West Chicago turnaround
continues versus Lake Park
Late goal gives Wildcats 1-0 victory
By Mike Garofola
GLEN ELLYN -- The dreadful early season weather has been one story line of the 2018 season thus far and so has the dawning of a new era of soccer at West Chicago.
J. Cesar Gomez has asked his girls to be a part of a culture change, and the Wildcats manager could not be more pleased with what he's seen thus far.
Wednesday afternoon Gomez watched his club continue to impress with a 1-0 win over Lake Park in its second game of the Raiders Invitational on the campus of tourney host Glenbard South.
Last year at this time, the Wildcats conceded 13 goals in their first four games, all losses. If you subtract the eight goals third-ranked St. Charles North put into the back of the net in the season opener, West Chicago (3-3-0) has conceded just five in its last five games.
"The girls have bought into what we're selling," began Gomez.
"They've been great in the way they prepare, train, work to improve (even) with the way we travel and eat together as a team. It's all about team first, and it's exciting to see how important it is to all of them to make West Chicago soccer something to be proud of."
Lake Park (0-3-0) had trouble keeping Barbie Castellanos under control Wednesday, as will many of her opponents this season. The Wildcats tri-captain ran the attack when Gomez had the junior stationed there and continued being a thorn in the side of the Lancers when thrown up-top.
"Barbie is a wonderful player and person. She injects energy into our play and her teammates while doing all of it in a positive way," said Gomez.
"When I took on the role as captain last year as a sophomore, the first thing I thought was how the seniors would think about having a younger player be a captain," said Castellanos, who was clearly the best player in the park on this day and an easy choice as Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match. "I knew if I went out and led by example and worked hard, on and off the field, I would gain the respect of my teammates.
"We're still a pretty young team, but the improvement from that first game against (maybe) the best team in the state (St. Charles North) to now has been great, and I see us getting better each time we go out this year."
Lake Park manager Sean Crosby and co-captain Brianna McAloon share that same optimism for their team, even after suffering their fourth loss in as many 2018 games.
"You can just feel the girls gaining confidence each time we play, and there's been plenty of improvement on so many levels," Crosby said. "If we can break our scoreless streak, then I feel we'll make another jump forward in our overall play."
McAloon, who earned praise from Crosby for her 80 minutes as a defensive midfielder in front of the Lancers ever-improving backline, echoed the comments of her manager after her club suffered this hard-fought loss.
"There's a lot of fight in this team," said McAloon, whose class, work rate and encouraging words prove why she wears the captain's armband along with Elizabeth Guenther. "Effort is something all of us will always give, and I know we'll turn things around soon because we're in this thing together and working everyday to improve."
Crosby was thrilled with the work of his back four in this contest, and particularly senior Amber Sedwick, who went into every tackle with zest and purpose, while providing quality service whenever the Lancers were in a dead-ball situation.
"Amber has come so far this year with her play," said Crosby. "And you saw how she gave us chances when she hit her free kick chances. It was a huge part of our game today."
West Chicago had most of the play in the first quarter hour when it successfully found Castellanos in the middle of the park. The unselfish star was generous in her distribution, whether it was out wide or over the top. When she saw fit, she ran at her opponents to create space for her front-runners.
Lake Park's Ann Marie Ahrens, who enjoyed a strong game on the outside, gave the Lancers the first chance of the match when she earned a corner for her mates. Sedwick initiated the dead ball opportunity which ended when both Selena Catalano and Cyndi Martinez missed on their header attempts near the spot.
West Chicago and Castellanos, Giselle Navejas and Evelyn Hernandez grabbed hold of the game shortly afterward. With the trio looking comfortable on the ball when going forward, they put their opponent's backline into action far more than they would have liked.
Lake Park keeper Sarah Yochem was solid throughout the game. She did well to turn away a low attempt from Castellanos after a Navejas short corner. Later the junior stayed with another Castellanos shot that came after a crafty move set the Wildcat free along the endline.
