Oswego East makes
statement with win over Benet
Wolves take 2-0 halftime lead, hold on for 1st Naperville invite win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- There are dozens of schools that would like to get invited to play in the Naperville Invitational, the premier high school girls tournament in Illinois.
Oswego East didn’t get the chance to play in the 24-team tournament until 2019. Coach Juan Leal remembers all too well how that initiation went.
“We played Lyons and Naperville North,” Leal said. “And just got spanked.”
Indeed, the Wolves lost their two group-play games by an aggregate of 8-2 and finished that season with only six wins.
The COVID pandemic caused the Naperville Invitational to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021, but it is back this year.
So too are the Wolves. The 15th-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 grabbed attention by knocking off no. 17 Benet 2-1 at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium.
Sophomores Anya Gulbrandsen and Riley Gumm scored spectacular goals in the first half, and Oswego East held off a late rally to extend its winning streak to nine games.
“I know this is a really hard tournament to get invited to,” Gulbrandsen said. “And for the future of our program, this is big.”
Leal was beaming after the victory, which was the most significant in program history.
“Oh my goodness, you have no idea,” Leal said. “Obviously, knowing that Benet is Benet and what they’ve done and continue to do, I’m just super excited about this game.
“We were able to see them throughout winter league when we were at the dome, and we know what they have. We know that they’re good.
“I’m just proud of how we played. We were getting the onslaught of their offense in the second half.”
In the early going, however, it was the Redwings (8-3-0) who were under relentless attack from a dynamic group of players whose confidence is growing with each passing game. Only a great effort by Benet goalkeeper Shannon Clark, who made seven saves, kept the Wolves (9-1-0) from blowing the game open.
“They were just quicker and sharper with everything in the first half,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said. “I think we played a little timid, a little scared.
“They buried two just absolutely beautiful shots.”
Gulbrandsen authored the first. She took a pass from Erika Smiley and ripped a 15-yard shot into the upper left corner of the net at the 24:19 mark of the first half.
For Gulbrandsen, the goal served as validation of what she and her teammates already knew.
“We know how good our program is,” Gulbrandsen said. “All girls, on the field, on the bench, everyone is so good in our program.
“The school we’re going to, the clubs we play for, it’s so much fun to play together, so we know we can beat this team.
“That’s not to say we weren’t a little nervous. They were very good last year, and they still are a very good team. But we were giving so much.”
Gulbrandsen was excited to score a goal.
“I don’t want to say it was a surprise, but it was so rewarding,” Gulbrandsen said. “I was so happy.”
The Wolves became even happier 12 minutes later Mikayla Lambert found Gumm with a pass at the top of the box. Gumm dribbled up the middle and drilled a shot top shelf for a 2-0 lead.
“I honestly think the center mids controlled the game,” Gumm said. “Mikayla, Chloe (Noon) and Taylor (English) were able to connect and then contain defensively. They were the ones that were able to find us out wide, and we just finished the shots.”
The Wolves would have finished at least a couple more if not for Clark, who came up with two big diving stops, first on Lambert in the fifth minute and then on Smiley midway through the second half.
Clark’s counterpart, Sam McPhee, also was stellar. She denied Benet star Mariana Pinto with a leaping effort to tip a 25-yard rocket over the crossbar at the 19:35 mark of the first half and stopped Rachel Burns with a nice save on a 25-yard liner with 25:50 to go in the second half.
The Redwings finally broke through when Pinto bagged her team-leading 15th goal of the season with 21:00 remaining. The Lewis recruit got the ball on the left wing, raced into the box with a defender on her hip and roofed a shot over McPhee’s head to cut the deficit in half.
Though the Redwings started controlling more of the action after that, they mustered only two more shots. One was an open drive from the right wing by freshman Eleanor Mahan, whose attempt missed wide right.
“It was definitely a little nerve-wracking,” Mahan said of her Naperville Invitational debut. “But I feel like everybody is being so motivational and helpful to each other, so I think it was pretty easy to get in the groove.”
Oconer was encouraged by her performance off the bench.
“The reality for her is we put her in with one specific job,” Oconer said. “We needed to make sure that we won balls up-top and were able to hold them, and she did that.
“I think we started to wear them down a little bit with our depth. Second half we just settled down, and collectively as a group we worked really hard to win every single 50/50 ball.”
Benet won some, though far from all, of those balls. Leal said his defenders, including Emma Rosenthal, who saved a ball off the goal line, Erin Fleisher and Morgan Dick, were crucial in thwarting the Redwings.
