Naperville N. corners Wheaton N.
Shumate restarts key Huskies to DVC-opening 5-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- In recent years Naperville North has become well known for its prowess and efficiency on restarts.
The Huskies can put together several highlight reels of goals that are as spectacular as they are game-changing.
The latest film could be titled “A Leah of their Own.”
That’s because sophomore Leah Shumate and junior Leah Molloy teamed up to score the game-winning goal on -- you guessed it -- a corner kick in the 26th minute of Wednesday’s DuPage Valley Conference opener with visiting Wheaton North.
And that goal, which came on Molloy’s powerhouse header off Shumate’s perfectly placed serve, was just the beginning of the fourth-ranked Huskies’ set piece dominance. They converted three of Shumate’s corner kicks into goals in the first half and rolled to a 5-0 victory.
“We work a lot on restarts in the program, both on the boys and girls side,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “It’s definitely one thing I’ve taken from (assistant coach) Jim Konrad.
“The play that we ran twice on goals (today) is a play that Jim Konrad drew up just at the start of the season. We had kind of been doing the same restarts for the last couple years and the two of us talked and said we’ve got to try to find something different, and this is what we did.
“We scored on it against St. Charles East, and we scored on it again tonight, so Konrad thinks he’s the man right now.”
None of it would have been possible without the corner kicks unleashed by Shumate and senior Shaina Dudas, who combined for eight attempts. Shumate takes kicks from the right and Dudas from the left, but regardless of who takes them, the balls always seem to end up in the center of their intended target.
“The ball Leah plays in and the ball Shaina plays in, we’ve got an in-swinger and an out-swinger. And to have two kids who can hit balls like that is great,” Goletz said. “We’re just trying to work on our kids getting to the right spots and attacking the ball.
“Leah Molloy did that tonight, (Katelynn Buescher) always does it. (Katie Murphy) cleaned up the other one.”
The flurry began with 13:40 remaining in the first half and turned what had been a competitive, scoreless match into a decisive win for the Huskies (3-0-2, 1-0-0).
Shumate’s serve into the middle found the head of Molloy, who nodded into the upper 90 for her second goal of the season.
“They always tell me to aim near post and (her first two attempts) both were deflected out of the bounds,” Shumate said. “So (Goletz) told me to go over (the defense), and it was wide open.”
That wasn’t the first time it happened. Buescher made it 2-0 just three minutes later with a header off a Shumate corner kick. Molloy then got her head on another one in the final minute of the first half. Her shot hit the crossbar but Murphy booted home the rebound with 52 seconds remaining.
“She’s able to get a lot of air under it, and it’s not always super driven right in,” Molloy said of Shumate. “It’s nice to have a little loft, and she always places it like right in the perfect spot, in the middle of the box where it’s easy for someone making a quick run to get it right in.”
Of course, it’s one thing to aim for a certain spot on corner kicks and quite another to hit that spot. Yet Shumate did it every time despite the 32-degree temperature and a noticeable wind.
"We had some technical breakdowns that gave up corner kicks in the first place,” Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said. “One of those corner kicks would have been impressive, but every single ball that was played on those corner kicks was played dangerously.
“It was very impressive. They were being played exactly where she planned on playing them in these conditions. The weather didn’t affect anything she was doing, so to be able to put the ball in those dangerous spots time and time again gives your team a chance.”
The Falcons (0-6-0, 0-1-0) might have had a chance of at least taking the Huskies to the wire if not for those corner kicks. While they were outshot 9-0 in the first half and got only three shots overall, the visitors were holding their own in the run of play.
“Here’s the crazy irony; I thought we played a good first half,” McEvilly said. “We were never going to create more chances than them, but I thought we reduced their opportunities through the flow of play the first 40 minutes.
“We were doing a good job of winning balls in the air and challenging for 50-50s, which is one of the most difficult things to do against Naperville North. We were winning our fair share of those battles.”
But it wasn’t enough. The Huskies proved their superiority in the air and their penchant for taking advantage of opportunities.
Naperville North had only two shots after intermission but scored on both. Hannah Martin increased the lead to 4-0 when she lofted a shot from a tough angle on the right side of the Wheaton North box and tucked it inside the far post with 34:23 left.
Junior Taylor Klaiber then finished the scoring when she tallied her first varsity goal off a cross from Molloy at the 14:36 mark.
“We have to do a much better job of wanting the ball more than we do,” said McEvilly, whose team was shutout for the fourth-straight match. “It’s been a problem for us on corner kicks.
“It wasn’t even a situation where we were in bad positions defensively. It was just they were more physical, and they wanted the ball more than us on every single one of those opportunities. That makes a difference.
“Part of it is they come in with a confidence that they can finish on those because you see someone making those dangerous balls and you kind of feel you have a shot on every single one of them. Our kids are not feeling like we’ve had success on that.”
Indeed, the Falcons had no success even generating chances for restarts. Naperville North’s backline of Jessica and Alyssa Siebers, Paige Sylvester and Reilly Riggs did not allow a corner kick or free kick in their own end.
