Motivated Oswego E. motors past Oswego
2nd half effort earns 3-1 crosstown conference win
By Steve Millar
OSWEGO – With a shortened preseason and players who haven’t taken the field together in two years after the 2020 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Oswego East coach Juan Leal didn’t know what to expect from his team in the opening games.
As it turns out, the Wolves are already clicking on all cylinders.
Behind a three-goal outburst in the second half Monday, host Oswego East earned a 3-1 victory over crosstown rival Oswego in a Southwest Prairie Conference game.
That continued an impressive start for the Wolves (2-0-0, 2-0-0) after a 7-0 season-opening win April 15 against Joliet West.
“I honestly have no idea how they’ve pulled together as a team so fast,” Leal said. “We came in and we started tryouts late. The girls were on spring break. We only had three days of practice before our first game, but this group of girls supports each other and trusts each other. I have no idea how it happened.
“It just happened the way it did, and I’m going to take it, roll with it and move forward.”
The Wolves and Oswego (1-1, 1-1) held each other at bay for over 50 minutes before Oswego East broke through on the first high school goal for sophomore forward Erika Smiley.
After a scramble in the Wolves’ offensive third, Oswego East senior Alex McPhee chased down the loose ball and played a quick pass to Smiley at the top of the box on the left side of the field.
Smiley tucked a shot inside the far post to give the Wolves the lead.
“I’m really good friends with (McPhee), and we practice that stuff all the time,” Smiley said. “So, to actually do it and finish in a game was so fun, especially since it was the first goal of the game.
“We got a lot of momentum. The same thing happened against Joliet West. We just got the first one and kept going.”
Smiley, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, was happy to be on the field with her teammates after waiting so long to start her high school career.
“It stunk that last year got canceled, but that made this season even more exciting, so it’s OK now,” Smiley said. “It’s been so exciting getting out here and playing with this team. Getting to play Oswego in our second game, we were super excited for it.”
Leal said the opening strike from the sophomore gave the rest of his team belief that they could win the game.
“We’ve been focusing on finishing and burying those shots from anywhere we can,” Leal said. “We’ve been trying to get everyone that confidence to trust themselves to take those shots. I think once we got that first one, we got that confidence, like ‘We got this.’ The momentum really helped us out.”
Indeed, it was not long before the 1-0 lead turned into a 3-0 lead.
First, the Wolves earned a corner kick and McPhee played a dangerous ball into the middle of the box. Oswego’s attempt to clear the ball ended up in the back of the net for an own-goal to make it 2-0 with 22 minutes, 24 seconds to play.
Then, junior Chloe Noon delivered the proverbial dagger when she scored with 16:32 left.
Noon intercepted a pass out of the Oswego backfield, made a quick move and fired a high shot from 30 yards on the left side of the field that sailed inside the far post to make it 3-0.
“I did a little fake move in the middle and I hit it with my right foot,” Noon said. “I feel most comfortable from far out because I know I have a big shot, and I can hit those balls over the keeper.
“It was awesome. I felt like after that goal, we really locked it in and solidified it. We just had to keep our composure from there on the defensive end.”
Noon said the Wolves are having a blast playing together.
“It has felt so good,” Noon said. “It’s been a feeling like no other. We’ve all been waiting so long for this. Last year, we all had that mentality that we were ready to play, and we knew we had a good team. We were upset when we couldn’t play. This year, we’ve came in with the exact same mentality if not better, and we’ve been playing like it.
“Everyone has been really serious. Everyone wants to win. We’re all on the same page. We showed up for our first two games ready to go. It’s been really good.”
The Wolves were out-possessed by Oswego in the first half. They did manage five shots on goal, but all were from a distance and fairly routine for Panthers goalkeeper Margaret Leger, who finished with eight saves.
Heading into the second half, Leal said there were only simple adjustments required.
“We just had to connect passes,” he said. “That’s all it came down to. Once we were able to get that going and get the ball moving, we got going. This grass is wet and thick, so it really slows the ball down a lot. We had to adjust to that.
“The funny thing about playing Oswego is the girls get more nervous than you want them to. I try to get them to not get in their heads too much, but the excitement is there. I’m glad we played it for our second game and now it’s out of the way. Oswego is a good team. They kind of took it us in the midfield for a while with (Emily Tully).”