“I wish our defense got a little more credit sometimes,” Leal said. “They communicate well. They put themselves in good spots, and they don’t back off from the best players in the state.
“This lineup is loaded and our defense just came to play today. Morgan Dick was clearing the ball extremely well. Her speed was able to close down on the them and break up plays.”
Gumm also gave kudos to the defensive effort, especially in the second half.
“I think near the end, when it was 2-1, we knew we just had to contain the ball and not give up useless stuff or let them get control of the game,” Gumm said. “I think our defense did a really good job of stopping everything. Abby Triska did so good at the end.”
The Redwings entered the game knowing the Wolves were a tough opponent. They left with even greater respect.
“They’re a very good team,” Benet midfielder Bailey Abbott said. “They’re very good at controlling the ball. They’re very quick, and they can play very fast.”
The Redwings will need to recover fast if they want to advance to the tournament quarterfinals. They need to beat St. Charles North (9-1-0) on Friday night and hope the North Starts beat Oswego East on Saturday. Otherwise, the Wolves will win Group B and earn their first quarterfinal berth.
“(The key) is definitely just to focus on really working hard,” Mahan said. “I have to try to stay focused and do my best.”
Regardless of the outcome, Oconer knows these tough matches are good for his squad.
“We find out certain things in games like this on what’s going to work and what’s not going to work,” Oconer said. “It forces you to have to make decisions a lot quicker than you’re normally accustomed to doing, and that just helps you overall later on in the season.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Reese MacDonald
D Sadie Sterbenz
D Annastacia Thiel
D Nora Hanson
M Brinkley Douglas
M Katie Lewellyan
M Bailey Abbott
F Keira Petrucelli
F Mariana Pinto
F Anna Casmere
Oswego East
GK Sam McPhee
D Yocie Castelan
D Abigail Triska
D Erin Fleisher
M Morgan Dick
M Anya Gulbrandsen
M Chloe Noon
M Riley Gumm
M Taylor English
F Mikayla Lambert
F Erika Smiley
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Riley Gumm, so., MF, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
Oswego East – Anya Gulbrandsen (Erika Smiley) 24:19 remaining
Oswego East – Riley Gumm (Mikayla Lambert) 12:31 remaining
Second half
Benet – Mariana Pinto 21:00 remaining
statement with win over Benet
Wolves take 2-0 halftime lead, hold on for 1st Naperville invite win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- There are dozens of schools that would like to get invited to play in the Naperville Invitational, the premier high school girls tournament in Illinois.
Oswego East didn’t get the chance to play in the 24-team tournament until 2019. Coach Juan Leal remembers all too well how that initiation went.
“We played Lyons and Naperville North,” Leal said. “And just got spanked.”
Indeed, the Wolves lost their two group-play games by an aggregate of 8-2 and finished that season with only six wins.
The COVID pandemic caused the Naperville Invitational to be cancelled in 2020 and 2021, but it is back this year.
So too are the Wolves. The 15th-ranked team in the Chicagoland Soccer Top 25 grabbed attention by knocking off no. 17 Benet 2-1 at Naperville Central’s Memorial Stadium.
Sophomores Anya Gulbrandsen and Riley Gumm scored spectacular goals in the first half, and Oswego East held off a late rally to extend its winning streak to nine games.
“I know this is a really hard tournament to get invited to,” Gulbrandsen said. “And for the future of our program, this is big.”
Leal was beaming after the victory, which was the most significant in program history.
“Oh my goodness, you have no idea,” Leal said. “Obviously, knowing that Benet is Benet and what they’ve done and continue to do, I’m just super excited about this game.
“We were able to see them throughout winter league when we were at the dome, and we know what they have. We know that they’re good.
“I’m just proud of how we played. We were getting the onslaught of their offense in the second half.”
In the early going, however, it was the Redwings (8-3-0) who were under relentless attack from a dynamic group of players whose confidence is growing with each passing game. Only a great effort by Benet goalkeeper Shannon Clark, who made seven saves, kept the Wolves (9-1-0) from blowing the game open.
“They were just quicker and sharper with everything in the first half,” Benet coach Gerard Oconer said. “I think we played a little timid, a little scared.
“They buried two just absolutely beautiful shots.”
Gulbrandsen authored the first. She took a pass from Erika Smiley and ripped a 15-yard shot into the upper left corner of the net at the 24:19 mark of the first half.
For Gulbrandsen, the goal served as validation of what she and her teammates already knew.
“We know how good our program is,” Gulbrandsen said. “All girls, on the field, on the bench, everyone is so good in our program.
“The school we’re going to, the clubs we play for, it’s so much fun to play together, so we know we can beat this team.