Naperville North goalkeeper Amanda Johnson, who took over for starter Maddie Housmann at halftime, had to make two routine saves on long shots from Riley Winckler and Kristen Szumski.
“We did not give up anything on restarts,” Goletz said. “It’s a great lesson. It can win you games, and it can lose you games.
“We need to make sure we’re as good as possible on those, but I was also happy with how they played in the run of play. I thought we did some great things. We got a ton of possession, a ton of shots and glad to see Hannah Martin score another goal because she’s been so good for us up-top.
“I love this group of kids. I love the fire that they have. It’s been an absolutely joy to work with these kids.”
Wheaton North had fun during a spring break trip to South Carolina, where the Falcons lost 3-0 to Hilton Head and 1-0 to Chapin.
“It’s a great training experience for us,” McEvilly said. “It’s a great bonding experience for us.
“We trained twice a day. The kids had a chance to connect with each other. We had a lot of fun. The games are really an extra throw-in.”
The return to arctic temperatures, which postponed Wheaton North’s scheduled DVC opener against Wheaton Warrenville South on Tuesday, proved to be a hard adjustment.
The Falcons are without the injured Rose Quinn, Stacie Galo and Kate McKee, while senior star Kailee Sowers played despite being less than 100 percent.
Once they get to full strength, McEvilly is hoping the Falcons can generate some offense, particularly from Sowers, who can play both offense and defense.
“Anna Warfield had a good game today,” McEvilly said. “She and Szumski are really good for us at midfield, but we don’t have any dangerous people up-top right now.
“We have to be able to possess and synch up passes and that wasn’t happening today for us.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Ava Lynch
D Michaela Van Meter
D Jaden Trometer
D Kate Kortenhoeven
D Hannah Swider
M Kristen Szumski
M Sarah Brcka
M Abby Atkinson
M Anna Warfield
F Kailiee Sowers
F Sammie Schomig
Naperville North
GK Maddie Hausmann
D Paige Sylvester
D Jessica Siebers
D Alyssa Siebers
D Reilly Riggs
M Leah Shumate
M Katelynn Buescher
M Shaina Dudas
F Hannah Martin
F Megan Benmore
F Katie Murphy
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Leah Shumate, so., M, Naperville North.
Scoring summary
1st half
Naperville North – Leah Molloy (Leah Shumate) 13:40
Naperville North – Katelynn Buescher (Shumate) 10:02
Naperville North – Katie Murphy :52
2nd half
Naperville North – Hannah Martin 34:23
Naperville North – Taylor Klaiber (Molloy) 14:36
Shumate restarts key Huskies to DVC-opening 5-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
NAPERVILLE -- In recent years Naperville North has become well known for its prowess and efficiency on restarts.
The Huskies can put together several highlight reels of goals that are as spectacular as they are game-changing.
The latest film could be titled “A Leah of their Own.”
That’s because sophomore Leah Shumate and junior Leah Molloy teamed up to score the game-winning goal on -- you guessed it -- a corner kick in the 26th minute of Wednesday’s DuPage Valley Conference opener with visiting Wheaton North.
And that goal, which came on Molloy’s powerhouse header off Shumate’s perfectly placed serve, was just the beginning of the fourth-ranked Huskies’ set piece dominance. They converted three of Shumate’s corner kicks into goals in the first half and rolled to a 5-0 victory.
“We work a lot on restarts in the program, both on the boys and girls side,” Naperville North coach Steve Goletz said. “It’s definitely one thing I’ve taken from (assistant coach) Jim Konrad.
“The play that we ran twice on goals (today) is a play that Jim Konrad drew up just at the start of the season. We had kind of been doing the same restarts for the last couple years and the two of us talked and said we’ve got to try to find something different, and this is what we did.
“We scored on it against St. Charles East, and we scored on it again tonight, so Konrad thinks he’s the man right now.”
None of it would have been possible without the corner kicks unleashed by Shumate and senior Shaina Dudas, who combined for eight attempts. Shumate takes kicks from the right and Dudas from the left, but regardless of who takes them, the balls always seem to end up in the center of their intended target.
“The ball Leah plays in and the ball Shaina plays in, we’ve got an in-swinger and an out-swinger. And to have two kids who can hit balls like that is great,” Goletz said. “We’re just trying to work on our kids getting to the right spots and attacking the ball.
“Leah Molloy did that tonight, (Katelynn Buescher) always does it. (Katie Murphy) cleaned up the other one.”
The flurry began with 13:40 remaining in the first half and turned what had been a competitive, scoreless match into a decisive win for the Huskies (3-0-2, 1-0-0).
Shumate’s serve into the middle found the head of Molloy, who nodded into the upper 90 for her second goal of the season.
“They always tell me to aim near post and (her first two attempts) both were deflected out of the bounds,” Shumate said. “So (Goletz) told me to go over (the defense), and it was wide open.”
That wasn’t the first time it happened. Buescher made it 2-0 just three minutes later with a header off a Shumate corner kick. Molloy then got her head on another one in the final minute of the first half. Her shot hit the crossbar but Murphy booted home the rebound with 52 seconds remaining.
