Wheaton N. finds groove vs. Glenbard N.
Offensive has breakout game in 5-0 DVC win
By Bill Stone
WHEATON -- A varsity fixture for Wheaton North, senior Jaden Trometer has spent most of this season solidifying a stingy veteran defensive line.
The Marquette University walk-on also has been contributing more to an offense that’s beginning to find itself, especially with her threatening corner kicks.
“Recently, we started to work on plays in practice and really just trying to find our target players,” Trometer said. “Definitely just (put the ball) where the crowd is and hopefully one of them finds it.”
Trometer’s corner kick headed home beautifully by junior Kate McKee in Monday’s 5-0 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Glenbard North in Wheaton may be the Falcons’ signature goal so far and hopefully a season-changer.
McKee scored twice for Wheaton North (4-9-0, 2-1-0) after the opening two goals by junior Abby Atkinson and senior Jacqueline Bienduga en route to a 3-0 halftime lead. Junior Sarah Brcka added a final tally with 9:38 to go.
Senior Leila Parente had two assists and senior Kailee Sowers and Trometer one apiece.
Trometer, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, had another corner kick that initiated Bienduga’s goal. The Panthers (3-8-0, 0-4-0) were unable to clear the ball battered about in the crease.
“I definitely think we are getting more confident as we are scoring more goals,” Trometer said. “That always helps with team morale and confidence for our forwards. Now that we’re moving forward I think that we have bigger games to look at ahead of us. We’re just going to come in stronger and better to those games.”
The Falcons dominated play, allowing just one shot, to improve to 4-3-0 over their last seven games following an 0-6-0 start.
For Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly, the biggest positive was a sustained 80-minute effort after several flashes and some strong halves against area-rated and above-.500 foes.
“Tonight is the most growth we’ve seen from the kickoff to the end of the game,” McEvilly said.
“We’re not a scoring machine. What we talked about before the game was today was a day where the girls had a chance to try and gain that confidence that they could be a goal scorer. We don’t need Kate McKee to score two goals every game but if Kate can feel that she can score at any time, and we find one other scorer, you’ve got a chance to compete. and that’s all we’re looking for.”
Could McKee’s header be a season-changer? On Monday, it felt so on many fronts.
Entering the game, the Falcons had eight goals with only two multiple-goal games – a shootout win over Young after being tied 2-2 April 7 in PepsiCo Showdown play and a 6-2 loss to Deerfield on March 15 in the Kickoff Tournament.
Seven games have been decided by one goal or penalty kicks. The starting defense of senior goalie Ava Lynch, seniors Hannah Swider and Micaela Van Meter, Trometer and junior Kristen Szumski collected the Falcons’ second-consecutive victory by shutout.
“At every half, except one game this year (a 5-0 loss at no. 5-ranked Naperville North on April 4), we’ve gone into halftime thinking we’ve got a chance to win this game. That’s how close we are from our having record being flipped (to 9-4-0),” McEvilly said.
For McKee and Bienduga, Monday’s goals also were their first for the season. Atkinson had scored previously.
“(The corner) really worked with Kate being there to step up and put one in the back of the net,” Trometer said.
“I’m not the designated header so I think (that goal) caught everyone off guard,” McKee said. “I’m actually not a person who is very confident going into the air so that header was really neat for me, and it felt great afterwards.”
Another big message conveyed by Monday’s goal count is anybody can -- and should expect to -- contribute no matter the situation.
Throughout the season, the Falcons constantly have used different starting lineups for various reasons. Atkinson, Bienduga and McKee have previously started but were not among Monday’s starting 11.
“All I need is 10 great minutes sometimes or 15 great minutes. Can you give that to us?” McEvilly said.
“We try to play kids when they’re ready to go. Part of the lineup changes have been due to injury. Sometimes it’s just matching up with other teams. Tonight, a couple of kids we knew needed some confidence, and we wanted to get them starting off a little faster, so we put them in the starting lineup.”
