Plainfield South holds off West Aurora
Cougars stay perfect with 2-1 win, Blackhawks drop 3rd straight
By Chris Walker
AURORA -- The West Aurora girls soccer program will never forget last year.
And they shouldn’t.
The Blackhawks, ranked no. 24 in Chicagoland Soccer’s preseason poll, accomplished so much last spring. They won a bracket at the annual Pepsi tournament, captured the program’s first regional championship with a thrilling victory over Naperville Central and won the most games ever in a season (18) at a school which is far better known for a sport that involves putting the ball in a net that’s connected to a rim.
It was a remarkable run for West Aurora last year, but they started all over this week and remain winless after losing a 2-1 nonconference game against Plainfield South on Friday afternoon in Aurora.
The Blackhawks (0-3) had already dropped games to Naperville Central and Wheaton Academy earlier in the week.
“I just think that we needed to calm down and not freak out,” Blackhawks coach Laura Wagley said. “Last year we didn’t lose two games in a row. I think we just needed to come back (after Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Wheaton Academy) and play better today, like we’re capable doing, and we had a lot of good chances, but we just need to finish.”
The Blackhawks only return three seniors while the Cougars might as well be donning caps and gowns rather than their typical uniforms with a roster overflowing with seniors.
And those seniors are playing well, leading the team to a 3-0 start. The Cougars finished 15-10-0 last year, but at one time sported a 14-3-0 record. Plainfield South's season ended in a regional semifinal against Waubonsie Valley, but while that hurt, they also knew that most of the team would likely return even better in 2018.
“We’ve been really happy with this start, and it’s expected with a veteran team like this year with 14 seniors,” Cougars coach Alfonso Lopez said. “We’ve seen a lot of leadership on the field and that’s really helped us out. We’ve been trying to get the rust off these first three games, but the girls are already playing well and getting better each game.”
They’ve also likely gotten awfully body sore this week. They’ll grunt and groan through the aches and pains during Saturday’s championship bracket quarterfinal game in the Windy City Ram Classic as they finish playing four games in four days.
“They’re feeling it, they’re tired, they’re hurt and there are bruises,” Lopez said. “But I think they’re OK. They’ve played four years of soccer here at Plainfield South so they know what it takes so they’re doing alright.”
At 5-foot-1, the Cougars' Isabel Cerda isn’t going to tower over anyone, but since her freshman year she’s proven that she can get ahead of defenders and that’s more important than her winning 50/50 balls in the air.
With the ball in her possession, Cerda got ahead of two West Aurora defenders and sent a shot past Blackhawks’ keeper Hannah Gove just 3:44 into the action for a 1-0 lead.
“I just got a good through-ball and was able to ready it before the defender,” said Cerda, who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. “I knew where I wanted to go, and luckily I was able to go with the ball and get the shot.”
While Cerda finished business on her own on that particular scoring play, she cited the linkage that set it up, as well as at other points throughout the game as key to the team’s strong start.
“We have made some great connections, and we know how to get the ball up the field and to continue to connect as a team,” she said. “We know we can’t always put them in, but we’re going to keep on trying.
“We have a great senior class and we’re also getting help from the younger players. I think the bond we formed as a team before the season even started has been a big factor for our start.”
West Aurora netted its first goal of the spring with 28:30 left in the first half to draw even at 1-1.
Riley O’Brien, an Illinois State recruit who had 23 assists last year, set up sophomore Olivia McPherson on a corner kick for the equalizer.
“We’ve been working on a lot of corner kicks and Riley was able to get it to the back of the post for me, and I was able to chest it,” McPherson said. “It bobbled off the goalie’s foot, and I was able to hit it in. It was nice to get an opening goal.”
It alleviated some of the frustrations from earlier in the week, especially from Wednesday when the Blackhawks were sluggish in their 1-0 loss to Wheaton Academy. West Aurora was held without a corner kick in the first half and really didn’t produce much offensively until their backs were against the wall in the final 10 minutes.
They turned the tables against Plainfield South.
“They started off really well and they basically controlled 80 percent of possession in the first half,” Cougars coach Lopez said. “In the second half we started controlling possession but then they finished strong with some chances, but again the seniors we have in there stepped it up and we were able to keep it out of the net.”
The visitors Cougars scored what would prove to be the game-winner with 23:29 still on the clock in the opening half. Cira Coneset converted a penalty kick that was awarded after Gianna Dodaro was taken down hard and had to be helped off the field.
