Wheaton North grows as it goes
Falcons tie Nazareth 0-0 in wind-influenced affair
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE PARK – Wheaton North defender Kristen Szumski is a rare breed, at least on her own team.
Szumski is one of just a handful of Falcons who have previous varsity experience and was the only senior in the starting lineup for Monday’s 0-0 tie with host Nazareth.
What Wheaton North lacks in pedigree, it makes up for in ambition.
“The expectations are the expectations,” Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said. “We are a varsity soccer team, and we are supposed to be able to compete with anybody.
“With that youth, I have a great amount of speed and athleticism and technical ability, so they just have to learn.”
The learning process has been tough in the early going but the Falcons (1-4-1) are flashing signs of their potential. They lost each of their first four games by one goal, coughing up leads in three of them, before routing Streamwood 8-1 on Thursday.
Monday’s tilt with Nazareth, one of the better Class AA programs in the Chicago area, was indicative of Wheaton North’s spirit and potential. Both teams recorded nine shots, while the Falcons held a slight edge in terms of the run of play.
“I think today’s game was a great turning point as far as connecting as a team, because it just seemed like we were pinging balls back and forth as if we’ve been playing with each other for years,” Wheaton North junior defender Audrey Cicmanec said. “There wasn’t that much pressure. It just felt natural.”
Naturally, it will take a while for many of the players to adjust to the varsity level, but Cicmanec said McEvilly is still demanding in his expectations and that is a good thing.
“I think you should still demand,” she said. “I don’t think you should ever change your expectations based on the (experience level of the) team, because this is still a great team.
“I don’t think anything has changed expect for maybe a familiarity that we didn’t have in the beginning. I wouldn’t change (the roster) for anything.”
With so many new faces, Szumski didn’t know what to expect this year. But the Falcons have two promising young freshmen in Olivia Moreno and Claudia Kim, plus some strong sophomores like Kayla Shebar and Izzy Fenn, both of them starters.
“We came into this season with an open mindset,” Szumski said. “We only had four or five returning varsity girls.
“We were willing to take (the freshmen) under our wing and kind of learn from them as well. We had to take that leadership role to accept the fact that it’s a brand-new team, it’s a brand-new season, and let’s kind of take it as an advantage.
“Because Olivia Moreno is a star. Claudia Kim is able to keep the ball under pressure and able to keep herself composed, so I think the fact that we have new girls is a great learning opportunity for us older girls, because we can learn off of them, and they can still look up to us.
“I think we have a great balance this year.”
They weren’t able to find the back of the net against Nazareth, but Morena and Shebar have plenty of potential to help the attack.
“Two of our wings up-top, Olivia Morena and Kayla Shebar, are dangerous as anybody,” McEvilly said. “They’re fast; they get behind defenders all the time. That’s just natural instinct, and you can’t teach natural instinct.”
Yet it was Szumski who had the best scoring opportunity when the Falcons were awarded a penalty kick in the fifth minute.
Nazareth goalkeeper Sarah Blair lunged to her right to block Szumski’s drive, then got up and made another diving save on the rebound.
“Every penalty kick I’ve ever taken has always gone low and strong,” Szumski said. “She (stopped) it, and I tried to get that rebound.
“She made two great saves back-to-back. It was kind of a frustrating moment, because it’s like free throws.
“It’s easy points, and it was kind of frustrating. But once we had that momentum behind us, I think that really sparked a lot of opportunities and a lot of confidence in ourselves that we could actually go and win this.”
With a cold wind at their backs, the Falcons did dominate play in the first half, outshooting the Roadrunners (1-3-2) by a 6-1 margin, but had nothing to show for it.
Riley Winckler had a shot from the middle of the box deflected wide by a defender in the 12th minute, and Cicmanec missed a shot wide left off the ensuing corner kick.
Then in the 24th minute, a nice build-up resulted in Kim tapping a pass to Fenn at the top of the box. Fenn fired a shot off the left post that was later cleared by the defense.
The second half was a different story. Blair had to make only one save as Nazareth took advantage of the wind to control more of the possession.
Senior forward Sophia Cullotta proved to be a handful, driving into the box on numerous occasions. She squeezed off four shots, including a roller from the left side of the 18 that rolled just wide of the right post in the 44th minute.