With Tully commanding the midfield and Anna Johnson bringing speed up-top, the Panthers had plenty of good looks but put just six shots on goal as they fired high and wide many times.
Samantha McPhee made three saves in the first half for Oswego East and Hailey Corcoran had two saves in the second half.
Oswego did break through with 10:42 to go when outside defender Sarah Epstein made a strong run down the right side of the field and played a cross into the middle of the box where Johnson headed it home.
Going forward, it’s all about finishing more of those chances for the Panthers.
“We basically controlled the game, but when they had those couple chances, they took them,” Oswego coach Gaspar Arias said. “We gave them one with the own-goal. We just didn’t finish our chances. These girls are pretty young and it’s going to take us a bit to get into a rhythm, but we’ll get there.
“They have to believe they’re good. Right now most of them are young, and they get nervous, especially for a crosstown game.”
Oswego showed its scoring capabilities in a 7-0 win over Yorkville in its season opener, leaving Arias with plenty of reasons for optimism as he looks ahead.
“I believe they’re capable of scoring goals, that they can finish,” he said. “We just need to keep growing and developing as a team.
“I think we have a lot of talent. They listen, and they’re willing to learn. They’re all working together and creating that chemistry that I know is going to be key for us to be successful.”
Starting lineups
Oswego
GK – Margaret Leger
D - Elaina Hallick
D - Sarah Epstein
D - Brynne Fehrmann
D - Cameran Guzman
MF - Saira Arias
MF - Quinlan Glueck
MF - Emily Tully
MF - Adriana Drossos
F - Alexandria Wheeler
F - Anna Johnson
Oswego East
GK - Samantha McPhee
D - Alex McPhee
D - Yocie Castelan
D - Abigail Scott
D - Samantha Anderson
MF - Anya Gulbrandsen
MF - Mikayla Lauren Lambert
MF - Chloe Noon
MF - Kailey Tyburski
F - Riley Gumm
F - Erika Smiley
Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match: Erika Smiley, so. F, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
No scorint
Second half
Oswego East – Smiley (A. McPhee), 53rd minute
Oswego East – Oswego own-goal, 58th minute
Oswego East – Noon (unassisted), 64th minute
Oswego – Johnson (Epstein), 70th minute
2nd half effort earns 3-1 crosstown conference win
By Steve Millar
OSWEGO – With a shortened preseason and players who haven’t taken the field together in two years after the 2020 season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Oswego East coach Juan Leal didn’t know what to expect from his team in the opening games.
As it turns out, the Wolves are already clicking on all cylinders.
Behind a three-goal outburst in the second half Monday, host Oswego East earned a 3-1 victory over crosstown rival Oswego in a Southwest Prairie Conference game.
That continued an impressive start for the Wolves (2-0-0, 2-0-0) after a 7-0 season-opening win April 15 against Joliet West.
“I honestly have no idea how they’ve pulled together as a team so fast,” Leal said. “We came in and we started tryouts late. The girls were on spring break. We only had three days of practice before our first game, but this group of girls supports each other and trusts each other. I have no idea how it happened.
“It just happened the way it did, and I’m going to take it, roll with it and move forward.”
The Wolves and Oswego (1-1, 1-1) held each other at bay for over 50 minutes before Oswego East broke through on the first high school goal for sophomore forward Erika Smiley.
After a scramble in the Wolves’ offensive third, Oswego East senior Alex McPhee chased down the loose ball and played a quick pass to Smiley at the top of the box on the left side of the field.
Smiley tucked a shot inside the far post to give the Wolves the lead.
“I’m really good friends with (McPhee), and we practice that stuff all the time,” Smiley said. “So, to actually do it and finish in a game was so fun, especially since it was the first goal of the game.
“We got a lot of momentum. The same thing happened against Joliet West. We just got the first one and kept going.”
Smiley, Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match, was happy to be on the field with her teammates after waiting so long to start her high school career.
“It stunk that last year got canceled, but that made this season even more exciting, so it’s OK now,” Smiley said. “It’s been so exciting getting out here and playing with this team. Getting to play Oswego in our second game, we were super excited for it.”
Leal said the opening strike from the sophomore gave the rest of his team belief that they could win the game.
“We’ve been focusing on finishing and burying those shots from anywhere we can,” Leal said. “We’ve been trying to get everyone that confidence to trust themselves to take those shots. I think once we got that first one, we got that confidence, like ‘We got this.’ The momentum really helped us out.”
