Naperville Central edges Metea on Mills PK
Redhawks squeak by in 1-0 DVC-opening win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Maddie Mills was a little nervous as she prepared to take the penalty kick.
The Naperville Central senior had good reason to. Metea Valley goalkeeper Nikki Coryell is one of the better keepers in the Chicago area, and she is more than a little familiar with Mills.
“She’s a really good keeper,” Mills said. “She’s actually my club goalie, so I think she knows where I go usually. So I was a little nervous.”
But that didn’t stop Mills from stepping up to the spot and ripping a shot toward the lower left corner of the net. Coryell guessed correctly but the shot had enough pace to sneak past her outstretched fingers and just inside the left post.
The goal, which came with 35:21 left in the second half, was all the host Redhawks needed to post a 1-0 victory in the DuPage Valley Conference opener for both teams at Memorial Stadium.
“Normally, I always go to my left and the last couple times I’ve actually gone wide, so I was really glad it went in,” Mills said. “The last times I’ve been nervous about it I’ve went wide, so I just tried to really focus and think that it was going to go in.”
That’s the only thing that did during a competitive match that saw both goalies come up with some big stops. The Valparaiso-bound Coryell and Naperville Central’s Amber Hunter made four saves each and not all of them were routine.
Coryell made a diving stop on a 15-yard liner from Sullivan Schubel with 15:45 to go in the first half and that led to a Metea counterattack that nearly put the visitors ahead just 15 seconds later.
Senior Kayla Hurst fired a hard shot that appeared ticketed for the lower right corner, but Hunter lunged to deflect it around the post.
Naperville Central (4-1-1, 1-0-0) had several chances to extend the lead in the second half. Eighty seconds after she converted the penalty kick, Mills uncorked a 35-yard free kick that sailed just over the crossbar before landing on top of the net.
Three minutes after that, sophomore defender Emma Irle teed up a 26-yard free kick from the right hash. Faced with a four-girl wall in front of the near post, Irle curved a beautiful shot toward the far post that Coryell stopped with a great diving save.
As the clock dwindled, the Mustangs (2-4-1, 0-1-0) pushed more numbers into the attack, moving center back Paige Buranosky up to midfield. The junior nearly delivered the equalizer at the 5:40 mark when she jumped around a defender on the left wing, took a couple touches to her left and blasted a left-footed bullet from 25 yards.
Hunter got in front of the shot, dropped the ball and then picked it up a split-second before a Metea Valley player could pounce on it.
“It was pretty even back-and-forth,” Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. “We definitely had some good chances in the first half it would have been nice to capitalize on.
“Little unfortunate with the penalty kick, but the girls played hard. We’ve been challenging them to play more physical, and they did that today.
“I think our touch and our decision-making was a little off, which made things difficult for us, but we tried to play some good soccer. We’ll keep getting better.”
Buranosky, a junior who was one of the stalwarts in Metea’s defense last year, has moved back-and-forth between center back and center mid as the Mustangs have experimented with a 3-5-2 formation. They’ve since returned to a four-back set, at least for now.
“It’s different from center back, but I’m still in the same position where I can see the whole field. I think just working with my other midfielders, they help me be more comfortable,” Buranosky said. “(In the 3-5-2) I would play this holding mid, but now I’m back at center back, and I just feel more comfortable there.”
The Mustangs have been comfortable with their defense regardless of the formation. But the offense, Whaley said, is a work in progress.
“I think for future games we just need to keep our composure and make sure we settle down because a lot of the balls we had were passes in the air,” Buranosky said. “We have the right idea but our passes are sometimes not where we want it to go, so I think that if we just work on connecting and keeping it together and making the runs up the sides, we’ll have more players in the attack. That will really help us.”
The Redhawks, of course, had more than a little to do with Metea’s offensive struggles. Naperville Central’s backline is a clear strength and one goal will often be enough for the Redhawks to win.
Irle is one of the fastest players in the area and another defender, senior Abbey Hillman, is just as talented in the attack. The Loyola recruit nearly bagged an insurance goal with 1:12 left when she made an overlap run up the right wing and Mills led her perfectly into the right side of the box, but Coryell made another great save.
“I thought that we had some things going in the second half and then after the goal I thought we had probably maybe another 5-6 minutes where we had some things going,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “Then there’s that classic start-to-defend-a-little-bit-more (phase).
“(The Mustangs) throw more bodies forward. They’re trying to get the equalizer, and I thought our girls did a really good job of making adjustments on the fly.
“I thought Amber played really well. That’s a team victory.”
Mills knows that is the formula the Redhawks must use if they are to win more.
“I think it’s a good start to the conference,” Mills said. “I know we struggle scoring sometimes, but if we can get a couple in and stay defensive, we can do well.”
Hillman agreed.
“I’m really excited for us,” Hillman said. “I hope that we’re one of the top teams in the DVC or we win it.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Nikki Coryell
D Nicole Dawon
D Paige Buranosky
D Morgan McCrary
D Lauren Wardell
D Katy Flanders
M Halle Lange
M Sydney Rohm
M Ella Johnson
F Kayla Hurst
F Jocelyn Grabow
Naperville Central
GK Amber Hunter
D Emma Irle
D Grace Anderson
D Abbey Hillman
D Sophia Skoubis
D Caroline Giannone
M Liz Barker
M Maddie Mills
M Sullivan Schubel
F Sarah Scoles
F Caroline Reedy
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Maddie Mills, sr., M, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville Central – Maddie Mills (PK), 55th minute
Redhawks squeak by in 1-0 DVC-opening win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE – Maddie Mills was a little nervous as she prepared to take the penalty kick.
