Viva DeVivo! Jr. leads Plainfield S. to win
Dominant effort yields 2 assists in Southwest Prairie opener
By Matt Le Cren
PLAINFIELD – Nina Riojas and her Plainfield South teammates were hungry for a goal Thursday.
Riojas got one – the first of her varsity career – in an unusual fashion.
The sophomore defender was parked on the far post when junior Emily DeVivo’s corner kick sailed through the crease and came down right in Riojas’ breadbasket.
The ball bounced off Riojas’ stomach and off the hand of diving Romeoville goalkeeper Macayla Dwyer with 27:03 remaining in the Southwest Prairie Conference opener.
That proved to be the game-winner as the host Cougars knocked off the Spartans 3-1.
“I usually go right for where the PK spot is hoping someone would get there,” DeVivo said of her corner kick strategy. “That one obviously didn’t go to the PK, but it went right to the back post, which is where it should be.”
Riojas was the intended target but DeVivo admitted her aim wasn’t exactly true.
“I was aiming toward her head, but it went to her stomach,” DeVivo said. “At least she got a body part on it and scored. That’s all that matters.”
While the goal wasn’t a work of art, Riojas will gladly take it.
“I was there and I just knew that I had to get back post,” Riojas said. “I hit it with my stomach, just tried to get anything I could get on it.
“It felt really good to help the team to win the match.”
Plainfield South (5-1-0, 1-0-0) utterly dominated the Southwest Prairie Conference match and outshot the Spartans 35-2. The Cougars played much better than they did in last Saturday’s 4-0 win over Romeoville in the Windy City Ram Classic but didn't ice the game until the final seconds, when freshman Alyssa Grigg tapped in a pass from DeVivo with 12 ticks remaining.
That’s why Riojas’ goal, which gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead, was so important. It actually stemmed from work done in practice Wednesday.
“We did a little scouting on their corner defense,” Plainfield South coach Alfonso Lopez said. “And we put her in the back to come in because we noticed they didn’t put anyone on the back post, so it was drawn up that way. We did a lot of that corner practice yesterday.
“She wanted to use her head, but she used her body. We’ll take it.”
DeVivo earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for her two-assist effort. She badly wanted to score a goal of her of own and was unlucky not to have several.
DeVivo was a force throughout the game, controlling the possession as well as the pace and forcing the Spartans (2-3-0, 0-1-0) to expend a lot of energy chasing the ball. She uncorked eight shots on goal but came up empty as one rocket hit the crossbar and the others were all stopped by Dwyer, who was outstanding in finishing with 17 saves.
“(DeVivo) tends to dominate any time she has the ball at her feet,” Lopez said. “I think at times she’s a little hard on herself.
“She wants to score and she has her opportunities, and she’ll get it in the net if she keeps shooting. She’ll get her goals.”
The first goal came fast for the Cougars, who took a 1-0 lead just 4:09 into the game. Grigg dribbled into the right side of the Romeoville box and sent a perfect cross into the middle to Taylor Metcalf, whose one-timer from 12 yards beat Dwyer.
The way things were going, it appeared that would be the first of many goals for the Cougars. Instead, it was the last for over an hour.
“None of the shots went where I wanted them to but at least I was taking them,” DeVivo said. “We needed to get more shots to the corners (of the net). We were kicking it right at her.”
That was true on some of the saves Dwyer made but not all of them. She made three sprawling stops on DeVivo, Ciara Coneset and Gianna Derka.
The Cougars enjoyed an 18-1 advantage in shots in the first half but amazingly went into intermission tied at 1.
Romeoville converted its lone attempt of the first half when Elizabeth Vitel lofted a long shot from far out on the right wing. The ball caromed high off the inside of the left post and bounced in at the 11:27 mark.
That gave the frustrated Cougars, who had suffered their first loss of the season (4-0 to Stagg in the Windy City Ram Classic semis) two days earlier, a test they ended up passing with flying colors.
“The girls were a little down on themselves yesterday, so they were kind of in their own heads,” Lopez said. “But we picked it up toward the end (of practice) and then we brought it out here today and were able to do some good things.
“We were able to control the ball, kept it on the pitch a lot more instead of putting it all over the air. (We were) just a heckuva lot better controlling it today.”
And the Cougars were better at controlling their frustration as they worked tirelessly to solve Dwyer and the tenacious Romeoville defense.
“It was all about communication and staying calm and positive and not getting down on ourselves,” Riojas said. “Even when it was tied we just had to come back stronger.”
The Cougars can do that because they have the players who can build the attack, rather than play dump-and-chase. DeVivo is the central focus in that scheme.
“We love to go inside and outside and move side-to-side to find feet and then go forward,” DeVivo said. “We definitely connected more passes this game, we found our wides a lot. We just love to go to goal.”
Starting lineups
Romeoville
GK Macayla Dwyer
D Marira Romo
D Jennifer Perez
D Kalie Rice
D Adamari Carrera
M Erika Allen
M Stephany Esquivel
M Yamilet Perez
M Jennifer Rodriguez
M Elizabeth Vitel
F Azucena Gomez
Plainfield South
GK Nicole Trenholm
D Adanelly Escamilla
D Christina Schade
D Amaya Silvar
D Emily Sauder
M Gianna Derka
M Alyssa Grigg
M Ciara Coneset
F Isabel Cerda
F Emily DeVivo
F Taylor Metcalf
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Emily DeVivo, M, Plainfield South.
Scoring summary
1st Half
Plainfield South – Taylor Metcalf (Alyssa Grigg) 35:51
Romeoville – Elizabeth Vitel 11:27
2nd Half
Plainfield South – Nina Riojas (Emily DeVivo) 27:03
Plainfield South – Grigg (DeVivo) :12
Dominant effort yields 2 assists in Southwest Prairie opener
By Matt Le Cren
PLAINFIELD – Nina Riojas and her Plainfield South teammates were hungry for a goal Thursday.
