West Aurora's Diaz turns
into scoring machine against Romeoville
Previously goal-less senior scores hat-trick in SW Prairie win
By Bobby Narang
ROMEOVILLE -- Several minutes after West Aurora’s 6-1 victory over Romeoville on Wednesday, Blackhawks senior Krystal Diaz remained in a state of shock.
The Quincy University recruit was speechless for a few seconds when discussing her scoring tally against the host Spartans.
Before the game, Diaz had not scored a goal in her high school career. Although positional changes played a factor, Diaz admitted she thought she would’ve found the net at least once by this point of her career.
Even if the weather wasn’t very cooperative — dark, gloomy, cold and a 20 mile-per-hour whipping wind — Diaz produced an unforgettable performance. She tripled her goal total with a hat-trick that powered West Aurora to the Southwest Prairie Conference victory.
“It was really exciting to score my first goals,” Diaz said. “I didn’t know I was going to play forward, so that was very exciting. It was my first time playing forward. I had a bunch of energy, and my adrenaline kept on going. I don’t think I’ve scored since eighth grade.”
In fact, Diaz’s three-goal feat was even more impressive considering she scored all three goals in a row in a six-minute span in the second half. Her last two goals started as near-mirror images, coming from the right side on shots from at least 20 yards. Her final goal took a second hop at the last minute to bounce over Romeoville’s goalie.
“All of the goals were good, but I didn’t think that last one was going to go in,” said a smiling and giggling Diaz. “I was turning around ready for the goal kick, and then saw it go in. It’s a really good start to conference. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
West Aurora (3-3-0, 1-1-0) also picked up two goals from star Lizzy Kuhn and a single tally from Bella Vargas, who also had two assists. Kuhn, who received a yellow card late in the first half, also had an assist.
Kuhn opened up the scoring with the first two goals to push her season total to 10.
“The first goal I scored was a rebound,” Kuhn said. “I chipped it in. The second one was a really nice ball from Bella.
“But it was great to see Krystal score so many goals. She started (her career) as a sweeper. She’s our core in the middle, and usually feeds us the ball and gets a lot of assists. It was really nice for her to get a lot of goals. She’s been looking for those all season. I’m really happy for her.”
Kuhn said she’s planning to select her college by “probably the end of the week, but I’m also not sure.”
Wednesday’s win could be a key moment for the team.
“It’s important to play possession and learning to play as a team, not just scoring all the goals we can,” Kuhn said. “I love when my teammates score. It’s good for our morale.
“This was a good way to reset our confidence, and it boosts everyone’s morale when more people score. We’ve been waiting for Krystal to get some goals.”
Romeoville (1-5-0, 0-2-0) was hampered from the outset with standout defender Dorimar Quintana’s absence due to injury. After a 15-minute postgame talk with his players, Romeoville coach Luis Gil stressed the importance of building the program slowly in order to sustain success.
The Spartans’ roster is filled with underclassmen, causing Gill to emphasize the importance of teamwork and working hard. He referenced the San Antonio Spurs’ success as an example to his players.
“This is a really good group of girls that just needs direction and someone who cares,” Gil said. “My commitment is to change the entire perspective and philosophy, and what the community thinks and knows about us. Right now, we’re building.
“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomore starters, and only two senior starters after one of them got hurt on Tuesday. It’s tough, but we know it will be hard. We’re here for the long run. I made a promise to them to be committed since they’ve had so many coaches. We want them to be better people and build human connections.”
West Aurora took advantage of Romeoville’s youth with two goals in the first half and four in the second.
West Aurora sophomore goalie Abi Dietlin recorded five saves. The goal she allowed came on a penalty kick by Yami Padilla in the 62nd minute. Dietlin said this is her first season playing soccer; basketball is her main sport.
“We ended up almost getting the shutout,” Dietln said. “We had some girls play new positions, but everybody had a really good game.
“I felt my (saves) were all pretty good, and my first season ever playing soccer is going good. I’m learning a lot. It’s a really good game. The athletic part is different, and the game is really fun. It’s hard to learn, but I’m enjoying playing soccer.”
West Aurora coach Laura Wagley said she hopes her team can build off the strong effort.
“It was a great conference win,” Wagley said. “I think we needed all those goals to get our confidence up. Krystal Diaz was awesome, and we’re getting goals from a lot of people, helping to take pressure off Lizzy.”
Starting lineups
West Aurora
GK Abi Dietlin
D Arely Lares
D Anahi Carlos
MF Bella Vargas
MF Ellie Rogowski
MF Brenda Juarez
MF Lizzy Kuhn
MF Baylee Geni
F Krystal Diaz
F Cristal Gutierrez
F Alphoncine Tuysenge
Romeoville
GK Doria Quintana
D Yesenia Becerra
D Valentina Cruz
D Deysy Esquivel
D Ari Ugalde-Rivero
MF Yami Padilla
MF Jocelyn Barban
MF Alexis Herrera
MF Gigi Carrera
F Vanessa Goc
F Maralyn Ruiez
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Krystal Diaz, sr., F, West Aurora
Scoring summary
First half
West Aurora — Lizzy Kuhn (Arely Soto), 16th minute
West Aurora — Lizzy Kuhn (Bella Vargas), 28th minute
Second half
West Aurora — Bella Vargas (unassisted), 54th minute
West Aurora —Krystal Diaz (Lizzy Kuhn), 61st minute
Romeoville — Yami Padilla (penalty kick), 62nd minute
West Aurora — Krystal Diaz (Bella Vargas), 65th minute
West Aurora — Krystal Diaz (Anahi Carlos), 67th minute
into scoring machine against Romeoville
Previously goal-less senior scores hat-trick in SW Prairie win
By Bobby Narang
ROMEOVILLE -- Several minutes after West Aurora’s 6-1 victory over Romeoville on Wednesday, Blackhawks senior Krystal Diaz remained in a state of shock.