Wheaton North unleashed 28 shots on goal at Glenbard North goalkeepers junior Karissa Chalus and senior Stephany Marin, who each played one half.
Within the first 14 minutes, the Falcons had eight shots (five on goal) and two of their seven corner kicks for the half.
The non-starters sensed the electricity and were eager to contribute.
“Everyone was really loose, because we stepped into this game with a different mindset than usual,” Bienduga said. “We had confidence, and our passes were on. When you have that momentum, you do better than you think you will. Then everything starts to fall together. And once people start scoring, it’s kind of like the floodgates open and chances and chances and chances (are there).”
Atkinson, Bienduga, Parente and senior Stacie Galo entered the game in the 18th minute, roughly five minutes before Atkinson scored 17:29 before halftime. Within two minutes, Bienduga scored.
“(Scoring first) was great because everyone was working so hard,” Atkinson said. “Leila just sending me this perfect ball, just being able to capitalize on everyone’s hard work and put one in for the team was really great. Everyone had a great game. We just had positives come out of everybody.”
After junior Anna Warfield put a 30-yard blast off the crossbar in the 27th minute, McKee, senior Lida Hanson and sophomore Riley Winckler entered in the 30th minute.
McKee’s header came 8:38 before halftime.
“Your warmups determine the whole game. If you’re not focused and not pumped and not getting yourself into game mode, you’re not going to execute plays as well,” McKee said. “You’ve kind of got to be focusing on your warmup but also thinking what am I going to do this game to help my team out and be able to score? I think we all came out really excited to play and really confident and that really showed on the field.”
“(The non-starters) took the energy and the success that the starters had, and they capitalized on it, which was nice to see,” McEvilly said.
Wheaton North previously shut out DVC opponent Lake Park 1-0 April 17.
Glenbard North’s lone shot was a 30-yard blast by sophomore Alexis Bolger in the 59th minute that sailed over the net. With about 35 seconds left, Lynch did have to hustle just outside the box to clear and deflect a dangerous ball off charging senior forward Aurelia Carulli.
Now the focus is on Friday’s matchup with rival and no. 23-ranked Wheaton Academy.
“I think the defense is really getting tighter, very collected recently and we’re talking more and becoming more of a unit, more solidified and it’s definitely showing now,” Trometer said. “We just got a shutout, and we’re letting up less goals. We’re really connecting.”
Glenbard North coach Dave Stanfield also took positives out of Monday’s result. The Panthers are beginning to see dividends from 2017, when they had just one senior and promoted another for the playoffs, resulting in numerous underclassmen learning on the field.
“You never like losing 5-0 and we’ve lost a few games by some heavy scores but we were saying at halftime despite the score we see improvement in our speed of play and our ability to retain possession, which was limited at times,” Stanfield said.
“They’re a good team. They pressure, they’re physical, they’re quick. It’s a big learning progress for our team. I was disappointed we gave up that second goal as quickly as the first. That’s been a problem for us.”
This year, the Panthers have four seniors – forwards Carulli and Jessica West, Marin and reserve Rebecca Barreto.
“I don’t think it’s that much different (being a senior). I feel like everyone’s a leader on the field,” Carulli said. “We were very young last year, and this year we have a lot more chemistry together. If we keep working on the fundamentals, I think we’ll improve a lot.”
Freshman Anna Pedraza started at defensive center midfield. Freshmen Teagan Flanagan, who started, and Olivia Corona were promoted after the season started.
Glenbard North has been blanked in all seven losses but does have 10 goals and two shutouts in its victories – 4-0 over Rockford East on Saturday as part of the Larkin Tournament, 2-1 over Addison Trail April 12 and 4-0 over Rosary March 19. The Panthers conclude the Larkin Tournament with Tuesday’s rescheduled game against Hononegah.
“I feel like at practice we’re working way harder. We have more trust with each other now and we can pass whoever we’d like,” said sophomore Perla Kamami, who played varsity as a freshman.
