MV gets 1 shot at Naperville N., wins with it
Rohm PK all Mustangs need to eliminate Huskies from DVC race
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – If you want to find out how to win a soccer game in regulation without taking a single shot on goal in the run of play, just watch the film of Metea Valley’s upset of Naperville North.
Senior Sydney Rohm scored on a penalty kick in the first half and the host Mustangs made that stand up in a 1-0 victory Tuesday night that helped decide the DuPage Valley Conference race.
Metea’s win eliminated Naperville North and helped their Eola Road rivals, Waubonsie Valley, win the championship. Waubonsie clinched the title with a 3-2 win over Neuqua Valley, which would have taken the crown with a win.
Metea Valley, which entered the game winless in league play, wasn’t concerned with the standings. The Mustangs were just glad to finally win a 1-0 game, and one against a top rival.
“They’re huge rivals,” Rohm said of the Huskies. “They’re a really, really good team.
“A lot of our friends are on that team, too, so it’s always nice to beat them. We worked really hard, from the bottom all the way up-top.”
Not much distance separates the bottom from the top in the DVC this season. Of the nine completed matches, seven decided by one goal and the other was a tie.
The Mustangs (8-8-2, 1-3-0) came into this match with a 2-5 record in 1-0 games, including 0-3 in DVC play. That long ago became frustrating.
“Here’s the thing,” Metea coach Chris Whaley said. “You’re in close game after close game and you play good soccer, and we play good defense and after every game you’re telling the kids, ‘Don’t give up, keep fighting, stay in it and eventually it will come.’
“That gets old when you lose a bunch of close ones, but tonight hopefully instilled a little confidence in them. That's what we’re doing; we’re refining and it’s working, and they just have to keep it going.”
The Mustangs got the win despite generating next to no offense. They mustered only three total shots, all on restarts.
The first came in the fifth minute when Nicole Dawson sent a 31-yard free kick over the crossbar. The last was a 30-yard free kick from Sarah Davies which was caught by Naperville North goalie Amanda Johnson nine minutes into the second half.
But the middle attempt proved decisive. Rohm took a pass up the middle from Katy Flanders and dribbled into the box while attempting to split two defenders. She was knocked to the ground and awarded a penalty kick.
Rohm stepped to the spot and drilled her attempt past the diving Johnson and into the lower left corner of the net with 14:13 left in the first half. It was her third goal of the season.
“Our coaches have been talking a lot about going forward, and so I saw an opportunity to go forward and then I got tackled,” Rohm said. “It was a good opportunity so I’m happy to get the PK and score.”
The goal came against the run of play, which was controlled mostly by Naperville North. Metea’s defense has been stellar all spring but sitting on a one-goal lead for 65 minutes seemed to be a tall task. Yet that’s what the Mustangs did.
“I was behind the play,” Naperville North defender Reilly Riggs said. “She tried to split two of us and our center midfielder came from behind and our center back came forward.
“They just sandwiched her, so it was an unlucky play. They didn’t get any shots on us in the run of play, but offensively we were definitely off our game today.”
Indeed, the Huskies (7-5-3, 1-1-1) failed to take advantage of their dominance in possession. They had only eight shots, only one of which was on frame.
That was a header from Riggs off a Leah Shumate corner kick with 3:05 remaining in the first half. The Northwestern recruit’s nod made it past Metea goalie Nikki Coryell, but defender Morgan McCrary volleyed it off the line.
“Nikki always tells us to go on the front post (to defend corner kicks),” McCrary said. “This time they had a girl on the front post, which is a little different than a lot of other teams, so I think they tried to draw us out. That was their goal.
“Reilly, the girl who had the header, tried to hit it in the corner, and so I just stayed on the post. I knew Nikki slid over, and so I was just there.”
The backline of McCrary, Dawson, Paige Buranosky and Kiley McKee has been there all season for the Mustangs, helping Coryell record seven shutouts. They’ve surrendered 15 goals in 18 games and only six in the last 11 games.
So if the offense can scratch out a goal or two a game, Metea will be difficult to beat in the postseason.
“I think we’re just starting to realize that we’re just going to have to work harder than the other teams, and it’s not always going to be pretty to get our goals,” McCrary said. “Obviously, it was a penalty kick (tonight), but we put it in and we capitalized on the opportunity and that’s all we needed to do.”
The win over the Huskies, who are the top seed at the East Aurora Sectional, is a huge boost for the sixth-seeded Mustangs.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” McCrary said. “Obviously, our backline has been consistent.