West Chicago began the second period on its front feet and created some marvelous action through the run of play. The Lancers looked to counter and build something from nothing on an Ahrens crossfield pass or another Sedwick free kick.
Disaster nearly struck for West Chicago when its fearless goalkeeper Haley Rich came off her line to challenge a Jaclyn Lanz ball played toward the near post after Ahrens put her through. When Catalano burst into the box to find the 50-50 ball, she ran into Rich.
The Wildcats keeper, obviously shaken by the collision, was helped to her feet and attended to by the Glenbard South athletic trainer and was taken through the concussion protocol.
Gomez called upon sophomore midfielder Ruby Romero to take over for her fallen teammate.
"Ruby is typical of the type of players we have on this team," said Gomez. "She rose up and said that she would go in for Haley and off she went. It was an unselfish thing for her to do, and later, she was rewarded for her teamwork when she scored the game-winner.
"It was an unselfish thing for her to do."
Just after this sequence, the Lake Park duo of Ahrens and Lauren Tarchala combined. Tarchala reached full speed and headed towards Romero. Defender Odalis Martinez, recognizing potential trouble in the Wildcats box, slide over from the outside to record a sharp tackle to end the Lake Park threat.
West Chicago answered with quality build-up on three-consecutive trips into the Lake Park end. The best came when five different players had a touch. The last three from Alex Alcantar, Vanessa Montenegro and Castellanos helped put the Lancers under pressure.
Lake Park's Sedwick went over the bar at 72 minutes. But moments later, the Wildcats got their game-winner.
The 73rd-minute strike was masterful -- four different players had a touch beginning with Alcantar and Evelyn Hernandez, who found Castellanos deep on the right side.
From there, the junior beat her mark to the endline and provided an inch-perfect helper across the center channel to Romero, who returned to field play in the 62nd minute.
Romero, cool and collected, fired her one-timer low past Yochem, who had no chance on the 16-yard strike.
"This is a really tough part of our schedule five games in six days and in terrible weather, but the team really showed a lot by playing hard and getting a big win today," said Castellanos.
West Chicago improved to 1-1-0 in the three-game round-robin tournament and finishes up Thursday against the host Raiders.
"St. Charles North was not going to be a game that we were going to win, and Lemont was a little better than us in our tourney opener here the other day," added Gomez. "But all of our other games were very competitive, which is something we want. We want to be in every single game this season."
Crosby felt a 0-0 draw would have been a fair result but also conceded West Chicago was good enough to get the win and was okay with that.
"Our best weapon today might have been Amber's curling free kicks," Crosby said. "And while that's a great thing to have, we'll have to get our attack up and running in order to win these close games that we've been in."
"Our goals against average from last year is way down, and all the credit goes to my back four: Guenther, Sedwick, Emma Thorne, Ziri Hernandez and McAloon, who's our first line of defense in front of those girls.
"There's great leadership on this team with our 10 seniors. I know the girls might be pressing a little to find the back of the net, but everyone is working to end that streak and to hopefully put a few wins together."
The Lancers end tourney play here with Lemont on Thursday, then enjoy a little R and R before hosting Hoffman Estates on Tuesday.
Starting lineups
West Chicago (3-5-2)
GK- Haley Rich
D- Vanessa Montenegro
D- Odalis Martinez
D- Alex Alcantar
M- Kayla Schwarz
M- Genesis Garcia
M- Barbie Castellanos
M- Vivis Martinez
M- Evelyn Hernandez
F- Giselle Navejas
F- Emily Ayala
Lake Park (4-5-1)
GK- Sarah Yochem
D- Amber Sedwick
D- Elizabeth Guenther
D- Emma Thorne
D- Ziri Hernandez
M- Ann Marie Ahrens
M- Jaclyn Lamz
M- Brianna McAloon
M- Cyndi Martinez
M- Lauren Tarchala
F- Selena Catalano
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Barbie Castellanos, jr., M, West Chicago
Referee: Bruce Bode
Scoring Summary
West Chicago
Romero (Castellanos) 73'
continues versus Lake Park
Late goal gives Wildcats 1-0 victory
By Mike Garofola
GLEN ELLYN -- The dreadful early season weather has been one story line of the 2018 season thus far and so has the dawning of a new era of soccer at West Chicago.
