Miller leads WWS past Hinsdale Central
Senior contributes goal and assist in 2-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
HINSDALE -- Wheaton Warrenville South went into Saturday’s season opener with Hinsdale Central without the benefit of any practice time on a full field.
It didn’t slow the Tigers down.
Northwestern recruit Paige Miller had a goal and an assist and fellow senior Evelyn Demsher also scored as WW South scored an impressive 2-0 victory at Dickinson Field.
The matchup of two veteran teams with high expectations wasn’t as even as many thought it would be. The host Red Devils (0-1-1) did not get a shot off and rarely got across midfield for any length of time.
“It feels really good, especially (for the) first game,” Demsher said. “You never know what is going to happen.
“This is our first time playing a full game, and it’s a good feeling knowing we worked together to get the job done.”
The Tigers did it by dominating the midfield, using a short passing game to establish control and make Hinsdale Central’s defense chase the ball.
“The past two weeks at practice we’ve been working a lot at connecting through the three layers -- defensive, midfield and offense -- and getting it past each layer,” Demsher said. “I think we did well doing that. We executed the passes and worked well as a team.”
Two passes in particular stood out, with Miller receiving one and dishing the other.
Miller opened the scoring at the 30:44 mark of the first half when she ran onto a long pass from midfielder Allie Anderson and blasted a 25-yard shot into the lower right corner of the Hinsdale Central net.
“Allison, when she has the ball, I’m completely confident that she’ll find someone or she’ll make something happen,” Miller said. “I have a lot of trust in her, so when she has the ball I know to make all sorts of runs, whether around her or into space for her to find me, and that’s exactly what she does every time.
“On the first goal she found me and when the goalie stepped out, I thought it was pretty clear to finish far post.”
The Tigers (1-0-0) moved two goals clear with some more precision passing, and it came at an opportune time.
Thirty seconds after Demsher had headed a cross from Miller wide of the left post, Miller won a ball in the left corner and immediately drew the attention of two defenders.
Miller got past both defenders on the end line and centered a pass in front to the wide-open Demsher, who buried a shot under the crossbar with 6 seconds left in the first half.
“Paige did a good job beating two or three defenders, and I just finished the job,” Demsher said. “She did it all. I was just there at the perfect spot and put it in the net.”
Miller credited Demsher for getting in position and anticipating what Miller would do.
“I was bobbing in the box, and I tried to sneak it through two players and Evelyn was in perfect position, so I just passed it off to her,” Miller said. “One girl stepped, and she finished perfectly.”
The two-goal cushion was more than enough for the Tigers to hold. Their experienced back line of Maria Dohse, Molly Fank, Maddie Monaco and Sam Buol had little to do thanks to the outstanding work of Anderson, Demsher, Ellery Fahey and Audrey Siebert in the midfield.
That quartet neutralized a deep and talented Hinsdale Central midfield that fought hard to win balls but couldn’t do much when it did gain possession.
“(The Red Devils) are a good team,” Miller said. “I think our midfield is very solid and very strong too.
“We just have a powerhouse in the middle, and we worked a lot on passing drills and how we would transition up the field. I think we put that into the game. We didn’t take too many touches, none of us held it too long.”
That led to a busy day for Hinsdale defenders Sophie Simmons, Alyssa Moncrief, Sam Moriarty and Olivia Rayis, who were anything but bored while trying to fend off the Tigers, who racked up 18 shots and eight corner kicks, one of which resulted in J.J. Aalbue heading a shot off the crossbar.
Fiona Fitzsimmons made six saves in the first half for Hinsdale Central, while Taylor Ward came up with three more after intermission.
“What a strong team,” first-year Hinsdale Central coach Tony Madonia said of the Tigers. “I would expect a well-coached team like that to come out, even in their first game of the season, and know what they are doing.
“That’s something we’re working on. We’re working through things in the middle, because we’ve got a bunch of girls who can play. We’re trying to find the right combination.”
That’s the case with most teams early in the season and one reason why the Red Devils and Tigers scheduled each other. Each got a stiff test right off the bat.
“This was a great opener for us for a lot of reasons,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. “I think we picked a good opponent in that we knew they were going to try to play the game the way it needs to be played.
“When they were knocking it around, even though we didn’t have possession, it really gave us an opportunity to find our roles defensively. If they had played a little bit more direct, maybe we would have been a little bit more surprised because we were still trying to get our feet under ourselves. Otherwise I think it worked out to our benefit.”
