have those little bragging rights.
“We started off a little rough. But now it's getting better, and I think we're going to keep getting better, and we'll have a strong ending to the season.
"We've been realizing that all of us need to take our criticisms to each other and just know that they're not bad things about the person, but we just want to make sure that everyone's playing good and the team is getting better. We know that we all are trying to help each other, and I think that we're getting better at that."
Shortly after Fenwick senior Kate Henige sent in the first of several first half shots toward the Willowbrook goalie, the hosts connected for the match's lone goal in the 17th minute when Fitzgibbon found Vandergrift, who fired in a liner from about 15 yards.
Over the next few minutes, the Fenwick (5-4-2) got good shots from senior Julia Cianci, sophomore Caroline Henige and Kate Henige. During the final 10 minutes of the first half, they continued to apply pressure with senior Abbie Rogowski and Kate Henige again being turned away before Vandergrift was also denied shortly before the break.
"I think that we have really excelled and progressed a lot from the beginning of the season," Cianci said. "We're kind of a young team, but we have a lot of seniors, so it's all about team chemistry and working together as a team.
"Playing against bigger schools has really helped us to progress and to get better as a team because harder competition makes us better as a team. I like our team chemistry and how the underclassmen are really good friends with the upperclassmen so that really helps the team on the field."
Early in the second half, sophomore Maddie Rogowski and Kate Henige again applied pressure on Aderholt. On the other side of the field, Warriors sophomore Emma Anderlik was stopped on the other side of the field.
As regulation play was winding down, Kate Henige threatened to score on a couple of occasions but Aderholt came up with key stops to help assure her of the shutout.
"I think that we have been progressing really well," Maddie Rogowski said. "Coach (Craig) Blazer has had us possess the ball more, which we're all not used to, especially since we're all playing on different club teams.
“And I think that our chemistry has helped a lot because we've been good at connecting balls, playing through the back and knowing when to clear the ball up and working side-to-side and having us draw them in and then playing over.
"Caroline and I both have sisters who are seniors so we have the upperclassmen-underclassmen thing going on. We make friends with the freshmen and introduce them to the juniors and seniors, and it works really well. We all get along. I like our drive. Even like today if things aren't going our way, we keep our heads up and we keep progressing. And even if we do lose, we are ready to get back to practice. We focus on what we did wrong, and we work from there."
The Friars got off to a 4-1-2 start to the season with their lone loss in that stretch a 1-0 setback at current no. 17 Oak Park and River Forest on March 23. That stretch included a 2-2 draw with no. 14 Deerfield on March 31.
Class AA Fenwick has gone 1-3-0 in its last four matches but all three losses have come to Class3A teams.
The team has five matches remaining. Two of them are in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference Red Division, where they are tied for first place with Loyola with a 3-0-0 record. The Friats plays at 3-1-0 Saint Ignatius on May 3 and visit no. 9 Loyola Academy on May 10.
The Friars plan to get back to their winning when they end a stretch of six road games at Montini on Thursday and host Proviso West on Saturday at the Priory field.
"I'm really proud of how we've progressed over the season," Caroline Henige said. "It definitely has been an adjustment coming off of last year with different players and switching our formation a little bit and how we played.
“I definitely think that over the course of the season that we've gotten to know each other better, and our style of play has progressed.
"We have to learn to deal with what the other team has. When a team has a good goalkeeper, that's just another adjustment that we need to make. We have to switch to be more offensive, and we just need to be able to finish. I think we're very hard-working, and you could definitely see at the end of the game that we wanted to get a goal.”
Willowbrook hosts West Chicago on Thursday and Ridgewood on Saturday in nonconference action. The Warriors travel to Hinsdale South and hosts Proviso East next week in West Suburban Conference Gold Division play.
"Winning really boosts my confidence and after being on a three-game losing streak, we needed this," Ahrens said. "Maddie did a wonderful job. I love her; she's great. She knows when she needs to get the ball and, she speaks very well with us and knows her job very well. She knows how to communicate with us and that helps us as a team.
"I like that we all work together and try to help each other. We always lift each other up when something bad happens. If I make a mistake, someone will say, 'It's okay. Just pick your head up and don't worry about it. We'll get it back together.' and things like that. And that helps me personally."
Starting lineups
Fenwick
GK Leah Hyland.
D Gabi Kapusta
D Emily Ortiz
D Grace Kaptsch
D Abbie Rogowski
MF Julia Cianci
MF Natalie LoGiuduce
MF Kiera Mullarkey
MF Caroline Henige
MF Maddie Rogowski
F Kate Henige
Willowbrook
G Maddie Aderholt
D Halie Ahrens
D Izzy Manning
D Allie Knudson
D Ali Vittorio
M Brooke Vandergrift
M Molly Brennan
M Mackenzie Parente
M Rachael Klamecki
F Kennedy Vannoy
F Erin Fitzgibbon
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match:
Maddie Aderholt, jr., GK, Willowbrook
Scoring summary
First half
W: Brooke Vandergrift (Erin Fitzgibbon), 17th
Second half
No scoring