Biziorek slips Neuqua V. past Metea V.
Junior forward's goal gives Wildcats 1-0 DuPage Valley victory
By Chris Walker
AURORA – Neuqua Valley has gotten the best of its sister school Metea Valley recently, but Wednesday night the Wildcats did something they’ve never done to the Mustangs before.
They beat them on the road, despite being the home team.
Huh? Uh, say that again.
If that leaves you shaking your head in confusion, you’re probably not the only one. The game, originally schedule for Tuesday at Neuqua Valley, was played at Metea Valley’s Mustang Stadium because the Wildcats' field was soaking wet. Even if the field was in game shape, lightning and thunder would likely have prevented it.
The game was finally played under rainless skies at Metea Valley on Wednesday, and Neuqua Valley continued its successful streak.
“We had our time against them not too long before (now), and we don’t get caught up too much on who we’re playing,” Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. “We try to stay away from that, but these are teams you want to beat, conference opponents. You always want to beat them. More so for us, it’s just trying to focus on what we need to do to be at our best, because we have a week of games left after this, and we have to be ready for big games in the tournament.”
Neuqua Valley (10-3-3, 2-0-0) came through with the only scoring of the evening with 23:08 left to play thanks to the teamwork of Paige Munar, Alison Dovalovsky and the finisher, Piper Biziorek.
Munar played it down the sideline to Dovalovsky who crossed it to Biziorek to start and end the scoring.
“When I got it from Ali (Dovalovsky) it was kind of bouncing so I didn’t have a good handle on it,” Biziorek said. “So I had to cut it back, and then I just shot it. I knew we needed a goal and if you just go for it, sometimes it’ll go in, and that’s what happened.”
Sometimes players will react too quickly, rushing the shot and not getting the desired result. Biziorek acknowledged that time usually moves fast during these moments, just like defenders do in trying to thwart anything potentially destined for the net.
“I felt like I had more time when the ball was coming to me, but the bad mishandling made it feel like they were on me,” she said. “I just had to cut it back and shoot it as quickly as I could.”
For hammering home the gamew-inner, Biziorek was named the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. And while on the subject of names, did you know that Biziorek was named after actress and three-time Academy Award nominee Piper Laurie?
Yes, she was.
“It’s actually funny,” Biziorek said. “Piper Laurie is one of my mom’s favorite actresses. She just loves Piper Laurie; I don’t know. It’s funny because I actually know more Pipers now than Emmas or Sophias. I know like five or six different Pipers. I had thought my name was unique, but then I started meeting all these other Pipers.”
Biziorek wasn’t sure if her mother had a favorite Piper Laurie role, but one could assume that Laurie’s performances in The Hustler (1961), Carrie (1976), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and even her brilliance as Catherine Martell in the TV cult series Twin Peaks (1991) are worthy of consideration.
Metea Valley (6-7-2, 0-3-0) had one of its best chances of depositing the equalizer with a little under 16 minutes left to play when sophomore Livvy Toole was able to split a pair of defenders but just couldn’t control the ball to deliver a shot.
Earlier in the second half, the Mustangs had a solid chance off a corner kick. The Wildcats were unable to clear the ball immediately out of the danger zone. Paige Buranosky may have been able to attempt a shot if she had a split-second more to make a play before Neuqua Valley keeper Tara Tesmond snagged the ball.
“I think I hit it with my head, and I was around my teammates trying to get the ball off the ground,” Buranosky said. “It was just a matter of me timing it better. I felt like we could’ve had that, but it doesn’t happen sometimes.”
And just before Biziorek connected, the Mustangs appeared on the verge of going ahead 1-0 themselves, but Neuqua Valley’s Shannon Tagler literally got in the way, stepping in front of the exposed net with 24:18 remaining in the second half to reject a shot with her chest on the back post.
“I tried to chest it out and keep it from going in,” Tagler said. “I just know I have to stay on the post until Tara (Tesmond) clears us off. If I would’ve just ran up thinking it was clear that would’ve been a goal. I’m glad I stayed back on that.”
Scoreless, and with few really solid offensive threats, the first half was uneventful, although that primarily had to do with the strong play by both sides, which did a really nice job of keeping the ball out of dangerous situations.
The Mustangs best opportunity probably came in the 27th minute when Tesmond came out during a loose ball. For a moment it appeared as if Toole or sophomore Katy Flanders might end up with the ball and earn a shot at point-blank range with the goal exposed, but the opportunity quickly fell apart.