The possession game worked in favor of the Tigers, who are a little bit more advanced than the Red Devils at this point thanks to having nine returning starters.
“We wanted to find out where we could maybe expose them and utilize some of our strengths, and we thought maybe rolling around, pulling them out and going over top was going to put them under a little bit,” Callipari said. “We did have them under a lot of pressure. They couldn’t get out of that.”
The Red Devils played without senior midfielder Caroline Lyman, a Missouri recruit who was on a college visit, and senior striker Sammy Guido, who is nursing a leg injury. Two other starters, forwards Haley Arnold and Jackie Blake, left the game with injuries and didn’t return, though Madonia hopes all will be ready next week.
“We’ve got a deep team,” Madonia said. “A lot of girls come off the bench, and they’re ready to go.
“Everyone works hard. The girls are pumped up.”
Both the Tigers and Red Devils have high hopes this spring.
“The girls really have their minds set on (winning) conference this year,” Madonia said. “We’ve spent a lot of time (emphasizing) our values and our goals as a program. They know they want to bring back the tradition here.”
The Red Devils began that process last year by reaching the regional final before losing to Downers Grove North. The Tigers won a regional title last spring before losing to Conant on penalty kicks in the sectional semifinals.
“We have pretty high expectations with a lot of us coming back,” Demsher said. “We’re all committed to going far and doing our best. We all want it, so I think we’ll have a good season.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Abbie Brennan
D Maria Dohse
D Molly Fank
D Maddie Monaco
D Sam Buol
M Allie Anderson
M Ellery Fahey
M Audrey Siebert
M Evelyn Demsher
F Paige Miller
F J.J. Aalbue
Hinsdale Central
GK Fiona Fitzsimmons
D Sophie Simmons
D Alyssa Moncrief
D Sam Moriarty
D Olivia Rayis
M Haley Paulson
M Maddie Lynch
M Sarah Cernugel
F Jackie Blake
F Haley Arnold
F Grace Kalis
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Paige Miller, sr., F, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
WWS – Paige Miller (Allie Anderson) 30:44
WWS – Evelyn Demsher (Miller) :06
Second half
No scoring
Senior contributes goal and assist in 2-0 win
By Matt Le Cren
HINSDALE -- Wheaton Warrenville South went into Saturday’s season opener with Hinsdale Central without the benefit of any practice time on a full field.
It didn’t slow the Tigers down.
Northwestern recruit Paige Miller had a goal and an assist and fellow senior Evelyn Demsher also scored as WW South scored an impressive 2-0 victory at Dickinson Field.
The matchup of two veteran teams with high expectations wasn’t as even as many thought it would be. The host Red Devils (0-1-1) did not get a shot off and rarely got across midfield for any length of time.
“It feels really good, especially (for the) first game,” Demsher said. “You never know what is going to happen.
“This is our first time playing a full game, and it’s a good feeling knowing we worked together to get the job done.”
The Tigers did it by dominating the midfield, using a short passing game to establish control and make Hinsdale Central’s defense chase the ball.
“The past two weeks at practice we’ve been working a lot at connecting through the three layers -- defensive, midfield and offense -- and getting it past each layer,” Demsher said. “I think we did well doing that. We executed the passes and worked well as a team.”
Two passes in particular stood out, with Miller receiving one and dishing the other.
Miller opened the scoring at the 30:44 mark of the first half when she ran onto a long pass from midfielder Allie Anderson and blasted a 25-yard shot into the lower right corner of the Hinsdale Central net.
“Allison, when she has the ball, I’m completely confident that she’ll find someone or she’ll make something happen,” Miller said. “I have a lot of trust in her, so when she has the ball I know to make all sorts of runs, whether around her or into space for her to find me, and that’s exactly what she does every time.
“On the first goal she found me and when the goalie stepped out, I thought it was pretty clear to finish far post.”
The Tigers (1-0-0) moved two goals clear with some more precision passing, and it came at an opportune time.
Thirty seconds after Demsher had headed a cross from Miller wide of the left post, Miller won a ball in the left corner and immediately drew the attention of two defenders.
Miller got past both defenders on the end line and centered a pass in front to the wide-open Demsher, who buried a shot under the crossbar with 6 seconds left in the first half.
“Paige did a good job beating two or three defenders, and I just finished the job,” Demsher said. “She did it all. I was just there at the perfect spot and put it in the net.”
Miller credited Demsher for getting in position and anticipating what Miller would do.