O’Brien had a good attempt at rallying the Blackhawks late in the first half, but her shot was easily retrieved by Plainfield South keeper Nicole Trenholm.
Kiara McPherson hooked a shot just a little too far left early in the second half and Lexi Juarez had a 15-yard free kick that she overshot, but arguably West Aurora’s best chance to drawing even at 2-2 came with under two minutes remaining in the game when Trenholm came out to defend and Audrey Stephens had a brief open look, but her shot sailed over the crossbar, caroming off the horizontal bar on the football goal post.
“After the Wheaton Academy game we came out to practice and worked a lot on corner kicks and we scrimmaged a little, and we were able to connect really well in the middle,” Olivia McPherson said. “We have a lot of young players and I think our captains are doing a great job in figuring things out. Yeah, we’re 0-3 right now, but I’m confident we can come out next week and win our next one.”
Wagley noted a particular difference from Wednesday’s game to Friday’s. Sure it was abit more windy and definitely colder, but more important from her perspective was the energy her girls played with against another strong squad.
“Off (Chicagoland Soccer’s) rankings, we played no. 15 (Naperville Central) on Monday, we played no. 12 (Wheaton Academy) on Wednesday and then we played Plainfield South, who should’ve been in the Top 25 in my opinion with 14 seniors back including 11 starters from last year,” she said. “I like the tough competition and if we go 0-3 against good teams, that’s it, so be it.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Nicole Trenholm
D Ciara Coneset
D Adanelly Escamilla
D Christina Schade
D Amaya Silvar
MF Isabel Cerda
MF Gianna Dodaro
MF Emily DeVivo
MF Emily Sauder
F Gianna Derka
F Taylor Metcalf
West Aurora
GK Hannah Gove
D Isela Chavez
D Laeticia Mbende
D Sofia Papoutsis
D Mackenzie Thompson
MF Lexi Juarez
MF Kiara McPherson
MF Olivia McPherson
MF Yuvia Ontiveros
F Riley O’Brien
F Audrey Stephens
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Isabel Cerda, sr., MF, Plainfield South
Cougars stay perfect with 2-1 win, Blackhawks drop 3rd straight
By Chris Walker
AURORA -- The West Aurora girls soccer program will never forget last year.
And they shouldn’t.
The Blackhawks, ranked no. 24 in Chicagoland Soccer’s preseason poll, accomplished so much last spring. They won a bracket at the annual Pepsi tournament, captured the program’s first regional championship with a thrilling victory over Naperville Central and won the most games ever in a season (18) at a school which is far better known for a sport that involves putting the ball in a net that’s connected to a rim.
It was a remarkable run for West Aurora last year, but they started all over this week and remain winless after losing a 2-1 nonconference game against Plainfield South on Friday afternoon in Aurora.
The Blackhawks (0-3) had already dropped games to Naperville Central and Wheaton Academy earlier in the week.
“I just think that we needed to calm down and not freak out,” Blackhawks coach Laura Wagley said. “Last year we didn’t lose two games in a row. I think we just needed to come back (after Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Wheaton Academy) and play better today, like we’re capable doing, and we had a lot of good chances, but we just need to finish.”
The Blackhawks only return three seniors while the Cougars might as well be donning caps and gowns rather than their typical uniforms with a roster overflowing with seniors.
And those seniors are playing well, leading the team to a 3-0 start. The Cougars finished 15-10-0 last year, but at one time sported a 14-3-0 record. Plainfield South's season ended in a regional semifinal against Waubonsie Valley, but while that hurt, they also knew that most of the team would likely return even better in 2018.
“We’ve been really happy with this start, and it’s expected with a veteran team like this year with 14 seniors,” Cougars coach Alfonso Lopez said. “We’ve seen a lot of leadership on the field and that’s really helped us out. We’ve been trying to get the rust off these first three games, but the girls are already playing well and getting better each game.”
They’ve also likely gotten awfully body sore this week. They’ll grunt and groan through the aches and pains during Saturday’s championship bracket quarterfinal game in the Windy City Ram Classic as they finish playing four games in four days.
“They’re feeling it, they’re tired, they’re hurt and there are bruises,” Lopez said. “But I think they’re OK. They’ve played four years of soccer here at Plainfield South so they know what it takes so they’re doing alright.”