“We had a lot of corners and opportunities to finish, but we just haven’t put enough in the net,” Flanders said. “I think we’ve been strong defensively throughout the season, and I think we’ve gotten better at working as a team and building up, but we still need to be able to finish in the final third.”
Metea Valley has been blanked nine times this season, lost 1-0 five times and has just one goal in its past four games. The Mustangs are playing competitive soccer but scoring goals has become elusive.
“We’re doing what we do well and the best that we can,” Whaley said. “We had a lot of opportunities today, lots of corners, and the girls will figure it out. There are moments in the game that you have to capitalize on because they don’t come very often so you got make the most of them.”
Now that it’s May, adjustments should’ve been made from the turnover caused by the graduation of key contributors from last year’s squad. The Mustangs appear to have done a great job in welcoming in new players and taking on new roles for the good of the team. The transition and progress have gone well but success has been inconsistent. Sometimes that’s part of the growing pains, especially when the schedule remains as difficult as ever.
“We have a lot of new faces and a lot of young kids, so it took us a while to get organized as coaches and players,” Whaley said. “We went down to St. Louis five games into our season. Those first five games (1-3-1, two 3-0 losses) were probably our worst ever. Since then we haven’t given up more than one goal in a game and had four shutouts in there. We just have got to put the ball in the net ourselves, and once we can do that and keep a clean-sheet, we’ll be OK.”
Neuqua Valley undoubtedly did its part to make things difficult on a Metea Valley team that continues to get better. In the end, a lot of that came down to the backline, which though not super busy stepped up when called upon and did its part to clean things up.
“I think we’ve been playing our best soccer in the second half the last few games so we need to play better in the first 40 minutes,” Neuqua Valley junior defender Megan Olah said. “I’m just trying to play my game, do my part, play well and support my team, and I think we’ve been playing well.”
With six wins in the last seven games, the Wildcats record is finally started to look less like a home address number and more like the ninth-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Neuqua Valley continues to prove its one of the top programs in the state, and once the playoffs roll around they’ll have experienced a little of everything, including facing some of the best teams around. They’re not a team anyone will want to face in the postseason.
“I think at the beginning we were all trying hard as a team to mesh,” Olah said. “(Coach Joe Moreau) obviously sets our schedule, and we play the toughest competition. I think that we’ve been able to grow, and I think we’re playing a lot better now then we were at the beginning of the season, and we’re going to keep on growing.”
And they keep handling Metea Valley, improving to 7-3-0 against the Mustangs in their past 10 meetings over the last five seasons.
“It’s always a competitive atmosphere when we’re playing them, and we always want to beat Neuqua Valley,” Buranosky said. “We especially want to beat them on our home field and since they knocked us out of the playoffs last year. We always want to have a good game with them.”
Last spring the Wildcats beat Metea Valley three times, including 4-0 in a sectional semifinal, although the previous year it was the Mustangs who beat Neuqua Valley 3-1 in a sectional semifinal. Neuqua also won 2-0 in a sectional in 2015, so the two squads have knocked each other out in sectional play in three of the past five years.
“What sticks in my mind is my sophomore year when they beat us 3-1 (in the sectional) and that’s what fires me up,” Tagler said. “We knew that team could come out and beat us in any game, anytime, so we had to be ready.”
Metea Valley certainly could’ve used a jolt to its offense. Former standouts Jade Eriksen-Russo and Sophia Senese provided that spark on countless occasions in recent seasons, but as happens in all high school sports, great players graduate. Now’s the time for other great ones to step up.
Tagler has done that for Neuqua Valley and stands as one of the many reasons why the Wildcats are so hard to beat.
“We’ve had some really tough games recently with St. Charles East, Geneva and Sandburg,” Tagler said. “These are really aggressive teams, and I think the way we’ve played them and how we’ve responded to them shows that we’re ready to make a long run in the playoffs this year.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Nikki Coryell
D Paige Buranoski
D Nicole Dawson
D Morgan McCrary
D Lauren Wardell
MF Sydney Rohm
MF Ella Johnson
MF Katy Flanders
MF Kayla Hurst
MF Kiley McKee
F Delaney Putnam
Neuqua Valley
GK Tara Tesmond
D Paige Munar
D Erin McCarthy
D Megan Olah
D Leah Senese
MF Danielle Hopkins
MF Brooke Miller
MF Katelyn Nardulli
F Piper Biziorek
F Alison Dovalovsky
F Shannon Tagler
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Piper Biziorek, jr., F, Neuqua Valley
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Neuqua Valley – Piper Biziorek (Alison Dovalovsky), 23:08
Junior forward's goal gives Wildcats 1-0 DuPage Valley victory
By Chris Walker
AURORA – Neuqua Valley has gotten the best of its sister school Metea Valley recently, but Wednesday night the Wildcats did something they’ve never done to the Mustangs before.