“Aside from the score, I feel like we had one of the best games of the season (Monday). We really connected, and I haven’t seen us play like this is a while. We were implementing the things in practice and fundamentals. We were passing and moving the ball back and forth.”
Chalus is a third-year starter but, like Monday, often has been splitting goaltending duties with Marin. Chalus, observed by a Division III scout Monday, and Marin both made several admirable stops under pressure.
“(Our goalies) did play very well. They’ve had a lot of (action),” Stanfield said. “Both of them have done well this season. They’ve been pushing each other in practice, and they have a good relationship. I think it’s been good competition for both of them.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
G – Ava Lynch
D – Micaela Van Meter
D – Hannah Swider
D – Jaden Trometer
D – Kristen Szumski
M – Anna Warfield
M – Katie Goebel
M – Kailee Sowers
M – Sarah Brcka
F – Kate Kortenhoeven
F – Sammie Schomig
Glenbard North
G – Karissa Chalus
D – Angie Estrada
D – Mariela Manuel
D – Jacqueline Arroyo
M – Anna Pedraza
M – Hannah Arista
M – Alexis Bolger
M – Teagan Flanagan
M – Sofia Espana
F – Jessica West
F – Aurelia Carulli
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jaden Trometer, sr. D, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
Glenbard North 0 0 -- 0
Wheaton North 3 2 – 5
First half
Wheaton North: Abby Atkinson (Leila Parente) 22:31
Wheaton North: Jacqueline Bienduga 24:20
Wheaton North: Kate McKee (Jaden Trometer) 31:22
Second half
Wheaton North: Kate McKee (Kailee Sowers) 46:40
Wheaton North: Sarah Brcka (Leila Parente) 70:22
Goalies (saves)
GN: Chalus (11 saves), Marin (11 saves)
WN: Lynch (0 saves)
Shots (on goal)
WN 42 (28), Glenbard North 1 (0)
Corner kicks: Wheaton North 9, Glenbard North 0
Offensive has breakout game in 5-0 DVC win
By Bill Stone
WHEATON -- A varsity fixture for Wheaton North, senior Jaden Trometer has spent most of this season solidifying a stingy veteran defensive line.
The Marquette University walk-on also has been contributing more to an offense that’s beginning to find itself, especially with her threatening corner kicks.
“Recently, we started to work on plays in practice and really just trying to find our target players,” Trometer said. “Definitely just (put the ball) where the crowd is and hopefully one of them finds it.”
Trometer’s corner kick headed home beautifully by junior Kate McKee in Monday’s 5-0 DuPage Valley Conference victory over Glenbard North in Wheaton may be the Falcons’ signature goal so far and hopefully a season-changer.
McKee scored twice for Wheaton North (4-9-0, 2-1-0) after the opening two goals by junior Abby Atkinson and senior Jacqueline Bienduga en route to a 3-0 halftime lead. Junior Sarah Brcka added a final tally with 9:38 to go.
Senior Leila Parente had two assists and senior Kailee Sowers and Trometer one apiece.
Trometer, the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match, had another corner kick that initiated Bienduga’s goal. The Panthers (3-8-0, 0-4-0) were unable to clear the ball battered about in the crease.
“I definitely think we are getting more confident as we are scoring more goals,” Trometer said. “That always helps with team morale and confidence for our forwards. Now that we’re moving forward I think that we have bigger games to look at ahead of us. We’re just going to come in stronger and better to those games.”
The Falcons dominated play, allowing just one shot, to improve to 4-3-0 over their last seven games following an 0-6-0 start.
For Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly, the biggest positive was a sustained 80-minute effort after several flashes and some strong halves against area-rated and above-.500 foes.
“Tonight is the most growth we’ve seen from the kickoff to the end of the game,” McEvilly said.
“We’re not a scoring machine. What we talked about before the game was today was a day where the girls had a chance to try and gain that confidence that they could be a goal scorer. We don’t need Kate McKee to score two goals every game but if Kate can feel that she can score at any time, and we find one other scorer, you’ve got a chance to compete. and that’s all we’re looking for.”