“That’s not to say we weren’t a little nervous. They were very good last year, and they still are a very good team. But we were giving so much.”
Gulbrandsen was excited to score a goal.
“I don’t want to say it was a surprise, but it was so rewarding,” Gulbrandsen said. “I was so happy.”
The Wolves became even happier 12 minutes later Mikayla Lambert found Gumm with a pass at the top of the box. Gumm dribbled up the middle and drilled a shot top shelf for a 2-0 lead.
“I honestly think the center mids controlled the game,” Gumm said. “Mikayla, Chloe (Noon) and Taylor (English) were able to connect and then contain defensively. They were the ones that were able to find us out wide, and we just finished the shots.”
The Wolves would have finished at least a couple more if not for Clark, who came up with two big diving stops, first on Lambert in the fifth minute and then on Smiley midway through the second half.
Clark’s counterpart, Sam McPhee, also was stellar. She denied Benet star Mariana Pinto with a leaping effort to tip a 25-yard rocket over the crossbar at the 19:35 mark of the first half and stopped Rachel Burns with a nice save on a 25-yard liner with 25:50 to go in the second half.
The Redwings finally broke through when Pinto bagged her team-leading 15th goal of the season with 21:00 remaining. The Lewis recruit got the ball on the left wing, raced into the box with a defender on her hip and roofed a shot over McPhee’s head to cut the deficit in half.
Though the Redwings started controlling more of the action after that, they mustered only two more shots. One was an open drive from the right wing by freshman Eleanor Mahan, whose attempt missed wide right.
“It was definitely a little nerve-wracking,” Mahan said of her Naperville Invitational debut. “But I feel like everybody is being so motivational and helpful to each other, so I think it was pretty easy to get in the groove.”
Oconer was encouraged by her performance off the bench.
“The reality for her is we put her in with one specific job,” Oconer said. “We needed to make sure that we won balls up-top and were able to hold them, and she did that.
“I think we started to wear them down a little bit with our depth. Second half we just settled down, and collectively as a group we worked really hard to win every single 50/50 ball.”
Benet won some, though far from all, of those balls. Leal said his defenders, including Emma Rosenthal, who saved a ball off the goal line, Erin Fleisher and Morgan Dick, were crucial in thwarting the Redwings.
“I wish our defense got a little more credit sometimes,” Leal said. “They communicate well. They put themselves in good spots, and they don’t back off from the best players in the state.
“This lineup is loaded and our defense just came to play today. Morgan Dick was clearing the ball extremely well. Her speed was able to close down on the them and break up plays.”
Gumm also gave kudos to the defensive effort, especially in the second half.
“I think near the end, when it was 2-1, we knew we just had to contain the ball and not give up useless stuff or let them get control of the game,” Gumm said. “I think our defense did a really good job of stopping everything. Abby Triska did so good at the end.”
The Redwings entered the game knowing the Wolves were a tough opponent. They left with even greater respect.
“They’re a very good team,” Benet midfielder Bailey Abbott said. “They’re very good at controlling the ball. They’re very quick, and they can play very fast.”
The Redwings will need to recover fast if they want to advance to the tournament quarterfinals. They need to beat St. Charles North (9-1-0) on Friday night and hope the North Starts beat Oswego East on Saturday. Otherwise, the Wolves will win Group B and earn their first quarterfinal berth.
“(The key) is definitely just to focus on really working hard,” Mahan said. “I have to try to stay focused and do my best.”
Regardless of the outcome, Oconer knows these tough matches are good for his squad.
“We find out certain things in games like this on what’s going to work and what’s not going to work,” Oconer said. “It forces you to have to make decisions a lot quicker than you’re normally accustomed to doing, and that just helps you overall later on in the season.”
Starting lineups
Benet
GK Shannon Clark
D Reese MacDonald
D Sadie Sterbenz
D Annastacia Thiel
D Nora Hanson
M Brinkley Douglas
M Katie Lewellyan
M Bailey Abbott
F Keira Petrucelli
F Mariana Pinto
F Anna Casmere
Oswego East
GK Sam McPhee
D Yocie Castelan
D Abigail Triska
D Erin Fleisher
M Morgan Dick
M Anya Gulbrandsen
M Chloe Noon
M Riley Gumm
M Taylor English
F Mikayla Lambert
F Erika Smiley
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Riley Gumm, so., MF, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
Oswego East – Anya Gulbrandsen (Erika Smiley) 24:19 remaining
Oswego East – Riley Gumm (Mikayla Lambert) 12:31 remaining
Second half
Benet – Mariana Pinto 21:00 remaining