J. Cesar Gomez has asked his girls to be a part of a culture change, and the Wildcats manager could not be more pleased with what he's seen thus far.
Wednesday afternoon Gomez watched his club continue to impress with a 1-0 win over Lake Park in its second game of the Raiders Invitational on the campus of tourney host Glenbard South.
Last year at this time, the Wildcats conceded 13 goals in their first four games, all losses. If you subtract the eight goals third-ranked St. Charles North put into the back of the net in the season opener, West Chicago (3-3-0) has conceded just five in its last five games.
"The girls have bought into what we're selling," began Gomez.
"They've been great in the way they prepare, train, work to improve (even) with the way we travel and eat together as a team. It's all about team first, and it's exciting to see how important it is to all of them to make West Chicago soccer something to be proud of."
Lake Park (0-3-0) had trouble keeping Barbie Castellanos under control Wednesday, as will many of her opponents this season. The Wildcats tri-captain ran the attack when Gomez had the junior stationed there and continued being a thorn in the side of the Lancers when thrown up-top.
"Barbie is a wonderful player and person. She injects energy into our play and her teammates while doing all of it in a positive way," said Gomez.
"When I took on the role as captain last year as a sophomore, the first thing I thought was how the seniors would think about having a younger player be a captain," said Castellanos, who was clearly the best player in the park on this day and an easy choice as Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match. "I knew if I went out and led by example and worked hard, on and off the field, I would gain the respect of my teammates.
"We're still a pretty young team, but the improvement from that first game against (maybe) the best team in the state (St. Charles North) to now has been great, and I see us getting better each time we go out this year."
Lake Park manager Sean Crosby and co-captain Brianna McAloon share that same optimism for their team, even after suffering their fourth loss in as many 2018 games.
"You can just feel the girls gaining confidence each time we play, and there's been plenty of improvement on so many levels," Crosby said. "If we can break our scoreless streak, then I feel we'll make another jump forward in our overall play."
McAloon, who earned praise from Crosby for her 80 minutes as a defensive midfielder in front of the Lancers ever-improving backline, echoed the comments of her manager after her club suffered this hard-fought loss.
"There's a lot of fight in this team," said McAloon, whose class, work rate and encouraging words prove why she wears the captain's armband along with Elizabeth Guenther. "Effort is something all of us will always give, and I know we'll turn things around soon because we're in this thing together and working everyday to improve."
Crosby was thrilled with the work of his back four in this contest, and particularly senior Amber Sedwick, who went into every tackle with zest and purpose, while providing quality service whenever the Lancers were in a dead-ball situation.
"Amber has come so far this year with her play," said Crosby. "And you saw how she gave us chances when she hit her free kick chances. It was a huge part of our game today."
West Chicago had most of the play in the first quarter hour when it successfully found Castellanos in the middle of the park. The unselfish star was generous in her distribution, whether it was out wide or over the top. When she saw fit, she ran at her opponents to create space for her front-runners.
Lake Park's Ann Marie Ahrens, who enjoyed a strong game on the outside, gave the Lancers the first chance of the match when she earned a corner for her mates. Sedwick initiated the dead ball opportunity which ended when both Selena Catalano and Cyndi Martinez missed on their header attempts near the spot.
West Chicago and Castellanos, Giselle Navejas and Evelyn Hernandez grabbed hold of the game shortly afterward. With the trio looking comfortable on the ball when going forward, they put their opponent's backline into action far more than they would have liked.
Lake Park keeper Sarah Yochem was solid throughout the game. She did well to turn away a low attempt from Castellanos after a Navejas short corner. Later the junior stayed with another Castellanos shot that came after a crafty move set the Wildcat free along the endline.