They beat them on the road, despite being the home team.
Huh? Uh, say that again.
If that leaves you shaking your head in confusion, you’re probably not the only one. The game, originally schedule for Tuesday at Neuqua Valley, was played at Metea Valley’s Mustang Stadium because the Wildcats' field was soaking wet. Even if the field was in game shape, lightning and thunder would likely have prevented it.
The game was finally played under rainless skies at Metea Valley on Wednesday, and Neuqua Valley continued its successful streak.
“We had our time against them not too long before (now), and we don’t get caught up too much on who we’re playing,” Metea Valley coach Chris Whaley said. “We try to stay away from that, but these are teams you want to beat, conference opponents. You always want to beat them. More so for us, it’s just trying to focus on what we need to do to be at our best, because we have a week of games left after this, and we have to be ready for big games in the tournament.”
Neuqua Valley (10-3-3, 2-0-0) came through with the only scoring of the evening with 23:08 left to play thanks to the teamwork of Paige Munar, Alison Dovalovsky and the finisher, Piper Biziorek.
Munar played it down the sideline to Dovalovsky who crossed it to Biziorek to start and end the scoring.
“When I got it from Ali (Dovalovsky) it was kind of bouncing so I didn’t have a good handle on it,” Biziorek said. “So I had to cut it back, and then I just shot it. I knew we needed a goal and if you just go for it, sometimes it’ll go in, and that’s what happened.”
Sometimes players will react too quickly, rushing the shot and not getting the desired result. Biziorek acknowledged that time usually moves fast during these moments, just like defenders do in trying to thwart anything potentially destined for the net.
“I felt like I had more time when the ball was coming to me, but the bad mishandling made it feel like they were on me,” she said. “I just had to cut it back and shoot it as quickly as I could.”
For hammering home the gamew-inner, Biziorek was named the Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match. And while on the subject of names, did you know that Biziorek was named after actress and three-time Academy Award nominee Piper Laurie?
Yes, she was.
“It’s actually funny,” Biziorek said. “Piper Laurie is one of my mom’s favorite actresses. She just loves Piper Laurie; I don’t know. It’s funny because I actually know more Pipers now than Emmas or Sophias. I know like five or six different Pipers. I had thought my name was unique, but then I started meeting all these other Pipers.”
Biziorek wasn’t sure if her mother had a favorite Piper Laurie role, but one could assume that Laurie’s performances in The Hustler (1961), Carrie (1976), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and even her brilliance as Catherine Martell in the TV cult series Twin Peaks (1991) are worthy of consideration.
Metea Valley (6-7-2, 0-3-0) had one of its best chances of depositing the equalizer with a little under 16 minutes left to play when sophomore Livvy Toole was able to split a pair of defenders but just couldn’t control the ball to deliver a shot.
Earlier in the second half, the Mustangs had a solid chance off a corner kick. The Wildcats were unable to clear the ball immediately out of the danger zone. Paige Buranosky may have been able to attempt a shot if she had a split-second more to make a play before Neuqua Valley keeper Tara Tesmond snagged the ball.
“I think I hit it with my head, and I was around my teammates trying to get the ball off the ground,” Buranosky said. “It was just a matter of me timing it better. I felt like we could’ve had that, but it doesn’t happen sometimes.”
And just before Biziorek connected, the Mustangs appeared on the verge of going ahead 1-0 themselves, but Neuqua Valley’s Shannon Tagler literally got in the way, stepping in front of the exposed net with 24:18 remaining in the second half to reject a shot with her chest on the back post.
“I tried to chest it out and keep it from going in,” Tagler said. “I just know I have to stay on the post until Tara (Tesmond) clears us off. If I would’ve just ran up thinking it was clear that would’ve been a goal. I’m glad I stayed back on that.”
Scoreless, and with few really solid offensive threats, the first half was uneventful, although that primarily had to do with the strong play by both sides, which did a really nice job of keeping the ball out of dangerous situations.
The Mustangs best opportunity probably came in the 27th minute when Tesmond came out during a loose ball. For a moment it appeared as if Toole or sophomore Katy Flanders might end up with the ball and earn a shot at point-blank range with the goal exposed, but the opportunity quickly fell apart.
“We had a lot of corners and opportunities to finish, but we just haven’t put enough in the net,” Flanders said. “I think we’ve been strong defensively throughout the season, and I think we’ve gotten better at working as a team and building up, but we still need to be able to finish in the final third.”