The Naperville Central senior had good reason to. Metea Valley goalkeeper Nikki Coryell is one of the better keepers in the Chicago area, and she is more than a little familiar with Mills.
“She’s a really good keeper,” Mills said. “She’s actually my club goalie, so I think she knows where I go usually. So I was a little nervous.”
But that didn’t stop Mills from stepping up to the spot and ripping a shot toward the lower left corner of the net. Coryell guessed correctly but the shot had enough pace to sneak past her outstretched fingers and just inside the left post.
The goal, which came with 35:21 left in the second half, was all the host Redhawks needed to post a 1-0 victory in the DuPage Valley Conference opener for both teams at Memorial Stadium.
“Normally, I always go to my left and the last couple times I’ve actually gone wide, so I was really glad it went in,” Mills said. “The last times I’ve been nervous about it I’ve went wide, so I just tried to really focus and think that it was going to go in.”
That’s the only thing that did during a competitive match that saw both goalies come up with some big stops. The Valparaiso-bound Coryell and Naperville Central’s Amber Hunter made four saves each and not all of them were routine.
Coryell made a diving stop on a 15-yard liner from Sullivan Schubel with 15:45 to go in the first half and that led to a Metea counterattack that nearly put the visitors ahead just 15 seconds later.
Senior Kayla Hurst fired a hard shot that appeared ticketed for the lower right corner, but Hunter lunged to deflect it around the post.
Naperville Central (4-1-1, 1-0-0) had several chances to extend the lead in the second half. Eighty seconds after she converted the penalty kick, Mills uncorked a 35-yard free kick that sailed just over the crossbar before landing on top of the net.
Three minutes after that, sophomore defender Emma Irle teed up a 26-yard free kick from the right hash. Faced with a four-girl wall in front of the near post, Irle curved a beautiful shot toward the far post that Coryell stopped with a great diving save.
As the clock dwindled, the Mustangs (2-4-1, 0-1-0) pushed more numbers into the attack, moving center back Paige Buranosky up to midfield. The junior nearly delivered the equalizer at the 5:40 mark when she jumped around a defender on the left wing, took a couple touches to her left and blasted a left-footed bullet from 25 yards.
Hunter got in front of the shot, dropped the ball and then picked it up a split-second before a Metea Valley player could pounce on it.
“It was pretty even back-and-forth,” Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. “We definitely had some good chances in the first half it would have been nice to capitalize on.
“Little unfortunate with the penalty kick, but the girls played hard. We’ve been challenging them to play more physical, and they did that today.
“I think our touch and our decision-making was a little off, which made things difficult for us, but we tried to play some good soccer. We’ll keep getting better.”
Buranosky, a junior who was one of the stalwarts in Metea’s defense last year, has moved back-and-forth between center back and center mid as the Mustangs have experimented with a 3-5-2 formation. They’ve since returned to a four-back set, at least for now.
“It’s different from center back, but I’m still in the same position where I can see the whole field. I think just working with my other midfielders, they help me be more comfortable,” Buranosky said. “(In the 3-5-2) I would play this holding mid, but now I’m back at center back, and I just feel more comfortable there.”
The Mustangs have been comfortable with their defense regardless of the formation. But the offense, Whaley said, is a work in progress.
“I think for future games we just need to keep our composure and make sure we settle down because a lot of the balls we had were passes in the air,” Buranosky said. “We have the right idea but our passes are sometimes not where we want it to go, so I think that if we just work on connecting and keeping it together and making the runs up the sides, we’ll have more players in the attack. That will really help us.”
The Redhawks, of course, had more than a little to do with Metea’s offensive struggles. Naperville Central’s backline is a clear strength and one goal will often be enough for the Redhawks to win.
Irle is one of the fastest players in the area and another defender, senior Abbey Hillman, is just as talented in the attack. The Loyola recruit nearly bagged an insurance goal with 1:12 left when she made an overlap run up the right wing and Mills led her perfectly into the right side of the box, but Coryell made another great save.
“I thought that we had some things going in the second half and then after the goal I thought we had probably maybe another 5-6 minutes where we had some things going,” Naperville Central coach Ed Watson said. “Then there’s that classic start-to-defend-a-little-bit-more (phase).
“(The Mustangs) throw more bodies forward. They’re trying to get the equalizer, and I thought our girls did a really good job of making adjustments on the fly.
“I thought Amber played really well. That’s a team victory.”
Mills knows that is the formula the Redhawks must use if they are to win more.
“I think it’s a good start to the conference,” Mills said. “I know we struggle scoring sometimes, but if we can get a couple in and stay defensive, we can do well.”
Hillman agreed.
“I’m really excited for us,” Hillman said. “I hope that we’re one of the top teams in the DVC or we win it.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Nikki Coryell
D Nicole Dawon
D Paige Buranosky
D Morgan McCrary
D Lauren Wardell
D Katy Flanders
M Halle Lange
M Sydney Rohm
M Ella Johnson
F Kayla Hurst
F Jocelyn Grabow
Naperville Central
GK Amber Hunter
D Emma Irle
D Grace Anderson
D Abbey Hillman
D Sophia Skoubis
D Caroline Giannone
M Liz Barker
M Maddie Mills
M Sullivan Schubel
F Sarah Scoles
F Caroline Reedy
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Maddie Mills, sr., M, Naperville Central
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Naperville Central – Maddie Mills (PK), 55th minute