West Chicago began the second period on its front feet and created some marvelous action through the run of play. The Lancers looked to counter and build something from nothing on an Ahrens crossfield pass or another Sedwick free kick.
Disaster nearly struck for West Chicago when its fearless goalkeeper Haley Rich came off her line to challenge a Jaclyn Lanz ball played toward the near post after Ahrens put her through. When Catalano burst into the box to find the 50-50 ball, she ran into Rich.
The Wildcats keeper, obviously shaken by the collision, was helped to her feet and attended to by the Glenbard South athletic trainer and was taken through the concussion protocol.
Gomez called upon sophomore midfielder Ruby Romero to take over for her fallen teammate.
"Ruby is typical of the type of players we have on this team," said Gomez. "She rose up and said that she would go in for Haley and off she went. It was an unselfish thing for her to do, and later, she was rewarded for her teamwork when she scored the game-winner.
"It was an unselfish thing for her to do."
Just after this sequence, the Lake Park duo of Ahrens and Lauren Tarchala combined. Tarchala reached full speed and headed towards Romero. Defender Odalis Martinez, recognizing potential trouble in the Wildcats box, slide over from the outside to record a sharp tackle to end the Lake Park threat.
West Chicago answered with quality build-up on three-consecutive trips into the Lake Park end. The best came when five different players had a touch. The last three from Alex Alcantar, Vanessa Montenegro and Castellanos helped put the Lancers under pressure.
Lake Park's Sedwick went over the bar at 72 minutes. But moments later, the Wildcats got their game-winner.
The 73rd-minute strike was masterful -- four different players had a touch beginning with Alcantar and Evelyn Hernandez, who found Castellanos deep on the right side.
From there, the junior beat her mark to the endline and provided an inch-perfect helper across the center channel to Romero, who returned to field play in the 62nd minute.
Romero, cool and collected, fired her one-timer low past Yochem, who had no chance on the 16-yard strike.
"This is a really tough part of our schedule five games in six days and in terrible weather, but the team really showed a lot by playing hard and getting a big win today," said Castellanos.
West Chicago improved to 1-1-0 in the three-game round-robin tournament and finishes up Thursday against the host Raiders.
"St. Charles North was not going to be a game that we were going to win, and Lemont was a little better than us in our tourney opener here the other day," added Gomez. "But all of our other games were very competitive, which is something we want. We want to be in every single game this season."
Crosby felt a 0-0 draw would have been a fair result but also conceded West Chicago was good enough to get the win and was okay with that.
"Our best weapon today might have been Amber's curling free kicks," Crosby said. "And while that's a great thing to have, we'll have to get our attack up and running in order to win these close games that we've been in."
"Our goals against average from last year is way down, and all the credit goes to my back four: Guenther, Sedwick, Emma Thorne, Ziri Hernandez and McAloon, who's our first line of defense in front of those girls.
"There's great leadership on this team with our 10 seniors. I know the girls might be pressing a little to find the back of the net, but everyone is working to end that streak and to hopefully put a few wins together."
The Lancers end tourney play here with Lemont on Thursday, then enjoy a little R and R before hosting Hoffman Estates on Tuesday.
Starting lineups
West Chicago (3-5-2)
GK- Haley Rich
D- Vanessa Montenegro
D- Odalis Martinez
D- Alex Alcantar
M- Kayla Schwarz
M- Genesis Garcia
M- Barbie Castellanos
M- Vivis Martinez
M- Evelyn Hernandez
F- Giselle Navejas
F- Emily Ayala
Lake Park (4-5-1)
GK- Sarah Yochem
D- Amber Sedwick
D- Elizabeth Guenther
D- Emma Thorne
D- Ziri Hernandez
M- Ann Marie Ahrens
M- Jaclyn Lamz
M- Brianna McAloon
M- Cyndi Martinez
M- Lauren Tarchala
F- Selena Catalano
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match: Barbie Castellanos, jr., M, West Chicago
Referee: Bruce Bode
Scoring Summary
West Chicago
Romero (Castellanos) 73'