West Aurora builds to 3rd-straight win
Quick start dooms Rosary, delivers 7-0 result
By Paul LaTour
AURORA — Even coach Laura Wagley thought this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for her West Aurora Blackhawks. But after a third-consecutive victory she admits she might have been wrong.
“It’s kind of a rebuilding year, but so far it’s been working. Maybe it’s not a rebuilding year -- we're just picking up where we left off,” Wagley said after the Blackhawks’ 7-0 victory over visiting Rosary on Saturday morning.
Audrey Stephens scored three goals and added an assist, while Sarai Munoz added a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who improved to 3-2-0 after winning their third-consecutive game.
Stephens and Munoz are part of a large junior class that is helping the Blackhawks overcome the loss of last season’s talented senior group. This year’s roster includes only three seniors along with nine juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen.
“We are a very young team,” Wagley said. “We lost a very strong class last year, so we pulled up a lot of new girls. We’re trying some new things this year and if they work, they work and if not, maybe they’ll work next year.”
Five of those juniors accounted for all the Blackhawks’ goals on Saturday. In addition to Stephens and Munoz, Tsion White, Gracie Prather and Olivia McPherson also scored.
“We have a really strong junior class,” said Stephens, who earned Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match hono for her performance. “We’ve all played on varsity since we were freshmen, so that’s helped a lot.”
The Blackhawks jumped on Rosary (1-3-0) from the start and scored four goals in the opening 10 minutes.
“We wanted to come out strong and just start putting some goals away,” Bagley said. “We had a few really rough first games where we had the shots but just couldn’t finish. So that’s what we wanted to focus on today -- finishing the ball.”
Stephens and Munoz combined on the first two goals for the Blackhawks. Stephens got it started with a goal on the Blackhawks first shot.
Munoz set her up with a left-footed pass into the middle. Stephens returned the favor less than two minutes later, sending a right-side pass into the middle where Munoz redirected it into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
Stephens couldn’t recall ever having a similar situation of helping Munoz score after receiving help from Munoz on her goal.
“It just kind of just happened today, but it was fun getting each other’s goals and assists,” Stephens said.
Munoz added her second assist on a header from a corner kick to put the Blackhawks ahead 3-0 at 33:39. White took Munoz’s header right in front of the goal. Her initial shot was blocked, but she got the ball right back and wasn’t to be denied a second time.
The lead jumped to 4-0 when Prather scored at 30:50. Shortly after, the Blackhawks made wholesale changes to their lineup. Prather was one of only four starters to remain in the game at that point.
McPherson showed remarkable speed to give West Aurora its 5-0 lead at 19:56. Taking the ball down the right side, she sprinted past the entire Rosary defense to create a one-on-one breakaway opportunity.
“To be honest, the first few goals were a lot of easy things that we could stop,” Rosary coach James Heidorn said. “If we came out a little more organized, a little bit more ready to go from the first whistle, it definitely could have been a change.”
Stephens completed the scoring with a pair of second-half goals. Sophomore goalkeepers Brisa Solis and Madison Russell combined for the Blackhawks’ second-consecutive shutout (West Aurora beat Oswego 1-0 on Friday).
The Blackhawks have scored first in every game this season.
“We’re usually a second half team, so this year it’s been awesome scoring first,” Bagley said. “We are still learning how to maintain that, but we’ve had two shutouts the past two games, so we’re getting there.”
The Blackhawks will look to keep their momentum going with a busy schedule ahead. They have a nonconference game with Minooka on Monday before returning to Upstate Eight Conference play on Wednesday against Streamwood. That precedes the Plainfield Classic, which begins Saturday.
“We’re really excited about that tournament,” Bagley said. “That’ll be some very good competition.”
As young as the Blackhawks are, the Rosary is even younger and more inexperienced. The Royals started three freshmen, seven sophomores and one junior. Rosary doesn’t have any seniors on its roster.
Heidorn said his young team learned a valuable lesson Saturday.
“It’s just one of those games where you have to be ready from the first whistle on and be ready to take on what’s coming at you,” he said. “We don’t have that leadership to lean on, but we have a young cast. We’re going to only get better from here. Today was just a learning curve for us to get better.”
Starting ineups
Rosary (1-3-0)
GK Alexandra Heckle
D Cora Cease
D Briley Ryan
D Teresa Brennan
D Megan Cibulskis
MF Maddy O’Brien
MF Victoria Fleming
MF Rachel Chason
F Maria Brennan
F Josie Hathaway
F Alaina Ferraro
West Aurora (3-2-0)
GK Brisa Solis
D Elva Hernandez
D Krystal Diaz
D Laeticia Mbende
MF Lizzy Kuhn
MF Yuvia Ontiveros
MF Sarai Munoz
MF Tysion White
F Jazmin Quinto
F Audrey Stephens
F Gracie Prather
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match — Audrey Stephens, jr, F, West Aurora
Scoring Summary
First Half
WA — Audrey Stephens (Sarai Munoz), 36:48
WA — Munoz (Stephens), 34:58
WA — Tysion White (Munoz), 33:39
WA — Gracie Prather, 30:50
WA — Olivia McPherson, 19:56
Second Half
WA — Stephens, 26:07
WA — Stephens, 19:39
Quick start dooms Rosary, delivers 7-0 result
By Paul LaTour
AURORA — Even coach Laura Wagley thought this was supposed to be a rebuilding year for her West Aurora Blackhawks. But after a third-consecutive victory she admits she might have been wrong.