But Nazareth’s best chance came in the 52nd minute. Cullotta blasted a 32-yard free kick that hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced once on the turf and was headed over the crossbar by Nazareth’s Yasmin Ceballos.
But the Falcons’ backline of Szumski, Cicmanec, Rachel Brady and Amanda Tegart stayed strong and junior goalkeeper Hanley Elftmann made five saves to record her first shutout.
All of Elftmann’s stops came after intermission, including a diving denial of Cullota’s eight-yard flick in the 53rd minute and a routine stop on Lizzie Cipra’s shot from just outside the 6 with two seconds remaining.
“I think one of the things that we are starting to get better at, but continue to work on, is when one of our outside backs is up wide,” Szumski said. “The other one tucks in and helps with a three-back rather than two-back. I really think that extra cover helped save a couple of huge moments that they had.
“In those moments I think just kind of working as a solid backline and tucking back and balancing off each other really helped.”
While the Falcons bent under Nazareth’s pressure, they didn’t break as they had done in earlier games.
“In the second half, (the Roadrunners) had a better level of energy,” McEvilly said. “They did a better job of forcing our midfielders to make plays than they did in the first half.
“Nazareth turned the game into more of a physical fight. We’re smaller, and if we’re not playing as quick as we did the first 40 minutes, we can get beat up. So (the Falcons) have to learn from that and take advantage of the opportunities we get.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Hanley Elftmann
D Audrey Cicmanec
D Rachel Brady
D Kristen Szumski
D Amanda Tegart
M Claudia Kim
M Payton Yates
M Izzy Fenn
F Olivia Moreno
F Kayla Shebar
F Riley Winckler
Nazareth
GK Sarah Blair
D Katie Howard
D Holly Skrip
D Grace Heery
D Grace D’Onofrio
M Adriana Berruti
M Kathleen Gerth
M Gabriella DiBrizzi
F Julissa Galvin
F Sophia Cullotta
F Lizzie Cipra
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Sarah Blair, jr., GK, Nazareth
Falcons tie Nazareth 0-0 in wind-influenced affair
By Matt Le Cren
LA GRANGE PARK – Wheaton North defender Kristen Szumski is a rare breed, at least on her own team.
Szumski is one of just a handful of Falcons who have previous varsity experience and was the only senior in the starting lineup for Monday’s 0-0 tie with host Nazareth.
What Wheaton North lacks in pedigree, it makes up for in ambition.
“The expectations are the expectations,” Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said. “We are a varsity soccer team, and we are supposed to be able to compete with anybody.
“With that youth, I have a great amount of speed and athleticism and technical ability, so they just have to learn.”
The learning process has been tough in the early going but the Falcons (1-4-1) are flashing signs of their potential. They lost each of their first four games by one goal, coughing up leads in three of them, before routing Streamwood 8-1 on Thursday.
Monday’s tilt with Nazareth, one of the better Class AA programs in the Chicago area, was indicative of Wheaton North’s spirit and potential. Both teams recorded nine shots, while the Falcons held a slight edge in terms of the run of play.
“I think today’s game was a great turning point as far as connecting as a team, because it just seemed like we were pinging balls back and forth as if we’ve been playing with each other for years,” Wheaton North junior defender Audrey Cicmanec said. “There wasn’t that much pressure. It just felt natural.”
Naturally, it will take a while for many of the players to adjust to the varsity level, but Cicmanec said McEvilly is still demanding in his expectations and that is a good thing.
“I think you should still demand,” she said. “I don’t think you should ever change your expectations based on the (experience level of the) team, because this is still a great team.
“I don’t think anything has changed expect for maybe a familiarity that we didn’t have in the beginning. I wouldn’t change (the roster) for anything.”
With so many new faces, Szumski didn’t know what to expect this year. But the Falcons have two promising young freshmen in Olivia Moreno and Claudia Kim, plus some strong sophomores like Kayla Shebar and Izzy Fenn, both of them starters.
“We came into this season with an open mindset,” Szumski said. “We only had four or five returning varsity girls.