“I was bobbing in the box, and I tried to sneak it through two players and Evelyn was in perfect position, so I just passed it off to her,” Miller said. “One girl stepped, and she finished perfectly.”
The two-goal cushion was more than enough for the Tigers to hold. Their experienced back line of Maria Dohse, Molly Fank, Maddie Monaco and Sam Buol had little to do thanks to the outstanding work of Anderson, Demsher, Ellery Fahey and Audrey Siebert in the midfield.
That quartet neutralized a deep and talented Hinsdale Central midfield that fought hard to win balls but couldn’t do much when it did gain possession.
“(The Red Devils) are a good team,” Miller said. “I think our midfield is very solid and very strong too.
“We just have a powerhouse in the middle, and we worked a lot on passing drills and how we would transition up the field. I think we put that into the game. We didn’t take too many touches, none of us held it too long.”
That led to a busy day for Hinsdale defenders Sophie Simmons, Alyssa Moncrief, Sam Moriarty and Olivia Rayis, who were anything but bored while trying to fend off the Tigers, who racked up 18 shots and eight corner kicks, one of which resulted in J.J. Aalbue heading a shot off the crossbar.
Fiona Fitzsimmons made six saves in the first half for Hinsdale Central, while Taylor Ward came up with three more after intermission.
“What a strong team,” first-year Hinsdale Central coach Tony Madonia said of the Tigers. “I would expect a well-coached team like that to come out, even in their first game of the season, and know what they are doing.
“That’s something we’re working on. We’re working through things in the middle, because we’ve got a bunch of girls who can play. We’re trying to find the right combination.”
That’s the case with most teams early in the season and one reason why the Red Devils and Tigers scheduled each other. Each got a stiff test right off the bat.
“This was a great opener for us for a lot of reasons,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Guy Callipari said. “I think we picked a good opponent in that we knew they were going to try to play the game the way it needs to be played.
“When they were knocking it around, even though we didn’t have possession, it really gave us an opportunity to find our roles defensively. If they had played a little bit more direct, maybe we would have been a little bit more surprised because we were still trying to get our feet under ourselves. Otherwise I think it worked out to our benefit.”
The possession game worked in favor of the Tigers, who are a little bit more advanced than the Red Devils at this point thanks to having nine returning starters.
“We wanted to find out where we could maybe expose them and utilize some of our strengths, and we thought maybe rolling around, pulling them out and going over top was going to put them under a little bit,” Callipari said. “We did have them under a lot of pressure. They couldn’t get out of that.”
The Red Devils played without senior midfielder Caroline Lyman, a Missouri recruit who was on a college visit, and senior striker Sammy Guido, who is nursing a leg injury. Two other starters, forwards Haley Arnold and Jackie Blake, left the game with injuries and didn’t return, though Madonia hopes all will be ready next week.
“We’ve got a deep team,” Madonia said. “A lot of girls come off the bench, and they’re ready to go.
“Everyone works hard. The girls are pumped up.”
Both the Tigers and Red Devils have high hopes this spring.
“The girls really have their minds set on (winning) conference this year,” Madonia said. “We’ve spent a lot of time (emphasizing) our values and our goals as a program. They know they want to bring back the tradition here.”
The Red Devils began that process last year by reaching the regional final before losing to Downers Grove North. The Tigers won a regional title last spring before losing to Conant on penalty kicks in the sectional semifinals.
“We have pretty high expectations with a lot of us coming back,” Demsher said. “We’re all committed to going far and doing our best. We all want it, so I think we’ll have a good season.”
Starting lineups
Wheaton Warrenville South
GK Abbie Brennan
D Maria Dohse
D Molly Fank
D Maddie Monaco
D Sam Buol
M Allie Anderson
M Ellery Fahey
M Audrey Siebert
M Evelyn Demsher
F Paige Miller
F J.J. Aalbue
Hinsdale Central
GK Fiona Fitzsimmons
D Sophie Simmons
D Alyssa Moncrief
D Sam Moriarty
D Olivia Rayis
M Haley Paulson
M Maddie Lynch
M Sarah Cernugel
F Jackie Blake
F Haley Arnold
F Grace Kalis
Chicagoland Soccer MVP of the Match – Paige Miller, sr., F, Wheaton Warrenville South
Scoring summary
First half
WWS – Paige Miller (Allie Anderson) 30:44
WWS – Evelyn Demsher (Miller) :06
Second half
No scoring