Indeed, it was not long before the 1-0 lead turned into a 3-0 lead.
First, the Wolves earned a corner kick and McPhee played a dangerous ball into the middle of the box. Oswego’s attempt to clear the ball ended up in the back of the net for an own-goal to make it 2-0 with 22 minutes, 24 seconds to play.
Then, junior Chloe Noon delivered the proverbial dagger when she scored with 16:32 left.
Noon intercepted a pass out of the Oswego backfield, made a quick move and fired a high shot from 30 yards on the left side of the field that sailed inside the far post to make it 3-0.
“I did a little fake move in the middle and I hit it with my right foot,” Noon said. “I feel most comfortable from far out because I know I have a big shot, and I can hit those balls over the keeper.
“It was awesome. I felt like after that goal, we really locked it in and solidified it. We just had to keep our composure from there on the defensive end.”
Noon said the Wolves are having a blast playing together.
“It has felt so good,” Noon said. “It’s been a feeling like no other. We’ve all been waiting so long for this. Last year, we all had that mentality that we were ready to play, and we knew we had a good team. We were upset when we couldn’t play. This year, we’ve came in with the exact same mentality if not better, and we’ve been playing like it.
“Everyone has been really serious. Everyone wants to win. We’re all on the same page. We showed up for our first two games ready to go. It’s been really good.”
The Wolves were out-possessed by Oswego in the first half. They did manage five shots on goal, but all were from a distance and fairly routine for Panthers goalkeeper Margaret Leger, who finished with eight saves.
Heading into the second half, Leal said there were only simple adjustments required.
“We just had to connect passes,” he said. “That’s all it came down to. Once we were able to get that going and get the ball moving, we got going. This grass is wet and thick, so it really slows the ball down a lot. We had to adjust to that.
“The funny thing about playing Oswego is the girls get more nervous than you want them to. I try to get them to not get in their heads too much, but the excitement is there. I’m glad we played it for our second game and now it’s out of the way. Oswego is a good team. They kind of took it us in the midfield for a while with (Emily Tully).”
With Tully commanding the midfield and Anna Johnson bringing speed up-top, the Panthers had plenty of good looks but put just six shots on goal as they fired high and wide many times.
Samantha McPhee made three saves in the first half for Oswego East and Hailey Corcoran had two saves in the second half.
Oswego did break through with 10:42 to go when outside defender Sarah Epstein made a strong run down the right side of the field and played a cross into the middle of the box where Johnson headed it home.
Going forward, it’s all about finishing more of those chances for the Panthers.
“We basically controlled the game, but when they had those couple chances, they took them,” Oswego coach Gaspar Arias said. “We gave them one with the own-goal. We just didn’t finish our chances. These girls are pretty young and it’s going to take us a bit to get into a rhythm, but we’ll get there.
“They have to believe they’re good. Right now most of them are young, and they get nervous, especially for a crosstown game.”
Oswego showed its scoring capabilities in a 7-0 win over Yorkville in its season opener, leaving Arias with plenty of reasons for optimism as he looks ahead.
“I believe they’re capable of scoring goals, that they can finish,” he said. “We just need to keep growing and developing as a team.
“I think we have a lot of talent. They listen, and they’re willing to learn. They’re all working together and creating that chemistry that I know is going to be key for us to be successful.”
Starting lineups
Oswego
GK – Margaret Leger
D - Elaina Hallick
D - Sarah Epstein
D - Brynne Fehrmann
D - Cameran Guzman
MF - Saira Arias
MF - Quinlan Glueck
MF - Emily Tully
MF - Adriana Drossos
F - Alexandria Wheeler
F - Anna Johnson
Oswego East
GK - Samantha McPhee
D - Alex McPhee
D - Yocie Castelan
D - Abigail Scott
D - Samantha Anderson
MF - Anya Gulbrandsen
MF - Mikayla Lauren Lambert
MF - Chloe Noon
MF - Kailey Tyburski
F - Riley Gumm
F - Erika Smiley
Chicagoland Soccer’s MVP of the Match: Erika Smiley, so. F, Oswego East
Scoring summary
First half
No scorint
Second half
Oswego East – Smiley (A. McPhee), 53rd minute
Oswego East – Oswego own-goal, 58th minute
Oswego East – Noon (unassisted), 64th minute
Oswego – Johnson (Epstein), 70th minute