At 5-foot-1, the Cougars' Isabel Cerda isn’t going to tower over anyone, but since her freshman year she’s proven that she can get ahead of defenders and that’s more important than her winning 50/50 balls in the air.
With the ball in her possession, Cerda got ahead of two West Aurora defenders and sent a shot past Blackhawks’ keeper Hannah Gove just 3:44 into the action for a 1-0 lead.
“I just got a good through-ball and was able to ready it before the defender,” said Cerda, who earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors. “I knew where I wanted to go, and luckily I was able to go with the ball and get the shot.”
While Cerda finished business on her own on that particular scoring play, she cited the linkage that set it up, as well as at other points throughout the game as key to the team’s strong start.
“We have made some great connections, and we know how to get the ball up the field and to continue to connect as a team,” she said. “We know we can’t always put them in, but we’re going to keep on trying.
“We have a great senior class and we’re also getting help from the younger players. I think the bond we formed as a team before the season even started has been a big factor for our start.”
West Aurora netted its first goal of the spring with 28:30 left in the first half to draw even at 1-1.
Riley O’Brien, an Illinois State recruit who had 23 assists last year, set up sophomore Olivia McPherson on a corner kick for the equalizer.
“We’ve been working on a lot of corner kicks and Riley was able to get it to the back of the post for me, and I was able to chest it,” McPherson said. “It bobbled off the goalie’s foot, and I was able to hit it in. It was nice to get an opening goal.”
It alleviated some of the frustrations from earlier in the week, especially from Wednesday when the Blackhawks were sluggish in their 1-0 loss to Wheaton Academy. West Aurora was held without a corner kick in the first half and really didn’t produce much offensively until their backs were against the wall in the final 10 minutes.
They turned the tables against Plainfield South.
“They started off really well and they basically controlled 80 percent of possession in the first half,” Cougars coach Lopez said. “In the second half we started controlling possession but then they finished strong with some chances, but again the seniors we have in there stepped it up and we were able to keep it out of the net.”
The visitors Cougars scored what would prove to be the game-winner with 23:29 still on the clock in the opening half. Cira Coneset converted a penalty kick that was awarded after Gianna Dodaro was taken down hard and had to be helped off the field.
O’Brien had a good attempt at rallying the Blackhawks late in the first half, but her shot was easily retrieved by Plainfield South keeper Nicole Trenholm.
Kiara McPherson hooked a shot just a little too far left early in the second half and Lexi Juarez had a 15-yard free kick that she overshot, but arguably West Aurora’s best chance to drawing even at 2-2 came with under two minutes remaining in the game when Trenholm came out to defend and Audrey Stephens had a brief open look, but her shot sailed over the crossbar, caroming off the horizontal bar on the football goal post.
“After the Wheaton Academy game we came out to practice and worked a lot on corner kicks and we scrimmaged a little, and we were able to connect really well in the middle,” Olivia McPherson said. “We have a lot of young players and I think our captains are doing a great job in figuring things out. Yeah, we’re 0-3 right now, but I’m confident we can come out next week and win our next one.”
Wagley noted a particular difference from Wednesday’s game to Friday’s. Sure it was abit more windy and definitely colder, but more important from her perspective was the energy her girls played with against another strong squad.
“Off (Chicagoland Soccer’s) rankings, we played no. 15 (Naperville Central) on Monday, we played no. 12 (Wheaton Academy) on Wednesday and then we played Plainfield South, who should’ve been in the Top 25 in my opinion with 14 seniors back including 11 starters from last year,” she said. “I like the tough competition and if we go 0-3 against good teams, that’s it, so be it.”
Starting lineups
Plainfield South
GK Nicole Trenholm
D Ciara Coneset
D Adanelly Escamilla
D Christina Schade
D Amaya Silvar
MF Isabel Cerda
MF Gianna Dodaro
MF Emily DeVivo
MF Emily Sauder
F Gianna Derka
F Taylor Metcalf
West Aurora
GK Hannah Gove
D Isela Chavez
D Laeticia Mbende
D Sofia Papoutsis
D Mackenzie Thompson
MF Lexi Juarez
MF Kiara McPherson
MF Olivia McPherson
MF Yuvia Ontiveros
F Riley O’Brien
F Audrey Stephens
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Isabel Cerda, sr., MF, Plainfield South