“A lot of us have played together at club and then we played together in high school last season. But I think today was more of a team defensive effort.
“A lot of the midfielders were coming back, so it wasn’t just the backline. It took a lot of pressure off of us, and we were able to play our game.”
That’s something the Huskies failed to do in the attack zone.
“The DVC is always going to be one goal, maybe two goals, close game, so you can’t win if you can’t score,” Riggs said. “We had it in their defensive half most of the second half. Couldn’t put it together, though.”
Goletz said that was a valuable lesson for his squad.
“Obviously it’s a tough one,” Goletz said. “They get a penalty kick early. In the second half we were all over them again. We were just a little pass off here, bad touch here or there. Those things add up in 1-0 games.”
The chances of playing 1-0 games increases in the playoffs, when teams get more defensive-minded. The Huskies and Mustangs could meet again in the sectional semifinals.
“I told the group that there are plenty of people who had opportunities up there to try to step up and make a play, and that’s what it is going to come down to during the stretch,” Goletz said. “It’s the little details of moving a little bit harder off the ball or taking a better first touch or your cross being a little more accurate.
“Those are all things that when you get into the playoffs are magnified and tonight’s atmosphere was no different than that. Hats off to Metea for finding a way to get the ball into the box and get a penalty kick and then convert it.”
Rohm is going to savor the victory.
“This was a big win for us,” Rohm said. “We’ve been talking about this game for a while, so it was really nice to get that win. It was awesome.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Amanda Johnson
D Jordan Leonard
D Reilly Riggs
D Emily Magee
D Paige Sylvester
M Taylor Klaiber
M Leah Shumate
M Maddie Schlecht
F Emily Dulik
F Katie Murphy
F Hannah Martin
Metea Valley
GK Nikki Coryell
D Nicole Dawson
D Paige Buranosky
D Morgan McCrary
D Kiley McKee
M Katy Flanders
M Ella Johnson
M Lauren Wardell
M Sara Davies
F Sydney Rohm
F Kayla Hurst
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sydney Rohm, jr., F, Metea Valley
Scoring summary
First half
MV – Sydney Rohm (PK) 14:13
Second half
No scoring
Rohm PK all Mustangs need to eliminate Huskies from DVC race
By Matt Le Cren
AURORA – If you want to find out how to win a soccer game in regulation without taking a single shot on goal in the run of play, just watch the film of Metea Valley’s upset of Naperville North.
Senior Sydney Rohm scored on a penalty kick in the first half and the host Mustangs made that stand up in a 1-0 victory Tuesday night that helped decide the DuPage Valley Conference race.
Metea’s win eliminated Naperville North and helped their Eola Road rivals, Waubonsie Valley, win the championship. Waubonsie clinched the title with a 3-2 win over Neuqua Valley, which would have taken the crown with a win.
Metea Valley, which entered the game winless in league play, wasn’t concerned with the standings. The Mustangs were just glad to finally win a 1-0 game, and one against a top rival.
“They’re huge rivals,” Rohm said of the Huskies. “They’re a really, really good team.
“A lot of our friends are on that team, too, so it’s always nice to beat them. We worked really hard, from the bottom all the way up-top.”
Not much distance separates the bottom from the top in the DVC this season. Of the nine completed matches, seven decided by one goal and the other was a tie.
The Mustangs (8-8-2, 1-3-0) came into this match with a 2-5 record in 1-0 games, including 0-3 in DVC play. That long ago became frustrating.
“Here’s the thing,” Metea coach Chris Whaley said. “You’re in close game after close game and you play good soccer, and we play good defense and after every game you’re telling the kids, ‘Don’t give up, keep fighting, stay in it and eventually it will come.’
“That gets old when you lose a bunch of close ones, but tonight hopefully instilled a little confidence in them. That's what we’re doing; we’re refining and it’s working, and they just have to keep it going.”
The Mustangs got the win despite generating next to no offense. They mustered only three total shots, all on restarts.
The first came in the fifth minute when Nicole Dawson sent a 31-yard free kick over the crossbar. The last was a 30-yard free kick from Sarah Davies which was caught by Naperville North goalie Amanda Johnson nine minutes into the second half.
But the middle attempt proved decisive. Rohm took a pass up the middle from Katy Flanders and dribbled into the box while attempting to split two defenders. She was knocked to the ground and awarded a penalty kick.