Riojas got one – the first of her varsity career – in an unusual fashion.
The sophomore defender was parked on the far post when junior Emily DeVivo’s corner kick sailed through the crease and came down right in Riojas’ breadbasket.
The ball bounced off Riojas’ stomach and off the hand of diving Romeoville goalkeeper Macayla Dwyer with 27:03 remaining in the Southwest Prairie Conference opener.
That proved to be the game-winner as the host Cougars knocked off the Spartans 3-1.
“I usually go right for where the PK spot is hoping someone would get there,” DeVivo said of her corner kick strategy. “That one obviously didn’t go to the PK, but it went right to the back post, which is where it should be.”
Riojas was the intended target but DeVivo admitted her aim wasn’t exactly true.
“I was aiming toward her head, but it went to her stomach,” DeVivo said. “At least she got a body part on it and scored. That’s all that matters.”
While the goal wasn’t a work of art, Riojas will gladly take it.
“I was there and I just knew that I had to get back post,” Riojas said. “I hit it with my stomach, just tried to get anything I could get on it.
“It felt really good to help the team to win the match.”
Plainfield South (5-1-0, 1-0-0) utterly dominated the Southwest Prairie Conference match and outshot the Spartans 35-2. The Cougars played much better than they did in last Saturday’s 4-0 win over Romeoville in the Windy City Ram Classic but didn't ice the game until the final seconds, when freshman Alyssa Grigg tapped in a pass from DeVivo with 12 ticks remaining.
That’s why Riojas’ goal, which gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead, was so important. It actually stemmed from work done in practice Wednesday.
“We did a little scouting on their corner defense,” Plainfield South coach Alfonso Lopez said. “And we put her in the back to come in because we noticed they didn’t put anyone on the back post, so it was drawn up that way. We did a lot of that corner practice yesterday.
“She wanted to use her head, but she used her body. We’ll take it.”
DeVivo earned Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match honors for her two-assist effort. She badly wanted to score a goal of her of own and was unlucky not to have several.
DeVivo was a force throughout the game, controlling the possession as well as the pace and forcing the Spartans (2-3-0, 0-1-0) to expend a lot of energy chasing the ball. She uncorked eight shots on goal but came up empty as one rocket hit the crossbar and the others were all stopped by Dwyer, who was outstanding in finishing with 17 saves.
“(DeVivo) tends to dominate any time she has the ball at her feet,” Lopez said. “I think at times she’s a little hard on herself.
“She wants to score and she has her opportunities, and she’ll get it in the net if she keeps shooting. She’ll get her goals.”
The first goal came fast for the Cougars, who took a 1-0 lead just 4:09 into the game. Grigg dribbled into the right side of the Romeoville box and sent a perfect cross into the middle to Taylor Metcalf, whose one-timer from 12 yards beat Dwyer.
The way things were going, it appeared that would be the first of many goals for the Cougars. Instead, it was the last for over an hour.
“None of the shots went where I wanted them to but at least I was taking them,” DeVivo said. “We needed to get more shots to the corners (of the net). We were kicking it right at her.”
That was true on some of the saves Dwyer made but not all of them. She made three sprawling stops on DeVivo, Ciara Coneset and Gianna Derka.
The Cougars enjoyed an 18-1 advantage in shots in the first half but amazingly went into intermission tied at 1.
Romeoville converted its lone attempt of the first half when Elizabeth Vitel lofted a long shot from far out on the right wing. The ball caromed high off the inside of the left post and bounced in at the 11:27 mark.
That gave the frustrated Cougars, who had suffered their first loss of the season (4-0 to Stagg in the Windy City Ram Classic semis) two days earlier, a test they ended up passing with flying colors.
“The girls were a little down on themselves yesterday, so they were kind of in their own heads,” Lopez said. “But we picked it up toward the end (of practice) and then we brought it out here today and were able to do some good things.
“We were able to control the ball, kept it on the pitch a lot more instead of putting it all over the air. (We were) just a heckuva lot better controlling it today.”
And the Cougars were better at controlling their frustration as they worked tirelessly to solve Dwyer and the tenacious Romeoville defense.
“It was all about communication and staying calm and positive and not getting down on ourselves,” Riojas said. “Even when it was tied we just had to come back stronger.”
The Cougars can do that because they have the players who can build the attack, rather than play dump-and-chase. DeVivo is the central focus in that scheme.
“We love to go inside and outside and move side-to-side to find feet and then go forward,” DeVivo said. “We definitely connected more passes this game, we found our wides a lot. We just love to go to goal.”
Starting lineups
Romeoville
GK Macayla Dwyer
D Marira Romo
D Jennifer Perez
D Kalie Rice
D Adamari Carrera
M Erika Allen
M Stephany Esquivel
M Yamilet Perez
M Jennifer Rodriguez
M Elizabeth Vitel
F Azucena Gomez
Plainfield South
GK Nicole Trenholm
D Adanelly Escamilla
D Christina Schade
D Amaya Silvar
D Emily Sauder
M Gianna Derka
M Alyssa Grigg
M Ciara Coneset
F Isabel Cerda
F Emily DeVivo
F Taylor Metcalf
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Emily DeVivo, M, Plainfield South.
Scoring summary
1st Half
Plainfield South – Taylor Metcalf (Alyssa Grigg) 35:51
Romeoville – Elizabeth Vitel 11:27
2nd Half
Plainfield South – Nina Riojas (Emily DeVivo) 27:03
Plainfield South – Grigg (DeVivo) :12