The Quincy University recruit was speechless for a few seconds when discussing her scoring tally against the host Spartans.
Before the game, Diaz had not scored a goal in her high school career. Although positional changes played a factor, Diaz admitted she thought she would’ve found the net at least once by this point of her career.
Even if the weather wasn’t very cooperative — dark, gloomy, cold and a 20 mile-per-hour whipping wind — Diaz produced an unforgettable performance. She tripled her goal total with a hat-trick that powered West Aurora to the Southwest Prairie Conference victory.
“It was really exciting to score my first goals,” Diaz said. “I didn’t know I was going to play forward, so that was very exciting. It was my first time playing forward. I had a bunch of energy, and my adrenaline kept on going. I don’t think I’ve scored since eighth grade.”
In fact, Diaz’s three-goal feat was even more impressive considering she scored all three goals in a row in a six-minute span in the second half. Her last two goals started as near-mirror images, coming from the right side on shots from at least 20 yards. Her final goal took a second hop at the last minute to bounce over Romeoville’s goalie.
“All of the goals were good, but I didn’t think that last one was going to go in,” said a smiling and giggling Diaz. “I was turning around ready for the goal kick, and then saw it go in. It’s a really good start to conference. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
West Aurora (3-3-0, 1-1-0) also picked up two goals from star Lizzy Kuhn and a single tally from Bella Vargas, who also had two assists. Kuhn, who received a yellow card late in the first half, also had an assist.
Kuhn opened up the scoring with the first two goals to push her season total to 10.
“The first goal I scored was a rebound,” Kuhn said. “I chipped it in. The second one was a really nice ball from Bella.
“But it was great to see Krystal score so many goals. She started (her career) as a sweeper. She’s our core in the middle, and usually feeds us the ball and gets a lot of assists. It was really nice for her to get a lot of goals. She’s been looking for those all season. I’m really happy for her.”
Kuhn said she’s planning to select her college by “probably the end of the week, but I’m also not sure.”
Wednesday’s win could be a key moment for the team.
“It’s important to play possession and learning to play as a team, not just scoring all the goals we can,” Kuhn said. “I love when my teammates score. It’s good for our morale.
“This was a good way to reset our confidence, and it boosts everyone’s morale when more people score. We’ve been waiting for Krystal to get some goals.”
Romeoville (1-5-0, 0-2-0) was hampered from the outset with standout defender Dorimar Quintana’s absence due to injury. After a 15-minute postgame talk with his players, Romeoville coach Luis Gil stressed the importance of building the program slowly in order to sustain success.
The Spartans’ roster is filled with underclassmen, causing Gill to emphasize the importance of teamwork and working hard. He referenced the San Antonio Spurs’ success as an example to his players.
“This is a really good group of girls that just needs direction and someone who cares,” Gil said. “My commitment is to change the entire perspective and philosophy, and what the community thinks and knows about us. Right now, we’re building.
“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomore starters, and only two senior starters after one of them got hurt on Tuesday. It’s tough, but we know it will be hard. We’re here for the long run. I made a promise to them to be committed since they’ve had so many coaches. We want them to be better people and build human connections.”
West Aurora took advantage of Romeoville’s youth with two goals in the first half and four in the second.
West Aurora sophomore goalie Abi Dietlin recorded five saves. The goal she allowed came on a penalty kick by Yami Padilla in the 62nd minute. Dietlin said this is her first season playing soccer; basketball is her main sport.
“We ended up almost getting the shutout,” Dietln said. “We had some girls play new positions, but everybody had a really good game.
“I felt my (saves) were all pretty good, and my first season ever playing soccer is going good. I’m learning a lot. It’s a really good game. The athletic part is different, and the game is really fun. It’s hard to learn, but I’m enjoying playing soccer.”
West Aurora coach Laura Wagley said she hopes her team can build off the strong effort.
“It was a great conference win,” Wagley said. “I think we needed all those goals to get our confidence up. Krystal Diaz was awesome, and we’re getting goals from a lot of people, helping to take pressure off Lizzy.”
Starting lineups
West Aurora
GK Abi Dietlin
D Arely Lares
D Anahi Carlos
MF Bella Vargas
MF Ellie Rogowski
MF Brenda Juarez
MF Lizzy Kuhn
MF Baylee Geni
F Krystal Diaz
F Cristal Gutierrez
F Alphoncine Tuysenge
Romeoville
GK Doria Quintana
D Yesenia Becerra
D Valentina Cruz
D Deysy Esquivel
D Ari Ugalde-Rivero
MF Yami Padilla
MF Jocelyn Barban
MF Alexis Herrera
MF Gigi Carrera
F Vanessa Goc
F Maralyn Ruiez
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Krystal Diaz, sr., F, West Aurora
Scoring summary
First half
West Aurora — Lizzy Kuhn (Arely Soto), 16th minute
West Aurora — Lizzy Kuhn (Bella Vargas), 28th minute
Second half
West Aurora — Bella Vargas (unassisted), 54th minute
West Aurora —Krystal Diaz (Lizzy Kuhn), 61st minute
Romeoville — Yami Padilla (penalty kick), 62nd minute
West Aurora — Krystal Diaz (Bella Vargas), 65th minute
West Aurora — Krystal Diaz (Anahi Carlos), 67th minute