Rohm stepped to the spot and drilled her attempt past the diving Johnson and into the lower left corner of the net with 14:13 left in the first half. It was her third goal of the season.
“Our coaches have been talking a lot about going forward, and so I saw an opportunity to go forward and then I got tackled,” Rohm said. “It was a good opportunity so I’m happy to get the PK and score.”
The goal came against the run of play, which was controlled mostly by Naperville North. Metea’s defense has been stellar all spring but sitting on a one-goal lead for 65 minutes seemed to be a tall task. Yet that’s what the Mustangs did.
“I was behind the play,” Naperville North defender Reilly Riggs said. “She tried to split two of us and our center midfielder came from behind and our center back came forward.
“They just sandwiched her, so it was an unlucky play. They didn’t get any shots on us in the run of play, but offensively we were definitely off our game today.”
Indeed, the Huskies (7-5-3, 1-1-1) failed to take advantage of their dominance in possession. They had only eight shots, only one of which was on frame.
That was a header from Riggs off a Leah Shumate corner kick with 3:05 remaining in the first half. The Northwestern recruit’s nod made it past Metea goalie Nikki Coryell, but defender Morgan McCrary volleyed it off the line.
“Nikki always tells us to go on the front post (to defend corner kicks),” McCrary said. “This time they had a girl on the front post, which is a little different than a lot of other teams, so I think they tried to draw us out. That was their goal.
“Reilly, the girl who had the header, tried to hit it in the corner, and so I just stayed on the post. I knew Nikki slid over, and so I was just there.”
The backline of McCrary, Dawson, Paige Buranosky and Kiley McKee has been there all season for the Mustangs, helping Coryell record seven shutouts. They’ve surrendered 15 goals in 18 games and only six in the last 11 games.
So if the offense can scratch out a goal or two a game, Metea will be difficult to beat in the postseason.
“I think we’re just starting to realize that we’re just going to have to work harder than the other teams, and it’s not always going to be pretty to get our goals,” McCrary said. “Obviously, it was a penalty kick (tonight), but we put it in and we capitalized on the opportunity and that’s all we needed to do.”
The win over the Huskies, who are the top seed at the East Aurora Sectional, is a huge boost for the sixth-seeded Mustangs.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” McCrary said. “Obviously, our backline has been consistent.
“A lot of us have played together at club and then we played together in high school last season. But I think today was more of a team defensive effort.
“A lot of the midfielders were coming back, so it wasn’t just the backline. It took a lot of pressure off of us, and we were able to play our game.”
That’s something the Huskies failed to do in the attack zone.
“The DVC is always going to be one goal, maybe two goals, close game, so you can’t win if you can’t score,” Riggs said. “We had it in their defensive half most of the second half. Couldn’t put it together, though.”
Goletz said that was a valuable lesson for his squad.
“Obviously it’s a tough one,” Goletz said. “They get a penalty kick early. In the second half we were all over them again. We were just a little pass off here, bad touch here or there. Those things add up in 1-0 games.”
The chances of playing 1-0 games increases in the playoffs, when teams get more defensive-minded. The Huskies and Mustangs could meet again in the sectional semifinals.
“I told the group that there are plenty of people who had opportunities up there to try to step up and make a play, and that’s what it is going to come down to during the stretch,” Goletz said. “It’s the little details of moving a little bit harder off the ball or taking a better first touch or your cross being a little more accurate.
“Those are all things that when you get into the playoffs are magnified and tonight’s atmosphere was no different than that. Hats off to Metea for finding a way to get the ball into the box and get a penalty kick and then convert it.”
Rohm is going to savor the victory.
“This was a big win for us,” Rohm said. “We’ve been talking about this game for a while, so it was really nice to get that win. It was awesome.”
Starting lineups
Naperville North
GK Amanda Johnson
D Jordan Leonard
D Reilly Riggs
D Emily Magee
D Paige Sylvester
M Taylor Klaiber
M Leah Shumate
M Maddie Schlecht
F Emily Dulik
F Katie Murphy
F Hannah Martin
Metea Valley
GK Nikki Coryell
D Nicole Dawson
D Paige Buranosky
D Morgan McCrary
D Kiley McKee
M Katy Flanders
M Ella Johnson
M Lauren Wardell
M Sara Davies
F Sydney Rohm
F Kayla Hurst
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Sydney Rohm, jr., F, Metea Valley
Scoring summary
First half
MV – Sydney Rohm (PK) 14:13
Second half
No scoring