Metea Valley has been blanked nine times this season, lost 1-0 five times and has just one goal in its past four games. The Mustangs are playing competitive soccer but scoring goals has become elusive.
“We’re doing what we do well and the best that we can,” Whaley said. “We had a lot of opportunities today, lots of corners, and the girls will figure it out. There are moments in the game that you have to capitalize on because they don’t come very often so you got make the most of them.”
Now that it’s May, adjustments should’ve been made from the turnover caused by the graduation of key contributors from last year’s squad. The Mustangs appear to have done a great job in welcoming in new players and taking on new roles for the good of the team. The transition and progress have gone well but success has been inconsistent. Sometimes that’s part of the growing pains, especially when the schedule remains as difficult as ever.
“We have a lot of new faces and a lot of young kids, so it took us a while to get organized as coaches and players,” Whaley said. “We went down to St. Louis five games into our season. Those first five games (1-3-1, two 3-0 losses) were probably our worst ever. Since then we haven’t given up more than one goal in a game and had four shutouts in there. We just have got to put the ball in the net ourselves, and once we can do that and keep a clean-sheet, we’ll be OK.”
Neuqua Valley undoubtedly did its part to make things difficult on a Metea Valley team that continues to get better. In the end, a lot of that came down to the backline, which though not super busy stepped up when called upon and did its part to clean things up.
“I think we’ve been playing our best soccer in the second half the last few games so we need to play better in the first 40 minutes,” Neuqua Valley junior defender Megan Olah said. “I’m just trying to play my game, do my part, play well and support my team, and I think we’ve been playing well.”
With six wins in the last seven games, the Wildcats record is finally started to look less like a home address number and more like the ninth-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25. Neuqua Valley continues to prove its one of the top programs in the state, and once the playoffs roll around they’ll have experienced a little of everything, including facing some of the best teams around. They’re not a team anyone will want to face in the postseason.
“I think at the beginning we were all trying hard as a team to mesh,” Olah said. “(Coach Joe Moreau) obviously sets our schedule, and we play the toughest competition. I think that we’ve been able to grow, and I think we’re playing a lot better now then we were at the beginning of the season, and we’re going to keep on growing.”
And they keep handling Metea Valley, improving to 7-3-0 against the Mustangs in their past 10 meetings over the last five seasons.
“It’s always a competitive atmosphere when we’re playing them, and we always want to beat Neuqua Valley,” Buranosky said. “We especially want to beat them on our home field and since they knocked us out of the playoffs last year. We always want to have a good game with them.”
Last spring the Wildcats beat Metea Valley three times, including 4-0 in a sectional semifinal, although the previous year it was the Mustangs who beat Neuqua Valley 3-1 in a sectional semifinal. Neuqua also won 2-0 in a sectional in 2015, so the two squads have knocked each other out in sectional play in three of the past five years.
“What sticks in my mind is my sophomore year when they beat us 3-1 (in the sectional) and that’s what fires me up,” Tagler said. “We knew that team could come out and beat us in any game, anytime, so we had to be ready.”
Metea Valley certainly could’ve used a jolt to its offense. Former standouts Jade Eriksen-Russo and Sophia Senese provided that spark on countless occasions in recent seasons, but as happens in all high school sports, great players graduate. Now’s the time for other great ones to step up.
Tagler has done that for Neuqua Valley and stands as one of the many reasons why the Wildcats are so hard to beat.
“We’ve had some really tough games recently with St. Charles East, Geneva and Sandburg,” Tagler said. “These are really aggressive teams, and I think the way we’ve played them and how we’ve responded to them shows that we’re ready to make a long run in the playoffs this year.”
Starting lineups
Metea Valley
GK Nikki Coryell
D Paige Buranoski
D Nicole Dawson
D Morgan McCrary
D Lauren Wardell
MF Sydney Rohm
MF Ella Johnson
MF Katy Flanders
MF Kayla Hurst
MF Kiley McKee
F Delaney Putnam
Neuqua Valley
GK Tara Tesmond
D Paige Munar
D Erin McCarthy
D Megan Olah
D Leah Senese
MF Danielle Hopkins
MF Brooke Miller
MF Katelyn Nardulli
F Piper Biziorek
F Alison Dovalovsky
F Shannon Tagler
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Piper Biziorek, jr., F, Neuqua Valley
Scoring summary
First half
No scoring
Second half
Neuqua Valley – Piper Biziorek (Alison Dovalovsky), 23:08