Could McKee’s header be a season-changer? On Monday, it felt so on many fronts.
Entering the game, the Falcons had eight goals with only two multiple-goal games – a shootout win over Young after being tied 2-2 April 7 in PepsiCo Showdown play and a 6-2 loss to Deerfield on March 15 in the Kickoff Tournament.
Seven games have been decided by one goal or penalty kicks. The starting defense of senior goalie Ava Lynch, seniors Hannah Swider and Micaela Van Meter, Trometer and junior Kristen Szumski collected the Falcons’ second-consecutive victory by shutout.
“At every half, except one game this year (a 5-0 loss at no. 5-ranked Naperville North on April 4), we’ve gone into halftime thinking we’ve got a chance to win this game. That’s how close we are from our having record being flipped (to 9-4-0),” McEvilly said.
For McKee and Bienduga, Monday’s goals also were their first for the season. Atkinson had scored previously.
“(The corner) really worked with Kate being there to step up and put one in the back of the net,” Trometer said.
“I’m not the designated header so I think (that goal) caught everyone off guard,” McKee said. “I’m actually not a person who is very confident going into the air so that header was really neat for me, and it felt great afterwards.”
Another big message conveyed by Monday’s goal count is anybody can -- and should expect to -- contribute no matter the situation.
Throughout the season, the Falcons constantly have used different starting lineups for various reasons. Atkinson, Bienduga and McKee have previously started but were not among Monday’s starting 11.
“All I need is 10 great minutes sometimes or 15 great minutes. Can you give that to us?” McEvilly said.
“We try to play kids when they’re ready to go. Part of the lineup changes have been due to injury. Sometimes it’s just matching up with other teams. Tonight, a couple of kids we knew needed some confidence, and we wanted to get them starting off a little faster, so we put them in the starting lineup.”
Wheaton North unleashed 28 shots on goal at Glenbard North goalkeepers junior Karissa Chalus and senior Stephany Marin, who each played one half.
Within the first 14 minutes, the Falcons had eight shots (five on goal) and two of their seven corner kicks for the half.
The non-starters sensed the electricity and were eager to contribute.
“Everyone was really loose, because we stepped into this game with a different mindset than usual,” Bienduga said. “We had confidence, and our passes were on. When you have that momentum, you do better than you think you will. Then everything starts to fall together. And once people start scoring, it’s kind of like the floodgates open and chances and chances and chances (are there).”
Atkinson, Bienduga, Parente and senior Stacie Galo entered the game in the 18th minute, roughly five minutes before Atkinson scored 17:29 before halftime. Within two minutes, Bienduga scored.
“(Scoring first) was great because everyone was working so hard,” Atkinson said. “Leila just sending me this perfect ball, just being able to capitalize on everyone’s hard work and put one in for the team was really great. Everyone had a great game. We just had positives come out of everybody.”
After junior Anna Warfield put a 30-yard blast off the crossbar in the 27th minute, McKee, senior Lida Hanson and sophomore Riley Winckler entered in the 30th minute.
McKee’s header came 8:38 before halftime.
“Your warmups determine the whole game. If you’re not focused and not pumped and not getting yourself into game mode, you’re not going to execute plays as well,” McKee said. “You’ve kind of got to be focusing on your warmup but also thinking what am I going to do this game to help my team out and be able to score? I think we all came out really excited to play and really confident and that really showed on the field.”
“(The non-starters) took the energy and the success that the starters had, and they capitalized on it, which was nice to see,” McEvilly said.
Wheaton North previously shut out DVC opponent Lake Park 1-0 April 17.
Glenbard North’s lone shot was a 30-yard blast by sophomore Alexis Bolger in the 59th minute that sailed over the net. With about 35 seconds left, Lynch did have to hustle just outside the box to clear and deflect a dangerous ball off charging senior forward Aurelia Carulli.