“It’s kind of a rebuilding year, but so far it’s been working. Maybe it’s not a rebuilding year -- we're just picking up where we left off,” Wagley said after the Blackhawks’ 7-0 victory over visiting Rosary on Saturday morning.
Audrey Stephens scored three goals and added an assist, while Sarai Munoz added a goal and two assists for the Blackhawks, who improved to 3-2-0 after winning their third-consecutive game.
Stephens and Munoz are part of a large junior class that is helping the Blackhawks overcome the loss of last season’s talented senior group. This year’s roster includes only three seniors along with nine juniors, four sophomores and three freshmen.
“We are a very young team,” Wagley said. “We lost a very strong class last year, so we pulled up a lot of new girls. We’re trying some new things this year and if they work, they work and if not, maybe they’ll work next year.”
Five of those juniors accounted for all the Blackhawks’ goals on Saturday. In addition to Stephens and Munoz, Tsion White, Gracie Prather and Olivia McPherson also scored.
“We have a really strong junior class,” said Stephens, who earned Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match hono for her performance. “We’ve all played on varsity since we were freshmen, so that’s helped a lot.”
The Blackhawks jumped on Rosary (1-3-0) from the start and scored four goals in the opening 10 minutes.
“We wanted to come out strong and just start putting some goals away,” Bagley said. “We had a few really rough first games where we had the shots but just couldn’t finish. So that’s what we wanted to focus on today -- finishing the ball.”
Stephens and Munoz combined on the first two goals for the Blackhawks. Stephens got it started with a goal on the Blackhawks first shot.
Munoz set her up with a left-footed pass into the middle. Stephens returned the favor less than two minutes later, sending a right-side pass into the middle where Munoz redirected it into the goal for a 2-0 lead.
Stephens couldn’t recall ever having a similar situation of helping Munoz score after receiving help from Munoz on her goal.
“It just kind of just happened today, but it was fun getting each other’s goals and assists,” Stephens said.
Munoz added her second assist on a header from a corner kick to put the Blackhawks ahead 3-0 at 33:39. White took Munoz’s header right in front of the goal. Her initial shot was blocked, but she got the ball right back and wasn’t to be denied a second time.
The lead jumped to 4-0 when Prather scored at 30:50. Shortly after, the Blackhawks made wholesale changes to their lineup. Prather was one of only four starters to remain in the game at that point.
McPherson showed remarkable speed to give West Aurora its 5-0 lead at 19:56. Taking the ball down the right side, she sprinted past the entire Rosary defense to create a one-on-one breakaway opportunity.
“To be honest, the first few goals were a lot of easy things that we could stop,” Rosary coach James Heidorn said. “If we came out a little more organized, a little bit more ready to go from the first whistle, it definitely could have been a change.”
Stephens completed the scoring with a pair of second-half goals. Sophomore goalkeepers Brisa Solis and Madison Russell combined for the Blackhawks’ second-consecutive shutout (West Aurora beat Oswego 1-0 on Friday).
The Blackhawks have scored first in every game this season.
“We’re usually a second half team, so this year it’s been awesome scoring first,” Bagley said. “We are still learning how to maintain that, but we’ve had two shutouts the past two games, so we’re getting there.”
The Blackhawks will look to keep their momentum going with a busy schedule ahead. They have a nonconference game with Minooka on Monday before returning to Upstate Eight Conference play on Wednesday against Streamwood. That precedes the Plainfield Classic, which begins Saturday.
“We’re really excited about that tournament,” Bagley said. “That’ll be some very good competition.”
As young as the Blackhawks are, the Rosary is even younger and more inexperienced. The Royals started three freshmen, seven sophomores and one junior. Rosary doesn’t have any seniors on its roster.
Heidorn said his young team learned a valuable lesson Saturday.
“It’s just one of those games where you have to be ready from the first whistle on and be ready to take on what’s coming at you,” he said. “We don’t have that leadership to lean on, but we have a young cast. We’re going to only get better from here. Today was just a learning curve for us to get better.”
Starting ineups
Rosary (1-3-0)
GK Alexandra Heckle
D Cora Cease
D Briley Ryan
D Teresa Brennan
D Megan Cibulskis
MF Maddy O’Brien
MF Victoria Fleming
MF Rachel Chason
F Maria Brennan
F Josie Hathaway
F Alaina Ferraro
West Aurora (3-2-0)
GK Brisa Solis
D Elva Hernandez
D Krystal Diaz
D Laeticia Mbende
MF Lizzy Kuhn
MF Yuvia Ontiveros
MF Sarai Munoz
MF Tysion White
F Jazmin Quinto
F Audrey Stephens
F Gracie Prather
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match — Audrey Stephens, jr, F, West Aurora
Scoring Summary
First Half
WA — Audrey Stephens (Sarai Munoz), 36:48
WA — Munoz (Stephens), 34:58
WA — Tysion White (Munoz), 33:39
WA — Gracie Prather, 30:50
WA — Olivia McPherson, 19:56
Second Half
WA — Stephens, 26:07
WA — Stephens, 19:39