“She’s able to get a lot of air under it, and it’s not always super driven right in,” Molloy said of Shumate. “It’s nice to have a little loft, and she always places it like right in the perfect spot, in the middle of the box where it’s easy for someone making a quick run to get it right in.”
Of course, it’s one thing to aim for a certain spot on corner kicks and quite another to hit that spot. Yet Shumate did it every time despite the 32-degree temperature and a noticeable wind.
"We had some technical breakdowns that gave up corner kicks in the first place,” Wheaton North coach Tim McEvilly said. “One of those corner kicks would have been impressive, but every single ball that was played on those corner kicks was played dangerously.
“It was very impressive. They were being played exactly where she planned on playing them in these conditions. The weather didn’t affect anything she was doing, so to be able to put the ball in those dangerous spots time and time again gives your team a chance.”
The Falcons (0-6-0, 0-1-0) might have had a chance of at least taking the Huskies to the wire if not for those corner kicks. While they were outshot 9-0 in the first half and got only three shots overall, the visitors were holding their own in the run of play.
“Here’s the crazy irony; I thought we played a good first half,” McEvilly said. “We were never going to create more chances than them, but I thought we reduced their opportunities through the flow of play the first 40 minutes.
“We were doing a good job of winning balls in the air and challenging for 50-50s, which is one of the most difficult things to do against Naperville North. We were winning our fair share of those battles.”
But it wasn’t enough. The Huskies proved their superiority in the air and their penchant for taking advantage of opportunities.
Naperville North had only two shots after intermission but scored on both. Hannah Martin increased the lead to 4-0 when she lofted a shot from a tough angle on the right side of the Wheaton North box and tucked it inside the far post with 34:23 left.
Junior Taylor Klaiber then finished the scoring when she tallied her first varsity goal off a cross from Molloy at the 14:36 mark.
“We have to do a much better job of wanting the ball more than we do,” said McEvilly, whose team was shutout for the fourth-straight match. “It’s been a problem for us on corner kicks.
“It wasn’t even a situation where we were in bad positions defensively. It was just they were more physical, and they wanted the ball more than us on every single one of those opportunities. That makes a difference.
“Part of it is they come in with a confidence that they can finish on those because you see someone making those dangerous balls and you kind of feel you have a shot on every single one of them. Our kids are not feeling like we’ve had success on that.”
Indeed, the Falcons had no success even generating chances for restarts. Naperville North’s backline of Jessica and Alyssa Siebers, Paige Sylvester and Reilly Riggs did not allow a corner kick or free kick in their own end.
Naperville North goalkeeper Amanda Johnson, who took over for starter Maddie Housmann at halftime, had to make two routine saves on long shots from Riley Winckler and Kristen Szumski.
“We did not give up anything on restarts,” Goletz said. “It’s a great lesson. It can win you games, and it can lose you games.
“We need to make sure we’re as good as possible on those, but I was also happy with how they played in the run of play. I thought we did some great things. We got a ton of possession, a ton of shots and glad to see Hannah Martin score another goal because she’s been so good for us up-top.
“I love this group of kids. I love the fire that they have. It’s been an absolutely joy to work with these kids.”
Wheaton North had fun during a spring break trip to South Carolina, where the Falcons lost 3-0 to Hilton Head and 1-0 to Chapin.
“It’s a great training experience for us,” McEvilly said. “It’s a great bonding experience for us.
“We trained twice a day. The kids had a chance to connect with each other. We had a lot of fun. The games are really an extra throw-in.”
The return to arctic temperatures, which postponed Wheaton North’s scheduled DVC opener against Wheaton Warrenville South on Tuesday, proved to be a hard adjustment.
The Falcons are without the injured Rose Quinn, Stacie Galo and Kate McKee, while senior star Kailee Sowers played despite being less than 100 percent.
Once they get to full strength, McEvilly is hoping the Falcons can generate some offense, particularly from Sowers, who can play both offense and defense.
“Anna Warfield had a good game today,” McEvilly said. “She and Szumski are really good for us at midfield, but we don’t have any dangerous people up-top right now.
“We have to be able to possess and synch up passes and that wasn’t happening today for us.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton North
GK Ava Lynch
D Michaela Van Meter
D Jaden Trometer
D Kate Kortenhoeven
D Hannah Swider
M Kristen Szumski
M Sarah Brcka
M Abby Atkinson
M Anna Warfield
F Kailiee Sowers
F Sammie Schomig
Naperville North
GK Maddie Hausmann
D Paige Sylvester
D Jessica Siebers
D Alyssa Siebers
D Reilly Riggs
M Leah Shumate
M Katelynn Buescher
M Shaina Dudas
F Hannah Martin
F Megan Benmore
F Katie Murphy
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Leah Shumate, so., M, Naperville North.
Scoring summary
1st half
Naperville North – Leah Molloy (Leah Shumate) 13:40
Naperville North – Katelynn Buescher (Shumate) 10:02
Naperville North – Katie Murphy :52
2nd half
Naperville North – Hannah Martin 34:23
Naperville North – Taylor Klaiber (Molloy) 14:36