Now the focus is on Friday’s matchup with rival and no. 23-ranked Wheaton Academy.
“I think the defense is really getting tighter, very collected recently and we’re talking more and becoming more of a unit, more solidified and it’s definitely showing now,” Trometer said. “We just got a shutout, and we’re letting up less goals. We’re really connecting.”
Glenbard North coach Dave Stanfield also took positives out of Monday’s result. The Panthers are beginning to see dividends from 2017, when they had just one senior and promoted another for the playoffs, resulting in numerous underclassmen learning on the field.
“You never like losing 5-0 and we’ve lost a few games by some heavy scores but we were saying at halftime despite the score we see improvement in our speed of play and our ability to retain possession, which was limited at times,” Stanfield said.
“They’re a good team. They pressure, they’re physical, they’re quick. It’s a big learning progress for our team. I was disappointed we gave up that second goal as quickly as the first. That’s been a problem for us.”
This year, the Panthers have four seniors – forwards Carulli and Jessica West, Marin and reserve Rebecca Barreto.
“I don’t think it’s that much different (being a senior). I feel like everyone’s a leader on the field,” Carulli said. “We were very young last year, and this year we have a lot more chemistry together. If we keep working on the fundamentals, I think we’ll improve a lot.”
Freshman Anna Pedraza started at defensive center midfield. Freshmen Teagan Flanagan, who started, and Olivia Corona were promoted after the season started.
Glenbard North has been blanked in all seven losses but does have 10 goals and two shutouts in its victories – 4-0 over Rockford East on Saturday as part of the Larkin Tournament, 2-1 over Addison Trail April 12 and 4-0 over Rosary March 19. The Panthers conclude the Larkin Tournament with Tuesday’s rescheduled game against Hononegah.
“I feel like at practice we’re working way harder. We have more trust with each other now and we can pass whoever we’d like,” said sophomore Perla Kamami, who played varsity as a freshman.
“Aside from the score, I feel like we had one of the best games of the season (Monday). We really connected, and I haven’t seen us play like this is a while. We were implementing the things in practice and fundamentals. We were passing and moving the ball back and forth.”
Chalus is a third-year starter but, like Monday, often has been splitting goaltending duties with Marin. Chalus, observed by a Division III scout Monday, and Marin both made several admirable stops under pressure.
“(Our goalies) did play very well. They’ve had a lot of (action),” Stanfield said. “Both of them have done well this season. They’ve been pushing each other in practice, and they have a good relationship. I think it’s been good competition for both of them.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
G – Ava Lynch
D – Micaela Van Meter
D – Hannah Swider
D – Jaden Trometer
D – Kristen Szumski
M – Anna Warfield
M – Katie Goebel
M – Kailee Sowers
M – Sarah Brcka
F – Kate Kortenhoeven
F – Sammie Schomig
Glenbard North
G – Karissa Chalus
D – Angie Estrada
D – Mariela Manuel
D – Jacqueline Arroyo
M – Anna Pedraza
M – Hannah Arista
M – Alexis Bolger
M – Teagan Flanagan
M – Sofia Espana
F – Jessica West
F – Aurelia Carulli
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Jaden Trometer, sr. D, Wheaton North
Scoring summary
Glenbard North 0 0 -- 0
Wheaton North 3 2 – 5
First half
Wheaton North: Abby Atkinson (Leila Parente) 22:31
Wheaton North: Jacqueline Bienduga 24:20
Wheaton North: Kate McKee (Jaden Trometer) 31:22
Second half
Wheaton North: Kate McKee (Kailee Sowers) 46:40
Wheaton North: Sarah Brcka (Leila Parente) 70:22
Goalies (saves)
GN: Chalus (11 saves), Marin (11 saves)
WN: Lynch (0 saves)
Shots (on goal)
WN 42 (28), Glenbard North 1 (0)
Corner kicks: Wheaton North 9, Glenbard North 0