“We were willing to take (the freshmen) under our wing and kind of learn from them as well. We had to take that leadership role to accept the fact that it’s a brand-new team, it’s a brand-new season, and let’s kind of take it as an advantage.
“Because Olivia Moreno is a star. Claudia Kim is able to keep the ball under pressure and able to keep herself composed, so I think the fact that we have new girls is a great learning opportunity for us older girls, because we can learn off of them, and they can still look up to us.
“I think we have a great balance this year.”
They weren’t able to find the back of the net against Nazareth, but Morena and Shebar have plenty of potential to help the attack.
“Two of our wings up-top, Olivia Morena and Kayla Shebar, are dangerous as anybody,” McEvilly said. “They’re fast; they get behind defenders all the time. That’s just natural instinct, and you can’t teach natural instinct.”
Yet it was Szumski who had the best scoring opportunity when the Falcons were awarded a penalty kick in the fifth minute.
Nazareth goalkeeper Sarah Blair lunged to her right to block Szumski’s drive, then got up and made another diving save on the rebound.
“Every penalty kick I’ve ever taken has always gone low and strong,” Szumski said. “She (stopped) it, and I tried to get that rebound.
“She made two great saves back-to-back. It was kind of a frustrating moment, because it’s like free throws.
“It’s easy points, and it was kind of frustrating. But once we had that momentum behind us, I think that really sparked a lot of opportunities and a lot of confidence in ourselves that we could actually go and win this.”
With a cold wind at their backs, the Falcons did dominate play in the first half, outshooting the Roadrunners (1-3-2) by a 6-1 margin, but had nothing to show for it.
Riley Winckler had a shot from the middle of the box deflected wide by a defender in the 12th minute, and Cicmanec missed a shot wide left off the ensuing corner kick.
Then in the 24th minute, a nice build-up resulted in Kim tapping a pass to Fenn at the top of the box. Fenn fired a shot off the left post that was later cleared by the defense.
The second half was a different story. Blair had to make only one save as Nazareth took advantage of the wind to control more of the possession.
Senior forward Sophia Cullotta proved to be a handful, driving into the box on numerous occasions. She squeezed off four shots, including a roller from the left side of the 18 that rolled just wide of the right post in the 44th minute.
But Nazareth’s best chance came in the 52nd minute. Cullotta blasted a 32-yard free kick that hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced once on the turf and was headed over the crossbar by Nazareth’s Yasmin Ceballos.
But the Falcons’ backline of Szumski, Cicmanec, Rachel Brady and Amanda Tegart stayed strong and junior goalkeeper Hanley Elftmann made five saves to record her first shutout.
All of Elftmann’s stops came after intermission, including a diving denial of Cullota’s eight-yard flick in the 53rd minute and a routine stop on Lizzie Cipra’s shot from just outside the 6 with two seconds remaining.
“I think one of the things that we are starting to get better at, but continue to work on, is when one of our outside backs is up wide,” Szumski said. “The other one tucks in and helps with a three-back rather than two-back. I really think that extra cover helped save a couple of huge moments that they had.
“In those moments I think just kind of working as a solid backline and tucking back and balancing off each other really helped.”
While the Falcons bent under Nazareth’s pressure, they didn’t break as they had done in earlier games.
“In the second half, (the Roadrunners) had a better level of energy,” McEvilly said. “They did a better job of forcing our midfielders to make plays than they did in the first half.
“Nazareth turned the game into more of a physical fight. We’re smaller, and if we’re not playing as quick as we did the first 40 minutes, we can get beat up. So (the Falcons) have to learn from that and take advantage of the opportunities we get.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Hanley Elftmann
D Audrey Cicmanec
D Rachel Brady
D Kristen Szumski
D Amanda Tegart
M Claudia Kim
M Payton Yates
M Izzy Fenn
F Olivia Moreno
F Kayla Shebar
F Riley Winckler
Nazareth
GK Sarah Blair
D Katie Howard
D Holly Skrip
D Grace Heery
D Grace D’Onofrio
M Adriana Berruti
M Kathleen Gerth
M Gabriella DiBrizzi
F Julissa Galvin
F Sophia Cullotta
F Lizzie Cipra
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Sarah Blair, jr., GK, Nazareth